40+ Alternative Income Ideas and Resources

By Pinyo, on March 4, 2008

When I wrote Building, Diversifying, and Shifting Your Income Streams, there was an important element that I left out. That element was some practical real life ideas about how you can start building alternative income streams today. It is worth noting that not all of these are passive income ideas, so you will actually have to actively work for these income streams to grow.

In compiling this list, I did my best to avoid any sort of scams, and stay with practical ideas that work. I have not used all of these ideas, but I have used, or am using, many in this list.

alternative-income
Photo by ErRbBbiiIE via Flickr

Also, it’s important to note that some ideas may be worthwhile for you, some may not, depending on your financial situation.

Alternative Income Ideas:

In addition to basic ideas such as starting a business, getting a second job, and learning how to invest here are money making ideas you can try:

Build a CD Ladder using high yield certificates of deposit.
Switch to higher interest savings account.
Peer to peer lending on various social lending networks.
Sell used books and textbooks
Use cash back reward credit cards strategically
Freelancing — e.g., GoFreelance.com, Elance, Guru, RentACoder, Amazon Mechanical Turk, etc.
Get cash rebates when shopping online using Ebates, and refer your friends for $5 each.
Earn money with online surveys.
Manage virtual portfolios and earn real money with UpDown.com and Wall Street Survivor.
Make money blogging. You can learn more about blogging and start one. Here are some more good articles to start you off:
- How to Start a Blog for Fun or Profit – Introduction to a Series at Cash Money Life
- 28 Ways to Make Money with Your Website at Daily Blog Tips
Write for money — e.g., Squidoo, Associated Content, Triond, etc.
Becomes a landlord, or a real estate investor — e.g., rent out parking spaces, rooms, investment properties, etc.
Offer basic services — e.g., babysitting, housekeeping, gardening, painting, etc.
Offer skilled services — e.g., tutoring, resume writing, business consulting, blog development, logo design, etc.
Turn your hobbies into income streams — e.g., photography, videography, quilting, etc.
Perform your searches with Swagbucks.com and earn prizes.
Sell handmade products on Etsy
Write and sell eBooks
Ghostwriting
Enter contests and giveaways (use Google Alerts) and sell the prizes
Search for freebies and sign-up bonuses.
Turn your everyday spending into college savings with Upromise
Play the credit card arbitrage game (note: this is too risky for my tastes)
Becomes an Amazon Associate, and ask your friends to use your affiliate link to buy things
Sell unused items on eBay or Craigslist; or buy bulk items and resell them individually
Sell your collectibles
Start a bulk candy vending machine business
Mystery shopping
Find missing money — MissingMoney, Where’s My Refund, TreasuryHunt, PBGC database, and GovBenefits.gov
Create and sell CafePress T-shirts, and check out this creative idea from I Wear Your Shirt.
Set up niche online store — i.e., Amazon.com aStore or eBay Niche Store.
Participate in paid focus group studies.
Sell your body parts and fluids.
Collect cans and bottles for recycling.
Dog walking.

Alternative Income Resources:

52 Ways to Make Extra Money at Prime Time Money
My Sources Of Alternative Income And How I Make Them Work For Me at My Two Dollars
Multiple Income Streams: 10 Ways to Earn Extra Income at The Dough Roller
Everyman’s Guide to $30 / Month in Passive Income at Four Pillars
How to Make Your Income More Passive at Frugal Dad
5 Ways To Make Some Extra Money at Bible Money Matters
Spend less than you earn – the wrong way to think at Brip Blap
A Guide to Making Passive Income at Freelance Switch
20+ Free Passive Income Resources at Life Optimizer
Passive Income: How to Earn More and Work Less at About.com
8 Ways To Earn Passive Income Online at iSiteBuild.com
Five Ways to Create Passive Income With Little or No Money at Genius Types
Automate Your Income to Simplify Your Life at Zen Habits
Passive Income is the Key to Freedom and Retirement at All Financial Matters
11 Great Ways to Earn More Money at Free Money Finance
Defining Alternative Income at Lazy Man and Money
Ten Ways to Translate Your Passion Into Additional Income at The Simple Dollar
50+ Resources to Legitimately Raise Your Income at My Super-Charged Life
40 Ways to Make Money on the Internet at Dumb Little Man
102 Ways To Generate Extra Cash at Savings Advice

If you like this article, be sure to check out my Extra Income Guide.

