Thursday, July 18, 2013

$$ One hundred ways to make a dollar (or more) $$

This is going to be a long post. Well it IS ONE HUNDRED ways to make a dollar. Most things you do will probably make you more than a dollar but sometimes its easier to change your train of thought because if you do make more than a dollar per task your going to be pretty happy with yourself! 

In most ideas I have tried to link in a US site and an Australian site so if you click on one and it's the wrong country, try the other. Nothing frustrates me more than to get a great idea but not be able to find a resource in my country! If you cannot find a link to an idea feel free to comment and I will try to find you a link.

Remember EVERY dollar counts towards your financial goals.


  1. Clean someone car
  2. Babysit Maybe watching a friends kids while she goes to the movies, shopping, get a haircut?
  3. Walk a do. Advertise locally to save on travel costs. Do a good job, charge reasonable rates and word of mouth will probably be your main form of advertising.
  4. Wash someone's clothes (how hard is this if you have a washing machine?)
  5. Sell items for someone else and charge a commission or percentage of what you sell I do this and charge 25%
  6. Find freebies and then sell them on ( I do this with furniture and baby items because for me they are popular in my area in Australia) But you can do books, clothes, collectables whatever you think is going to be profitable for you.
  7. Write thank you cards/invitations for a wedding or birthday party for someone. Newlyweds rarely have time to follow up the celebration with thank you cards as often its back to reality and work.
  8. Complete a few surveys online Pure profile, live tribe are ones I use.
  9. Clean someone's house
  10. Set yourself a no spend challenge for the groceries for one week ( every dollar saved can go in your savings kitty at the end of the week)
  11. Sort through your old clothes/ spare room and find items to sell on. Be reasonable with pricing, if you wouldn't pay that amount second hand don't expect someone else too!
  12. Shop for someone else while you are doing your own
  13.  Make cupcakes for your significant other to take to work and charge $1 a cupcake ( it always helps to do this as a freebie to begin with so they know how yummy your betty crocker choc cupcakes are!)
  14.  Enter some free competitions and sell the prize Enter things that have a high winner limit. Things like movie tickets, books, DVDs etc see my competition tips on how to win
  15.  Rent your spare room out This can be temporary or a long term thing.Lots of people need somewhere to stay in between rental leases or if they have relocated from another state. You could get some extra help around the house too if your rent is super cheap! just make sure they contribute their part to the bills
  16. Teach someone to drive Make sure they have their own car and insurance to use.
  17. Mow a neighbours lawn  use their equipment or add your costs in the charge
  18. Charge for healthy veggie scraps leftover from your cooking.  Chooks are great but if someone can save on feed they are going to be pretty happy.
  19. Sell excess fruit and veg out the front of your house I did this last week. Picked my mandarin tree and put them out the front for $1 a bag. To date have sold 20 bags  and only spent 60 cents on a packet of bags. Easy cash.
  20. Feeds someone's pets while they are away If people are going to supply their own pet food, the pet can either come to you if a drive away, or if its a walk away they can stay in their own home and its no cost to you.
  21. Mend/Alter clothes  It's not hard to learn to take up some pants. Taking things in and adding buttons/zips can get a bit trickier but why not just start with taking up long pants? I have done this for my dad several times, now i think of it i might change him a dollar next time!
  22. Put a swear jar in your home Every time someone says a naughty word, in goes a dollar! You'd probably be surprised how fast this one fills up if you get a few blokes, beer  and the footy on the TV!
  23. Research something for someone. Got a friend in the market for a car, new home, cheaper credit card? Do a web search on what they are looking for and email them the links.
  24.  Take photos for a child's birthday party. I know from experience that when you are hosting a kids birthday party you are either behind the camera taking the photos or missing all the photo ops. Having someone else take the pictures and capture those "moments" ( cake smash, present opening, sitting on grandpas knee) is really special. Offer to do for a friend with their camera. Just point, snap, earn. 
