I'm curious to see if anyone has any ideas for legitimate part time work that could be done at home. I'm not looking for some pyramid scheme, infomercial type BS. I work full time, five days a week, 8:30A - 5:30P. After work I usually hit the gym for an hour or two, and I go to bed around 11:00P. So I have about three hours a night, five nights a week, and basically all weekend (I don't work weekends) where I typically don't have much to do. Don't get me wrong, I love having free time to relax and unwind. But I would really like to have some sort of job or hobby that could occupy my free time and also generate a bit of income. Like I said, I'm not looking for anything that is necessarily cheap/quick/easy, and I don't expect to make a ton of extra income...but a couple extra hundred bucks a month would be nice. Ideally I would like to do something from home...I'm not interested in getting a part time job for another employer.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How to generate income in your off time @ home?
- Thread starter sdilley14
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Depends on area of expertise, I guess. My wife does book keeping on the side and I sometimes do freelance graphic design, looking into doing AutoCAD floor plans for real estate agents and developers.
Last edited:
I was thinking something along these lines. Though I feel like this can quickly fall into that category of "infomercial" BS. I know a lot of people run legitimate side businesses on eBay, but I also see a lot of sketchy "Run your own eBay business from home! Make thousands of $$$'s while you sleep!!!" type ads.
I do have an interest in web design. I always have. Though I don't think I'm at the level of expertise where I could really run a side business making websites.
Buying & selling on Ebay can be risky. I have been doing it for years and have a niche that works well for me. But I have also moved all my Ebay business to my personal site to save cost. Ebay and Paypal fees can be expensive at approx. 15%. So unless you can buy really cheap and have at least a 25-30% markup, hard to make real money. I have built up a large clientele base off Ebay and use it as a mailing list to support my own site. You can make money, just plan it out carefully.
I have also been doing web & graphic design on the side. Make a little money at it. But as I am not a professional, I can not charge professional prices. It is fun to do and the money I make pays for all my program updates and other associated cost. Plus a little mad money.
My best advice I can offer is to make sure you really enjoy what you want to do as a sideline job. Otherwise you will lose interest real quick. Do not rush into it. Plan, plan and then plan some more.
I have also been doing web & graphic design on the side. Make a little money at it. But as I am not a professional, I can not charge professional prices. It is fun to do and the money I make pays for all my program updates and other associated cost. Plus a little mad money.
My best advice I can offer is to make sure you really enjoy what you want to do as a sideline job. Otherwise you will lose interest real quick. Do not rush into it. Plan, plan and then plan some more.
I'm not sure what you do for a living but often you can you can improve your earnings by continuing your education (i.e. It is sometimes more lucrative to spend your spare time improving your current job outlook rather than finding a second job).
This is exactly what I have been thinking. I know the eBay thing is "doable", but the margins are tight and the fees eat into those already tight margins. I would rather not be in the business of buying and selling trinkets and things like that.
That's a good way to look at how you price out your web design/graphic work. Like I said, I'm looking for more of a hobby that I enjoy, which also happens to generate a little bit of income. I've always enjoyed tinkering around with web site design, though I have never actually gotten "deep" into it. I would be thrilled if I could do web design work for 10-20 hours a week and make an extra $200-$500/month doing it. As you said, I'm not a professional and I wouldn't charge professional prices. I would mostly target small businesses, artists, bands, people that just need basic, mostly static type pages. But I still have some learning to do before I reach a level where I'm comfortable offering those services to anybody.
----------
I have considered this also. I just hate the idea of taking on more student loans and the thought of another 2-3-who knows how many years in college doesn't really interest me. Fortunately, I'm in a position where real life experience is weighed much heavier than degrees and certifications.
However, maybe I should consider a bit of training/education in my spare time as a means to get enough knowledge/ability in web design to persue that as a part time gig? I know there is a wealth of cheap/free sources online to learn web design on your own...however, I have never been one to learn well from just reading off a computer monitor...I need to be in a class setting with an instructor and I need to visually see how things are done in order to pick up on them.
But you have to start somewhere. I created a site for myself first. Then I adventured outside for work. I currently have 6 sites that I manage and working on 2 more. Took me awhile to get the business. I just tell businesses up front as to my capabilities and go from there. Have learned a lot over the years and am still learning even as I build a site.
I am fortunate to be working in the printing industry, so I at least had some kind of background in what I wanted to do. Plus pro's to learn from. And best thing, I really enjoy doing it and have 4 days a week to do it with.
Going back to school is not a bad idea. I take some university courses on a part-time evening basis as an adult. My wife questions the adult part though.
I am fortunate to be working in the printing industry, so I at least had some kind of background in what I wanted to do. Plus pro's to learn from. And best thing, I really enjoy doing it and have 4 days a week to do it with.
Going back to school is not a bad idea. I take some university courses on a part-time evening basis as an adult. My wife questions the adult part though.
Not exactly at home, but before my wife and I had our son, I was getting paid $100 per high school football game in town on Friday night and $125 out of town with a local video production company that needed a few part-time hands to shoot the number of high school games that they had contracts for. Pretty easy gig.
Occasionally, I would shoot and edit (from home) piano recitals and weddings. That gig helped me to justify upgrading Macs and Prosumer camcorders every other year, since they were paying for themselves in a year or so.
