The following is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Derek Sall. Derek is the owner of the blog, LifeAndMyFinances.com, where he teaches people how to get out of debt, save money, and become wealthy.
When I was 24 years old, I was working 1,400 miles away from home and decided that I wanted to move back to be close to family. Jobs were not easy to come by, and I did not have a large enough bank account to just quit my job and drive back home to Michigan.
It was at this point that I decided to start a side-gig that would hopefully provide enough money for me to make the move without many issues financially. With just an extra $1,000 a month, I could survive and wouldn’t need to accept a crappy job just to survive in my hometown.
If you’re trying to figure out a side-gig to start that might be appropriate for you, below are several ideas. Enjoy!
Making Extra Money With a Blog
After doing a little research online, I decided that I would start a personal finance blog.
It was my field in college (even though I wasn’t actively using this degree at work) and I felt that I was fairly gifted at writing, so I figured that I would just give it a shot and see what would happen.
Starting a blog was not easy. I knew nothing about building a website and I had absolutely no clue how to market it, but because I enjoyed writing about personal finance, I just struggled my way through it and was hoping that readers would just straggle in along the way. Well, somehow it worked. After 6 months of making practically nothing (I think my total earnings was somewhere around $5.21), something just clicked and the money started pouring in. That seventh month was about a hundred bucks, and then the next month was $300, then $500. By the end of the first year, I was earning a fairly consistent $1,000 and was on my way home to be with my family. Fast forward three years and I am still earning a healthy income with this venture.
Keep in mind that this is not an easy venture, but there is still some money to be made in the blogging world. Some of the hot blogs right now are personal finance, cheap crafting, and traveling.
Detailing Cars
My nephew was recently asking me how he could get through college without taking out any loans. Jobs for a 19 year old often pay less than $10/hr. and they don’t come with many hours per week. I had a simple answer – detail some cars. Through church, he has plenty of connections and could soon be making a couple hundred bucks a week just by cleaning, vacuuming, and waxing a few cars. If you have a passion for keeping your car clean, maybe you wouldn’t mind cleaning a few other cars for a hundred bucks here and there.
Mowing Lawns
If there is one thing that people often don’t enjoy doing, it’s mowing their lawns. If you really want to make some money, undercut the other mower businesses in your area and charge $15 or $20 per mow. By mowing just 5 extra lawns in your neighborhood, you could earn an additional $400 a month! That’s pretty decent for pushing a lawn mower a few hours a week.
Tutoring
This is another great way to earn some cash in your spare time. Since parents have fewer and fewer hours in their day, they are willing to pay a qualified individual some good money to help their child with his/her homework each day, especially if they are struggling in a certain subject area. If you are good with children and have a few degrees under your belt, perhaps you could step in and help a few kids each day. At $15 or $20 per hour (or sometimes more), you could be making some serious cash in no time!
How Much Will This Really Help Your Budget?
When you’re only making $400 extra a month, how much will this really help your budget? Do you want the short answer to this question? A LOT.
Think about it. How much extra money do you have each month now? Maybe an extra $100? With another $400, that means that you’ll have $500 of disposable income each month. You have just increased your funds each month by 5 times what you were making before! Put this money toward your bills and they will vanish incredibly fast. Invest it in the market and you will soon have thousands of dollars instead of just hundreds. No matter how tiny the amount of money, it can make a much bigger impact than you think.
How about you all? Have you ever thought about starting a side business to help with your finances? What options have you tossed around?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5296559285/