The Carnival of Personal Finance #143 – Oh Canada Edition hosted by Quest For Four Pillars.

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Pinyo is the brain behind Moolanomy personal finance blog and a few other web sites. If you like this article, please subscribe for free daily email updates.

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54 Comments

Jay
March 4, 2008, 9:37

I’m curious about what makes Credit Card arbitrage “too risky” in your mind.

If the money received from the 0% balance transfer is placed directly into an FDIC-insured CD or bank Money Market account, there is effectively zero risk.

Sure, there is a temporary hit to your credit score, making this strategy inappropriate to anyone planing on buying a house any time soon. But the strategy only pays off for those with excellent credit to begin with, so the impact will be minimal.
Pinyo
March 4, 2008, 9:46

@Jay – It’s all mental for me. I hate owing CC companies large amount money due to fear of having to pay interest and late fee. I am even itching to pay off my Home Depot 12-month no interest/no payment offer. That’s just how I am. But I know a few PF bloggers who are doing well with this strategy.
Phil
March 4, 2008, 11:31

I’ve tried the online survey route. WAY too much effort for the return. I can’t tell you how many lengthy surveys I’ve gotten halfway through before being told that I’m not a candidate. They still got tons of info, I got zip. Pretty scammy, if you ask me.

One great source of income I have found is doing in-person consumer opinion studies. Once or twice a month, I get paid anywhere from $75 to $200 in cash for an hour or two of providing my opinions on a wide variety of topics/products. Look up these firms in the yellow pages in your town and get your data entered into their database. They’ll call if you match who they are looking for.
Shanti @ Antishay Ventenne
March 4, 2008, 11:38

What an AWESOME list! I have been selling stuff on eBay, half..com and Amazon like mad in the last week and it’s been pretty great. I agree that there is some challenge to this, but I have been doing it off and on for years. Only recently have I started to get serious about selling.

Thank you for the ideas, though! I have been trying to think of other ways to earn money and a few of the things here (particularly rent-a-coder and tutoring) I have thought about before but not acted on. I appreciate the suggestions!

At this point, I don’t really need the extra income to pay off my debt (will be out in April/May!! http://www.antishay.com/?p=65) but as I look to my future and my goal of being able to retire at 35, I have a LOT more I need to do to build up my income over the next 13 years
MInTheGap
March 4, 2008, 13:32

I don’t believe that Amazon allows you to tell your family and friends to buy things through their associates account. I know that their TOS actually tell you that you can’t buy things for yourself through it nor can you have others buy things for you through it.

Now, how they go about enforcing it is a different story, but you may want to read the fine print when it comes to affiliate programs.
Pinyo
March 4, 2008, 13:47

@Phil – I agree, survey is not for everyone. I am too busy for it, but I have friends who said survey works well for them. I linked to her site.

I will have to take a look at in-person consumer opinion. I haven’t done one, but is seems to be worth it at $75-$200 a shot.

@Shanti – Thank you. I used to be a seller on eBay too. I buy wholesales, then retail sell them. But the margin is not as good as I’d like it to be due to all the fees, and I didn’t get a very good price to begin with.

If you are interested in tutoring, paidtwice is doing it online and getting decent income from it. You should check out her blog and ask her.

@MInTheGap – I didn’t say family because you and people in the same household cannot buy from your affiliate links. Last time I checked, nothing is wrong with asking your friends to visit your web site and use your affiliate links.
Money Millionaire
March 4, 2008, 14:11

I think MInTheGap is right, Amazon does ask you to not have your friends use your affiliate links. I don’t know how they can police it, but I believe in the terms of service.

I notice that most of these involve A) getting a second job or B) investing income that you already have. There are quite a few examples of each, but they are fundamentally the same.
Pinyo
March 4, 2008, 14:29

@Money Millionaire and MInTheGap:

From Amazon’s page:

http://affiliate-program.amazo....._join_menu

“You may not purchase products during sessions initiated through the links on your site for your own use, for resale or commercial use of any kind. This includes orders for customers or on behalf of customers or orders for products to be used by you or your friends, relatives, or associates in any manner. Such purchases may result (in our sole discretion) in the withholding of referral fees and/or the termination of this Agreement.”

