MONEY

3 Easy Ways To Earn Some Extra Income

Finance in the 21st century is about surrounding yourself with income streams…

This isn’t a ‘How To Be A Millionaire’ article. I’m a regular 25-year-old. As surprising as it may be, nearly all of my friends are in their overdrafts. This to me, just isn’t an acceptable way of living. It’s an uncertainty that feels too uncomfortable for me personally and yet thousands make it a way of life.

If I’ve learned anything during Covid-19 is that it is absolutely terrifying to rely on one source of income. Losing my job due to mass redundancy because of the pandemic made me realize how grateful I am to have always used multiple sources to sustain my lifestyle.

Even when you’re still in full-time education or living with your parents, there are already simple ways to expand your entrepreneurial thinking. Finding ways and practices to ensure you’re always one step ahead. The key to spending money wisely lays with the emphasis of your prioritization. I have travelled most of the world in my 25 years without ever having a stable full-time job and it leaves the people around me gobsmacked.

Let’s assume you have your day job. If you’re not a freelancer than you have old Dolly Parton’s regular 9–5. As much as this may seem ‘enough’, there will never be harm in earning some petty cash on the side. I’ve never aimed to be grossly rich, I’ve just aimed to be comfortable. Comfortable enough to have freedom and a roof over my head. These are a few ways I ensure my expenditure is accounted for.

Medium

I’ll start with what’s most relevant. I haven’t earned a life-changing amount on Medium but it is all a process. I have been writing and earning on the platform for only a few months and already noticed the significance of quantity. I have read many articles talking about making a consistent income from stories written months ago. That is the beauty of producing mass amounts of work. Releasing an article on the platform ensures that you get paid each month to come after hitting that delicious green ‘publish’ button. Even if it is $0.10. And even if you do eventually stop posting, you can rest assured that your writing will be generating a small bit of income monthly.

Having just wrapped up my second month here on Medium, I can see that my earnings have tripled and then some. I hope that by continuing to produce more content, I can establish a steady petty cash stream from current and past work. Medium, began as a ‘hobby’ for me during lockdown and I am pleasantly surprised to see that it can cover my coffees for the month. If you’re proud enough of the writing on your profile, it’s also a great addition to any job application.

Going off of the results above, I haven’t had any viral story this month, I have simply written six more articles and the ones from the previous month have generated more views. Readers will always find your past work so don’t disregard the extra pennies here and there from old stories. Once you have a hundred or so articles on the platform, it’ll be a noticeable tenner here and there to cover drinks for a night out once a month. Every penny matters.

And of course, this could ultimately turn into a significant amount of money if that is what you’re aiming for.

How to Make Over $5,000 Online Every Month Like This Average Joe

Jon currently earns (between) $3,000 to $3,500 from Medium stories on a monthly basis.

Depop

I have been on Depop now since 2016 and as much as it isn’t a source of income it is what funds and makes possible my shopping addiction. It ensures that I can continue having the latest ASOS fashions without any actual spending. Since opening my account, I have sold over 100 items, some at reasonable prices — close to what I paid for them initially. Being a typical mid-twenties girl, I do accumulate a lot of clothes. There is just something about a dress being ‘new’ compared to the four you have in the exact same colour hanging in your wardrobe.

I have made myself the promise of buying something new only when I have sold something of similar value on Depop. This ensures that not only is my wallet not being effectively ‘touched’ but my wardrobe also doesn’t burst at the bolts and screws. The trick with keeping your items selling is to refresh them daily. Adding as little as a space or dot in the description below the images of your product ensures that they are recommended first when buyers search for similar items. Always search for professional images of the clothing you are selling to use as the initial image followed by your own pictures of the used product.

Pro Tip: If a particular item isn’t selling on Depop, it is probably meant for eBay. I have found a strange correlation with that of unwanted stock on Depop and my successful sales on eBay.

Temp Agencies

This one personally completely and utterly revolutionized how I spent my early twenties. For me, it accommodated the freedom to travel the world. At this time of my life, I had just graduated from University and was extremely fed up with studying, wanting nothing more than to leave my city behind for a while. I spent the next three years travelling around the world, coming back to London for a few weeks every three or four months. This ‘touching base’ allowed me to see friends and family as well as earn a bit of spare cash in the meantime.

I signed up with the two main ‘temporary agencies’ in London that catered to odd jobs that my degree would suit. For me, these were mostly office administration and assistant roles or legal covers of some sort. I had the flexibility of letting my recruiters know a week before coming back into town and had work lined up for me from the day of landing. Of course, it was also the cherry on top to be earning in Pounds and mostly travelling to places with a much weaker currency.

The trick to limited spending isn’t necessarily saving but creating pots of income to cover the everyday. That way, you can spend the bulk of your income on the things that matter most to you.