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Two years ago, I wrote a post about 5 easy ways I intended tomake some extra money throughout the year. It was a good year for that, but last year (with the end of my pregnancy and the birth of our little boy) didn’t allow me the time or energy to focus on those extra money making pursuits. Now that I’m a SAHM, my time is still busy but I’m recommitted to making some extra money for our family this year. Some of these ideas are the same as two years ago and some are new. Here is what I am planning to do, and you can do these things too!
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1. I’m searching on Bing and Swagbucks. I have to list this one first because it’s the easiest and quickest way to earn some extra money. For the unfamiliar, both of these are search engines that reward you for searching. Bing is my favorite because I can quickly and easily earn a $5 Amazon gift card every month. With Swagbucks, it’s a bit more hit and miss but I am going to work harder at using Swagbucksto see if I can earn a $5 Amazon gift card at least every other month. If so, that is $90 earned just for a minute or so of searching online each morning. It only takes a minute or two of my time each morning and that is worth it to me for the free Amazon money I earn! If you haven’t signed up yet, today is the perfect day to start searching (or recommit to searching) at Bingand Swagbucks. If you do nothing else to make money this year, everyonecan do this.
2. I’m selling things on Craigslist, Facebook Yard Sales and Ebay.I’ve done this in the past but not consistently. This is the year I’m going to get serious about cleaning out our house and making some extra money while I do it. Craigslist has been my choice in the past but I’m going to experiment with selling things on Facebook through their online yard sales as well as Ebay. I’ll keep you posted and let you know how it goes!
3. I’m selling books at Half Price Books.I am an avid reader and have been reviewing books for the past several years. I love that I get to read new books for free! After I share my new books with those who want to read them, I am going to take them into Half Price Books to resell them. There are a couple things to note about this. First, you will do better with new releases at HFB. Also, they give you one bid offer for all the books you bring in. For that reason, I like to bring in smaller stacks of books so I can more easily say yes or no if the offer doesn’t reach my hopes. Finally, they will pay you in cash which is very nice, especially since my review books are ones I’ve gotten for free so all my earnings are true profit! I will also try selling some books via Book Scouter which compares various resale sites for books.
4. I’mteaching piano lessons. Yes, I realize this is something not all of you can do but I’m sure there is something you can do with your skills! Perhaps you sell Premier Jewelry or Pampered Chef. Perhaps you tutor online or after school. Perhaps you referee basketball games in the evenings. Perhaps you take photographs for families. Think about the gifts that God has given you and put them to work.
5. I’m using coupons. Wait. What?!? How does that make me money, you ask? Well, anything that I don’t spend is money I’ve saved – or earned myself. You may question the logic but it is one of the reasons I work so hard at finding bargains and keeping our grocery budget low. I’m earning myself extra money out of our budget that would have been spent before. You can read more about how I use coupons here.
There you have it. These are the five ways I am going to focus on earning our family a bit of extra money this year. Do you have any additional ideas to add to this list? Stay tuned for the 5 ways I’m saving money this year next week!
