Building multiple income streams is a necessity in today’s economic climate. Gone are the days of living off of a single income from a job. It is not safe to think that you or your significant others job is safe. So how do you prepare yourself for the unexpected job loss if it happens to you? By creating as many sustainable and legitimate income streams as you can!
There are many examples of quick ways to make money, such as selling items on eBay or having a garage sale. While these types of income streams can help in tough economic times, they are not sustainable and will not lower your risk of having a single income stream. The key is to build sustainable income streams that can continue to bring in money over time.
It is also important to note that the more passive income streams that you can build, the easier it will be to accelerate your earnings potential. If you are spending all your time at a second job for example, then you cannot take advantage of the time you are spending at the other job. Once you have established a solid income stream, try and look for opportunities to cut out your involvement from the process, so that you can focus your efforts elsewhere.
33 Sustainable Ways to Build Extra Income Streams
Here are 33 opportunities for building extra income streams that can be sustainable. Most of these ideas are very easy to start.
- Babysit neighborhood children to earn a little extra money.
- Write articles on eHow and earn $100 per month or more!
- Cut your cell phone bill and put over $50 back into your monthly income stream.
- Start a freelance career in a field you have experience in.
- Rent out an extra room in your home.
- Become a virtual assistant.
- Open up a rewards credit card to earn a few hundred dollars every year.
- Capitalize on any computer or IT skills you may have by setting up home networks and systems.
- Invest some of your savings into a high interest savings account.
- Offer to mow your neighbors lawn or do other yard work to earn some extra money.
- Earn extra income as a consultant in your area of expertise.
- Invest your savings into a certificate of deposit and earn a few hundred extra dollars per year.
- Take online surveys or write product reviews for money.
- Purchase tax lien certificates that will pay you a double digit return on investment.
- Start a blog and write sponsored posts.
- Sell photographs to online sites that pay you each time one of your pictures is downloaded.
- Become a tutor or teach others a foreign language.
- Earn AdSense income through HubPages.
- Create an affiliate marketing campaign using Squidoo.
- Invest in quality dividend growth stocks.
- Sell your vehicle and take public transportation to put some money back into your pocket each month.
- Start an internet marketing campaign on Twitter or other social networking sites.
- Sign up with your local school district to become a substitute teacher.
- Invest in municipal bonds.
- Offer private lessons in a sport for children such as swimming or golf.
- Write an eBook and have others market it on the internet.
- Offer to start detailing cars for friends and neighbors.
- Sell covered call options against stocks you already own.
- Video tape or photograph weddings if you have the special skills and equipment required.
- Create a niche blog and sell advertisement space to earn extra money.
- Create a product or craft that someone else is willing to buy and sell it on Etsy.
- Open a peer lending account and begin loaning out money for a high rate of return.
- Open a high yielding checking account and earn interest off of your balance.
Final Thoughts
There are many scams out there claiming to make you money with little required work. Be very careful and judgmental when choosing a get rich quick program. I don’t know of any money making opportunity that does not require hard work and dedication. That hard work will pay off in the end and will help you become financially independent!
What other extra income ideas can you offer?
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome list here! Thanks for the mention, and I hope all is going well for you! Oh, and congrats on passing the $100/month mark on eHow! Let’s shoot for $1000 now!
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pfincome Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
@Pat – No problem. I am using your series to write my first eBook. That is incredible information that you have – and it’s free!
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I love your ideas! They are all great, and everyone will have a few from that list that work for them. I do, and I’m also working on a few others. How many of these do you actually use? You seem to dip your toes into quite a few pools, it’s impressive
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pfincome Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
@Web Career Girl – Several of these are from my family or from other people I know. My wife is going to babysit the neighbor kids starting this winter for extra income. I participate in peer lending, selling covered calls, writing for eHow, just started HubPages, niche blogging, dividend stocks, affiliate marketing, cds, and I use to write sponsored posts.
I also plan on writing an eBook and eventually will look into tax liens.
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Wow, that’s an exhaustive list of alternative income sources. Thanks for the mention. Once I bought my first dividend stock and watched the dividends appear magically in my account I was hooked. I had to build a diversified portfolio over time of dividend growers whose distributions I reinvested selectively, and now dividends provide a large chunk of my income.
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pfincome Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
@DGI – Anytime. You have helped me build my dividend portfolio so I need to thank you for all the great info you have posted.
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Fantastic list! I may have to print this out so I can start working through and ticking them off.
Though not necessarily an ‘income’ stream, I would always suggest shopping around (and haggling!) when buying anything, and to use one of the many cashback sites when buying online (UK examples include Topcashback and Quidco. There may be equivalent sites available in the US and elsewhere).
The other general advice is never to lose patience with any of these income ideas – just keep on keeping on!
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pfincome Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
@Neil – Thanks! I agree, anything you can do to make a few extra bucks along the way is worth it. Just as long as you are not spending a lot of time making those few extra bucks.
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Take advantage of signup bonuses. You can easily snag signup bonuses ranging from $25-$250 when you apply for a credit card or open a bank or brokerage account.
Right now Chase Checking has a $100 promotion, for new customers who open a checking account with them with at least $100. Check my overview here: http://bit.ly/rIB4Q
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pfincome Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
@Blogging Banks – Thanks for mentioning this income stream. I have not tried this method out yet, but I know you bring in some nice income from opening this accounts.
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The key, I have found, is to locate a list like this great one you put together. Then, you need to try a few out, experimenting until you find a couple that really work for you. Then, draw back from getting too scattered, and become great at those two sources that you have picked. Otherwise, you will become discouraged and give up. You’ve got to weed the garden, till the soil, and, in time, the harvest will come. But not if you give up too quick!
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pfincome Reply:
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:30 pm
@Steve – Nice point. The key is to focus on what works best for you once you have tried a few things out. Getting to spread out among different projects really doesn’t help you out at all.
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Wow, those are some great ideas.
I recently got into affiliate marketing, and I love it. Thinking about starting in on the eHow trend.
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pfincome Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 10:19 am
@Nick – Affiliate marketing can be great and frustrating at the same time. I have gone weeks with no sales and then have a couple stack up right in a row with lots of earnings. Good luck with your eHow writing.
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