The unemployment rate might be at a record low, but that is not because Americans are financially stable. On the contrary, many Americans are working multiple jobs and still struggling to make ends meet. Millions of people find it impossible to live off minimum wage and end up working more shifts than one person should be expected to handle.
Fortunately, technology has made it easier to find more satisfying ways to supplement your income. If you have a bit of extra money, or if you have skills you can monetize, there are various options online.
Consider trying one or more of the following 3 ways to supplement your income.
Invest your savings
Savings are incredibly important. You need to know you have something to fall back on in case of emergency, or at least for when you retire. However, if you’re putting aside money for savings but are still struggling to make ends meet with what remains, you may want to consider investing your savings.
With the best tax-free investments, you can make your savings grow at a much greater pace than in a regular interest-earning account. Investing today has become easier than ever, with artificial intelligence leading to the rise of the robo-advisor. A robo-advisor uses algorithms to process masses of data to make predictions of what will happen next.
You don’t have to put much time into it at all, and you don’t need a background in economics either. Give investing a try and you’ll see how far it gets you.
Freelance
While well-paying employment opportunities are rare, the freelance economy is booming. If you are skilled at writing, coding, making music, graphic design, or just about anything else, there are jobs out there for you.
These jobs will often pay a higher hourly rate than a typical full- or part-time position. And you don’t need any qualifications or even that much experience. If you can sell yourself well, you will find work fairly easily.
Try a website like Upwork, where you can bid on job opportunities. Upwork has a huge range of job opportunities, with some paying below minimum wage (and viable only for people in countries with poor currencies) to those that pay $50 to $100 per hour.
Alternatively, try marketing your skills on Fiverr, which gives you a platform to sell what you do as a “product”.
Make money online
There are all-too-many spammers on every Instagram pic you see promising you can make millions online without putting in any effort. Of course, you should stay far away from these “opportunities”. However, there are some online money making schemes that are actually legit.
For example, you can do online surveys for companies looking for feedback. Alternatively, use Qmee to find opportunities to make a quick buck while you’re using the internet as usual. Respondent surveys are more rare, but can be very lucrative. They pair companies looking for feedback with respondents. Some of these companies will pay you as much as $200 for an hour of your time, while rewarding you with cash for recommending other respondents.
