Extra Monthly Income Update

I’m doing an update on the extra monthly income that I talked about in How I plan on increasing my income and therefore my saving and also here. Back in August and again in October, me and the BF were trying to find ways to add around an extra $1,000 to our monthly income, so…

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: May 26, 2023

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

I’m doing an update on the extra monthly income that I talked about in How I plan on increasing my income and therefore my saving and also here.

Back in August and again in October, me and the BF were trying to find ways to add around an extra $1,000 to our monthly income, so that we can pay down our debt faster. Here are the steps that we were talking about doing.

1.  “Do more secret shops.”  I don’t really do these too much anymore, but I am still making around $150 a month. Since I’ve been doing this for a couple of months, I am now able to do easier and better cash making assignments. I’ve gotten tons of free Estee Lauder stuff lately!
2.  “Continuing with my online surveys.” I still don’t do this a ton. I really only do this so that I can be on a research panel. The other day I had cash mailed in an envelope, and that was nice! I make probably around $20-$30 a month from this but I also get lots of free stuff.
3.  “We have a friend moving in with us.” I don’t think this person is moving in anymore. She hasn’t talked about it in forever. Me and the BF aren’t upset though at all because we like having our space. We could lean either way though, oh well. We’re still happy.
4.  “Also, hopefully I can convince the BF to get a second part-time job.”  He’s been getting more hours recently because of the holiday season and will be making around $500 extra a week until around mid-January. This is nice! And he also gets a raise in January and again in June, so that is nice also.
5.  “And then I plan on maybe getting a side job also.” Hahahah I bet you guys are all laughing at this. I still haven’t put any effort whatsoever in this. Maybe one day I will try.
6. I’ve also slowed down with earning Swagbucks but I’m still making a decent amount. Of course this doesn’t count towards income but it’s nice to buy things for free on Amazon. Check out my other easy ways to make money.

So, for the month of  and December we will have about $2,500 in extra income but along with my Christmas bonus and the fact that I get paid 3 times in December and the BF gets paid 5 times in December, we will definitely be waaaay over this $2,500 amount. If only December was EVERY month 🙂

In normal months though, we will only be making around $500 extra a month. That is until this summer when I get a raise and all of my designations from my ASA and MBA.

What have you been doing to make extra income? 


Filed under:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

Like this article?

Join the Conversation

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. That's really great that you guys will be making that extra income a month! 🙂 I make specialty cakes to earn some extra income. I'm hoping to hear back from someone today about another cake to make! Wish me luck! 🙂

  2. Lisa

    That is great that you are able to earn that much extra income this month!

  3. graduate.living

    That's incredible! Way to go!

  4. I write resumes for extra income. I work with a lady who's good friends with my aunt and uncle. The works is unstable, but on average, I've been making about $200/mth.

  5. Good job! We're trying to cut expenses and just changed car insurance companies. Will cut that expense by 2/3rds!Also if we can get my son a job… maybe he'll start contributing or at least buy his own taco fixings…

  6. That's not too shabby at all! I was lightly researching ways to make extra income, but so far, no good. Maybe I should look into it some more. Even $100 extra a month would be a great help.

  7. $2500 is a great extra!I just do overtime at work and I do online surveys. I get paid $15 for each one. I made about $200 this year but they are feast or famine.

  8. working.for.money

    I've been able to put it some overtime at work. Very nice that it coincided with the holidays. Basically will cover all the holiday gifts we need to buy.

  9. I've been think about this for a while. I've been working some extra hours at work, but am hoping to start making money on my blog for the new year.

  10. what online surveys do you do? i do pinecone. and ipsos. but yeah $20 -30 a month seems to be the average. do you only use bestmark for mystery shopping?

  11. Thanks everyone.And yeah I do pinecone and I do around 2 to 3 surveys a week for that and I've been getting lots of free stuff from that too. And yes only Bestmark so far. Who do you use?

  12. That's great! I had no idea about the online surveys. Thanks for the tips!

  13. Love extra income! Looks like your going to be quite profitable this month! I was thinking about getting a second job or taking up babysitting again but I'll be back in school for spring and I'm not sure if I'll have the time or energy. I'm really hoping to make some more money off of my blog but thats a work in progress. I can't make as much as some other bloggers.