extra money

How to Make $50 a Day

September 11, 2020 By Kathryn Vercillo Leave a Comment

Learning how to make $50 a day can significantly improve your finances. You can use that extra cash to pay down debt. Alternatively, you can put it into savings. There are many different ways to earn this extra cash through hustling, passive income, and making money online. Here’s a roundup of suggestions to get you started.

Make $50 a Day with Items You Have

There are things that you already own that can help you easily begin to earn extra money. Let’s start there:

Rent Out a Room with AirBnB

If you have a spare room in your home that you can rent out then this is one of the quickest ways to make $50 a day. After all, that’s as cheap or cheaper than most hotel rooms. Therefore, people are often willing to pay that rate. Of course, you should take into consideration that you’ll spend a little more doing extra laundry and cleaning, but overall this is one of the most consistent ways to earn that extra cash.

Rent Out Your Car

If you aren’t using your car every day then why just have it sit there? Instead, figure out how to make $50 a day by renting it out to others who need to use it temporarily. There are sites such as Getaround that make it easy for you to navigate setting this up.

Rent Out Garage / Storage Space

If you have extra space for storage then you can rent that out to someone who needs it. Of course, whether or not you can make $50 per day doing this really depends on your area. Right now in San Francisco there’s a huge exodus of people leaving the city, at least temporarily, due to COVID-19. As a result, storage rental prices have drastically risen. People need that storage space so they’re willing to pay high prices.

That said, you can also get creative to make more money from your garage. For example, could you rent it out a few nights a week to different bands that need rehearsal space? What about renting it to an artist who needs a studio? Or, during these times when people are working from home, you might even be able to rent it out as a “man cave” / “she shed” to people who are happy to pay $50 per day to escape from home for a little while.

Rent Out a Parking Space

Do you have a parking space in your building that you don’t use? Or do you own a home with its own garage? If so, and if you live in an area where parking is at a premium, then you might be able to rent out your parking spot. Here in San Francisco, it’s not impossible for people to make $50 a day renting out their parking spot to travelers who are staying in certain neighborhoods.

Sell Your Stuff

Declutter your home and sell everything that you don’t need. Become an eBay seller. Try Poshmark. Sell your books online. Sell your old computers, phones, and gadgets. Although this isn’t sustainable forever, since of course your amount of stuff is finite, it’s a great way to make $50 / day for a short period of time to boost your savings or pay down debt. And, if you discover that you really like selling stuff, you might be able to parlay it into a side job doing the same work for other people at a commission.

How to Make $50 a Day Online

It’s nice to be able to make use of your possessions to earn extra money. However, honestly, when most people think about how to make $50 a day, they’re thinking about what they can do online in their spare time to earn that extra cash. There are many great options:

Freelance Writing / Design

Notably, this isa real full-time professional job so it’s not easy to break into if you’re new. That said, if you already have skills that translate well then you can begin finding work fairly quickly. For example, if you have already done content writing within the context of your work history, then you can brush up your resume to reflect that and start looking for freelance writing jobs. If you have a graphic design background, there’s work for you as well.

Virtual Assistant

Anyone who has basic administrative experience can parlay that a job working as a virtual personal assistance for someone who needs help across all kinds of different fields. And even without that kind of experience, there might be jobs out there for you. If, in your spare time, you’re happy to help someone schedule their appointments, book travel plans, and organize their calendar then you might do well in this kind of work.

Rideshare / Delivery Driver

Of course, this is a hybrid offline/online job as it requires that you leave the home but also that you’re connected to the Internet constantly. In any case, this kind of app-based gig work using your car is one of the most popular ways that people turn to today when looking for how to make $50 a day.

In the same vein, you can sign up with a site like Instacart to do shopping for others.

Get Paid to Take Surveys

The truth is that you will have to spend quite a few hours of the day doing this if you want to make $50. That said, it’s not impossible. And it will put some extra cash in your pocket. Learn more about getting paid for your opinion here.

