I’ve got a full-time job that for right now, is barely paying the bills. Aside from stripping for cash (or just plain begging for it), what are some things that y’all do to help generate some extra income? I’ve got several ideas myself, but time is always a constraint.
I’m just curious…my mind is constantly going so that I can try to stay afloat!
Theatre work… I can typically find a Stage Manager (or other crew position) job somewhere that’ll throw me a few hundred bucks, if I look hard enough and pull enough strings.
I used to draw a lot of pictures and sell 'em for five or ten bucks a pop, depending on how hard they were to draw.
The occasional bank heist… (shhhh…)
I perform weddings on the weekends. It was good as extra cash when I was working a mid-level full-time job, and it was great after I was laid off from said job, as it covered rent and utilities, taking the panic out of finding new work. Now that I’m in a better full-time position, I’ve cut back on the weddings, but still do them now and then for fun and extra pocket money.
The street corner 
Just kidding! Maybe pick up a job waitressing or bartending a night or two a week? If you are even decent (and work at a place with decent food) at it, you could make some good money (and you may not even have to report all or most of it for taxes)
Medical/psychology experiments. Check your local university, hospital, or, if possible, med school. This one can be quite lucrative.
Selling plasma? Considered it, but there don’t seem to be places in my area.
If you live in a metropolitan area, get a taxicab license. You’ve already got a full-time job and don’t want to kill yourself, so drive only on Friday nights.
Try to sell things on ebay
Selling plasma (someone else already recommended this but its not a bad idea if you can)
http://www.autowraps.com/ dont know if you’d be willing or if you’d qualify for a wrap but if you do they’d pay 100-300 a month to turn your car into a driving billboard.
You could always sell your eggs. dont think you’d be willing to do that though.
I remember when i was younger my doctor talking to me about funding college and he said that he and several of his friends paid for college by selling sperm. I know you cant do that but i thought it was quaint and worth mentioning. i wonder if he cares that he has about 4000 kids running around who he’ll never meet.
I’m trying to figure that out, right now. I quit my job when we moved in September for Mr. Armadillo’s PhD program, and finding work up here has been a terrible experience. Thus, I’m venturing into entrepreneurialism with a website to sell my art, litho prints of some pieces, and offering custom pet portraits. I started spreading the news to some of the dog forums I frequent a couple of days ago, and I’ve already gotten about ten requests, at least three of which are very promising. If this keeps up, I may not need to find a real job
~mixie
Pet-sitting can pay pretty well, but it’s not very steady money. Ditto baby-sitting. There’s a company around here called Doody Calls, which is a couple of guys who come around to your house periodically and pick up the dog poop in your yard. Not the most fun job, but they appear to have a pretty steady business.
It’s not much fun, I know, but a few years ago I spent my evenings doing a home ironing service. I worked through the days, so my evenings would see me with piled high baskets of people’s laundry to iron. I just placed a few ads in the local newspaper and it ended up being quite a good little money-spinner!
Deal blackjack at parties. Every town has at least one casino party service. Its pretty fun and you get paid decent especially with tips. Plus you only work when you want to.
Lots of older people will pay good money for someone to clean their house if they know that they will show up and not steal from them. Plus you can usually get paid under the table.
Don’t accept anything less than $10 an hour, though. It’s harder work than it sounds.
How are you academically? 'cause if you’re a college graduate with a reasonably strong background in one or two subjects, try calling around various high schools and seeing if they have students that need tutoring. It’s working quite well for myself and friends (a friend of mine has started a proper business out of it) here in Cambridge - there’s a surprising amount of demand.
Selling crafts is also a good idea. You might want to try using e-bay for that, as it will make the process of advertising / meeting buyers / whatever infinitely easier, and will broaden your customer base.
What other sorts of things are you good at? It’s important to play to your strengths rather than just pick generic money makers (although some of those are fine too).
Bar work! A few evenings a week. During my time as an undergraduate, I worked in a nightclub, taking money on the door. After about 11.30pm, no more people cam in and i used to revise until 1.30am and I finished work. I passed my second year exams that way!
I write science fiction and make sure they pay me at least three cents a word for my work.
Though it’s not for everyone.
Hate to play wet blanket, but I don’t recommend selling your crafts on eBay. I am both a professional crafter and an eBay seller, and crafts just don’t get that many hits, and you’ll only very rarely recoup your investment, let alone make a profit.
I DO recommend eBay selling as a side job, though - I go to thrift stores and buy linens, vintage clothing and china and resell it on eBay. I spend 3-5 hours a week photographing the items and writing up snappy listings. I have a program called Sellers’ Assistant Basic that I got through eBay, so I can do all my listings at my leisure, then send them all up at one time. I spend another 5-8 hours a week keeping everything organized, sending out invoices and mailing packages. It’s usually a decent side income, but it’s not at all dependable - sometimes you will do extremely well, other times you will merely break even.
Since you’re a crafter, you might also see about teaching your craft at Michael’s (if you have one locally) or another craft store, or, if you’re a good writer, submitting craft projects to magazines - submission guidelines are available in the publication banner of most craft mags. I mentioned this once before, I think in Cafe Society, but if you do this, you can get paid not only by the magazine, but also by the manufacturers of the materials you specify in your projects.
Deliver Pizza. $10 - $15/hour
My brother went to Harris Labs (in Lincoln, NE) and took medications in different trial stages. Had to stay overnight etc but was compensated nicely for it. He brought his guitar, wrote songs, watched movies, and read books. It was years ago, and he hasn’t grown any extra limbs or anything. One was an AIDS Med I believe…
Ooh, I’ve done that too–participating in clinical trials. One was a quick, one hour survey thing for a new er… lubricant, where we had to fill out a five page survey of questions, then smell and feel it and answer some more questions. For that I got a $20 gift certificate. Other trials involved walking around with a couple little patches on my back which got removed and checked a few times a week, it cost me about ten minutes of my time three times a week, and I was paid a few hundred dollars. There were a couple others, and they all paid pretty well. If you live in an area where there’s a lot of medical research happening, and are willing to play guinea pig, that can be a pretty decent chunk of spare change.
~mixie