Being young with little experience in the work force and also trying to be in school full time, making money, can be tough. College students are known for having very little income that live off of cup of noodles and pizza rolls, but it doesn't always have to be that way every day! I have created a list of eight ways college students or even younger teens can make some extra cash.
1. Sell Your Old Books
This is a great idea for college students who have books from past classes just lying around. You can list them online on sites such as BookFinder or Amazon. The better condition the books, the more you get paid. This is a easy and relatively fast way to make money.
2. Surveys
There are a number of online sites that will pay to do surveys for a wide variety of companies. These websites have payouts ranging from 10 cents to $10 a survey! My favorite site that I personally use a lot is iPoll. Their payout is one of the highest I have seen. Once you complete your surveys and want to cash out, you can either send your earnings to your PayPal account or get a gift card to a large selection of stores including Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc.
3. Clean out You're Closet
I don't know about you, but I always have a few things in my closet that I loved when I bought it but only wore it once and sometimes not at all. There are many websites and apps that you can sell your clothing items on. My favorite site for this is Poshmark. You can sell your gently used designer items on this site and maybe also do a little shopping while you are on the site. You can also sell your clothes to gently used clothing stores. They will give you cash right on the spot for clothes they think they will be able to sell.
4. Take Advantage Of Your Skills And Talents
There are many ways you can earn money by providing services of things you are good at doing. A perfect website for this is Fiverr. Fiverr is one of the world's largest marketplace for digital services starting at $5. I personally have made over $4,000 in two years on this website. That may not sound like a lot, but when you are young and desperate for cash, it's more than enough! This is great if you are good at online marketing, web design, Photoshop, voice overs, or even random things like singing someone happy birthday. There are endless amount of ideas you can do on this website. If you consider yourself pretty smart in a certain subject, you could also tutor. Many families look for tutors for children of all ages and needs.
5. Write Reviews
This is something that is very simple and easy to do. Many companies want a lot of good reviews so more people buy their products. What a lot of businesses do is send out their product (most of the time free of charge) to people willing to write an honest in depth review on their product. I personally do this a lot through the site I mentioned in the previous tip and I have gotten so many things for free plus I am getting paid for it! This is especially fun if you love writing and getting free things. Who doesn't like getting free stuff? I know this girl does.
6. Start A Blog
If you love writing about things you are passionate about, this is a great idea for you! This does take a bit more effort then my other tips but it is enjoyable and can definitely pay well. There are many ways you can make money through a blog such as promotions, ads, product reviews, and so much more. You can also earn money to write articles for other blog owners. Some people will pay writers to write on a certain topic they are not familiar with.
7. Social Media Management
In our generation, it seems almost everyone has some sort of social media account. Companies that want to promote their business on social media will sometimes hire younger people that are more familiar with the internet to manage their social media accounts. This can range from scheduling posts to running online promotions. This is something that can have a very good payout and can also lead to a full time job if wanted.
8. Save, Save, Save
We are young and when we see a good amount of money in our account, we tend to splurge which is a good thing once and a while but then when we need the money for something important...uh oh. Make sure to make a routine of storing money away for bigger unexpected expenses. A good idea is to put around 20 percent of your earnings each time you get paid into a savings account. So the next time your car breaks down or you have an unexpected trip to make, you are financially covered. This is one of the biggest tips I could stress.
Money is something almost every student stresses about and I hope I have slightly lightened that burden for you. All of these tips I have done or currently do myself so they really do work and are promised to make you more money. Making money does not always have to be boring and serious either. Tell a friend about some of these and try them together! Sometimes two brains are better then one.
"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune."
–Jim Rohn
