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9 Quick Ways to Make Extra Cash

Who couldn’t use some extra cash [1]? Perhaps you are paying down debt, working your way through college and need some pizza money, saving for that dream vacation you want to take, or just want to supplement your ‘mad money’ spending.

The great news is that there are many side jobs that can accomplish the level of extra income [2] you want to make. Try a few of these ideas on for size and see which inspire you to earn extra money [3]!

9 Quick Ways to Make Extra Cash

  1. Dog Walk/Pet Sit: I have a fellow self-employed friend who works from home. As a side gig, she walks dogs and pet sits for her neighbors. Last month alone she pulled in an extra $1300! Even if you only have weekends available, you can still earn some extra cash (this is also a great way to get some exercise). You can post an ad for your services on a community bulletin board, a local Facebook page, Craigslist, or just spread the word among dog owners. This type of service tends to spread by word of mouth, so make sure to treat your clients well and your business could boom.
  2. Scrap Metal: If you have a truck (or can borrow one every so often), then pick up other people’s old appliances and scrap metal for some extra cash. Locate your local scrap center, and pick a date that you will batch pickups. Money earned is based off of metal type and weight.
  3. Mystery Shop Your Oil Changes and Date Nights Out: Have you ever mystery shopped [4]? In our household, we have not paid for an oil change in over two years! Not only do I make a little money on the side, but I also get free premium oil changes (that I am normally too cheap to spend the money on). On top of oil changes, I’ve even taken my husband out to our favorite pub for a free meal plus drinks, and got to bet on three horse races at our local horse track.
  4. Cash Out Credit Card Rewards: Instead of cashing out your credit card reward points [5] for gift cards to retailers, see if you can cash them out for, well, cash. This could also be in the form of a statement credit. Another route to go is to funnel all of your ordinary spending through a cash rewards credit card [6]. Be sure to pay the entire balance each month before interest accrues in order to maximize this benefit.
  5. Earn Cash for Searching the Internet: Google owns a site called Swagbucks [7], where they actually reward you with points (‘Bucks’) for doing what you do already (searching the internet). Then you can cash these in for PayPal cash, which is an even trade (2,500 points = $25). Check out SwagBucks and take advantage of the SwagBucks Sign Up Bonus [8]. You won’t be sorry.
  6. Leverage Your Social Network for Referrals: Bloggers [9] aren’t the only ones who can earn affiliate income. Nowadays, many services you currently use probably have an affiliate network. In our own household, our electric company gives us a $50 bill credit each time we refer someone to them who signs up for a plan, and our cell phone provider (Virgin Mobile) offers a $25 account credit incentive as well. Sign up for your own plan’s affiliate program, and start touting their benefits to your family and friend members!
  7. GigWalk: Help pay your cell phone bill with the GigWalk [10] mobile app (iPhones and Androids). You accept ‘gigs’ that will yield you between $3-$5 in your PayPal account. Gigs can include taking photos of things (menus, business store fronts, signs), or recording information about the inside of a store.
  8. Field Agent: Much like the one above, the Field Agent [11] app will pay you between $2-$8 for your ‘field work’. You will need a PayPal account in order to receive payments. The type of offers you can get depends on a rating system based on your past performance, so there is real potential for growth here if you can stick it out in the beginning.
  9. ChaCha.com Guide: You will certainly not get rich from this, but if you are highly knowledgeable (or just really good at search), then you can become a ChaCha.com [12] guide. Currently there is a waitlist to join. And you can earn from between $0.02 to $0.20 per completed task (based on category).

What are your favorite extra cash earning opportunities? We can all help each other earn more money on the side!

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