There are so many legit ways to make money in today’s internet era, and this post just skims the surface on all the opportunities that’s available for you.
Can you make money?
Yes, of course you can make more money, whatever your motivations or reasons.
- Pay off debts
- Save more for big purchases such as weddings, birthdays, travels
- Invest to retire early or for your kid’s education
Whatever your reason, you definitely have the power to earn more money than what you’re making today.
I recommend that you build more than 3 streams of income (have only 1 job = 1 income stream is very risky to me), and some of these you can start immediately whereas other income streams may take some time and effort to build but last longer.
Even though surveys and cash-back apps are nice, I tend to avoid them as they cant really scale and they are good for side pocket money, but they dont have much longevity to them.
The goal is to find what you like that suits you to earn more money.
Making More Money Right Now
Okay if you have a short term money need such as need to pay a debt or for a short vacation, you can do some of these to make quick money:
- Clear unused stuff from your home. Books, shoes, clothing, toys etc that you no longer use or outgrown. Sell these online or by having a garage sale.
- If you have a car/ride, you can deliver food or passengers using Grab, Uber, Lyft or Doordash (and many other apps). These services all rely on contract drivers and you can work/earn during free pockets of time.
- Rent out your stuff such as your vehicles (motorcycles, cars) as well as homes (or rooms) like AirBNB.
- Buy low sell high on merchandise you know and care about (Pokemon cards, anyone?)
- Negotiate a higher salary if you’re due for a promotion and can push a compelling case.
- Etc
These are some examples for short term income increase.
If you want to earn something consistent for larger goals such as retiring early and building longer-term passive income streams, then you will need to think, plan and strategize more.
How To Make Money As A Kid
Ohoho!
I like it when kids start early to earn and hustle. The earlier they start, the faster they get there.
If you’re a kid, you can consider earning some extras by:
- Running errands: Pickup something from the store, or return something to someone.
- Odd jobs such as cleaning a location, taking out trash, laundromat work etc
- Baby / pet sitting will require a little more skill, patience and keen eye, but parents and pet owners love it when they find someone reliable
- Washing cars or garages or pavements – speak to your neighbors to see if you can do this weekly for them
These are fairly common work in any country.
I remember getting paid (pittance) by my parents to peel vegetables hahaha, good memories.
If you’re an older kid and savvier, you can provide savvier work such as
- teaching social media to elder
- business social media support
- websites
Making Money as a College Student
College is a good time to earn some extra money because you may have a flexible schedule and learning specialized information.
Some stuff that you can do to earn as a college student includes:
- Tutoring by helping professors or helping younger students
- If you’re very organized and resourceful, you can consider doing virtual assistant work online to help small business owners research and analyze data
- Do deliveries during free time such as packages, documents, food, groceries or even passengers if you have a car
- Sell your old textbooks to the next cohort/batch of incoming students (applicable when you’re at least end of year 1 of college ahaha)
If you’re already working, negotiate for a higher salary
This can be one of the simplest ways to earn more money if you’re already working and doing a good job, especially when you hadnt asked for a raise before (or in a long time)
….but it can be scary.
When you ask for a raise, you need to know that you have delivered valuable work as this makes it much easier to then sell the idea to your boss for the raise.
The reason is because when you ask for a raise, they will definitely look at your performance and work, which may be scary, but what’s happening is that your boss will assess the quality of your work.
You will get an understanding on how your boss views your work and how he/she thinks.
Do your homework first, bring data to the conversation.
Show how your work has benefited the company – does your work:
- bring new leads to the company?
- retain clients longer?
- save the company X dollars?
Schedule a meeting or call, and ask for the raise. Explain why you deserve it and how investing in you will help the company grow more.
Then wait for 1-2 weeks, depending on how many layers of approval your boss needs to approve the increment.
You’re not alone – we’ve all been there.
I remember when my account was down to the last $100 (scary times). When you need cash immediately, you’re not looking at long term scalable gig – you just need to earn now.
For these quick money, consider:
- If you own a car, consider driving passengers / delivering food with Uber, Lyft, Grab or Doordash. If your application is smooth and you have all the required documents it can be fairly fast
- If you own a lawnmower and your neighbours have lawns, offer lawnmowing work. This applies if you have other skills/tools such as powerwasher etc
- If you own a space, consider renting out a room or more to earn steady recurring cashflow
If you’re looking to earn an additional $500 a month, that will require more effort and time.
You can do the stuff we’d covered above too, but you will need to make it a routine (weekly or daily) such as
- lunch time
- after dinner
- weekends
Other work you can do:
- Creating physical stuff to sell online, such as
- food – tarts, cakes, bakes
- jewelry – necklace, ear ring
- pottery
- knitted stuff like scarves, head gear etc
- Developing or teaching an online course based on what you’re good at. Turn your experience and passions into passive income by creating online courses such as teaching someone to play the guitar, take care of betta fishes or knit a scarf – these something for everyone
Investing For Passive Income and Cashflow
Now I love all things entrepreneurship, side hustles and business – they’re my jam and how I started out.
But the next level love and what rocks my boat is when I invest those profits I made from my businesses, and the investments start to pay me passive income aka my money makes just a bit more money for me.
One of the best feeling in the world, for me.
Many people earn then spend. That’s it. When they spend too much, they find a way to spend less to balance out or earn more (most of the time, they decide to spend less the next month).
I prefer to earn > invest > spend from investment returns.
And my goal now is to build streams of investment income that is more than my family’s spending, and then it’s gonna be more fun ehehe. Weirdly, not many people I know invest.
They seem to think that investing = gambling, which isn’t entirely the case.
Index funds and dividend stocks such as REITs can be purchased with as low as $100 monthly (I recommend higher amounts if you can save more so that it’d justify the fees). If you cant spare $100+ a month to invest then start side hustles to earn the extra surplus to invest.
Earn Money to Get Out of Debt
…I dislike debt.
Debt…when done wrongly, will be a money-and-energy-sucking vampire. Earn more and pay out your debt will not only get you back on the path to financial freedom.
Don’t give up.
I’m the founder and writer here at NigelChua.com; as well as serial entrepreneur, therapy business entrepreneur, digital entrepreneur, investor and also happy husband, father and Christian.
Started and sold off a business for 7-figures; built another 7-figure one and growing it further, plus building/investing into other businesses and investments as well as advisory works.
Nowadays I share and teach entrepreneurship, financial independence, retiring early as well as building and living a life you love.
Thank you so much for your time and I hope it’s helpful for you.