Offline Ways to Make $50 a Day

If you’re already online regularly for your day job then you might want to know how to make $50 a day offline. After all, you can only stare at a screen for so many hours of the day. Luckily, there are a lot of fun gigs that will allow you to earn some extra cash:

Dog Walking / Pet Sitting

If you’re an animal lover then this can be one of the most pleasurable ways to make that extra cash. Whether you join a service like Rover, set up an account on a site like Care.com, or simply head to the dog park and use word of mouth, you should quickly find it easy to get gigs. You can walk one or more dogs at a time. You can petsit in your home or in someone else’s.

House Sitting

This is often a spinoff of petsitting because so many of the people who want you to stay in their home expect you to care for their pets. However, that’s not always the case. Even if you don’t want to watch pets, you might be able to get some good house sitting gigs. Some people just want a person who will water the plants, collect the mail, and accept deliveries while they are away.

Babysitting/ Childcare / Mother’s Helper

If you prefer children to pets then perhaps you’ll want to get a gig taking care of them. This can be a delightful way to spend a few hours, easily earning $50 or more per day.

Tutoring

During the pandemic, children have started doing a lot of their learning at home. Parents don’t always have the time, skills, energy, or willingness to devote to educating their children. Therefore, there’s a growing interest in home-based tutors. (Of course, this can also be an online job or a hybrid of the two.)

Decluttering / Organizing

Do you excel at and enjoy organizing closets, files, and other areas that many people keep cluttered? If so, people need your skills. Start by offering to declutter for friends for a small fee and take it from there.

Tailoring / Upholstery / Domestic Skills

Do you know how to sew? What about reupholstering old furniture to make it look new? If you have domestic skills like these then you can market those. This is a great way to start making extra cash, perhaps doing something that you really enjoy.

Lawn Care

Mow lawns. Rake leaves. If you can do a bit of gardening and landscaping then you can earn even more money on the side.

Almost Any Part-Time Job

Remember when you were a teenager and you were willing to accept almost any job just to start earning some money? If you’re looking for how to make $50 a day then go back to that mentality. Get a job at a coffee shop, a fast food restaurant, cleaning offices. Work the minimum number of hours required to earn that small amount of money. Since it’s your second job and not your career, you might even find that it’s kind of relaxing this time around.

More Ways to Make That Extra Cash

If you’re still asking how to make $50 a day in other ways, here are some miscellaneous extra ideas:

Create a course and sell it through a channel such as Udemy.
Write and sell one or more ebooks.
Make and sell your own food.
Make and sell your own jewelry, stationery, art, etc. using a site like Etsy.
Start a blog / YouTube channel and make ad income.
Take the time to get good at investing your money and earning that passive income.
Taking the long view, purchase a second home as a real estate investment.
Advertise on your car.
Become a paid friend to a tourist, elderly person, or other in need.

What is your favorite way to drum up $50 a day quickly?

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Different Ways To Earn Money Online

February 13, 2020 By Susan Paige Leave a Comment

Advancements in technology have brought about many positive changes in the world today. For as long as you know how to use it wisely, technology plays an imperative role not just in social activities but even that of employment and career needs as well. When you browse through the Internet today, you’re sure to find many websites that offer jobs. More often than not, too, these websites offer legitimate ways to earn a good living.

In this article, you’re going to learn about the many different ways for you to earn money online. Some you can do on your part-time, while others can be done as a full-time employee, only that your home is your office. You’ve only got to filter your options based on that which best matches your needs, preferences, and schedule.

Taking Online Surveys

Taking online surveys is one of the best examples to earn money. But, often, the pay isn’t as high. You have to take so many surveys before you can come up with a stable and good withdrawable amount. With taking surveys, therefore, this is something that you should do on top of another online job, or on top of a day job that you do at the office.

The good thing about earning through taking online surveys is that these are often very easy to do. Plus with paid survey sites, you can also complete and accomplish them during your idle time. Rather than wasting time being unproductive online, use that time instead for a money-making opportunity through taking online surveys.

Be careful though – a lot of surveys take a good deal of time, and don’t necessarily pay out a lot.

