Want to Make Gas Money at Home, Online, in Your Pj's?

Several years ago, I lived in a rural area that practically required me to work from home. I made some money freelancing, but wanted a little more. Being the restless type, I tried all kinds of ways of making a little cash on the side (all of them legal!).

Others I didn't try, because the initial investment seemed too large. Also, some ways of making extra money worked okay, but didn't appeal to my lazy side, which is a pretty big part of my personality.

None of these methods would pay for a mortgage or Maserati, unless you're exceptionally lucky and/or diligent. But these days, it can help a <i>lot</i> just to take some of the pinch out of gas costs, or take the pressure off around holidays so you don't have to worry about how to pay for a party or special meal. And big bonus points if you can earn a little money in your pajamas, at two in the morning if you want -- or even skip the whole process if you're feeling run down that day.

In a nutshell, here's what I learned after a year or two of trying. Maybe one of these methods will pay off for you!

<b>Selling Books.</b>
Selling books was one of my more successful ways of making extra bucks. It was fun, because I love books, and loved the thrill of the hunt -- digging for unrecognized treasures in garage sale bins or library sales was a rush. This required some investment, namely professional-looking packaging. But it wasn't too bad. Amazon is an incredibly easy way to sell any high-value books you find. The downside: so many people have found easy to sell used books online that competition has grown seriously fierce, and prices have plummeted.

<b>Selling on Ebay.</b>
I took a good hard look at this one, but selling on eBay isn't for the faint. eBay's listing fees are high, and most of eBay's customers are bargain-hunters, so the margins can be low for a lot of buying, storing, packing and shipping. My lazy side didn't love this. Plus, living in a remote area, I found it hard to source a unique product that would set me apart. Estate sales and auctions were okay, but these days they're full of eBayers, so the easy money is harder to come by.

<b>Medical Transcription.</b>
I knew at least one woman who did this, got paid well and stayed busy, but she had worked for a physical doctor's office for years, and developed her clientele that way. I figured it would be hard to pay that tuition, spend all the time learning a virtual foreign language, and then pull down business from a handful of local doctors who didn't know me from Eve. Plus, it seemed a bit boring, and I was worried about carpal tunnel. (There goes Ms. Lazy again!)

<b>Mommy Blogging.</b>
Mommy blogging didn't really exist when I was looking for cash on the side, but these days, it's a great way to earn a bit extra. If you've got readership or some decent pagerank, you can run traditional ads or Adsense, sell text links or run a few pay-per-posts. The hard part is consistently writing and networking when you've got so many other demands on your time.

<b>Online Surveys.</b>
Other than selling books, this is the route that paid off for me most consistently. Plus, it appealed to my lazy side -- and could be done with a cup of coffee at 10 p.m. if I wanted. Seriously, there are plenty of companies online willing to pay decent money to people with the right demographic profile. I was a female head of household buying for three kids. So, as these companies knew, I wielded a lot of buying power. They were even willing to pay my nine-year-old daughter daughter to complete surveys about her buying preferences. She was thrilled!

I didn't make thousands of dollars a month completing surveys or selling books, but doing these things definitely did help my balance sheet. As a result, even though the net seems even fuller of survey-related scams than it did a few years ago, I can still say with complete confidence that there's money to make, and fun to be had. (Just keep your hooey detector firmly in place.)

Did that spark some ideas? I hope so! Get out there and clear your own path to a little more breathing room in your budget, too!