7 Real Ways to Make Money from Home
If life just seems to be getting more and more expensive and you (like many families) need to find a way to bring more money into your household, here are a few ideas for real ways to bring extra cash into your home quickly.
Post On Fiverr
Fiverr is a website that allows you to sell your service for $5. People are offering everything from taking a picture holding a sign to recording a voice over in a British accent. There is even an offer to prank call a friend. Five dollars may not seem like much, but if you have a skill that you can offer in small “bites”, and you have some creativity, Fiverr can be a great way to earn some extra cash. Alternatively, you might find local news sources to advertise your services for a super cheap price and achieve the same effect.
Use the Amazon Trade-In Program
One quick way to make some extra money is to trade your used items using the Amazon Trade-In Program. Gather the items you want to sell, check the going price, print a label and receive a credit to Amazon for your items. While Amazon credit isn’t cash, there are many items that you can buy there such as these household items that I buy on Amazon..
Click here to read all the details for the Amazon Trade-In Program.
Recycle for Money
Speaking of used items you have around the house, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and you can make lots of money by recycling the right kind of items.
- Collect aluminum cans and take them to a local recycling center. (Check with the center beforehand to find out their requirements.)
- Buy wedding and prom dresses at the thrift store and resell them to consignment stores. (Check with the consignment store first to find out what they will accept.)
- Salvage & repair or paint old furniture to resell on Craigslist.
- Buy used collectibles, books and children’s items at yard sales and resell them on eBay.
Search with Swag Bucks
Another one of my favorite ways to earn easy money is using Swag Bucks just for doing the things you already do online like using search engines, printing coupons, watching videos, or making online purchases. Your Swag Bucks can then be redeemed for a variety of gift cards like Starbucks, Target and other retails, or for PayPal credit.
Our family has been using Swag Bucks since 2009 and those Amazon gift cards and PayPal credits come in very handy for purchasing gifts or household items as I mentioned above. The easiest way to earn is by using Swag Bucks as your search engine instead of Google or Bing and you can even download a toolbar so searching is easy. It usually takes a few weeks to earn enough for a $5 Amazon gift card, but if you have more time, you can earn more easily.
Click here to sign up for Swag Bucks for free!
Complete Online Surveys
Another easy way to earn money online is to complete surveys for marketing companies. Click here for a list of my favorite survey companies to sign up with and details about how they work. You certainly won’t get rich with online surveys, but you can definitely bring a little extra money into your household.
Start a Business
Starting your own business may seem daunting, but the truth is that if you have a talent or skill that you can offer others, you can make money. Have a set of professional-looking business cards printed, set up a separate checking account for all of your business money and you are ready to go. A few ideas to get you started:
- Become a virtual assistant (See my fave book The Bootstrap VA in my Fave Books HERE for a great book!)
- Offer babysitting or after-school care (check with your local municipality for regulations.)
- Open an Etsy store to sell hand-made items.
- Clean houses or offer a garage cleaning service.
- Offer a tailoring service for busy professionals.
- Teach a class to adults or children in your area.
Make sure to check with a tax professional concerning how your business income will affect your tax filing.
Be Creative
Readers have told me about many money making ideas that I haven’t tried such as donating blood plasma for money or participating in medical studies. With a little research you may find an idea that you can use or it may spark an idea for your own service business. The best way to make money is to find something that no one else wants to do or has the time to do then do it for them.
You can begin with a few short-term strategies and then work up to longer-term strategies such as building your own business. Your ability to make money is only limited by your willingness to work hard and your ability to create opportunities for yourself.
If you have other great ideas for making money from home, leave a comment!
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Click here for a complete list of The Peaceful Mom’s recommended survey sites.
photo credit: Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee; freedigitalphotos.net
Thanks for the tip Marissa!
I recommend the Shopkick app for smartphones. You earn “kicks” by walking into certain stores, scanning certain products, etc. The kicks can be traded in for gift-card rewards at major stores. I even read a blog post about a married couple who turned it into a date idea by treating it as a “scavenger hunt” to find all the items at a certain store, plus then they were able to earn double kicks by having two accounts and two phones!
I adore your page. been enjoying reading through your pages with a hot cup of tea. I am recently a stay at home wife/step mom and I was the one making the biggest income so it’s a huge adjustment. thank you for providing some reassurance!!!
Yay! I’m so glad Stephanie! Thanks for taking the time to let me know. 🙂
Welcome Lena!
Wow, we have such similar blogging lives! I’ve written about many of the same topics as you and I’m enjoying reading your spin on ways to make money and save money on meals. I’ll definitely be stopping by often!
I really like mypoints. You just read emails or fill out surveys. Then you redemption your points for gift cards or even Visa cards or fuel cards. I have redeemed for a motherhood maternity card and a jc Penney card. I am currently saving points to geta card to buy a much needed pair of tennis shoes!
I haven’t tried swagbucks before, but after reading your post I think I must give it a try. 🙂
Erica, how can I become a secret shopper? I haven’t found one that was legit. A lot of them want you to pay money up front.
I don’t personally have any leads for you, but you are correct that you should not pay up front for those opportunities.
Another thing that can go under providing services is giving piano (or other instrument) lessons and tutoring. I teach part-time but it isn’t enough money so I started giving piano lessons. I make $20 for a 30 minute lesson and I even do 4 and 5 year olds for $10 a 15 minute lesson. I have actually had to turn people away and drop some students because I was up to 16 students a week and it was too much to keep up with. I also know that a lot of parents will pay for a tutor for specific subjects (especially math!). A way to get in a good crowd to get private instrument students or students to tutor is to go to private schools in your area and turn your resume in and let them know that you are available for whatever your services are. I say private schools because those tend to have higher income families who WANT to spend money on things for their kids. I teach at a private school and it never ceases to amaze me how parents will enroll their kids in all sorts of different activities, no matter the cost, if their child really wants to do it!
Great idea Stephanie! I have heard Dave Ramsey say that if you have too much business, it’s time to raise your prices. Sounds like maybe you could even charge a little more. 🙂
Great list!
Thanks Amee!
I really love these ideas! I used to use Fiverr, but forgot all about it! Definitely need to get back into it. I could always use some extra money, especially from home! Thank you!
You are very welcome Dawn!
Great list – thanks for providing lots of money-making ideas. I love Swagbucks too!
Thanks Heather!
There are a lot of legitimate work-from-home positions out there as well. A lot of call-center based positions, mostly Sales, Customer Service or IT. They generally require a quiet space to work from so not ideal if you have little ones, but perfect if you have school aged children as they tend to pay the most.
I currently work as a Search Engine Evaluator for Leapforce, the pay is decent although it’s definitely part time (10-20 hrs per week). Since it’s on the computer I double dip with swagbucks crave activities or SB videos or even Inbox Dollars radio and have those going on in the background while I work.
I also am signed up to be a secret shopper for amusement/recreation and a movie evaluator (go to theaters to check out displays, survey folks after a movie, etc). It’s great because you get paid to go out. My friend is a mystery shopper for restaurants, the pay is smaller but she gets to eat out for free all around town.
Thanks for the awesome ideas Erica!
Hi Erica! How do you sign up to be a secret shopper and movie evaluator? Thank you!
Thanks so much for this list of real ways to make money from home. I have a few friends I will share this with!
Thanks Melissa!