  25. Make stupid bets. If you hang around pubs/clubs chances are you are going to find some unsuspecting drunk who you can make a bet with. Source some easy but good fooling magic tricks.  Just don't lose!
  26. Bury deceased pets in the owners yards for them.For lots of pet owners their animals are more than just pets and the thought of putting them  underground can be quite distressing. It's not a pretty but you would be helping someone at the same time as earning money.
  27. Freelance writing. There are a tonne of websites you can write for. Most of them you get paid per click each time someone reads it. Promote the crap out of your piece. Put it on facebook, your blog, links on friends Facebooks so  their friends see they see it. Just don't be a jerk and post ALL the time. You might get a bit of "UN-friending" happening.
  28. Help  someone shift furniture/move house. Most pensioners don't have a hope of being able to afford a removalist. Considering getting them to hire a truck instead and you can help them pack and unpack it. Alternatively they might just want a rearrange or an item put out for hard rubbish.
  29. Fitness training Buddy. There are lots of people that just cannot get motivated to go for that walk in the morning but don't want to fork out for a personal trainer. You can be the cheap friend/trainer that keeps them motivated and get some fresh air for yourself
  30. Put together flat pack furniture.  Most people love what's available at Ikea but they don't have the time or patience to set it all up. That's where you come in.
  31. Drop junk mail catalogs/newspaper round. You get fit, paid and its regular income.
  32. Emergency daycare for sick kids. Heaps of parents have to take the day off when their children are sick because they are not allowed to go to child care centres with so much as a runny nose. Having this kind of service could be full time or occasional and helps hardworking parents out big time! Ask them to pack their own lunches and toys so you don't have outlay. Just keep in mind you need to have a safe home for kids.
  33. Remove head-lice on schoolkids. This is a horrid job and if you are a parent with multiple infected children, very time consuming. It's not as bad as it used to be with fantastic products on the market.  Hey, it will make you money so don't complain.
  34. Collect cans and bottles. Put a flyer out in your local cafe or shopping centre or a letterbox drop requesting your neighbours leave their cans/bottles on the footpath for you once a week instead of putting in their recycle bin. You collect the cans and once you have a good stash, cash them in at the bottle depot. if you are getting between 5-10 cents a can that adds up. Especially if your neighbors are beer or coke drinkers.
  35. Upload photos or transfer to DVDs for time poor people. You could create slideshows, upload to a specific folder, delete blurred/poor quality pictures or print on their home printer.
  36. "Make house" while someone is away. Collect their mail from the letterbox, put out and bring in their bins, air the house, change lights that are on all to make it look like someone is home.
  37. House-sit. It can be reassuring for many for someone to be in their house while they are away. You could also do it for free if it's long term, because you could potentially saving money on rent, food, utilities for a period of time which you could put into a savings account instead.
  38. Dog washing. This is great for people who have big dogs. All you need is a backyard with a hose, shampoo, bucket and old towel. Get them to supply the goods or add it to your costs.
  39. Painting. Even if you don't have any painting talent it doesn't matter if all you are doing is the undercoat. Getting good coverage is important but its not the final products so its not like choppy strokes are going to matter too much. I wouldn't call it a profession because there are professionals for that but it would be good to help out a friend/neighbor/pensioner.
  40. Building site clean up. Lots of builders just want to get on with the job rather than worry about cleaning up at the end of their shift. Get them to organise the skip bin and you just load everything in it. You could do the same with general yard clean ups.
  41. Wall washing. So much preparation is involved when renovating and painting homes for rent or resale. You could help with painting preparation by washing all the walls down. So easy with a bucket of sugar soap water and a bristle broom dunked in it makes short work of the walls.
  42. Area Manager for catalog dropping. Companies need people to make sure that the people dropping the junk mail are doing their job.  As a supervisor You just need to go to the streets where the drop was and check it was done and notify headquarters that the walker can be paid. Easy.
