Work From Home Ideas – Everything We Have Done to Make Money

What are the best ways to make money from home?

Here are all the things our team has done to make money from home, around our kids and business lifestyles.

Working outside the home isn’t always an option and sometimes we have to get creative.

Fortunately, we live in a time when there have never been so many ways to make money from home!

Note: If you like free money, check out how to get a $125 cash bonus from ING, $15 from Up Bank or have a look at the full list of freebies, offers and discounts for every state.

1. Blogging

Our blogs/websites make money themselves but they were always the gateway to freelance writing, public speaking, consulting, coaching, mentoring, being paid to travel, being an MC, a brand ambassador and so much more.

If we focus purely on the actual website part of them, most of the money has been made through affiliate links, sponsored posts, our own products such as ebooks and savings trackers, adsense and other ad agencies.

We learnt all we could about blogging, bought blogs and flipped them for a profit plus spoken at various blog conferences.

To get started with blogging, we recommend using SiteGround as your host (we’ve used a few others but now all our sites are with SiteGround and they’re highly recommended by others.)

Download WordPress (it’s one click to install and you can be stepped through it.)

Choose a theme, set up your blog and do it this way.

It might seem like a lot to learn in the beginning but there are a lot of free templates, plugins and resources to make it happen at virtually no cost.

Check out this post on blogging for more information.

2. Freelance Writing/Editing

Everyone on our team here have done freelance writing or editing at some point.

Clients typically reach out to us, we don’t do a lot of pitching and none of us pursued it as a main source of income.

Our love for writing, along with strong interests and experience in particular areas, created steady work opportunities.

If you want to get into freelance writing, you don’t need a degree, you need to write.

One of the best ways to improve your writing is to do it, edit it, get feedback on it and learn some basic tips, which you can do online.

Or do a great course to help develop your skills plus get yourself clients to save yourself some time and network.

For more tips on freelance writing, where to get paid gigs etc. Check out this post and you can see some of my travel writing here.

3. Reselling Things Online

This has consistently been one of the easiest ways to make money, especially when we needed money fast.

Finding items for free or super cheap and reselling in niche places online made $50+ in profit per item and only took a few minutes to list.

You need to know where to look, learn the right spots for your area, what days there are, where the clearance racks are etc.

Our favourite place for selling now is Facebook groups, specific and niche ones for rockabilly clothing or similar.

Next is Facebook marketplace, then Gumtree and lastly, eBay.

We have found some people are time wasters or jerks, but we consistently make thousands a month doing it.

You can find out more here.

4. Online surveys

As mums, online surveys appealed to us, but it took a bit of time to work out the legit ones from the scams.

Ocotpus Group has been around for years and consistently has surveys, has the highest pay ($16.28hr) plus they now offer $45 to $120hr for market research.

After much trial and error, we discovered there were some which paid more and others which were not worth my time.

We put together a list of the best online survey sites available to Australians. Some pay in USD and are open internationally

5. Airbnb

If done right, Airbnb can be great but you need to check the laws in your area to ensure it is allowed.

For Airbnb, we have all my tips listed here to help you make money with it.

It’s easy to get started and you decide how much the room will cost, what is included with your listing, when it is available, who can book it etc.

Most people expect a hotel experience though and there are more rules now.

Be clear about if you offer a whole house or a room in your home. It makes a big difference.

6. Rent a Room to a Boarder

Renting a room to a boarder provided more regular income and we’ve done it more than Airbnb but we made more money per night with Airbnb.

When choosing who to rent a room to, we decide what we want it to include, which room we will rent out, how much for and who to.

Check how much rooms are renting for in your area and whether it includes all bills or bills are split.

Post your room on Gumtree, real estate sites, Facebook groups and similar then do thorough checks and interviews with anyone who applies and seems to fit what you want.

We rented to people we know or people who have been referred by friends instead of renting to strangers.

Check their background, their rental history, why they want to rent with you, look them up on Facebook to see if they’re a party animal etc.

You are letting someone into your home, so you can be as thorough as you need for this.

Trust your gut as well, if something feels off, even if you can’t put your finger on it, trust yourself.

Use these 14 tips for renting a room to a boarder.

7. Rented Out My Garage

Yes, only the garage, nothing else in the house.

People rent garages to store project cars, boats or other stuff, though I rented mine to a mum who had a dress business and nowhere to sew or store fabric.

We know of people who rented their garages to people simply needing somewhere to park.

