Sell your body. For science, that is. You can
sell whole blood or plasma. According to American Red Cross standards,
you have to weigh at least 110 pounds, be 18 or older, and be in good
health. Plasma can be sold monthly, and it takes about an hour and 15
minutes. Whole blood can be sold only every two months, but it takes
just 10 minutes, on average. Check with your local hospital or clinic to
see if it pays for donations. Each visit can be worth up to $35.
Do clinical trials. Provided you qualify, participating in tests of new
medicines and procedures can earn you up to a couple thousand dollars.
Two sources for finding clinical trials are the National Institutes of
Health database and the Center for Information and Study on Clinical
Research Participation, which can also help you over the phone.
Show talent. Fiverr.com helps you make money from your ability to do
anything from retouching photos to singing. You can net $4 (the site
takes a $1 cut) for a wide variety of small tasks. And if you don't have
a special skill, try being clever or weird. Recently on the Fiverr
front page, someone was offering to do voiceovers in a Power Ranger
costume and another was offering to write messages on her lips. While
lots of this stuff is silly, this site can theoretically be used as an
entree for those with serious ambitions to showcase more traditional
work.
Sell used goods. If you have stuff you don't use -- and who
doesn't? -- there are plenty of places to sell it, from Craigslist to
eBay to Amazon. And if you don't want to wait on a buyer, you can trade
in used electronics, books, movies and games at Amazon for credit. We
have a few more ideas in "5 best websites for turning junk into cash."
While this idea isn't particularly weird, if you need money, it's a good
place to start.
Sell crafts. Better than selling used is selling
new -- especially if you have something unique to offer. Websites like
Etsy.com can help you launch a side business selling your own crafts,
from jewelry to painting to custom purses and clothing. Promoting your
crafts on a social network like Pinterest can help drum up business.
Work online. One of our most-asked questions: Is there legitimate
work from home? Technically, yes. In fact, you're reading some right
now: Every Money Talks News staffer works from home. But finding a
legitimate work-at-home job isn't easy, and there are a lot of scams.
Still, you can use the Internet to make extra cash. You can provide
product research on sites like SurveySavvy.com for anywhere from $1 to
$15 per survey, or perform quick menial tasks like tagging images for a
few cents each on Mechanical Turk. You can also use the Internet to find
offline jobs in your area (like bartending or short-term work as a
personal assistant) at Zaarly, where some gigs are worth $100 or more.
Find missing money. "Finding unclaimed cash" explains how to check
with government agencies for cash you didn't know you had, like tax
refunds, retirement accounts from old employers, abandoned paychecks,
and unclaimed life insurance proceeds.
Try apps. As smartphones
become more popular, some startup businesses are based entirely on apps
that get you to use them in certain ways while you're out and about. In
"5 smartphone apps that can earn you money," we covered apps that can
make you $5 to $10 for something as simple as snapping quick photos to
prove a store has a certain product in stock. There are even apps that
reward you for trying and reviewing other apps.
http://money.msn.com/how-to-budget/article.aspx?post=ac074fd1-9662-4546-b775-3b74a802a49c