  43. Ironing. If you have a knack for it, you can make decent money for this and most people have an iron and ironing board in their home already. Organise for people to drop off and pick up their laundry so you don't have to commute. I considered this but after a few attempts at ironing my partner's shirt for a wedding we were attending, i decided i really wasn't talented in that department and got my mum to do it instead. Thanks Mum.
  44. Create You Tube videos. So easy to do on either your webcam or on your smartphone and upload them. You can add music, graphics or slideshows but is pretty good for the non techie person (AKA me) You make money from the amount of people clicking on your site which brings in companies to display ads with your video and you get a commission from it, so get filming. It can be anything. Comedy, animals, children ( get parent permission!!!!)how to videos, funny dancing old people, the list is endless.
  45. Dinner buddy. Lots of people travel for business and eat in restaurants/hotels by themselves. Especially for women be quite daunting, especially for single women as they don't want to be cracked on to when they just want to have a drink and wind down after working all day.Be the platonic company. meet interesting people ( maybe pick up some millionaire tips), enjoy a free meal and get paid. Sounds good to me.
  46. Be a hair model. Lots of hairdresser are looking for people to practice on, use for hair shows or use for photo shoots. What you get paid depends on the job. If you don't get paid you are usually compensated a new cut/colour and hair products to care for it as a minimum payment. Well at least you wont need to buy shampoo so add those savings to your kitty.
  47. Submit tips, photos, stories,reviews to magazines. Magazine love reader interaction. Look for the areas in the magazines of "send your story" or "ask our ghost whisperer" or photo submissions. You can usually get good money for a simple photo upload or emailed story.
  48. Be a Gifter. Finding appropriate gifts for people who have no idea what to buy their nephew for his 18th or are too time poor to get a wedding present for their friends.
  49. Xmas present wrapper. Stick a sign out the front of your house to have people come in and have their presents wrapped on the spot. You might want to rope a few friends in a split the money or donate a portion to a Christmas charity.
  50. Mystery Shopper. In my experience you don't get much money from doing this but if you eat fast food take away like McDonalds anyway, a free meal is as good as it's going to get. Just make sure its within walking distance because not all companies will compensate you for petrol.
  51. Donate blood, sperm or eggs ( America) it would be great for it to be in Australia, more people would probably do it.The idea of helping infertile couples realize their dream of having children is great too.
  52. Boat hand. Boring hard yakka job but probably not hard to get. hang around a marina and speak to some of the fisherman coming in to see how you can help out.
  53. Virtual Assistant. Try to go off word of mouth or a facebook page where people have made legitimate comments. All these "sign up pay this and get work" are probably a scam. Do your research before taking this one on. Also have examples of your work if possible.
  54. Build a website. So easy to do if you know where to look. There are a lot of free website building programs that are so easy even I can do them. The only draw back with some is that you have to host with the company you built the site with and some have limits on  how many domain or email accounts you have so do a bit of research first.
  55. Write a blog. Lots of people do this. ( I'm doing it right now!) You can use AdSense or Amazon to display ads relevant to your blog and each time someone clicks and purchases you get a commission. You can also use a blog to promote and sell your own products/services and/or website.
  56. Create budgets. Lots of people find the task of doing a simple budget brain draining. If they can give you all their receipts, costs and bank statements you could put one together for them 
  57. Set up internet banking. Lots of  people are "old school" and rush to the post office to pay their bills on time. This is pretty inconvenient because in Australia it means getting it done in business hours. Who has time for that? Helping someone set up internet banking for things like mortgage repayments, regular bill installments or car payments can take a lot of stress off them paying their bills on time.
  58. Run basic computer skill courses. You could do this for individuals or as a group. Talk to your local library and see if you can book out all the computers for a block of time each week. Show people how to send emails, use facebook, skype and surf the internet and create word documents so they can keep up with loved ones and not be left behind because of technology. Depend on your skill level you could run even more advanced courses.
  59. Help students with homework. They can be anything from littlies reading their readers to you or an older student or college student, it depends what you are comfortable with.
