Making extra money...

So yesterday I talked about how I was trying save money and today I am going to talk about how I am trying to earn extra money for my shopping habit. People may think the two posts are contradictory of each other but I want to let you know that any of the "extra" money that I earn is for me to use for shopping. That's why I do it. Sometimes I will use to for an upcoming vacation or something that my husband and I are saving for but mainly its for me to do something I love SHOP!

1. Sell on ebay. My shopping habit used to be a lot worse than it is now. I used to just buy buy buy and not really think through my purchases. Now I ask the questions - will this go with other things in my wardrobe, how much use am I really going to get, is the price worth it, etc. But because I had a few years where I wasn't thinking I have many items in my wardrobe that I just don't need or wear that often so I sell them on ebay. I only sell the stuff that are in great condition. And this is my extra money that I do whatever I want with. Last year I used some of it to help pay for our vacation to Barbados and most recently I used it to update my workout clothes. I'm going to start posting my Spring/Summer ebay stuff this week and will use the money for a vacation to Aruba (hopefully it all works out and we go) and to add some new items to my spring/summer wardrobe.

2. Use websites that give back. There are a ton of websites that give you "rewards." I was using a site called MyPoints. The way it works is you earn points for doing what you already do online: shopping, reading emails, playing games, searching the web, taking surveys, and more! It was easy to use but I found it took a long time to earn enough points to get a reward (a gift card - they have a ton of options, I got one from Banana Republic). Now I found a new site - Ebates.com. This one is great because I can earn CASH...yes CASH. It works the same way as MyPoints with the online shopping but I feel as though I earning rewards a lot easier. Each store has a corresponding percentage of cash back. For example I just ordered a bunch of stuff from GAP and Old Navy and I get 3% cash back on my purchase. I haven't figured out everything there is with Ebates but I do know that I love it. If you haven't already signed up I really recommend you do and please enter my email address (christinadscripps@gmail.com) so I can get a refer a friend reward.

3. Use rewards cards. I still use my reward cards/credit cards (pay them off right away) because I am always getting great offers in the mail. Whether it be a $25 gift card to J.Crew or always getting free shipping from Banana Republic, GAP, and Old Navy. It's those little things that help.

How do you make extra money? How do you strech your shopping budget to still get the things that you want. I'm always looking for new ideas.