There are quite literally millions of (legal) ways to make money. Most people get a job and work at said job as their only income source never really doing much about ways to make more money. They want more money, but few people actually do something about this need/want/desire and become proactive about it.
A few weeks ago, I discussed ways to make more money giving ideas that I’ve tried out myself and had some success with. My main source of additional income is through my online ventures in the form of my blog and freelance efforts. Today I’ll again be discussing ways to make more money, though these are ares I haven’t necessarily tried myself, but know can be quite lucrative.
Rent a space
An easy way to make more money is to rent unused space. Before we had our daughter, we seriously considered renting a room to my sister. It didn’t work out because of timing logistics with her lease and then us finding out we were pregnant, but renting a room in our home, to someone we knew and could trust, would have been a great way to make some extra money. My sister would have benefits of lower bills overall, and us, the additional cash flow.
If you have a rental income potential, capitalize on it!
Another option for rental is to rent a parking spot. If you live in a city where parking is a premium, people will often pay good money to park their vehicle. If I were to drive to work (which I don’t, I use public transit), I’d be paying $225/month for parking. Insanity. During university though, in the same city, I rented a parking spot from a retired lady who had a home but no vehicle. She had enough space in her driveway for three cars (we could all move around fine, not parked end-t0-end) she charged $100/month to park. Much cheaper than anywhere else and her husband always made sure the driveway was plowed and that our cars were wiped of snow. Easy money for them and a safe, guaranteed parking spot for us.
Outsource yourself (or your stuff)
Last week I mentioned you could get into freelancing as a way to make more money but I need to broaden this based on work I have hired.
We had a shed on our property when we bought it. It was decrepit and falling apart. We needed to demo it but didn’t exactly know where to start. Though my husband is handy, the thought of him having a chainsaw party with a few buddies wasn’t my idea of a good, or safe, weekend. My point is that even though it’s something we could have done we opted to hire someone instead. For $150 a guy showed up, demolished the entire shed, moved the family of raccoons away from our property (surprise to all of us), properly stacked and moved the garbage at the end of the driveway for pickup and cut all salvageable wood for us to use (in fire). He has experience and was looking to make a few bucks to buy his lady a ring. We both benefited.
Get a second job!
It has to be said, but sometimes the only way to make more money is to get a second job. If you’re in a situation where you really need, or simply want more money, sometimes a good ‘ol fashion job is necessary. The type of second job you get will vary depending on your lifestyle but sometimes it’s necessary. Look through the classifieds, ask around and see what you can pull together. My best friend desperately needed to pay some debt off and had just broken up with her boyfriend so started looking to fill her time with ways to make more money. She had her 9-5 career, picked up a Saturday-only job at a local spa (which had many benefits as well) and a job doing research that was during her ”free time”. It was a tough six months but she was able to put an additional 10k towards her debt.
Have you ever looked for ways to make more money? What’s the biggest success you’ve had?
[Featured image courtesy of http://dribbble.com/jamesblevins]
