原文: 20 Easy Money Making Ideas

Last year I wrote a very well-received post listing 100 money saving tips for the holidays that has helped quite a few people. However, you can only do so much with saving. What if you’ve cut back as much as you possible can? You need to start looking at the income side of the equation.

It’s like losing weight, you either eat less or exercise more. If you’re down to bread and water, it really doesn’t help to read another article about how eating celery can help you lose weight. At some point, you need to start reading about working out. Let this be your article on working out your wallet and bringing in a few extra dollars.

1. Work overtime: If you have the opportunity, consider working some overtime at your current job. Some places offer it, some places don’t. If yours does, ask your boss if there’s some extra work you can do.
2. Return stuff you bought but never used: Just the other day I returned some bottles of contact lens solution to Costco because my eye doctor recommended I use a different solution. Rather than try to sell these unused bottles, I simply returned them. Do you have anything around the house that you bought and still haven’t used? You may be able to return them and get all of your money back.
3. Sell stuff you don’t use anymore: Whether it’s on eBay or something local like Craigslist, selling the stuff that you don’t use anymore is a great way to earn some extra cash. It’s a bit misleading to call it “earning money” because you’re simply recouping what you’ve already spent but it’s still money in your pocket. There are some surprising things you can sell online.
4. Get a second job: This is a bit of a “duh” suggestion because it’s so obvious but getting a second job is one of the easiest ways to earn some extra money. I would recommend getting a second job that is not physically demanding because you don’t want your primary job to suffer.
5. Visit MissingMoney.com: There are billions of dollars “missing” and some of it may be owed to you. I recently discovered some money owed to me when I used to live in Pittsburgh, likely from my days of buying free after rebate products and selling them on eBay. Visit MissingMoney.com and see if you have some missing money you can recover.
6. Turn a hobby into a business: Some hobbies are easier to turn into businesses than others. One great hobby that many have turned into a side business is photography. If you’re reliable, have a good eye for composition, and are willing to work long hours, a wedding photographer can make plenty of money even in a down economy.
7. Tutor: If you were strong academically in high school or college, consider tutoring. Put up flyers where parents will be and get a few clients. Tutors can earn a tremendous sum if they are good at teaching and can deliver results. When I was in high school, I earned $30 an hour tutoring younger students math and I had no formal teaching experience whatsoever. The best part about the process was the sense of accomplishment helping someone who once scored a 40 on a NY Regents math exam turn it into a passing score.
8. Handyman: If you have good handyman skills, you can earn a little extra money doing home improvements. Be careful not to take on projects that are outside your skill-set and don’t take on a project that might require a license, you don’t want to run into any legal problems.
9. Mow lawns, shovel snow: Fire up the lawnmower and go door to door, offering your lawn mowing skills for a few bucks. Now that’s it a little colder, consider walking around with a snow shovel and offering to shovel driveways and sidewalks for pay.
10. Clean houses: If you aren’t allergic to vacuum cleaners and dusters, consider becoming a house cleaner. With how busy people are these days, you can earn relatively easy money picking up after other people. You can figure out what the going rates are just by calling up some local cleaning services for quotes.
11. Painter: This is similar to becoming a handyman but requires slightly different skills. If you’ve ever quoted a painter, you’ll know they’re remarkably more expensive than you expected. A few hundred dollars to paint a room is not unheard of and some people are willing to pay that to avoid having to deal with the hassle themselves.
12. Become a wedding planner: If you’ve gone through the process of weddings, you have the expertise to be a wedding planner. You don’t need to have extensive contacts or a lot of experience, you just need to be detailed and good with research. You’re just helping out the bride and groom at a time when they’re most stressed.
13. Walk dogs: If you have time during the day, consider becoming a dog walker. How much you can earn will depend on where you live but $100 a week per dog isn’t unheard of (more if you live in cities like New York). You can earn a tidy sum walking other people’s dogs while getting some extra exercise!
14. Sign up for credit card offers: Some credit card companies will give you $50 and $100 gift cards after your first purchase, you can take advantage of them if you don’t plan on getting any major loans in the next year.
15. Baby-sit: Baby-sitting isn’t just for teenagers anymore, consider baby-sitting to earn a few extra dollars if you’re responsible enough to take care of someone else’s kids. It’s not an easy job but you could earn a few easy dollars for not much work.
16. Donate plasma: You can’t get paid for donating blood but you can get paid donating plasma because it’s such an intense experience. You’ll need to make sure you are very well hydrated, in good health, and pass all sorts of medical checks. If you qualify, you can earn around $30-40 for each donation, they take about an hour and a half, and you can donate twice a week (7 day period).
17. Become a freelance writer: Freelance writing has gotten a lot easier with the explosion in opportunities in writing for blogs. The pay won’t be income-level, it’ll be more like hobby-level, but it’s often very low stress. Heck, you could even start your own blog!
18. Participate in focus groups: I joined a focus group and even attended a focus group meeting last year and earned a quick $100 for my input on window commercials. They take quite a bit of time but you do get fed and you can voice your opinion on whatever it is they’re studying. I actually had a pretty good time doing it.
19. Become a mystery shopper: I signed up to be a mystery shopper last year but never went on a mystery shop because they never matched my plans well enough. I learned enough about them know that they are a great way to earn some extra cash but you have to be careful not to join a fraudulent mystery shopping organization. You won’t get rich being a mystery shopper but you could earn a little shopping money doing it.
20. Dumpster dive: After you’ve confirmed that dumpster diving is not illegal in your legal jurisdiction and after taking all the necessary precautions to ensure your own safety, you might want to consider dumpster diving. I used to do this in college from time to time (I wasn’t brave enough to go into dumpsters, I sort of “area around dumpster scavenged” a few times) to get some stuff I could later sell on Craiglist-equivalent websites and eBay).

