# How do YOU make extra money? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499 "2004-01-15T01:37:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/21 "2004-01-15T16:18:44Z")
Many of the public libraries in my area are open on Sundays during the school year for about 4-5 hours. Many of them have a separate Sunday staff and it’s a good way to supplement your income–I do it frequently. Librarians make $20.00-$25.00 per hour for Sundays, and non-librarians make about $13.00-$17.00 per hour. Your local library should be able to provide you with a list of the libraries in your area that have Sunday hours, if you’re interested in this. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/22 "2004-01-15T16:19:43Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > . . . you could make some good money (and you may not even have to report all or most of it for taxes) **liirogue** make **TaxGuy** angry!! **TaxGuy** smash! ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/23 "2004-01-15T16:49:36Z")
Market research. They pay you for your opinions on new products (I made $50 for giving my opinion on a political debate to a polling firm). There are always numbers in the classified ads, even in neighbourhood newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/24 "2004-01-15T16:57:53Z")
Increase the percentage of lactose. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/25 "2004-01-15T17:09:08Z")
I’m a sports official. I don’t do football anymore. But I am an umpire from NCAA Div 1 down to high school down to age 10 & under. Well, To be honest, since my wife died 6 months ago, I took a year sabbatical from my college group, but I still officiate youth ball because it’s local. I’m helping out the community by giving them a good official (I’m sure some of you have experienced really poor youth officiating). It helps me because my day job is that of a computer programmer… not the most active job in the world. It gets me out in the sun. It’s always been a great place to go to relieve stress from work, or stress from an argument my wife and I might have had. One of the perks is how it helps me in my ‘real’ job. You learn how to interact with people. You sure as hell learn conflict resolution. I love it. I have the best part time job in the world. e3 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/26 "2004-01-15T17:26:33Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > [http://www.autowraps.com/](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. Apparently this is a crock. The only money being made out of this goes the people who sell kits telling you how you’re meant to go about it. I’ll see if I can dig out the cite. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/27 "2004-01-15T19:10:43Z")
I sell [T-shirts and stuff](http://ww.digiserve.con/eescapeshirts/Store.phtml) online. I also do some freelance computer programming work on the side. (link broken by Czarcasm) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/28 "2004-01-15T19:10:43Z")
I sell [T-shirts and stuff](http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/shirts/Store.phtml) online. I also do some freelance computer programming work on the side. ---
**Author:** ![bluetrust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@bluetrust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluetrust)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/29 "2004-01-15T19:26:54Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > Market research. They pay you for your opinions on new products (I made $50 for giving my opinion on a political debate to a polling firm). There are always numbers in the classified ads, even in neighbourhood newspapers. It’s easy to register with online consumer panels too. For example, there’s [SurveyComplete](http://surveycomplete.com/panel/). ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/30 "2004-01-15T20:05:06Z")
I make stained glass which I sell locally. I was once stopped by the clip-board people in the mall (market research) I fit their demographics and ended up being in a nation wide AT&T commercial I was paid SAG scale. That was $48,000 over about 2.5 years. Plus I had full medical coverage through SAG during that time. I don’t know if I convinced anyone to switch to AT&T, but I know a lot of people who now stop for the clip-board people! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/31 "2004-01-15T21:04:05Z")
> [@TaxGuy](#): > > **liirogue** make **TaxGuy** angry!! **TaxGuy** smash! At least here in Oklahoma, by law, you are only required to report 10% of your sales in tips. (For example, if you sold $100 worth of food, etc. that night, you only had to report $10 in tips) I was told this by an employer several years ago, so I don’t know if it’s true still or not. ---
**Author:** ![CairaJade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@CairaJade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairaJade)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/32 "2004-01-15T22:12:51Z")
Teach from your strength. I just started teaching beginning violin and viola lessons, but you could also look for opportuities to teach literacy or ESL, crafts, or any other unique talents you’ve never considered before. Someone else mentioned teaching crafting classes at stores like Michaels. ---
**Author:** ![Spudo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Spudo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spudo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/33 "2004-01-15T23:08:00Z")
I kill people. I’m only kidding. Or am I… Probably… ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/34 "2004-01-16T06:03:57Z")
If you live near a popular beach, you could always get yourself a metal detector and go fossicking at dusk for dropped coins, watches and rings. If you can write, try submitting essays or other short feature articles to newspapers and magazines. And like **wendyrules** and others have mentioned, ironing and housecleaning is always a good standby. Pays well, generally cash-in-hand, and always leads to more work via word-of-mouth recommendations. ---
**Author:** ![wendyrules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85e7bf/32.png) [@wendyrules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wendyrules)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/35 "2004-01-16T06:30:13Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > And like **wendyrules** and others have mentioned, ironing and housecleaning is always a good standby. Pays well, generally cash-in-hand, and always leads to more work via word-of-mouth recommendations. Absolutely, **kambuckta** , and the big bonus for me doing the home ironing stuff at night, meant that I didn’t incur travel/transport costs and I was at home with my 1 year old baby without having to organise childcare etc., and it **was** most certainly cash in hand 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/36 "2004-01-16T06:37:42Z")
Consumer panels, yeah. Taste panels–if any restaurant chains are HQ’d in your area give 'em a call. You get food AND cash. (Or sometimes coupons for their restaurants.) Shadow juries–pays $50/hour. What’s wrong with stripping? If you don’t mind taking your clothes off for money some art schools pay pretty well for models . . . they don’t are what sex you are or what shape your body’s in (but it’s hard, you have to hold still). ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/37 "2004-01-16T06:39:06Z")
grrr . . . "don’t _ **c** _are what sex you are . . . " ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/38 "2004-01-16T07:28:15Z")
> [@wendyrules](#): > > Absolutely, **kambuckta** , and the big bonus for me doing the home ironing stuff at night, meant that I didn’t incur travel/transport costs and I was at home with my 1 year old baby without having to organise childcare etc., and it **was** most certainly cash in hand 😉 Whilst I never took in Ironing, because I HATE ironing even my OWN clothes 😉 , I did ten years of housecleaning when my kids were little because it was flexible and DID pay Very Well. My clients were mostly DINKS or single professional folk, so it didn’t matter to them WHEN I rocked up to clean their house, provided I did so once a week. So, if my kids were crook/had curriculum days/any other reason why I couldn’t be there, I could take the day off to care for them secure in the knowledge that I could make the time up on another day. And yes, it was ALL cash in hand, thankyewverymuch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ReBusEniGma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@ReBusEniGma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReBusEniGma)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/39 "2004-01-16T19:07:12Z")
Music. I have also taught guitar for many years. The youngest student I taught was 8 (a challenge because the motivation level was a little low) and the oldest student was in their late 40’s (he already knew how to play and wanted to improve technique). I have taught in both classroom and one on one situations, but one on one is all I do now. Students like their space and appreciate the undivided attention. I do it because I really enjoy it, but the extra money never hurts. 😉 That brings in an extra $30/hr per student. I’ve been on hiatus from teaching for the last while so that I can be involved in some other activites (non revenue generating) On another front, my sister has recently started a paper route (you must have your driver’s license for this one) with her children. Papers must be delivered by 6:00 am, but it’s all pre-paid, so there’s no collecting, and they pay $500/month + $30/mo for gas. Not bad for 1.5 a day, seven days a week! Good luck in your endeavours! ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499/40 "2004-01-16T21:08:37Z")
What’s “shadow juries”? 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-extra-money/224499.md?page=3)