What methods do you use?




Personally, I'm looking for something with a low to medium short-term return. I'm not here looking for ways to get rich over time, I just need to make a few bucks before July, and with my ridiculous class schedule and other commitments, a part-time job is out of the question (unless you can find me a job that only needs me on Fridays).

1/8/2011 2:38:35 AM

I'm terrible at this. So let me respond to this thread. In the past I've done a little pet sitting to make a little cash, which lets you take jobs that you have time for. But lately I haven't done anything. If cash gets tight I tend to just increase my saving habits rather than bring in more money. That might be the way to go if you're on a really tight schedule.

My husband on the other hand, also a grad student, manages to enter into competitions and contests in his field, submit papers that win money, and work tables and panels at conferences in his field, and seems to be saying all that time "guess what, I have an extra 300 bucks", or I just $1000 for a paper, or the students I'm tutoring just paid me for the last few weeks so I have $200 to spend on something, what should I buy? He teaches a few classes and does some TAing too, but I think that might be in his contract for the annual funding, rather than being bonus money. I've looked around in my field, but I haven't found many similar opportunities, but I guess it varies by field and level of specialization.

A friend of mine got a part time job working as some kind of receptionists/assistant for our grad department. I know you said part time jobs probably wouldn’t work, but something like that might be integrated enough into your studies that it isn’t as hard to manage. Or maybe other on campus jobs would be something to consider. I know I had one in undergrad that was however many days a week I wanted, so I think one semester I only did it on Wednesdays and Sundays, which would make the schedule easier to manage than say a part time job at best buy.
https://jobs.ncsu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/index.jsp

At one vet clinic I used to work at we had a kennel tech who basically only worked weekends, not sure how standard practice that is, but if its something you might be interested in, it might be worth looking into. (sorry, most of my examples seem to be animal related, you can probably see a patern developing)

Got anything you can sell? Tdub classifieds? Ebay? Yard sale? Do people still sell blood plasma? Do any of the colleges on campus conduct research, surveys, or focus groups that you can get paid to participate in? Find a promising pyramid scheme? That's all the ideas I have for now. I'll let you know if I think of more.

[Edited on January 8, 2011 at 3:17 AM. Reason : .]

1/8/2011 3:14:32 AM

May be a little extreme, but the Reserves of any military branch is a pretty sweet deal if you are young with few responsibilities/ obligations. I'm heading to boot camp this summer. You'll end up working one weekend per month, get a few hundred bucks, plus housing allowance, tuition assistance, tricare medical insurance etc. etc. plus you get to give something back to the country and receive great training/ experience. It's not for everyone, but it can be a sweat gig for others.

Only downside.........deployments/war.

1/8/2011 8:14:30 AM

I kinda like deployments, to include the combat variety...but I probably wouldn't if I got yanked out of college in the middle of a semester. I would say not to join the reserves if your only reason is to pick up a few extra dollars.

1/8/2011 8:49:19 AM

Yeah, it took my step-sister FOREVER to graduate from college because she kept getting yanked out to serve.

1/8/2011 9:29:03 AM

1/8/2011 12:19:48 PM

1/8/2011 12:43:46 PM

I took up playing poker in college. Made an extra grand or two each month doing that.

1/8/2011 3:10:43 PM

Online or irl poker? How often did you play?

1/8/2011 8:28:48 PM

Oops, just saw your e-mail.

I played irl but made most of my money online. In college I played about 20 hrs / week making about $25/hr and afterward I got a real job I just played Sunday every week. I'd play low stakes, $25 buy in tables 6-7 at a time avg $4/hour/table.

1/8/2011 8:38:37 PM

Craigslist erotic services section used to be good for twenty, maybe even thirty bucks a night. Now I'm screwed for beer money. Well, not anymore. You get what I'm saying.

1/8/2011 11:15:36 PM

This is the Lounge. Get back into chit chat.

1/8/2011 11:20:03 PM

write mobile apps.

sell them on the itunes/android stores.


profit.

1/9/2011 2:27:03 AM

My husband made right much extra $$$ in college playing poker on-line, but you have to have a feel for it or you're just going to waste your time.

1/9/2011 7:59:24 AM

I found two jobs this past year doing promos at grocery stores. I mostly did work giving out samples of beer - but I also did Digiorno Pizza at one point too. I know that those places are constantly hiring new people since there is a pretty high turnover rate.

Its pretty easy work, but is definitely not a source of a steady income. I would work maybe two or three 4-hour shifts a month, getting paid $20/hour. It was nice to get a check for $160-240 in the middle of the month. I know there were some girls that I worked with that signed up for shifts every weekend, so their checks were a lot less.

The downsides are: you are at the mercy of your manager as to the number of shifts you are assigned to (especially if a lot of people sign up for the same shift), you have to be comfortable approaching people and being told no quite a few times (everyone is nice about it, hell youre giving our free beer/pizza/whatever so most people love you) , and the biggest con is the fact that they dont take taxes out of your paycheck so you have to repay it at the end of the year in your income taxes.

I will let you know the next time my employer starts hiring again. I will warn you that they mostly hire women, I am one of two guys who works there.

1/9/2011 10:58:57 AM

I've shot a few weddings recently and the extra 1500 bucks here and there is a big help.

Think about what you do as a hobby, or what you do with your free time, and see if there's any way to capitalize on something you may already be doing anyway. Obviously this is easy for professional photographers, but it is worth a shot. I have no idea what kind of odd hobbies you people have.

