Original post over on the website: https://www.themoneylifejuggle.com/blog/monetize-your-life
We are all looking for ways to earn extra money because who doesn't like to earn extra money? There are various ways to earn extra money, we have looked at having a side hustle and explored various ways of making money online but today we are going to look at how you can monetize your life.
Many of us have different options available to us and your earning potential could be dependent on various things: where you live, how many hours you work, what you own, if you have a family etc, however, there is always some area of your life that you could monetize in some way. I accept that this isn't for everyone but it is also a way to earn passive income or extra income from doing very little. A lot of the methods you can use to monetize your life are relatively simple and can push you towards your financial goals.
1. MONETIZE YOUR HOUSE
If you own your own home, or rather, pay the bank to live in a home then you could use this as an opportunity for extra money. Even if you don't own your own home and are paying rent there are still ways to monetize the property, however, pay attention to what is legal and illegal where you live. This form of monetizing your life is the most straight forward and easily accessible.
Ways to monetize your home:
Rent out a spare room.
Use an online service like Air BnB to rent out space in your home.
If you live in a busy city you can rent out storage space or even parking space.
If you live in a very touristy area, you can get creative and run small businesses from your home. An example that comes to mind is a couple that turned a shed in their garden into a little crash pad and charged people for bed n breakfast. I believe it was called 'Shed n Breakfast' - absolute winner!
A little personal experience: When i used to live and work in Australia, the first house i lived in was a nice property with 5 rooms. The owner lived in the house but rented out the rooms of his home. He rented out 4 rooms at around 150-200 dollars a week. Do the math.......if he had all 4 rooms full then that is a nice little addition to his wage. All for doing nothing other than letting people stay in his rooms.
2. MONETIZE YOUR CAR.
Similarly to your home, you can monetize your car. Plenty of people are now making money from driving, some make a full time salary and others use it as spare cash on the side. In the age of the internet we can make money in a multitude of ways.
Ways to monetize your car:
Drive for Uber or Lyft. Having used Uber many times i often ask the drivers how long they drive per week and it ranges from people doing it full time to people doing it a few hours a week for extra cash. Really simple way to earn extra money.
Rent out your car. Nowadays there are various websites, like Turo or Hyrecar which allow you to rent out your car. Almost like an Air BnB but for your car.
Deliver food. If you have spare time and don't mind taking on a second job then consider delivering food. Simply use your car to drop off peoples food. Easy and can earn your some extra cash.
Deliver Parcels. There are certain ways you can use your car to deliver parcels, for example using Amazon Flex, which allows car owners to use their own car to deliver parcels for them.
Carpool. Ok this isnt really a way to monetize your car but it is a method of saving money. If you work with people who live near you then consider car pooling with them to save on fuel and maintenance costs for your car.
3. MONETIZE YOUR DOG
Ok, this one sounds slightly strange and can often be a bit of a pain in the arse, however, owning a dog can offer you the opportunity to make some money for stuff you would already be doing anyway. If you already own a dog then you have to take care of it, walk it, bathe it etc, so you may as well use that opportunity to make money doing the exact same things but with someone else's dog.
Ways to monetize your dog (or other peoples dogs):
Open a small 'dog walking business'. Simply walk peoples dogs when you would be walking your own anyway. Or if you don't want to do this then you can occasionally walk peoples dogs in your spare time. Use a site like Wag walking.
Use sites like Rover to run a little business. Again, this is like the Air BnB but for dogs. More often than not it isn't that much extra work to look after 1 extra dog and it can help you earn a little bit more money. Additionally.....your little furry friend might have a companion for a few days.
Obviously this isn't for everyone but if you have a dog with a positive mentality towards other dogs and you have the time to do this then it could be a nice little earner for you. It will definitely help cover some costs towards caring for your own dog.
4. MONETIZE YOU SKILLS
I have spoke previously about using your specific skill sets to earn extra money on the side. What are you good at? What can you charge people to do? This is a broad concept but you should figure out what skills you have to offer people and find avenues to charge people for it. Here are some examples:
Tutoring
Teaching an instrument
Proof reading or writing articles for people
Personal training
Doing Makeup
Cutting Hair
Mixing / Mastering music
Drawing / Painting
There are many ways in which you can utilize your skills and earn money for it. Get creative and start earning a little extra cash from your talents.
5. MONETIZE YOUR EXERCISE
Okay another random one but bare with me a second. Exercise is something we all need to do in order to be healthier and hopefully, live longer. Why not monetize that? If you live in a densely populated area then it is possible to combine your exercise with a wage.
Ways to monetize exercise:
Deliver food via bicycle with apps like Uber Eats or Door Dash.
Bike to work - no you aren't earning money from this but you are saving money from not using your vehicle. Why not combine this with point 1? Bike to work and then on your trip home try using the deliver app to deliver some food to someone and get paid to do it. I know, the last thing people want to do after work is more 'work' but think of it as an opportunity to get in some exercise and get paid to do it.
There are some websites that run 'Wellness Programs' where you could win cash prizes for meeting certain goals. Something like 'DietBet' or 'HealthyWage' might be up your street.
I understand that monetizing ones life isn't for everyone, however, it is a way to pull in extra money. There are probably many ways of monetizing your life that i have not included on this list but get creative and do some searching. It might be a better option to spend less time aimlessly scrolling through instagram and more time earning some extra cash.
What ways have you monetized your life? Let us know in the comments.