Times are tough. Many American families are still struggling to make ends meet after the worst recession in decades. If you are one of the many struggling each month to get by, you are probably looking for ways to make extra money while keeping your day job. Here are seven ways to earn extra money while keeping your day job.

Take on a Part-Time Job
Earning extra money the old traditional way is to simply find a part time job you can work at night and on weekends. If you are able to manage your time wisely, you should be able to add a couple of nights a week to your schedule. Restaurants, department stores, and call centers offer nighttime and weekend hours. Even if it is only a couple of hours a night, or over the weekend, this is certainly a viable way of earning extra money while keeping your day job.

Selling Your Unwanted Items
Many of us have boxes and boxes of stuff we are no longer using. Now may be the perfect time to clean out those boxes, and place items for sale on eBay or Craigslist. You know the old saying, “One mans junk is another mans treasure”? Once you have gone through your stuff, try heading out to yard sales on the weekends, and go through other peoples stuff. You can purchase items from yard sales cheap, then turn around and sell them on eBay or Craigslist at a higher price.

In addition to eBay or Craigslist, consignment stores and flea markets are a great place to sell your stuff. Clothing and baby items are a big hit at consignment stores. You could also hold your own yard sale from time to time to create additional income.

Affiliate Marketing
Many Americans have turned to affiliate marketing as a means of making extra money. There are thousands of opportunities available with affiliate marketing. Affiliates are selling anything you can imagine from coffee, greeting cards, make-up, pocketbooks, to pet food! You name it, there is probably an affiliate marketing program out there selling it. With affiliate marketing, you can build a business working just a couple of hours a day selling other companies’ products. All you need to do to get started is create a website or blog and refer your readers to websites that sell the product. If one of your readers makes a purchase, you earn a commission on what they buy. Be sure to read affiliate network reviews before you get started.

Blogging
Creating your own blog is a great way to make extra money while keeping your day job. Blog about what is of interest to you. You may enjoy cooking, so create a blog about it. People are blogging about everything from parenting tips to travel. Figure out what it is that you would enjoy writing about, and start writing. Blogs only need to be about 200 words each. Eventually when you have many followers, you can start to earn money with advertising. The more followers you have, the greater the potential to make more money. As you become better at writing, you may want to consider writing an e-book about what you are blogging about and sell that on your website.

Babysit Evenings
Another traditional way to earn extra money is to offer nighttime babysitting services in your home. Since there are many people working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet, the need for quality childcare is huge, especially at night and on weekends when traditional daycare and schools are closed.

Making and Selling Crafts
If you are creative, and have the talent to quilt, sew, paint or craft, you can begin to sell your crafts to earn extra money while keeping your day job. Many crafters will work evenings creating their products, then display and sell their creations at craft shows, green markets, or flea markets on the weekends. If you want to step it up just a notch, create an online store and sell your items there. This will open up a much larger market for you. You can also post your crafts on etsy or eBay or Craigslist as well as other internet sites.

Take on Side Jobs
Whatever your talent, and current day job, you can earn extra money taking on a couple of side jobs. If you’re a teacher, consider tutoring students at night and on weekends. If you are good at transcribing, consider hanging a sign at the local college offering to transcribe reports.

One benefit of starting a home based business is the tax credits you are able to take on your home, and other expenses to operate your business such as; vehicle mileage, internet and phone, supplies, maintenance on the home, and vehicle maintenance just to name a few. There are many tax breaks for you, so check with your local tax professional for a complete list of what your are able to write off as a business expense.

Many people have been able to turn their part-time home based business into their full time gig. To do this, you need to take the time to build up your business. With persistence and patience, you too may be able to replace the income of your day job, and fire your boss.

With the times as tough as they have been, many people have had to become creative to help them make ends meet. The internet is full of great opportunities to create additional income. Figure out what it is that you are passionate about and then figure out a way to create a 2nd stream of cash flow doing what you love. You just need to find the best way that works for you. Whether it is selling make-up to your friends and co-workers, or delivering pizza at night, there are many ways for you to make extra money while keeping your day job.