If you have money, there are options other than complicated businesses or bank C.D.'s. Also, if you have credit cards which you can get cash advances on, there are ways to pay 18% interest and still make money with the cash. Mostly these are ways that aren't quite a business because you can do them once or only when you feel like it.
Loan Sharking
There are people that occasionally need money for a short while. A friend for example, that got a good paying job because I loaned him $300 to get drywall stilts. I never charge less than a $5 / week loan fee (don't call it interest). If you have any qualms about this, check the laws in your area and put it all in writing. Also, if you want total security, take collateral.
Investing In The Expertise Of Others
My buddy John had to show me several car magazines before I understood why an old fiberglass car was a good deal at $2,300, because I know nothing about cars. He eventually convinced me to put up the money, and after a new transmission for $900, he sold the corvette for $4,300, netting us about $1,000. I took half the profit ($500) for putting up the money for the two weeks.
I've done this several times with friends that know cars but don't have cash. By the way, if I had paid 18% interest and a $50 cash advance fee to raise the money with a credit card, my profit would still have been over $400, and John did all the work. I love playing with money. Do you have any friends who know everything about boats?
Buying And Selling Estates
We recently met a couple who buy out estates, sell some of the things at flea markets, then run the rest through auctions. They've made a living doing this for years. They load up a trailer after negotiating to buy a whole house full of stuff. Then, if they don't want to do the flea market thing, they just auction everything on Sunday afternoon for a nice profit.
If you are a good judge of value and have a regular auction nearby, you could do the same with rummage sales. Just offer $100 for everything and then auction it off piece-by-piece. The auction near us lets anyone sell their stuff, with no fee to enter. They just take a 25% commission.
Playing With The Casino's Money
I worked at a casino for years and I saw a lot of people foolishly writing down the numbers that came up on the roulette wheel. Foolishly, I say, because their their theories were nonsense. Casinos will always welcome these players and even hand them the pen and paper.
One guy, however, was actually scientific about it. By finding a bias in the wheel, after "charting" it for 5,000 spins, he made thousands betting on just one or two numbers. When a number comes up, it pays 35 to 1, but one of the numbers, because of manufacturing imperfections or whatever reason, was coming up 1 in 27 spins, instead of the average 1 in 38 spins.
So all he had to do was bet $10 a spin, and he profited $80 for every 27 spins of the wheel in the long run. That's about $100 per hour. The ups and downs are dramatic though, so this is not for the faint-hearted. In this case, I saw him lose as much as $700 in a night. Also, not all wheels have biases (they eventually replaced that wheel). So have you ever tried "card counting" in blackjack...?
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Make Money With Your Hobbies
You never know which could be the money making hobbies. A friend of mine made a life-sized cow out of plywood once. After painting it up and putting it out in the yard, he started to get people stopping by to see if he would sell it. He loved working with wood, and soon had a waiting list of customers for his plywood cows. At about a fifty-dollar profit each, he wasn't going to get rich, but isn't making money with your hobby more fun than a job?
More Money Making Hobbies
There are two basic ways to approach this. The first is the obvious: Look for a way to make money with your hobby or hobbies. What does your hobby produce or involve that other people might want? If the only hobby you have is watching and talking about auto racing, you could start a website about the topic. I'm just sitting here talking about unusual ways to make money, and every time someone clicks on one of the ads here, I might make money.
The second way to money-making with hobbies is to think of all the hobbies you might take up that can generate a second income for you. I found that I really enjoyed making walking sticks as a hobby, and I sold more than a thousand dollars worth on summer. Are there things you might enjoy doing that can make some money as well? Probably.
Time to get creative. Scan the list of activities or hobbies below, and see if you can think of a way they can be used to make money. If you like to travel, you might become a tour guide, for example.
Painting
Crafts of all sorts
Sewing
Caring for animals
Talking
Playing with computers
Traveling
Rock Climbing
Stamp Collecting
Source
Making money with your hobbies is a good way to make money today.
More Money Making Hobbies
There are two basic ways to approach this. The first is the obvious: Look for a way to make money with your hobby or hobbies. What does your hobby produce or involve that other people might want? If the only hobby you have is watching and talking about auto racing, you could start a website about the topic. I'm just sitting here talking about unusual ways to make money, and every time someone clicks on one of the ads here, I might make money.
The second way to money-making with hobbies is to think of all the hobbies you might take up that can generate a second income for you. I found that I really enjoyed making walking sticks as a hobby, and I sold more than a thousand dollars worth on summer. Are there things you might enjoy doing that can make some money as well? Probably.
