28 Smart Ways to Make Extra Money

The internet is full of listings for stores and websites that buy records, tapes, and discs. Amazon, eBay, and Etsy are also good markets to investigate. Be sure to check LP and CD pricing sites (there are a number of them) before you list your items, though. You might be surprised how valuable some old recordings are.

You can’t (or at least shouldn’t be able to) get paid for donating blood. You can, however, reap a profit legitimately for donating plasma. Plasma is the clear portion of blood, containing various antibodies, proteins, and enzymes, used to make treatments for various diseases (including COVID-19). When you donate plasma, your blood is drawn, the plasma is separated out, and then the blood is returned to your veins. The process takes about an hour. There are numerous plasma donation centers in most cities, paying between $20 and $50 for each donation, and you can donate several times a month.

Numerous services, including Instacart, Shipt, and Postmates hire people to fulfill customers’ grocery shopping lists and deliver them. Some workers find the process more interesting than simply delivering cooked restaurant meals. Depending on the service and other factors, expect to make anywhere from $10 to $25 an hour, plus tips.

These are strictly seasonal pursuits in most of the country, but can be good temporary gigs if you’re not afraid of manual labor and have a good rake and a drop cloth or a snow shovel. (Leaf- and snow-blowers are other options, if they’re permitted in the neighborhood in question.) Leaf-rakers and snow-shovelers report making anything from $10 to $30 an hour, but you can negotiate higher rates for particular hard or extensive jobs. Grateful customers sometimes tip generously, too. Drum up business by going door-to-door as the leaves or the snowflakes fall, or post notices on neighborhood bulletin boards.

This is a kind of yard work that isn’t quite as seasonal as leaf-raking or snow-shoveling (though it’ll slow down in winter in snowy climes). Some investment is required: You’ll need a good power mower, a weed-eater, and maybe an edger, and a vehicle to transport your equipment, but you can make $20 to $50 per lawn, and if you can mow five or six in a day, that adds up nicely. As with other yard work, try getting business by going door-to-door or posting notices on neighborhood bulletin boards.