Are you tight on money and searching frantically for any way that you can make extra money every month?
Or maybe you’re pretty comfortable, but it’s always nice to have a bit of spare change lying around.
When doing research I came across countless ways to make extra money every month, some ways were obvious, and you might even already be doing them, but some of the ways are things I would never have thought of, and I’m excited to put them into action in my life.
Being a stay at home wife means living off of a single income, which means that I need to be constantly looking for ways to cut any and all of our bills possible, and look for side hustles that I can do to make some extra change.
Part of my money saving strategies includes meal planning. Meal planning sounded horrifying when I first heard of it. I knew it could cut my husband’s and my grocery bill down by a lot every month, but I was afraid to start, and I didn’t know where to start.
Then when I finally got the courage to try meal planning, I failed miserably. You might be wondering how on earth you can fail at meal planning, but I am here to tell you that somehow it is possible.
I am also here to tell you that you don’t have to fail at it. You can learn from my mistakes. If meal planning is something that interests you, click here to head over to my post that will give you the in’s and out’s of meal planning to help you have a swift and effortless transfer from never meal planning to becoming a seasoned meal planner.
(THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE. YOU CAN READ OUR DISCLOSURE POLICYHERE.)
If you’ve gone over that and just don’t have time to start meal planning, the $5 Meal Plan is a great way to go for people who are too tight on time to start meal planning.
With the $5 Meal Plan, which just happens to be exactly as it sounds like, just $5 a month and you can effortlessly meal plan and save money, you will get healthy, affordable, and tasty meals (and a complete grocery list sent along with it) sent straight to your inbox. You can learn what it’s all about here.
Have you ever been scraping the bottom on your bank account, wondering how you are going to face the days to follow and all the bills that come with them?
My goal is to help people like you see that there are ways that you can save extra money, some of the ways that you can save require little to no extra effort, so if you’re busy with your day job and don’t have time to start a business or get a second job, there is still hope for you and there are a large variety of ways that you can earn a bit of extra money every month.
28 EASY WAYS TO MAKE EXTRA MONEY EVERY MONTH
1. START A BLOG
Blogging started as just an outlet for me, somewhere that I could write out my thoughts and opinions. But it didn’t stay like that for long.
Just a short couple months after I started my blog I realized that I wanted more from it. I didn’t just want it to be a place where I occasionally posted and got very few people coming to read.
I then signed up for Lena Gott’s Traffic Transformation Guide, which helped my blog grow and helped me learn how to treat my blog if I wanted it to turn into a business.
By starting a blog you can make money every month, some people even quit their jobs and make a full-time job income from their blogs.
If you would like to read my honest and down to earth opinion on Lena Gott’s Traffic Transformation Guide you can do so here.
2.EBATES
Chances are you have heard about this popular cashback website by now, but if you haven’t, here’s a quick rundown on what they do: Ebates is a cashback website that offers coupons and cash back for over 2,000 retailers.
Some popular stores they offer cash back from are: Walmart, Kohl’s, Amazon, eBay, Macy’s Groupon, JCPenney, Bestbuy and many, many more.
When you make your simple, everyday purchases through Ebates they give you cash back.
There is no signup fee and no monthly costs. So you can sign up totally free and earn cash back without paying a dime, how neat is that! (And when you sign up through my link you get a $10 cash bonus…As if you needed another reason to use Ebates!)
3. TAKE SURVEYS
There are countless survey sites out there to choose from, and it can become overwhelming to find the best fit for you. But making money from surveys is possible, you just need to do your research and find which survey sites give you the most money, or “points”, for each survey, compare survey lengths, etc.
If taking surveys is how you want to make a few extra bucks each month then I would strongly suggest checking out Survey JunkieandSurvey Voices.
4. RECYCLE
Saving your recycling and bringing it into a bottle depot is another great way to make extra money.
It always surprises me the number of people that don’t save their recycling but rather just throw it away. Store all of your used, empty, and rinsed out recycling in large garbage bags somewhere out of the way.
Then when you have enough stored up, bring it to a bottle depot and get a refund. The money you get from recycling might just surprise you.
5. CLEAN HOUSES
Put an add up and spread the word and see if there is anybody that needs their house cleaned. Anyone from a busy family that just doesn’t have time to keep up with the cleaning to an elderly person who isn’t able to clean anymore.
Cleaning houses is a great way to earn extra income, on your time. You can start small and clean one house once a week or once every two weeks, and if you feel like you have time to put another house on the list then do that. It is not an everyday thing, so it is great for those busy people that want to make a bit of extra money when they have a few days available.
6. WALK DOGS
Just like cleaning houses, walking dogs can also be a great way to earn some money. And the bonus of this one? You are getting paid for going for a walk and being outside, how cool is that.
Talk to friends, or put up some advertisem*nts that you are looking for a few dogs to walk.
7. SHOVEL DRIVEWAYS, RAKE LEAVES, MOW LAWNS
There is always some kind of yard work to be done no matter what time of the year it is. In the winter you can shovel driveways and sidewalks for people, in the summer you can mow lawns and do garden care, and in the fall you can rake leaves.
8. HOUSE SIT
I have friends who house sit a lot, and they love it. House sitting is a great way to make money and also get to adventure around living in different houses, it can be pretty fun.
Start with house sitting for a friend, then start to spread the word and in no time you will have a good line up of recommendations behind your name and you’ll be able to start house sitting more and more people’s houses.
9. ANIMAL SIT
If you know people going away who don’t need a housesitter but still need someone to watch their animals, offer to animal sit for them.
Take their pet into your care for a few days while they are away and earn some money while doing it.
