Making extra money for the holdays and in retirement

The festive season should always be about just spending money and neither should retirement be about totally cutting off your income streams. While most can enjoy a pleasant lifestyle living off super, savings or the pension, there are some extra things you can do to bring in an extra dollar or two.

Having a small amount of extra income can give you that little bit of extra cash so you can enjoy things like dining out, visiting the theatre or buying something special for yourself. It won’t help you pay off the mortgage or buy yourself a new caravan, but it will give you a little flexibility to enjoy things you might not normally get to do.

So, here are some of the interesting and secret ways you can make some extra cash in retirement…

1. Community activities

By doing small odd jobs around the community, you can receive small amounts of cash-in-hand to enjoy later. Some of the best community activity ideas include;

• Dog walking for older citizens or people with long working hours (this is great as it keeps you healthy too!)
• You can do handyman jobs around your community. If you’re good at changing light bulbs, fixing leaking taps, painting, sanding or other odd jobs sell your services for a small fee based on the call-out to your neighbourhood. Create a small flyer in Microsoft Word, print them off and walk around door-to-door to introduce yourself and leave your information.
• If you’re a green thumb, offer to look after people’s gardens for a small fee. Whether you are happy to mow, prune, water, weed, fertilise or anything else take someone up if they offer you some cash to help them in the garden.

2. Sell your hobbies

A man in a friend’s Probus Club enjoys woodwork, and out of love and enjoyment, he makes these fantastic folding tables… He brought one to a picnic and within a week he had twelve requests offering $100 a pop! So no matter what you do for your own enjoyment (knit, sew, make cards, do art, make personal products or woodwork) tell people about it and show your friends because it could be a fun, little cash-maker!

3. Pet-sit

You can offer your services as a pet-sitter for a small fee to people in your local community. If you’re a little brave, you can even create a free listing on Gumtree.com and list the suburbs you are happy to service. Just make sure your house is secure, you have removed valuable items from the floor, and you have emergency contact numbers for your nearest vet or pet hospital. It might be fun to have some furry (or feathery) friends around the house too!

4. Rent yourself!

Australian organisation, www.grandmasforhire.com.au is a service that provides loving grandmas to families for babysitting, after-school care, housekeeping, companions and caring. It is a paid service so by contacting the organisation on (02) 9984 7813 you can start sharing your services with families who need a loving influence.

5. Set up an online store

Some of you may have purchased things off eBay before, but has anyone set up their own shop? You can create an eBay profile and sell things you’ve got lying around at home, unwanted furniture or any of the things you have made. We actually know of one lady who has begun buying tidbits online like fake eyelashes, USB sticks and so forth who is selling them for a small profit and the business in booming!

6. Complete online surveys and participate in market research

Australian companies like Farron Research, Stable Research and Survey Compare all offer remuneration, supermarket vouchers, shopping vouchers or free products for your participation in a survey or questionnaire… It’s that easy! It won’t pay many bills, but it is a great way to earn a little extra cash.

7. Airtasker

If you consider yourself a bit of a handyman/woman or if you just like to help out doing odd jobs, Airtasker is perfect! You can find tasks in your area in exchange for cash. Some people have even been able to earn over $1000 a week just by accepting any job they can.

So with these little tips and tricks, you can have more money in the pocket and give yourself a little treat now and then with your hard earned cash.

Tell us, do you know any other ways you can make money in retirement? Have you or a friend got an enterprising tip they can share with us? Tell us in the comments below…