How to Make and Save an Extra $500 per Week

On 3rd October 2022, I set a goal to make an extra $500 per week until the end of the year. That gave me 14 weeks to save $7,000.

This money was exclusively for the purpose of a trip to see our family, in Vanuatu whom we have not seen in years and who haven’t met my younger children.

Flights, travel insurance, some paperwork and fees for our properties over there and a bit of fun money are what the money is for. We stay with our family in Port Vila, Vanuatu and they have a transport company so transport and accommodation etc are covered.

Unfortunately, as passports took so long, flights for the only time we could go were booked out.

As such, our trip will be later but I still did the challenge and have put the money aside.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links for products and services I use.

How to Save an Extra $500 a Week

Extra cash is needed by everyone I know right now.

The cost of living is skyrocketing so saving an extra $500 might seem impossible.

I set up a separate high-interest savings bank account with Up as I have been with them for a few years so all the extra savings sit there.

Get $8 instantly when you join Up.

Get a $100 Bonus from ING

ING offers $100 for new customers if you do the following:

Open an everyday account and put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $100 bonus) and complete all the steps below in the first month.
Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
Make 5 settled transactions
Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
Make a deposit into the Savings Maximiser

Then you get your $100 the following month when the promotion is running. Promotion periods vary. The current promotion runs until October 31, 2023.

Here are a few things I have done since I started and more that I will continue to do.

They aren’t all things you can do to make $500 every week but some weeks you can definitely make $500 from the different ideas.

1. Online Surveys

You won’t make $500 per week every week but you can make money, save it and cash it out so you get $500+ at once.

One of my favourites is Octopus Group as it is the highest paying ($16+ per hour).

The survey times are accurate and you get paid 10c if you get screened out.

Octopus Group pays you to read their 1 minute newsletter as well.

They don’t send it to you, it’s listed as a survey in the app or on the site. You also get paid for referrals.

Here is a screenshot of my account.

I cashed out $500 on October 8th, 2022 and will be paid on October 10th, 2022 into my account.

This amount is a combination of surveys and referrals.

Read Is Octopus Group Legit for specifics on my experience with them over the years. It’s been both good and bad but they do always pay.

Since October, I have cashed out more plus have about $775 sitting there to cash out as I type this.

Overall, I anticipate $2,000+ in the 14 weeks from Octopus Group.

I have also cashed out from PrizeRebel, Swagbucks and Pureprofile.

2. Discounts

Getting discounts can make a huge difference. Leading up to Christmas, there is a lot of online shopping I am doing so I am using all the cashback apps and resources I have to save money and get discounts. Black Friday and ClickFrenzy are two great times to do this as well.

I saved a few thousand with Black Friday sales as we needed new tech, sports gear, clothing and I did all our Christmas shopping.

Read how to get a discount on everything and my 9 tips to get discounts for more ideas.

My Favourite Cashback Apps

Since there are numerous cashback apps available to Aussies, I have tested them all.

In my view, it is best to have them all so you can see the different offers and select the best one for you.

CashRewards

CashRewards is my favourite and has numerous offers and cashback options.

You join for free, add the extension to your browser and download the app then use it whenever you shop or search the site for specifics you want to see what offers there.

Get a $20 bonus when you sign up then shop through them within 7 days.

Shopback

With offers for numerous stores and a handy popup to let you know where there are discounts, Shopback is popular.

Shop as you would normally and click when it pops up or shop through the site and get your cashback.

They also offer Afterpay making it easier. Join Shopback and get $10 after your first purchase of $20 or more.

This means you get the cash back on the purchase and a $10 bonus.

Kickback

I only started using Kickback recently but have liked it so far. It’s another one that is free to join, easy to use and good with payouts.

Honey

Honey is an extension you add to your internet browser which pops up when you can save money.

It will search for discount codes, cashback options and anything else to make your purchase cheaper for you.

Over the years, this has been the best one I have used. Join Honey for free here.

ReceiptJar

Scan your receipts, collect points, play games and cash out gift cards. Receiptjar is an easy to use app plus if you sign up using the code KYLIT3Q2H you will get a bonus of 200 points after you scan your first receipt on Receiptjar.

3. Free Food

For these 14 weeks, I’m rotating through the meal options using their discounts. I sign up, use the discounts for the time they had then cancel the membership and move to the next one.

When I went through them all, the first one offered me a fresh discount to come back.

On top of the money saved with the meal kits, I am saving about 10 hours a week due to the kids now cooking completely instead of me, no more meal planning, no arguments over meals and no grocery shopping for mains.

This means 10 hours I have to work and make more money, which is exactly how this time is being used as I don’t have time during the day to work. (No childcare available).

EveryPlate has up to $180 off with the code THRIFTYEPLATE and since they are already Australia’s lowest price meal kit, you can get a large box and save more with more food using our code.

Personally, I ordered 6 meals for 6 people as it was the best value and meant I did not have to think about main meals at all.

Next, HelloFresh has 1 free box for new customers.

