How I Made Over $800 Last Month
Are you looking to make extra money? Are you trying to pay off debt or just want to save up for a big purchase? I am going to show you ways to make extra money each month with little effort. It has worked for me for years. So I believe it will work for you as well.
5 Ways I made extra money last month
1. Took photos for a friend ($220)
First of all, to earn money from taking photos for others, you don’t have to be an expert in photography. A camera, photo editing software, and time is all you really need. People need someone to take photos for them on special occasions since they can’t do this task by themselves. It’s simple as that. Because of family obligation (we have a preschooler) and availability, I don’t take photos for others on a regular basis. I only do it when I have the time. That being said, I still make a couple of hundred dollars here and there throughout the year. Imagine if I am able to do it as a side job, I could earn a lot more. Remember, I am not a photographer or an expert in photography.
Last month was a graduation month for high schools in my town. I had the chance to take photos a graduation session for my friend’s kid. It took me 4 hours to do the photo shoot with 3 different outfits plus some family photos and another 5 hours of photo editing. My friend got a total of 250 high-resolution images and they loved every single photo. All in all, my hourly rate was about $24/hour. I thought it was awesome as I’m not a pro. My friend was also very happy as they have a limited budget when it comes to hiring a photographer. And believe me, your friends are willing to pay for your time. It was a win-win for all.
People are looking for an amateur photographer all the time. They don’ t have thousands of dollars to pay for a pro for something like a family event, birthday party or senior graduation in my case. If you go to Craigslist and do a search for a photographer, you’ll see people searching for a photographer or vice versa. Â This is a great way to earn extra money đ .
Here are my tips for taking better photos:
- I always aim to take sharp, crisp and clear photos. It’s because you can crop, adjust lighting, and/or level your photos later with photo editing software but you can really make your photos in focus later even with advanced photo editing software. Make sure your hands are steady or use a tripod and set your camera to autofocus!
- I have a digital SLR (DSLR) camera. The major advantage of a DSLR camera over a point-and-shoot camera is that point-and-shoot cameras typically cannot separate foreground from background whereas you have full control over field of depth with a DSLR camera. Do you notice that pictures taken by a DSLR camera have a blurry background with sharp foreground? It is because you can bring your subject into focus (hence sharp subject with a blurry background) through aperture control of the lens. Another major advantage of a DSLR camera is the ability to change your lens. There are a big array of lenses you can use depending on your needs, from a wide-angle lens to a telephoto. On point-and-shoot cameras, you are limited to the âoptical zoomâ of the camera lens itself while DSLR lenses are much better optically. With these advantages, DSLR cameras allow you to take better quality photos. However, a DSLR camera costs more, is bulkier and heavier. I only use a DSLR camera for special occasions. Of course, with occasions that I could make extra money! I never thought that I could make money from my DSLR!
- I have photo editing software. Photo editing software is crucial for getting great photos, I must say. For a long time, I’d been using Adobe Photoshop. Until I couldn’t get an update without paying a monthly subscription, so I looked for alternatives. Here is free software I personally use that is perfect for any amateur photographer:
GIMP. It’s a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image editing and free-form drawing. GIMP is much more than an image editor. It gives you most of the features of Adobe Photoshop but it’s completely free. In my opinion, GIMP is not as user-friendly as other software I use (Fotor, Canva, and PicMonkey). You can download the software for free here.
Fotor. It’s a free online photo editing software, collage maker, and designer. It’s like an online Photoshop but much easier to use. You can adjust color, brightness, exposure, size, and more. There are some cool features like text inserting, portrait retouching, and photo effects. I’ve personally used Fotor for years and am very happy with its features and ease of use. You can go sign up for Fotor here.
Canva. This free online photo editing is super awesome. It has all the photo editing features. Here is what I like about Canva. There are some stock images you can use for free. However, the majority of them will cost you $1 for one-time use. It’s definitely worth checking it out. You can sign up for Canva here.
