It is far too common to find yourself living ‘pay cheque to pay cheque', with little room for extras. In addition, recent studies have shown that approximately 58% of Americans have less than $1000 in savings.
When looking for ways to save more money, sometimes it pays to get creative! Below, Kelley Ollinger details some simple ways to bump up your bank account.
1. Selling Your Excess ‘Stuff'
Most people own many items that are not being used anymore. Sometimes these items may not work or be in perfect condition, but could be valuable to someone else. Throughout Canada and the United States, there are local and national selling sites and apps where you can post new and used items for sale.
Some examples of items that can be sold:
- Furniture
- Jewelry
- Kitchen appliances
- Household appliances
- Books
- Decor
- Gaming Consoles – i.e. Playstation, Nintendo
- Bags and purses
- Sunglasses
- Electronics – i.e. laptops, cellular phones
- Athletic equipment
If you have any items that are no longer being used, ask yourself, “could somebody else find value in this?”
2. Consign Items
When we think about consignment, we generally think about clothes. Consignment stores sell items on your behalf, taking the pressure off of you. In return for their efforts, consignment stores generally take a small percentage of the selling price of your items.
3. Online Survey Site
Although this idea might sound a little sketchy, most of these sites are very legitimate. Companies like Swagbucks pay individuals to take online marketing surveys. It’s not a lot of money, but over time this can be an interesting way to save a little bit of spending money.
Swagbucks compensates you to complete surveys, online gaming, and tests as forms of market research for their clients. Sometimes this compensation comes in the form of gift cards.
To ensure a company is legitimate before getting involved, consider these simple ways to earn more money.
4. Checkout 51
Checkout 51 is a grocery app on your phone. You go through the online list of groceries that are on special, go to the grocery store and purchase those items, then submit a picture of your receipt. Eventually, they mail you a cheque.
5. Secret Shopping
Some companies pay individuals to shop in their stores or eat in their restaurants in order to solicit feedback and constructive criticism. A Closer Look is a company that does secret shopping for companies like Handyman.
6. Freelancing
There are freelancing opportunities for almost any profession. If you are into digital marketing, if you have social media skills, if you are good at Excel, you can freelance. There are tons of job boards out there for freelance work. Problogger.net, Fiber, and Upwork are just a few sites where you can find freelancing jobs.
Freelancing can be an amazing way to make money. You often do not need to be the best at any task to be a freelancer. You simply have to be better than the person that needs your service, and there are simple ways to earn more money by doing so.
7. Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA)
If you shop at Amazon, sometimes you are purchasing a used product. People are making a lot of money selling used books through Amazon. These days, most products are stored at Amazon warehouses.
When a buyer comes along, Amazon pack and ships those items. This has opened up a whole world of simple ways to earn more money by selling used items.
Online Question:
Live Question: “I have heard of becoming an affiliate for Amazon or Wal-Mart. Do you know about this?”
There is a special link where you can apply be an affiliate for some companies. Essentially, this is like acting as a referral. You tell people to buy a product through a certain company, and the company pays you to do so.
Live Question: “I have been getting emails about making money by posting videos on YouTube. Does anyone know how to do this?”
This means that you can get paid if you put advertising in your YouTube video and start driving traffic to that product. The advertisers pay you money to drive more traffic to their ads.
Be sure to give some of these simple money-earning ideas a try. Having that extra spending money or adding to your savings can make a big difference!
Kelley Olinger is a Coach/Consultant and Founder of Reconcile Your Wallet (www.reconcileyourwallet.com), assisting high-achievers to align their personal finances with their personal aspirations. Kelley worked in Residential Real Estate with a focus on pre-construction development for over a decade in Victoria, British Columbia, and recently completed her MBA.
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