It’s hard to be sitting at home when you have no job, trying to figure out what comes next. There’s no more income coming in and you worry about your dwindling bank account.
No matter what you did at your old job, there are plenty of ways to supplement your income while unemployed, and today I’m sharing 4 of them that we’re currently doing/have done in the past that can help bring in a few extra dollars.
Garage sale
If you have way too much stuff, like we do, having a garage sale is a great way to make a little extra income. We have pretty much all of Allison’s baby clothes and toys, as well as tons of books, video games, and other miscellaneous items, so we’re having a garage sale at the end of the month. It’ll clear a lot of space in our office, and we’ll have some extra money in our pockets for emergencies.
Here’s a great article that I’m going to use to prepare for our garage sale: 40 Yard Sale Tips for a Killer Sale
Selling items online
Like the above, if you have stuff you want to get rid of but perhaps they’re a little more than garage sale material, you can try your hand at selling your things online.
John’s sold his old college textbooks on Ebay with some success, and I have some fairly sought-after video games that might do better selling online. While I may have sold all of them for like 5 dollars at a garage sale, some of the rare ones go for up to 50 dollars or more on Ebay!
Craigslist is another good one for selling larger items like Allison’s crib or my office desk that I want to replace (eventually). With anything you see online, be careful about who you sell to or how you meet to sell the item.
Here are some good articles to help you make the best of selling your stuff online!
- 9 Insider Tips for Successfully Selling on Craigslist
- How to Sell on Ebay Without Getting Scammed
- 25 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Sell on Ebay
Survey sites
If you can’t make it out of the house often, you can supplement your income by taking surveys online. Sites such as Swagbucks, InboxDollars, or EarningStation will pay you anywhere between $.50-$2.00 per survey, and while most of these sites only let you redeem your points for gift cards, Swagbucks will actually let you redeem for a PayPal gift card or Visa pre-paid card so you can use it for groceries or other things.
It’s fairly slow-going, especially if you keep getting disqualified for surveys (Happens to me all the time), but you could easily earn an extra $25-$50 a month for groceries; and if you’re without a job, you could use all the help you can get!
I wrote a guide to Swagbucks and EarningStation, so check those out for extra tips on how to maximize your earnings.
Do odd jobs/small manual labor jobs
Do you have a lawnmower, snow shovel, or rake? You could consider doing yardwork for your neighborhood. $10-$20 or more a yard, depending on the size, could get you a fairly good amount of income, not to mention extra exercise!
Just be careful that you don’t get sucked into the idea of “I’m going to be mowing lots of yards so I NEED this $2,000 lawnmower!” and drain your account of even more money, putting you in deeper trouble.
What else could you add to this list that you’ve tried? Any successes? Let me know in the comments!
Jaime is a Nutrition Coach through the ISSA and professional writer. She has 4 years experience coaching and 9 years experience in writing. She enjoys cooking easy meals, running, and learning more about food.
Jaime specializes in helping women with ADHD learn to meal plan and cook healthier meals without getting overwhelmed.
Stephanie
Thursday 14th of April 2016
While we aren't dealing with a loss of employment like mentioned in Jaime's post, I think saving money and doing "extra" to build a bigger nest egg is always a great idea. I'm having a garage sale with friend in May and while I'm not looking forward to prepping, it will be nice to be the money earned during the sale in our savings. Because every penny counts, I love the idea of doing more when you are waiting for traditional means of income.