Having a positive cash flow and reliable extra income is essential if you want to live comfortably in college. There is nothing worse than being invited to hang out with your friends, only to have to make up an excuse of why you can’t hang out, when in fact you simply don’t have the funds to do so. Let’s face it, pretty much any type of activity you partake in will cost you money. Worry no longer, as I will introduce a few ways for you to make money while you are in college. I won’t go into detail about each and every one, because I will explain each opportunity individually at a later date.
The first way to make a little money on the side, and my personal favorite, is Amazon Mechanical Turk. It is a program ran by the leading e-commerce company, and allows anyone to complete small task to earn a few cents or dollars. These tasks are officially called micro task. A micro task can be anything from transcribing a receipt, to answering questions for a survey. The sign up process is fairly simple. Simply use your Amazon account you probably already have. Furnish your bank information, such as the bank name, routing number, and account number. Complete the required tax interview. It usually takes 1-2 weeks to get approved. During the first 10 days you are limited to only doing 100 hits (task) a day. This is to ensure you are doing an efficient job for each individual task. There is a learning curve before you start making a substantial amount. The good thing about this site is you can withdraw your money whenever you want, as long as you have a dollar or more in your account. Having access to money anytime is crucial while you're in college. Unexpected expenses are sure to occur. Pay is distributed through your Amazon Payments account, or in the form of an instant virtual Amazon Gift Card.
The next way to make a little money on the side, is for people who particularly have a way with words, and love to write in their free time in college. The site called Text Broker, allows anyone to make money by writing articles that people request to be written. The pay is based on the rating you have, which ranges from 2 to 5 stars. When first starting out, you are asked to submit a sample, which is then used to give you a rating. Most people start off at a level 3 rating. Your pay is reflected by which level you are. A two star rating pays .07 cent a word. A 3 star rating pays 1 cent a word. A four star rating pays 1.4 cent a word, and finally, the most coveted level, 5 star, pays a whopping 5 cent a word. When signing up you are asked to submit a tax form, and upload your proof of identification, such as your driver’s license, or passport. The tax form requested has to be mailed or faxed in, in order to get paid. Pay is handled through PayPal and occurs weekly on Thursdays, as long as you have at least $10 to withdraw.
The final opportunity I will introduce to earn extra income while in college, is Fiverr. Fiverr is a neat website where you can do small gigs for at least $5. Once a gig is completed, $4 is credited to your account, while Fiverr keeps $1. The gigs start off at $5, but you can make more by offering extras, such as quick delivery, or another additional service. There are so many gigs to choose to offer. The gigs range from writing articles, editing videos, creating logos, recording testimonials for companies, making resumes and cover letters for job candidates. Needless to say the opportunities are endless. They pay once a week through PayPal. All you need to do is find something you’re good at, and offer it as a service.
Now that you know of a few opportunities to produce extra income while you are in college, it is time to cut the financial umbilical cord from your parents and start to make a way for yourself. The above sites above won’t make you rich, but they will allow you to have extra spending money throughout the month, and possibly pay a bill or two. As always, any income needs to be reported to the IRS. I am not a tax expert, and therefore you should seek out a tax professional for more help. Be on the lookout for future post that will explain the money making opportunities above, and go in depth about each one, and even more opportunities. If you have any neat ways of how you make money, or have a specific question, feel free to comment below or send me a message through the contact form.
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