Use A Mobile App

Leveraging the app economy means taking advantage of the services offered in mobile apps. If you wish to earn money, you can also use these apps. Depending on the kind of app, it’s up to you to match it with the skills that you have for you to earn. Common examples of mobile apps that are popular for this reason are the following:

- Inbox Dollars – This is an app that you can use to earn by watching TV, shopping, and taking surveys.
- iBotta – Earn by shopping? iBotta gives you cash back for purchasing featured products by major retailers. An excellent way to go about with this is to sign up for iBotta and check its offers first before you head out to shop for your needs. If there’s anything that you can buy through this app and get cashback for. One important to factor to consider that iBotta isn’t going to make you money, per say. It just reduces the amount your groceries cost.
- Swagbucks – This app also lets you earn even while you’re sitting on your couch. Through surfing the web, answering videos, shopping, or taking surveys, you’re paid cash or given a gift card.

Get Paid For Searching The Web

If you’re the type who loves to search the web during your free time, why not get paid each time that you search? This is one of the easiest ways for you to earn an income without making any changes in your routine or lifestyle. But, like answering surveys, this also isn’t the most sustainable option. You can do this on the side, along with a better-paying job.

Sell Your Photos Online

Selling your photos online is an excellent way for you to earn a passive income. All you’ve got to do is to post your photos on sites such as Shutterstock. Each time that another user downloads or needs your photo, you get paid a royalty for it. The great thing about selling your photos online is that you don’t even necessarily have to be a professional photographer. If you love taking pictures and you’ve got so many pictures to share with the world, then why not do so. That way, your photos don’t just stay stagnant. You get to earn from them, too.

Dinksfinance has an excellent review article on how to make money as an amateur photographer. Read it if you get a chance.

Trade Online

Trading online is one of the most lucrative ways to earn through the web. The only downside to it is that this stuff is extremely serious. You need to first have at least a minimum background in trading before you get right into it. Otherwise, you could be a risk for serious financial losses.

Here are some rules to follow:

- - Always have a trading strategy
  - Stay informed with the latest updates in securities, trading methods and securities regulations
  - Determine the particular trading style that you’d like to use
  - Risk only the amount that you can afford to lose

Sell Your Stuff Online

Selling your stuff online can either be some of your used stuff to earn extra income or new things, such as through running an online business. If you take the time to look through websites online, you’re going to find so many sites selling many different things, such as ThreadUp, for instance. If you’re a fashion enthusiast who loves to create your own clothes, this is a good place for you to start. Read through this article to learn how much you can make with ThreadUp. Other good sites are ebay and Facebook marketplace. Craigslist is becoming less popular.

In social media sites also, there are online shops already multiplying like rabbits. This is how in-demand online shops are today.

Running an online store is an excellent way to earn an income because the capital doesn’t have to be as substantial. You don’t even need to have a physical warehouse or a physical store. While at the comfort of your home, you can manage and start to earn an income. If this is managed well, and it grows, your business can even become a stable source of income not only for yourself, but for your family.

Start Your Blog

If you’re a writer or love writing, starting a blog is a perfect fit for you. The great thing about starting a blog is that you don’t have to face the screen all the time. You can do this on the side, along with another job. That way, whatever you earn from your blog is already an extra income for you.

With blogging, however, you need to have patience. As you start, you still have to work really hard to build steady traffic to visit your site. With the right effort and determination, however, you can slowly begin to build financial stability through your blog.

To help you along this line, here are some tips for you remember:

- - Have a unique blog name
  - Choose a blogging platform that you best prefer
  - Create a theme that matches the niche of your blog
  - Choose a niche that you’re comfortable writing regularly about, such as a finance blog, if you used to work in the field of finance
  - Always write about relevant topics

Don’t forget, blogging is not easy money, you’ll likely need to work at it for a year before you see any serious results.

Download And Sell Courses Online

This applies to you if you have a field of expertise that you’re specializing in. For instance, you used to be a professor before you had to take a leave. You can even be an expert in fashion design, photography, blogging, Vlogging, or content creation. Whatever it is, there’s an opportunity for you to create classes or courses and sell them online.

