A few weeks ago, there was this moment of dread … you know when you insert that card into the ATM, your heart pounding as you check your balance. Then comes a sigh of relief when you realise…okay it’s not as bad as you thought.

I like to think I am relatively good with finances but after the holiday season, well you know when you had spent a wee bit too much?? At least most of them went to material items i.e. salessss….I mean… seriously they were so hard to resist!

So now the holidays are over,  and the whole “New year, new me!” fever has come back with a vengeance. I thought to myself, ah screw it, let’s try earn a little bit of extra money to hold over till the next paycheck.

I have been using these tips for the last few weeks, so I thought to share them with you.

whatsucourtneyblogmaking money

#1 Commit

I understand that most of you might either be working full time, family and kids or studying, whatever it is, you can figure out how many hours you’d like to commit to. Be it an hour a day or a 3 hours a week and more. The key is planning! Plan your day, and how long you like to do this for, then you have it in your mind to commit to doing it.

#2 Sell unwanted items

This is probably one of the most obvious ones but it does work. Ebay or Gumtree are great places to sell your unwanted items. Be brutal, if you haven’t used, worn or seen it in a long time, then might as well make some money out of it. The best part of this is you declutter which is something that I desperately needed to do. You see, I have a ‘Monica room’ and for those of you avid Friends fan will know what I mean….it is basically a junk room. Out of sight out of mind! At least until you need that one particular item hidden deep inside then chaos ha!

#3 Sell your skills

I recently discovered these websites whereby you sell your skills. Do you have a great voice? or great in photography or photoshop maybe? You can sell your skills and charge people for it. Sounds pretty good don’t you think?

Fiverr is an online marketplace where you can list your skill and charge others for a fiver. Skills can vary from selling your like i.e a voiceover artist, to writing a statement or designing a logo. Even though the main price is a fiver, I have seen others list a variety of prices depending on their experience. Worth a shot really.

This is another freelance website, you can browse around to see what freelance jobs are available. They have jobs across a wide variety of categories including writing, design, marketing, social media, and pretty much anything else you can think of. If you find a job you’re interested in, you can submit a proposal.

Elance is an online marketplace where people who need things done can connect with freelancers selling their services in a bid-request environment. Similar concept to the previous two.

Etsy is similar to Ebay but it is designed for independent crafters and artisan to set up their own stores and sell what they have designed and created. If you are good with creating/making things, then this might possibly be the website for you. I have seen some businesses grow and make loads of money from this.

A friend of mine is fluent in both German and English, and I remember she introduced me to this website where she made quite a fair bit of money from translating documents from German to English and vice versa. The main thing about this website, you have to bid on the work that’s available and submit a proposal, but once you build experience and like Ebay – get reviews then it should get easier.

#4 Budget!

This is always a good thing to do anyway regardless, being clever with your finances. Knowing how much to spend per month, setting aside some for bills and expenses. I have a book whereby I write all my daily expenditure, it is similar to having a food diary, so I know what and how much I have spent and re-evaluate at the end of the day.

  • Wallet (available on Android, iOS – Free)

I have been using this app to help me set my monthly income, and record expenses as well as constructing a budget plan – pretty nifty app.

#5 Daily outlook

When you save money, you actually make money in the long run. I started with the small things, for example cutting down eating out and cooking more which was hard as I love eating out but I love cooking too, experimenting new recipes are so satisfying. Also actually purchasing a cafetiere and making my own filtered coffee instead of going to Starbucks frequently. If you can, shop around for a better deal on your mobile phone provider or TV package, nothing like giving them a quick call and asking what they can do to reduce your bill as you have been a loyal customer? Can’t hurt to try eh!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s start!

Do you have any tips or suggestions for earning extra money? Love to hear them!!

Courtney xx

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