Here at Generation X Finance we know how difficult it is to balance financial affairs with all of the other commitments that you are required to keep. With school, work, community and social events filling up your calendar every month, it is often impossible to find a moment of peace in between. Knowing exactly what it means to be time-deprived, we have come up with a list of ways to increase your wealth that won’t interfere with life as you know it.

Most ideas require little, if any special skills.  Some, however, make use of the talents and expertise that you often write about in resumes. None are so time consuming that you will lose sight of all the things that matter to you. In fact, you may have so much fun earning extra dough that your friends and family members will be begging you to share your secret.

Here’s how to flex your financial muscles in new and exciting ways:

Become a Mystery Shopper and get paid to do something that you love

Mystery Shopping and Secret Shopping are one in the same. You, the shopper, fill out an online application with information about your background, experience and areas of interest and the company hiring you dispatches alerts every time there is a shop in your area that matches your preferences.

Detailed instructions are given to you before the shop is to take place and in addition to earning a fee for your services, some companies reimburse you for expenses like gas, food, lodging and merchandise.

See what we mean by visiting:

• Corporate Research International
• Best Mark
• Shoppers, Inc
• Jancyn

Word to the Wise: DO NOT, under any circumstances, pay a fee to register on any of these sites.  Just like any other employer, they should compensate you not vice versa.

Put your knack for writing stories to the test by freelance writing

An extremely lucrative career option, you can make bundles of the green stuff by offering your services online. Although online classified ads can produce higher paying gigs, they are often unreliable and very short-term. Opt instead to work for companies with solid reputations. A story here and a story there will help you pad your portfolio and wallet all at the same time.

Demonstrate to others that you have the “write stuff” by registering at:

• Textbroker
• Demand Studios
• Content Current
• Quality Gal

Word to the Wise: Persistence pays off. The more that you write, the bigger the paycheck you will yield.

Sell your old textbooks online rather than to your college’s bookstore

Notoriously bad about charging you an arm and a leg for your textbooks and paying you a meager sum to buy them back, college bookstore can learn a thing or two about manners. Rather than opt for a quarter of your purchasing price, stick those books online for considerably more and watch them fly off your bookshelf. You can also do this with all of your unwanted DVDs, CDs, clothing and accessories.

Bank that extra moolah after getting to know:

• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• EBay

Word to the Wise: Always put delivery confirmation on anything that you send out via the USPS. Many a seller has been burned by customers claiming that they didn’t receive the item that they purchased.

Take surveys online and offer to be a product tester

Although you won’t necessarily get rich by stating your opinions, you will receive small paychecks and may even be selected to try out new products for free.

Tell companies how they can improve by going to:

• Pinecone Research
• Buzzback
• Clear Voice Surveys

Word to the Wise: Avoid visiting sites that require you to respond to sponsor offers unless you want an inbox full of spam.

Do something useful with all those digital photographs

Stock photography is a great income booster. Simply register on the site, upload your photos and make money while you sleep. You don’t even have to be a professional to take a great picture.

Showcase your skills at:

• BigStockPhoto
• Fotolia
• StockXpert

Word to the Wise: Make sure to watermark all your photographs if the site itself does not provide the service. Without doing this simple step, your images are available to anyone with access to the internet and you won’t see a penny for your hard work.

Creativity goes a long, long way when it comes to increasing your net worth. The ability to “think outside the box” and try different things is one skill that many companies desire in an employee. Increasing your financial IQ may take some getting used to. Along the way, you can try a couple of ideas listed here and be able to afford the finer things in life without having to give up too much of your precious time. Now, take what you’ve learned here and put it to good use.  We all can use a little bit of mad money to line our pockets with!

As a quick background, direct selling is simply where sales are made by independent contractors to the public without requiring a retail storefront or traditional selling channel. Direct sellers can sell from their home, utilize the web, host parties, or even set up booths at various events. There are a wide array of products that are currently being sold this way ranging from food to cosmetics. For more information be sure to check out Direct Selling 411, which is part of the Direct Selling Association.

Although I’ve never even hosted a home party or completed a demo, I do have a strong retail background which I think would benefit me in this case. I like being social and really know how to work the customer service angle. So, without any further information, I decided to plunge head first into the world of direct selling. I mean, what do I got to lose? I always have writing to fall back on.

Here are a of the few things that made an impression on me when I was researching different companies on the net:

• Home based businesses can be lucrative.  I’ve seen my fair share of pink cars around town. I guess that goes to show you that the programs set up by direct seling companies do work for a lot of people. How ambitious you are opposed to how ambitious you claim to be are two different things. Direct selling is highly competitive. The representatives that set goals for themselves are the ones that are awarded amazing vacations and vehicles as prizes for their effort. Not everyone is going to have that kind of luck selling cosmetics or kitchen gadgets.
• Home based businesses are creative. This ain’t your momma’s home party. There is a lot more variety in terms of the products and services you get to choose from. Companies from all around the world are cashing in on the direct selling craze. They offer bigger and better selling kits along with a number of incentives to get their sellers off to a good start. Pricewise, you just can’t beat it.
• Home based businesses are flexible. In my case, I just want some supplemental income. I’m not looking to make my home party business a full-time career. I do like the fact that I have that option though. The companies that I familiarized myself with online offer plenty of room for advancement. This is especially great for stay-at-home moms and retirees. You have the ability to set your own hours and work whenever it fits your schedule. This allows you plenty of time to spend with your spouse and children.

