Who couldn't use an extra $1000 a month? But when you work a salaried job, you are limited in how much more money you can make.
So you have to resort to other options to make the extra money that you need.
But before you can really start making the extra money, you need to define why you want that extra money. Or you really won't make much extra.
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Why do you want more money?
- Maybe you have a substantial amount of debt that you want to pay off and be done with forever.
- Maybe you want to build up your savings accounts.
- Maybe you want to build an income that will allow you to quit your salaried job and work from home full time.
- Maybe you just want to create the ability to retire early and not have to work full time.
To me, it doesn't matter what your why is. But it matters to you. Like I said above, you won't be very successful in making the extra money that you want to make if you don't define why you want to make extra money.
For me, I built my business because I wanted to pay off my student loans, then build a substantial savings and become a stay at home mom with my kids where I can work when I want to work because my business is always working behind the scenes for me.
Before you go any further, define your why so the extra $1,000+ a month you want to make actually comes easy to you. You could also use my goal setting tips to help you with your money goals. But you need to define why you are making extra money every month before you actually get started making the money.
Here are my tips on how to make an $1,000+ a month:
Start a Blog
I personally didn't know how much money blogging could make you until I actually took 2 specific courses recently. And there are millions of blogs out there and a lot of people claim to make a full time income from their blogs.
And it's true, you see income reports from bloggers all of the time, but it doesn't matter how analytical and observant you are, just because they tell you how they made their money, doesn't mean it's a process that you can easily replicate yourself. Believe me, I tried, and just kept spinning my wheels.
That is, until I learned about Paul Scrivens (Scrivs) and his course Dare to Conquer. This course changed my entire business, as well as my entire outlook on blogging. I finally stopped spinning my wheels and consuming all of the content, both free and paid when I found this course. I also stopped thinking of blogging as something only certain people could do.
And then to top it all off, he recently released a new course Blog Revenue Engine, which focuses on you building a blog and income in less than 6 months. I absolutely loved this course and would highly recommend taking it first if you want to build your income with a blog quickly and easily. This program focuses on just building a blog. The blog doesn't have to be a passion (that's what Dare to Conquer covers), it's a way to get started quickly and get money coming in, so that you can focus on your passion blog and still be making money.
Scrivs also has all kinds of free bootcamps to help you get started with blogging as well. He just tells you like it is and at least for me, this is actually what I needed. Plus his courses come with a whole community behind them that is even more amazing, when you couple it with the course.
If you want to start a blog and make real money, I'd definitely check out some of the courses I linked above. I spun my wheels with trying to learn to blog and spent money I didn't even need to spend and actually just wish I found Scrivs long before I did.
There can be money in blogging, but you have to learn how to do it from the beginning or you'll spin your wheels wasting both time and money, like I did for way too long.
Complete Surveys
Every time I see tips about making money, completing surveys always comes up. I mean, you can answer questions just for stating your opinion.
I personally use Google Opinion Rewards and get Google Play credits for every survey I answer. I usually get anywhere from 2-5 surveys a week and earn anywhere from $.10 to $.65 a survey. This may not seem like a lot, but it's free money for answering surveys based on where my phone has recently been. And I can use the credits I receive anywhere in the Google Play store.
There are other surveys out there that are worthwhile to spend your time on. I don't have the additional time for surveys other than the ones from Google Opinion Rewards, so I don't go out and search which surveys are actually worth it to spend time on doing.
Other good survey sites I've heard of include Opinion Outpost, Vindale Research, and American Consumer Opinion.
But I honestly haven't tried any of these because I'm not interested in wasting my time on surveys when I could be building other things in my business.
Teach English as a Second Language
There are people all over the world that want to learn English. And there are programs like VIPKid that will hire people like me and you to teach these students English.
There are requirements that you have to pass before you can teach, but it's another way to earn money and a decent living.
I know an American friend who moved to Vietnam and she teaches English to children and teenagers and makes more than enough money to live off of every month just teaching English.
Check out VIPkid and this article to learn of 7 other places you can apply to teach English as a second language.
Babysit or nanny for children in your area
Not all jobs have to be done online. Do you like kids and babies? There are working professionals who need caring individuals to help care for their children. And if you are a reliable person and can most likely pass a background check, you could get a job as a nanny or a babysitter caring for children.
Whether it's summer time care or after school care, many parents are working and can't take the time off to care for their children when they aren't in school. Having a reliable nanny or babysitter there to care for their children could be exactly what they are looking for.