Time to get creative. Scan the list of activities or hobbies below, and see if you can think of a way they can be used to make money. If you like to travel, you might become a tour guide, for example.
Painting
Crafts of all sorts
Sewing
Caring for animals
Talking
Playing with computers
Traveling
Rock Climbing
Stamp Collecting
Source
Making money with your hobbies is a good way to make money today.
Make Money By Making Things
Making things to make money doesn't have to mean difficult crafts. Sometimes it can be just simple assembly, not artistry or craftsmanship. Here are some examples:
Make Money Making Jewelry
I have friends who make and sell elaborate, expensive jewelry. We are not as artistic, or our tastes aren't as rich, but my wife and I used to regularly make and sell pendants at flea markets and craft shows. Our jewelry only involved tying a string to a pewter figurine or to a coin with a hole in it. There's probably more money to be made in the well-crafted, fancier jewelry, but there is a market for all types.
Selling Pewter Figurines
You can buy pewter wolfs, dragons, turtles, lighthouses etc., from several companies online. Smaller pieces can be bought for about 20 cents each. My wife puts these on rocks, shells (the mermaids) and glass gems with E-6000 glue. We sell them for 2 to 10 dollars at craft shows and flea markets. The kids in particular love the dragons on glass gems or agates.
Walking Sticks
Find a friend who wants his property cleared of the weedy young poplar trees. Bring a saw and knife. I can make about forty walking sticks in a day with the easy woods, like poplar, for example. I buy old leather coats at thrift stores, cut them into strips and use this to put handgrips on the sticks (after they dry for a few weeks). The addition of wood burning, feathers, inset rocks, etc., makes some pricier, but I've had best luck with the $14-and-under sticks. I've sold them for up to $22 and wholesaled them for as little as $4 (very basic ones). We sell them at craft shows and flea markets and have wholesaled them to buyers who sell them at pow-wows and gun-and-knife shows.
PVC Bow And Arrows
Cut a piece of half-inch plastic pipe to about 3 feet long, put a slit in each end and put a piece of nylon twine on it. It is now a bow. I know a man who sells these for $6 at pow-wows and flea markets. He dresses them with colored tape and includes one arrow made from a dowel and pointed pencil eraser.
Source
Making things is a good way to make money today.
Make Money Making Jewelry
I have friends who make and sell elaborate, expensive jewelry. We are not as artistic, or our tastes aren't as rich, but my wife and I used to regularly make and sell pendants at flea markets and craft shows. Our jewelry only involved tying a string to a pewter figurine or to a coin with a hole in it. There's probably more money to be made in the well-crafted, fancier jewelry, but there is a market for all types.
Selling Pewter Figurines
You can buy pewter wolfs, dragons, turtles, lighthouses etc., from several companies online. Smaller pieces can be bought for about 20 cents each. My wife puts these on rocks, shells (the mermaids) and glass gems with E-6000 glue. We sell them for 2 to 10 dollars at craft shows and flea markets. The kids in particular love the dragons on glass gems or agates.
Walking Sticks
Find a friend who wants his property cleared of the weedy young poplar trees. Bring a saw and knife. I can make about forty walking sticks in a day with the easy woods, like poplar, for example. I buy old leather coats at thrift stores, cut them into strips and use this to put handgrips on the sticks (after they dry for a few weeks). The addition of wood burning, feathers, inset rocks, etc., makes some pricier, but I've had best luck with the $14-and-under sticks. I've sold them for up to $22 and wholesaled them for as little as $4 (very basic ones). We sell them at craft shows and flea markets and have wholesaled them to buyers who sell them at pow-wows and gun-and-knife shows.
PVC Bow And Arrows
Cut a piece of half-inch plastic pipe to about 3 feet long, put a slit in each end and put a piece of nylon twine on it. It is now a bow. I know a man who sells these for $6 at pow-wows and flea markets. He dresses them with colored tape and includes one arrow made from a dowel and pointed pencil eraser.
Source
Making things is a good way to make money today.
Make Money Using What You Have
Sometimes you don't have to look very far to find new ways to make money. You can start making money using what you already have . Consider carefully what you can do to profitably use the things you own, the situations you are in, and the skills you have. How can you make some money from these?
RENTING ROOMS
We've made tens of thousands of dollars over the years renting out bedrooms, even when we were living in a mobile home. We charged a weekly rate that included all utilities, making it very convenient for students and single people. I've also known of people renting a spot in the yard to somebody to park their R.V. and live in it. I once converted a shed into a bedroom and rented that out too.
