Tell me your best scheme

Ladyandthepuppies

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
I would like to make some extra money, just a few bucks here and there. I tried the paid survey sites but they weren’t worth my time. Ibotta used to be great but this past year it’s really gone downhill. I do use Rakuten but since I’m trying to cut down my spending it hasn’t been very helpful.

Some things that have been a success are: couponing, and buying/selling coupons on eBay, selling clothes to my local consignment shop (I tried Poshmark but it was too much work,) participating in paid focus groups, and researching class action lawsuits to see if I qualify for a claim.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or helpful tips? I don’t want to get another job although that’s obviously the best way to make more money. But I’m just wondering if there are any strategies out there I could try or a new app I should know about.
 
Do you have any gold or silver jewelry you no longer want that you can sell? Any collectibles? Are you crafty at all that you could open a shop on Etsy?

It won’t make you a lot of money but try Ibotta, swagbucks, shop kicks, etc. Have you thought about driving for Uber or Lyft or maybe doing instacart or shipt?
 
We buy items at garage sales that we know we can sell for more on eBay. I've been selling on eBay for about 17 years, on and off.

I did iBotta for a while and earned some Starbucks money for our last 2 Disney trips (I think about $25 or $30), but for me I don't buy enough name brand items or featured things to make the effort worth it anymore.

I also save money by bartering our talents/skills to trade for other services.
 


Yard sale or Consignment shops, a friend just sold her patio set that was 10 years old for 200.00 at a furniture consignment shop... she decided that she wanted a lounge set for on the patio...

Ebay, Etsy, - lots of things to sell, or make either of these sites are good for that...

Swagbucks, I really just started and I am planning on using my points and such for GC for Christmas to spend on line... I print coupon off of swagbuck, you get one SB for just printing, then some more when you use them...

Take your lunch to work, including snacks and drinks...

Couponing, not just for grocery, but for everything... We had dinner at Macaroni Grill, and I had gotten a 25% coupon off the total bill... which was nice, We always tip on what the bill was before the discount... I bought a new comforter set at Penny's and had gotten a 50% off the total so I got a 400.00 dollar set for 100.00 bucks, it was on sale at 50 % off, and I got the 50% off coupon on top of it, and"Retail me not" is my favorite spot, I look there at every store I am at... It's always worth a look...

Meal planning - This can save you a lot more than you realize... While this does take a bit of work... for us it is totally worth it...

1) take inventory of your pantry... and freezer - how much of everything, thing like sugar, flour, canned good, spices, cooking sprays... so you know what you already have on hand to work with...

2) Check out grocery flyer's - not just the grocery store but places like Target (cartwheels and when they offer gift cards I save mine for Christmas time), and Wal-mart..

3) Then match coupon, and store coupons, with sales or promotion in the flyers - to get the best deal for your money...

4) Start small, make a plan for a week, I always plan dinners 1st to see what I can use the next day for lunch or make a side-dish for dinner with the left overs... For instance -

Sunday - Beef roast, with roasted potatoes and veggies, rolls - you can use the left over meat for depending on how much you have to make shredded BBQ beef sandwiches using the rolls like slider buns for another night or for lunches - the veggies can be used for a cold salad, or made into a veggie pot pie -

Monday - Green salad and Spaghetti - you can use the green salad for lunch the next day, and make baked spaghetti for dinner another night adding some cheese, for sorta a cheaters lasagna...

Tuesday - Going with you have enough Beef roast left over, make BBQ Beef sliders, and pull the roasted potatoes out of the left overs, and make skillet smashed potatoes, and you can add some fresh corn on the cob, or frozen corn on the cob to round out the meal... If you have left over corn on the cob, slice the corn off the cob, and this can be used in the veggie pot pie, or thrown into soup, or a stew...

Wednesday - Salad, roasted chicken, yellow rice, and black bean....

Thursday - Baked potato night, with grilled shrimp, steak, or chicken and veggie pot pie - I always make extra baked potatoes to use later on for the weekend, or for lunch

Friday -Use leftover roasted chicken for fajitas or tacos - add the corn to the leftover yellow rice, use the left over black beans as a dip, you can add some jarred salsa to create or stretch the black beans to add to dip to use with chips. I sorta chop up the beans to make it easier to eat...

Saturday - Baked Spaghetti, layered with cheese for cheater lasagna, adding in a salad if you want to...

This is a quick run down so you can kind of get the idea of what I mean...
 
If you like animals. Pet sitting has become a very popular money maker in recent years. This includes, cats, dogs, fish, bunnies, etc.

A lot of times owners do not want to board their pets when they go on vacation. You could have them in your house or even better go stay at the pets house with them. See the rates people are charging in your area you'll be surprised. You can buy pet sitters insurance for around $120 a year, register for a small business (if needed) with your state, I think it's around $50, and your good to go.
 
If you like animals. Pet sitting has become a very popular money maker in recent years. This includes, cats, dogs, fish, bunnies, etc.

A lot of times owners do not want to board their pets when they go on vacation. You could have them in your house or even better go stay at the pets house with them. See the rates people are charging in your area you'll be surprised. You can buy pet sitters insurance for around $120 a year, register for a small business (if needed) with your state, I think it's around $50, and your good to go.


I saw this and it reminded me of a friend who's DH started doing this, when he got laid off from his job... He just started doing it for people in his neighbor, more along the lines of dog walking, walking them, letting them out into the back yard, and in again when they were done doing there business.. so word spread around the neighborhood, and then other neighborhoods..he started doing whatever to earn some cash while he was laid off, taking care of the dogs, cats, hamster, even snakes.... water plants... some simple repairs, hanging ceiling fans, drippy faucets...... So he started a business, and they have done really well, so well that my friend quit her job to help out, now the kids and grandkids work for the family business... sorta of a extra set hands company or almost like extended family... they do all kinds of stuff now, giving rides to elderly folks to and from Doctors appt , grocery stores , hair appointment and even to church, house sitting, plant watering, dog walking and pet sitting, if you need it done they will try to help you out... I know that there are plenty of delivery service and ride shares out there, with their business its personalize to what they want, and they know who is coming to the door or picking them up every-time.... they have that personal connection with their clients...
 


I really do pretty well with Ibotta, esp now they have the pay with ibotta feature. I get discounted gc off Raise.com.
 
Spend less money. It's far more effective than any computer app, etc.

Food related savings are easy:
- Freeze a bunch of breakfast burritos (or similar) to avoid picking up breakfast on the way to work.
- Make your own coffee at home.
- Take your lunch (and snacks) to work.
- Cook dinner at home.
- Cut down on all beverages except water; they add little nutrition and many are quite expensive.
- Focus on no-waste. If you've paid for it, be sure your family eats it.

For a couple weeks, write down everything you spend. Search for places you're being wasteful. Are you picking up magazines at the grocery store check out? Paying a fee to use an ATM machine? Buying excessive clothes? Whatever your weak point -- find it, then you can plug up those budget holes.

Instead of having a yard sale, which nets you pennies on the dollars you spent, focus on not buying things you'll want to ditch in just a year or two.

Do you have any upcoming home maintenance projects? Take them on yourself. YouTube is your friend.

How much are you spending on TV? I was amazed at how much we were able to slash our bill by ditching cable and going with Sling TV. Go with a basic package. Think twice about "small costs" like Netflicks -- all those little things add up.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts


Top