Just curious what other people out there do for extra cash on the side. Here's what I've tried, and my experiences with it:

buy stuff for cheap and resell on ebay - this worked OK for a while, till I got screwed over by a rebate. Not doing it anymore

buying and selling stocks - I only started with a few hundred dollars and I wasn't making enough to cover the fees I had to pay. I put all my money in mutual funds.

online surveys - worked OK, but you can't take as many surveys as I want, I was only able to make about $10/month, which is not bad for 10-20 minutes of work.

detailing cars - started doing this past summer, don't do it in the winter anymore. It's decent money, but the work is pretty hard, especially on my back. Another problem is that I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere and have to travel somewhat long distances to get to the customers

Just looking for some other ideas on how to make some quick $$. I'm not going to sell drugs though. I also thought about buying broken cars and fixing the up and reselling, but something always seems to go wrong when I work on cars and I don't have a lot of time. I know Scot will say to buy rental properties, but I'm not going to do anything that big until I'm all finished with school, roughly 2 more years. I'd also like to get out of Michigan ASAP, so it wouldn't make sense to own 5 homes in Michigan when I'm living 1000 miles away. Any ideas?

 

short of illegal activities, there's no such thing as quick and easy $$. if that was so, then everyone would be rich. just focus on finishing school and with your spare time find activities (internship/part time work, etc.) that will help you to land a job in your field of study after you graduate.

 

Honestly, this isn't a direct answer to your question, but the best thing you can do is find work interning in whatever your field of study or hope for future career is even if it's not paid. You'll learn more and have experience so you can hit the ground running. It will teach you the lingo and the inner workings of that field and help you get a better start and quicker advancement. Making good contacts is a plus too.

Additionally you could buy one property in Michigan and earn equity and a tax break and then sell it after 2 years and pocket the profit or rent it out then. Even one property is a good investment.

 

I live 20 minutes away from Benton Harbor, MI which is one of the worst cities in the entire country. I could buy houses for less than $20,000 and rent it out for $600-$700/month. I think doing this would cause me to loose focus from finishing school, which is what is holding me back. This area is dead when it comes to IT jobs, so the plan is to get out after graduating.

 

I worked a shitload when I was in school - 16-18 hour semesters, a professional fraternity, wrote/took photos for a local website and worked 30-40 hours a week, also DJ'd on our radio station and played out on weekends at points - depended on the semester!

i'm getting itno freelance marketing right now, on top of my regular salaried position.

best advice? get a career-related job, do well in school and get involved with some extracurriculars to network if possible, knowing a wide range of people has come in handy in all aspects of my life - not just careers (saves on hotels when traveling, can solicit advice from the 'been there, done that' camp, helped get me my current job, hookups on services and discounts on products... etc etc)

 

Maybe since you're in a wintry climate you could do some sort of snow removal business?

 

 

And add some "Mr. Plow" stickers to the sides.

 

Fixed it.

 

In college i made minimum wage working at a bar/ restaurant... i got to drink and eat for free, but the $ sucked.

Tax return season is coming. At college you may be able to advertise $40-$50 per return (or something like that) and just use "turbo tax" to do the returns. Sure beats paying "H&R BLOCK" $120-$150

I was amazed how much it costs at those places.... even a basic 1 W2 and a 1099 from a bank = $100+++ for a tax return.

There have to be lots of people who don't know how to fill out their tax forms........