RUMMAGE SALES
Find everything you don't need (maybe half of your possessions) and have a sale. We find it better to simply take it to a flea market. The fee for a spot is usually cheaper than an ad in the paper and you are guaranteed some customers if it's a good flea market. If you enjoy the process, you can start accumulating more stuff to do it all over again.
CLOSET GROCERY STORE
I used to make a little money running a "grocery store" out of two shelves in a living room closet. My room renters paid regular retail for cereal, soup, etc., that I'd buy during half-price sales. Also, selling cold pop out of the refrigerator for 50 cents was a regular source of income for years.
NEIGHBORHOOD TAXI SERVICE
I used to pick up three or four fellow employees on the way to work at a charge of one dollar each way. Recently a neighbor paid us $30 to take her 12 miles because the cabbies here don't speak Spanish (I speak a little and my wife is from Ecuador). It may not be legal without a taxi license, but go ahead - I won't tell. There are regular newspaper ads in some areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania offering rides to the Amish residents, because most Amish will ride in cars but will not own or drive them.
SELLING YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Do you know a lot about something? I regularly pay acquaintances who know cars to help me find a good deal. It saves me money and makes them money. Do you know how to fix computers, or shingle a roof? Let people know.
DOG WALKING
Do you like to walk?... Take along some dogs at a few dollars each. This isn't all that unusual, but people in some towns still don't have this service available.
Source
Using what you have is a good way to make money today.
RENTING ROOMS
We've made tens of thousands of dollars over the years renting out bedrooms, even when we were living in a mobile home. We charged a weekly rate that included all utilities, making it very convenient for students and single people. I've also known of people renting a spot in the yard to somebody to park their R.V. and live in it. I once converted a shed into a bedroom and rented that out too.
RUMMAGE SALES
Find everything you don't need (maybe half of your possessions) and have a sale. We find it better to simply take it to a flea market. The fee for a spot is usually cheaper than an ad in the paper and you are guaranteed some customers if it's a good flea market. If you enjoy the process, you can start accumulating more stuff to do it all over again.
CLOSET GROCERY STORE
I used to make a little money running a "grocery store" out of two shelves in a living room closet. My room renters paid regular retail for cereal, soup, etc., that I'd buy during half-price sales. Also, selling cold pop out of the refrigerator for 50 cents was a regular source of income for years.
NEIGHBORHOOD TAXI SERVICE
I used to pick up three or four fellow employees on the way to work at a charge of one dollar each way. Recently a neighbor paid us $30 to take her 12 miles because the cabbies here don't speak Spanish (I speak a little and my wife is from Ecuador). It may not be legal without a taxi license, but go ahead - I won't tell. There are regular newspaper ads in some areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania offering rides to the Amish residents, because most Amish will ride in cars but will not own or drive them.
SELLING YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Do you know a lot about something? I regularly pay acquaintances who know cars to help me find a good deal. It saves me money and makes them money. Do you know how to fix computers, or shingle a roof? Let people know.
DOG WALKING
Do you like to walk?... Take along some dogs at a few dollars each. This isn't all that unusual, but people in some towns still don't have this service available.
Source
Using what you have is a good way to make money today.
Make Money Finding Things
Treasure Hunting Begins At Home
There are many things you can find that can be sold. Gold and precious stones come to mind, but it doesn't end there. Get up into that attic to see what treasures you find, and then check out some of the more unusual ways to go treasure hunting below.
Hunting Diamonds In Parking Lots
The temperature changes your jewelry experiences getting in and out of cars and buildings cause diamonds to come loose from their settings. This makes parking lots one of the most common places that diamonds are lost. One older couple I read about become so good at telling the difference (from a distance!) between the sparkle of a diamond and bits of glass that they regularly take early morning walks in mall parking lots for a second income.
Treasure Hunting in The Desert
An older Native American we met at a hot spring in Arizona showed us how to find arrowheads and metates (using for grinding corn or mesquite beans) laying out in the desert. They are hundreds of years old. He has sold at least one of his metates for $200 during a yard sale. For non-Native Americans this may be illegal, so check with authorities on this one.
Hunting For Natural Treasures
We have sold sea shells that we collected from beaches in Florida, and giant pine cones from California. We've also sold a lot of rocks that we collected all over the country. We sell them at flea markets and craft shows, as is, or made into something crafty.
Treasure Hunting In The Garbage
In our town the city collects all large junk for free during a week in April or May. You'll see perfectly good bicycles, furniture, games, toys, chairs, etc., in piles in front of almost every house. At least several people come by with trucks and trailers to pick out good things to sell at flea markets or auctions. It is a regular source of income each spring for some of them. I'm sure this happens in other cities.
