Does your personal budget need help? Let’s face it; it happens to all of us at some point or another. We all find ourselves in situations sometimes where we need to earn extra cash, but may not know how to. There are quite a few home based business ideas that you could do to earn extra cash, but if you’re only in need of a few dollars extra each month, you may not want to commit to an actual business. That is where these “strange” ways to earn extra cash come into play. They are not what most people automatically jump to when they’re looking for new ways to earn extra cash.
If you’re looking to earn extra cash because your money has gotten too tight, be sure to update your personal budget before you find yourself in a financial crisis. If you’re already in crisis mode, learning how to create a crisis budget can be a huge help in helping to protect your family from financial crisis. After all, these ways to earn extra cash can help, but most of them aren’t likely to earn enough for you to save you from financial ruin. There are a couple that could earn enough to be considered a full-time income, but even those will take you time.
19 “Strange” Ways to Earn Extra Cash
If you’re looking to pad your checking account though, these strange ways to earn extra cash will do exactly that. All of them will help you bring in extra money that will help you pay a bill, buy food, fix the car or do whatever you need it to. Some will pay you instantly and others will require waiting a bit to get paid.Either way, you’ll have the money that you need when you need it.
Start a blog to earn extra cash
Learning how to start a blog isn’t something that people automatically jump to when they’re looking to earn extra cash, but it should be. Blogging can be very lucrative if you can afford to take the time to learn how to make money blogging and the time to build your blog successfully. If you’re looking to start your own blog, it can be done for as little as $2.95/mo in just 15 minutes with our tutorial HERE. While blogging won’t pay cash immediately, with enough time, you can build a full-time income from it.
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Collect soda cans to earn extra cash
Aluminum is recyclable and in most states, recycling centers will pay for aluminum cans. Collecting and selling soda cans for recycling can easy bring you an extra fifty or sixty dollars if you have enough. How much you’re paid will depend on current prices which typically change from day to day or week to week. If you live in an area that charges you a deposit for your cans, check to see if you get that deposit back. If so, taking in your cans for your deposit is a great way to do this.
Related: How I Earn $225 (or MORE!) in Free Gift Cards Every Month
Sell used books to earn extra cash
Do you have too many books in your home? If so, box them up and head to your local Half Priced Books or other local used book store. Most will pay cash for used books. Just be aware that they have acceptance guidelines on what they’ll pay for so be sure your books are clean and in good shape before you spend the time and the gasoline to drive down there. If you would rather sell your used books online, Swap.comis an online consignment store that accepts certain types or you could start a Shopify storeto list what you have if you have a large number of books to sell.
Become a Virtual Assistant to earn extra cash
Are you great at things such as scheduling appointments, social media or other “mundane” tasks that a business owner may not want to do for themselves? If you answered yes, consider learning how to start a virtual assistant business. Becoming a virtual assistant is a great way to make a full-time income once you have built up a client list! It can take a bit to start earning as a virtual assistant though so don’t opt for this one unless you’re willing to put in work to build an actual business.
Sell baked goods to earn extra cash
If you’re a member of any local buy/sell groups, why not bake yummy desserts to sell? Make sure your kitchen is fully cleaned and get baking! Cakes, cookies, breads and more are all easily made and can bring in more cash than you realize. Once you have sold a few amazing recipes, word of mouth will have people lining up for your goodies! Just be sure to check your local and state laws for selling food. The last thing you want to do is get into trouble with a fine or worse for trying to make some extra cash.
Salvage old appliances to earn extra cash
Aluminum isn’t the only metal that you can be paid for. Tin, copper and more will all pay you. One easy way to get the metal to trade in is to salvage old appliances. If they can be fixed and you have the skills, fix them and sell them for a profit. If not, strip them down and sell the metal. Either way, you make cash! Please don’t do anything illegal to obtain metals to sell. The risk and the damage involved simply isn’t worth a few extra dollars.
Related: How to Make Easy Cash Selling Kids Clothes Online
Sell old cell phones to earn extra cash
I am constantly seeing working cell phones that no longer work being listed for cheap on my local buy/sell groups. These cell phones can earn you money! Sites like Gazellewill pay you for cell phones, tablets and more even if they no longer work! How much you earn depends on the condition of your phone, but even the deadest phones earn a little!
Sell junk silver or gold to earn extra cash
Do you have old silver or gold jewelry lying around? How about old silver dimes or quarters? Why not sell them if you no longer need them? The amount you will get will depend on the spot price for silver and gold which changes daily.
