At the end of last year, one of the goals I set for myself for 2019 was to earn $1,000 extra this year. What I meant by this was income generated outside of my full time job. So far, I seem to be well on my way to hitting this goal! Here are the things I’ve been doing to make some extra money. Some of these are things I started prior to 2019, but some are brand new this year.
MTurk
Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is kind of hard to explain. It’s a platform run by Amazon where people or companies can submit HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) to be completed by… well… humans. These HITs get added to a queue, and us “turkers” look through the queue and work on said HITs. You have to apply to do MTurk, but it’s painless and fast. Also, certain qualifications are set by requesters, so you won’t always be eligible for all the HITs.
There are all kinds of tasks like transcribing, looking up information, etc. For the most part though, I only choose to do surveys. I find them to be enjoyable and they pay decently. Most of the time, they come from college students doing research studies. I will say that decent paying HITs tend to go fast, so I scan quickly through the queue whenever I’m in in to look for those surveys.
I don’t spend a lot of time on MTurk, just basically during my breaks at work. Honestly, I spend maybe 15 minutes a day during the week on it. I make anywhere from $5 – 20 a week or so. So far this year, I’ve made just over $300. Anyway, the way that payments work is that you submit your HIT and then the requester has to approve and pay. They have 30 days to do so, but most do it much quicker. After that, you see the amount in your account. At any time, you can choose to transfer your balance out to your bank. I try and get my account up to a good amount first before I transfer, but sometimes I’ve transferred smaller amounts if we needed money right away before our next paycheck. Ideally, I’d like to put all of this money towards debt going forward.
Diplicious
I hardly make any money doing this, but I became a Diplicious affiliate in 2017 because I loved their dips and figured I might as well make commission on my many purchases… and that’s pretty much why I still do it. Since July 2017, I’ve made just over $260.
Basically, anytime someone wants to purchase the products, they use my link and voila, I earn a small commission. I also earn commission on my personal purchases, and honestly, half of that income was probably just that… commission on my own stuff. Ha! Anyway, as you can see, this is not a real big money maker for me, and just something I do for fun and for myself. I still have to count it though, because hey, even a little extra income is still income!
Shopping Apps
This year, I started using Ibotta and Ebates. With Ibotta, you upload your grocery shopping receipts and earn cash back for purchasing certain products. I once in awhile purchase the name brand things they have, but mostly do the “Any Brand” category where you can buy any brand of a certain item and earn cash back (though it’s often limited to certain stores). Also, each week they do an “Any Item” thing where you can literally earn cash back on any item from any store. These items are usually anywhere from 5 cents to 25 cents, and Jerry thinks I’m a crazy receipt lady, but it adds up! I’ve earned over $50 so far this year.
With Ebates, you just go through their app/site before purchasing something online, and sometimes earn cash back because they’re affiliate links through Ebates, and they then turn around and give you some of that money back. Honestly, a lot of my online shopping is done through little primitive stores (not covered by Ebates) and Amazon (often not covered), but I’ve made just over $11 so far this year.
These apps don’t earn you A LOT, but if you’re patient, the little bits here and there do add up. It’s easy, fast, and painless to do these things, so I figure why not? If you want to sign up, I have affiliate links (I’ve never used them because I am not pushy, LOL) so let me know and I’ll send them to you and we both earn extra money.
My Blog
Most years, I don’t earn any money from my blog because I don’t monetize it or use affiliate links. Also, I’m usually out some moolah because this blog COSTS me money: I have to pay for hosting and the domain every year. I blog for fun and friendship, NOT for money. Once in awhile though, I’ll make a little extra money from something pertaining to the blog. One year I was super fortunate and landed a writing contract for $2,000 because the company found my blog and wanted me to write a few things for them. This year, I made $70 from a company who reached out to me. All I had to do was link back to their website and that was it. I took them up on this offer because it was a good and legit website and it wasn’t in your face advertising. I hate that! I literally added a link to one of my posts and that was it. No obnoxious advertising, no sales pitch, nothing. I’m not a major fan of sponsored posts.
Here’s a little side rant: I often get companies reaching out that want me to do work for them and sponsored posts for free. They want me to talk about or link to their website and offer me nothing in return. NOPE. First, I hate the sound and feel of sponsored posts. I am all about being genuine here. And secondly, why would I advertise for you for free?! If, on the rare occasion I choose to accept, it’s because it’s relevant to me and my readers, and only if you’re offering me something in return. These companies and people want a free platform and it’s not going to happen. They don’t take into account the fact that I have spent over 9 years building my blog up and creating friendships. RANT OVER! Haha.
Medical Studies
Last year I discovered a clinical research center in my area who run a multitude of medical studies. I signed up for a migraine study and met the qualifications, so I went in for an initial appointment. I spent about 2 hours there going through all kinds of medical questions and blood work. I was set to try a new migraine medication that a company was looking to bring to market. I would’ve been going for monthly visits and made hundreds of dollars, but unfortunately, my blood work ended up disqualifying me. Nonetheless, they pay for each appointment and I made $50.
I am now on their list, and they call me when they have a study that I’m qualified for. I recently went in for one a couple of weeks back that involved testing out a new electro-pulse type thing for migraines and then providing feedback to the developers. It took me about 40 minutes and I made $50.
I’m hoping to do some more studies this year. They do quite a bit of migraine studies and most of them involve taking the medication for a certain length of time which means multiple visits and $50 each visit. I like doing these studies because the pay is awesome, you get great medical care (they have doctors on staff who monitor you), and I’m trying the newest, cutting edge medications that they’re looking to bring to the market. And yes, everything is SAFE! My dad works in a doctor’s office that runs medical studies and we talked it all over before I signed on for my first one. He totally encouraged it. My hope is that I’ll try a medication one of these days that will do wonders for my migraines.
I’m still in regular contact with the research center and just waiting for the next call that they’ve got a study I’m eligible for. I plan on working on these for years to come!
Online Selling
I haven’t done any selling yet this year, but in the past I have sold some of our old stuff on eBay, Mercari, and Facebook Marketplace. My favorite is Facebook Marketplace because it’s local, people pick up the items instead of me having to ship, and there are no fees. My second favorite is eBay (although there are fees). Mercari is okay, but it wasn’t quite as easy to get your money. I usually list my stuff for really cheap because I’d rather make a little money than no money from listing too high and having no sales. I’ve sold mostly clothes, furniture, and household items that we no longer wanted. I honestly donate to Goodwill most of the time because it’s less hassle than selling and it’s nice, but once in awhile I’ll sell something instead.
So those are the ways I’ve been “hustling” as of late. Do you do any of these things? Do you have any other ideas for me?
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