When you are still in college, and having trouble landing a new job, finding the money to pay your bills presents a challenge. Tuition and books are expensive, and there is no way to avoid having to pay for the things you need to complete your education. But, there are some things that you can do to make a little bit of extra money in your free time, even if you aren't having an easy time finding a new job.
Here are some ways that you can earn some money to take care of your expenses. Not all of these ideas are going to be right for you, but they may help you to come up with some ways to put a little extra cash in your pocket until you find a job:
- Teach swimming lessons – If you have a lifeguard certificate or have the required training, many health clubs and even your local YMCA may be hiring swimming instructors. Typically this kind of job only lasts for the duration of a 6 week or so class, and takes only an hour or two for each class.
- Car Parking – There are many companies that offer car valet services for hire. These are typically used for fancy parties and events. If you have a good driving record, this may be a flexible, part-time job.
- Re-write ads – If you scan the items for sale section of Craigslist in your area and find that there are many ads that are poorly written, you might want to consider talking to the seller and offering to re-write their ads so that they can sell their product faster and for a higher price. In exchange for your service, they can pay you a percentage of the selling price.
- Pizza Delivery – If you have a car, this might be a great idea for earning some extra cash. Pizza delivery tends to offer flexible hours and because you work for tips as well as a small hourly rate, you will get some cash in your pocket each time you work.
- Take digital photos – If you are a photography student, or just take good pictures, consider taking nice shots of everyday things. You can then sell the pictures on various stock photo sites.
- Start an online store – If you are crafty or have a large collection of things you want to sell, you might want to think about starting an Etsy or Ebay store. They may not make you a huge amount of money, but if you have a great idea and a good product, you might make more than you anticipated.
- Sell bottled water – At events and parks, or wherever there are a lot of people gathered, set up a table to sell bottles of water for $1 apiece. If you purchase the water in bulk, you could stand to make a nice profit. This is sort of like opening a lemonade stand.
- Clean houses – This job is a a lot of work, but most house cleaning services offer flexible hours and decent pay.
- Drive people to the airport – If you have a good car and are fairly punctual, then you might want to think about offering an airport shuttle ride for cheaper than cab fare.
- Get a paper route – Newspaper delivery isn't just for young kids with bikes anymore. It is actually fairly involved and will take up your early morning hours.
- Walk dogs – This job is great if you live in an area where there are many people who work all day and have dogs. You can schedule all of your dog walking jobs around your schedule and get it done when it works best for you.
- Tutor – Offer to help struggling students improve their grades while improving your finances.
There are many ways for a college student to make a little bit of extra money. The key is to think outside of the box to come up with needs in your area and ways to meet them. With a little bit of luck and a whole lot of work, you might come up with the next great money making idea.
What are some of the ways you have found to earn extra money? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Are you looking for a new job? Be sure to visit CollegeJobBank.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for CollegeJobBankBlog, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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