Become a Dog Walker
There are a lot of people who need their dogs walked. Maybe they got injured and can't walk their dog like they need to. Or maybe they are elderly and have a dog as a companion, but need assistance in walking the dog. Or maybe they are a working professional who needs assistance caring for their pet while they are working long hours.
There are places like Rover.com and Wag.com that you can sign up for and get dog walking jobs on a regular basis.
Whether you are a dog lover and just want the companionship of a dog without actually getting your own dog right now, or you just want the extra money that comes with being a dogwalker, this may be the perfect job for you.
Mow lawns and Do Landscaping Work
Depending on the time of year, there are people that regularly hire people to care for their lawn. We live in a society where a lot of people outsource the jobs they don't want to do.
And in the end, this means more jobs are available to other people to make more money. The only real limit here is how many hours a day you are willing to work.
Are you someone who likes the outdoors in the summer? Do you like mowing the grass and doing landscaping?
Become a landscaper and lawn mower and make some extra cash. You may or may not need your own tools for this, but if you do, they are an investment in your side hustle.
Shovel Snow for Your Neighbors
Just like with lawn mowing and landscaping, people are looking for assistance with shoveling snow too. Not everyone is able to get out there and shovel their own snow.
If you are someone who is capable of getting out there and shoveling or snowblowing snow for your neighbors, you can consider this a side hustle and make some extra cash during the snowy months.
Become a Freelance Writer
There are all kinds of websites that are hiring freelance writers to write for them. Check out this article and this article to see some of these sites, their requirements and even get started writing.
Freelance writing just means you write in your own time and charge for your writing. Sometimes you get credit for writing and sometimes you don't, but you will get paid for your writing.
If you are a good writer, this can be a very lucrative side hustle for you.
Become a Social Media Manager
More and more businesses are turning to social media to market their businesses. But many of the brick and mortar store owners aren't as up and up on the way social media works for their business. You could create a service to help these brick and mortar store owners to advertise their businesses on social media.
Maybe you visit the store once every few weeks, get some pictures and some information about what the store is doing, then you can easily create a daily post for the store to post on Facebook or Instagram.
Or maybe you start a blog for the store and post a new blog post each week. And share those posts to Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram.
Helping businesses with their social media presence is something that people who understand social media could easily do.
Mystery Shop
A long time ago, I signed up to do mystery shopping, but never actually made any shops because I lived in the middle of nowhere and the closest assignment was over 2 hours away.
But I've found some posts from people who do mystery shopping and have done very well with these shopping trips. Check out this article and https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/best-mystery-shopping-companies-to-work/this article.
Maybe mystery shopping is for you. It's a bonus if you actually love to shop too!
Sell Your Stuff Online
Most people have a lot of stuff just laying around their house that they no longer need. Sell this stuff on eBay or Facebook Marketplace or Let Go or any other site that ha popped up recently to help you get rid of your unwanted stuff and make some extra cash from your stuff.
Plus, as a bonus, you also get to declutter your house by selling your unwanted stuff.
People are always looking for good deals and checking these items out. If you have something that is very popular, people will buy it very quickly.
Use Ebates or Swagbucks for Your Online Shopping
I absolutely LOVE using Ebates (when I remember!) to save money on my online shopping. I buy almost everything online and since I just installed the browser extension, Ebates will tell me how much money I can save when I log into any shopping website.
Yes you will pay the full cost up front and get your cash back from Ebates later. But you can receive a nice chunk of change by saving this money with Ebates. Plus, most of the time, it's something you were going to buy anyway, so getting money back is always a good thing. Right?
Swagbucks works similar to Ebates, but it also allows you to take surveys and watch videos too.
Become a Transcriptionist
Do you enjoy listening to audio and then typing it up? That's what a transcriptionist does. If you are good at this, then definitely look into becoming a transcriptionist. There are sites like rev.com and temi.com and others that hire regularly because more and more people want their audio files transcribed into typed words.
You can make decent money by transcribing too.
Get Paid to Test Websites
There are also places that will pay you test out websites and see how the user experience is on the front-end of the site.
These are easy jobs and can pay quite well. Check out this article about testing websites and get out there and do some testing and make some more money.
Become a Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant is like a secretary, but it's all done online through the virtual world. If you are really good at keeping track of things, doing menial tasks, and paying attention to the things that you do, then becoming a virtual assistant may be for you.
Being a virtual assistant can be a very rewarding job and it can also be hard and tiring. It all depends on how you look at the job, the clients you take on, how much you charge, and the amount of work you are willing to do for your clients.
