Personal Finance Strategies

You have finally gotten around to creating a budget or financial plan. Perhaps you have discovered your monthly income does not cover your monthly expenses. Each month you are getting deeper and deeper in debt. There are two ways to remedy the situation: (1) determine where you can cut down some of your monthly expenses; and/or (2) find ways to earn more money. This article provides 16 ways to do the latter.

1. Make Money Strategy: Drive people around

Sign up to be a driver for Uber or Lyft if you have a fairly new car and a clean driving record. You can decide when you want to work—maybe just on weekends if you already have a full-time job. The hourly wage varies depending on the location, but Uber drivers average $20 an hour.

2. Make Money Strategy: Babysit

Care.com enables you to offer your services as a babysitter, nanny, special needs caregiver, and/or senior caregiver. This is another instance in which you can also advertise in your local newspaper, on the bulletin board of a local business, or via social media and garner some references.

3. Make Money Strategy: Dog walking

A lot of dog lovers have jobs that keep them away from their homes for long hours. They will pay for someone to walk their dogs once or twice a day to ensure Fido gets the exercise he needs to keep him healthy. An ad in your local newspaper or on the bulletin board of your local grocery store or some other local business should get you started in this endeavor. Social media should also work. The aforementioned Rover.com also matches owners with dog walkers.

4. Make Money Strategy: Deliver food

People often order from restaurants that don’t offer delivery. That’s where companies like Postmates, DoorDash, and Ubereats come into play. They deliver meals from these establishments to the consumers. It’s easy to sign up to be a driver for any of these companies, and you can work whenever and however many hours you want.

5. Make Money Strategy: Teach English to kids

Sign up to be a teacher on VIPkid and teach English to elementary-level Chinese students. (No knowledge of Chinese is needed.) Work one-on-one with a student on line. You can set your own schedule. There is no minimum-hour requirement and no commitment. Lesson plans are provided. The pay ranges from $15 to $22 an hour.

6. Make Money Strategy: Run errands

Many people hate the time they have to spend running errands. That’s where you come in. Earn money shopping or simply standing in line for those must-have concert tickets. TaskRabbit is a site that allows you to advertise your services for a one-time $25 registration fee.

7. Make Money Strategy: Turn your car into a billboard

If you have a quality vehicle and can pass a basic background check, you can also earn money by allowing companies to advertise on it. Carvertise.com and Wrapify.com are two websites that match drivers with advertisers. Wrapify’s website indicates you can earn anywhere from $174 to $452 a month, depending on your location and how much of your vehicle you agree to turn into a billboard.

8. Make Money Strategy: Craigslist gigs

Check out Craigslist.com for gigs in your area. These are typically short-term, temporary jobs for which you can earn a quick buck. There are various categories from which to choose, including labor, crew, writing, talent, computer, domestic, and creative.

9. Make Money Strategy: Shop for and deliver groceries

Download the Instacart app to your smart phone, receive customer orders, do the shopping, and deliver the goods. You can choose your own hours, but you will need access to a car.

10. Make Money Strategy: Become a tutor

One of the other services care.com supports is tutoring. Parents are more than willing to pay to help their child advance in school. If you have a lot of knowledge in subjects such as computers, math, or the sciences, you can earn good money. Two other platforms on which you can offer your tutoring services are indeed.com and wyzant.com.

11. Make Money Strategy: Answer questions

If you possess superior knowledge about a topic, you can share your expertise on a platform like JustAnswer. Medical experts, legal experts, car mechanics, computer engineers, and home renovators are among those who can earn money simply by answering questions that people submit.

12. Make Money Strategy: Sell your blood plasma

You can do this at a hospital or some other donation center, earning anywhere from $10 on up. You have to be at least 18 years old, healthy, and weigh at least 110 pounds to be a plasma donor. You can sell your plasma as often as twice a week to get cash.

13. Make Money Strategy: Post links for name-brand companies

Computer Improvement sets you up with your own website and then you post links to name-brand companies with large companies like Yahoo, Bing, and Facebook. You don’t need to be a computer expert; Computer Improvement does all the work for you. If you can do email, you can do this and earn over $37 an hour.

14. Make Money Strategy: Do voiceovers

If you have a good voice, you may be able to earn money doing voiceovers. Voices.com is a freelancer platform on which you can offer your services to companies that are looking for a certain “voice.” Voices.com even has a beginner’s guide to voice acting on its site.

15. Make Money Strategy: Perform odd jobs

Several sites enable you to advertise your talent for painting, house cleaning, window cleaning, sewing, furniture assembly, electrical work, and more. TaskRabbit is one. Thumbtack and Gigwalk are two others to check out.

16. Make Money Strategy: Pet sitting

When they have to be away for some duration, a lot of people prefer to have their beloved pet continue to enjoy the familiar surroundings of home as opposed to putting them in a kennel. And there simply aren’t any pet care facilities available for some types of animals. Petsitter.com is a site that matches pet owners with potential pet sitters. You can sign up for the basic plan for free to see if you like it. Rover.com is another site. You can also put an ad in your local newspaper or on the bulletin board of your local grocery store or some other local business, or use social media to get the word out. These types of ads might be the way to go initially so that you can accumulate customer reviews to add to your profile on Petsitter.com.