Hey everyone, happy Wednesday! I wanted to share how I’ve been making some extra money each month.
In my January Goals update, I mentioned that I aimed to make an extra $500 and ended up making over $600 through blog income and surveys. After that post, I got a ton of emails asking for more details.
I’ve been putting off writing this because I wasn’t sure what to say and thought it might be boring. But then I remembered how much I enjoyed reading about how others made extra income before I started doing it myself. It’s always great to learn about new opportunities.
I’m not a blogging expert, so take this as just my experience. I didn’t start blogging to make money; it was more about sharing and improving myself. I also didn’t expect to earn anything, but having ads on my blog has been a nice bonus. I hope they don’t bother you too much.
Most of my extra income comes from my blog. I got the idea to monetize after seeing Erika from Newlyweds on a Budget doing it. She uses her extra income for travel, which is something I value too. Extra income makes it easier to spend on vacations without feeling guilty about not just paying off debt.
Here’s how I made my extra income in January, after fees:
– Ads on my blog: $270
– Sponsored posts: $222
– Surveys: $33
– Mystery Shopping: $150
So, I made around $675 last month!
For blog ads, I’ve been working with Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. She handles most of the work with advertisers and has been a huge help. She’s definitely an inspiration in the personal finance blogging community.
For sponsored posts, I used Social Spark for one of them. They send leads to my email, and I can express interest or negotiate the price. I’m still learning, but it’s been a good experience so far. I also did a few sponsored posts for other advertisers who approached me.
For surveys, I mainly use Pinecone Research. Unfortunately, they aren’t taking new members right now, but they sometimes have banner ads that let you join. The money from surveys isn’t a lot, but it adds up, and you sometimes get free stuff too. If anyone knows of other good survey companies, let me know!
I’ve talked about mystery shopping before, and I use Bestmark.com. It’s pretty straightforward, though the surveys can be repetitive. But it’s nice to get free stuff like makeup and food.
I also use Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards. I don’t use it as much anymore, but I still make about $25 a month in gift cards, which I save for little splurges.
I’m planning to make more money on eBay soon, but I’m still getting started with that.
I’ll be doing more detailed posts about all of this to explain better. My main tip is to have an “Advertise” or “Contact” tab on your blog so people can reach out with offers. If you have any questions, let me know so I can answer them in future posts.
How do you make extra money? What do you spend your extra income on? I hope you all can boost your extra monthly income!