Ways to make extra money????

midlight21 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-22-2006, 03:07 PM

I need some ways to make extra money. I tried selling Avon, but I spent more in business supplies than I made. That equated to money back on our tax return that the IRS has now taken and given to a child support agency because of a false claim on my husband's credit report stating he owes child support. He's ALWAYS paid! So.....in order to get rid of these pesky credit card bills and phone calls, I need a way to make some extra money. Any ideas?

34saving · #2 (**permalink**) 03-22-2006, 03:19 PM

eBay. Half.com. eBookdrop.com. Garage sale. Any special skills? We're almost to lawn mowing season.

midlight21 · #3 (**permalink**) 03-22-2006, 03:59 PM

I'm selling a cd on e-bay right now. I do need to have a garage sale but in my city you have to have a license to have one...and it costs $50, so I'm going to see about doing a garage sale with my best friend in another city close by. If I mowed lawns....OMG....I would die my allergies are soooo bad. My skills are mostly technical related such as PC's and networking stuff.

abowers · #4 (**permalink**) 03-22-2006, 08:05 PM

Try Craig's List to sell things locally if you want to avoid the garage sale fee. You can sell so much stuff on Ebay too-- I've been able to sell plenty of Old Navy or American Eagle clothing that I've only worn a couple times. There are lots of people looking for things from past seasons they may have missed out on, surprisingly.

If you have a skill-- I started knitting a couple years ago and made a bag here and there for my aunt, my mom, etc. Then people starting asking my family members where they got the bags, my family started taking "orders" for bags, and it's taken off from there. My aunt had a little party in November with bags I made in advance - she invited her friends, I sold about $800 worth of bags!! It was a very unexpected success.

midlight21 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-22-2006, 10:23 PM

Well, I'm okay at making jewelry. I made my own silver and pearl jewelry for my wedding. I also made my own wedding bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets....and my sister's wedding bouquet. They were silk flowers though.

Tree0164 · #6 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 03:55 AM

You can use those skills and start doing craft fairs. You can sell those items on ebay as well or create your own website-that does take hard work because you need to get it ready for the search engines as well.

midlight21 · #7 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 05:14 PM

I have no problem setting up a website and selling that way but it's driving traffic to the site I can't figure out. How do you get customers to your site...and actually buy something from it? I'd have to do some budgeting to see if we can afford for me to buy the supplies I would need to get started. It's fun stuff though!

Anyone know any legitimate companies that I can do typing in my spare time for?

lrjohnson · #8 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 05:26 PM

A lot of businesses don't seem to recycle employee bottles and cans. At a couple places i've worked, I've just "accepted" the recyling and made incidental money. Maybe if you solicited a couple local places, they'd let you stick a bin in if you cam to pick it up frequently? Especially if you had a tie, like the neighbor was an employee, or you were a regular customer?

If you have a source of free fruit (blackberries in my region), make Jam and sell. If you do it right, pectin and the other items can be darn cheap, and people are willing to pay crazy money for local homegrown hand craft items, especially if you can do a nice label.

dealsaver · #9 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 05:57 PM

Take advantage of some 0% credit card offers. Invest the money you get from them in accounts that give you cash bonuses for opening them and in high interest savings accounts. If you have equity in your home, look for a home equity line of credit with a low intro rate and no closing costs. Invest that moneyint a higher rate savings account and pocket the difference. You can also open a few credit cards that give you bonuses for opening an account. Some people make $10,000+ a year doing this.

abowers · #10 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 06:19 PM

I made my own website (of course it's not super-professional looking, but it works) -- you can also make websites through yahoo. I haven't done the search engine thing, I've used the website more to keep track of items I've made, and my family & friends have given out the website to people that are interested. Also, when I had that party in the fall, I gave out the website in case people were interested in buying later. You can have people check out through paypal, if you set up an account. Paypal has merchant tools including a free paypal shopping cart -- which is pretty cool.

An alternative to selling through ebay is a website called Etsy.com -- It's all handmade items, and they charge less than ebay to list items.

There were many craft shows I could have done back in Rochester, but I'm not familiar with this area to know festivals, etc. where I'd be able to set up a booth. Usually the fee is around $50-100 to enter. Maybe more depending on where you are, who knows. Sometimes schools have craft shows, that could be something to look into.

midlight21 · #11 (**permalink**) 03-23-2006, 10:06 PM

Thanks for the Etsy.com site. I'm going to locate all my jewelry making supplies now....

Maybe I can make some money listing there.

midlight21 · #12 (**permalink**) 03-24-2006, 01:51 PM

Okay, I've got a semiformed plan I think. My husband makes the really nice modern frames for pictures ranging from 3"x5" all the way up to small poster size. They cost a lot to make but they are so awesome that I think they'll sell. I'm going to make baby bracelets, remembrance jewelry, and wedding jewelry seeing as how I made my own wedding jewelry and it turned out great. So, now I just have to find all my jewelry making supplies.

34saving · #13 (**permalink**) 03-24-2006, 02:51 PM

Not that you asked for advice, but . . .avoid lead and advertise that your jewelry is lead free. A four year old in Minnesota died from lead poisoning a couple of days ago after eating part of a Reebok charm bracelet! It's been all over the news, so I'm sure lead free will be a good thing.

midlight21 · #14 (**permalink**) 03-24-2006, 03:07 PM

OMG! That poor child. That's soooo sad. Lead free, definitely.

shelbylovesmelby · #15 (**permalink**) 03-28-2006, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midlight21

I'm selling a cd on e-bay right now. I do need to have a garage sale but in my city you have to have a license to have one...and it costs $50, so I'm going to see about doing a garage sale with my best friend in another city close by. If I mowed lawns....OMG....I would die my allergies are soooo bad. My skills are mostly technical related such as PC's and networking stuff.

You have to buy a permit!?!?!

My mil said our state was actually going to try to force people to claim the $ the $ they made + pay sales taxes on RUMMAGES! Insane how municipalities can find a way to milk a $ out of even a kids lemonade stand.

When I was a kid my mom used to collect cans for extra $. But with the invention of plastic bottles, it's hard to just pick up cans in the parking lots sunday morning (there used to be a ton of spots where the cruisers would hang out when it was still legal). So we just save our own & turn them in.

there are a few web sites that give you points that you can trade for gift cards and other rewards. They take a while to get things you'd like but FREE is FREE.

midlight21 · #16 (**permalink**) 03-29-2006, 02:28 PM

Yeah I have to pay a permit. I've taken to listing things on craigslist though. I can do an online garage sale there.