Treasure In Vacuum Cleaner Dust
A man in California offered to take the shag carpet when a large old theater was being remodeled, saving the new owners the cost of disposal. The theater had been closed for years, but during the thirties it was a place where the wealthy went for entertainment. The wealthy, like all of us, lose things, but more valuable things perhaps.
When the old carpet was cut up and carefully shook out, it was found to contain over $2,000 worth of precious stones, rings, and coins. Wondering what may be caught by vacuum cleaners, the man then arranged to take the full cleaner bags from several cleaning companies each week. It saves them disposal costs, and he regularly finds coins and small jewelry when he digs through the dirt.
Hunting Treasure With A Metal Detector
For less than $200 you can buy a metal detector and begin looking for buried treasure. I've only found about 200 coins myself (mostly at the beach), and none of them have been valuable ones. A woman in our town, however, used her detector to find coins when the city tore up the old sidewalks. She sold one of them to a local coin shop for $700. A woman I worked with tells me that her husband and her have found many pieces of gold jewelry at the beach with their detector. It is also common now to use metal detectors to find gold nuggets in the southwest.
Panning For Gold
For less than $10 you can buy a gold pan, and become a prospector. I like the dark-green plastic ones best, as it is easier to see the gold. Most federal lands are open to prospecting without a permit. The only place I've seen gold in my pan is in Canada (there isn't much gold in Michigan), but people have better luck panning for gold in the mountain streams of the southeast and southwest, and it is always a nice way to spend an afternoon in any case.
Treasure Hunting In The Streets
Maybe you've seen homeless people collecting cans for 37 cents a pound. Tough way to make a living. Here in Michigan (and other states), however, there is a 10 cent deposit on every beverage can. During festivals I have seen people with bags full of hundreds of cans and bottles they collected in the parks and garbage containers. Some of them travel here every year during the Cherry Festival, just to collect returnable bottles and cans that week.
I also once spoke to a man who went to the big concerts in the area to collect all the beer and pop cans in the parking areas. He told me he can make over $100 in a few hours (plus the time to take them to the store). Collecting "returnables" can be a dirty, even embarrassing way to make money, but an old guy in town here tells me he pays the rent doing this.
Treasures In The River
Criminals and kids throw things off of bridges routinely (a quick way to get rid of evidence). Several times as a child I saw bicycles in rivers. One man I read about makes a living using magnets and other tools to retrieve guns, money, and other things of value from the bottom of murky rivers (near bridges).
Source
You never know what you can find. This could be a good way to make money today
There are many things you can find that can be sold. Gold and precious stones come to mind, but it doesn't end there. Get up into that attic to see what treasures you find, and then check out some of the more unusual ways to go treasure hunting below.
Hunting Diamonds In Parking Lots
The temperature changes your jewelry experiences getting in and out of cars and buildings cause diamonds to come loose from their settings. This makes parking lots one of the most common places that diamonds are lost. One older couple I read about become so good at telling the difference (from a distance!) between the sparkle of a diamond and bits of glass that they regularly take early morning walks in mall parking lots for a second income.
Treasure Hunting in The Desert
An older Native American we met at a hot spring in Arizona showed us how to find arrowheads and metates (using for grinding corn or mesquite beans) laying out in the desert. They are hundreds of years old. He has sold at least one of his metates for $200 during a yard sale. For non-Native Americans this may be illegal, so check with authorities on this one.
Hunting For Natural Treasures
We have sold sea shells that we collected from beaches in Florida, and giant pine cones from California. We've also sold a lot of rocks that we collected all over the country. We sell them at flea markets and craft shows, as is, or made into something crafty.
Treasure Hunting In The Garbage
In our town the city collects all large junk for free during a week in April or May. You'll see perfectly good bicycles, furniture, games, toys, chairs, etc., in piles in front of almost every house. At least several people come by with trucks and trailers to pick out good things to sell at flea markets or auctions. It is a regular source of income each spring for some of them. I'm sure this happens in other cities.
Treasure In Vacuum Cleaner Dust
A man in California offered to take the shag carpet when a large old theater was being remodeled, saving the new owners the cost of disposal. The theater had been closed for years, but during the thirties it was a place where the wealthy went for entertainment. The wealthy, like all of us, lose things, but more valuable things perhaps.
When the old carpet was cut up and carefully shook out, it was found to contain over $2,000 worth of precious stones, rings, and coins. Wondering what may be caught by vacuum cleaners, the man then arranged to take the full cleaner bags from several cleaning companies each week. It saves them disposal costs, and he regularly finds coins and small jewelry when he digs through the dirt.
