How to Make Extra Money: The College Student's Guide

Not all college students qualify for financial aid. Sometimes, you just have to do things the old fashioned way and make money for yourself. While the obvious option is to stop being lazy and get a job, there are some less traditional ways for you to make money as well. This article offers something for every college student. While many opportunities require having a car, there are also many that do not. While a lot of ways to make money involve using a computer, remember that you have access to computers at college even if you don't have one of your own. Whether you live on campus or off campus, you can be making money while you're a college student.

Stop Being Lazy and Get a Job

Every year I get a call from some student charity at our school asking me to make a donation. The caller tells me that there are students at the school who don't qualify for financial aid, so they're dropping out of college for financial reasons. They claim it is too difficult to get a job and go to school, or have some other excuse. I never donate to such groups. There are people starving and there are animals in shelters. If you've made it into college, you should be resourceful enough to know how to make money for yourself. The bottom line is, sometimes you just need to stop being so lazy and go out and get a job!

Currently I'm working part time and going to school part time. Do whatever works for you. For awhile, I was working nearly 60 hours a week and going to school full time. It worked for me, as I was producing high quality work in the workplace, and earned straight A's in my courses. It may not work for everyone though, so know your limits. When I was worked full time and beyond, I had no social life at all. If the reason you need money is to support your social life, it's not really an option for you to just dump your social life. Sometimes you will have to decide to give up certain habits though. I used to collect musical instruments, which was a rather expensive hobby. When I had to choose between buying books for classes and buying more musical instruments, I had to pick books if I wanted to be serious about school.

Don't worry about the job being related to what you're doing in school. At first, I was trying to find something related to animals since I want to become a vet. The problem is, animal hospital jobs typically pay minimum wage or slightly over that. I have other skills that enable me to earn more than that. I'd rather work less hours at a less physically exhausting job, and then earn more money. I volunteer on weekends with animals, so I still get experience with animals either way. For jobs, I'll take what I can get as long as the people are nice and the hours are good.

Try Ebay

Over the years, I've accumulated a lot of stuff. While some of the stuff would more aptly be called junk, some of this stuff sells on Ebay. Some of the stuff I sell is stuff I got because of college. I sell back my college textbooks on Ebay for a pretty nice return. I also sell neat little gadgets I bought that helped me during a class, such as an English-Spanish electronic dictionary. If you live near some good thrift stores, you can also try buying items to resell on Ebay. I've seen old projectors for $10 at the thrift store. These projectors sell for $80 on Ebay. That's a pretty nice profit! If you have knowledge about those types of things, use it! I tend to be too lazy to buy things just to resell them, but some people love doing that. Ebay has a lot of opportunities for college students to make money.

Other Ideas for Selling Stuff

Some stuff just doesn't seem to sell on Ebay. There is also stuff that doesn't sell well enough on Ebay. Then there is the kind of stuff that you just don't want to ship. I used to collect musical instruments, but most don't sell very well on Ebay. I had a plain old violin that I decided to part with, but I was not going to part with it for $20. Instead, I sold it on Craigslist for $150. Check out YahooGroups for local groups where you can sell items. I've put up a few book collections and other items, even furniture. Don't overlook doing a swap meet or even a yard sale either. I made about $300 one weekend at a swap meet selling old computer parts. One weekend I did a yard sale and sold my old clothes for $80. While these types of things aren't as much money as you'd earn at a job generally, they're fast money. You have a violin, you don't play it, so you sell it. There's $150 you have in your hands now, so that you can buy a few books for your next semester. I figure if I don't use something, it means that I can and should sell it.

Don't Overlook Earning Online

One of my favorite hobbies is making money online. Writing for Associated Content is my best online money maker, but there are others as well. I do stock photography with BigStockPhoto and make some extra money there which just rolls in even when I'm not working on anything, so even during finals week I could potentially be bringing in money if people are buying my photos that are already up. While stock photography isn't making much for me, it has more potential if you put up more photos than I do. I only have about 250 photos up for sale. You could easily do more if you wanted to. If you find you have a lot of free time at college and sit around posting on message boards, try MyLot. While you're not going to earn much money, if you post on message boards in your spare time anyway, you might as well earn a little for it. MyLot is basically just a message board where you're paid to post. There are many other great online opportunities out there for you, all you have to do is find them.

Odd Jobs

While you might not have enough time to take on a regular part time job, you might have enough time occasionally to do an odd job here and there. I love odd jobs. I do pet sitting occasionally for some extra money. Pet sitting is the type of thing you need some experience for however, so if you have no knowledge about pets and no references, you're probably not getting into this one. Another thing I'll do is the occasional small photography job. Sometimes people want photos of their pets without taking them to a studio. Sometimes people want photos of events. While this is another thing that requires experience, just think about your experience and make use of it for related odd jobs. Maybe it's your hobby to repair computers. You could repair other people's computers as an odd job. There are endless possibilities for using your talents for odd jobs.

Whether you need money to pay for your books and tuition, or just money for fun, you can make money while you're in college. Balance school and money making activities to fit your needs. You can go the traditional route and get a job, or you can sell stuff online, earn online, or use your talents for odd jobs. Many college students can and do earn money while staying in school, you can do it too.