10. GO THROUGH YOUR HOUSE AND SELL THINGS YOU DON’T USE ANYMORE
I’m willing to bet that if you were to go through your closet, drawers, cabinets, and all the rooms in your house, that you would find a large number of items that are still in good shape, but you just don’t use anymore.
Why keep them sitting there taking up space? Why not throw an add on Facebook, Kijiji, or eBay and sell them. You will end up with less stuff just taking up space in your house, and some extra cash.
11. BABYSIT
Do you know a busy momma who needs a break? Or a working family who needs someone to watch their kids? Offer to babysit their kids for them.
If you already have kids, it can double as a playdate for your kids. By babysitting you are giving exhausted parents a much-needed break, and making a bit of money as well.
12. BAKE AND SELL
Do you like to bake or cook? Put an advertisem*nt up and spread the word that you are able to cook a meal or bake some goodies.
You might be surprised by the response you get. There are many, many busy people out there who would love a home cooked meal but just don’t have the time for one, or who would love some homemade sweet treats but aren’t bakers themselves so they always buy from the store.
This is a great way to get some side money because if you’re someone who loves to bake, you get to do what you enjoy, and make some money from it.
14. BUY, FIX UP, RESELL
Try making a little business out of buying old ratty things, fixing them up, and reselling them for more. I would advise you not to dive in with both feet at first, maybe try testing the waters for a while to see if this is something that you’re good at and if it is – then fly away with it.
15. TUTOR
Offer to tutor some kids that you know are struggling, or advertise that you are starting to tutor as a side business. But be careful that you don’t take on more than you can chew.
16. DETAIL CARS
I know someone who does this and is very successful at it. Advertise that you are detailing cars for a fraction of the cost of a dealership.
People will bring their vehicles to you and you will clean the whole inside of the car and get paid for it. You don’t need a ton of stuff to get started, but you do need to have the basic cleaning things. Also, be prepared for some pretty dirty cars to come your way.
17. HELP PEOPLE WITH THEIR TAXES
Whether you know what you’re doing when it comes to taxes and want to help people complete their taxes from home, or you just want to offer to help them get all of their papers together and organized to send off for taxes.
Either option is a great way to make some money and help people along the way. Tax season is a busy and stressful time for people, I’m sure there will be many people who would love some help.
18. BOOKKEEP
If you have a knowledge in bookkeeping and are good with numbers, then bookkeeping could be a great option for you to try out and make some extra money.
There are many businesses (especially small/home businesses) who are swamped in their bookkeeping and would love some help with it.
19. WRITE GUEST POSTS
If you’re a blogger, or even if you’re not but want to submit your work to a popular site and get paid for your post, I’d suggest you look into guest posting.
There are many blogs who accept guestposts and will even pay you for them. Make sure you read through each individual site’s page to make sure that you follow their rules before submitting a guest post for their site.
20. WRITE OUT RESUMES FOR PEOPLE
Offer to help write out resumes or even just help people with their resumes. Many people are confused and frustrated when it comes to creating a professional looking resume that won’t turn employers away.
Offer to help them set up their resume for a reasonable price so they have a better chance at getting a job.
21. SELL YOUR GIFT CARDS
Do you have some gift cards that have been laying around for ages and you still haven’t used? Did you know that you can sell those gift cards for cash? You can join Raisecompletely for free and either sell or buy gift cards off of there.
22.CHECKOUT 51
When you go grocery shopping, check ibotta and/or Checkout 51 to see which stores and products that you can get cash back on by using the app.
Simply keep your receipts and scan them when you get home, claim whichever items you can, and earn cash back.
How cool is it that you can earn cash back from things like these (and Ebates)just by making purchases you would be making anyway. There’s so much money being left on the table that people just don’t know about.
23.AFFILIATE MARKETING
If you’ve got a blog, I strongly encourage you to sign up to some affiliate programs. You could be earning income from products you already use and want to promote, simply by adding affiliate links.
I recommend signing up with ShareASale to start applying to affiliate companies and earning affiliate income.
24. SELL ON ETSY
Etsy has turned huge! If you have a talent for creating stuff, selling on Etsy could be a great way for you to make a bit of money. You can work on your projects on your own time, post them as they’re ready, and sell them.
Whether you crochet, knit, draw, paint, create things online, or anything like that, it can all be sold on Etsy. If you’ve got a passion for creating, why not go one step further and make some money off of selling your creations.
25. BECOME A VA
Virtual Assistants are in quite high demand. If you’re good on the computer and want to make some good money, sign up to become a virtual assistant. You get to create your own hours and work from the comfort of your own home.
26. SELL AT FARMERS MARKETS
Do you have a garden, do you knit or crochet, do you draw? The list goes on and on and on. If you do these things you could be making extra money by selling your stuff at farmers markets. Everybody loves fresh vegetables from a home garden, or anything homemade, really.
27. HAVE A GARAGE SALE
Go through your house and collect everything that you no longer use, but is still in good shape. Get a few friends to bring their stuff over, too. Put everything together and advertise that you will be having a garage sale and make a few bucks through that.
28.SWAGBUCKS
Did you know that Swagbucks is the largest online rewards site? They offer free gift cards when you use Swagbucks to take surveys, online polls, do your online shopping, search the web, watch videos & play games.
This means that you could be getting paid for your everyday online activities. If you do a quick search online, you could be getting paid for it. Swagbucks is completely free!
Related:
20 Things We Took Off Our Grocery List to Save Money
5 Money Saving Tips That Make All the Difference
10 Ways We Save Money While Living on One Income
22 Things That Frugal People DON’T Do