As working online has become quite in-demand, so also has the clamor for students to take online classes. This means that as the demand for online courses stays steady, so too will the need for professors and other experts to teach courses online. People often want quick and easy approaches to learning new subjects, so there is plenty of room to

Start Affiliate Marketing

Working as an affiliate marketer has a necessary prerequisite to it. Before you can start with affiliate marketing, you’ll first need to have a blog or a Vlog up-and-running with a steady following or audience. You only become attractive to companies looking for affiliates when you already have a strong audience. That way, you can be successful in influencing people to buy the particular product or service that you’re promoting.

Affiliate marketing means that companies pay you to advertise their products and services on your blog. You can be paid with a certain amount of commission for every sale made while using your link or code.

Generally, affiliate marketing works well when you’re also promoting products and services that fall within the niche of your blog. To be more successful, here are some tips to remember:

- - Be passionate also about the products or services that you’re promoting (e.g., you can’t promote a resort well when you don’t even love traveling)
  - Always track the progress of your affiliate marketing
  - Learn from other affiliate marketers who are more successful than you

Conclusion

Earning a stable income online may seem like a difficult thing for many. There are even those that dread the idea, as many make it out to be more complicated than it is. But, the truth is it isn’t. Working online can, in fact, sometimes be easier than having to commute and report to the office on long, traffic hours. Just like any other job, though, it also requires some discipline. You have to set your time, such that you’re still productive and don’t end up slacking just cause you’re home. Whether you’re looking for something part-time or one that can sustain your family in the long run, there are many opportunities for work online. This list comprises only a few of them.

For more excellent lists of ways to make money, consider these other Saving Advice articles:

Thirty-Eight Easy Ways To Make Extra Money

Five Ways To Make Money On Your Phone

One Hundred and Two Ways To Generate Extra Cash

Part-Time Jobs That College Students Can Apply For

February 11, 2020 By Susan Paige Leave a Comment

During school breaks, college students have a lot of free time in their hands. Rather than wasting those free time doing nothing at home, it is recommended to use time wisely by engaging in fruitful activities. For example, they can search for part-time jobs that do not require any job experience. This is an opportunity for them to earn a little money which they can use once they are back in school again.

The Top 10 Part-Time Job Opportunities for College Students:

Freelance Content Writer:

Website owners need content writers who can help them establish their online presence. College students are highly qualified for this position.

They just have to look for a trusted platform where they can find website owners who are willing to get their writing services. Roughly, they can earn an average of $250.00 a month.

Photographer:

College students who have the talent to turn memories into beautiful photos can work as a part-time photographer. They do not need the sophisticated cameras and lenses that the professionals use. A high-definition camera is enough to earn an extra income during school breaks. In fact, a smartphone is highly capable of taking nice and crisp photos.

There are website owners who need eye-catching photos for their online business. This is where college students can apply and supply them with the photos they need for the website.

Fitness Trainer:

College students who are into fitness like aerobics and yoga can use their knowledge by looking for a part-time job in the department of fitness and health. For as long as the students are regular gym goers and they know all the right moves to prevent injuries, then, they can work alongside the professional fitness trainers.

Tutor:

A lot of parents are looking for tutors for their grade school and high school children. College students who have the knowledge in different fields like Math, Science, and History can apply for a tutorial job.

Also, there are a lot of people who want to improve their written English by looking for a custom assignment help.

Pet Sitter:

Many families have pets and they consider them as furry members of the family. Since they cannot take their pets at work, they look for someone who would care for them while they are working or even while vacationing.

Depending on the arrangements, college students can earn an average of $10.00 an hour.

Transcriptionist:

This is a pretty easy part-time for college students. All the need are a laptop, a noise-canceling headphone, and a good skill in typing.

Baby-sitter:

Anyone who loves and has the patience for children can apply as a part-time baby-sitter. There are parents out there who need a break and who require someone who’d babysit for them. Or, another option is to apply in a daycare center.