PicMonkey. I must say PicMonkey has become my favorite photo editing software. It’s free and has all the photo editing features. What I like about PicMonkey is that there are extensive photo touch-up features, like teeth whitener, blemish remover, lip color enhancer, etc. However, the majority of the features requires a premium account to use. I’m very happy with its features, tools, and the ease of use. You can go check out PicMonkey here.
2. Sold on Etsy ($165)
I have been an Etsy member since 2008. About a year later, I decided to open my Etsy shop selling my original artworks. I made over $2,000 the first year. Holy cow, how come I didn’t do this sooner!?! Let me tell you, I’m not an artist or anything like that. I only paint one subject (I mean I only know how to draw/paint one thing). I love birds and that’s what I paint for my Etsy shop. Just one kind of bird on different types of background (flowers, trees, branches, etc.) and it works (meaning it sells).
After my baby was born I didn’t have much time to paint new paintings like I used to so I started selling limited edition prints of my original paintings. I also made note cards of my original paintings by using premium card stock and archival quality paper with a good quality photo printer. The nice thing about selling on Etsy is the listing fee is very low. It only costs 20 cents per listing.
Last month was a good month, I had over 20 orders:). Most of my orders were note cards. I spent very little time managing the shop and zero time on making new products. It’s semi-passive income.
It’s easy to open an Etsy shop these days. They also have great support and forums for Etsy sellers. If you’re looking to sell your handmade items online, you need to check Etsy out. It’s super easy. You just need to create an Etsy account (if you donât already have one), set your shop location and currency, choose a shop name, create a listing, and start earning extra money.
3. Sold unused stuff ($165)
Do you have stuff lying around that you never use or will never use again? If the answer is yes, then sell it! Last month, I made $165 just by selling a few chairs, a vacuum cleaner, and a toaster oven. Snap good photos, write a clear description and maybe a reason as to why you want to get rid of it (must be a good reason if there is one). I utilize Craigslist and a closed local Facebook group for my advertisement needs. If you are on Facebook but are not a member of a closed Facebook marketplace, please look it up. If you found one, ask the admin to join. From my experience, it’s very helpful and everybody always supports each other. I heard some bad things about Craigslist like scams and such. However, I always had good experiences with Craigslist. You just need to be careful!
4. Got cash back from money-saving apps ($134)
I have been using a variety of money-saving apps for 2 years now and I’m very happy with it. It’s an easy way to make extra money. You need to take advantage of these great money-saving apps if you have a smartphone (otherwise your leaving free money on the table!).
Here are the apps I use which help me make easy extra money each month:
ibotta is a free app that pays you real cash by grocery and everyday shopping. After you download the app and complete the registration, but before you shop, you need to add offers to your profile through the app or using a PC. Then you go buy the products (that you added to your profile) just like you normally do in a store. Redeem your offers by taking a photo of your receipt. ibotta will match the items you bought to the offers you selected and gives you the cash! Your cash back will be deposited into your ibotta account within 48 hours. You can then redeem your cash through PayPay or by requesting a gift card.
I made $26 last month with little effort. You can really make easy extra money every time you shop with just a little planning. What I like about ibotta is that it gives you real money, not points or other made-up currencies. You can sign up for ibotta here and get a $10 welcome bonus.
Rakuten (Formerly Ebates). Get ready to make some easy money. I made $48 last month through Ebates! It’s a cashback website/ free app that gives you cash back for your everyday purchase. If you regularly shop on Amazon, you’ll love this amazing cash back tool. It gives you 1% or more when you shop at Amazon. It’s so user-friendly. After you sign up, you just find the store on rakuten.com, click âShop Nowâ and shop like you normally would on the store site. You can also earn cash back through in-store purchases (with participating stores). Instead of going to the Ebates participating website and find the store there, you just need to install the Ebates app on your smartphone (to get the QR code on your phone when you shop) and set it up for in-store purchasing and then shop like normal. After you make an eligible purchase, youâll earn cash back and Ebates will send you a check or PayPal payment quarterly.
