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If you want to be wealthy, you probably already know it wonāt happen overnight and itāll take some hustle.
Make it your strategy to cut your spending, pick up some side gigs in your spare time, and know where to put your extra money.
Here are a few ideas to get you started, ranging from easy to more serious:
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1. Put BillCutterz to work slashing your cell phone and internet bills in half.
If BillCutterz is able to talk one of your bills down to a lower price, you split the savings 50/50 with them for one year, but after that, the difference is all yours.
Here are the kinds of bills BillCutterz can try to negotiate a lower price for you:
- Cell Phone
- Cable & Satellite TV
- Internet
- Landline Telephone
- Bundles (Cable/Phone/Internet)
- Alarm & Security
- Satellite Radio
- Electricity (in some states)
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2. Switch banks once a year to get a free $350.
In theory, as long as you deposit the required amount and keep your account open for the specified length of time (usually six months), you can do this as often as you want.
But even if you only do it once a year and you can set $200-$350 aside for savings or investments, itāll be worth it.
- Chase Bank: $350
- Key Bank: $300
- US Bank: $100
Learn more about getting banks to pay you for signing up.
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3. Earn up to $1,000 per month watching dogs in your home with Rover.
You can choose which services youād like to provide ā Rover offers pet owners doggy daycare, housesitting, dog walking and overnight dog boarding.
Youāll make the most money with dog boarding ā people who host dogs overnight make twice as much as people offering other services. So if youāre aiming for that $1,000 per month, youāll get there through overnight dog boarding.
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4. Make $250 per month renting out parking space in your driveway.
Talk about passive income! You can rent out space in your driveway for cars to park in the same way you might order an Uber ride.
People looking for parking in your area can search through SPOT to find open parking spaces (driveways).
SPOT is available (or coming soon) in Boston; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Seattle; Washington, D.C.; and Miami.
For example, you could make $12 per day if you live in Bostonās South End (more like $30 per day if you live downtown).
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5. Earn up to $500 per year redeeming Ibotta offers.
The fastest way to earn the most money using Ibotta is to plan your grocery list around current offers.
This can be as simple as opting for Heinz ketchup instead of Huntās if you find a rebate offer for Heinz. But it might also mean eating pasta for a week if thereās a great pasta rebate.
Tap whatever offers you want to redeem, and then youāll either scan your receipt when youāre done shopping or youāll take a picture of your receipt and upload it to Ibotta (depends on which store youāre shopping).
Most offers are for between $0.25 and a few dollars per item. You can cash out through PayPal once you have piled up at least $20 worth of rebates.
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RELATED: 7 Brainless Grocery Shopping Strategies
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6. Cut your grocery bill by at least 50% when you coupon the lazy way.
If your budget is already so tight that you canāt imagine squeezing any extra money to set aside for savings, double-check your grocery budget.
Itās realistic to expect to shave at least 50% off your grocery budget without buying a single newspaper.
Print coupons from the internet, stack them with a sale, and pay with a discounted gift card from Gift Card Granny and youāre well on your way.
In fact, we will show you how to start couponing when you download the Quick Start Guide to Couponing.
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7. Earn $200 per month testing websites through companies like TryMyUI.
You basically just navigate around an assigned website and give feedback about how user-friendly it is.
And since these gigs only take up to 20 minutes and you can earn up to $20 per gig, youād only need to do 10-15 of them per month to bring in an extra $200.
Sign up as a website tester and then watch your email like a hawk. Opportunities are first-come, first-served ā this means if youāre not the first to respond when they announce a gig, youāll miss your chance.
Learn all about testing websites and making extra money on the side.
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8. Ditch cable and stream TV instead to save up to $100 per month.
If youāre willing to spend $35 to buy a digital antenna, subscribe to Hulu ($7.99/month) or Netflix ($7.99/month), and rely on Amazon Video for any movie rentals, you stand to save close to one Ben Franklin per month in your cable-free existence.
Check out these 8 ways to watch TV without paying for cable.
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9. Bring in an extra $1,000 per month selling used books through BookScouter.
Essentially youāll be combing Craigslist or yard sales looking for books you can sell on BookScouter and make a profit.
Scan a bookās ISBN number with the BookScouter app to see what you could sell it for and decide if itās worth buying, based on the sellerās price.