Barista:

For those college students who know how to prepare different varieties of good coffee, tea, and sandwiches, then this job is the right one for them. In fact, a college diploma is not required toward as a barista. For as long as there is the willingness to learn and good social skills, then they can apply for the position.

Bartender:

Those who have the knack for concocting alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, then working as a barista on a part-time basis is a good way to earn an extra money.

Bookkeeper:

College students who are meticulous and love to work with numbers, then this is the part-time job for them.

Using time wisely can reap many rewards. On days that college students have enough time, they can spend time wisely by earning through a part-time job.

Image credit: Dustin Moore,via Flickr.

What Are the Most Appealing Products to Sell Online?

January 14, 2020 By Susan Paige Leave a Comment

The internet has made selling products online easy from anywhere in the world. With new trends, it’s convenient for you to find your specific niche products. With this in mind, here are some of the things to make and sell Shopify.

Coasters

Used to rest drinks upon and protect the surface of tables, coasters are one of the items that are easy to make and sell online. You can make them using a range of materials, including faux leather, leather, plastic, melamine, tile and paper. You can mix and match coasters with cool shapes, vibrant colors and unique material. If you want to make colorful, unique coasters, you will need supplies such as ceramic tiles, a sponge brush, felt, clear acrylic glaze, fabric glue, decoupage glue and scrapbook paper. You can glue the paper to the ceramic tile and let it air dry before painting them over with decoupage glue.

Clothes

Fashion has a high demand and appeals to many people worldwide. People are always looking for glamorous shirts, trousers, coats and jackets. As such, aspiring designers can create original designs and sell them on the internet.

Pet bed

Pet beds are designed to keep dogs or cats warm, support their arthritic joints and prevent calluses. They also help pet owners to preserve their furniture and concentrate dog shedding in one area that can be cleaned with ease. For these reasons, pet beds are one of the most popular trending products online. You can make pet beds of different sizes, colours and shapes. There are various filling options you can choose from. Fibrefill is a soft choice while memory foam is a great choice for those looking for a pet bed for their dog that has arthritis. Alternatively, you can use a bed pillow, old towels, blankets or T-shirts to make an inexpensive pet bed filler.

Jewellery

Jewellery has always been trending and popular among everyone. It’s a consumer product that does not have boundaries as it appeals to both women and men of all age groups and culture. However, originality is the key if you want to be a successful seller in this niche. Keep up with the changing trends in the world of fashion and make sure your designs reflect who you are. You can offer anklets, bracelets, necklaces and rings. You can make these products from a variety of mediums such as beads, shells and gemstones.

Bath bombs

Used to add essential oils, color, bubbles or scent to bathwater, bath bombs are made from mixtures of dry ingredients that effervesce when wet. They are also easy to make and one of the most selling items online. To make your bath bombs, mold them into attractive shapes, giving them attractive smells and colors. This will help you sell your creations swiftly. With originality and unique branding, you can good money selling bath bombs.

For more great savingadvice articles, read these:

Ways To Make Extra Money

Take the 52 Week Money Challenge

Need Money, You Can Always Get Naked

Image source: Manu, via Flikr.

102 Ways to Make Some Extra Cash

February 11, 2019 By Jennifer Derrick 19 Comments

People often ask me if I know of any ways to make some extra cash. And, although there are tons of ways you can make more money, some of them might take a little longer than others. If you need some ideas for generating some extra money right now, here are 102 quick ideas – particularly if you pick more than one from the list. Below is my list of (relatively) fast and easy ways to come up with a little extra cash in your pocket.

1. Sell your old gold.

2. Collect aluminum and other metals and sell them to a metal recycler. A metal detector makes this easier if you have one. You can also collect cans from your employer if they don’t already have a recycler.

3. Consider driving for Uber or delivering food with UberEats.

4. Do what you do for a full-time job on a freelance basis.

5. Clean out the house and cars and put all the money you find aside. It might surprise you how much small change is lying in the back of drawers, in ashtrays, and between seat cushions.

