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These days, the United States appears to be a place where “living the dream” requires effort from at least three sides. You may wonder how to take advantage of all these areas, including making extra money or keeping your blood pressure under control while you sleep.
However, if the thought of needles in your arm makes you nervous or frightened, you can also donate – or lend – your items for benefit.
Let’s look at the specifics and see what donations you can make to earn money and how you can find your next job for some extra cash.
Quick Info: What can I donate to earn money?
The best way to make quick money is to find things that other people want and sell or donate them at a profit. This includes patio space for pets to play, rooms in your home for vacationers, parts of your body – and even your entire body, down to a science.
Here’s what you can donate to earn money:
1. Your hair
You earn between $100 to $4,000 by donating your healthy, unbleached, untreated hair. Most places that pay for hair want hair 10 inches or longer. Hair donations will usually be used for wigs.
2. Plasma
You can donate plasma for money twice per week, but not more than once in 48 hours. Of course, the more you donate, the more you can earn. Donating plasma is different from donating blood, as blood is usually a voluntary donation through campaigns such as the Red Cross.
3. Bone marrow
It used to be illegal to donate bone marrow for money. However, in 2011, a California court ruled that bone marrow donation is now legal. This is because donors can undergo easy, non-surgical extraction.
According to MedPage Today, you can get up to $700 for a bone marrow extraction during a one-hour procedure. And don’t worry – there are no side effects because your bone marrow grows back.
4. Sperm
Most people know that you can sell your sperm for money. But you have to meet some strict qualifications – according to MedPage Today, only 1% of applicants are accepted. Those who qualify can donate twice a week and earn about $125 per donation.
5. Eggs
Women can help people struggling with infertility through egg donation. This procedure is more invasive than sperm donation, but it also pays better. Egg donors must pay all medical expenses, attorney fees, and travel expenses, as well as a $100 per day copay if you travel. The Egg Donor America website says egg donors typically receive $5,000 to $10,000, including fees and compensation.
6. Uterus
If you have a uterus, you may not want to donate it in the traditional sense. But you can give it on rent for a huge amount. Typically the lease term is 40 weeks, and tenants keep quiet – at least until they move out!
Jokes aside, becoming a surrogate for someone who can’t have a child of their own can be emotionally and financially rewarding. Surrogate Alternatives says surrogates can earn up to $75,000. There are even sign-on bonuses offered. Apart from salary, surrogates also receive health insurance and life insurance.
Among other requirements, surrogates must be between 21 and 38 years of age, have a healthy body weight and have given birth to a healthy child of their own, whom they are supporting.
7. Breast milk
If you have recently given birth and have abundant breast milk, you may be able to sell it. People have many reasons for buying mother’s milk. Typically, parents may have trouble producing milk, but want their baby to have the benefits of breast milk instead of formula.
Breast milk can sell for between $3 and $5 per ounce. While selling breast milk is legal, sales are unregulated and the FDA does not recommend buying or selling it on the private market.
8. Your skin
You can donate skin after surgery. But, in most cases, you will not get paid for this donation. An easy way to “donate” your skin is to rent it to a company that wants to advertise on your face or body.
You can sell advertising space on your body in the form of temporary or permanent tattoos. The study’s findings revealed that a man received $40,000 to get a permanent tattoo on his forehead.
9. Your car
There are a few different ways to rent your car for profit. You can become an Uber or Lyft driver and earn An average of $37,902 per year.
You can also sell advertising space on your vehicle. StickR.co is a website that makes it easy to get paid cash and gift cards for placing a decal on the back window of your vehicle. The site indicates that you can earn up to $2,300 annually through cash and gift cards, depending on the campaign.
10. Your bike
If you have a bicycle, chances are it’s sitting unused in your apartment or garage for at least a portion of every day. You can earn up to $500 per month by renting out your bike to other people in your area using sites like Spinlister.
According to the website, you can also rent your surfboard, snowboard or skis.
11. Your yard location
If you have a nice backyard with enough room for pets to run around, you can rent out your patio as a dog park. You can earn up to $3,000 per month through the SniffSpot website.
12. Your house
More than 150 million people use Airbnb will take vacation bookings. This isn’t counting people who use VRBO or other services to rent out their homes to travelers.
How much you can earn depends on where you live, the size of your home, and your positive rating as a host. Airbnb hosts in the US earn an average of $44,235 per year, with hosts in Hawaii leading the list with average earnings of $73,247.
13. Your talent
If you have specific skills, such as Writing, graphic design or teaching, you can make money from home by sharing your time and talents. You can look for freelance gigs on Fiverr or Upwork, or consider creating, marketing, and selling an online course to share your talents with others and help them start their own businesses.
14. Photos
Do you enjoy taking pictures? You may be able to earn some extra cash by listing those photos on sites like ZenFolio or SmugMug.
According to Indeed, photographers earn an average salary of $43,329 per year, depending on their experience, field, and the type of photography they do.
15. Your opinion through surveys
If you want to earn extra cash in your spare time, you can do so by participating in surveys and donating your opinion. Survey sites like Opinion Outpost pay up to $25 per survey, as previously reported GoBanking Rates.
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If you’re trying to pay off debt, save for retirement, or simply improve your quality of life, consider one of the money making ideas listed above. With a little hustle and creativity, you can increase your income by hundreds per week.
Kaitlyn Moorehead Contributed to the reporting of this article.
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