Most of us could use a little extra cash these days; whether that’s to cover increasing energy bills and painful mortgage rate increases, or just to help pay for a nice holiday next year, having some extra income is a good thing.  Some people take on a second part time job (e.g. as a bar tender or a waitress) to earn that extra cash, but there are other ways to increase your income.  Let’s take a look at some simple, less time intensive, ways to top up your pay check:

1. Mystery Shopping

Mystery shoppers visit local shops, make a purchase, and rate the shop assistant on the quality of the service they provide, as well as things such as whether they were asked for their loyalty card, whether upsells were offered, and other store specific things.  You need to pay for the product you buy, but you will be reimbursed afterwards, and you get paid for the feedback too.

2. Surveys

There are lots of survey companies out there.  Some of them pay in cash, others pay in vouchers for popular sites such as Amazon.  The pay isn’t amazing, but it mounts up over time.  If you’re bored on your daily commute, taking surveys via your smartphone could be a nice way to pass the time while earning extra cash.

3. Blogging

If you’re a good writer, why not start a blog. You can monetize the blog with Adsense, affiliate links, and sponsored posts.  It takes a while to make a blog bring in serious cash, but if you work hard at it, then you can earn a decent amount from blogging.

4. Website Flipping

Website flippers make sites in various niches, build back links, add content, then sell the blogs to other webmasters.  Once you learn the sort of thing that buyers are interested in, this can be a nice way to make money.

5. Babysitting

Babysitting can be a nice way to make some extra cash, especially if you normally stay at home on, say, Friday and Saturday night, when people are likely to want someone to look after the kids.

6. Car Restoration

If you’re mechanically inclined, and have a decent set of tools, consider buying old, beat-up cars and restoring them before selling them on.  You’ll need a good knowledge of cars to make sure you don’t get stuck with one that is almost beyond repair, but if you know what you’re doing there can be some good money in restoring cars.

7. Flipping Number Plates

I bet you’ve seen those ads promoting cherished number plates for sale.  Topical personalized number plates can fetch thousands.  If you have a good eye for trends, you could make some decent money searching for plates that spell certain words, and then selling them when they’re a hot property.  If you think you know who will be the next Justin Beiber, or which movie will beat Twilight in the box office, buy the plates that spell those names now, and sell them next year for a fortune.

8. Write an App

If you have programming skills, use them to write an app for the iPhone or for Android devices.  It’s easy to get apps listed in the Android store, and successful apps can make a lot of money.

9. Get Crafty

If you’re more of a crafty sort, why not make jewellery or clothes to sell on Etsy?

10. Drop-Shipping

Drop-shipping is a good way to make money on eBay and other auction sites.  Margins on a lot of items are fairly slim, so you’ll need to do a lot of research before you start listing items.  Consider trying items out during free or low-cost listing weekends.  Once you have a feel for what’s popular, and what’s not, you can turn your drop-shipping into a part-time business.

This article was written by Amy Fowler on behalf of The Plate Market, providers of cherished number plates for sale. Visit their site to search the range of cherished number plates for sale.