Ways to make money?

[Dakota731]

In my opinion, none of those so-called survey sites or work from home deals pay anything regular or consistent like a good paying part-time job, so I say go for the bird in the hand. And I've tried lots of the little swag bucks, e rewards sites and for the time you put in and the little you get back, you're lucky to make $1 an hour from my experience.

 

[Marionnette]

In my opinion, none of those so-called survey sites or work from home deals pay anything regular or consistent like a good paying part-time job, so I say go for the bird in the hand. And I've tried lots of the little swag bucks, e rewards sites and for the time you put in and the little you get back, you're lucky to make $1 an hour from my experience.

I agree! You need a lot of ongoing referrals at sites like those in order to get anything that would even be considered "income" by the IRS! Most of them don't even have cash as a redemption option, so you're not really making any money, just a few rewards that are nice for a dinner out or an evening of entertainment. You're not going to make anywhere close to the $14/hr that the OP says she could make IRL.

OP, some other things that you will want to consider in the long term:

• A huge gap in your employment history makes it harder to re-enter the workforce when you are ready.
• Even working part-time now puts you in a position to move into a full-time position when you're ready to make the move.
• Some part-time employment can count toward seniority and carries some benefits (paid vacation and holidays, partial health insurance coverage, etc).
• Paying into Social Security now will benefit you when retirement comes. The same goes for investing in a 401K if the employer matches or if the employer offers a pension plan.

You might want to take the non-monetary benefits into consideration before you nix the idea of working outside of the home.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Who would be watching the 2 year old while you are working from home? Anything that you found to do from home would still require your time and attention if you really want to make money doing it. That's not going to happen with a 2 year old running around.

I know a few SAHMs that do babysitting and they make a nice little extra income doing it. Of course i's a real commitment though and they treat it like that.

 

[rab1022]

In my opinion, none of those so-called survey sites or work from home deals pay anything regular or consistent like a good paying part-time job, so I say go for the bird in the hand. And I've tried lots of the little swag bucks, e rewards sites and for the time you put in and the little you get back, you're lucky to make $1 an hour from my experience.

I wouldn't advocate using those sites as a sole means of income, but they can easily bring in $15-20 per day with little interaction. I essentially leave my phones running 24/7 and start a new app running every few hours and bring in at least $110 per week. That adds up fast and covers groceries for the family.

OP's circumstances could be ideal as well if she is working opposite hours as her husband since there would always be one person at the house to occassionally interact with the phones.

 

[Marionnette]

I wouldn't advocate using those sites as a sole means of income, but they can easily bring in $15-20 per day with little interaction. I essentially leave my phones running 24/7 and start a new app running every few hours and bring in at least $110 per week. That adds up fast and covers groceries for the family.

OP's circumstances could be ideal as well if she is working opposite hours as her husband since there would always be one person at the house to occassionally interact with the phones.

Rewards sites that permit members to do what you (and apparently a lot of others) are doing either go belly up without warning or begin to take measures to prevent this. Their sponsors are not paying them to run ads that no one is watching. Once the sponsors learn this is happening, they stop paying the owners of the app, which in turn means that the members don't get paid. It's not sustainable, but enjoy the ride while you can!

 

[ellochka]

I wouldn't advocate using those sites as a sole means of income, but they can easily bring in $15-20 per day with little interaction. I essentially leave my phones running 24/7 and start a new app running every few hours and bring in at least $110 per week. That adds up fast and covers groceries for the family.

OP's circumstances could be ideal as well if she is working opposite hours as her husband since there would always be one person at the house to occassionally interact with the phones.

I predict that the gravy train will run out soon. There is no such thing as free money just because.

 

[pryncess527]

I wouldn't count on it to pay the bills, but Swagbucks has been reliably paying people for over 6 years now. Yes, it could end at any time, but I can also see how the model does work for advertisers. On most apps, you have to "watch" 10 videos to earn 2 pennies, each with an ad. So advertisers are paying what, .002 cents per view? I think many advertisers are content to take an attrition approach and spend such a small amount on the bet that some percentage of the ads do get watched and that's enough to make it a profitable exchange for them. That seems to be true of ads in so many other areas of life, the swagbucks business model makes total sense to me personally. They've been around awhile, and Id be willing to bet they find a way to stay around awhile. Newer sites I would not waste my time on (though I do move my SB phones to PerkTV at night which nets me a few random Amazon cards. If perk shuts down tomorrow though, no tears will be shed).

 

[ellochka]

I wouldn't count on it to pay the bills, but Swagbucks has been reliably paying people for over 6 years now. Yes, it could end at any time, but I can also see how the model does work for advertisers. On most apps, you have to "watch" 10 videos to earn 2 pennies, each with an ad. So advertisers are paying what, .002 cents per view? I think many advertisers are content to take an attrition approach and spend such a small amount on the bet that some percentage of the ads do get watched and that's enough to make it a profitable exchange for them. That seems to be true of ads in so many other areas of life, the swagbucks business model makes total sense to me personally. They've been around awhile, and Id be willing to bet they find a way to stay around awhile. Newer sites I would not waste my time on (though I do move my SB phones to PerkTV at night which nets me a few random Amazon cards. If perk shuts down tomorrow though, no tears will be shed).

So, if the ads are 30 seconds, 120 ads an hour, it makes $0.24/hour. Or 4 hours to make a buck. 2 dollars a day if you keep it running 8 hours. 4 dollars if you have two devices running 8 hours every single day. Or you can work for 17 minutes at $14/hour.

 

[pryncess527]

The point is, it is not either/or. No one suggested it could, or should, replace an actual job. But I find it quite easy to run the apps while I'm at my actual job. Whereas I could not work a second job at the same time as my regular job. I also find it easy to run the apps when I'm home watching TV. It's just an easy extra $75 per month. Not sending me to Disney World anytime soon, but I wasn't really trying to say they are great money per hour, just trying to address the idea that these sites aren't sustainable.