  60. Be a designated driver. Use the drinker's car to pick them up and drop them off so they are not waiting around in a long taxi rank or stumbling home in the dark. 
  61. Girls Night Out/ Boys Night Out photographer. Just take your iphone or camera and tag along  with the group capturing all the best moments of the night. Get them to pay your club entry fees and a few non alcoholic beverages ( so you can still take decent photos) to keep your energy up for a long night.
  62. Enter talent competitions. Eating hot dogs the fastest, guessing how many jelly beans in the jar. If there's a prize you don't want, sell it. 
  63. Make sculptures/art out of recycled junk. Find things from your shed or what you would normally throw out, remodel and sell on craft sites like etsy
  64. Personal Stylist. If you have a knack for making good fashion choices give advice on what suits someone and where to buy it. you could set this up as an online thing too where people send in pictures of themselves.
  65. Proposal Planner. Gone are the days of people getting down on one knee in a restaurant. Help people create ( and pull off!) a one of a kind proposal experience.
  66. Set up electronics for people. Lots of people go home from the electronic shops with the big screen TV, complete with DVD player, Foxtel and surround sound, only to have no idea how to connect it all up and tune.
  67. Write an e-book. You can list it on Amazon for free and then they take a percentage when you sell it. Write a how to, a fictional story, collection of short stories its really up to you.
  68. Cook for time poor people. They pay for the groceries and containers. You cook up the meals and freeze them ready for them to defrost and cook when they come home. Things like curries, lasagne, stir frys, desserts and baked goods. You could charge extra and do the shopping yourself.
  69. Supply weekly menu plans and shopping lists by email. You could even classify them by budget, vegetarian/meat or singles, families etc.
  70. Promotions girl or guy. Usually a case of dressing in the brand or costume. Hand out leaflets, drinks etc
  71. Baby set up consultant. Help expectant mums avoid the shop staff that convince them to buy a whole heap of stuff they don't need. Coach them through the necessities and luxuries and where they can get the most bang for their buck.
  72. Life coach/motivational speaker. If you are good at inspiring people and public speaking. You could also do one on one mentoring. 
  73. Census collector. For Australians this is great. You can just be picking up and dropping off the forms or you can actually travel to remote areas to sit down with indigenous groups to assist them in filling out the forms. Casual rates with the opportunity of ongoing work of data entry to collate the information collected.
  74. Door to door fundraiser. This can be really good money if you put in the time. Payment is usually per hour.
  75. Delivery Driver.
  76. Hire your ute out. People need rubbish removal, picking up furniture and don't have the means to do it. A tradie may even need one for the day while their car is at the mechanics getting serviced.
  77. Rent out your car. If you work away or have a car but only user on the weekends you could rent your car out for people to use during the week. Just make sure you had adequate insurance, written contract and do your research of who you rent to.
  78. Rent out storage space in your shed. Lots of city folk have boats, jet skis etc that they don't have space to fit in to their apartment/ town house. Rather than upgrade to a bigger house they put their stuff in storage. Others want to store a car they are restoring as a hobby or an unregistered vehicle.Why not be the storage? It can short term or long term, you negotiate the contract.
  79. Rent out your car space. If you live/ work in the city renting out car space is a great idea. If you go away on holidays and you have a work car space you could rent it out to someone else who would otherwise have to keep shifting their car all day to avoid fines or catch public transport. Also if your home is located near showgrounds, markets, football stadiums, theatres  or otherwise and you have some room on your property charge slightly cheaper than the public carparks and you'll no doubt have a full yard for the day potentially pocketing a few hundred for doing almost nothing!
  80. Wrap advertising on your car. I am yet to find an opportunity for this in South Australia but it is available in other states. Usually requirements are that your car is in good knick, you have a reasonable driving record and are comprehensively insured. The wraps don't damage your car and you can accept or decline what the company wants to put on the car. You will usually have to register first and state where, when and how often you drive. eg school pick up and drop off, local shops, extended trips etc so that the company can establish if they will get the right exposure putting their brand on your car.
