How to Make Money From Home or on the Side

I have been making money from home, on the side and around my kids for almost 2 decades. You name it, I've probably done it.

My favourite ways to make money revolve around writing because I love it and some of it has been fairly passive. But there are so many ways to make money from home or on the side that aren't writing.

Here are some options:

How to become a freelance writer

How to set up a blog and make money from it

The best online survey sites for Aussies (some are international too). Octopus Group is my favourite for Aussies and offers market research for great prices too.

Renting out a room e.g how to make money with Airbnb, 14 tips for renting a room to a boarder or you could try hosting exchange students through Homestay.

Reselling: I've made thousands in a month and it is one of my favourite ways to make money fast.

Odd jobs e.g use airtasker to find them, my tips are here.

Plus check out 43 ways to make money as a single parent and 5 of the easiest ways I've made money.

How to Make More Money

Making more money is a necessity now due to the rising cost of living and how much harder it is to live on an average wage.

Read how to double your money for some ideas and follow the tips below.

Upskill/Invest in Yourself

Is there are course you can take to increase your skills, employability or get a pay rise? TAFE offers free courses in many areas, those on Centrelink have access to many other things to help. There are also other ways to learn depending on what area you are interested in for example, Facebook and Google have great tutorials and programs to learn about marketing, Udemy has a selection of courses, as does Coursera and similar.

Note: When doing this, look for areas in demand and check their income first. I see too many mums doing courses or going into an industry because they can do shifts, without realising how low the pay is.

As an example, Justin was a diver in the islands, mainly scuba and tec. Here in Australia, once he was a resident and allowed to work, he upskilled to become a commercial diver. It cost $30,000 to do the course but his income as a commercial diver was immediately double what he would make as a scuba instructor or similar here.

Plus career progression is amazing. He got numerous other qualifications through the company he got a job with and became a sueprvisor within 2 years.

The course only took a few months but was life changing.

If there is something you have been interested in doing or an area you know you would excel in and can do the course to get qualified, do it.

Diversify

Have multiple streams of income. Most people look at their job as the only income or they might have 1 side hustle. Think bigger and broader about your skills and how they can make you money long term and in different ways.

A few specific examples of other incomes you might be able to do:

Books: You don't have to be a great writer to write a book. There are people you can pay to do it for you or services and courses you can enrol in. I still get royalties from a book I wrote over 10 years ago (under a different name).

What skills or knowledge do you have that could be applied to a book? Two good books with tips and methods for working out what to write, how to write it etc are Digital Retirement: Replace Your Social Security Income In The Next 12 Months & Retire Early and How to Publish on Amazon & Sell A Million Copies Using Kindle, Print & Audio Book.

Shares: You don't need huge money to do this. There are micro-investing platforms or you could launch into something such as The $1,000 Project by Canna Campbell.

I won't tell you how to invest your money. I will say having a plan to invest is important because your superannuation and any government welfare isn't likely to be enough when you need it.

Check out The Simple Path to Wealth and Quit Like a Millionaire for more on investing in shares. I have heard good things about Investing with She's On The Money but haven't personally read it (it's Aussie). Also Sort Your Money Out: And Get Invested by Glenn James, another Aussie and Money School: Become Financially Independent and Reclaim Your Life by Lacey Filipich.

Create Printables: My nieces and nephews do well with this and other things on Etsy. My teens are doing more of it too. Once you have created the graphics to sell, you can sell in your sleep.

Side Hustles: The above ideas I like as they are kind of passive. For other ideas look at 24 ways to make money on the side in 2024. Along with the suggestions above.

Look For Opportunities

Check out Seek and LinkedIn to see your occupation's going rate and see if you might make more elsewhere. Many places are not offering pay rises but a lot of people are getting higher incomes by switching companies.

Freshen up your resume and LinkedIn profile, speak with recruiters and get active about increasing your main income. Learn about wage negotiations and do what you can to make your main income go further.

Still look within the company or business you work for as well. See if there is any paid overtime available or other paid options you can put your hand up. Maybe they are willing to pay to train you in something else or get you qualified for a future role plus give extra time off to study. There are a lot of ways to get more perks from your job, depending on the company and your role.

How To Get Your $125 Bonus From ING

If you are a new customer of ING you can get $125 for opening an everyday account with them by doing the following steps:

Open an everyday account, put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $125 bonus), and complete all the steps below in the first month.
Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
Make 5 settled transactions
Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
Deposit any amount into the Savings Maximiser

Then you get your $125 the following month when the promotion is running. Promotion periods vary. The current promotion runs until 31 March 2025.

What I Am Reading

Live the Life You Want With the Money You Have: The money handbook for a new generation by Vince Scully is an interesting read with advice relevant to now.

If you have ever thought:

* 'I make a good living; how come I don't have anything to show for it?'

* 'I'll never be able to afford a house of my own'?

* 'Retirement seems so far away; I just can't think about my super'?

* 'Money is just too complicated; I can't make a decision'?

* 'Why does this money stuff all have to be such hard work?'

* 'I'm only 30; do I really need to think about all this stuff right now?'

Then this is the book is for you.