You can’t make the purchase on their behalf, but it doesn’t say anything about asking your friends to make their own purchases through your web site.
Buck
March 4, 2008, 22:11

A friend of mine got some vending machines too and I thought it was a really horrible idea. He goes around to them every weekend and collects change and restocks. It sounds like a huge amount of work. I’m all about passive income.
Brip Blap
March 5, 2008, 17:47

Great list – I was intrigued by Updown (#11) when you wrote about it before and again this time. Thanks for the mention, too!
Denise
March 6, 2008, 10:29

Thanks for the great list!
I will be returning to do more research
Christy
March 6, 2008, 16:40

This is such a wonderful resource. Thank you for sharing. If you don’t mind, I’m going to link to this on my blog for all my stay-home mom readers!
Pinyo
March 6, 2008, 17:50

@Buck — That’s probably one of my dumbest investment, but some people made it work. Not to mention it’s a big business.

@Brip Blap — It’s tiny amount of money, but it’s fun. Also, the whole point about income streams is having a lot of them. Small things do add up.

@Denise — Thanks!

@Christy — I am flattered. Yes, please do share this with your readers.
Evan
March 10, 2008, 18:48

I had been looking for alternative income for a while! So, I just started an internet business IT WAS SIMPLE and HELPS PEOPLE! Can’t think of a better way to have an alternative stream of income.

If anyone is interested the site is http://www.RealCash4GiftCards.com – check it out!
7million7years
March 11, 2008, 10:58

Thanks, Pinyo; increasing income is the only way to accelerate your investments (such as by putting at least 50% of the extra income these generate towards your investmnet strategies) … and accelerating your investments is the only way to get financially free or, dare I say … rich!
Four Pillars
March 11, 2008, 19:25

Thanks for the link.

Mike
Jeff@MySuperChargedLife
March 19, 2008, 17:16

Pinyo,

Thanks for adding my article to your list of resources! This contains a lot of excellent ideas.

Jeff
Know The Ledge
March 19, 2008, 18:18

There are a lot of interesting ideas here. I too wondered about the bulk candy machine opportunities. It does seem like a lot of work for peanuts, but I guess it’s all about your perspective. I’m going to look into a few of the items on the list, see if I can expand my own income streams. Can’t ever have too many!
MInTheGap
March 21, 2008, 7:55

Pinyo, it’s this part of what you quoted that concerns me:

“This includes orders for customers or on behalf of customers or orders for products to be used by you or your friends, relatives, or associates in any manner.”

Orders for products to be used by your friends, relatives or associates in any manner seems to me to equal having your friends buy things through your site even if it is for themselves.

Now, I grant to you that I think that this is insane, and highly unenforceable. Also, I would think that Amazon would gladly accept the business and let the people that are advertising share in some deals, but obviously that’s not what the TOS state.
Pinyo
March 21, 2008, 8:29

@Know The Ledge – ROFL. I know you probably didn’t mean it, but “work for peanuts” is a great pun for vending machine business.

@MInTheGap – Yeah, I don’t know why they would be against asking friends. I can understand why they wouldn’t want family. I guess it’s up to the person if they want to point their friends to the web site or not.
Dan
March 24, 2008, 10:43

Thanks for all the ideas, tips & tricks!

I personally like & use #6: create & sell ebooks.
I sell them from my own sites & on Forums.
Leslie Raymond
April 6, 2008, 23:18

What a great list! I’m trying to pull in some extra income myself, and I’ve looked into a few of the items on your list. This is a great jumping off point for me, the idea of making stuff and selling it on etsy is appealing, but something tells me it would involve more time than just a second job.

Thanks for the resources!
Passive Income from Domains
May 10, 2008, 3:39

I think the best way to generate passive income is to build up website and earn from the online adspace.

This way you can create 1000s of $$$$ of passive income.
Online Dividends
June 14, 2008, 18:00

That’s a great list Pinyo! Keep up the great ideas flowing!
Mark Hanke
June 17, 2008, 21:47

Consider starting a private ATM Business.

