When I was a little girl, my grandma always told me to be sure I had a little mad money in my purse. To be certain I wasn’t without, she’d give me a few pennies to hold onto and she’d always include a dime just in case of emergency (yes, payphones really did exist once upon a time AND calls could be made for a thin dime!). As I grew into my teen years, Grandma’s mad money donations increased to $5 bills just in case I needed emergency cab fare or in case I wanted to “buy a pop”.
Later, I learned that the concept of mad money wasn’t just grandma’s excuse for doling out cash, but it was her way of teaching me that a girl should always have a little spending money in her pocket.
Wiktionary.org sums it up pretty nicely:
A sum of money, often relatively small in amount, kept in reserve to use for impulsive, frivolous purposes; A sum of money kept in reserve or to insulate oneself financially in the event of the sudden breakdown of a relationship in which one is economically dependent.
Work at home jobs for moms can surely net you a comfortable salary, but if you find that your earnings are spread pretty thinly between bills, every day essentials and savings (you are saving, right?), then check out these ways of earning a little mad money on the side:
Fiverr, Zeerk and Fora20.com ~ All 3 sites are built around the same concept: trade favors for cash. You can post a task that you’ll perform or pick up a request for a task someone requests. Similar sites are popping up all over the web as people find them to be convenient ways of making mad money and getting things done! (Also, try Clickworker)
Sell an item on Craigslist ~ Craigslist is a good place for job leads, especially for work at home jobs for moms, but don’t forget that it’s also a mad money treasure trove. There, you can not only sell your own stuff for fast cash, but you can also pick up free stuff to resell there. Just look in the For Sale section of your local Craigslist site and you’ll notice a special sub-section marked Free. You have to move quickly when free items come up, because others are hawking that section too, but you can pick up some really cool items to relist for profit if you’re fast enough to be first in line for a good freebie.
Bidding Sites ~ We don’t advertise them in our job leads section, primarily because we prefer to bring you actual jobs, BUT this doesn’t mean that there isn’t real money (including mad money) to be made on these sites. If you’re between work at home jobs for moms, searching for a side-gig or even if you just want to earn a extra mad money, check out a few bidding sites like oDesk and Freelancer.com.
Do you make sure you keep a little mad money in your pocket at all times? What are some of the ways in which you separate it from your other income and do you have any favorite ways of earning mad money? If so, we’d love to hear your ideas in the comment section below.