  81. Sell your old mobile phone. I recently came across this when i typed into Google "how to make money from your mobile phone" You can sell your old phones ( Australia) and you know what you will be paid beforehand. Just search your phone model and they will tell you what they will pay. It can be anywhere between $1-$150. it can even be broken or faulty! Register your sale, they send you the pack and you post it and get paid when they receive it. Great if you recently upgraded and want to offload the old one.
  82. Display signs on your property or front fence Companies love cheap/free advertising. If you are not fussed about the cash you could potentially negotiate to swap advertising for labour for a job you have been needing to have done.
  83. House wrapping. ( Not in Australia) but in America there is a company called Adzookie that come in and paint your whole house to advertise their brand. Once the promotion is over, they paint your house back to how you want it. Oh yeah and while they are advertising on your house they are paying the mortgage! I WISH this  was in Australia, I'd paint it hot pink if it meant my mortgage paid!
  84. Rent out your skin for advertising space A couple of students in the UK sold their faces to use as advertising platforms. The boys had various advertisers pain on their faces their brands/ promotions and the guys got paid for it. There are other companies online that offer a similar service read an article with more detail here.
  85. Advertise on your phones home screen.
  86. Modelling. This will usually require you joining an agency. There are a lot of dodgy ones out there so do your research. When you find one that sounds good, type the name into Google with the word "reviews" so you can find out other people's experience.
  87. Human Guinea Pig. You can get paid for participating in clinical trials. Whether they be research on sleeping or getting jabbed with all sorts of different vaccines. Look up clinical trials in your area.
  88. Get paid to play video games.
  89.  Rent your livestock out as lawnmowers. If you have a few goats or sheep or even a small pony you could rent them out to help keep the grass down between mowing in people's backyards. Make sure the yards are safe so your animals come back as you rented them out and have ground rules.
  90.  Lease your horses for riders. Have a horse that doesn't get worked often enough? Lots of people love to ride but can't afford or have the space for a horse.
  91. Lease your land. Vacant land can have all sorts of great uses depending on council approval. Car race track/bush bashing, caravan and camping sites, keep stock on them, motor-cross track, parties or festivals are just a few ideas.
  92. Rent your house for films. If you have a nice house and garden you can usually register with a company that hires out places to film crews. it could be for a day a week. It all depends what you can negotiate with.
  93.  Movie Extra. You don't always need a whole lot of talent to be an extra in a movie. I've done it and all I did was walk back and forth holding a baby in a country fair scene. Keep in mind one scene can take a whole day and can be repetitive but it's not hard money to make.
  94. Chop wood. If you live in a country area there is probably opportunity during winter to  cut down trees chainsaw/ chop up blocks of wood for families.
  95. Animal trainer. If you have a dog with above average intelligence or a great sociable personality, Google a great training website (Ceasar Milan's number 1 fan here), and teach them something cool. If you have a golden lab or retriever you are halfway there already! Youtube it, enter competitions or if people see promise in your training you could do freelance backyard training for their pets.
  96. Karaoke competition.  Don't laugh, karaoke can be a big winner as far as prize money and travel goes and it's not always the best vocalist that is the winner. Karaoke is judged on the whole picture of convincing start quality. Dress the part, get some moves and rock your heart out.
  97.  Enter game shows. Sometimes you may need to hand around a studio all day to shoot the weeks worth of shows but if you manage to be one of the contestants and win big its probably worth it.
  98.  Source freebies for second hand furniture dealers. Spend your time googling sites like Craiglist or Gumtree and alert stores to free items needing pick up that they can resell.
  99. Appointment setter. There are lots of work from home jobs as these. Depending on the company you can be paid per hour or paid in commission on jobs booked.
  100.  Small business such as Avon, Nutrimetics Some of these don't have huge profit margin but it might be enough to have some extra pocket money. Do your research on out-going expenses and if you think you have the right personality to run it.

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