Check out the “ATM Business Owner Guidebook” at franklinatm.com to learn the basics of the ATM business.
Scott
July 7, 2008, 12:40

Wonderful list you put together here. I had not heard of updown.com before. I’ll have to check them out. Wonderful blog! I stumbled it. Thanks!
Pinyo
July 10, 2008, 10:30

@Passive Income — I wouldn’t consider building web site passive, but it’s definitely a legitimate source of alternative income.
Andrea Coutu
July 17, 2008, 12:43

Oh, what a surprise! I just found my link here under second jobs. Thanks so much for the mention.

Andrea Coutu
michael pair
August 1, 2008, 23:56

Here’s an income stream most people have but don’t benefit from, online shopping. I earn over $50 per month as a member. When I shop or those I referred shop, I earn a small cash back amount. So if you shop online at Wal-Mart, Best Buy or Target (did I mention eBay) you can earn cash back as well.

Why don’t you have this income stream working for you?
Lauren
August 29, 2008, 13:48

Hi Pinyo,

Have you personally used Prosper or LendingClub? I’ve heard of these websites and I think they’re interesting, but how much protection does the lender have? What happens if the lendee doesn’t pay you back? Are you covered in some way?
Pinyo
August 29, 2008, 15:10

@Lauren — Yes, I use them both. The amount is not insured in anyway. You judge the investment by borrrowers’ credit rating. Ones with higher credit ratings usually pay back. The one that doesn’t go to collection agency, and you may or may not get your money back.
Lauren @ LifeStyler
August 30, 2008, 12:54

That seems very high risk. Have you had good experiences with them?
Pinyo
August 31, 2008, 8:50

@Lauren — This is no different that want the banks and mortgage companies are doing. If you stick with the highest credit rating, you should be able to get returns that are better than savings and CD. But if you go with high risk borrowers, you could ended up like Bear Stearns and Countrywide.
Zeke
September 3, 2008, 20:51

Would two sources of interest be considered two streams of income? Or one?
Pinyo
September 4, 2008, 9:47

@Zeke — I don’t think that’s important. The key thing is that you are earning income passively from these sources of interest. Good job!
Matt
September 17, 2008, 9:38

This page is going straight into my bookmarks! Great post with lots of resources.

Thanks!
Pinyo
September 18, 2008, 10:02

@Matt – Thank you. I appreciate the compliment.
LuLu Malou
September 18, 2008, 11:53

Selling on Amazon.com used to be a good idea but now they take most of your profits. I’m looking for a better alternative to Amazon. Any ideas?
Lauren@LifeStyler
September 18, 2008, 12:08

@ LuLu Malou

I’m not sure what percentage Amazon takes, but Etsy is a good alternative – I believe they take a 3.5% selling fee and it costs .20 to list an item. It’s not a bad deal – especially if you have ten or twenty items that you can throw together into a “store”. Here’s a link to “How to Sell”

http://www.etsy.com/how_selling_works.php
Pinyo
September 18, 2008, 12:38

@LuLu — Thank you for your comment. I don’t know the answer because I’ve only used Amazon, but it’s definitely a good topic to write about. I did a Google search for “sell used books” and there are a lot of potential web sites where you can sell your books.

So far, I tried pricing some books on cash4books.net and bluerectangle.com. The latter pays better. I’d encourage you to look through these sites (from search). I’ll try to put together a list of these and compare them. There are a lot of books I need to sell too.

@Lauren — Thank you for the idea to sell on Etsy. I’ve always associated it with craft products, not used books.
joe
September 20, 2008, 3:50

On point #10 – Becomes a landlord, or a real estate investor — e.g., rent out a parking space, a room, etc.

You don’t even need to be a landlord – if you have a spare room or even a couch, you can charge travelers to stay the night on sites like raystay.com
Nigel
October 16, 2008, 11:38

Some great resources, I find that Amazon, eBay and Clickbank deliver more controllable results and the widgets that are now available from Amazon and eBay are awesome. I have created a number of associate sites combining widgets from Amzaon, eBay and Affiliate links from Clickbank, to great effect. The key to it all though is thorough niche research and deep, long tail keyword research…always!
Make Friends, Earn Money
October 31, 2008, 16:08

I think the key is to focus on what skills that you have that can be turned into an extra income source. No matter what your background or experience there is always something that is transferable into other sectors of society whether it is writing e-books or how to articles and getting paid for it, or selling cosmetics through organisations like AVON in your spare time
Greg
November 13, 2008, 14:25

