Last week, I opened the floor to the awesome readers here and asked how you all would spend $1,000. There were some great responses and ideas, and I loved getting a wealth of different opinions.
This week, I’d like to approach this on the flip side. It’s easy and fun to talk about how we would use $1,000. But how would you earn $1,000? I’ll go through my ideas with you here on how to earn an extra thousand bucks in a month, and then I want to hear from you again!
Sell Your Stuff
This is the first idea that comes to mind. I need to make a move to re-embrace minimalism, and what better way to do it than clear out what I don’t need and hold a yard sale to earn extra money?
This would help me declutter — and serve as a good reminder that I don’t need stuff to be happy.
But we might not have enough stuff that we need to get rid of to earn $1,000 with. We’d need a backup plan if we want to sell things…
Flip Your Stuff
…and that plan would be to browse through other yard sales, Goodwills, thrift shops, and Craigslist ads to find items that we could purchase, fix up or refurbish, and flip for a profit.
I’m not sure we could handle complicated projects like fixing up old appliances, but we could certainly hunt around for nice furniture that needs to be sanded down and re-stained. We would need to look for projects we’d enjoy doing, however. With this type of work, it’s easy to run your hourly rate down extremely low after adding up all the labor and materials involved.
Pick Up Odd Jobs
I’ve never tried TaskRabbit, but it seems like an interesting (and simple) way to connect with people who need help with odd jobs and are willing to pay for your help. The digital version of this would be Fiverr. If you can create something quickly for the online economy, this might be a great way for you to make some extra cash!
Of course, you could always try the old-fashioned version of this if you live in a large neighborhood or community. Put up flyers or just use word of mouth to mow some lawns this month, babysit, or do some dogwalking.
Work Overtime
If it’s an option, picking up additional shifts or working additional hours at your job may be a good way to make an extra $1,000. For freelancers, this may mean picking up smaller, one-time gigs or offering to help current clients out with additional work.
Become a Part of the Sharing Economy
Of course, you probably all know about Harry’s adventures with driving for companies like Lyft and Uber. Using your car to drive other people who don’t have one (or don’t have one all the time) is a great way to add to your income.
But it’s not the only option if you want to become part of the sharing economy. This means you rent out things that you have, but don’t always use so they’re available for others. Cars are one possession that would qualify — but so are bikes and even parts of your home. Have you considered listing a spare room on AirB&B?
Track All Your Accounts With Personal Capital

How Would You Earn $1000?
Now it’s your turn again — what ways would you consider trying to earn $1,000 extra in the next month? Are there any ideas I discussed that you just wouldn’t do, no matter what?
For me working a couple of extra days in the month would accomplish this. But if I didn’t feel like working more, I would sell stuff on eBay as well as sell stuff for friends and request 10% of the earnings. The things that work best for this? Cell phones and video games. I’m sure many of us have friends that have old cell phones lying around and buyers on eBay love old phones and games. An extra $1,000 a month can potentially be a life changer if used intelligently.
Selling things for your friends is interesting! I hadn’t thought of doing it that way. Great way to make some extra money from sites like eBay if you don’t have a lot of stuff lying around yourself 🙂
There are plenty of avenues available for you looking at how to earn more money. It all depends on you what you want to do. You will find things that you do on a daily basis can help you make a few extra dollars. In the Internet era of today, there are a lot of prospects available. Devote some time in carrying out some market research and try to understand the fields which can ensure such flow of money for you.