Do you shop online? Do you shop in-store? If you do, itâs time to earn easy money for your purchases. Donât leave money on the table. If you sign up through my referral link, youâll receive $10 when you sign up and make your first eligible purchase.
What I like about Ebates is that it’s very easy to use, their support team/customer service is super helpful, and they always have great promotions year round (like get 10x cash back, 30% off regular price + 10% cash back, etc.). A cash back shopping website/app like Ebates really pays you when shop, whats not to like? You can sign up for Ebates here.
Checkout 51 is a company that partners with brands to bring its members cash back offers. Use the free app to get some cash back on groceries and personal care products (like cereal, produce, milk, diapers, toothpaste, etc.), by taking a picture of your receipt and earning cash back for qualifying purchases through the app. I made $29 last month from just grocery shopping alone. There was a $1.25 cash back offer on a milk product which it could be redeemed 6 times. And that gave me $7.50 cash back from just one offer đ . See how it works here. You can sign up for Checkout 51 here.
Receipt Hog is a fun money earning app. In my opinion, it’s almost like a game but better! It’s a free app that turns your everyday shopping receipts into cash rewards. For every qualifying receipt you take a picture and submit, you’ll earn coins. Depending on the retailer on your receipts, you also get to spin a hog slot for a chance to get more coins and a sweepstakes entry for a monthly drawing. I earned 200 coins one time through the hog slot – it was fun!
What I like about this app is that there’s no shopping planning like other apps I’ve mentioned. You just snap your receipt, submit it through the app, accumulate your coins, and redeem it for cash through PayPal or by requesting an Amazon gift card. I was so excited to get my $25 Amazon gift card! You can sign up for Receipt Hog here.
Walmart Savings Catcher*. It’s a Walmart’s program/service that offers their customers the difference of a price match. The service is called Savings Catcher which allows you to get back the difference if there are any lower prices elsewhere for the same product you purchased at Walmart. In order to use the Savings Catcher service, you must first have a Walmart.com account. If you donât have a Walmart.com account, click here to sign up. Then just download the “Walmart” app on your smartphone or enter the TC  number and date of your receipt on your walmart.com account.
I earned $6 last month. If you do your shopping at Walmart a lot more than we do, you can definitely earn more.
*Update: Walmart discontinued its Walmart Savings Catcher program on May 2018. Â đ
5. Got cash back from a credit card ($147)
We have one credit card and we use it exclusively to purchase everything from groceries to book hotels. It offers unlimited cash back of 1% and quarterly offers promotional 5% cash back on selected products/retailers/services. We take full advantage of its cash back offers. Keep in mind that we pay off our balance every month. You don’t want to pay high-interest rate just to get a few dollars back. It doesn’t make financial sense to get a few dollars back from a credit card if you cannot pay off your balance every month.
Big cash back like this doesn’t happen to us every month. We paid for our hotels and a car rental for our Summer vacation trip earlier and that gave us a 5% promotional cash back. We also had a big purchase, a freezer. Normally, we get about $15-20 a month. I then redeem the cash back when it gets to $100.
Other ways you can earn money
1. Be an Uber or a Lyft driver
I, myself, don’t have experience with Uber or Lyft directly. However, I’ve heard great stories from my friends who are Uber drivers. They only drive on Friday and Saturday nights (they all have a full-time job). On average, they earn $1,000 a month! This is such a great way to make extra money if you like driving around town.
2. Monetize your home
Here again, I don’t have direct experience with monetizing my home. Some of my friends are Airbnb hosts and they make great money. We live in a small college town and my friend only rents out their home during football games which is only 6 times a year while they are on their vacation somewhere else. On average, they make $1,000 a night! It’s such a great way to make extra money.
There you have it. Hope this helps you get started on your side hustling ideas! Happy earning đ
Any other ways to make extra money you can share?
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