Maximize Your Income

Groceries Aside from meals, you should also factor in personal care items and necessities you purchase at the supermarket, too. For example, shampoo, toilet paper and toothpaste should be included in your monthly grocery budget. You'll also want to put cleaning supplies into this living expense category. Clothing In addition to day-to-day work clothes, you'll want to take into account undergarments and shoes. Anything you wear regularly should be factored into your budget, including seasonal items, like winter coats and boots. [ SEE: 10 Ways to Save More in 2019. ] Health Care Your monthly insurance premium should be accounted for as a monthly living expense, in addition to copays and over-the-counter items, like cold medicine. It's easy to forget and neglect these expenses, but it's important to track these costs and include them in your budget. Transportation You'll want to categorize and track expenditures such as car payments (and car insurance and gas) or, if you rely on public transit and ride-sharing services, consider daily bus fare, taxi expenses, subway costs and Uber rides. Also, if you own a car and drive long routes, don't forget about parking fees or tolls. Play Video Miscellaneous Living expenses that would fall into the miscellaneous category include your cellphone bill and your internet subscription. You can also opt to add these to the "housing" budgeting category. Other living expenses you may label as miscellaneous include funds allocated for a retirement account, your kids' college education or an emergency fund. If you're paying off debt, you should also track this spending and include it in your budget. 5. Monetize a website and make money blogging Okay, so this one is not exactly simple. But starting a blog is something that has forever changed my life, which is why I wanted to include it on my list. With my blogs, I am able to connect with people all over the world on topics that I am passionate about — personal finance and entrepreneurship — and I made over $175,000 last month doing it. If you are looking for true freedom in your life, I highly encourage you to look into this opportunity. Become a BTOP Insider We grew our blog to over $1,000,000 per year with no marketing experience, no team, and no clue what we were doing. Become a BTOP Insider for tips and strategies on what it really takes to make it as a blogger. You won't find this stuff anywhere else. Your First Name Your Email Address SIGN ME UP! We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. 6. Hit your weight loss goal Say what? Yes, you can actually make money and boost your income by losing weight. If you’re still struggling to find the motivation to shed those extra pounds or you simply want to up the stakes a little (literally) then you should check out HealthyWage. You can enter a team competition and win up to $10,000, or you can place an individual weight loss bet, and go at it on your own. For example, if you check out their bet calculator, a $30/monthly bet to lose 20 lbs in 6 months could net you anywhere between $200-$529.41. Come on guys, 20 lbs in 6 months…a lot of you can do this! Now I’ve tinkered with the calculator a little, but it looks like there are some personal bets that could net you at much as $10,000 as well. Given this was with the max bet of $995, but still, 30 lbs over 6 months to win $7,000? No matter how you slice it, if you want to lose weight (and you’re dead serious about doing it), then you may as well get paid for it. Of course, don’t be stupid with your money. But, if you want to put a few dollars on the line, or simply bet against a few friends, a little healthy pressure can’t hurt. 7. Use this app during your next Netflix binge As it turns out, Swagbucks is good for a lot more than just paid surveys. In fact, one of my favorite ways of making money with Swagbucks is by watching videos on your phone. So, the next time you are watching Netflix (or doing whatever you do), pull out your phone and open up the Swagbucks app and click “Watch” and then pick a video. Once you’ve done that, you can set your phone down (you’ll probably want to turn down your volume) and start your Netflix binge on another device. And voila, you’re now making extra cash while vegging out. As you “watch” more videos, your earnings increase. Swagbucks gives you $10 just to open an account. There is no reason not to join and at least try it out! Over time, you will accumulate enough “Swagbucks” to redeem for gift cards to virtually anywhere (or a Mastercard gift card, which is essentially the same as cash).12. Deliver with Uber Eats part-time There are a lot of good reasons to deliver with Uber Eats. Even if you only have time to do it a few hours each week, you can really make several hundred dollars a month from this most legitimate of side income ideas. On top of the extra money (which is the main reason to do it), you’ll also meet so many new people, which may lead to some unique opportunities for you that you wouldn’t have otherwise had. 13. Flip thrift shop items and sell for profit Chances are you’ve been to a flea market and/or estate sale in your lifetime. And chances are you’ve thought to yourself that you could probably sell one of those items for even more than what you paid for it. Well, you’re definitely right. In fact, people make a living from it. Take Rob and Melissa at Flea Market Flipper, for example. They make over $100,000 a year traveling to flea markets and flipping items for a profit. The longer you’re