I agree that, in this case, the OP is better off trying to find a $14 / hour job. I'm not sure what her husband thinks she can do online that would earn that kind of money.

 

[Rose23]

If you have good administrative skills, consider being an Virtual Executive Assistant.

 

[KKB]

We have a couple of excellent ones in our area. When I did this 10 years ago, the clientele seemed a bit shady, but I recently started back up & the place is very nice & full of college students, and when I arrive at 4:30 I see many people in dress clothes obviously coming from another job.

At ours you can give 2x/wk & it takes 1.5 hrs or so. (1st appt figure 2.5 hrs). Here they pay more for the first 5 visits & toss in some coupons, so the first 4 weeks you could make $370; the price they pay drops off considerably after that ($20 1st visit in a week; $35 2nd--so $220 max in 4 weeks). But I bring my laptop or a book to read.

Something you could do when DH comes home from work.

WAIT--bet you cannot do this pregnant. WELL, something to consider when you aren't anymore!

 

[DisneyMom]

I lost my job in January and visited a plasma donation center in my area to keep the lights on. I was so fortunate to find an AWESOME job (after a few months), but decided to continue to donate - I go twice a week and the center is really nice and I am very comfortable there. I make $270 a month and have used that money to completely pay for our November trip (with free dining, 6 nights at All Star Sports, tickets, gas money) for myself, my son and my grandson. I know others that have tried it and were not comfortable with the process, but it doesn't bother me and I'm usually in and out in 90 minutes per visit. $70 a week isn't a lot but I loved applying it to my outstanding balance every week and seeing that number shrink! Just made the last payment this Sunday! and it's nice to know that you're helping someone out somewhere down the line with medical issues.

 

[vaDisneyGuy]

Well between selling on craigslist,ebay and listia I am able to make about $1500 a month profit. I have been able to od this for several years now.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

We just found out we're expecting in the spring and I was supposed to go back to work next fall when DD2 starts kindergarten. We feel like we would really benefit from me having some kind of income before the baby is born but DD2 is still at home (preschool in the am) and DH works nights and has to sleep during the day so trying to fit something part time in around everyones schedules so we don't have to pay for childcare. I talked briefly with DH this evening about a part time job making about $14 an hour and he thinks I can do better than that doing various 'things'. So I'm looking for ideas on how to make some money, without getting an actual job. We already sell on Ebay and we've nixed the idea of me babysitting. Has anyone tried anything that actually works?

$14 an hour is what, $10 or so after taxes? Subtract clothing and transportation and food/snacks/drinks at work [that will likely cost more than what you'd have if you were at home]...and subtract takeout because you're tired and subtract upping your lifestyle (more vacations, shopping, meals out, hiring help for yard or home, Starbucks runs, salon visits, etc.) because you perceive that more money is coming in...I think just staying home might work out better:
In one hour you could cut/print 10 $1 coupons on things you always buy.

In 2 hours you could list at least 20 items laying around your house for $1 each on a facebook garage sale (and probably make much more!)

In 3 hours you could make a list of every drugstore and grocery store sale with coupon matchups AND meal plan for the week (or month!), which will save you well over $30.

In 4 hours you could enter all of your info and start a budget on YNAB (free trial!) Take $40 and put it toward your "buffer" [a YNAB tenet] and try to get by for the week with what's left. Be creative!

In 5 hours you could call every credit card, bill, bank, and utility and make sure you're getting the best price, pit competitors against each other, negotiate medical bills, and make sure you're signed up for every available program. Sign up for a new bank account for the bonus if you can make the requirement list (direct deposit = easy. $15K minimum balance = not so much!) Get a long term 0% credit card and transfer balances (assuming you have cc debt, and assuming you want to pay less interest while getting out of cc debt.)

In 6 hours you could educate yourself on your retirement/investment accounts (or research how to get started) and make sure all of your dreams have the right boxes checked and forms filed.

In 7 hours you could shop for and cook a month's worth of meals to store in the freezer and prep fresh veggies/fruit for the week. With everything made and planned you will be less likely to end up with "a house full of groceries and nothing for dinner", and you will not be so tempted to go out when you haven't planned to. Remember to thaw what you want in the fridge 1-2 days before you need it - if it's 4pm and the lasagna is frozen solid, it is highly likely that you'll end up in a restaurant that evening!

That's 28 hours of "work" for well over $280 in savings right there. Rinse and repeat where appropriate.

If you were going to make a substantially larger salary, it might be worth working. But for $14/hour I think you're better off spending your time maximizing every dollar.

 

[Beezle2]

I lost my job in January and visited a plasma donation center in my area to keep the lights on. I was so fortunate to find an AWESOME job (after a few months), but decided to continue to donate - I go twice a week and the center is really nice and I am very comfortable there. I make $270 a month and have used that money to completely pay for our November trip (with free dining, 6 nights at All Star Sports, tickets, gas money) for myself, my son and my grandson. I know others that have tried it and were not comfortable with the process, but it doesn't bother me and I'm usually in and out in 90 minutes per visit. $70 a week isn't a lot but I loved applying it to my outstanding balance every week and seeing that number shrink! Just made the last payment this Sunday! and it's nice to know that you're helping someone out somewhere down the line with medical issues.

I do the same thing here DisneyMom I started donating to pay for the extra gas money when I went back to school. Now that I'm working again it seemed crazy to give up the $3000 a year I can make donating. I am using the money for an awesome June 2015 trip!
I think the OP said she is expecting so it won't work for her but other people might want to consider it. I never could get into the online rewards gig but plasma donating works for me!