How to Make Extra Income Without Much Work

Yahoo has a video on how to make some extra income without much work. Their suggestions:

• Rent your car out -- estimated earnings $2,000 per year


• Rent out a room in your house -- the guy in the video rents out a room in NYC for $90 a night (single) and $115 a night (couple) and says at those rates his room is "booked all the time."


• Mystery shopping -- Not a lot of money here, you do this more for fun and the perks (freebies.)

My thoughts on these:

• I LOVE the idea of making extra money, but hese ideas seem "ok" at best to me.


• Rent out my car? Are you kidding? My first car had been a rental and I paid for it in repairs for several years. No way I'm letting a stranger drive my car.


• The room idea is both good and bad IMO. It's good because of the money available (who knew you could make so much -- this guy is pulling down $18k per year if he books 200 days at $90 per day, and that seems low based on what he said). It's bad due to the potential security issues -- who knows if Charles Manson's long lost son is going to rent from you. Besides, doesn't this seem like it would only work in a large city? Perhaps in the burbs you could take in a long-term renter instead as an alternative.


• Mystery shopping seems like a waste of time to me. Too much effort for not enough reward.

What do I consider to be good ideas for making extra money? Here are 11 great ways to earn more money.

Do you have any suggestions for making extra money?

Comments

[Emily]

I didn't even know people rented out their cars!

A lot of places - probably mainly suburbs - won't allow you to rent out a room in your house. Zoning and all that.

Really, there's not a whole lot you can do to earn money without much work. Even developing a passive income online requires writing articles, backlinking, and all that fun stuff. Successful MLMers laugh at the idea that anyone can make a gazillion dollars a month in residual income by only working a couple hours a week.

Etc.

[Rick Franics]

Renting out a room seems like the most viable they list. I certainly wouldn't want a continual stream of strangers coming in... but bed and breakfasts work that way and when I've stayed in one all of the other guests were very polite. Maybe Charles Jr. prefers hotels ;-)?

Still it would be a pretty big loss of privacy. I am not willing to do that with young kids.

-Rick

[Susan]

Just remember that the liability coverage, when renting out a vehicle may not cover the occasional, permissive driver, which is what that person renting your car would be. Companies are often requiring only the named drivers on the Declarations page.

[Jani]

I agree, Mystery shopping seems like a waste of time to me too, someone posted 'benefits' here...I tried, but had tons of junk mails in Inbox (I used 'mystery' email-Id), hard to find real one...and 3 out of 5 times, you have to use your credit-card to buy 'something' and you may do comment on that and you 'may' get paid later...god knows when,

[Old Limey]

How about learning to do a great job managing your own investment portfolio rather than following the crowd, or trusting it to others that usually don't have your best interests at heart.
I have managed mine since retiring in 1992, have never had a losing year since then, and had a good day yesterday in spite of the collapse of the stockmarket.
You may not have noticed that Muni and investment grade Corporate bonds, have been soaring recently, and yesterday was no exception.
Once you develop the skills and knowledge it takes little time.
These days all I have to do is, once/month I reinvest the income I receive and reinvest the money from any bonds that have matured - Keep It Simple!

[MC]

Rent out your car? That's an incredibly stupid suggestion. If the renter gets in an accident you may lose the use of your car & have to pay sky high car insurance rates for YEARS.

You might as well "rent out" your identity and let strangers obtain credit cards based using your own good credit score and social security number. Wow what an awesome idea! People might be willing to pay for it, but you put yourself at a huge risk.

[retirebyforty]

Rent the room is a pretty good idea. 18k tax free is pretty awesome. I'd rather rent the room out by the month though.

[LotharBot]

If you're looking to rent out a room, be aware of listing services like http://www.airbnb.com/ and Craigslist -- and also be aware of what they *don't* provide (like, they don't vet your guests beforehand.)

Also make sure you have appropriate insurance.

[Concojones]

What about shared ownership of a car you only occasionally use? And assuming the other owner is a decent driver?

[b12_fox]

retirebyforty, making 18k on a service provided is hardly "tax free" unless you are not reporting the income, in which case you are committing a crime.

Personally, I don't think I would trust a stranger enough to rent a room or a car and certainly don't have the time to mystery shop!

[Eddie]

A pretty poor list. Renting out a car seems an invitation to being sued, ditto renting a room with the additional limit of seeming like a lame half measure- why not invest in a condo or house, with prices so low?

Mystery shopping might be okay, depending on how much is needed to start things rolling- if I can make, say, $20.00 for filling out a 30-second survey on shopping I would have done anyway, okay. Add much to the time, or take away from the money, eh.

[The Wealthy Canadian]

I have a friend that rents out his garage for parking and makes $50 a month by allowing for someone to park his muscle car.

Nice post!

[Georgia]

I have made extra money by driving others. One friend wanted to go to NC from MO and did not want to drive herself. She paid the expenses (motel, gas) on the trip. I did all the driving. On the way back we stopped to see my kids in AL. Lovely trip that was basically free to me except for food. I didn't want any money, but she insisted and paid me $200. Since she isn't financially well situated, I felt bad taking it.

However, I have made more money driving an Amish family to shopping, food bank, doctor's trips. It doesn't pay a bundle, but it pays more than I spend, keeps me busy in retirement and I can save the extra. The doctor's trips usually net me @ $195 per week, when we go (dr. is 388 miles r/t. x 2) The gas usually runs about $95. Runs to about $4.75 an hour, after gas.