The Financial Importance of Your Hobbies

Why not turn doing what you love into a way to make a bit of money on the side?  We share ideas on how to make money with your hobbies.

The difference between a hobby and a job is that a job has aspects you don’t enjoy. A hobby is doing only the things you like to do.

Can you make money watching TV? Kind of sad if you consider TV a hobby but none the less, you can turn it into cash. You can use sites like Swagbucks or Bing Rewards to play videos while you’re doing something else, cooking or working.

You may have to occasionally click on the screen but it’s not terribly distracting or time-consuming. You can even use something like Bing Rewards Bot to automate the system. Matt’s brother Dan makes anywhere from $40-70 a month this way.

How Stuff Works lists ten hobbies that can pay off. Several of them like dog walking, organizing, and coaching a sport have little to no start up costs. If you love to take photos, upload them to a site like i-Stock. Someone looking for a photo of a beach for example, will pay to use your shot.

Ask yourself what you’re good at and find a way to turn that into a job. Think carefully though. Cooking a big meal on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine is fun and relaxing. Slaving away in a restaurant kitchen for crap wages is less fun and could ruin the enjoyment of your hobby.

Show Notes

SwagBucks.com: An on-line rewards program.

Bing: Earn credits toward gift certificates while on-line.

PogoCheats.com: A bot to help automate earning Bing Rewards.

Reddit Beer Money: A sub-reddit devoted to discussing ways to make money online.

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