If you feel like your pocketbook is always empty, you’re not alone. Plenty of people feel like they have a hard time making ends meet, bringing in enough income, and paying all their bills. After all the financial needs you have to worry about, how can you save enough for vacations and other enjoyments? If you feel like your finances are always in a tangle, then you may be interested in making money on the side.
There are plenty of ideas and schemes floating around the internet on how to make money. You don’t want to fall prey to the bad ones, but you should consider some of the good ones. While some money making schemes are a joke, some could get you that extra cash you’re looking for. Without further ado, here are our favorite ways to make money on the side.
Invest
This sounds like serious adulting, doesn’t it? If an investment sounds like something for middle-aged businessmen, think again. Anyone can invest and look at stocks to buy, and you should consider doing the same. You can start investing in a retirement fund or just a general savings fund. While your resources won’t be available for about three to five years, knowing that you have a pile of income accumulating, to help take care of your future, will help you feel like you’re rocking the whole adult thing. Do some research on the stock market and think about how much you want to invest. You might want to go with an online stock broker to help you stay on top of your investments. (The stock market can feel kind of overwhelming for beginners.) As you research, you may want to choose socially responsible investing, so see what companies promote sustainable business and are something you’re ethically invested in. The investment could be the perfect choice for your income boost.
Start An Online Store
This scheme is a great business venture, as long as you’re willing to put in the hours, investment, and care it takes to make it work. You can make a great passive income with an online store–as long as your store is being seen. With your online store, you can act as a go-between for online products, earning a small fee each time someone buys off your page. Or, you can invest more time and make more money by shipping physical products yourself. You can buy wholesale liquidation and acquire a range of valuable products. Once you know how you want to run your online store, you should set about designing a webpage. There are plenty of automated services that let you do this with ease. Once you have your site up and running, you should run ads and increase traffic to your site, through blogging, the help of specialists, such as the ones at this SEO company in Brisbane, and more. A well-trafficked online store has a higher chance of bringing in money.
Start Freelancing
The world of freelancing can be tough, but if you’ve got a valuable skill (graphic design, writing, HR recruitment, IT, coding, etc.) and the credentials to prove it, you could start making money on the side with your skills. As more and more business moves online, more and more businesses are interested in internet-skills: bloggers, designers, coders. You can work a job or two on the side to start earning extra cash. While not every freelance job is worth taking, if you’re skilled in your area you can work past the low paying jobs within six months or so, and start gaining jobs that pay a great hourly wage. Freelancing isn’t magic, and you might find that the constant battle for new gigs is not your cup of tea. You might, however, enjoy doing graphic design on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon for a little extra money each month. The amount of freelancing work you do is up to you, but if you have a proven skill, you might be able to make good money on the side.
Rent a Property
Another great way to make money on the side is to become a landlord or vacation renter. You can rent out that extra bedroom on Airbnb, or you could become the landlord of a small property near you. You wouldn’t want to bite off more than you can chew since multiple properties could become a full-time job, but one or two rentals can be managed in your spare time. If you want to invest in a vacation property, you can rent out rooms or the entire building to people on VRBO. If you want to buy a duplex and get a nice rent check every month from your downstairs neighbor, you can consider taking on the duties of a landlord. Remember that you have to be on call for broken washing machines or leaking roofs, but a single property shouldn’t pose you too many problems. Renting property can be a great way to make money on the side, so if you’re looking for extra cash, you should start doing some research. It could be just the gig for you.
Budget
This isn’t a way to make money unless we take Benjamin Franklin literally when he said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” If you learn how to budget in an effective manner, it might even feel like you’re making money, however. To budget, divide your income into separate categories, like utility bills, potential home repairs, a vacation fund, a college loan fund, and more. (An excel document can be handy for things like this.) Set aside a certain percentage of your monthly paycheck into each category, and limit yourself to a certain amount per month for other expenses. If your goal is to buy groceries for $150 or less each month, you’ll start menu planning and be purchasing around your new goal. Spending on purpose is the first step in seeing your income stick around. You might have a lot more money than you think you do–you just have to keep it where it belongs.
