Need to bring in an extra $150 a month while working full time? How?

[dzneelvr]

No matter what job you end up taking to MAKE the extra money, just be sure you don't SPEND extra while doing it. Your time will become much more precious to you and that's when shortcuts in cooking, entertainment, and yes, even laundry will become a temptation......be very vigilient by saying "no" to prepared foods, take out meals, and dry cleaning to name a few. Meal preparation is time consuming but saves SO SO much money over the flip side of the coin. Good Luck

 

[Thumper_Man]

I would start and see if you can trim your current budget at home. Make a spreadsheet and see what all your current expenses are then take it from there. Do this for each month and then you can see where you can adjust.

Things to possibly look at where you can adjust to save:

Can you get cheaper car/home insurance.
If you have cable tv, what type of package do you have and can you down grade.
Do you eat out a lot (lunch and/or dinner). Maybe cook more meals at home and take lunch.
How much do you spend on groceries and toiletries per week. Can you reduce this by buying cheaper brands. Some of them are just as good.
Do you both drive to work? Can you commute with someone or take public transportation? This will save on gas and maintenance for your vehicle. DW and I do this and this helps tremendously.
Do you buy a cup of coffee everyday before going to work, say like from Starbucks? Take coffee from home instead. This one alone might save you the $150.
How long of a shower does each person take each day? Can you reduce this down by a few minutes. This will reduce your water bill.
I used to be a grocery store manager, and one of the biggest ways I see people save is by using coupons. Sometimes they're a hassle, but if you can get this down to a science (like I've seen some people do), they can really save you money. Example: I've seen people with a $250 grocery bill before coupons. After coupons, they went down to $185. That's a $65 savings right there.

Just a few thoughts. Hope this helps.

 

[Smile4Me]

Is there a pennysaver or shopping guide printed in your area that you could deliver once a week? There is one where I live, and its always been a temptation for me to take it on to make some extra money, but my fulltime job is very unpredictable as far as when evening meetings, events, or travel comes up that I don't know if I'll always be come Tuesday evenings to deliver it!

 

[njmom47]

. I make about 150-200 a month working online for ChaCha. I mostly use late nights and weekends. I found ChaCha 2 years ago here on the boards and it has been great for our family. QUOTE]

My son probably uses ChaCha 20 times a day. I guess he single-handedly helps keep you in a job.
I always wondered how to work for them. Interesting!

 

[nelson84]

You could buy a massage chair and set it up in the park or in the mall and give back massages. Make sure you have a sign that says you are not a trained professional. I bet you would clear $1000 just doing that on the weekends.

 

[a1tinkfans]

a 1099 means you are responsible for your own taxes and Both halves of Social Security per your contract with an employer ....Perhaps people that are Not paying this have spouses that are getting taxed Extra hard for Xtra hours making up for the $$ made by the 1099 recipient, otherwise, that can be a large amount Owed! SO, watch the 1099's AND if you are using your home "office" for write offs, be sure you won't be selling any time soon, it is a BIG hit for that too............best to know the facts........

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Just be sure to read their terms of service VERY carefully. You will not own, nor can you ever use anything for which you receive payment. If it is ever used in other media, etc. - you will not be credited, cannot receive derivatives, etc.
Personally, I would have a difficult time signing away intellectual property for the pittance they offer. (It would be the equivalent of sharing an idea for a feature film with someone at a pub and later finding out he/she was a Disney executive -- then, having them make millions on the licensing, etc. and never being paid, nor credited with the story or its characters)
something to think about.

Nearly everything I've written is for search engine optimization. I'd have a tough time calling any of it intellectual property I'm OK with never being credited for any of it

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

a 1099 means you are responsible for your own taxes and Both halves of Social Security per your contract with an employer ....Perhaps people that are Not paying this have spouses that are getting taxed Extra hard for Xtra hours making up for the $$ made by the 1099 recipient, otherwise, that can be a large amount Owed! SO, watch the 1099's AND if you are using your home "office" for write offs, be sure you won't be selling any time soon, it is a BIG hit for that too............best to know the facts........