6. Walk dogs or petsit.

7. Babysit

8. Have a yard sale or open a booth at the flea market.

9. Sell your junk on eBay, Craigslist, Amazon or any of the other good used marketplace websites.

10. Make crafts and sell them on Etsy or at local craft shows.

11. Clip coupons out of the paper and sell them on eBay (yes, people do this).

12. Take online surveys or join rewards programs.

13. If you must spend money, use a rewards credit card that pays cash back and cash out as soon as you’re eligible to do so.

14. Return items you bought but haven’t used for a refund.

15. Pawn something.

16. Rake leaves/shovel snow/cut grass/clean gutters for others.

17. Rent out a room in your house.

18. Start a blog and put ads on it using Google’s AdSense.

19. Become a freelance writer.

20. Become a temporary worker.

21. Become a medical guinea pig or sign up for clinical trials of drugs.

22. Donate plasma.

23. Sell your hair to a wig maker.

24. Sell your eggs to a fertility specialist.

25. Donate sperm at a sperm bank.

26. Start vegetable plants and sell the starter plants for a fraction of what nurseries charge.

27. Drop services you don’t need like cell service, cable, lawn/pool service, or Internet and free upwards of $100/month.

28. Conserve energy and water aggressively and lower those bills to free up extra cash.

29. Return cans and bottles for the deposit if it’s available where you live.

30. Teach something that you are good at to others, either through a community school or private lessons.

31. Sew/make alterations for others.

32. Help the elderly. Offer to do the shopping and take them to appointments, for a small fee.

33. Offer handyman services.

34. Collect ink cartridges from friends and coworkers (and your office if they don’t recycle) and give them to places like Office Depot or Staples for cash back.

35. Wash/detail cars.

36. Wash/detail pets.

37. Sell your stuff to a consignment shop. Here are some tips.

38. Sell food to workers at a construction site.

39. Sell your wedding china to Replacements Ltd.

40. Cash out any “points” you have lying around. Whether it’s from credit/debit card reward programs, store/product loyalty programs, gas rewards, or rewards sites, cash in everything you can and use the cash or gift cards to cover household expenses.

41. Tutor kids.

42. Take a part-time job.

43. Use equipment you already own to make money (power washing, snow blowing, etc.)

44. Help someone move.

45. Act as a driver for the schools. Some public and private schools take on private drivers to go where buses can’t or won’t go.

46. Turn a hobby into profit (photography, cake decorating, scrapbooking, etc.)

47. Use your skills to enter and win contests that pay cash (bake-offs, craft contests, state fairs, etc.)

48. Change people’s oil for them.

49. Use your van or truck to haul heavy things for people.

50. Take any overtime your regular job offers.

51. Clean houses

52. If you have a lot of land, open some up for RV or boat storage at cheap rates.

53. Quit smoking/drinking.

54. Go through drive-through lanes and parking lots after hours and pick up the spare change you find.

55. Use programs like CVS Extra Care and coupons to get toiletry and cleaning items for free. Sell them at your next yard sale.

56. Use coupons and add what you save to your cash stash.

57. Refinance your mortgage. If you can swing the closing costs and you can save a point or two on your interest rate, it may be worthwhile to lower that monthly payment (particularly if you’re carrying PMI and can get out of it by refinancing). Just don’t cash out the equity.

58. Collect old cell phones from friends. family and co-workers and sell them to recyclers such as Greephone.com.

59. Become a human or car billboard. Places will pay you to decorate your car with their logos or wear their logos to popular events.

60. Become a mystery shopper.

61. If there’s a big event coming to your area like a major sports tournament or convention, rent out your house.

62. Panhandle, if it’s legal, or wash windshields at a busy intersection.

63. If you have more than one vehicle, sell one.

64. Unload any tickets you’re holding. If you’ve got season sporting tickets or tickets to the upcoming concert, sell them (just don’t scalp them for more than face value).

65. Test drive for cash. Some car dealers will give you cash or gift cards to come in and test drive a vehicle with no obligation.

66. Drop unnecessary insurance coverage.

67. Drop any “double” services you find. For example, do you have AAA and an insurance policy that provides roadside assistance? Either don’t renew AAA or drop the roadside from your insurance coverage and save the money.