Use Amazon Trade In to earn extra cash
Did you know that Amazon will pay you for your used items? They sure will! With the Amazon trade in program, you can send in items you no longer need or want in exchange for Amazon gift cards! This won’t put cash in your pocket, but it will help build your Amazon gift card balance. Since you can buy groceries, toiletries and more on Amazon, simply use the gift cards to buy what you need and keep the cash you would have spent in your own pocket.
Teach an Online Class to earn extra cash
If you are particularly good at something, why not teach others? You can sign up at Udemyto teach video courses to others in just a few minutes! When someone purchases your course, you get paid! The really great thing about teaching at Udemy is that you can teach on almost any subject! They have tons of subjects which makes it great for people like you and me who may not have specialized skills.
Become a dog walker to earn extra cash
If getting your exercise in while you’re earning extra cash sounds good to you, why not become a dog walker? Companies such as Rover allow you to walk dogs and get paid easily which means that earning extra cash is super easy!
Take surveys to earn extra cash
Surveys and offers can be quite lucrative if you’re willing to work the survey sites regularly. Most have a cash payout option while others only offer gift cards. Gift cards aren’t a waste though since you can use those to replace cash in your budget. For instance, when I earn free gift cards online, I often use them to pay my Hulu account, my Netflix bill or even my cell phone! If you’re looking for survey companies that pay, these 39 ways to earn free gift cards online are a great place to start.
Sell at Farmers Markets to earn extra cash
Do y ou make homemade products or grow a garden? If so, a great option to make extra cash is to sell products at a farmers market near you. Most farmers markets allow vendors to sell for a very small fee so be sure to account for that in your budget. Homemade beauty products, homemade cleaning supplies, home canned recipes and fresh garden produce all do very well at farmers markets. If you make jewelry or any other handmade gift ideas, they can sell very well too depending on the item and the time of year.
If you’re not the crafty type just yet, signing up for online craft lessons at Craftsycan help. Plus, if you do end up starting a craft selling business, any crafting classes that you pay for would most likely be considered a deductible business expense. Be sure to discuss that with your accountant though before you file.
Babysit to earn extra cash
Starting an in home childcare business isn’t for the faint of heart but it is a fantastic way to earn extra cash. Be sure to check your state and city laws so you don’t accidentally violate them and that you call around to other childcare providers in your area to get their rates so yours are competitive. You also may want to look into insurance as well to help protect yourself from any accidents.
Become a freelance writer to earn extra cash
One of my favorite ways to earn extra cash is by writing freelance. I’ve been a professional blogger since 2011, but in 2013, I began to look for other ways to diversify my income. Freelance writing allowed me to do that quite easily. If you’re looking to earn extra cash by becoming a freelance writer, you’ll want to create a website to highlight writing samples for prospective clients. Once your website is built, look for writing gigs on Craigslist, with freelance writing companies or in Facebook buy/sell/trade groups.
Drive for Lyft or Uber to earn extra cash
Lyft and Uber have become a standard in the ridesharing world and they can also help you earn extra cash when you need to. The great thing about signing up to drive for Lyftand signing up to drive for Uber is that you are able to set your own hours. If you’ve got a few minutes between appointments, pick up a fare. If you can spend a full day working, go for it! Obviously the more time you spend driving, the more you’ll earn.
Clean Homes for Others to earn extra cash
Sometimes, people need to pay others to clean and cleaning homes can be a great way to earn extra cash. Advertise your cleaning service on Facebook, Craigslist tna dother neighborhood apps. Just be sure that you do what you can to keep yourself safe. Also, you’ll need to decide rates and if you’re going to use your own cleaning supplies or have your customers provide them.
Decorate homes to earn extra cash
During the holidays, not everyone has the ability to decorate their home for one reason or another. Maybe they have a physical disability. Maybe they are afraid of heights. No matter what the reasons though, a large portion of those folks will pay someone to decorate their homes for them. This isn’t something that can only be done for Christmas either. People decorate their homes for the holidays all year long.
Become a Mother’s Helper to earn extra cash
Sometimes, no matter how much we would like to avoid it, Moms – especially single Moms – need help. We like to think that we’re able to do it all, but if we were honest, we can’t. Lord knows that I can’t do it all even though I would love to be able to. For moms like me, a Mother’s Helper can be a God send. Mother’s helpers can do everything from watch the kids while she works from home to laundry and running errands. For her, she gets an awesome helper. For you, you get to earn extra cash that your family needs.
