This self-sufficiency thing isn’t for wimps! Most of the time what I do is find ways to spend less for the things we need, find ways to get things for free or traded for work, and find ways to make something I do have do the job of something I don’t have.

But, money is good. Cold hard cash in the bank. Jingling coins in your pocket. The ability to purchase something you can’t find a way to obtain in other ways. So I’ve begun doing a couple things to bring in some actual money.

One thing I’ve done is add WordAds to this blog. I really had no idea what to expect, but I find they’re not bad at all. And I get paid when people simply view the page the ad is on, they don’t have to click the ad for it to count. (Which is good, because if you’re like me you never click ads at all.)

I earn approximately one penny for every 10 people who view each page. Not exactly breaking the bank here, but every little bit helps, right? So for the month of July, that amounts to a whopping thirteen cents. But on the other hand, all I had to do was set it up and let it go, no maintenance required. That’s called passive income, and it’s pretty neat. When I reach $100, they’ll deposit it into my PayPal account.

I do other things to earn money, too, but they all take more effort. I’m a guide for ChaCha, where I earn half a cent for each question I answer. People text questions in to ChaCha, each is assigned to a guide, we do a quick search in the ChaCha database (because people keep asking the same questions over and over and over), copy-and-paste the right answer and hit send. Very easy work, but still work.  I’ve earned about $20 from them already, that’s about 4,000 questions answered. Like most online deals, I don’t get my money until I reach $100 accrued. I average a little less than 100 questions per hour, but it’s attention-intensive, so I can only do it at random times when nothing else is going on. Earning money when I’d normally putter about painting my nails or rearranging the spice cabinet is good.

Neither of those is going to break the bank. I also list my rabbit kits for sale when I have them, but sales are too irregular from that to count on it in any way. I have to only breed what I would use, and if I sell one it’s a bonus. Same with day-old chickens, although I can always flip chickens that are already laying eggs.

I have several ways to earn money on a more reliable basis that are still bouncing around in my head, and I am taking steps toward them. Just not there yet. One more trip this summer and I’ll be home for a long enough stretch that I can get those started.

Anybody have tips for me on other things I can add to my cash-earning repertoire?