68. Check your state’s unclaimed property office to see if you are owed any money.

69. Cash in any savings bonds you have lying around. You’d be surprised how many people have them gathering dust in a drawer or safe deposit box.

70. Try to negotiate a lower interest rate on any credit card debt you have to lower the monthly payment.

71. Don’t renew magazines, gym memberships, club memberships or any other subscription/membership when it comes up. Let it go and pocket the cash.

72. Use your own ATM. Don’t pay transaction fees at another bank’s machine.

73. Sell any gift cards that you can’t/won’t use on eBay or swap them for ones you will use.

74. Write a book and sell it through LuLu or as a digital download.

75. Make music, art, computer themes, canned websites or clipart and sell them online.

76. Look into bundling the services you need to keep. It might lower the monthly bill.

77. Call all your service providers and ask if you can get a discount because you’re a good customer, always paid on time, or if you’re a member of a certain union or organization. Negotiate a discount if you can.

78. Brown bag your lunch instead of eating out.

79. Actually complete and send in those rebate forms you’ve been meaning to do.

80. Sell your double stuff. Have you digitized your music or video collection to the point where the discs never see the light of day anymore? Sell them.

81. Scrounge the local trash piles for good, intact items and sell them on Craigslist or eBay.

82. You can question the ethics of this one, but people do it all the time: Buy (or acquire for free) items from sites like Freecycle or Craigslist, or at the local thrift shop, and then resell them for a profit.

83. Be a plant/garden sitter. You water and tend to the plants while the owners are away.

84. Become a paid guide at a search website like ChaCha.com.

85. Get paid to submit video reviews of products at sites like ExpoTV.

86. Open a bank account that will pay you a cash bonus for opening the account.

87. Become a focus group participant. Look on Craigslist or in the want ads for postings in your area. Research companies are often listed in the Yellow Pages, as well.

88. Enter contests that give out physical prizes and sell any prizes you win.

89. Send in your FSA or HSA claims. Don’t wait until the end of the year, go ahead and get your money back.

90. Check your health insurance plan for any rebates you’re entitled to. Some reimburse wellness materials like gym memberships or weight loss programs. If you’re paying out of pocket, check and see if you can get the money back.

91. Use a site like Ebates or another rewards program to get cash back on online shopping. Pocket the difference.

92. Ask for a raise at your regular job. It might happen and it never hurts to ask. Even in this economy, you might get it if you’re a valuable employee.

93. If you have a vacant office, room, or garage in your home, rent it out as studio space to artists or musicians whose only alternative is to pay for expensive time in a “real” studio.

94. If you are popular on a message board, ask about a moderator gig. Some are paid a tiny bit each month.

95. Get free samples from sites like StartSampling.com, WalMart.com or many others. It’s not outright cash, but every sample you get and can use or sell reduces the amount of money you have to spend on products.

96. Add affiliate links to your website or blog and get paid when people buy products through your links.

97. Get back anything you’re entitled to. If you replace your car battery yourself, be sure to take the old one back and get the core charge refunded. Get price adjustments on items that go on sale within the store’s specified time frame. Get your security and utility deposits back when you move. Don’t leave any money on the table.

98. Deliver newspapers.

99. Rent out parking spaces. If you live in an area with little parking or near a big event center/arena and you have a little extra space, rent it out for parking.

100. Sign up with Mechanical Turk (Mturk.com) from Amazon.com and take on tasks that interest you.

101. If you have old electronics that won’t sell, try trading them in. There are several stores/websites that offer trade-ins or take backs for cash or gift cards.

102. Stop spending on stuff you don’t need. Seriously. This is the best way to free up cash.

Note that none of these tips require incurring additional debt or cashing out any savings like home equity or raiding a retirement plan. Those are courses of last resort. Try generating extra cash first. If you really want to make some extra money, try turning something you like into a home-based business. There are a lot of ways to generate extra cash if you’re willing to put forth the effort. Use your imagination and draw on your expertise and you can find several ways to bring in some extra money.

