How to Make and Save $2,020 Extra in 2020!

For the first time in 30 years, Australia is officially in a recession.

Because bushfires, massive storms, flooding and a pandemic weren’t enough.

Don’t despair though! While you might not have been able to achieve all your goals, there are still 4 months left this year.

I want you to join me on a little challenge to boost your savings or pay down debt, whichever you prefer.

Make and save an extra $2,020 (or more) in the remaining part of this year.

How is this different to when I aimed to make an extra $20,000 a year (and smashed that goal) or the year I made an extra $33,277.57+ on the side?

The entire world is different and what we can do is not the same as what we could do to make money a year ago. But there are still lots of ways to do it.

For more ideas, check out 99 Side Hustles for Aussies.

How Will I Make and Save an Extra $2,020?

I’ve written 43 ways to make money as a single mum and numerous articles on ways to make money.

Finding ways to make money has been relatively easy for me (I’ll list more below).

What has been harder has been the expenses such as a long, expensive child custody battle or being locked down and then repatriated from the Solomon Islands and having to set up a home again.

In the past few months, we were repatriated which cost thousands, stayed in an Airbnb until we found a home, had to furnish it and yesterday I finally bought a car as well.

Since I hate adding to my debt (the debt is from custody), I have been doing this with cash.

Now that I am pretty much set up for that and only have to plan for a baby, as I am 20 weeks pregnant, my focus is to rebuild my savings.

Here is what I am doing to make more.

Reselling Items

We live in a wealthy area so the second-hand shops are good, we’ve picked up a few items and my daughters have found some freebies.

These are being freshened up and sold. I’ve shared about how I made over $10,000 in a month buying things to resell including everything from what I sell to how to sell it and post it.

Online Surveys

I’ve done these for years and many readers here do too. Between $2,000 and $5,000 a year is the average we earn.

My best ones have been PrizeRebel, Swagbucks and Octopus Group. Read this post for full details on the best and which to avoid.

Use Cash Back Sites

I know it isn’t technically making money but it is cash in your pocket. If you aren’t already signed up, check out Cash Rewards, Shopback and Honey. Be sure to download the apps and add all 3 to your Chrome bar.

Freelance Writing

I scaled this back and haven’t done any for a while as we moved and settled in here.

However, it is something I would like to pick up and can do easily again. Check out how to be a freelance writer here.

Image of white desk with pink notebook, stationery and MacBook. Text reads 2020 Money Challenge. How to make and save money despite everything happening in 2020.

What Can You Do To Make $2,020?

Aside from what I’m doing there are so many other things you can do. Read through the options below and decide what will work for you.

Online Gigs

Sites such as Airtasker, Fiverr and similar have easy online gigs (as well as in person ones for Airtasker).

With Airtasker, you pitch your offer to different ads. So someone will say they need certain work done and this is their budget.

You then make an offer based on that.

I made $565 in a week with Airtasker plus locked in an extra $325 quickly.

I’ve done a variety of gigs from cleaning to flyers to fixing a TripAdvisor listing.

All the tasks are relatively quick and payment is processed fast.

I check the app regularly, apply for ones that suit and often had been off doing a gig within a few hours when I probably would have only been watching Netflix or something instead.

Check out my guide to make money with Airtasker here.

Fiverr is different. It was initially set up for people to offer services for $5 but has evolved and now you can make much more.

Bank Account Bonuses

Banks often offer a sign-up bonus and many don’t take long to set up. You don’t want to apply for a heap of credit cards as it will impact your credit score.

Places such as Up Banking (I’m with them) offer $10 instantly and it only takes a few minutes to sign up.

ubank is another online one I have been trialling and they offer $10 when you sign up. Use the code S7VL6WF. It takes less than 2 minutes.

Rent Your Stuff or Space

If you are in an area still accepting tourism, you could rent a room out on Airbnb, sign up to Booking.com or Agoda etc and rent it out on there too.

Rent out your garage (I have done this a few times to people wanting to store cars, fabric etc.)

There are also places you can rent out your baby gear and other items.

Or rent your car on Uber Car Share. Be aware, while you can make money, the insurance is an issue with making a claim and many have said the car gets a lot of little dents and scratches because people don’t care.

Reviews

Write reviews for sites such as Tell Me Baby and earn gift certificates for places such as Coles. We share more about Tell Me Baby here.

Online Work

Transcribing, virtual assistant, editing, bookkeeping (if you have qualifications) etc. All of these I have seen ample work for, especially transcribing lately.

LinkedIn, Seek and similar are great sites to find these jobs.

Get a Second Job

Some occupations have needed more staff while others laid people off or became obsolete recently. Hospitality in some areas are crying out for workers.

Cleaners, disability, aged care, warehousing, delivery drivers, all of these have been advertised heavily.

Other Money Making Ideas

I have so many articles on things I have done to make money as well as how much I’ve made. Here are a few:
43 ways for Single Mums to Make Money
How I Made $33,277 on the Side in 12 Months
19 Ways I’ve Made Money Remotely or From Home

You can read about our little experiment here. So far, shares are winning by far!

Image of woman working at desk with books and coffee.Text reads 2020 Money Challenge, how to make and save money despite everything happening in 2020.

Saving More Money in 2020

Saving money in some ways has been easier this year as we are travelling less, fuel costs are reduced as a result but it is easy to shop up a storm online and food bills for most have gone through the roof.

Reduce Groceries

If you’re stuck at home, now is a great time to learn ways to use up everything, turn leftovers into something new and try new things to stretch the grocery budget.

Check out how to get free and super cheap food, how to reduce food wastage plus:
20 Meal Ideas for Leftover Sausages
29 Meal Ideas for Leftover Roast Chicken
25 Meal Ideas for Leftover Ham
28 Meal Ideas for Mince

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