Looking to Earn Extra Money?

ATLANTA, July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Katie Kozub of Cleveland, Ohio, earns extra income by bartending two nights a week. The flexibility allows her to spend time with family and she is able to pick the nights she works. Working parties and special events earn Katie more money. "The time goes by fast, you meet nice people, and it is a great way to earn extra money," said Kozub.

Kozub says each shift lasts three to five hours. "I earn a minimum of $120 extra, which is actually on the low end," she says. "The place is a nice bar connected to a restaurant and catering room, and is about 1 mile from my house. I have the option to work parties in the catering room, which brings me anything from $150 to $300 extra."

As economic challenges continue to loom, consumers are seeing food, fuel, and living expenses increase. Everything is on the rise -- everything except incomes. "Salaries don't go as far as they used to for most families," said Suzanne Boas, president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Atlanta. "Many are only a paycheck or two away from financial disaster."

A second job can provide the income to make ends meet, jump start an emergency savings account, help reduce or eliminate debt, or provide the foundation for long-term goals, such as a child's college education or retirement.

Clients of CCCS offer their second job ideas to help consumers:

-- Use your talents - Take in sewing projects, tutor local students in math or other subjects, or use your love of cooking to make extra money. Offer to cook for co-workers for a fee or find a local construction site and seek permission to sell plates of food to employees. If you are an animal lover, offer dog walking or pet sitting services in your neighborhood.

-- Love the outdoors? - Make up and distribute a flyer offering to mow lawns in your neighborhood. If you are a sports lover, train to serve as an umpire or official at youth sporting events in your community. One CCCS client suggested stenciling house numbers on the curb for extra money. He suggests putting out a flyer and asking people to hang the flyer on their door on the day you will return. You can stencil even if they are not home and come back and collect payment. At $10 per house, you can easily earn $100 or more on a weekend morning.

-- Clean up at night and on the weekends - Many cleaning services have flexible evening and weekend hours for people interested in cleaning office buildings. If you prefer working for yourself, you might consider looking for a few clients and striking out on your own.

-- Retail flexibility and more - Retail work offers lots of flexibility for people who already have another job. You can look for work in merchandising, where you restock shelves after normal hours. Many inventory companies also use temporary and part time employees to conduct regular inventories of grocery stores and other retail outlets.

-- Love to shop? - Use your love of shopping as a mystery shopper or as a critic for movies, restaurants, or retail stores. One CCCS client recommended www.reviewstream.com as a place to share, and get paid for your opinion. Shoppers might also consider a second job at their favorite retailer. The discounts for staff at many clothing and other retailers can be considerable. Be careful that you don't spend your entire paycheck and more shopping for things you don't really need.

-- Benefit from the barter system - If you pay gym fees, perhaps you can get them waived by working a night or two a week at the front desk. Have lots of pets? Working at a veterinary clinic might get you discounted services for your furry friends.

-- Sell, sell, sell - Many clients offered stories about earning extra money by selling items on Ebay. Some seek items at local yard sales and shops to resell at a profit; others clean out items from their home. One family sells their used clothes to earn money for new clothes.

-- Go Green - Recycling can earn you extra money and you don't have to go dumpster diving to collect aluminum cans. Simply set up recycling boxes at your office and collect cans to be taken to the local recycling plant.

-- Work at home programs - Many jobs can be done from the comfort of your own home. Data entry, transcription services, billing, telemarketing, and data collection are all jobs that offer flexible hours and provide opportunities to earn extra income. When looking for jobs you can do from home, beware of programs that require you to pay a fee - they are not likely legitimate. Talk with friends and family members about opportunities they might know about for you to do projects from home.

-- Seek seasonal work - Whether it's working for a tax preparer in the spring or a retailer in November and December, seasonal work opportunities abound. These provide great opportunities to earn extra money without making a long term commitment to a second job.

-- Be creative - One client reported renting out driveway space to a neighbor that had too many vehicles. Others run errands for local seniors and provide babysitting services to families.

About CCCS

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta is a 501(c)3 nonprofit community-service agency that provides confidential budget counseling, money management education, debt management programs, bankruptcy counseling and education, and comprehensive housing counseling. The agency serves nearly 400,000 consumers, who are primarily from low- and moderate-income households, in all 50 states.

Consumers can speak to counselors in English and Spanish 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, by phone at 1-800-251-CCCS, and also access the agency's web sites, www.cccsinc.org and www.cccsenespanol.org where live-chat counselors are available around the clock. The agency's web site also provides free interactive seminars and other online education courses through CredAbility U.