Weird Ways I Made and Lost Money in 2021
VIPKID- $15–22 an hour This was my primary source of Income for 2021. I taught English to kids in China, but China recently banned foreign ESL Teachers. VIPKID plans on going global, but right now, things are at a standstill. A Bachelors degree is needed for this job.
Cambly- $10–12 an hour This was my backup teaching job. The pay is way less than VIPKID, but it is still going strong, despite the ban in China, because it has students worldwide. This job is also way easier and more relaxed. Many students just want to practice talking. No degree required, just an understanding of the English language.
Poshmark This site allows you to sell your used clothes. I bought a mannequin and began selling. A few of my name-brand items sold, bringing in a few hundred dollars. Not a bad way to clean out your closest and make some money.
Mercari Along with selling clothes, I also sold some of my electronics. I sold my old MacBook pro along with a google home device. My MacBook was ten years old, and I still made almost $100 for it. Look around your house for things to get rid of.
Robinhood I jumped on the Robinhood bandwagon and invested $1500 into the app. I got a free $5 stock to start. I played around a bit, and I lost and gained. I made a lot with Dogecoin and lost a lot in Zomedica. To date, I’m down -200, but I am holding. In a few months, I’m hoping everything will go up. So invest at your own risk.
Acorns Another Investment app. This one takes your spare change, and it invests it for you. What is great about this app is that you get bonuses when your recruit. For example, if you get five people to sign up during certain weeks, you will get $1000. I wrote an entire article about it below.
Rakuten Every time I bought something online, I started using an app to get points back. This year I got $68.40 back in points, deposited into my PayPal account, for buying things I was already going to buy.
Achievement I love this app. I have had it for a few years. Right now, it’s connected to my Garmin app. Basically, it gives you money for working out. My Garmin app sends my data to them, and I get points for walking/running and so forth. I make roughly $30 a year with this app, and the best part is, I don’t do anything I’m not already doing. I totally forget about it, and a few times a year, I check it and send 10$, which is the minimum, to my PayPal account. You don’t need a Garmin account either; you can just connect it to your phone.
Ibota This is another cash-back app. I use this one primarily for purchases that I make in-store. I scan the receipt or merge my rewards program with the app-to get money back. To date, I have earned $44. Here is an article I wrote about Ibotta.
Medium I started writing on Medium last month, and I have earned $9.00 to date. Not much, but with time I’m hoping to make more. Only time will tell. If you are passionate about writing, this might be a great side hustle for you.
Vocal Media I started writing on Vocal back in February. I have earned $31 to date, but I am paying $10 a month for the membership, so I have lost money. Partly my fault for not writing enough. If you are good at writing, I recommend checking it out. They have writing challenges where you could win thousands of dollars.
Credit Card Enrollment I watched a lot of credit card, points hacks, on YouTube this year. I have close to $2,000 in points. Not 2000 points, but $2000 dollars…..Crazy right? I will include my credit card points article below. Remember always to pay off credit cards.
I hope this helped :) My goal is to travel the world, and I am always looking at weird ways to make money. If you have any other ideas, let me know!! I have included a few of my affiliate links. Feel free to use them.
Happy Traveling-Emily