Color Your Income with a Little Extra Green

Written by Casey Dickson, Rover.com community member. Rover is the nation's largest network of 5-star pet sitters and dog walkers.

Color Your Income with a Little Extra Green

Call us Captain Obvious, but when it comes to saving more, it ultimately comes down to making more—and sometimes one source of income isn’t enough. So many stakeholders lay claim to our budgets—rent, mortgage, phone bills, groceries, gas, emergencies (ad nauseum)—and it’s not always (or ever) easy to set aside extra for savings (or retirement or health insurance or…). Here are a few ways to supplement your income, or build a whole new one.

Become a dog sitter.

People have dogs and people go on vacation. So what does that mean for you? Extra cash—of the canine care variety. Watch dogs while their owners are on a weekend getaway. Provide doggie day care for needy pups during the workday. Or simply take a restless Fido for a jaunt around the block while Mom has her hands full. The dog sitting industry offers many routes, like Rover.com, all of which lead to bolstering your bank account.

Sell your stuff.

Got a vintage ottoman collecting dust in a storage unit? A valuable collection that isn’t catching your eye so much anymore? Take stock of your accumulations and see what you can do without—and liquidate. It’s not just furniture, either: buy and sell stores in the clothing, book and music businesses can help turn your dust-collecting collections of days past into groceries or rainy-day investments.

Drive other people around.

One of the more time-flexible options when it comes to raking in the extra dough is driving with Lyft or Uber and chauffeuring people around—whenever you feel like it. Pro tip #1: high-demand weekend nights and game days are the most profitable. Pro tip #2: keep your car stocked with water, gum, candy, and phone chargers, and you just might be looking at a nice little tip.

Influence the audience you already have (or create and grow one).

Add revenue to the media outlets you’re already using. From creating sponsored Instagram posts to harnessing your skills in paid YouTube videos, you can add an extra ounce of money making to the after-hours time you’re already spending.

Share your art.

From Society6 to Etsy, platforms for independently-sold art are a-plenty. Whether you’ve already found your calling and simply need a place to peddle your productions, or you haven’t yet picked up a brush (or camera or kiln or needle), these platforms bring your visions to (marketable) life.

In other words, opportunities for extra income are pretty much everywhere. All you have to do is open your eyes, flex those resourceful muscles and make a little extra room in your schedule.