November 1, 2012
15 Ways to Fund Your Holidays without Wrecking Your Budget
Christmas is right around the corner and I’m sure more than a few people wouldn’t mind a few extra dollars in their pockets. If you’re like me than you would love to give your family and friends gifts they’re going to enjoy for Christmas. If you’re tight on funds though this extra expense can be a burden, so what I like to do is make a little extra money during the holiday months that I use specifically to fund my holiday festivities.
One great piece of news is a lot of us already have skills that could translate into extra income that we haven’t explored yet. Also with the rise in popularity of the internet just having a computer with internet access gives you a vast amount of extra money making opportunities.
Now let’s go onto the 15 Ways you can pay for your holidays.
1. Earn Free Gift Cards through Swagbucks
Swagbucks i
s
an awesome little site I discovered a while back that allows you to
earn free gift cards for doing things online. The gift cards are from
major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon. I personally like the
option to get Amazon gift cards as I make the majority of my online
purchases on Amazon.The way it works is Swagbucks rewards you with Swag Bucks for doing online tasks such as taking surveys, shopping online, watching videos, playing games, searching the web, etc.. The Swag Bucks can then be redeemed for gift cards or other rewards. If you’re online a lot (like myself) than it’s pretty easy to start earning rewards. I have a few friends that have payed for their Christmas presents entirely with Swagbucks gift cards. Swagbucks.com
2. Taking Surveys
If you have the time there are many online companies that give you cash in exchange for taking surveys. Now these surveys vary on length, topic, and payout and you will be pre-screened to make sure you qualify to take the surveys. Surveys payout from $0.25 to $25 depending on the length.Survey Sites:
Swagbucks.com Also one of my favorite sites for surveys
OpinionOutpost.com I like them because I get paid fast and surveys are easy
OnlyCashSurveys.com They have a lot of short surveys that pay $2
3. Find Freelance Jobs on DoNanza
DoNanza is like the Google of freelance jobs. It aggregates all the different sites you can find freelance jobs into one easy to search site allowing you to spend more time earning and less time searching for your next job. Searching and posting your service is free. I have already found a couple jobs on there. Verify your email after registering to get full access. DoNanza.com4. Sell Old Electronics on Gazelle
Gazelle allows you to turn your old cell phones, ipods, ipads or other electronics into cash. Its pretty easy, you find your gadget, answer a few questions, ship it in (free if its over $1), get paid via check or PayPal. I looked up my old iPhone 3Gs and found out that I can get $37. Use this link and get an extra $10 any trade ins worth over $25. Gazelle5. Sell Your Stuff on Craigslist
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.Go through your home with a box and place items such as electronics, clothes, appliances, DVD’s, CD’s, and anything else you aren’t using and sell them on Craigslist.
You’re probably not going to get much money for your old belongings, but if you weren’t using them anyways they are just cluttering your home.
Every few months I go through my stuff and get rid of non-seasonal things I haven’t used in the past 6 months away. I’ve found that if I haven’t used the item in 6 months, I most likely will never use it again.
6. Sell Your Stuff on eBay
Even though I previously talked about selling your stuff on Craigslist, I’ve written this portion on selling your stuff on eBay because I’ve found that you can get more money selling items on eBay. It just takes a bit more patience.
People on Craigslist are mostly looking for really cheap deals. People on eBay are also looking for cheap deals, but you get a lot of normal consumers who use eBay like any other store. If you have some higher ticket items like laptops, computers, or cameras I actually suggest you sell them on eBay because you can make a little more money. If you want to sell items fast and willing to take a less money than Craigslist is a better option.
7. Sell Your Service on Fiverr
Fiverr is quickly becoming one of my favorite sites. The way it works is you can sell or purchase services for the lowly fee of $5. These services range from having a website banner designed to having someone act as your fake Facebook girlfriend for a week (YES you read that right!).So if you have a skill like graphic design or can think of a creative service people will buy for $5 than Fiverr might be a great place for you to make money.
8. Become an Affiliate Marketer
As an affiliate marketer you can earn commissions by advertising for companies online. These companies will pay you a percentage of the sales you make or will pay a flat rate for a lead which is usually information such as a name and an email.A great way to start with affiliate marketing is to create a blog or website on a subject that you are already interested in. By creating the website about something you enjoy it will make creating the content for your site much more enjoyable. Once you have your website up you should find offers that are relevant to your user base. For example if you create a website on Soccer, than you should promote offers such as selling soccer equipment or soccer posters.
Blogging platforms such as WordPress and Tumblr make it easy to quickly set up a nice looking website without any previous tech experience.
9. Have a Garage Sale
I’m a big proponent of selling things online on eBay and Craigslist, but if you have a lot of stuff than it might be a good idea to have a garage sale. This will allow you to sell those things that aren’t worth the effort to sell online for whatever reason such as being unshippable or low priced items.10. Sell Stock Photos
For all you amateur photographers out there a great way to make some extra money is to sell your stock photos. A couple of stock photo websites you can sell to are iStockPhoto and 123RF. iStockPhoto has a review process that includes a quiz and requires you to show samples of your photography before they approve you as a partner. Once you are approved you will be given 15% of the sales they make on your photos.
If you are into photography I think this is a pretty awesome way to make extra money since you are already going to be taking pictures and doesn’t require any extra work.
11. Article Writing
If you are English speaking and have any type of writing skills there are thousands of people who are looking for someone to write content on sites such as Elance.com, Odesk.com, and GetaFreelancer.com. Depending on the quality of your work you can get paid anywhere from $7 per 500 word article to up to $50 per 500 word article.Simply sign up to one of the sites mentioned and you will be allowed to view projects people have posted up that need to be done. You can bid how much you would do the project for and if your bid is accepted you will get that job.
Most contractors on these sites will ask for things such as samples of your work, so make sure to have them readily available.
12. Sell Your Used Books
Throughout the years you have probably amassed a nice collection of books. Even if you aren’t a reader you still have those old textbooks from college lying around along with those books you’ve received as gifts for Christmas, Graduations, Birthdays, and other special events. If you are an avid reader than you’ll have books that you just don’t read anymore or have lost interest in.Here are some sites you can sell those books at:
www.cash4books.net
www.Amazon.com
www.half.com
13. Rent Your Home Out on AirBnB
If you are going to be gone from your home for any amount of time than put it for rent on AirBnB.com. Many people use AirBnB as a substitute for hotels and you can set the dates and price you are willing to rent your home out for.
If you are worried about strangers messing up your home you’ll be glad to know that AirBnB insures your home for up to $1,000,000 for anyone using your home through their site.
This is especially a great money making option if you are away from home often.
14. Help Somebody Learn on BrainMass
This snippet from the BrainMass website explains how you can make money with them:You’re already an expert in your field. Why not turn that expertise into cash? BrainMass allows you to publish your existing knowledge in eBooks, turn your teaching experience into video form and put those tutoring skills to great use. We’ll help you to monetize the knowledge you already possess by marketing your work to our base of student customers who need help!
Brainmass requires that you have or are working a graduate level degree (Masters or PhD) from an accredited university to sign up as an expert in your site.
Once you are signed on as an expert you can make money answering questions from students and publishing content.
15. Sticking To Your Regular Gym Schedule with Gympact
How would you like to become healthier AND make some extra spending money on the side? The folks at Gympact have you covered. Gympact is a mobile app that charges its users $5 every time they miss a gym workout, then that money is divided up between those Gympact users who did stick to their gym commitments.
You are obviously not going to become rich using this app, but it’s a fun little way to make sure you keep those holiday pounds off and make a few extra dollars.
Get the Gympact app for your mobile device over here: Gympact
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