Look for “passive income” or “make money from home” and you’ll be inundated with get rich quick schemes and work from home scams. Don’t fall for it! There are ways to build additional income streams and none of them should cost you money upfront.

As someone who has to spend over 60% of her take home pay on daycare, finding ways to make extra money from home is extremely important.

(Update: I’ve since quit my job to run my blog from home full time!!!!)

Disclosures: The links in this post may contain referral links through which I may receive some sort of compensation. This in no way affects your use of the company. This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. I believe in honesty of relationship, opinion, and identity. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. I only endorse products or services that I believe are worthy of such an endorsement.

Building Additional Income Streams

If you’re like me, you have no time waste. Literally. You brush your teeth while combing your son’s hair and you pack lunches while putting on your pants. Thank goodness for automated coffee pots. With not a second to spare, you want to make sure that whatever additional income you bring in is actually worth your time.

First, you need to evaluate when and how you’ll be working to build this extra income. If you want something to do while you’re just watching TV for a couple hours each night, then earning $4/hour from Amazon MTurk will leave you with $8 more than you’d have if you’d only watched TV.

$8 is great. $8 is hopefully more than you spend on TV each month. But $8 is still only $8.

As someone who is constantly multitasking (I swear, I even do it in my dreams!) I need to make more than $8 to consider something worth my time.

extra income ideas

Survey Sites That Actually Pay

There are many different sites available through which you can earn money by completing surveys but I’ll be honest – 95% of them are a huge waste of your time. SurveySavvy is by far the best survey site, making me on average over $15/hour, and I love it so much I wrote a whole separate article about them – check out the SurveySavvy review! (Oct. 2020 Update: My latest check was for over $200!!)

InboxDollars is also great because they offer you a multitude of ways to make money online that don’t necessarily require a lot of time or effort. If you’ve read my InboxDollars Review, you know you can make at least $50 in less than one hour. Beyond that, you can also make money by clipping and using their coupons, doing online searches, completing surveys, and more!

Freelance

Whether you’re looking to turn freelancing into your full-time gig or you just need a little extra spending money, sign up for Upwork. Not only can you search for jobs that fit what you’re looking for, you may also be offered random opportunities that fit your schedule. I once made $25 in 20 minutes by doing some voice work. I have zero experience in it, but was offered the opportunity by a company doing vocal research.

Do you have a unique talent to showcase? Fiverr is another great site to market your skills and/or products. Whether it’s graphic design, social media marketing, or a physical product, Fiverr is definitely a great way to make money and is also a great platform to buy from

Write for Textbroker

If you can write fairly well, you need to apply for Textbroker. You will fill out some basic information and then provide a short writing sample. Do not make the same mistake I did – give them your best work! Within a few days, you will receive a grade of 2-5 stars on your sample; the real money begins at the 4 star mark, though there is still some earning potential at the 3 star level. If you receive less than a 4, you will be reevaluated after 5 submissions and your rating will be adjusted accordingly. I typically average about $15-$20 per article and have made nearly $800 in the last three months. You can read more about how I’ve made over $1,400 from Textbroker in this Textbroker review..

Get Paid to Lose Weight

Are you planning to lose a few pounds any time soon? Check out DietBet! DietBet provides amazing motivation by holding you accountable for your weight loss. There are three different ways to play, depending on where you’re at with your weight loss goals. Thus far I’ve done lose 4% in 4 weeks, but I plan to try for a bigger goal (10% in 6 months) very soon!

I’ve only won $34 from the two games I’ve played but still – $34 for something I wanted/needed to do anyway! Not too shabby!

I’ve also heard good things about HealthyWage.com but I have not yet personally tried it out.

*Update* – I’ve since tried out HealthyWage and I won $1,600 in December after losing 70lbs, and I’ve already got a guest post up from someone who won nearly $700 after dropping 50lbs!! Check out this HealthyWage review!

Do Closed Captioning Work

Rev.com is an online transcription and captioning company. If you can type quickly, I recommend applying. You won’t make a ton of money unless you’re a professional transcriptionist who uses a stenotype. I can type about 98 wpm and I’ve never made more than $7 per working hour with Rev. With that said, though, I very much enjoy the work and that can make all the difference. Thus far I’ve made enough to pay for my Netflix/Hulu subscriptions for the year!

Save Money Shopping Online

If you  have not yet signed up for Rakuten, please do so now. Like right this second. Not that I want you to stop reading but I can’t tell you how much I regret having not done so myself sooner, especially with how much shopping I do online. Since August, I have earned $2,608.12 just from my shopping trips.

If you’re unfamiliar, Rakuten is now the new name for Ebates.

Insiders tip

You can use Rakuten even for things you need TODAY! How? By going through Rakuten to purchase things for in-store pickup. We do this a lot when we need things from Lowes – not only do we get a percentage back from our Lowes purchase but the shopping trip went from an hour long ordeal to a five minute stop!

Check out how to earn even more with Rakuten for more insight into how I’ve made over $1,000!

Proof of payment rakuten ebates

Declutter

Hold a garage sale or sell via Facebook Resale Groups! After I spent a couple days thoroughly decluttering my house, I was able to list and resell a lot of my stuff for a whopping $680 and I still have more to sell! I plan to hold a garage sale this summer to sell whatever is left. My garage sales are typically fairly successful and I often make upwards of $500.

It all adds up in time, just keep at it and be sure to follow us on Facebook for more ideas to help you lead a richer life!

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