We found HelloFresh to be of great quality and a wider variety than some of the others.

With HelloFresh locked in for November, our meal plans were easy.

Dinnerly offers up to $144 off. (49% off the first order, then 30% off the next two.)

Marley Spoon offers up to $190 off 4 orders! That’s 53% off your first order, and 20% off your next three.

YouFoodz offers up to $200 off your first 5 boxes. Get healthy, prepared meals delivered straight to you.

Since I am working out and getting fit again after having 2 babies close together, this is ideal for me (not the whole family).

Lastly, Funky Food is a new delivery service offering boxes of produce that are heavily discounted compared to the supermarkets.

The fruit and vegetables are high quality but all different shapes instead of ‘supermarket perfect’. Check out Funky Food and get discounted fruit and veg now.

I might also have discounts for others soon which I will share.

How I Rotate Meal Plans

Start with whichever meal plan you want and sign up then use your calendar with a notification to plan it out.

Make a notification for when you need to pause the first meal plan box and another note for when you need to set up the second.

When adding it to your calendar you can include the link to this article so you get the right discounts when signing up for the next meal box too.

Continue this process until you have used all the discounts.

Usually, by that time, the first one will email you with a discounted offer again.

If you use your calendar and do it in an organised manner, you won’t accidentally get charged full price or forget to change any of it and it all takes only a few minutes to sort out.

4. Reselling Items

In a discussion with someone recently, they were telling me about their reselling adventures, one of which generated a $16,000 profit fairly easily.

This person has an incredible collection they are adding to and instead of simply looking for the one item they look for groups of items that contain the one item they are looking for.

They buy the whole lot, keep what they want and sell off the rest.

Doing it this way, they’ve been able to add to their collection and make a profit.

So their collection costs them nothing and has become an extra hobby of reselling.

They love finding bargains, growing their collection and generating a profit.

I used to do this a lot and made over $10,000 in a month but stopped once I started travelling full-time in 2019.

Then having 2 babies close together in January 2021 and February 2022, my mind has been focused elsewhere.

Reselling can be great but has definitely slowed since the cost of everything else has gone up.

In my experience, it is one of the easiest ways to make $500 in a week though.

Check out my tips in my eBook How to Make Over $10,000 A Monther Reselling Stuff.

5. Refinance/Rent Elsewhere

Interest rates are going up and yes, rent has sky-rocketed but there are still bargains to be had and savings to be made.

Check your rates, call your lender and ask for a better deal or speak with a broker.

Many factors determine your rates and other aspects of a mortgage so it is worth reviewing.

If renting, don’t assume you have no options.

Yes, the rental market has been brutal for the past 2 years.

My whole life, including mid-2020 when we repatriated, there have always been properties less than expected for their area.

This has been in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, overseas, Noosa and more recently, our new location.

For us, there were legal issues with the house we moved into in July.

Knowing the law and getting advice means we get a back payment/compensation plus could break the lease.

I found a great home for less rent in a better location, on the beach and it has everything we want.

While it might not feel like you’ll find a home or there aren’t any ways to reduce your rent, you never know.

Every time in every city I have tried this, I’ve succeeded.

6. Rent Your Home

Homes in our area can be rented out on various sites, including Booking.com for around $5,000 to $7,000 a week in December and peak times in general.

At other times, $3,000 to $5,000 a week.

Renting out our home when we go away could easily get $10,000+ which blows my mind.

This is definitely something we will consider and previously, when I asked my landlord if we could, they were fine with it.

Or we had someone we knew rent it while away.

Of course, not everyone is comfortable doing that and not all leases allow it.

If you want to, check out how to make money with Airbnb to see all my tips on renting out a room or your home.

7. Airtasker and Random Gigs

I have experimented with Airtasker and other random gigs at times.

Usually, I make at least a few hundred either doing online things such as marketing or in-person things such as cleaning, delivering flyers or walking pets.

Read how to make money with Airtasker to find out how.

8. Writing

This isn’t for everyone but it is one of my favourite ways to make money.

Unfortunately, with a baby and toddler, I rarely get time to think so freelance writing has been on the back burner.

Now we have settled a little and have more of a routine, I have been able to pitch writing gigs I see or accept writing gigs that come to me.

On top of that, I get royalties for books I have written (one is 10 years old and I still get money regularly for it).

I’m mapping out a few more writing gigs and ideas but so far, I secured $3,800 worth and it will take me 3 hours to do that work.

Not all gigs are this well-paid.

Check out how to become a freelance writer for my tips and a course I highly recommend.

9. Break a Bad Habit

Some habits are extremely hard to break while also being incredibly expensive.

Drinking alcohol, energy drinks, smoking, vaping, too much junk food, going to the shops whenever you run out of 1 thing then spending too much.

If you manage to break some or even reduce any of these habits it can save you hundreds quite quickly.

Work out how much you are spending on those items, how much you can cut back

How My $500 Per Week was Made or Saved (Week by Week Breakdown)

Above are all the ideas and the things I have done/am doing. Here is the breakdown, week by week which will be updated as I go along.

