Being in college is often synonymous with being flat broke - but it doesn’t have to be! Here are 31 anyone-can-do-it plans to help you make extra money in college:
1. Get a job - There are plenty of places on, or near your campus that will hire college students. Because they regularly work with students you can expect them to be willing to adapt to your study schedule and even your time off of school.
2. Have a digital camera? Sell stock photography online - If you’ve always enjoyed taking pictures then why not make a little money off of them? You can sell your images online to places like Dreamstime.com. You’ll make money every time someone downloads your image, and most places will even let you retain part of the copyright.
3. Get Paid to Write Online - Can you write well? If so, there are plenty of places online that are willing to pay you to write for them. Check out this site - they list new jobs every morning, Monday - Friday.
4. Be a tutor - If you excel at English, Math, Science or any subject at all, you can be pretty sure there are other students who do not! Set up your own tutoring service and charge for it. You can also offer tutoring sessions online via chat rooms.
5. Donate Plasma - If you can stand getting your blood drawn then you can do some good and earn some money at the same time. Most places will let you donate once a month so you can pick up an easy $35 to $45 this way.
6. Check to see if you have any unclaimed money - Most states have searchable online databases where you can quickly check to see if you have unclaimed money..
7. Sell Tickets to Your School’s Sporting Events - College basketball and football tickets can be hot items, and students usually get first pick. Buy a couple of extra tickets for big events and sell them to friends and family.
8. Get into a paid internship or a work-study program - If you qualify you can earn money and college credit at the same time.
9. Recycle bottles and cans - If you’ve ever taken a peek into a campus trash can then you’ll know it’s a haven for discarded aluminum cans and plastic soda bottles. You could even get a few friends to go in together on this and split the profits. You’ll be cleaning up your campus, helping the environment, and making money all at the same time.
10. Take Odd Jobs - Put the word out with your friends and family. Let them know you are available to mow their grass, house / pet / baby sit, do light housework, plant flowers, whatever they need. You will be really surprised at how much money you can make doing this. You can set your own hours too, so it will never interfere with your school work.
11. Be a “Fixer-Upper!” - If you can repair computers, leaky faucets, drafty windows or anything else that breaks you can make money doing it for others.
12. Find out what people want and sell it to them - This could be as simple as running to Walmart and picking up cheap colas and chips and re-selling them, or as complex as installing radios and helping other students turn their cars into hybrids to save on gas.
13. Hit up the Sorority and Fraternity Houses on Campus - Ask around and find out if they will let you come in once a week and clean for them. By pitching that every member “would only have to donate X amount” a month you could make quite a bit of money just from swishing and swiping a few toilets. It’s a great way to get social introductions too.
14. Sell Things on Ebay or Craigslist - Make a habit of visiting yard sales, estate sales, auctions, and going through your own garage. Then list your finds online and sell them. You can generate a nice secondary income from this once you learn what you are doing.
15. Take on Seasonal Work: Shovel snow, rake leaves, plant flowers, wrap gifts. You could even put together a list of cheap, “must have” items each season for men and women of different age groups. Then, sell those lists for a dollar or two a piece. Who wouldn’t love to have a quicklist of cheap gift ideas that their Aunt Fanny, little brother, or Mom might want for Christmas?
16. Capitalize on the Holidays - If you know Valentines Day is approaching, get together with your best guy friends and offer to be the person that picks up all the flowers / chocolates and cards that they need. They give you the money, and you deliver it to them - minus a small fee of course!
17. Build a Website or a Blog - If you enjoy being online this one is easy to do. Get signed up with Google Adsense, Amazon.com’s Affiliate Program, and Linkshare, just to name a few. You may never make a ton of money doing this, but you will probably earn enough to buy a few extra cups of coffee each month.
18. Flip Websites - If you are really good at building websites, then consider doing that as a side job. For more information on how to get started flipping websites check out this site, and this site.
19. Be a Personal Trainer - Most campuses have free gyms for students - but not all students know how to use the equipment! Stick up some flyers, and hang around the gym. You can offer your services as a spotter, and instructor, to those up -and- coming gym rats.
20. Check out your school’s Psych program, and volunteer to take part in their studies - If you are willing to let them pick your brain or study your latent Oedipus complex, you could make a fair amount of money each month.
21. Offer to be an assistant to your professor - Some departments will hire students to assist professors in grading papers, making photocopies, doing research etc.
22. Look for on-campus jobs - One of the biggest and best ways to make money in college is to look for an on-campus job. Check out the library, be a security escort, or even a parking attendant. Many of these jobs come with discounted tuition so they are snapped up quickly. If you can’t manage to get a job on campus your freshman year, decide what you want to do and start lobbying for it - find out how to sign up so that you can get a good deal on your tuition the next year.
23. Deliver Newspapers - Yes, it’s early in the morning, but you can make several hundred dollars a month delivering newspapers. It’s also safe to assume that your hours will not conflict with any of your class schedules!
24. Sell Your Video Game Accounts - If you love playing online games and you can level your characters or make gold quickly, then you can make a decent amount of money doing it as a side business. Besides, learning to set the prices of online auction houses is an excellent compliment to an economics class!
25. Become a Model - Campus Art Departments usually need models, and contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be naked to do it - mostly they want you dressed, and sitting, standing, or posing.
26. Run a Car Wash - Get together with some friends once a month, hold a car wash, and split the profits.
27. Create a Calendar - If you belong to any on-campus organizations, offer to create a yearly calendar for them. You can have them printed cheaply online, and sell them at a profit. Donate a portion of the profits to the organization, and keep the rest.
28. Sell T-Shirts - If you have a witty idea for a T-shirt you can design and sell it on Zazzle.com. Tell everyone you know about them, and you earn a percentage of the sale when they log on and buy one.
