We live in difficult times, and they may continue for some time to come. If you are lucky enough to still have your job AND your income hasn’t dropped, then congratulations—you are among the lucky ones.
For the others, I have compiled a short list of things you can do to earn money at home.
1. Keep track of and reinvest your earnings.
Maybe congratulations are to earn a few hundred dollars using one of the listed methods. For some people, that’s the dream. If you can, be sure to reinvest that money. Now, you have a few hundred dollars to invest in your next venture. If you need to spend that money on food or rent, by all means, do so. But it would be ideal if you could reinvest in other ideas presented here.
2. Sell Your Stuff
Sites like eBay seem to have fallen off the radar lately with the advent of Facebook groups, which is unfortunate. EBay is free to list your items, so there is no financial risk. However, they take a substantial 10% selling fee, including what you charge for shipping, so consider that. EBay provides you with a worldwide marketplace that is specifically looking for what you are selling.
3. Consider Driving or delivering
It’s not my favourite because of the time commitment, but it works. Rather than just sitting at home, consider driving for Uber or delivering for Skip the Dishes or some such service. The tips alone might make it worth it if you have a pleasant and comforting demeanour.
4. Pet Sitting
It’s one of my favourites but a little more challenging because of the prep work and the competition. A site like Rover.com will allow you to put up your ad and use their resources to sell your service. Depending on your area and your experience, there might be some competition. You will also need personal references, but you’re a nice person, that shouldn’t be a problem. The site is free to place an ad but they charge a percentage of your income, in my opinion, that’s fair. From there, you could advertise your service further on Kijiji or Facebook.
5. Be a Virtual Assistant.
Do you still have an “old-fashioned” PC? It would be relatively simple to visit a site like Upwork.com and see what help people seek. Some simple skills people seek include data entry, content creation, social media help and bookkeeping. Of course, it’s all the better if you have specialized web development, graphic design, or WordPress skills.
6. Writing or photography
If you have a knack for writing, photography, or even a different or unique take on either, selling your talents would be pretty straightforward. Many bloggers and other site creators, such as myself, are always looking for external contributions. Google constant content and see how many sites there are that you can consider offering your work to. Most of them will allow you a free platform to offer your content, and then you get paid when an interested party purchases your work.
7 Flip websites
This may involve a learning curve and a little bit of stepping out of your comfort zone—or maybe not.
Go to Namecheap.com, do a domain lookup, and try to find something not already in use or otherwise unique and exciting. Purchase a dot-com domain, such as “Myuniqueidea.com,” then visit Flippa.com and sell it. Dot-com domains are like land; they’re not making any more of them. There are probably hundreds of millions of domains in use, which makes them scarce, especially dot coms.
8. Turn your hobby into an income
What are you good at? Can you sew? Are you handy? Do you have a skill that people will either pay you to do something that they are unable to do themselves, or maybe you are good at sewing purses that people could buy from you, or art that inspires people enough that they say, “I must have this in my home”
9. Become a tutor
I know from experience that a good tutor is hard to find. The best part is that you don’t have to have been an excellent student. It is helpful if you are organized, caring, and flexible. The best part is that technology allows you to tutor almost anyone anywhere as long as you familiarize yourself with the jurisdiction that the student is in. Not to mention, you could make a troubled family very happy.
10. Offer your services on Facebook
Have you ever considered going to a local Facebook group and asking if anyone needs help? Many times, I would have paid someone to help me with a task that would have taken me a lot longer and a lot more hassle to do by myself.
