7 jobs that can make you hundreds in your spare time

If you're like most, your paycheck is spent before you get it. Between child care, your mortgage, gas and other necessities, there may not be much fun money left at the end of every month. It's why some people are earning extra cash doing small jobs in their down time. Mowing lawns and pizza delivery jobs are so yesterday. We interviewed a few people about what they're doing right now to make pretty big bucks.    

Did you know dog walkers can fetch up to $20 for a half-hour's work? If you walk three dogs at a time, that can really add up. .      

"These are our family members, our pets, that we are leaving at home while we're gone at work for long periods of time," said blogger Nora Kapache of the Coupon Contessa.

Kapache says you could start by asking neighbors if they need someone to walk their dogs while they're working.

Kapache makes money on Fiverr, a site where you can pick up jobs like making logos or proofreading. The jobs pay $5 and up.

The website All About People helps you find jobs near you. The site's owners says many of the jobs are perfect for someone looking to earn some extra income with limited availability.” When we checked, we saw current job listings for an administrative assistant, a sales rep and an application engineer among others.

You've heard of Amazon, but what about Amazon Flex? You can earn $25 an hour by delivering packages your neighbors order from Amazon.

Amazon also runs freelance website Mturk where you get paid you to perform very simple tasks on your computer, like transcribing audio recordings, checking an ad for spelling mistakes or watching a video and picking out your favorite. These are easy tasks. Some pay as low as 1 cent, others a few dollars.

Take a guess at how much you could get paid to make monkeys out of balloons.   

"With the tips, you can make anywhere between $30 and $60 an hour," said Brooke Williamson.

Yep! When she's not producing traffic segments at Channel 2, Williamson is a balloon artist at restaurants and birthday parties, a skill she learned when she took a job with a local company called Merry Makers. If you'd like to make balloons or work parties, Merry Makers is always looking for good people.

"People are 'That's such a talent. I don't think I could ever do that,'" Williamson said about customers. "And I'm like 'Yeah, I think you could.'"
 
If you've got little ones, you've probably been to a few princess parties. Stay-at-home moms Nicole Luca and Laura Oakley decided they could do that!  They turned all their princess party-going experience into cash, creating Princesses of the Woodlands where they work parties that don't keep them tied up all day. 


About the Author:

Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.