This page is about how to make some extra money. Of course, there are good and easy ways and there are ways that are a lot more work than it’s worth it. Find out!
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In 2022, I totally rewrote this page to include all the schemes that not only sound too good to be true, but ARE just that.
Table of contents
Good Ways to Make Extra Money
Sharing some ways to make money that have worked out for us. Since everyone is different, pick and choose what works for you.
Start an Airbnb
Since we stayed in airbnb’s for travel and had great experiences, we decided we might as well start hosting our own airbnb. We have an extra room that we rent out occasionally, asking $75 a night. Or at least we did before Covid, but even were able to host some people during the pandemic
Pros for Opening an Airbnb
Every time we host a guest, we deep clean and pick up a bit more than usual. Also, we have met many interesting people. One year, we hosted a total of 30 days.
You can fit your hosting into your own schedule. We made a little less than $2,000 during that year, which is not a huge amount, but it was two thousand dollars we wouldn’t have had otherwise. Give it a try!
Payments are easy since Airbnb does all the hard work like booking fees and will transfer it to your bank account. Easy money for sure!
Cons to Running an Airbnb
After a few years of running an airbnb we haven’t found many cons. I highly recommend you try it if you have the space for it.
When you do taxes, it might be a pain to figure out exactly what the costs are, but I wouldn’t count that as a big issue. Turbotax always has been able to help us file our Airbnb income.
If you do decide to become a host, make sure to read our 10 Easy Tips to Become an Airbnb Super Host.
Care for People or Pets and Make Money
For many years, I was working as a respite care provider or personal care provider. Helping people taking care of themselves or loved ones is very rewarding!
Respite Care Provider
Although I stumbled into this side hustle by coincidence, I have really enjoyed it. Making $15 to $20 an hour can give some nice extra traveling money. Working as a care provider I met so many wonderful people! I can highly recommend it.
Stay for Free in Fantastic Places while caring for Pets
New for us last year, we did some kitty sitting in Massachusetts, and enjoyed exploring the region, including nearby including Minute Man National Park.
Start a Blog to Make Money
Of course we all have heard the stories of people who got rich starting a blog, but frankly, it is not a given.
Pros of Starting a Blog
What I love about my blog is writing about travel and life with MS. Sharing my experiences with the world, while also remembering all the good times we have had.
Another advantage is that your blog income can be passive, as in you write a post and can make money from it for a long time.
When you are a blogger, you can write from anywhere! Many bloggers enjoy the flexibility of just needing a laptop and an internet connection (libraries are good for that!)
How to Start a Blogging Business to Make Money
Since I’d rather write about travel than about starting a blog, go check out my favorite Start a Money Making Blog couple at It’s a Lovely Life. While their full course is expensive, they also have a Free Start a Blogging Business in 5 Days course. That is how I started this blog.
Every month they organize a free 10k challenge to help people grow their blog. In addition they have a monthly give-away for one or more laptops
Cons of Starting a Blog
Writing a blog is a lot of work. Learning all the ins and out of wordpress, overcoming technical challenges, putting yourself out there… Although it is possible to start a profitable blog, it is not a given and will need a lot of hard work.
Work as a Substitute at a Local School District
Personally I have not worked as a sub, but my husband Tom has done it for a few years. Our local school system pays about $ 100 for a school day.
How to Best Manage the Money you are Making
Now that you are making money, you will need a good way to manage it. Maybe travel, but also save for retirement. You might even be able to get an easy $ 50 by trying out Personal Capital, the number one money management application. You don’t need to transfer any money, just link at least one qualifying account.
How Not to Make Money…
Again, these are my personal opinions after trying these “Easy Money” sites. For us, none of these were worth it.
VIPKID: Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time…
While it sounded good, teaching English to elementary school Chinese kids was low paying and inconvenient. When you read about making extra income, VIPKID keeps coming up over and over.
After passing an extensive and time consuming interview process, my husband Tom passed and eventually started teaching. Because of my accent I didn’t even pass the introductory interview.
When he finally started teaching, it turns out that it is hard to schedule times (time zone issues) and there is a lot of extra work involved which he did not get paid for. In the end, the promised $15 to $20 an hour shrunk to less than $10 / hour when you included the prep and review hours.
News Flash: VIPKID Shut Down in 2021
Recently I found out that VIPKID shut down, so it is not even an option anymore. While there might be similar online teaching platforms, we don’t have experience with any of them.
Amazon Affiliates: Didn’t Work At All
After I tried to make money with Amazon Affiliates a few times, I realized that it was a lot of work for not earning ANY money. When you search the internet you will find out that the negative stories far outweigh the positive ones. Don’t help Jeff Bezos to become even richer!
Ibotta: Get Real Cash Really Slowly
These electronic coupons at Ibotta will save you money when shopping, but it takes a lot of time to add up to anything worthwhile. In addition they will pay for referrals. Not impressed that I invested a lot of hours for less than $ 75 total. You can try Ibotta for yourself and get $10.
Rakuten: I am Not a Believer
Just as with Ibotta, Rakuten (formerly ebates) helps you save money on many things. Although it includes travel and amazon, the payback rarely adds up to make it worth it. Referrals pay the best, but it’s not easy to convince people to click on your rakuten link unless you spend a lot of time writing about specific deals.
For me, it wasn’t worth it, I decided to take one or two bonuses and then forget about it. For too long I have allowed Rakuten to send me notifications, which usually urge me to go shopping. After my year without shopping I simply don’t feel it!
Of course, you might have a difference experience. If you are curious, go try Rakuten and get a welcome bonus.
Whatever Your Do: Don’t Gamble!
Naturally, gambling could sound awesome. Spend a tiny bit of money and get tons of money in return! So easy to dream of rainbows and unicorns!
Don’t do it! If you feel like gambling, use only money you don’t mind losing. Alternatively, play the travel hacking game and Visit Atlantis, Bahamas on a Budget!
Conclusion on Make Money for Travel
As you saw, there are many ways of making money so you can travel more, but none of them are easy and immediate. Of course we all have heard the mantra “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”
So find out which ways work for you, and learn from my mistakes. Do you have tried and true ways to make extra money? Please share in the comments. What would you use your money for? Mostly, we have been paying off debt, but of course, we also have added to our travel budget.
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