If you live in a city, close to offices or public transport you can rent it to office workers, alternatively, list it on Gumtree to anyone.

I’ve seen ads on Gumtree from people looking to use a garage to store a model car or boat, usually offering $50 a week.

Check your local area or look at Spacer..

8. In-Home Workshops

If you have a space you can convert into a studio or office type environment and some skills, you can run workshops from home.

Classes on photography, social media, marketing, art, anything you can make and business.

It can be set up through Meetup, Eventbrite or TryBooking with you deciding what you are offering and how much it will cost.

9. Author

One member of the team here wrote 365 Ways To Make Money in 2011 with Wiley, Australia.

It wasn’t a book they loved, but it was a great opportunity to publish with a large publisher, get the experience and become an author.

They still make royalties from a spinoff eBook from that book.

Being an author can be done from home and there are so many ways to get into it.

Most publishers will expect you to have a large platform to promote it, you need a point of difference and your pitch needs to be spot on.

You can enter writing competitions or pitch on specific days e.g. Allen&Unwin have The Friday Pitch or get an agent.

Besides book sales (which unless you have a wildly popular book, are statistically pretty low), you can make money with speaking, use it as a tool to direct people to your site or services, coaching and other opportunities.

The book is usually extra to whatever you are doing, not a huge income on its own.

Find all my books about making and saving money, plus a special bundle here.

10. Product testing

Since my early blogging days, we have done product testing for different companies.

Soup used to be great and we’d get boxes of items or once we were paid $125 cash for some market research.

Now it’s $5 for a box of crackers and you have to do a lot for it.

The Black Box used to send great boxes of stuff, usually worth $50+ with opportunities to win items. It’s not exactly cash, but it reduces your expenses and shows you new items.

11. Market Research

Farron Research has been the best option with market research usually being $100 hour.

You can find out more about how to do market research here.

It’s minimal effort in my experience and decent pay but not something you will get every time.

Fill out your profile accurately, respond quickly and be flexible with timing to get the most offers.

12. Hairdressing And Makeup

One member of The Thrifty issue was a hairdresser and beautician.

They no longer work in the industry, but previously managed salons, had their own business and after kids, did a lot of friends and family from home who paid cash (which they did declare on tax).

Hairdressing isn’t something they enjoy anymore, but it’s a great skill to have.

Makeup and spray tanning can be easily learnt and set up from home if you want to do something similar.

You need to check council regulations for your area before setting up a beauty business as the insurance, council restrictions and legal requirements can be quite strict.

13. Selling Eggs

Random, but people with chickens can sell their excess eggs. A few members of the team here do.

They are so good too, store-bought does not compare!

14. Etsy

We sell printables such as savings trackers, debt trackers, organisation bundles etc.

A few members of the team handmade items such as cushions, keychains, invitations and jewellery.

Their kids make things to sell too and they make enough to pay for all the extra things they want to do.

15. Cloth Nappies

A friend taught one of our team to make cloth nappies around the time their first child was born.

The modern cloth nappies were easier to make than they thought they would be so they invested in a snap machine and made them to sell online.

After a while, they grew tired of it though. It made ok money at the time but this was also well before they were easy to buy.

16. Garage Sales

Clear out all your junk in your house and have one big garage sale.

Each time we do this, we make a few hundred. Now, it is easier to simply sell your stuff on Facebook.

A garage sale took work to set up, put signs up, you have to be there all day and it took hours plus people wanted everything for nothing.

If you choose to have a garage sale, talk about it with neighbours and try to have a few in one street to generate more interest.

17. Landlord

We are landlords and while we love property, it’s not always easy.

Properties getting damaged, late rent, natural disastes, increasing interest rates and more can make it harder.

If you are going to be a landlord, vet your tenants carefully. Keep your property in proper condition, fix things as needed and maintain the home.

Do not do it unless you have spare money to cover expenses such as major repairs as needed because insurance takes time to sort out and your tenants deserve safe, comfortable homes.

18. Consulting/Mentoring

Consulting or mentoring in any area you have expertise or experience can be a good way to generate income.

You can also convert sessions into courses to create ongoing income.

19. Business

We have a variety of businesses over the years such as hairdressing and consulting as mentioned.

Business takes time and effort to get started and many fail but if you know what you are doing, research it before launching and get professional advice, it can be great.

Read how to start a business for under $100.

What do you do to make money from home?

Also check out how I made $33,277.57 on the side in 12 months for more ideas.

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