Hey everyone! Today I have a post from a fellow blogger. Enjoy!
Now that summer break is in full swing, you may be dreaming of ways to enjoy some holidays, but you can’t seem to find a way to come up with enough extra cash.
For modern families who are living in the middle of hectic work weeks and juggling parenting duties, taking a family vacation may seem virtually impossible.
With a little creativity and ingenuity, you can turn your favorite activities, like watching the pets, into a cash-generating enterprise that lets you have fun while earning much-needed money.
Whether you’re staying at home with the kids this summer or busy in the work force here are four exciting ways to augment your bankroll this summer.
Finding Free Household Goods
If you’re interested in saving money while finding new or pre-owned appliances, clothes, and furnishings, you can enjoy the benefits of the Internet.
With numerous community bulletin boards, you can even find free home essentials that let you save money. At Freecycle, you can find more creative ideas and learn how to furnish your home on a budget.
Pet-Sitting
If you’re an animal lover like I am, you’ll really enjoy this great idea. Because most of us have friends and family members who travel for several weeks during the summer and need a reliable place to keep their pets safe, boarding dogs (a great site!) is a great way to help others while earning money. In addition, you get to meet new pets and have plenty of time to enjoy their company.
Sell Your Old Stuff
Getting rid of old items in your home or apartment is a great way to reduce clutter while earning a few extra dollars. With eBay or other Internet classified sites, you can find local families who need your things and make money while helping others.
Dump the Bottled Water
Many people are unsure just how much money that is spent in the course of a year paying for bottled water. While a host of myths swirl around about drinking bottled water, the truth is that tap water contains the essential minerals and trace ingredients that our bodies need to function their best.
If you’re only drinking bottled water, you’re missing out on these things and could be seriously hampering your health. According to The Water Project, you can keep the planet cleaner and save money by reusing your plastic water bottles and filling them from the tap.
Learning how to creatively make money is a great way to earn the cash that’s needed for a summer vacation or a holiday away from the kids!
Shaye is a single mom that has a passion for family, budgeting, healthy living, fitness, and travel. She loves finding new ways to cook healthier and stay fit, all while doing it on a budget. She has a beautiful son and one eccentric dog, but wouldn’t have it any other way.. Follow her blog at http://simplyshaye.wordpress.com!
Do you make extra income? Why or why not?
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Pauline says
I would love to house sit a beautiful home and get paid haha that would be the ultimate summer side hustle for me, in some place amazing of course. I sold ice cream for one summer, it was quite fun to make people happy and tipped well.
Michelle says
I have been thinking about that! I have heard about some sites where the wait list is so long though.
kelly @stayingonbudget says
I hate buying bottled water. Whenever I forget my own reusable plastic bottle and I need some, I cringe paying for it. Thanks for introducing a new blogger!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
Selling your old stuff can be huge. We had a garage sale and now my wife is selling the leftovers on eBay. She just sold two of my old dress pants for $20. $20 for two pants I was selling for $1 each at the garage sale. I definitely recommend eBay.
Michelle says
That’s awesome. We need to start selling more on eBay.
Thomas says
Right now the term is a little bit off for me. All the income I earn is from businesses and hustling so I dont consider it side income since I don’t have a 9-5 gig. But I have done everything from no bottle water, flipping cars, websites, and shoes as well as doing seo work for other sites. There are just so many ways to make money outside of the norm. Just gotta get moving.
Brian @ Luke1428 says
We usually hold a garage sale during the summer to get rid of stuff cluttering up the house. That has always helped us make a little money to be used towards something fun in the summer months.
Holly@ClubThrifty says
Extra income is my fave =)
I had a garage sale this summer and we usually sell things on craigslist periodically throughout the year. But, now that I’m self-employed, my “extra” income is just my income. Not quite as fun!
John S @ Frugal Rules says
Good tips! We sell stuff on CL all the time. We build up our stash and put stuff on there several times a year. We usually make several hundred dollars at it and get to meet some interesting people in the process.
Matt Becker says
I have a water bottle that I refill with tap water multiple times each day. I’ve actually read that most tap water is safer than bottled water because it’s subject to stricter testing. The whole bottled water thing just seems like such a waste of money to me.
lyle @ the Joy of Simple says
Thanks Simply Shaye for a fun post. With the exception of selling my old stuff, I do all that you recommend!
I am the go to cat guy during the summer – or any time of the year – when friends go away on vacation. It’s a great gig that I would do for free anyway as favors for my friends but they still pay me anyway 🙂
I also do not buy bottled water since I have a Brita filter at home and just fill up my own water bottle when needed. I can’t imagine how many billions of water bottles are filling up land fills and other areas on this planet!
As for free household goods…about 90% of my small apartment is filled with donated furniture or items I found in my Magic Garbage Room (post to come).
Now…if I had a car or truck, I would be picking up discarded treasures and selling them on CL for a nice tidy sum…:)
Thanks again and take care.
Lyle
The Warrior says
Extra Dough Tip:
To go along with selling your stuff, try finding things around the house that you 1) don’t use anymore, 2) need a bit of touch up, and 3) are worth the time to fix up.
Often, there’s that random bookcase that could use a new coat of paint and we just overlook it. That’s potential for simplifying our lives and money in the bank.
I’d suggest looking around the house for things that could be refurbished with just some small touch ups and throw it on craigslist.
Hope that helps!
The Warrior
NetWorthWarrior.com
Josh @ CNAFinance.com says
Great post! Everyone wants to save money. I do just about everything you mentioned with the exception of pet sitting. But, my fiance does that so, I think we’ve got it all covered! Thanks for the great read!
Michelle says
That’s great Josh! My city actually doesn’t allow for pet sitting. It’s against the law! Crazy, right?
maria@moneyprinciple says
Flogging your old stuff and ditching the plastic bottles are my favourites. Doing well we the plastic, we are – got these bottles with filter in them and have not bought a single bottle of water on our holiday. Clearing the old stuff is another matter – I have ordered a skip for when we get back (never had any success with selling it; all good stuff but we are hopeless at selling).
Andrew@LivingRichCheaply says
My neighbors in my apartment threw away some review books that I took and sold on Amazon. Got $130 so far! I don’t buy bottled water…I have a brita.
Mackenzie says
We have a bunch of stuff in our garage that we need to sell on ebay and craigslist. Thanks for the reminder to get going on that! 🙂
Savvy Scot says
Pet sitting is awesome! In the UK it can cost up to $40 a night for kennels so I reckon there is some decent cash to be made there…
Michelle says
Kennels are expensive, and I would also rather my dogs have personal attention from a pet sitter!
Kyle | Rather-Be-Shopping.com says
I love selling stuff on eBay and make a nice little side income of it. It is amazing the amount of stuff you can sell and once you develop an eye for it, you can really start to find “treasures” to sell for a nice chunk of change.
SuburbanFInance says
I would LOVE to pet sit. I love animals. They are so much fun!
Marissa @ Thirty Six Months says
Like a lot of people out there, I am a huge pet lover. So I think I am going to consider doing pet-sitting again.