Week 1: October 3 to 10 – Octopus Group and Meal Kits

As mentioned, I cashed out $500 from Octopus Group in the first week.

They are Australia’s highest paying online survey site.

That was a few weeks worth and I will save the rest until the last week I cash out and will update exactly how much that was for this time.

Join Octopus Group for free and get paid $16.28 per hour to do online surveys, as well as 10c when you are screened out.

Meal Kits $690+

I signed up for and sorted out the notifications for the various discounts on meal kits.

HelloFresh has 1 free box or up to $200 off spread over your first 4 boxes with the code HFDISCOUNT.

EveryPlate has up to $180 off with the code THRIFTYEPLATE.

Save up to $190 off 4 orders! That’s 53% off your first order, and 20% off your next three. Grab your Marley Spoon discount now.

Save up to $144 with Dinnerly across 3 boxes. That’s 49% off the first order, then 30% off the next two.

Week 2: October 10 to 17 – Breaking a Habit

I decided to break a bad habit that costs me more than I would like to admit.

The money saved from this equates to $2,500 from now until the end of the year based on my spending the past year.

That is a terrifying amount of money wasted.

Check out how to quit energy drinks (not my current bad habit but was one I struggled with especially as I didn’t drink coffee and was juggling too much on no sleep with 2 babies).

Also, how to reduce the temptation for tips on breaking bad habits.

Add in some good habits when breaking bad ones.

These 9 frugal habits are great plus Aspiring Millionaire has 10 small habits to change your life.

Week 3: October 17 to 24 – Writing and Cheaper Rent

As mentioned, we moved in July then soon after, it was discovered the large extensions to the property are not council-approved.

A demolition order for the property was made and we started house hunting immediately.

I found the perfect one and applied but had to wait to for approval.

Due to the issues with council approval, legally, we are allowed to break the lease with 2 weeks notice and the landlord can be ordered to reimburse moving costs and other things.

By the time we move, this would be around $600 extra saved for the end of the year, based on rent alone.

Not to mention the ongoing savings of cheaper rent plus activities where we will be living.

Writing

With the writing, I was unable to do much with my 2 most recent babies as I didn’t have the headspace or time.

Now, I have dedicated time for it and secured $3,800 worth of writing work immediately that will only take a few hours.

But, I don’t have the deadline for it as yet so payment hasn’t been made.

Week 4: October 24 to 31 – An Experiment

An opportunity came up this week which is one I have considered in the past but not written about. I also didn’t have the headspace to learn what needed to be learnt.

Since it popped up again, I decided to check it out.

I won’t share what it is yet as I didn’t get to do it as much as I wanted.

Week 5: October 31 to November 7 – Reselling

Planning for moving made reselling easy this week.

With 4 kids and a large house, there is a lot to move.

Since we moved in July, I have definitely noticed things we didn’t need to move and can get rid of.

Check out How to Make over $10,000 a Month Reselling for all my tips.

Week 6: November 7 to 14

Cashback and online survey sites.

Specifically, $70 from CashRewards, $66.54 from Shopback, $55 from Kickback, $20 from Honey, $108 from Swagbucks, $121 from PrizeRebel, $60 from PureProfile.

Week 7: November 14 to 21

Paperwork sorted. This has been in process for ages.

Check all your paperwork from receipts to subscriptions, tax, Centrelink, all of it.

Often little errors can go unnoticed.

It might take a while to get sorted but is well worth the effort usually.

Getting some of this sorted (I had to push hard for it), sees me $12,000 a year better off plus getting a lump sum of $8,500.

Week 8: November 21 to 28 – Black Friday Sales

We have a list and this week will be buying from it for Christmas and things family need in Vanuatu plus some business expenses.

Hoping to get everything under our budget.

I saved $2,870 on specific purchases as we waited for the sales, got discounted gift cards, applied them to the sales plus used cash back programs and loyalty programs to secure even more.

Weeks 9 – 14: November 28 to January 9 – Repeat until Flying out

During these weeks, it’s continuing the above. I secured more writing work, sold a few more things, am saving more in the new home as all expenses are lower too.

I made well over $7,000 before reaching my deadline.

Other Ways to Make Money

The above ideas are simply what I chose to do for this challenge. I had a lot of fun doing it and made more than I expected.

For more ideas to make money check out 22 ways to make money on the side in 2022.

For more ways to make and save money follow us on social media:

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Get a $100 Bonus from ING

Here’s what you need to do:

Open an everyday account and put the promo code CNW116 in the promo box (you must use the code to get the $100 bonus) and complete all the steps below in the first month.
Deposit $1,000 into the account such as your income or Centrelink payments
Make 5 settled transactions
Open a Savings Maximiser (current interest rate is 5.5%)
Make a deposit into the Savings Maximiser

Then you get your $100 the following month when the promotion is running. Promotion periods vary. The current promotion runs until October 31, 2023.