Take Fido for a walk. Are you
a strapped-for-cash animal lover? Then dog walker could be the perfect
part-time profession! When a dog isn’t getting sufficient exercise and/or
attention, it can turn destructive, digging up yards and chewing up
slippers. Many people just don’t have the time – or the inclination – to
give their pooches proper and adequate exercise, and that’s where you come
in. Offer your services as a dog walker. To give yourself real
credibility, volunteer at (or simply sit in on) a few dog obedience
classes.
Save the children … from bad
grades! Whether you’re a math whiz or a grammatical genius, chances are
there’s a student in desperate need of your expert tutelage. It doesn’t
necessarily have to be a child – there are plenty of college students and
older adults in need of tutoring as well, so don’t forget to look for work
at colleges and adult education centers. Even libraries may have tutoring
programs. If your skills are less scholarly and more creative, try giving
music or art lessons, or foreign language tutoring. If you pride yourself
on your athletic prowess, give sports lessons or become an aerobics
instructor (in some places, you must get certification first). Or for an
entirely different, but still academic-related, job: offer to edit and
type term papers and reports.
Cook up some “dough.”
Showcase your culinary skills by cooking and selling meals or baked goods.
You can really take advantage of this around the holidays; for example,
you can offer a Valentine’s Day “package deal” of a romantic dinner for
two, complete with dessert (heart-shaped cookies, anyone?), or a
Thanksgiving feast. You can do this job in different degrees, from
packaging up ingredient portions for “do-it-yourself” cooking to
delivering the food, hot from the oven, right to the client’s doorstep.
Turn your creative flow into
a cash flow. If you’ve been blessed with artistic talent, put it to good
use! Rent a booth at an art show or craft fair and sell your handiwork.
Whether it’s chalk, clay, or crochet, there will be many interested buyers
at these types of venues … and you’ll have their word-of-mouth
recommendations afterward, when their friends ask them, “Where’d you get
that fantastic doily?”
Add an air of mystery to your
life … be a mystery shopper! Yes, this is a real profession, although it sounds
almost too good to be true. Mystery shoppers (or “secret shoppers”) are
people who visit a store, restaurant or other business posing as a
customer – though their true purpose is not to check out the latest sale,
but to evaluate the level of customer service and the overall quality of
the business. They then write a short evaluation for the company that sent
them, and that’s that. With this job, you can actually get paid to eat at
restaurants, stay at hotels, and shop. You won’t make a hefty living, but
it’s definitely worth checking into!
Tap your inner resources. If
you’re really desperate for cash (and you’re a healthy adult, aged 18+,
and over 110 pounds) you can always donate plasma. Unlike giving blood,
which can only be done every eight weeks, plasma can be donated twice a
week. Many plasma donation centers will pay anywhere from $15 to $35 per
donation; if it’s done twice weekly, this can be profitable. Plus, it will
inevitably help someone else. It’s not for the faint of heart, though (or
the weak of stomach) … it involves needles, and a bit of pain, just like
blood donation.