Hunting Treasure With A Metal Detector
For less than $200 you can buy a metal detector and begin looking for buried treasure. I've only found about 200 coins myself (mostly at the beach), and none of them have been valuable ones. A woman in our town, however, used her detector to find coins when the city tore up the old sidewalks. She sold one of them to a local coin shop for $700. A woman I worked with tells me that her husband and her have found many pieces of gold jewelry at the beach with their detector. It is also common now to use metal detectors to find gold nuggets in the southwest.
Panning For Gold
For less than $10 you can buy a gold pan, and become a prospector. I like the dark-green plastic ones best, as it is easier to see the gold. Most federal lands are open to prospecting without a permit. The only place I've seen gold in my pan is in Canada (there isn't much gold in Michigan), but people have better luck panning for gold in the mountain streams of the southeast and southwest, and it is always a nice way to spend an afternoon in any case.
Treasure Hunting In The Streets
Maybe you've seen homeless people collecting cans for 37 cents a pound. Tough way to make a living. Here in Michigan (and other states), however, there is a 10 cent deposit on every beverage can. During festivals I have seen people with bags full of hundreds of cans and bottles they collected in the parks and garbage containers. Some of them travel here every year during the Cherry Festival, just to collect returnable bottles and cans that week.
I also once spoke to a man who went to the big concerts in the area to collect all the beer and pop cans in the parking areas. He told me he can make over $100 in a few hours (plus the time to take them to the store). Collecting "returnables" can be a dirty, even embarrassing way to make money, but an old guy in town here tells me he pays the rent doing this.
Treasures In The River
Criminals and kids throw things off of bridges routinely (a quick way to get rid of evidence). Several times as a child I saw bicycles in rivers. One man I read about makes a living using magnets and other tools to retrieve guns, money, and other things of value from the bottom of murky rivers (near bridges).
Source
You never know what you can find. This could be a good way to make money today
Ways To Make Money Today: MyYearbook
MyYearbook
Two teens had a simple idea; why not create an online yearbook for people? The idea turned into a social networking site and they’ve been able to raise more than $4 million in venture capital. The company now has 45 employees, 3 million members and some heavy duty advertisers.
Source
That's the power of the internet. They took something as simple as a yearbook and put it online. Using the internet is a very good way to make money today.
Ways To Make Money Today: WhateverLife
WhateverLife
This teenage girl who had a flair for the creative set up a site to offer layouts for MySpace and free tutorials. The idea took off and she now gets around 7 million visitors to her website every month. She’s managed to land some major advertising contracts and has received offers to buy her site that have exceeded $1.5 million.
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Why not try something similar? Using your creativity is a good way to make money today.
Make Money Through Gaming
Nearly half a million people in China are making money by playing a game, earning gold and selling it to other players with too much time on their hands and a credit card burning in their pocket! The phenomenon that is World of Warcraft, a massively multi-player online role playing game, has spawned some of the most creative ideas for making money. The game’s currency is gold, but a lot of players don’t want to take the time to earn it themselves. So, these people in China, and all over the world, spend their days playing the game, making gold and selling it in the game for actual cash.
Source
This is a very common way of making money today for a lot of gamers, especially online games. Some people, especially gaming addicts, are willing to spend a lot of money to get stronger in the games they play. If you love playing games and are good at it, why not try this? You can enjoy playing and make money at the same time through gaming!
Source
This is a very common way of making money today for a lot of gamers, especially online games. Some people, especially gaming addicts, are willing to spend a lot of money to get stronger in the games they play. If you love playing games and are good at it, why not try this? You can enjoy playing and make money at the same time through gaming!
Ways To Make Money Today: Doggles
Doggles
If there is one thing dogs don’t need, it’s a pair of goggles, but this idea, which got its start online, has made millions of dollars and real stores have opened up all over the world. They took their original idea, of UV protective doggles and continued expanding their product line to include vests, other eyewear and even jewelry. People will spend countless dollars on their pets and this site more than proves it can pay off big time if you have a pet related product or idea.
Source
People are willing to spend money for their pets. Why not try creating a pet related product? Who knows, it might be a good way to make money today.
Ways To Make Money Today
In today’s economy, it can be pretty tough to make money anywhere, but some intrepid folks are earning money hand over fist online and they’re doing it in some crazy ways. There’s a lot that can be learned from these people, especially if you’re sitting on your own idea but think it’s too out there. As these people illustrate, there’s no end to the insanity when it comes to making money online!
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