The average millionaire has 7 streams of income. [1] Want to become financially independent quickly? You'll need to look for ways to make more money on the side! Here are 150+ ideas on how to make extra money this year.
Note that some of these links are affiliate links, meaning I get paid when you sign up. That brings me to my first point, which is how I personally earn some extra cash each month from this website.
1. How to Make Extra Money From Home
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Did you know that there are bloggers like Michelle from making sense of cents who make over $100,000 A MONTH from their online business? I'm not quite there yet, but I get a steady income from this website.
If you don't yet have a product to sell, try using referral links from the products you use. If you look at Michelle's income reports, you'll see that those referral links account for much of her revenue. It's the same with this site; much of my revenue is from affiliate links to products I use and like.
For example, I use Siteground to host this site with Thrive Themes as the theme. I've also been through ClickFunnels One Funnel Away Challenge, an awesome marketing course for those looking to start selling online. When you become a user of those products, you also get access to their affiliate programs.
At the time of this writing, Siteground pays me $50 per referral, ClickFunnels pays me $100 per signup, and Thrive Themes pays me 35% of the recurring revenue from referrals. Kinda nice to wake up to another $100 in the bank because someone clicked on a link and signed up!
2. Do Odd Jobs Around the Neighborhood
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Look around you. Are there yards that need to be mowed? Leaves that need to be raked? Walls to be painted? Things that need to be fixed? Homes that need to be cleaned?
It is easy to earn hundreds of extra dollars every month by asking your neighbors if they need some help around the house. They'll love you for it too!
If you get some momentum, you can even hire some help and make a business out of this! That's how many small business owners got their start. Here's a guide to some of the more profitable and easy-to-start businesses if you need some ideas.
3. Rent Out an Extra Room
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Renting out an extra room through Airbnb is a great way to make some extra money if you have the space. I stayed with a couple in Florida once who told me they used Airbnb to rent the room I was staying in and rented out their basement. This couple retired in their 40s because renting out the unused portions of their home paid for all their monthly expenses!
4. Make Extra Money Consulting or Coaching
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Is there something you are an expert at? If so, you might want to consider consulting or coaching. I've done some coaching in the past, and typical rates for coaches range anywhere from $50/hr to thousands of dollars a month. I was personally billing out thousands per month as a coach before dialing that back and focusing on my core business.
You'll want to go through some courses for this even if you do consider yourself an expert. While I have read hundreds if not thousands of personal development books, been in the business world for over 20 years, and have five kids, I still felt the need to get certified as a life coach before taking that on. Here's the life coach certification course I completed, which you may want to check out if that's something you're interested in.
5. Request a Raise or Negotiate a Higher Salary
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It's tough to go ask the boss for more money, but done correctly, this can be a major source of additional income, and it is recurring! It generally isn't as simple as going in and telling your boss that you want more money or you quit, though; those types of ultimatums are as likely to get you an invite to take a hike as they are to get you a raise.
Check out the “Salary Negotiation: How to Negotiate a Raise or Promotion” course for ideas on approaching this touchy subject.
Take a look at #8 investing in yourself for ideas on increasing your value to your company to earn that raise as well!
6. Freelance
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Services such as Fiverr, FreeLancer,
and ServiceScape make it easier and easier to Freelance. Think about some things you are good at, or click around on those sites for some ideas.
7. Don't Spend Your Money!
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Not spending money might not be the first thought that comes to mind when thinking about how to earn more money, but as Benjamin Franklin said, “A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned.”
If you aren't already living with a spending plan in place, you should consider using a program like YNAB to track your spending and taking a course like Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, which provides a comprehensive look into how to manage your money to save thousands every year.
8. Invest in Yourself to Increase Your Income
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Did you know that research has shown that $1 invested in yourself can return $1,000 or more every year? Why not invest in yourself by signing up for some courses? I have personally invested a great deal of money in myself, and it has been worth every penny.
I'll never forget the first time I did this. I invested in some Microsoft certifications early in my career as I saw the demand for people with those certifications going up. By spending a couple of thousand dollars on certifications, I landed a job making $20,000 more EVERY YEAR because I was now qualified to do it!
College or courses are expensive, but it is more expensive in the long run to work a minimum wage job for the rest of your life. Click here to explore some IT certifications. Once you've invested in yourself, go and request that raise!
9. Get a Part-Time Job
Photo by Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com on Unsplash
Local retail, service, and food places always need help. Why not take up a second job with a local restaurant or retail place instead of watching TV? DoorDash and Uber are other good ways to earn a little extra money in your free time.
10. Resell Items in Garage Sale, on Amazon, eBay, or Shopify
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Why not create your own Amazon, eBay, or Shopify store or sell your old items through a garage sale or Facebook buy/sell groups to make a little extra money? It's easy to find deals locally through garage sales and flip them online, and we all have stuff that we don't use we could sell.
If you like to hunt for bargains, most people are just looking to get rid of stuff at a garage sale, they aren't looking for top dollar, so that leaves you room to make money.
Buy locally, mark it up, and sell it online, or investigate drop shipping to sell with no inventory. There are many resources to help with this. Click here for a course for selling on Amazon and here for a course for selling on eBay.
11. Become the Best
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If you are in a commissioned position where the more business you generate, the more you earn, like a sales position, the best way to earn more money might be to figure out ways to generate more business. Courses like Chris Croft's Sales Hacking can help you take your game to the next level.
Any investment in making yourself the best in your field can help you increase what you are paid for each hour you work, sometimes even doubling or tripling your rate. In-demand specialists with unique skill sets can make some serious cash. You should always attempt to maximize what you make during your core working hours each week, and that means going the extra mile.
12. Invest in Income Generating Assets
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Most people eventually realize that their time is limited, and to generate more money, they must find ways to make money without investing a lot of time. Many types of assets you can buy make you more money than what you pay for them.
- Rental property
- Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
- Stuff at yard sales you can resell online
- Anything that makes you more money than it costs to buy it!
Those are my top ideas for how to make extra money this year. Here are more than 300 extra ideas you can use to generate some extra cash from around the web.
300+ Additional Ideas for Making Money on the Side This Year
100+ Profitable Business Ideas
30 Easy Ways to Make Money on the Side This Year – Inc.com
29 Smart Ways to Make Money on the Side in 2017 – The Penny Hoarder
44 Ways to Make More Money – Forbes
Over 100 Ways to Make Extra Income – making sense of cents
Need more cash? – 35 easy ways to make extra money each month – commoncents
50+ Ways To Make Money Fast By Side Hustling
What is the most effective yet efficient way to become rich? – Quora
I hope you've gotten some good ideas from this list. Be sure to share and subscribe for more tips each week!
