Everything costs more these days from your “cham peng” to your “java chip frappe”. What can you do the earn extra income? Here are 5 ideas for extra income that are totally legit and is not a waste of your time.

 

Surveys

  • How it works: Filling up surveys online can generate extra income. You get sent survey links once a while to fill up and you receive points depending on the survey.
  • Complexity: Easy
  • Time: 5 mins on average per survey
  • Value: An average survey of 5 mins gives you 150 points (~RM2.25) which works out to around RM27 per hour. The amout isn’t high but don’t forget your surveys can be done during otherwise wasted time (e.g. you are in a queue)
  • Payout: Cash (via PayPal in SGD), AirAsia points, or making a donation to UNICEF
  • Signup link: YouGov
    Note: I get 200 points for signups using the above link

 

AirBnb

  • How it works: Host guests in your home (or even an experience!).
  • Complexity: Medium
  • Time: It’s pretty quick and easy to setup your initial AirBnB hosting profile.
  • Earnings: You earn depending on your location, guests you can accommodate, property and number of rooms. A room on average earns you RM300-800 while an entire place RM1,200-2,000 for a week.
  • Tips: Check with your local govt/council/property management to ensure you are compliant with all required rules and regulations.
  • Signup Link: AirBnB
    Note: You get travel credit and I get a small referral bonus

 

Writing

  • How it works: If you have a gift for writing, there is work to be found with decent payouts.
  • Complexity: Medium
  • Requirements: You need a property which you can let out in it’s entirety or part of.
  • Time: Depends on topic, complexity and requirements. May take as short as half a day (if you’re a pro) to a week.
  • Earnings: RM100 – RM1,000 per article (Projects will pay higher overall but lesser if counting pay per word)
  • Freelance writing: upwork.com or write for mypf

 

Programming

  • How it works: Programming projects come in all sorts of requests and sizes from vanilla website designs to AI projects.
  • Complexity: High
  • Time: X days depending on project complexity.
  • Earnings: RM500 – RM5,000 per project (With some opportunities paying for hourly, daily or monthly basis as well).
  • Tips: Find programming work overseas (e.g. US, UK) which pays out even higher due to currency conversion.
  • Freelance programming work: freelancer.com

 

Trading

  • How it works: Earn money from markets (stocks/commodities/forex/futures/etc) with short-term trading.
  • Complexity: Very high
  • Time: 1 hour daily; A few years to become good at it.
  • Monetary Investment: $5,000 – $10,000 at minimum to get started.
  • Learning Investment: RM5,000 – RM8,000 to learn on short-term trading strategies from professional trading experts.
  • Earnings: -X% (losses) to +100% gains per annum.
  • Tips: A larger time commitment and not for everyone depending on your emotional makeup and psychology. The potential returns are significant if you can make it.
  • Signup for a trusted global trading account (members)
  • Read an event review of a trading educational workshop (members)

 

Other Suggestions

 

Discuss

Have you tried out these ideas for extra income? Do you have other tips or suggestions? Just please don’t suggest money games.