GENERATE MONEY

You're Sitting on a Gold Mine

Want to earn some extra cash? Turn your home into a money-making machine. As times get tighter, many are looking for ways to bring in more moola. Here are some traditional, and some offbeat, ways to bring in cash without leaving home.

Start Your Own Part-Time
Business From Home

If you want to start a business, you don't have to invest much money to make money. Sometimes you can start a business with next to nothing. Jacob and Susan D'Aniello's pooper scooper business is now a multi-million dollar franchise called DoodyCalls. But in the beginning, it was just them, a bag and a shovel. You might also consider hiring yourself out as a dog walker, errand runner, driver or computer consultant.

Take a Part-Time Job

With most part-time jobs, it's probably going to be two weeks, at best, before you receive that first paycheck. When you need cash sooner than that, look for jobs that offer immediate money in your pocket, like one that includes tips. Bartending and waiting tables are two tried-and-true examples.

Seek Emergency Assistance

Many charities provide services and items that you would otherwise spend money on, freeing up some dollars to apply to your most pressing needs. Among the most common of these are food banks and open-dining opportunities, help or waiver of utility costs, and clothing and other household essentials.

Make Stuff to Sell

Think of the proverbial lemonade stand, but all grown up. When one WalletPop blogger is entirely broke, she'll get out her sewing machine and make her favorite quick project: stuffed geese (made out of thrifted fabric). They sell like crazy on Etsy, an online shop devoted to crafty vendors, and is her go-to plan when the well runs dry and she needs to bring in some quick cash.

Rent Out Your 'Spot'

If you own some prime parking real estate, you could put cash in your pocket and get more exercise by renting out your spot and parking further away. If access to your car is less convenient, perhaps you'll even drive less, saving money on gas, too.

Sell Stuff on Craigslist

A good alternative to the yard sale is to make use of Craigslist, a great internet site for buying and selling almost anything legal -- furniture, bicycles, musical equipment, housewares, art, and whatever. Over 40 million people use it every month. It's free and localized, so there is typically no shipping involved.

Do Odd Jobs

Babysitters earn upwards of $10 an hour these days. Offer to sit for friends' kids on Friday or Saturday night. The parents will be only too happy to hand you cash when they return! One complaint of young males is that nobody is likely to hire them to watch their kids. An alternative is to offer to wash cars, mow lawns, weed backyards or haul crap out of the garage, instead.

Find an Online Gig

One valid work-at-home program is Amazon Mechanical Turk, where companies post tasks that machines cannot easily do, but that are relatively simple for humans. You choose an assignment, and, on completion, are credited with payment to your Amazon account. This money can be withdrawn once you accumulate $10.

Collect Your Change

If you are like most Americans, there is hidden cash throughout your home. It may be underneath your sofa cushions, in little jars or piggy banks, but there is bound to be bounties of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters just waiting for you to unearth them. You may be surprised how much you find and how much all that "small change" is worth.