I’ve chosent to work with two different companies that really seem to be solid. I’m looking forward to seeing what being a consultant will do for me. I may not sell enough to win any prizes and I’m fine with that. I do, however, like to have multiple streams of income coming in. In this economy, it never hurts to have some extra money saved.

Many Americans are unable to make ends meet.  Those that are fortunate to have a job may be stretched so thin that they are unable to see the silver lining among the clouds.  The following four suggestions can help give your income a boost this year.

• Sell something. Whether it’s through eBay, ETSY, Amazon or Craigslist, a lot can be said about setting up shop and having your very own online storefront.  Each website listed here requires very little input from you which makes online selling the perfect source of supplemental income for you and your family.  You can sleep and still make money.  That’s a great arrangement if you ask me!
• Freelance. Are you an aspiring writer or graphic designer?  Do you have Internet access at home?  If you answered yes, then I have another source of income for you.  Websites like oDesk, Elance, and iFreelancer allow you to set-up a profile, name your price, and search through a database of potential jobs.  If writing is your thing, you could always think about writing for Demand Media. There are even iPhone apps for many of these three services which makes following up on a potential gig that much easier.
• Join a bartering network and get items for free opposed to shelling out your hard earned cash for them. I’m personally a big fan of Swap.com, PaperbackSwap, and thredUp.  Hundreds of these types of sites exist.  By being creative, you can make do with whatever income you are earning and still live what is thought to be a luxurious life.  Save money on everything you can by swapping with others.
• Start a blog and capitalize on paid advertising. Sell space on your blog to advertisers.  Also set up a Google Adsense account.  This will allow you to capitalize on ad revenue on a monthly basis.  You can sign into your free account at any time to track your profits. If you’ve been following Generation X Finance since the beginning you may recall that this site was started as just a weekend hobby and didn’t make a dime. Today it’s a full-time business. You never know what could happen.

Any passive or even semi-passive  income that you make can improve your finances tremendously.  You can use it to pad your savings account, pay off some debt, or to make a much needed repair to your home or vehicle.  The point here is to use your imagination.  If you can conceive it and it makes you money, then it is definitely worth looking into. And don’t discount the little things. The founder of Entrepreneur Magazine has often said that it’s easier to find ten ways to make $1,000 than it is to find one way to make $10,000. It’s true on any scale. If your goal is just to bring in an extra $250 a month don’t look at it as finding some new business idea that suddenly generates that money. Instead, maybe look for five different ways to make or save just $50 a month. You’ll find it’s a lot easier to reach your goals when they are broken into manageable chunks.

Demand Studios provides article and video content to websites like YouTube,  eHow, GolfLink, Trails, and AOL.  The company hires freelance writers, copy editors, independent filmmakers, transcribers, and title proofers to complete tens of thousands of assignments for these clients.  Payment depends on the content created and submitted weekly to your PayPal account.  Project descriptions are viewable through your own personal dashboard once you are accepted to Demand Studios.

The Benefits of Working For Demand Studios

As an Independent Contractor, you have the freedom to work from anywhere in the world.  As long as you are a US Citizen and have access to an internet connection, you will be able to visit the website, accept and submit assignments, and view your payment statement for the month.  In addition to these benefits, you also have:

• More control over your resources.  You do not have a “boss” in a physical sense.  You can take on as few or as many assignments as your schedule will permit.  The only person you have to answer to is an Editor who may suggest corrections to the piece that you are working on.

• No invoices or timesheets.  Demand Studio’s handy interface calculates this information for you.  You can view your earnings for the week, the month, and the year conveniently.

• A variety of subject matter.  You can accept assignments that reflect your values and interests.  There is no need to do something you hate when there are so many projects available that you love.

• Access to limited medical plans depending on output.  Individuals that have worked with Demand Studios for 3 months and averaged 30 articles a month (writers), 200 articles reviewed a month (copy editors), and 30 videos a month (filmmakers) receive an enrollment form for insurance benefits by email.  There are no deductibles or co-pays, guaranteed acceptance despite pre-existing conditions or family medical history, and a discount prescription drug card.

Few work-from-home employers offer the type of perks Demand Studios offers to its Independent Contractors.  In addition to a regular paycheck and a wide range of projects to choose from, men and women become eligible for health insurance benefits which ordinarily cost them a mint.

Even if you aren’t looking for a full-time gig, completing a few assignments a month for the company can help you pay for your child’s music lessons, make that much needed household repair or put something in the bank for a rainy day.  What more can you ask for?  You can apply for free by visiting Demand Studios (http://www.demandstudios.com) today.  You never know, you may find yourself with more work than you ever dreamed possible!

Charissa Arsaoui is a freelance writer for ChickSpeak, Buzzine, DisFUNKshion Magazine, Student Stuff, and a guest contributor for Wisebread.  She loves thrift related topics and can spot a bargain a mile away.