Extra Money Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

What You Need To Know About Affiliate Marketing For Beginners + How 17 Bloggers Earned Their First Affiliate Income

Last Updated: September 28, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 14 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you interested in learning about affiliate marketing for beginners?

Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to monetize your blog because it’s somewhat passive, and it’s something that can truly help your readers when done well.

That’s why, today, I want to talk about affiliate marketing for beginners. I’m going to start with some background on myself, why I love affiliate marketing, what affiliate marketing is, and how you can get started.

I’m also sharing what other bloggers have to say about affiliate marketing. I asked bloggers who took my Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course to answer a few questions, such as:

When they started their blog
When they earned their first affiliate income (how long it took them to earn it, how much it was for, and how they felt)
Their top tip for bloggers trying to get their first affiliate sale.

Their answers are super motivating, and I am so excited to share them all with you. [Read more…]

10 Of The Most Common Questions About Having A Side Job

Last Updated: September 21, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 3 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Today, I’m going to answer some of the most common questions about having a side job. These are questions I get asked a lot by readers and other questions I see asked online.

If you’re thinking about getting a side job or starting a side business, you probably have some questions. I know there were things I was curious about before I got started.

So, if you have common questions about having a side job or making extra money with a side hustle, then this is the article for you.

Finding ways to make extra income can change your life in huge ways.

I say that because I believe it. Here on Making Sense of Cents, I talk a lot about making extra money, especially through side hustles. After all, having side jobs changed my life and allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loan debt.

My side job (this blog) even turned into my full-time business, which is something I will always be grateful for. I love my business, I earn a good income, I travel full-time, and I have a great work-life balance. [Read more…]

How I Make Money On TikTok – How I Grew To 350,000 Followers and Made $60,000 In 6 Weeks

Last Updated: September 12, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 11 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Do you want to learn how to make money on TikTok? Here’s how Tori grew from 0 to 350,000 TikTok followers and made $60,000 in just 6 weeks.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably heard something about TikTok. TikTok is one of the most popular social media networks currently, and it is growing like crazy.

There are already over 500 million active monthly users on TikTok around the world.

So, you may be wondering if you can learn how to make money on TikTok, and any TikTok tips so that you can see success too.

That completely makes sense!

Today, I want to introduce you to Tori Dunlap.

Tori Dunlap is a nationally-recognized millennial money and career expert. After saving $100,000 at age 25, Tori quit her corporate job in marketing and founded Her First $100K. She has helped over 200,000 women negotiate salary, pay off debt, build savings, and invest. [Read more…]

What You Need To Know About Renting A Room In Your House

Last Updated: August 31, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you thinking about renting out a room in your house to make extra money?

We owned a house before we started traveling full-time, and over the years we had four different roommates.

We were able to rent out an extra bedroom and the finished basement to our roommates, and it was a good way to make extra money.

While having roommates is not always perfect, the extra money we made over the years was really appreciated. It helped me pay off my debt and save some money.

And, I have experienced renting a room in a house on both ends.

Before I bought my house, I rented a spare room from someone else, and the roles were flipped.

While renting out a room involves some work, it is a somewhat passive source of income that can help you bring in some extra money without too much effort. [Read more…]

15 Home Business Ideas & The Free Courses You Need To Get Started

Last Updated: October 20, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 5 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you looking for a work from home job or some home business ideas?

If so, then I have a great list of free resources, such as courses and guides, that will help you find the best option and learn how to get started. Plus, all of the courses and guides in this article are free!

If you’re looking to make extra money, or even a full-time income, working from home is a great option. There are lots of realistic home business ideas that allow you to work on a flexible schedule.

In fact, around 50% of U.S. businesses are home based, and that number is expected to grow well into the future.

But, many people don’t know what kind of options are available or how to get started with their home business ideas.

This article is a good starting point because I’m going to tell you about 15 different profitable home business ideas and link to free courses, workshops, and guides that will help you kick off each of these ideas.

There are lots of valuable paid courses out there, but if you’re not sure about an idea, you might not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a course. That’s why free courses and guides are a great way to start. [Read more…]

9 Things I Love and Have Learned After 9 Years Of Blogging

Last Updated: October 16, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 48 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I still remember the month I started my blog. I don’t really remember the exact first day, but I remember the first month and how excited I was.

In August of 2011, I started Making Sense of Cents.

That was exactly 9 years ago!

Back then, I had no idea what I was doing, and I also had no goals for my blog.

I didn’t even really know what a blog was, or that they could make money.

I also didn’t even like to write at that time!

In the past 9 years, so much has changed for me.

It’s crazy to think that I started my blog nine years ago, especially when I consider all of the amazing things it has done for my life.

It was something I started and worked on in addition to my full-time day job as a financial analyst, and around two years after I started this blog, I quit my day job to blog full-time.

Some numbers on Making Sense of Cents:

My first blog post was published on August 10, 2011. You can read it here.
I have published 1,878 articles here on Making Sense of Cents. That number was higher about a month ago, but I recently deleted several hundred articles that I thought weren’t good enough.
I have 70,816 comments on my blog posts.
I’ve personally replied to 21,080 comments.
It took me 6 months to earn my first $100 from Making Sense of Cents.

First, a little backstory on how I began. [Read more…]

Survey Junkie Review – Learn How To Make Extra Money In Your Spare Time

Last Updated: July 3, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 4 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Welcome to my Survey Junkie review!

If you are searching for paid online surveys, then I have an easy site for you to learn more about today.

My Survey Junkie review is going to explain what this site is, how it works, and how you can earn extra money with surveys – which is exactly what I used to do.

Back when I was paying off my student loans, I did a lot of things to make extra money – I sold items on eBay, managed social media for companies, mystery shopped, and took paid online surveys.

The online surveys didn’t make me rich, but they helped me have a little bit of extra money so that I could pay my bills. And, taking online surveys was flexible too – I could do them from home, on my lunch break, on the weekends, whenever.

All I needed was an internet connection.

I am so grateful for the surveys I was able to take years ago, and now there are even more survey companies so even more people can make money online with surveys. [Read more…]

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