in this industry, the better you’ll do. As you gain knowledge about how much items typically go for, you’ll be able to increase your margins and make more off each flip. Fortunately, even the flea market novice can quickly spot items that are massively undervalued and sell them at a profit. It’s one of the more fun ways to boost your income8. Get rid of your old textbooks Instead of selling your books back at the bookstore at the end of each semester (where you’re at their mercy to accept whatever price they give you), you should consider other, higher-paying options. Let BookScouter compare book prices across 44 vendors and then choose the one that offers you the best price (much like Expedia does for flights and hotels). With no listing fees, free shipping, and the best price for your book, there is no reason to sell anywhere else. If you’re a college student and the bookstore is no longer buying it back because it isn’t the latest and greatest edition still on the market, BookScouter is your best friend. Be smart and get the most back out of your education investment. 9. Generate passive income through investing I run a personal finance blog, so of course, I have to advocate for this source of extra income. I wanted to put it near the top of this list because it’s such a great form of passive income. It’s a long term game though. You should only invest if you are okay with not touching the money for years. In my experience, Ally Invest has the most user-friendly platform for new investors, and it’s definitely the best bang for your buck (opening an account is free, and trades as low as $3.95 each; well under the industry average). They’ve also got a ton of free resources for you to use, too, which is great. To Diversify Your Holdings: Lending Club. This is a website that lets you act as a lender and earn interest on your money by letting other people borrow from you. Essentially, you act as the bank, which is pretty neat. Lending Club is the world’s largest online credit marketplace connecting borrowers and investors 10. Turn your grocery shopping into extra dollars Start by downloading the Ibotta app. One of the best money-saving apps out there, especially for high-volume grocery shoppers, users can earn rebates on virtually any brand of item you buy. To get your cashback all you have to do is scan the items’ bar code, take a photo of your receipt, and the money gets credited to your account within 48 hours. You get $10 just for signing up, and they’ll also pay you $5 for each friend you refer. Your earnings potential is unlimited. Not bad considering you’re helping your friends save money, and handing them an extra ten bucks at the same time. 11. Design and sell t-shirts And not just for your flag football team! One of the more interesting sources of extra income on this list, Teespring.com allows you to design and sell t-shirts, without paying upfront for inventory. You basically create a mini-store of sorts and each time you reach your campaign goal of selling a few t-shirts then Teespring will batch ship your order to all of your buyers1. Swagbucks – Earn a free $10 bonus for signing up. 2. Survey Junkie – Our favorite in terms of survey diversity. 3. Vindale Research – Free $1 for signing up. Some surveys pay up to $50. Note: “Best” survey sites meaning the highest-paying, most frequently available, and the most respected companies in the industry. 3. List an extra room in your house on Airbnb This is something that not nearly enough people are taking advantage of! If you own a home, consider putting a room (or the whole place) on Airbnb if and when you leave town. You can pay for most, if not all, of a vacation by renting out your house while you’re gone. It’s a crazy easy way to increase your monthly income, all while having someone else pay your rent (or mortgage) while you’re out vacationing. How to boost your income with Airbnb: Create a listing by filling out a description, taking and uploading photos, and setting a price. Your listing helps guests get a sense of what your place is like. Next, you set the availability, and house rules, for your listing. Once your listing is live guests can book their stay at your home, and you start earning money. To up the “trust” factor for both the host and the guests, Airbnb does require some verification information (which is a good thing). After a visit, everyone gets the chance to write a review. Reviews keep guests accountable for treating hosts and their homes with respect and help ensure hosts make their space as welcoming as possible. Learn more about how you can make money as an Airbnb host. 4. Get cashback when you shop online If you primarily shop online, you could be missing out on deals if you’re not using Wikibuy. Wikibuy is a browser extension that notifies you of discounts on the items in your cart. When you shop on Amazon, you’ll be able to easily see if the item you’re looking at is available elsewhere for a lower price. The app also offers deals when you shop online or in store with partner retailers. In this case, you’ll receive a percentage of your purchase price back in the form of Wikibuy credits, which you can redeem for gift cards to places such as Redbox, American Eagle, and Nordstrom Rack. You can also add items to your Wikibuy Watchlist. When the price drops, Wikibuy will send you an alert on the deal. This is a good strategy to use when shopping for birthday or Christmas gifts. You can find gifts ahead of time and buy them throughout the year at the lowest price.