Scrapbooking

Ruth Stafford Peale said "Find a need and fill it". People are willing to pay money for the things they do not want to do. House cleaning, car washing, and making dinner are all good examples. Many people save photos and concert tickets, telling themselves "I'll add this to my scrapbook, later". I'd been telling myself that for about 10 years when I finally decided to buckle down and DO IT. While I was buying paper and stamps an idea hit me: "Why not put together other peoples scrapbooks and baby books for them and make some money?" So I did. The best part about this is there is no overhead. Charge a flat rate and make sure to use plenty of scraps. Charge 50 or 60 dollars depending on how much time you are going to put in. More if you are comfortable. Collect the money for supplies in advance along with the pictures, etc that they want in the book. MAKE SURE YOU ASK BEFORE YOU CUT UP ANY PHOTOS!! Do a good job and they will recommend you to their friends. If you're creative this is a great way to have fun and make money at the same time. :)

**Another idea is to host a scrap-booking party. Set up a table or two with scissors, paste, stamps, etc and charge ten dollars to let everyone come and work on their projects together. Serve coffee and donuts and have a blast!

Teach A Cooking Class

If you live in a small town like I do, new ideas for date nights are tough to come by. Many couple have grown tired of the"usual" dinner and a movie. Host a cooking class in your kitchen or in your backyard. Have about 5 couples sign up, and charge $20 a piece. Find a 3-5 step recipe that isn't overdone, such as spinach lasagna or pot pie. Make sure it is a dinner entree and not a dessert. You can add a dessert if you so desire, however the date part of it is being able to enjoy a meal, not two or three cookies. :) Ensure you are practiced at making the meal, so you know what you should expect. Purchase enough ingrediants for 10 people and divide it into five meal sized portions. Shop cheap and don't choose a recipe that requires more than 10 ingrediants. Remember that some people may not even know how to dice a tomatoe, you will need to walk through each step slowly and be sure not to embarass anyone. Buy a couple bottles of wine and charge by the glass, or include it in the price, whichever you choose. If you are wondering "how can I cook dinner in my backyard?", use either a bbq or set up cutting boards and ingrediants and just walk all 5 meals to the oven at once on a cutting board. Some good ideas for menus are:

Lasagna:
No Boil Noodles
Spaghetti Sauce
Basil
Oregano
Ricotta
Mozzarella
Spinach (in a can) (you can also sub ground beef here if you like)
Parmesean Cheese

Chef Salad:
Romaine or Ice Burg Lettuce
Turkey
Ham
Hard Boiled Eggs
Tomatoes
Onions
Salad Dressing (a couple options is a good idea)
Cheddar or American Cheese

Individual Pot Pies:
Gravy
Turkey or Chicken
Peas
Carrots
Onions
White Potatoes
Individual Pie Crusts (2 per person)

All three of these meals can be paired with a loaf of french bread and a glass of wine.

This is a fun idea and a fairly easy way to make 60-80 dollars.
Decorate a big table with a fancy tablecloth and candles for a classy spin. :)

Surveys

Surveys can be annoying. "Tell us what you think, win $1000!!" It's not a good bet that you are going to win $1000 by telling someone you waited too long at the checkout counter or that you own 14 cats. However, you can make money taking surveys on the internet. Shy away from the ones with gigantic promises, and look for places like http://www.surveyclub.com/. Some places pay up to $25 or $50 per survey, while others pay $1 or $2. If a survey site asks for a fee, don't pay it, odds are they are a scam site. There are plenty of reputable websites out there that do not require a joining fee or your social security number. Protect yourself. I did 2 surveys one month at http://www.surveys.com/ and made $22. Thats not a lot, but considering it took me 15 minutes to do both, I was making more that $1.50 per minute!
Here is a list of personally tested and approved survey sites (however, use your own common sense when disclosing information, you want to make money, not lose it.)

http://www.surveyspot.com/

http://www.zoompanel.com/

http://www.expresspaidsurveys.com/

Good Luck!

Avon

Avon is a cosmetics company for woman, by woman. While they boast about being a potential full time job, with an average order of 25 dollars at a 40% earning level, they are supplemental at best unless you choose to pursue the leadership side of the game. However, Avon only charges 10 dollars to become a representative, a steal compared to most pyramid sales companies that require you to purchase products ahead of time. If you are like me, you feel guilty spending hundreds of dollars on make up and clothes when you know there are bills to be paid. Avon gives you the opportunity to purchase your own products at a 40% discount, savings that far outweigh the 10 dollar start up fee. Supplemental income is also nothing to scoff at. I sell Avon to my friends and family and I average about 200 dollars a week in profit. I have a girls' night out party with all my friends once a month and they come and bring their friends and we all buy our makeup, skincare and gifts together. I usually buy 2 bottles of wine and have everyone bring their favorite meat or cheese and I relax and make money at the same time. They jot down what they want, cut me a check and I order it online every two weeks. You can have them pick it up or you can bring it to them. Avon is a great way to make friends and money. Kids are invited, just set them up with a movie and some coloring books and crayons in the bedroom and you have two hours of lucrative fun!


Initial financial investment: $10 dollars

Average weekly hours invested: as little or as many as you want. I spend about 4 hours a week handing out brochures and collecting orders (i collect my orders via text message). One mass text and you're done!

Earning potential: limitless, but about 150-200 dollars every two weeks is easily doable with a small child.

Ebay

Okay, everyone knows about eBay, but eventually you don't want to sell anymore of your stuff, right? Right. Here is what I did, I started selling other peoples stuff for them, and I collect a percentage. It's easy, have them email you a photo and a starting price. Upload and ship it for them. Keep 20%.  I charge extra to go take the pictures for them. Flat rate boxes come in bulk and make it a breeze to mail things. Advertise your services in the newspaper or Craigslist. Facebook and Myspace work too! I get a kick out of buying things really cheap at yard sales and then selling them on eBay at a profit. :) For example, I bought a set of 25 porcelain thimbles for eight (8) dollars at a yard sale, I cleaned them, put them on a little wooden display I bought at the same yard sale for a quarter and sold them for $28.50 on eBay. That is a $20.25 profit from about 30 minutes of combined work. If you are like me and love yard-saling, it's barely even work.  All you really need is a computer, a half decent camera phone or digital camera and a combined 30 minutes to list your item and then mail it later while you run other errands.


Initial financial investment: $10 for 5 large flat rate boxes

Average hours per week invested: depends on how much you list (can be as little as 1 hour a week)

Potential earnings: limitless