I LOVE fall for so many reasons — hot tea, scarves, boots, and fires in the fireplace while snuggling up with a good book — but all of the wonderful things about the upcoming holiday season might leave some of us feeling a bit unprepared financially. This can ruin the wonder of the season, but it doesn’t have to!
There are SO many ways to increase your holiday budget, and today, we’re going to dive into 25 different ideas to help you earn extra cash for the holidays — without even leaving the house!
Way #1: Swagbucks
If you’ve read my blog at all, you know I’m a big fan of Swagbucks. And you probably signed up a long time ago and have been earning gift cards ever since.
For the handful of you who have yet to sign up for Swagbucks or for the many others who have signed up but feel like you’re not earning much from it, you can go here to learn more.
Way #2: Ebates
Ebates works with online stores to offer you a percentage — usually somewhere between 3-10% of your total purchase — back as a rebate. While this might not seem like much, it can really add up over time. And if you’re already going to be making the online purchase, you might as well get a little kickback, too, right?
They currently offer cash back at over 1800 stores including Walmart, Target, JCPenney, Staples, Lands’ End, Sephora, and many, many more.
One of the oldest cashback sites, Ebates has an easy-to-navigate website and, in my personal view, is the best cashback program. You only have to earn $5.01 in rebates in order to get a check or Paypal payment.
Way #3: Amazon Trade-In Program
Amazon’s Trade-In Program is wonderful for two reasons: 1. You can earn extra cash for the holiday, and 2. You can declutter your house at the same time! This has to be one of the best ways to get ready for the holiday, right?!
Find out more about how to earn cash by trading in your unused things here.
Way #4: Sell your used books
Selling your gently used books is a great way to build your holiday budget! Books can be expensive, so selling your used books to companies like Cash4Books.net, MyBookBuyer, Amazon Trade-In Store, and Half.com can not only help you get the extra cash you need, but it can also help others get great deals on books. Win-win!
Way #5: Fiverr
Fiverr is a great place to earn cash for doing simple tasks for people who are looking for specific services. It can be as easy as writing a 300-word article (Note: This post has 417 words at this point, so 300 isn’t all that much!), recording a short video, proofreading, etc. People generally pay $5 for these small tasks (or more, depending on the job), and that can really add up!
Check out this guest post by Lisa of The Frugal Batavian that outlines all the need-to-know facts about how Fiverr works and how you can make money doing things you’re already good at!
Way #6: Online tutoring
Working as an online tutor is a great way to make extra cash in your free time, and it doesn’t take much to get started. Check out what Alaina of Telecommuting Mommies has to say about the different options available and how you can start earning in time for the holidays in her guest post here.
Way #7: Freelancing
The idea of freelancing can intimidate some folks, but the truth is, most people have skills they can monetize that they don’t even know about. Sara of Omaha Moms shares her story of how oDesk (now Upwork) helped her and her family recover from financial challenges — and how she got her first client within 24 hours!
You can read her full guest post here. So inspiring! Other options are Guru.com and Lionbridge.
Way #8: Become a virtual call center agent
Seasonal work as a virtual call center agent is a fantastic way to earn some good cash before the holidays. Hear what Alaina Forbes from Telecommuting Mommies shares in another guest post she did for MoneySavingMom.com about the ins and outs of getting started and what companies are hire seasonal agents!
Way #9: Take online surveys
This definitely won’t make you rich, but I can say that in our lean years, I was able to earn extra cash to help us pay for the things we needed with online surveys.
Check out this post that lists the survey companies I recommend the most!
Way #10: Listia
Another fantastic way to earn free gift cards is with Listia. Listia is an online auction website similar to eBay, except that no money is exchanged. With the credits you earn, you can cash out for gift cards among other things.
You can go here to learn more about what Listia is and how to use it.
Way #11: Write basic articles
Textbroker works with people from all over the United States to write very basic articles on a wide variety of topics. If you have good basic English grammar skills, this is a great way to earn extra money for the holidays!
Find out more about Textbroker from Miranda of WAHadventures.com in her guest post here.
Way #10: Get paid to listen to music
SliceThePie is another money-making website we learned about from Miranda. If you love listening to new music, this is a wonderful opportunity to earn cash doing what you love.
Find out more from Miranda here.
Way #12: Transcribe other people’s voicemail
QuickTate hires entry-level transcriptionists to transcribe audio files into text. Miranda explains in her post that they mostly deal with voicemail recordings, which sounds like an interesting way to make extra cash. This job won’t make you rich, but it will help boost your holiday budget just in time for Christmas!
Way #13: Sell your junk mail
Harmony of Creating My Kaleidoscope recently shared her experience with a company who will pay you to send them your junk mail. Sounds scary, right?! Well, Harmony did her research and has some great things to say about the company who conducts market research using her junk mail.
You can learn more about it here.
Way #14: Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk)
Jason of Home Life Organized shared a tip with us last year about how to earn money with Amazon Mechanical Turk by taking surveys and completing small tasks, like verifying information on a receipt or text in an image. These are tasks that can’t be done by computers, so Amazon pays people from a few cents to a few dollars per task to get these jobs done.
Find out more about how to earn cash with MTurk here.
Way #15: Usability Testing for Websites
Ever hear about usability testing for websites? Well, Anna of Real Ways to Earn Money Online says that companies are willing to pay good money to have their websites tested by people like you and me to better understand what improvements could be made. If you enjoy surfing the web and visiting new websites, this is a great way to earn some extra cash doing what you already enjoy!
Check out Anna’s list of companies hiring website usability testers here!
Looking for additional creative ways to add to your Christmas budget this year? Check out this article on How to Fund Your Christmas Budget in Just 15 Minutes Per Day!
Other Articles You Might Enjoy:
12 Ways to Save for Next Christmas
How to Give at Christmas When You Don’t Have Enough Money
5 Ideas to Simplify Christmas and Save Your Budget
How We Bought Christmas Gifts on a $0 Budget
How We Lowered Our Christmas Budget, Reduced Our Clutter, and Created More Family Time
Do you know of any other easy ways to earn extra cash from home? Comment below and share your tips!
(Note: The links in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.)