Check out these articles on becoming a virtual assistant:
- Everything You Need to Know to Become a Virtual Assistant
- A Step by Step Guide to Becoming a Virtual Assistant
- 8 Websites to Help You Find Work as a Virtual Assistant
Create Stuff to Sell on Etsy
Are you an artsy, creative person? Do you love creating new crafty items? Well, now you can create a shop on Etsy and sell your creations all over the world. You can make money sharing your creations with others who are looking for exactly what you are selling.
Creating and selling on Etsy can be a quick and easy process. Here is an article on setting up an Etsy shop.
Get a Part Time Job
There are a lot of places that are looking for assistance - restaurants, grocery stores, deli's, specialty stores - get a part time job with hours that are different than your full time job and pick up an extra paycheck.
This job doesn't have to be something you keep long term. You do it right now just to make some extra money until you get to where you want to be financially or find something better.
If your ultimate goal is to just make enough money to pay off your debts, and nothing else on this list appeals to you, then go out and get a second job and apply the money you receive from this paycheck directly to your debt as soon as it hits your bank account.
Before the internet has made working side hustles so easy, getting a second and even third job were what most people did when they needed the extra money. These are usually temporary situations until your debt is paid off or your savings is built up to buy that house or car.
You have to do what works best for you on your journey with your side hustle.
Clean Houses
Do you enjoy cleaning? Create a side business that cleans houses for other people.
There are a lot of people who hire house cleaners to help them keep their house clean. The reasons are endless why they would hire someone else - they are a busy professional who just doesn't have the extra time to make sure their house is clean, but they do have the extra funds to pay someone else to clean for them; they are an entrepreneur and cleaning their house is something they can outsource so that they can continue to work on their own business and make money; and many more reasons.
If you are someone who enjoys cleaning, housecleaning may be for you. And you don't have to limit it to just houses. Many offices hire cleaners too.
Flip Items
Have you ever browsed through eBay or Facebook Marketplace and found some really nice items for cheap? You can buy those items yourself, then clean up, fix up, paint, etc. to those items and resell them for a much higher price.
There is a couple that does this and last I heard they were playing a kind of game to see if they could make over $100,000 with their initial investment of like $10 with flipped items. I thought that was pretty cool.
My friend Bryan also teaches you how to flip used appliances. You want to buy something new, why not sell the old one when you get a new one? But you can also make this into a business and flip used appliances, too.
Become a Professional Organizer
If you are someone who really enjoys organizing things and making sure everything has a rightful place, then becoming an organizer just may be for you.
There is a society out there just for professional organizers and they can even help you get started.
Many people are looking to get rid of the clutter in their homes and create some kind of organization system, but they just don't know where to start. If organizing is your thing, then this is where you come in. Help them create a plan to get started with organizing their home today.
Rent Out a Room in Your Home
Do you have an extra room in your home? Rent it out for Airbnb.
Or rent it out for a tenant or roommate to share the cost of rent and utilities, therefore giving you the additional money of rent and utilities.
Or maybe you could turn your basement or attic into it's own apartment and rent out that apartment.
Rent out Your Car
You've heard of Uber and Lyft, well now people are also renting out their own cars to people to use. I don't know how insurance would work with this, but it could be something worth looking into, especially if you don't drive your car very often. And it's a source of income for you not doing much of anything at all.
Drive for Uber or Lyft
Do you enjoy spending time in your car driving other people around? You could become a contractor for Uber or Lyft and drive other people around your town to their destinations. Like most of the jobs listed here, you choose how much and when you work, therefore choosing how much money you can make.
Sell Photos Online
If you like to take your own photos, like stock photos, there are several sites that are regularly buying these photos to sell to their members. And from the looks of it, you can make some decent money by creating really good photos and selling them as stock photos.
Check out:
Grocery Shop for Others
There are new options popping up on an almost daily basis so that you can become a grocery shopping or food deliverer.
Check out places like Instacart, Doordash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Shipt to see if any of these options appeal to you.
Now that you have options to create your own ways to make extra money this month and you know exactly what you are going to do with it, you can finally start to let go of the financial stress that not enough money has been causing for you.
I'm sure there are even more side hustle options out there than what I've outlined above. There really is no shortage of ways to make money.
Starting a side hustle means you no longer have to be limited by how much money you can make at a salaried job. You can make more than enough money to pay off the debt you've been trying to pay for years, as quickly or as slowly as you want to.
Which side hustle option are you going to start with today?
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