Money-making ideas?

[ponyqueen]

For reference, over the last two months we've made ~$1,000 hosting for airbnb, and $20 renting out our chocolate fountain.

...people will pay to sleep on couches and air mattresses, if you don't have a spare room/bed...

[Chrissytree]

I've tried entering competitions as a daily thing before. In the UK there are sites where people share info, answers and links for all kind of comps. I did it for about 2 years and won around £1200 worth of goods and cash. I won things like a digital radio (£300), DVD recorder (£250) and my sis got to go to a Premier of the last Twilight movie in London.
I'm not sure if there are similar sites in the US but if you have the time and stick to free to enter online competitions it can be fun. I used this site for mine: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72 There's some general comping info there too... assuming you can access it from abroad.

[Taxel]

Oh I forgot about survey sites and the like... they take a LOT of work to earn anything worthwhile (lots of surveys kick you out after so many questions because you're not their target market) but if you're diligent they can be a nice way to earn a little bit. Usually you can only get gift cards but when I was active Prize Rebel let you pick items off of Amazon.

Off the top of my head I've personally used Prize Rebel and My Points. Prize Rebel was basically just surveys when I used it (a few years ago) and I got both gift cards plus a thing from Amazon. It all went great! My Points I used more recently. They have a lot more to do. Surveys, internet searches, games, coupons, videos, deals that earn you points when you buy, all kinds of stuff. They just have gift cards but the variety is really good! There's a lot to pick from.

For a while I used Bing Rewards, which was super quick and easy. You just need a Hotmail/Outlook email address and then do a small number of searches on Bing each day. While I used it it was VERY reliable, VERY easy, and I got a ton of gift cards. It takes no effort at all. I stopped using it because there was a glitch with the point counter and their support was terrible. I decided to check it out again and it seems to have improved quite a lot. There's a lot more ways to earn points now. The only problem is the rewards are VERY limited. Most of them are just Microsoft/Skype/Xbox related. When I was active the rewards rotated a lot but they have Game Stop, Starbucks, Hulu, and Amazon right now. Not the great variety other sites have but its fast and easy to get them so its not a huge deal imo.

[scarletjul]

Depending on how often and what you grocery shop for, I've found both shopkick and ibotta pretty useful.  They're both free apps for your phone.

Shopkick gives you points (kicks) for walking into certain stores, scanning in barcodes and buying items with a linked credit/debit card (but you don't have to connect your card).  When you have enough points, you can turn those in for a gift card.

Ibotta is essentially an app for rebates.  If you buy the items listed, scan the barcode and take a pic of the receipt, they turn around and leave money in your PayPal account.  Rebates are anywhere from 50 cents to five dollars and are on anything from groceries to iTunes purchases. 

[ponyqueen]

Don't forget: a penny saved is a penny earned.

Cancel gym memberships you don't use, stop paying for storage, find a cheaper internet/phone/cable/tv subscription plan. Stop impulse shopping. Eat out less.

Open enrollment is happening now: make sure you are getting the most economical health care plan.

Google "how to save money" for more ideas. 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Along those lines, try really hard not to throw food away.  Look at your produce drawer, if any of it is starting to go funky, put it in a blender and prep a smoothie - just put in the freezer.  Or make ice cubes with them and add to other things.    You can hide lots of foods inside others - cauliflower goes in potatoes, pumpkin can go in most anything, pineapple is a fun alternative to other citrus...

[Cadence]

There are work from home jobs that just require you to compare stuff online, or price check things. Along the lines of babysitting, there's tutoring kids. And there's always revenue to be made if you create Youtube videos?

[Thimble]

If you like to blog about pretty much anything and/or have any technical or tutorial writing skills, this article lists a bunch of write-for-pay websites that might be helpful:
https://www.writersincharge.com/110-websites-that-pay-writers/

(If you scroll down, there's a reasonable number of sites listed as examples. You don't need to pay any attention to the ads.)

You can also get paid to tutor/teach people in English, if you don't mind working late at night, and have a quiet place to work. There are tons of people looking for English tutors, and tutors in general, and Skype etc. makes it fairly easy to do. You'd need a decent webcam (if you have one in your computer it may not be enough) and a headset with a sound cancelling microphone. The headset you can pick up on Amazon for around $30, and they're required for a lot of online jobs, like call centers and such. More bang for your buck.
You can get hired by a tutoring company, or work freelance. Freelance is the faster option, but getting paid is pretty much up to the honor system.

If you look at sites like Upwork, you can find a  lot of freelance work, and getting paid is much less of a problem, it just depends on your skills.

I definitely do not recommend the crafts idea. It's just not viable as a quick source of cash. Just remember, starting any business requires a tremendous investment of time and a fair bit of money as well. Remember, if you can make it, most likely so can someone else, and the people most interested in your work are the ones most likely to steal your ideas and undersell you.  If your product isn't completely original, or just way more work than any one else wants to do, you'll have a very hard time selling it.  Also, you can't compete with the big chain craft stores and their prices.

