23 Unusual And Occasionally Strange Ways To Make Extra Money

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This week I’ve put together a huge list of potential supplemental income sources from various spots around the web as well as my own brain. Some of these ideas are more realistic than others, and some are saner than others, it’s true. There are some humdingers in this list, incidentally, so don’t click away thinking you already have exhausted all possible avenues of extra money. Let me assure you: if the backalleys and bowels of the internet I’ve visited while researching this post are any indication, there are so many ways of earning extra cash out there that NOBODY has heard them all before. And who can’t use a little extra cash? If you have any ideas I’ve overlooked, make sure to add them to the comments. Happy moonlighting.

1. Fishing for quarters in public laundromats. Check out this awesome tip from the comment section at Wisebread:

   I was doing my laundry one night in a laundromat when this guy comes in with a long skinny wooden pole. He drops to one knee in front of the washing machines and slides the pole around underneath. Out comes dust, lint balls and about $5 in quarters. I talked to the guy and apparently his ‘job’ is going around to laundromats and fishing lost quarters from under the machines. He said he likes it because he sets his own hours, doesn’t have a boss and it’s pretty much legitimate. He said on a good week he can make $80 – $100.

   I don’t think I could live on $320-$400 per month, but I wouldn’t mind taking that in as an extra income. Maybe you can ease into this by just trying it at your apartment complex’s laundry room?

2. Sell old books and videos on Amazon. I’ve discussed this at length before, but it never hurts to remind people that you can earn extra money and declutter at the same time by selling your used books and videos on Amazon. Also, some people have had success by gathering up the discarded books of others (family, libraries, etc.), and/or buying books on the cheap at garage sales and used bookstores, and reselling on Amazon. If you plan to do this, though, know your market: you need to go to these stores with an idea of what will sell at what price for this to be a worthwhile venture.
3. Fill out online surveys. I have never done this myself, but many people have had success in getting extra spending money through filling out online surveys. Googling “paid surveys” brings up about 85 bazillion different places you can try.
4. Join You Data and get paid to look at ads. OK, so I’m pimping again, but that doesn’t change the fact that the You Data program is pretty cool. Not only do they pay you to look at ads, offer you choices of whether to participate every step of the way (e.g. you’ll get a small amount for seeing what kind of product they’re promoting, and more if you actually go to the site), and pay you every week through PayPal (unlike some people [cough] AdSense, they also tend to promote really cool companies. Seriously. Every time I go to a link through You Data, I find something cool–now, this has not led to a purchase yet (thankfully), but it’s still kind of neat to learn about new companies that are geared toward me and be paid to do so at the same time.
5. Use sites like MyPoints to earn points on purchases and earn gift cards, etc. This won’t give you straight cash, but if you know you’re buying something anyway, it’s always nice to get a commission.
6. Recycling. It takes some effort, but collecting cans and carrying them down to the grocery store parking lot on Saturday can be worth your while. I tend to love anything that feels like “found money.” And if you live in Michigan, then you actually are talking some serious coin for bringing those things back. But recycling doesn’t just mean cans and bottles: you can also recycle your cell phone for cash, recycle old computer software for cash, and recycle used golf balls for cash.
7. Participate in focus groups. Cruise through your phone book or google to find paid focus group opportunities in your city.
8. Sell scrap metal items to dealers. I don’t have any experience with this one in particular, but apparently you can sell scrap metal (like from old hardware, computers, home improvement project leftovers that are currently gathering dust in your garage) to dealers. Veterans of the practice of scrap recycling suggest that you troll around the night before garbage pickup to look for items that can be sold as scrap. Examples include: storm doors, car batteries, gutters, pipes, bed springs, sinks, copper tubing, etc. When you’re ready to recycle, you can look up scrap metal dealers in the yellow pages to get rid of the stuff.
9. Sell stuff on Etsy. If you are talented at crafts, you can try opening up your own Etsy store. I would not suggest this technique to somebody just beginning in crafts, though: it’s tough to get to a point where you’re spending less in the craft store than you are making from sales, so this is strictly for the experienced sewer, crafter, and jewelry designer.
10. Participate in marketing research–online and in-person.
11. Recycle/Resell Magazines. Some used bookstores are interested in buying new and relatively new magazines. If you subscribe to free magazines whenever you find offers online, you can then turn around and sell them to your used book store, according to one of theWisebreaders.
12. Become a chacha.com guide. Chacha is a free service for mobile phones that allows users to get questions on a range of subjects answered by a team of “guides.” The guides are at the ready to answer questions on a variety of topics, or topics within a certain niche. You can learn more here.
13. Participate in research studies. If you live near a college or university, there are probably studies in which you can participate in order to earn extra money. Places to check include the psychology and sociology departments or–if you’re really daring–medical research studies can be found through Google. If someone proposes setting up a simulated prison and having you act as a guard, though, please run far away.
14. Do tech support for people who understand less about computers than you do. You may think you don’t know much about computers and software, but the chances are there are people in your life that know even less than you do. Find those people and help them turn on and off their computers. I have told the story many times about how somebody I know was ready to pay $10,000 to have a computer network of three PCs set up in her office because she has no idea what these kinds of things should cost, or where to go to make them happen. Think of that guy who sells DVDs on Sprout.com about how to sell things on eBay. He has built an entire business around information readily available on eBay. Do not underestimate the capacity of the technologically fearful to pay you to set up their iPods. I would troll the “genius bar” at your local Mac store for people who look like they’re getting weary of waiting, or put up an ad at a local coffee shop.
15. Tutor. There are a variety of places you can look to start a tutoring business. The old fashioned way is to just offer your expertise through word-of-mouth or print up a bunch of fliers and put them around town. But you can also check with SAT Prep companies like Kaplan and Princeton Review, who will hire people with advanced degrees in particular subjects (and/or demonstrable high scores on standardized tests) to teach prep classes. These courses usually offer a few hours of work per week and the pay is pretty decent.
16. Babysit. Show me some new parents and I’ll show you a couple that needs a date night. Offer to watch kids and parents will pay you tons of money just for being responsible and available. The best way to do this is word-of-mouth, since most parents want to be able to screen the applicants, but you can also join a service that lists babysitters in the area.
17. Start your own private Idaho textbook lending library. From this commenter on Wise Bread, a clever idea for students in need of extra money: rent out your old textbooks after you have used them for courses. If the University starts using other books, you can then sell the textbook on Amazon.
18. Mow lawns.
19. Offer workshops in your area of expertise. If you have a useful skill, you can look into teaching a course with your local community college or through private services like the Learning Annex for some extra cash.
20. Pet-sitting and pet boarding.
21. Freelance writing. As the blogging world expands, there are more and more opportunities for paid gigs writing for large, well-established blogs. One way to find out about these gigs is to check out the ProBlogger Job Boards, which list blog jobs and people looking to hire bloggers. You can also check out freelance writing brokers like DemandStudios for opportunities in providing freelance copy for various different industries. Another source is eHow, who pays people to write instructional articles on topics with which they are familiar. These services also often allow you to pimp your own blog in any articles you write, so it’s kind of a two-fer.
22. Buy stuff at garage sales and resell on eBay. If you live in an area where there are a lot of yard/garage/tag sales, you can make a profit by buying up items and reselling them on eBay. Keep in mind that things that are light are easiest to ship and brand names do best on eBay, since people do searches on brand names when they’re looking for clothes, etc.
23. Donate plasma. This has long been a stereotype behavior of the down-and-out, but apparently there is some decent money in this if you’re not prone to getting queasy. According to this commenter on Wise Bread, you can make between $200-$250 a month if you take advantage of all of the times you’re allowed to do it in a month.

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