There are plenty of ways to earn a little extra money on the side and Nickel posted his very own earning money article (some of our tips overlap, but we came up with them independently). The real trick in all this is actually doing it. You can read all the articles you want about becoming a handyman or participating in paid focus groups, but you have to go out and actually do them before you can make extra money.

This post is originally from Bargaineering.com.

20 Easy Money Making Ideas

译文: 20个轻易赚钱的理念

去年我写的一篇名为<<假期省钱的100个小妙招>>博客文章很受欢迎,这帮了不少人.然而,单单在省钱上你就可以做很多了,但如果你已经竭尽所能将费用降到最低呢?你就需要着眼于等式的收入那一边了.

就像是减肥,你可以少吃东西或者多做运动,如果你都只吃面包和水了,再去看另一篇关于吃芹菜能帮助减肥的文章就没用了.在某个方面,你需要开始关注关于锻炼的文章.让这篇文章“锻炼”你的钱包，为你带来一点额外的收入。

1.加班。如果有机会，考虑利用当前的工作加一下班。一些地方会付钱，有些则不会。如果你的工作付加班费，问问老板有没有你可以干的额外工作。

2.将你买的但却永远不用的东西退掉。几天前我将几瓶隐形眼镜片的溶剂退回给了COSTO店，因为我的眼科医生建议我用别的溶剂。与其试图卖掉这几瓶不用的东西，不如只是退回去好了。你家里有没有东西是你买了但仍然还没有去用的？你可以退掉，拿到全额退款。

3.卖掉不再用的东西。不管是在EBAY网或当地网站CRAIGSLIST网卖掉你不再用的东西是个赚外快的好方法。把这叫做“赚钱”让人有点误解，因为你只是重获你已经花出去的钱，但钱还在你的口袋里.一些意想不到的东西也可以在网上卖.

4.找份第二职业.这建议有点"多余".因为很明显找份第二职业是最容易增加额外收入的方法之一.我要提出的是,找份不太让你费心力的,因为你不会想正职受到妨碍.

5.上 MissingMoney.com网去看一看,有几十亿美元下落不明,而有些可能是你的.我最近发现有些钱是属于我的.那时我住在匹兹堡,可能是因为那些日子我退掉一些东西拿回部分退款后免费要了些东西,然后EBAY网上卖而丢失的吧.上这个网看看有没有你可以寻回的下落不明的钱.

6.把爱好发展成事业.一些爱好比其他的更容易发展成事业,有一个很棒的爱好很多人发展成了副业,那就是摄影.如果你可靠,有独到的眼光拍摄出好作品,而且愿意长时间工作.那么即使在经济萧条期你也可以成为一个婚礼摄影家赚很多钱.