Finally, if you are serious about finding ways to make extra cash get and read a copy of One Thousand Ways to Make $1,000. This book is reputed by Warren Buffett’s biographers to be one of the major influences on the legendary investor’s business acumen. After pulling a copy of One Thousand Ways off a shelf at age eleven and devouring F.C. Minaker’s practical advice, Buffett declared that he would be a millionaire by the time he was in his 30s. Written in a plain and conversational style this book is full of inventive ideas on how to make money through hard work, excellent salesmanship, and resourcefulness. Get it from Amazon.com here.

Do you have any ideas for making extra cash? Share with us in the comments below!

Common Bitcoin Scams And How to Avoid Them

August 16, 2017 By Alexa Mason Leave a Comment

How do you know a given technology has arrived? When the scammers start to show up. Since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, nearly $11 million has been stolen in numerous bitcoin scams. Despite having been prominent in the news, many people are still not familiar with digital currencies and can’t recognize common Bitcoin scams when they see them.

For investors who want to safely get into Bitcoin, this is the article for you.

There are a lot of different bitcoin scams. This article discuss four: fradulent wallets, brand impersonators, fake mining operations and Ponzi schemes.

1. Fraudulent Wallets

A fraudulent wallet is a Bitcoin application designed to look official in order to steal from you. Numerous fraud Bitcoin wallets enter and leave the market every day from credible stores on the Android and Apple platforms. These wallets upload malware along with their bogus application, allowing hackers access to critical information like your bank account and any Bitcoins you obtain. One way to avoid fraudulent wallets is to go with a well-known application like Ledger Nano, Trezor or Coinbase. You can also ask around.

2. Brand Impersonators

Brand impersonation is commonly used in Bitcoin scams. The scam works like this: a scammer sends a clickbait type message on social media. The message appears to come from a legitimate source. The message directs the user to a site which appears to offer a useful service. The site will then entice the user to enter in their private Bitcoin key. Once the user enters a key, it is stolen and the scammer will be able to spend directly from the user’s Bitcoin wallet. See the graphics below for examples.

Source: ZeroFox

The social media security firm, Zerofox.com, found over 40,000 brand impersonator social media profiles, gathering their research from platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google plus, and Youtube.

3. Fake Mining Operations

Nearly all Bitcoin mining operations have been called scams at one point. To clarify, a fake mining operation is defined as one that takes payments from “investors” but never actually mines Bitcoin. Usually the best way around fake mining operations is to avoid getting involved in the first place. Exercise due dilligence. Red flags for fake miners are:

Newly registered websites with hard to identify ownership
Companies registered in locations with weak identity requirements
Evasion when asked to show proof of equipment
Initial payouts which stop and do not resume
Emphasis on marketing and promotion over operations
Advertising on channels which do not verify credentials.

4. Ponzi Schemes.

A Bitcoin ponzi scheme is an operation, website or organization which falsely markets itself as engaging in cryptocurrency investing or other activity. In reality, these organizations collect money from users and pay out returns for a period of time. After a while, the fake organization stops paying out and user’s funds are stolen. In cryptocurrency, these are usually “mining” schemes which collapse when users stop buying fake mining contracts. How can you avoid Bitcoin ponzi schemes? According to the SEC, the official characteristics of a Ponzi scheme are:

Source: SEC.gov

Avoiding Bitcoin Scams – Get Educated

Every investment in digital currency contains an element of risk. If you’re willing to take the risk, the best strategy is to educate yourself on how blockchain technology works. In case you aren’t clear – blockchain technology is the methodology underling Bitcoin’s value. A good resource is to check out Brock Pierce crypt currency expert. Pierce is an interesting guy, he was a child actor and appeared in the films Mighty Ducks (1992), Mighty Ducks 2 (1994) and First Kid (1996). In later life Pierce went on to become a leader in the Bitcoin community. Here is a great video where he walks you through the logistics of blockchains and how they work in today’s economy.

If you want to invest more into Bitcoin and stay safe, this video will help.

Ever run into trouble with digital currency? If so, leave us a comment below.

Photo credit: Sean MacIntee