It’s already end of December and the new year is upon us. A new year means new money moves. We all want to get more coin in 2022. But, how do we make some cash while doing as little work as humanly possible? With the increase in the cost of living, you might want to have multiple streams of income.
While there will always be some work involved when making money, earning cash while you sleep is an excellent way to supplement your income. The best way to earn money that doesn’t require too much rise and grind is via passive income.
What is Passive Income?
Passive income is a source of revenue that continues to generate money long after the work has been completed. Once the work is done, you can keep reaping the rewards. However, there are some endeavours worth investing your time in and others that are… questionable. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts of passive income methods:
Do’s
Level: Easy
- Make Your Credit Cards Work for You
It’s so easy to go wrong with credit cards and get yourself into some serious trouble. If you’re smart, instead of being a slave to credit card debt, make your credit card work for you. Many credit cards come with benefits such as airline miles or cashback. If yours doesn’t, get one that does. Once you have this card use it as if it were a debit card and pay it off right away. Warning: never spend more money than you have in your bank account. That’s where things tend to go wrong. Once you have accumulated points you can pay yourself back. This can take some money off an existing bill.
- Use Cash Back Websites or Browser Extensions
Sites like Honey, Karma, and Rakuten are third party browser extensions that you can use for cashback on purchases. Just make sure you're using these for things you were already planning to buy or else it defeats the purpose.
- Switch Up Your Bank
When you switch to a different bank, there are often cash switching incentives. After you make the switch, you can earn interest on that account. It's not a lot of money but it's something! You'd be better off just opening an investment account.
- Simply Save
A penny saved is a penny earned. If you avoid lifestyle inflation once you start making money and live modestly, you'll have more money in your pocket by default.
Level: Intermediate
- Robo-Investing
Robo-investing, while still a risk, is another set it and forget it method of accumulating some cash over time. Forbes recommends Betterment, SoFi and Vanguard. SoFi does require an investment of $5 and Vanguard requires $3,000 as a minimum amount for investment.
- Open a Retirement Investment Account
Yes, I know it’s boring but it’s necessary! A Roth IRA, 401k, or any type of pension that allows you to invest in your future is great. It’s also a pretty low risk because you invest little by little each year and go with the flow of the stock market.
Level: Advanced
- Rent Out Your Stuff
This takes a little more work because you have to go through the process of communicating with those who are renting your stuff and making sure it gets to them. You can rent out basically anything you're not using these days; your car, a spare room, RV, boat, baby equipment, or a parking space. If you don't feel comfortable with the idea of a stranger staying in your house, you can rent out your backyard as a camping spot too! A great site for this is Fat Llama.
2. For the Creatives…
If you have a creative skill such as photography or music, you can sell that to sites that will give you royalties so other people can use your work in their creative projects. Try, Story block, epidemic sound
Do you have a special skill or know a lot about a topic? You could create and sell an online course or an e-book. This is a lot of time and effort upfront but after you finish it you can sell it over and over again.
3. Ads and Affiliates
If you have a blog, website, or YouTube channel, you can earn passive income through affiliate links. You can also run display ads on your website. When you mention a product in a video or post, you can add the link to it in your description and when someone purchases that thing through that link, you earn a commission. You can sign up to be an affiliate on Amazon and many other sites.
4. Peer-to-peer lending & Worthy Bonds
Basically, through a third party lender, you loan someone money and they pay you back with interest. Of course, the big risk with peer-to-peer lending is that they might not pay you back. Lend at your own risk. Similarly, with worthy bonds you can invest $10 into small businesses, they pay 5% interest, and you make money without thinking about it. You could also reinvest the interest you earn and continue the cycle. Unlike a retirement investment account, you can take penalty-free withdrawals from this at any time.
DON'Ts
- Flip Houses
It might seem like a fun idea to buy a cheap property and give it a makeover but it costs a lot of time and money. So many things could go wrong, causing you to pour more cash into the projects than you expected. If you have the means to invest in property, getting a turnkey home with minimal needed updates is better.
2. Fantasy Football
A lot of sporty people think playing fantasy football or fantasy gaming, in general, is an easy way to make money. It takes more work than you would expect to keep up with your team lineups and monitor athletes. It's gambling, not a passive income stream.
3. Invest in Individual Stocks
Another risky gamble is investing in individual stocks, especially when you have no experience with stocks or trading. You're better off diversifying your investment portfolio instead of putting all your eggs in one basket.
4. "Become an Influencer"
You can't become an influencer overnight. Creating content on the world wide web without a strategy is not going to earn you any money. If becoming an influencer is your goal, it will take talent, time and strategy to succeed.
5. Advertise on your Car
Advertising for companies on your car can be a super-easy way to earn passive income. It's not at all a bad idea— I just think it's tacky.
I'm joking, do it if you want!
To conclude...