Easy Ways to Make $500 Extra a Month

Want to make an extra $500 a month? Here’s a list of easy side hustles you could do to make money without getting a “job.”

How would you feel if you find an extra $500 in your purse? Where would you spend it? A hundred ideas might cross your mind. You might perhaps use it as a treat for yourself. After all, it’s just “found money.”

Unfortunately, finding $500 extra does not happen to everybody, and it doesn’t happen often. You may be lucky once after forgetting that you have an extra five hundred tucked in somewhere, but in most cases, you need to work to earn such money.

Thankfully, you don’t have to rely on your day job alone to make an extra $500. And if you hustle consistently, you can even earn it on a regular basis. That is the reason why we shouldn’t rely on one income source alone. If you suddenly lost your regular day job, your bread-and-butter, you need a fallback to get back on your feet.

If put into meaningful use, this extra $500 you make from herein forward can make a huge impact on your financial life. You can use it to pay for your bills, invest it in your future, invest to enjoy passive income, or build your emergency fund so you can have something to use when the unexpected happens.

Become $500 richer next month and in every month in 2019 with these savvy tips and tricks!

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Table of Contents

1.Get Your Spare Room for Rent

If you have a spare room or a clean basement that you can turn into a bedroom, this extra space could very well turn into a money-making machine. You can rent out your extra bedroom to college students or employees who live out of town. Also, you can list the room up in services like Airbnb and have tourists rent it out during their trips. Either way, renting out your spare room could end you up with a nice and reliable stream of extra income. Apply to become an Airbnb host here.

Potential Earnings: $500-$1000 per month

2.Receive Cashbacks for Buying Things You Normally Buy

There are many cashback sites or apps that offer free money just for shopping through them. Since I started this blog, I’ve also tested quite a few and my most favorites are:

Ibotta

I use Ibotta to earn cashback each time I grocery shop. So far, I’ve earned over $300 from my usual grocery purchases . To start earning cashback through this app, all you need is to download the app (It’s FREE!) on your phone and scan your grocery receipts.

Rakuten

Rakuten gives you cashbacks each time you shop at over 2,500 stores online. I personally use it each time I shop at Amazon, Macy’s or JcPenny, etc. Apart from earning cashbacks through Rakuten, I also earn referral fees through it. Check it out if you are not yet a member, start earning cashbacks on your purchases and refer it to your friends to earn $25 per qualified referral.

By simply signing up for Rakuten here, you will receive $10 Bonus after your first $25 purchase through any of their partner stores.

Potential Earnings: $20 per month

3. Sell Your Unused Stuff

If you haven’t deep cleaned your home for a while now, you might not realize that there are lurking treasures in your closet, storages areas and drawers. Yes, we’re talking about clothes, shoes, and bags that are still in mint condition – but you no longer use. Look around farther and maybe you’ll find toys, dishware, decors, novelty pieces, electronics and books that you can sell as well. Hold a garage sale or put them up on eBay or craigslist or consign them to earn some money, at the same de-clutter your space.

Earn money selling your junk through Decluttr.

Sell brand name clothes and shoes at ThredUp

4. Flipping Things for Profit

Flipping things for profit (basically buying and re-selling) is a great way to make quick cash. My husband used to do this with furniture and refurbish them to sell for profit. The good thing about this side hustle is that you can do it any time, there are unlimited things to flip for money and your earning potential is also unlimited.

Among the easiest things to flip for money are wood furniture, antiques, clothes, bicycles, books, power tools, video games, and vintage items. You can find things to flip online through sites like Craigslist, Offerup, and Ebay; and through yard sales, flea markets, auctions or thrift stores.

If you are interested in this side hustle, check out Flipper University to learn more about how to maximize your earnings as a flipper. Rob and Melissa, the creator of this course, earned $133k in their first year flipping things for profit working only for a few hours a week!

Potential Earnings: Unlimited

5. Make Money Through Surveys

Taking online surveys on legit platforms is a powerful way to earn supplemental income, and if you take it to heart, you can easily earn an extra $100 to $200 or MORE a month through surveys. It’s an easy way to make money and you don’t need to apply to a job, have a degree or experience on anything to get started with answering surveys for cash. Most importantly, you can squeeze these in on your free time and you can do it from your phone too–even while watching TV or sipping your morning coffee!

I personally use Swagbucks and answer their Gold Surveys when I feel bored or need a little entertainment. I typically complete two short surveys at a time and usually earn at least $3 per survey. Do the math. There are surveys that pay more but assuming you only have a few minutes a day and can only do short surveys like I do, you can earn an extra $6 a day or $180 a month.

Sites like Swagbucks are ideal for taking legit paid online surveys, and they also pay you for viewing videos and playing games.

By the way, Swagbucks currently offers free $10 as an incentive for just signing up.

To maximize your survey income, I also recommend signing up with the following legitimate survey sites:

Inbox Dollars- Receive $5 Welcome Bonus. US and Canada only.
Pinecone Research
Vindale Research– Claim your FREE $2 here. For USA, UK, Canada and Australia.
Global Test Market- They pay up to $5 per survey and have paid over $32 million in 2014.
Shopper’s Voice
Harris Poll
E-poll – Earn a 100-point signup bonus when you register! Conversion occurs when a user registers, confirms their email, and completes the profile survey (5 min). USA only.
VIP Voice– Sign up today and earn triple reward points for taking your first survey.For France, USA and Canada only.
MySurvey

Potential Earnings: $180 per month if you answer at least 2 surveys per day.

6. Earn From Your Car

You probably already know that your vehicle depreciates in value from mileage to mileage. Fortunately, you can earn from the car itself, so that you can have the extra money to pay for auto loans, insurances and then more. You can drive on your free time as a Lyft driver. Or you could rent the car out by listing it on apps like Turo.

Lyft offers $250 Bonus after completing your first 100 hours driving for them. Apply to become a Lyft Driver here.

Potential Earnings: $15-20 per hour

Bonus Tip: Start a Blog

Okay, I’ll be honest, starting a blog will not help you make $500 extra this month because it takes time to grow a blog. However, blogging can be a lucrative hobby and business that can eventually generate a somewhat passive form of income for you. If you like writing and sharing your opinion online, a blog can be a great project you can start in 2019. I started earning at least $500 from this blog on my 9^th month blogging and from there my blog income started growing. You can definitely do it too or even better if you commit yourself to growing your blog!

Interested? I have a step-by-step tutorial on how to start a WordPress blog from absolute scratch!

Final Thoughts

An extra $500 each month can go a long way. If you’re creative and resourceful enough to explore the earning potentials, you can add to your income just by utilizing what you already have. With a good dose of practicality and resourcefulness, increasing your earning by $500 next month should be within arms’ reach.

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