Also maybe try hitting up the labor gigs section of craigslist. You can probably make some money lifting/loading/etc.

1/9/2011 6:15:01 PM

^ I agree with Ronny. Think about your hobbies or "handy"/helpful things you are good at. I started up a weezer cover band in SC. Basically no overhead and just takes 1 night a week of practice and then once we start playing gigs I'll be getting paid + free drinks to do something I really enjoy.

Any talents? Good at stuff around the house?(painting, trimwork, yardwork, etc.) Lots of things you might do for yourself other people might not know how to do or want to do and are willing to pay someone else to do them instead.

Also, did you play any sports growing up that you could officiate now? My dad reffed HS soccer for years when I was growing up. Good pay per hour and you're getting exercise while you're at it. Wrestling, soccer, baseball, football, basketball...lots of sports that need refs/umps and pay decent.

1/9/2011 6:30:46 PM

there are some good suggestions in here. but i wouldn't rule out a part-time job. during college i filed for an office...you can find offices that need someone to come in whenever they can and do the filing. it sucks and is boring, but it is something. also there are usually lots of ads on CL for personal assistants. again...sometimes it is people that want you to come go through YEARS of shit with them and typically, file it. but they usually let you make your own schedule and only work the hours you can (so, fridays for example).

petsitting was mentioned. babysitting is another good suggestion. refereeing. TUTORING. register with a tutoring agency. or possibly through your own educational institution. @ elon if you were a notetaker (for someone with a disability or an athlete or whatever) you got paid a certain amount per class you took notes in. i dunno how that works at state or if there is a similar program. can you cut grass or something for your neighbors or old people? or other yardwork?

don't completely rule out a PT job though. look on CL at the part time and misc jobs. i've seen lots of jobs on there before that want someone just 1 day a week or have VERY flexible schedules...especially the labor type jobs. do you have weekends free? what kind of other commitments are we talking?

1/9/2011 8:31:14 PM

I am participating in a food study for extra money.

They feed me for 2 weeks for free (breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack) and then at the end of the study I get $300. There were two studies going on at the same time so I signed up for both of them. Hooray for $600 (plus the money I am saving in groceries)!

1/9/2011 9:48:35 PM

you can do in-store pet food booth things. i did that for a little bit in college. you just got to different petsmarts, set up a booth, hand out coupons, & tell people why the food is good for their animal.

1/9/2011 10:11:58 PM

oh yea! L&E Research studies are like the best thing ever

they call ALL the time and if you qualify you usually get like $50-$75 (sometimes more) for like 30 mins or an hour of your time

1/9/2011 10:52:50 PM

went to a wedding this weekend and during dinner I ended up talking to an older couple sitting next to me about cooking. Turns out they own this jewelry and accessory store that I really like. I was saying how much I liked their stuff and how I had hoped to get one of their necklaces for graduation and the wife told me if I came and cooked dinner for them they would give me the necklace. Her husband kept telling me that if I like to cook then I should try doing something where I cook for a few families. Anyway, they seemed pretty serious about it so I think Ill take them up on it. Don't know how it would work our for you but it's an idea i'd never thought of till this weekend.

1/10/2011 12:02:19 AM

bump, i still need money

1/17/2011 2:49:48 PM

^^ Sounds like you're getting invited to a threesome.

1/17/2011 2:55:22 PM

Try to get on Million Dollar Drop or some other game show?

1/17/2011 2:59:42 PM

I'm terrible at this. So let me respond to this thread. In the past I've done a little pet sitting to make a little cash, which lets you take jobs that you have time for. But lately I haven't done anything. If cash gets tight I tend to just increase my saving habits rather than bring in more money. That might be the way to go if you're on a really tight schedule.

My husband on the other hand, also a grad student, manages to enter into competitions and contests in his field, submit papers that win money, and work tables and panels at conferences in his field, and seems to be saying all that time "guess what, I have an extra 300 bucks", or I just $1000 for a paper, or the students I'm tutoring just paid me for the last few weeks so I have $200 to spend on something, what should I buy? He teaches a few classes and does some TAing too, but I think that might be in his contract for the annual funding, rather than being bonus money. I've looked around in my field, but I haven't found many similar opportunities, but I guess it varies by field and level of specialization.

A friend of mine got a part time job working as some kind of receptionists/assistant for our grad department. I know you said part time jobs probably wouldn’t work, but something like that might be integrated enough into your studies that it isn’t as hard to manage. Or maybe other on campus jobs would be something to consider. I know I had one in undergrad that was however many days a week I wanted, so I think one semester I only did it on Wednesdays and Sundays, which would make the schedule easier to manage than say a part time job at best buy.
https://jobs.ncsu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/index.jsp

At one vet clinic I used to work at we had a kennel tech who basically only worked weekends, not sure how standard practice that is, but if its something you might be interested in, it might be worth looking into. (sorry, most of my examples seem to be animal related, you can probably see a patern developing)

Got anything you can sell? Tdub classifieds? Ebay? Yard sale? Do people still sell blood plasma? Do any of the colleges on campus conduct research, surveys, or focus groups that you can get paid to participate in? Find a promising pyramid scheme? That's all the ideas I have for now. I'll let you know if I think of more.

1/17/2011 8:02:01 PM