7.当家教.如果你在高中或大学时普通文化科目的成绩不错,考虑做家教.在家长们看得到的地方贴传单,找一些客户。如果擅长教学生又能出效果,家教是可以赚很大一笔钱的.当我读高中时,我教比我小的学生数学,一小时赚30美元,而我至今也没有正式的教学经验.这个过程中最棒的就是帮一个在NY Regents 数学考试中只考40分的学生通过了考试所获得的成就感.

8.干家中的零碎活.如果你的手很巧,你可以帮别人做家里修修补补的零碎活赚些钱.注意不要接一些你不在行的活儿,也不要接可能需要许可证的活儿,你不会想牵涉入任何的法律纠纷.

9.除草,铲雪.发动割草机,挨家挨户去利用你的割草技术来赚钱.现在天气更冷了,考虑带个雪铲走出去帮人铲走私用车道和人行道的雪,以此来赚钱.

10.打扫房屋.如果你对真空吸尘器或抹布不过敏,考虑一下做一个房屋的清洁工.因为这段时间人们忙着赚钱,你可以在别人赚得钱后,利用打扫相对容易地赚自己的钱.你可以打电话给一些当地的清洁服务机构问报价,然后开出你自己的价格.

11.做个粉刷匠.这和做家中的零碎活相似,但需要稍微不一样的技术.如果你问过一个粉刷匠的报酬,你就会知道他们赚得比你想象的多得多.几百美元刷一间房不是没听过的,而一些人愿意花这笔钱逃避这不得不处理的麻烦.

12.成为一个婚礼策划者.如果你举办过婚礼,你就有成为婚礼策划者的专业知识.你不需要交际广泛或经验丰富,你只需要细心和善于调查.你就能在新郎和新娘最焦虑的时候帮他们.

13.遛狗.如果你白天有空,考虑去遛狗,你可以赚多少取决于你住在哪里,但一个星期遛一只狗赚100美元不是没听说过的(如果你住在纽约这样的城市就赚得更多了).你可以遛别人的狗赚一笔钱,又可以做些运动.

14.签办信用卡.一些信用卡公司会在你第一次用卡签账购物后给你50或1000美元的礼品卡,如果你不计划第二年贷一笔款,你可以占一下这些便宜.

15.照看孩子.照看孩子不再只是青少年的工作,如果你有足够的责任心照顾其他人的孩子,你可以考虑照看孩子赚一些额外的钱.这不是件简单的工作,但你可以不用干很多活而轻松赚点钱.

16.捐血浆.捐血是得不到报酬的,但因为捐血浆是一种剧烈的经历,所以你可以得到报酬.你需要肯定你有很好的水合能力,很健康,而且通过各类的医疗检查.如果你合格,你每次捐献可以赚大约30到40美元,这要花大概一个半小时,你可以一个星期(7天)捐献两次.

17.成为一个自由作家.自由攥写文章在博客时代更容易有大量的机会,这赚的钱不会像工资那么多,只是小补贴,但通常很少压力.而且. 你还可以开始你自己的博客.

18.加入一些群组.我加入了一个群组,而且去年参加了群组会议.我因为参与了橱窗广告设计轻易赚得了100美元,.他们会花很长时间,但你可以满足自己还可以就他们研究的任何东西发表意见.我做这个的时候真的很高兴.

  19.成为一个秘密购物者.去年我注册成为一个秘密的购物者,但从没有去过一间秘密商店,因为它们都不合我的口味.我充分认识到它们是赚外快的好方法,但你要小心不要加入诈骗的秘密购物组织.你不会因为成为秘密购物者而致富,但你可以赚点购物的钱.

20.扎入垃圾堆中.你证实回收垃圾在你所在的法律管辖区内不违法以及采取了一切必要的预防措施确保你自己的安全之后,你就可以一头扎入垃圾中了.上大学时我时不时这样做,找到了一些东西在CEAIGLIST这样的网站及EBAY网上卖(我没有勇气去到垃圾堆,我只是有几次在垃圾堆周围找找而已).

赚外快有很多方法,而尼可写了一篇文章<<赚钱>>(我们的一些妙招重叠恶劣,但我们都是独立想出来的).真正的诀窍是落实到行动上.你可以看看你想要的所有关于成为一个干零碎活的人或加入有报酬的群组,但你赚钱之前必须走出去,切切实实地干.