Do you need a way to make some extra cash right now? When money is tight, try the tips below for some extra income generating ideas.
1. Use or Sell Your Gift Cards
In 2006, there were $8 billion dollars in retail gift cards outstanding that went unused, or an average amount of $69 per U.S. household. So rummage through your purses, wallets and sock drawers, dust off those old cards and use them up or sell them on eBay. I recently sold a $50 gift card on eBay thinking I’d be lucky to get maybe half the original price, but to my surprise it sold for ninety percent of its face value. After Paypal, shipping and eBay fees I’ll end up with a little less, but it was still a good way to make some extra cash.
2. Clear Out Your Clutter
Get your house more organized and make extra money at the same time by cleaning out your closets, attic, garage and basement and selling everything you don’t really use or need. You will feel better by having less clutter in your life and as a bonus you can make a few extra bucks. Pick a weekend to have a garage sale, or auction your goods off on that cyberspace garage sale, eBay. Anything left over can be given to charity for a possible tax deduction or placed on freecycle.org, a nonprofit web site designed to help people reuse items in good condition and keep useable goods out of landfills.
3. Shop Around for the Best Money Checking and Saving Account Rates
Shop around to earn the highest rates possible on your checking and saving account money. We opened an account with a mutual fund company where we can transfer money electronically to and from our free but low interest paying personal checking account at our local bank. The difference between the bank savings rate and the money market was over 2% a year. If you keep a balance of $3,000 in your account, that can be an extra $60 a year you can earn on your money.
We keep just enough in the checking account to pay our bills, and transfer the rest to the higher paying money market account with the mutual fund company. If we ever need more cash we can easily sell shares of the money market and transfer the money back to the checking account electronically rather quickly.
4. Start a Blog
Make extra money in your robe and bunny slippers by working on the web. You can make money by developing a blog and putting ads on it. One of the easiest ways to do this is to set up a blogspot blog at www.blogger.com and put Google ads, called Adsense, on your blog. Try starting with a niche topic in a low competition field untapped by the existing professional bloggers. For example, advice on buying digital cameras is a tough field to break into for a novice blogger, but where to get great deals on ukuleles might be a bit easier field to break into. If you love to write, this is a great way to earn a little extra cash, and if you get good enough at it, perhaps embark on a new career. A favorite site of mine with useful tips on how to write for the web and available advertising programs for blogs can be found at www.problogger.com.
Copyright 2008 Pine Canyon Media, LLC.
S. L. Simmons is a thrifty mom of two and publisher of the web site, Always Frugal. Visit her web site creative tips on how to make extra money when you don’t have a regular job.