College textbooks often sell for more money than most books, and students rarely realize this. Be sure to sell textbooks right after youāre done using them so you can get the best price since editions are often replaced.
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10. Do other peopleās laundry and make about $10 per load.
If youāre home during the day anyway, itās not too much extra effort to throw loads of laundry in and then deliver them to customers.
Sign up for Laundry Care and you can pretty easily make about $10 per load of laundry. Plus, increase your profits by using laundry detergent coupons to buy expensive detergent for up to 75% cheaper than regular price.
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11. Earn up to $100 per hour for joining research or focus groups.
Companies are always looking for peopleās opinions about products and services ā for example, discussing how user-friendly a new printer is. Sitting in one of these groups could earn you up to $100 for just 20 minutes of your time. Check out sites like Consumer Opinion Services for opportunities.
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12. Shave your budget down and put at least $50 in savings every month.
There are so many ways to do this, but the best way is to find your spending weak point and attack it.
If eating out is a spending struggle for your family, cut it completely, or only plan to dine out when kids can eat free at restaurants like Dennyās, Texas Roadhouse or more.
If youāre an impulse buyer when it comes to kitchen gadgets, clothing, electronics and more, learn the best time of year to buy everything, and plan ahead so you never pay full price.
Basically, look at where your money is going, and make a plan to cut back on that very thing.
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13. Avoid student loans by working for a company that pays for your college.
Itās no secret that debt ā specifically student loan debt ā is a major barrier to growing wealth.
And there are companies who are willing to reimburse your tuition costs! Why not draw straws with your partner to see who gets to work at Bank of America or AT&T in order to get their bachelorās degree paid for?
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RELATED: 23 Companies That Will Pay for Your College Degree
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14. Or work in the public sector for 10 years to get total loan forgiveness.
If you work for a government organization, a 501(c)(3) organization, or a non-profit 501(c)(3), you can qualify for loan forgiveness after you work for 10 years and make 10 yearsā worth of minimum payments on your loans.
Certain teachers, nurses and hospital employees qualify for this perk.
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15. Make driving for DoorDash, Uber and Instacart your new hobby.
Between the three of these, you should be able to pick up enough flexible gigs to supplement your day job.
Honestly, Iāve never worked for these, but Iāve used them all, and I always ask my driver or delivery person what they think. Most say that they love that they can just pick up gigs last-minute and thereās no commitment.
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16. Max out your 401(k) options.
If your or your spouseās employer offers a 401(k) plan, you must shuffle things around in your budget so you can contribute ā especially if your employer matches your contribution.
An employer match is free money your employer is investing in your retirement, based on how much youāre investing. My husbandās employer matches up to 6%, so we are scrimping in order to contribute 6% too!
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17. Always buy seasonal clothing at the end of the season.
So, buy your winter gear in March and your summer clothing and equipment in September.
Doing this can save you up to 80% because stores are overly anxious to clear out the current seasonās merchandise to make room for a new season.
Look for deals on The North Face and Columbia at Macyās in March, and shop summer clothes at The Childrenās Place, Gap and Target in September.
Learn when to buy popular items in order to avoid paying full price.
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18. Put your extra money in an IRA instead of a regular savings account.
If you have a chunk of money you donāt need to access for many years and you simply want to save it, put it into an IRA instead of a traditional savings account.
Where a savings account will earn you about 1% interest per year, an IRA will earn you an average of 7% (sometimes closer to 10%).
Plus, you donāt have to pay any taxes on the money until you go to withdraw it ā most likely during retirement.
Note that you can only put $6,000 per year into your IRA, though. If youāve got more cash than that to save, consider investing in mutual funds or the stock market.
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19. Use the money youāre saving to buy a rental property.
I donāt care what Dave Ramsey says, if you are able to buy and sell a home at the right time, you can make a lot of money.
My sister bought a small house, lived in it for a few years, then bought a second house using savings as a down payment. Then she made the first one a rental, saving the money she collected for rent. Six years later, she sold it and netted $95k, which she put into buying a duplex. Her monthly payment on the duplex was lower than the first rental property because of a big down payment and her rent income doubled.
You get the idea. Sure, you need to have the capital for a down payment to begin, but thatās what side gigs are for, right?
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