When thinking about your household income, it's often helpful to think of it like a swimming pool that needs constant filling: the more garden hoses you have filling it up, the better. Sure, your day job may be the biggest of these metaphorical hoses, but adding another half-dozen sources of easy income from home can really add up.
Every method on this list meets the following criteria: it's easy, it makes (and/or saves) money, and you can accomplish it from home.
Some will make you more than others, and some may not be right for you. But take a look and try a couple. And find which garden hose works for you.
We hope you find these products as awesome as we do. Just an FYI: We are a participant in the Amazon affiliate program, and may receive a share of sales from links on this page. Prices on Amazon fluctuate so anything mentioned below might change as soon we publish it!
We're bringing these strategies to our audience because we think they're fantastic ways to make extra money. We do participate in affiliate programs, and may make money from links on this page.
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Get Paid To Clean Out Your Closet
Cleaning isn't fun. Unless you're getting paid for it.
Time to empty out that closet, because you can turn those old phones, video games, electronics and movies into major cash with Decluttr.
Decluttr makes selling your old gadgets about as painless and quick as possible. Sign up on their site, tell them what you're looking to sell, and watch the dollars add up. You'll pay zero fees, get paid thee next day, and they even cover shipping.
They also offer lightly used iPhones and other popular electronics for sale, often at unbeatable prices.
Use This Popular Bot to Negotiate Your Cable and Internet Bills As Low As Possible
Cable and internet charges are more expensive than ever. Sure, they lure you in with a 1-year contract at rock-bottom pricing, but the instant those 12 months are up, your bills shoot through the roof.
That's where Trim comes in major handy. This simple-yet-genius app can negotiate your cable and internet bills down for you, saving you major cash with providers like Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, and many others.
It's easy and quick to sign up, and you don't even have to talk to another living person to start saving.
Make $10 To Spend On Amazon Right Now
Any regular online shopper should be using a cash-back rewards program, and there's no bigger or better program than Ebates.
Ebates has partnered with over 1,000 online retailers to provide you with cash-back rewards for the shopping that you're already doing, with rewards like 1% cash back on Target purchases, and 2% at Walmart.
You can sign up in a few minutes right here.Turn That Spare Bedroom Into Cash
If you're at all inclined towards becoming an at-home hotelier, Airbnb is for you.
The service lets hosts like you provide a room-for-rent to visitors to your area. It's an easy way to add substantial income each month, especially if you're in a highly desirable area.
Here's some tips that Airbnb recommends for peak earnings potential:
1. Be a great host. Stock your place like a hotel, with all the necessary toiletries and linens.
2. Be friendly. As a host in your own home, you can (and must) offer a personable, friendly touch that hotels can't.
3. Rent during peak times and events. That spare room is a lot more valuable when a popular convention, concert, or sports championship is in town.
It's easy to get started, and you can sign up for free here. Bear in mind that while most cities are a-ok with Airbnb-style hosting, laws vary location to location.
Get Paid For Purchases You've Already Made
Is your email inbox choked with Amazon, Target, and/or WalMart emails? Great! They may be as good as gold, when paired with Paribus.
This free service scans your emails and detects any purchases you've made from its 29 major retailers. It then scans those retailers to see if there's been a price drop since purchase, and if so, it'll issue you a refund.
It'll even get you money back on shipping charges for any purchases that may have arrived late, from a few bucks back, to fully-refunded shipping charges.
It's seriously easy, seriously free, and seriously awesome.
Make Money While Surfing On Your Phone
Swagbucks is the pre-eminent player in the "do-random-internetty-tasks-for-cash" game, in which you, the user, get paid for doing random tasks, like reading advertiser's emails, watching commercials, and taking online surveys.
One you sign up for the free program, you'll have a plethora of offers to make small hunks of cash for small hunks of time/effort. Offerings include making $3.50 for signing up for a free TurboTax account (which you're never obligated to use), or 50-cents for signing up for an AMF Bowling newsletter.
There's typically more than 100 tasks to choose from, most of them quick and easy enough to knock out anytime.
You can sign up right here.