Occasionally, I would shoot and edit (from home) piano recitals and weddings. That gig helped me to justify upgrading Macs and Prosumer camcorders every other year, since they were paying for themselves in a year or so.
Only hundreds? Psh, there are moms making thousands online by answering simple surveys and trying weird old tips.
But really, I did read something about people who made enough money doing stupid surveys and drawings to live on by selling the prizes they won. You could try that when you get tired of the legitimate work.
But really, I did read something about people who made enough money doing stupid surveys and drawings to live on by selling the prizes they won. You could try that when you get tired of the legitimate work.
I know a couple of people who enter competitions, complete surveys etc to make cash. However it's not as lucrative as they claim. You get the odd big win, but mostly it's spending time answering questions and the like.
One women I know even has a scanner thing she uses every week for all her shopping. She scans all the barcodes and then they upload it to the company that pay her. Not sure what she gets for it though.
Someone else I know won £1000 to spend on a wedding. She won and as she was already married, went to see the store manager and explained the couple she was entering for had split up, so they gave her store credit instead.
One women I know even has a scanner thing she uses every week for all her shopping. She scans all the barcodes and then they upload it to the company that pay her. Not sure what she gets for it though.
Someone else I know won £1000 to spend on a wedding. She won and as she was already married, went to see the store manager and explained the couple she was entering for had split up, so they gave her store credit instead.
I do surveys. But I've cut down my companies in the last few years. Mostly because I got bored, but also because a lot of them dragged on. I like the product tests though.
If you sit there and do them all day, it's easily $100 pocketed every month.
If you sit there and do them all day, it's easily $100 pocketed every month.
Some great (and hilarious) suggestions here!
I've thought about tinkering with online poker. I like paying, but I've never attempted to play online for real money. Are there even any legitimate, legal sites to play on for real money anymore?
firedept, just curious, do you have a site for your web design work? A portfolio site or something along those lines?
----------
Actually, plasma donation isn't a bad idea. I think you can make like $25-$50 a week doing it? I should look into it.
I've thought about tinkering with online poker. I like paying, but I've never attempted to play online for real money. Are there even any legitimate, legal sites to play on for real money anymore?
firedept, just curious, do you have a site for your web design work? A portfolio site or something along those lines?
----------
Actually, plasma donation isn't a bad idea. I think you can make like $25-$50 a week doing it? I should look into it.
Web design is pretty good (and not terribly difficult) to get into. Check out wordpress, it's what I use for my few low volume sites that I have. Fairly easy to update as well as free, and some themes are ridiculously easy to modify to a customers demands.
Have any artistic skills and talents?
I've known a couple of people who made occasional cash (maybe $100 to $200 monthly) who were freelance "RPG illustrators".
In the serious RPG gaming industry, there are always scores of gamers who have expendable income. So these people would gladly pay like $30-60 for someone to draw/render a nice illustration or character portrait of their character(s).... their favorite Paladin hero, their favorite Warrior-Mage, Elven warrior, Barbarian, etc.
I've seen this with players who have paid for such illustrations who were involved in the MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, EverQuest, SWG, GuildWars, Star Trek Online, etc. As for the freelance artist, the most important factor is how you advertise your services, either by a good website, or by word-of-mouth recommendations.
I've known a couple of people who made occasional cash (maybe $100 to $200 monthly) who were freelance "RPG illustrators".
In the serious RPG gaming industry, there are always scores of gamers who have expendable income. So these people would gladly pay like $30-60 for someone to draw/render a nice illustration or character portrait of their character(s).... their favorite Paladin hero, their favorite Warrior-Mage, Elven warrior, Barbarian, etc.
I've seen this with players who have paid for such illustrations who were involved in the MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, EverQuest, SWG, GuildWars, Star Trek Online, etc. As for the freelance artist, the most important factor is how you advertise your services, either by a good website, or by word-of-mouth recommendations.
I was thinking about trying to work with WordPress. I've heard it's pretty easy to use and offers a lot of flexibility. The type of websites I have in mind would be pretty simple, mostly static...glorified online business cards (with a bit more info, pictures, etc.) essentially...something clean, simple, easy to update...I envision making small websites for realtors, mortgage professionals, entities like that that need a basic web presence.
----------
I've also thought about this, starting a regular old offline business. I just don't know what would be conducive to the hours I would want to be working. I wish I had some sort of artistic/crafty ability where I could spend time working on/creating physical "things". I have NO idea what that would be though.
Yeah basically what I do with mine. I've done a website for my church, an artist, and a small construction company. I did a couple of those is straight HTML/CSS but those were a complete pain when something needed updating, so I eventually moved them to WP. Wordpress is a lot better if you can handle doing some custom CSS over the theme, and finding the right plugins. Pretty easy stuff if it is not a high volume site and you are not ending up having to do copy writing or marketing stuff...
----------
Hobby electronics (arduino, raspberry Pi, 3D printing?) all some of the stuff I do (or would like to do). 3D printing can also earn you some cash if you sell time on your machine.
You'd have to leave the house for both. Plasma donation takes about 2 hours and you can't do it every week, of course.
http://www.donatingplasma.org/donation/donor-compensation