5 Weird Ways To Make Extra $$$

Looking to make a little extra cash? Is the stimulus check not doing it for ya? I love a side hustle, I really do. But they do tend to come with a few start-up costs… and they’re often time intensive and labor intensive. If you don’t feel like you have a lot of time for a side hustle, check out these five strange ways to make extra money.

Rent Your Tent! 

We know that we can list our places on AirBNB, but you can also rent out a plot of land or big backyard, a basement or even a tent! I read about someone who made $1600/month renting out a tent and camping gear. You can also rent your car with Turo or Getaround or take it one step further by renting your parking spot! Spot Hero or Pavemint will give you cash for your parking spot, which could be a lot if you live in a transportation hub or by a stadium.

Get Your Grant On

There are a ton of grants out there for freelancers, contract workers, gig economy workers. If you want to cast a wide net, I’d check out grant aggregators like grants.gov or grantspace.org. But there are a lot of specialized grants, too, so feel free to cut to the chase: if you’re a musician, head to grammy.com; if you’re a writer, check out pen.org, if you’re a comedian, comedygivesback.com is for you! 

Sell the Stuff That’s Collecting Dust

Do you have some clothes you haven’t worn in years? Maybe some candles you got for your birthday that smell like Febreze? Sell them! There are tons of online retailers that make it really easy to sell your stuff, like Depop or The Real Real for selling clothes… Facebook Marketplace or Letgo for selling furniture. And there’s no harm in good ol’ eBay. Before you decide to post anything, watch out for the fees. Lots of these companies will take a cut of whatever sale you make, so be sure to read the fine print.  

Sell your…Stuff

You can sell what your mamma gave you: your hair, blood plasma, even your eggs or sperm.. Really! Sperm banks are the only bank where you don’t get your deposit back. For us ladies, you can sell your eggs for anywhere between $4,000 and $8,000. There are straight-up companies that you can go to in order to sell your eggs, but I would start by reaching out to the fertility clinic at your local hospital. I feel much better about you being in their hands. Same with sperm banks – talk to your doctor about what recommendations they have on where to do the deed. 

Be a Part of a Clinical Trial

You could make big money by participating in a research trial! Of course, there could be some clinical trials that are invasive and so I do not expect you to say yes to everything. But, every so often, there is a golden opportunity where you can make thousands of dollars in a clinical study just for sleeping… true story. There’s no great one website for finding clinical trials (maybe you could create one for some extra money) but the best way to find a study is just to Google “clinical trials in <insert your city here>. I’d highly recommend only signing up for studies run by hospitals, universities or research institutions that you know and trust.

Get your Marie Kindo on! Do a little inventory of what you have: your backyard, your old clothes, your notes from a class in college, your sperm, maybe— and think about what you can sell for some extra money! People sell all sorts of things and you should too.