 Almost every retail store in the US is hiring right now, and *all* of them will earn you more than selling crafts. Hobby Lobby pays really well, btw.

Yardwork does pay alright, and right now it's in high demand because of the season change. Be careful about the jobs you accept, and if you and your husband can go together you're less likely to have problems about getting paid. You'll be competing with other families in the same boat though, so be prepared for that.

With any quick-cash idea, the most important things to consider are your safety, what you'll get for your time, and whether it's worth it in the end. Also, remember that tracking your earning for taxes is your responsibility to keep up with if you're self-employed or working for a freelancing company. Doing things under the table is just a bad, bad idea.

I have tried all of the above--and retail work is the most reliable and easiest to do. The others are useful to help with bills in tight months, though.

edit:...this comes off as really grim, doesn't it?  I just don't want you to make the mistake of trying to start a craft business from home as a way to make money. There's a reason crafts are also called hobbies.  If you have kids to take care of, then you don't have time to run a home-based craft business.  You'd honestly make more writing articles about crafting on a pretty blog with nice photos than you will selling the actual crafts.
At least then you'd get paid by all the people who wander by to snatch your hard work and stick it up on Pinterest. (Yes, I'm a tad bitter, lol.)

[daffodil101]

Getting in contact with a community centre maybe, or looking for people who might need help around the home-- if there's someone in your area you might be able to set up an ongoing odd job-- maybe a new mum who'd appreciate meals or cleaning, or an older couple who you could grocery shop for.  If there's a public noticeboard, putting up a flyer at a local shop offering babysitting/cooking odd jobs, or asking around if anyone knows of someone who'd like some help.
(I know I'm a bit far away, haha, but I'm currently looking for someone to do an hour of cleaning every week or so, with chronic fatigue it can get really hard to stay on top of basic housework.  Anyone affected by illness could be in need of help with odd jobs.)  Even asking at your local church, lawn bowls club, places like that, someone might be able to put you in touch with a customer  

[Taxel]

I definitely do not recommend the crafts idea. It's just not viable as a quick source of cash. Just remember, starting any business requires a tremendous investment of time and a fair bit of money as well. Remember, if you can make it, most likely so can someone else, and the people most interested in your work are the ones most likely to steal your ideas and undersell you.  If your product isn't completely original, or just way more work than any one else wants to do, you'll have a very hard time selling it.  Also, you can't compete with the big chain craft stores and their prices.

....

edit:...this comes off as really grim, doesn't it?  I just don't want you to make the mistake of trying to start a craft business from home as a way to make money. There's a reason crafts are also called hobbies.  If you have kids to take care of, then you don't have time to run a home-based craft business.  You'd honestly make more writing articles about crafting on a pretty blog with nice photos than you will selling the actual crafts.
At least then you'd get paid by all the people who wander by to snatch your hard work and stick it up on Pinterest. (Yes, I'm a tad bitter, lol.)

I just wanted to add real quick that no, being a parent does not prevent you from owning or starting a business. There are many, MANY successful entrepreneurs who have children. Plenty of stay at home parents run businesses from home to make money using Etsy, Facebook, stand alone websites, etc. And yes, this includes "craft" businesses. "Crafts" aren't just called hobbies. Some are also called art.

And no, craft stores stores like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc are not their competition... craft stores like that sell parts, mostly low-quality parts, not finished pieces most of the time. And yes, these businesses have plenty of customers. Not everyone is "crafty" or has time/energy/desire to make even the simplest things. Its all about finding your target market, which isn't other people who make the same stuff you do unless you decide to sell supplies, furniture, or other things to help with that exact sort of art/crafting. Some of these people earn truly amazing amounts of money form their business, even if they have children or pets or anything else that also takes up time.

But yeah, its most definitely not a get rich quick scheme and requires SO much money to get started. Its really not that much in the grand scheme of things but if you're already struggling you're not going to have hundreds or thousands of extra dollars lying around for logos, packaging, high quality materials, or any legal paperworks you need (like business licenses or trademarks).

[Thimble]

Well,  Taxel's not wrong, there are people who succeed at making money selling crafts.  There are a lot more who don't.  If you can make something without spending any money, and then also find a way to get it to your customers without spending any money, then you might be able to make some cash that way.  Selling to co-workers, family, church friends, all of that can be a way to make a few sales. It's a limited market, but it is possible.
Just remember though, that all the time you spend making, packaging, and marketing your product is time that you aren't getting paid for.  If you figure up exactly how much you'd need to sell in order to make more than you would even at minimum wage for the same amount of time, it's usually pretty obvious whether it's worth it or not.  If you can charge $100 for something you make in less than a day, and *people actually pay you*, then you may be on to something.  Otherwise, you can get paid better elsewhere, and the crafting is taking away from time you could use to make actual money.

I had a very bad experience with the whole process, and it probably shows. Sorry if I sounded harsh earlier.  There are a lot of opportunities to make a living from home, and more pop-up everyday.  I hope you find something that works for you.