I have multiple online businesses that i am in the process of building up i currently own around 7 online business i am willing to tutor anyone here who needs help getting an online business setup just a few of my sites that i can list below.

fastcreditresponse.com (Just started this one so far so good)
ecooya.com (my personal video site which is growing fast, hope to build my ad space revenue)
ourvegastrip.com
persuitoflove.com
idealuse.com (search engine)

jus a few if you would like to know anything about getting started with any of the businesses above or just online marketing period please contact me at novadolla@yahoo.com

i am making great revenue from all my sites combined and most months i can supplement my online earnings for my monthly spendings while tossing my full time job’s check in savings.
Allison
February 9, 2009, 22:35

Also, http://surveymoneyathome.blogspot.com/ has lots of FREE great ideas to make extra money online!
lvh
February 17, 2009, 14:10

Better Ideas:

1. Join a Temp Agency (OfficeTeam, KellyServices, Olsten, etc – check your local yellow pages)
2. Contact your local school district to sign up to do substitute teaching
3. Set up an account on Keen.com, get a second phone line installed and do tarot card readings over the phone from your home
4. Contact your local small business development center for information about starting a business (will require investment, or borrowing, depending on the overhead for the particular business you want to start)
5. Check the list of the fastest growing franchises to find a business that’s right for you: http://www.entrepreneur.com/ma.....99722.html
6. If you have a lot of debt, sign up for Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Once in the clear, you can train to become an FPU couselor and teach others.
7. Publish an ebook or become an affiliate and promote others’ ebooks through Clickbank.com (takes some know how, but it’s not rocket science, it CAN be learned!). Check out http://www.3hourreport.com
8. Write and sell iPhone apps. This is a very hot market, and you can teach yourself how to develop iPhone apps using books/online tutorials/discussion boards etc.
9. Create and sell OSCommerce stores online. You can download the software and learn to develop OSCommerce for free. Once you get the hang of it, you can create OSCommerce ecommerce stores and sell them on eBay or SitePoint (you’ll get better prices for them on SitePoint).
10. Vegetable gardening is hot hot hot this year. Seed catalogs anticipated the rush, and stocked up on seeds. You can cash in too. Buy a rototiller and offer your services tilling up back yards for first-time gardeners who don’t own the equipment to do it themselves (and they will quickly learn it is backbreaking to do with just a shovel!).
Nathen
March 14, 2009, 20:06

All great ideas! Check this cool article out on this web site. They were really detailed on the tips. http://www.freemoneylessons.co.....hought-of/
Nathen
March 23, 2009, 23:16

I think passive income is the key to freedom. I am looking at all the possibilities available to me fr passive income. One example of that is this article I read from http://www.freemoneylessons.co.....hought-of/
Ron the Lego Guy
April 20, 2009, 13:38

There are plenty of public relations jobs out there that pay excellent wages, but that most people are too shy to accept.

For example, Linda Christas College has openings for Field Advisors to enroll students. The stipends of each student are impressive.

The openings are world-wide.

But, I think what everyone wants is a job that pays great money where they can hide and be taken care of.

Those kinds of jobs are gone.

I know that in order to qualify for the Linda Christas jobs all a person needs is SOME college. That’s it.

Some college and some courage.

The contact on that is Heather Cirillo at hcirillo [at] lindachristas.org if anyone is interested.
PT Money
May 10, 2009, 16:07

Excellent list, Pinyo!
Blogging Banks
May 20, 2009, 10:59

I would add opening checking accounts to the list, right next to sign-up bonuses. I have been doing that and have generated several thousand dollars in 2008 just from checking/savings bonuses.

This is great list Pinyo. Which one of the alternative income sources are you currently working on besides blogging? Which are the most succesful for you?
teeyai555
August 16, 2009, 7:17

Thanks for great lists of Ideas to make money. I’m interested in make money blogging.
Financial Samurai
November 15, 2009, 14:32

The best passive income stream is simply the risk-free income from your big nut. Work hard now, save like mad, save your million bucks for $40,000/yr in income and go higher if you want more.

This is such a great resource!
Sarvan
November 29, 2009, 22:40

Hi Guys,

I am Sarvan from India. I’m looking for ways to earn extra income. I’m ready to take up any kind of supply chain, distributor / dealership, online data entry jobs. I’m ready to do a small investment also.

Any ideas / suggestions / help, please?

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