8 Easy Ways to Earn Extra Cash

1. Participate in Online Surveys

   One of the easiest ways to make money is by talking about yourself! You might be surprised at how many surveys are out there just waiting for answers from people like you. The best part is this requires minimum effort (seriously, you can fill these out while you watch movies or while avoiding conversation at the dinner table). These won’t pay much if you’re doing them on a one-time basis, since they generally only pay a couple bucks per survey, but doing multiple surveys in one sitting at least once a week could really add up. Try going to websites like SwagBucks, GlobalTestMarket, InboxDollars or OpinionOutpost and fill out surveys during commercial breaks of your favorite show, during movie night, or whenever you decide!

2. Join Mechanical Turk

   Like participating in surveys online, Amazon provides a service called Mechanical Turk and if you do it right, you could be earning an extra $50 a week. Not going to make you a millionaire but will definitely help out the budget. On MTurk, you get paid for completing online tasks, or HITs. Some are so quick and simple that they pay as little as $0.10, but even so, you could earn $6 an hour if you’re doing one every minute. It’s simple to figure out and all you need to participate is an Amazon account. Brief warning: when participating in higher-paying HITs, make sure that they don’t require you to spend anything to participate first.

3. Review EVERYTHING!

   Are you opinionated? You’re in luck. There are websites that will pay you to share your opinions on certain products, places, websites, or brands. Often times, these sites want you to have a blog or a large following on social media, but that doesn’t mean anyone can’t do it (or that you can’t start a blog purely for this reason), and you may earn as little as $1 or as much as $1000 depending on what website you use and what you’re reviewing. Check out sites like Software Judge, ValuedVoice, Cooperatize, User Testing, or PayPerPost.

   You can also earn benefits by becoming an Elite Member of Yelp. By writing helpful reviews, including photos, and reviewing consistently, you can gain invites to new restaurants or events just, so you’ll review them. Pretty good deal, huh?

4. Sell Your Things…

   Are you a retired shopaholic with a closet full of clothes you never wear? Or do you have a bunch of gadgets or books sitting there unused? Consider selling your less-loved things either online or out in the real world, like in a garage sale or at a consignment store.

   Some online resources for selling are:

•         Online sales and auctions like Amazon, eBay, or Bonanza. Each will charge a fee for selling through the site, usually depending on the sale price of the item.
•         Clothing sales can be done through apps like Poshmark or Tradesy.
•         Local online sales like Facebook pages, Letgo, Craigslist or 5miles.
•         Sell your electronics on Swappa, Gazelle or Glyde, although you may have more luck on mainstream sights like Amazon or eBay.
5. …Or Rent Them!

   If you’re not ready to say goodbye to some of your favorite toys forever, you can always look into renting them out. Of course, there could be some legal issues to be concerned with, like potential harm to your renters or taxes you’d have to pay based on this income, but don’t let that scare you. Try Zilkok, Loanables or even just Craigslist.

6. Crafty? Sell Your Work on Etsy.

   You’ll have to spend money on the materials, but if your hobbies and passions already include arts and crafts, you might as well try making a profit off of it. Just be sure that you’re factoring in the cost of making your items, what the competition is like, and of course, any fees associated with selling on the sight. And maybe make sure that there actually is a market out there for what you’re trying to sell.

7. Go Viral

   Okay, don’t go crazy and video yourself running into a door or eating 5,000 ghost peppers just to get internet famous. But if you genuinely think you have interesting things to talk about, why not start a podcast or a YouTube channel? It could take a while, so this isn’t the most reliable or quickest way to earn some cash on the side, but once you’ve generated a big enough audience, you’ll start to be paid for advertisements. It doesn’t even require fancy equipment if it’s just yourself. Get creative. You never know what the next big thing on YouTube is going to be. (I mean come on, if people are making millions by posting videos of making slime, surely you can come up with something too.) At the very least, by allowing ads on your posts, you’ll earn a little more as they gain views.

8. Be a Delivery Person

   If you have a car, enjoy being on the road, and don’t mind your car smelling like food, you could earn at least $10 an hour delivering food through apps like UberEATS or GrubHub. These services pay you per delivery, and you could earn tips. The benefit is that you get to choose when you work. Nothing going on a random afternoon? Can’t sleep at 2AM? You know there are some people really wanting their fix of food.

   You could also deliver groceries through Burpy, Shipt or InstaCart and make more along the lines of $15-$25 an hour.

Remember, none of these are designed to make you the next millionaire…unless of course your YouTube channel really does go insanely viral. These are just some easy, and maybe even fun, ways to add a little more wiggle room in your budget.