By The press is full of doom and gloom when it comes to the Australian economy, as you’ve probably noticed. BT Investment Management’s Vimal Gor even recently described the nation as being akin to the ‘little weedy kid no one wants on their team’. Ouch.
You’re probably feeling it in your pocket too. With wages failing to keep up with rising costs, the average Australian’s living standards are falling – down 1.5 per cent since December 2015 alone.
Editor’s Note: One of the many reasons I left.
With all that going on you could be forgiven for thinking that a holiday is off the agenda. Yet if the economic blues are getting you down you can do something about it. Take control by searching out ways to make a few dollars. By boosting your income you’ll have extra money at your disposal that you can divert to a holiday fund.
Here are ten tips to inspire you…
Collections
Got a hobby? It’s time to get serious about it. Collections of art, rare toys or first edition books can be highly desirable. Use your passion and knowledge to your advantage to hunt down items that you can make money some serious money from. You’ll have fun searching for the best items too.
Editor’s Note: I’ve long considered digging up my collection of 3,000 or so Magic: The Gathering cards from my youth and selling them. Some cards are worth more than $100.
Markets
Daunted by the stock market? Don’t be. Tap into the knowledge offered up by the experts at IG to learn how CFD and FX trading could work for you. Modern technology – in particular smartphone apps – help you to make a quick and well-informed trading choices at a time that is convenient for you.
Sell stuff
That garage of your unused stuff? It’s time it went. Be ruthless. If you haven’t used that home gym kit in the last six months then get rid, and bank the money to put towards something you do need. The same applies to anything from clothes to furniture and electronics.
Rent out a room
You don’t have to make much of an effort to make a little bit of money. Why not rent out your spare room to a tourist for a few nights? It’s money for (almost) nothing and capitalizes on the opportunity provided by the great number of overseas tourists who come to the country every year.
Editor’s Note: I’ll be subletting my Chinese apartment on AirBnB while I’m away from September to January. Seems silly to be paying $500 USD a month for a place that will house my excess clothes and cutlery.
Write
Companies need to rank as high as possible on Google and Google needs to see some decent content to let them do that. It’s the way of the world. That means every business needs someone to write website copy, blogs and guest articles on their behalf. If you’ve got a way with words you can earn money this way.
Editor’s Note: What a novel idea!
Photos
Speaking of which, that content needs to be accompanied by pictures. If you’re handy with a camera you can sell your pictures to stock image sites, which are on the lookout for a bank of images to service websites right across the globe.
Surveys
Companies don’t just need content, they also need opinions. Surveys and marketing go hand in hand and many companies will pay you to take part in their pools. You won’t get much, but if it fills an idle five minutes with a simple task that earns you cash then why not?
Tutoring
It can be hard to learn a new hobby or skill. Any talents that you have – languages, playing musical instruments, first aid, sports – will be in demand. Pass on your expertise to others to earn yourself a little extra.
Editor’s Note: This is an especially popular option in Asia. I’ve just been asked by a local kid to help him improve his writing. At nearly $40 an hour, it’s lucrative work.
Extra work online
There are many new ways of working that allow you to pocket a little extra on the side. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk is a way for you to fulfill tasks on behalf of companies that have a need. Search around online and opt for the opportunities that best suit your talents.
Services
It might seem old fashioned, but you could roll your sleeves up and spend your weekends or evenings offering a service. Gardening, cleaning, ironing, dog walking, babysitting, driving, dressmaking – whatever it is, you can make money by doing this for others. You’ll feel extra-motivated to carry out this work when you see the impact is has on filling up your holiday fund.
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If you’re prepared to work hard then your salary needn’t be the limit of your earnings. Use your talents and skills to good effect to rack up some extra dollars. Every spare second that you can give over to money making activities will make a massive difference and help to get you on that plan. The economy might be struggling, but you don’t have to.