Are you feeling down? Overspend at the holidays? Or, even if you stayed within your budget, you wish you were just a bit more ahead? Me too! So I’ve been brainstorming in my head as to how I can bring in some extra cash. No, not retire early kind of cash. But, just a bit to either pay off some bills or save for our vacation. Thought I’d share them with you.

1. Consigning: I have seen consignment shops  for women’s clothing, kids’ clothing, sporting goods and equipment, horse riding stuff, and power tools. If you have any of those items, check around and see what you can get rid of for a decent price. Here is an article on consigning that I wrote for Yahoo. Right now, those shops are getting ready for spring & summer stuff, so that’s what you should be working on. Expect to make back about 10-25% of the original cost.

2. Ebay: People don’t buzz about Ebay the way they used to, but it’s still alive and kicking. They’ve also been offering a lot of “no fee” sale weeks, so keep your eyes open. Great for smaller items.

3. Half.com: This is a sub-site of Ebay, and one that I’ve had a tremendous amount of success with. It’s fantastic for books, DVDs, stuff like that. You can list items for up to a year, and….here’s the beauty of it–for books, you just type in the ISBN number. The site will then locate it, and provide you with the listing, all you have to do is list the condition and the price! It eliminates the time-consuming part of doing pictures, write ups and all that. Then, list it and forget it–you’ll get an email once it sells.

4. Craigslist: I hate craigslist and I NEVER have good luck on here. But some do. It’s great for bigger items like furniture and baby equipment. We have lots of furniture to get rid of in our basement.

5. Furniture resale: Our area has several furniture resale shops. Some work on a flat fee, some work on a percentage. Most will pick up your items, but you will be charged for it. If you have items in your attic or basement collecting dust, sell it!

6. Turn a skill you have into cash: Here’s a great example–a close friend of mine has a daughter with long hair, and she (the mom) loves to braid it. She is very good at doing all kinds of fun French braids and twists. Well, some of the neighborhood moms took note, and now she’s getting $5 a head for cheering, dance and gymnastics competitions! The moms are glad to pay it, because to go to a hairdresser would cost more. It just takes this mom a few minutes of her time and some weekends she really does well. What can you do? Do people rave about the baked goods you make, how you’ve custom painted your kid’s room or the photos you take and the scrapbooks you make? Turn it into cash by selling your skills.

7. Babysit: I have two kids in my house all the time, what’s one or two more? And most parents would rather have another parent watching their kids instead of teens (nothing against teens, but you know what I mean).  If your kids are school age, see if your child’s friends need before/after school care because both parents work. You still have most of your day free and their kid has a safe place to go.

8. Sell your gold: Gold is at a very high rate now. Clean out your jewelry box of the old, the ugly, the broken, the no-longer-in-style, and sell it.

9.  Plan a yard sale: January isn’t prime for yard sales, but spring will be here before you know it. Start planning, organizing and sorting now, to make the most money when you do have it.

10. Online surveys and focus groups: I’ve posted about these several times, and once you get into a groove with companies that you fit with, this can be a very consistent small source of income.