On the flipside, having that 1099 means that I can deduct preschool tuition as I now need childcare to work. Instead of forking out 6K/year for preschool for my 2 kids, I can deduct that and get approximately $1200 back off of my taxes. Now if I were already working outside the home this would be of no benefit to me, but as a SAHM I can now deduct something that I was paying for anyways. In that regard I'm glad that I am getting a 1099 for my work.

 

[js]

If you are a good writer you can make that in a month on www.textbroker.com . I write for them and it's decent $$ if you get a good ranking.

Although I am not the OP, I want to thank you for giving us the link to textbroker. I have been looking for something for extra money on the side, when I have the time (at work), and although off the books would have been great, this may work too. I submitted my "draft" article for review and saw it took up to one week for textbroker to get back to me. I was surprised when there was an e-mail from them that my article was already rated.

I received a 4. At first, I was disappointed, but when I went back onto the site, I saw that it was a good rating. My boss is out the rest of this week and I may do a few articles if I have the time (and need to tell dh first before I submit my 1099, which not sure is a great idea since any extra income this year won't be good since dd will be a senior next year and I'm applying for any money I can get, even though we are considered upper-middle I certainly don't feel that way

Thank you again!

 

[cnlmom]

How many hours do you estimate you work each week to make 150-200 a month on either Chacha or textbroker.

 

[Krischaser]

Thank you everyone for the great responses. We have already trimmed down and this is the extra we would need. I have a 1.5 year old and once he starts Kindergarten we can quit paying for childcare. My husband tries to take as much overtime as possible but the company does not like it unless absolutely neccessary. Between health insurance and child care those are the two whoppers. I have a sitter that comes to our house because my son had several allergies and could not get all his shots so I am keeping his exposure low. I am interested in all the ideas and will be looking into them. Thanks again and keep them coming

 

[SandrA9810]

Well is your son's child care more than what you make per hour?? Have you looked into a flex option at work, that would allow you to work off hours, so your husband can take care of your son?

What kind of work do you do now? Can you do any of it from home?

 

[momplus3]

Could you or hubby do a paper delivery route in the early AM during the week or just on the weekends? I've never done this but know people who do. You also would get tips at Christmas.

I do this (actually hubby and I share the routes!0 We deliver 200 papers a day and make approx. $800 per month. It takes about 2 hours. When we had 1 route (about 55 papers), I made approx. $175 per month and it took 1/2 hour a day.

Christmas tips are the best !

 

[princessbride6205]

I've done ChaCha on and off since 2008. It takes 40-50 hours to make $150. That's assuming it takes you about 2 minutes to answer each search question. Some people have great success and love it, but I can't make enough money to feel like it was worth my time. (If we really needed the extra money, I might pick it up again.)

Usually you can make $599 in a year before needing to claim the 1099 income, but obviously I'm not a tax professional, so you'd need to do some research. DH and I have both done a fair amount of independent contractor work (actually every year we have at least one 1099) - as long as you expect to pay taxes on those earnings, it is not a bad thing. While you do have to pay more taxes on that income, you'll see that half of those taxes are credited back to you (in lower and middle income brackets).

The paper route sounds promising.

And perhaps you want to spend your extra time looking really hard for new work rather than a part time job?

 

[dustysky]

I work a fulltime job and have 3 kids. I make about 150-200 a month working online for ChaCha. I mostly use late nights and weekends. I found ChaCha 2 years ago here on the boards and it has been great for our family. You apply at http://becomeaguide.chacha.com/

Wow you must be doing a ton of Cha Cha to make that much, I tried and was very unsuccessful.
Good for you

 

[NeverlandClub23]

How many hours do you estimate you work each week to make 150-200 a month on either Chacha or textbroker.

I've done ChaCha off and on for about 3 years. I work as an Expeditor and make about $2-3 an hour. So for me to make $150 a month is about 15 hours a week. I am very 'off' now and only do it for a few minutes here and there so I make maybe $300 a year.

They do offer bonuses and things like that [i.e. if you answer X amount of questions in a certain time frame (usually a 24 hour time frame and usually on the weekends or holidays) you get a few extra dollars on top of any money earned].