Of course many would argue that now is the best time to buy shares in blue stock companies while they are priced lower and enjoy the capital growth as the market regains confidence and certainty.  This is true.  However not everyone is willing to take on the extra risk, and perhaps you just want to keep your money save until you are sure of what you want to do with it.

It is also a great idea to save your money into a high interest bank account while you are saving for large items such as a car or house deposit.  It allows you to generate a steady (but small) return on your deposit while still having instant access to it when you are ready to make a purchase.

I know several people who had their house deposits and life savings tucked away in a high risk managed fund, ready to use it when they decided to buy their first house.  Here in Australia, with the government grants that were available, they needed to sell down their managed funds quickly when the market had collapsed in order to access their cash if they wanted to take opportunity of the extra government handout.  The best advice is plan for the future and diversify.  High risk managed funds are good if you can take the bad years with the good years.  If you need certainty with your returns then cash is a safer option.

All in all, plan how much money you need to save and make in order to achieve your goals and stick to them.  If you consistently save money into a high interest bank account then you will be able to make money on your money with interest and this will compound and compound the longer you leave it there.  If your plan is to save and leave your cash in a bank account for several years then I would recommend you seek financial advice as you will be able to get better returns (with more risk) in other avenues than cash.

Here are a few ideas to get your brain ticking and let those entrepreneurial thoughts and ideas come out from your hobby.

There are plenty of people who make money from their hobby business.  It could be part time or it could be full time.  Perhaps you have always loved taking photos of the kids and sharing them with your family and friends.  Maybe that hobby as a photographer is just the path that you can take to make some extra bit of money.  Why not offer childrens photo shoots at the local school fair or shopping center to start off and see if you can make a hundred or more dollars from parents who want fantastic shots of their kids but don’t know how to do it.

Maybe another example could be that soup that you have always made and that everyone loves.  Could you make it and sell to the local community for lunch during winter?  I know building sites and industrial areas where people are outside working in the cold would love a warm soup to fill them up, and would be happy to pay for it if its great quality.

Another idea to make money could be something as simple as offering the neighbors in the street to mow their lawns for them.  Its good exercise for you, they get their lawns mowed and you can make some extra cash in the process.  Of course, if you have a green thumb you may even be able to offer other services such as gardening, tree pruning or clearing out gutters of leaves.  Many a business has started like this and grown into a full time home care maintenance business.  The best part is you will already have most of the tools required to do the job already in the shed.

Do you play a musical instrument?  Why not try your luck at some busking down at the shopping mall?  The best time to do this is usually around Christmas, as everyone is in a festive and giving spirit and the song choice is rather easy.  Of course there are plenty of alley ways / cafe hangouts in towns and cities that would be happy to pay for some regular relaxing background music to add to the atmosphere for their customers.

As you can see, this is only a handful of ideas that you could use to turn your hobby into something that little bit extra.  If you aren’t that interested in making money, but just want to support your hobby, then just a little bit of work could help to pay for your materials, supplies or whatever it is that keeps your hobby going.  I know many people who love photography yet its pretty expensive to be constantly investing in expensive lenses and gear.  So its pretty easy to justify it when you know you have done a couple of friend’s weddings or special events and can pay for new gear with money the old gear has earnt you.

Basically what I’m saying here is to get another job.  It may come across as that, but I’m sure you will enjoy it more if you already have a passion, experience and know how in your hobby.  And you dont have to go the full committment of quitting your job, buying into a franchise or putting up a lot of money to start, as you are just expanding on what you are already doing.  It may even be something like those jams that you always make at home you can sell once a month at the local farmers market.  It might not be a lot of extra work to make some extra money that allows you to afford that little sweet or night out for dinner with the partner.

See what else you can think of.  There are plenty of ways to make money, its just knowing how to start and what to do.  Use your strengths and it will be a lot easier.

1.  Quitting your job.  For most people this is not an option.  While there are people who are working in jobs they don’t like, the vast majority of people must have some type of enjoyment in their workplace otherwise they wouldn’t stick around.  I can’t see how the majority of the world is wrong for such a crucial issue.  Sure we all need to make money to survive but are we all just doing it so that we are stuck in some type of system?  We all dream of working from home and making millions of dollars from our couch, but is it all really achievable and likely?  Sure it does happen, but usually that scenario is the result of hours, weeks and if not even years, of hard work.

2.  Starting your own business.  This is the bulk of the book and what I really enjoyed.  I don’t believe in just quitting your job and boating it around the world because its cheap in some countries to do so, I want to work in my own business and enjoy the benefits that can bring, as well as the challenges and learning.

I strongly agree with the principals of how Tim explains trialing your niche, area of focus, to see if it could be a business idea that you can develop to produce a sustaining and recurring income.  In particular, I was interested in his thoughts on setting up online businesses to make money from.  It is true of what I wanted to achieve when I created this website.  A site that would be active on the web, for anyone to come by and read, to provide value, and in return it would be a source of income.  Like anything, money doesn’t just grow on trees and takes time and hard work.  As Tim sets out in his book, you may need to trial a few ideas before they stick.  You won’t make money just like that from the get go.

The other important thing to remember is not to over commit yourself.  Start small and dream to grow big.  Don’t start big and find that the dream doesn’t come true.  Its much easier to upscale if you put in the correct plans and processes from the start, rather than the other way around.

If you do wish to quit your job, live the 4 hour workweek then making money online is a great way of achieving this.  Just remember that it does take a real lot of hard work.  The competition is tough and everyone wants a piece of the billion dollar pie that the internet is.  If you want to make money online I would suggest that you think outside of the square and do something that hasn’t been done before.

As Tim says in his book, its best to sell your product to 200 people who really want it, than it be shown to 200,000 people who couldn’t care less and simply clicked on your ad because they thought it was something else!

Overall, I would give it a 4 out of 5 and highly recommend to any budding business person or entrepreneur, even if you don’t find all of it useful, the aspects on internet marketing, making money on the web and outsourcing are well worth your time.

There are several sayings that go with it, but basically if its easy come, I’m sure that its easy go.  If you want to have a source of income that is going to last and provide an ongoing benefit, be prepared to put in the work, investment and the rewards will come in the long run.

So what are a few ways to make money?

Providing Services

Are you good at a particular skill that you can use to make money from.  This might be something such as web design, programming, copyrighting or even mowing the grass for your neighbors.  Think about the things you are already doing now, maybe not for profit, and how you could use these to make some money from.  Chances are there is someone out there that needs your service and is willing to pay for it.

Some other options could be using a particular type of software to achieve an end result.  Such as using Photoshop to remove red eye for some family photos, or more advanced requirements.  You paid enough for the software in the first place, use it to put some money back into your pocket.

Create a Digital Product

You can’t goto most web pages these days of bloggers etc that don’t sell some type of digital product.  Gone are the days of everything being physical and requiring shipping and handling.  These days, people who want to buy your products prefer to be able to access them quickly and when they pay for them. No waiting!  If you have an area of skill that other people are wanting information on, to learn and develop their own skills, turn this into a profitable product.  Maybe its an e-book, or a training video.  There are various sites as well where people are wanting to sell your product for them, you pay them a commission for doing all the work.

Saving money off your normal expenses

This is kind of the opposite to the above but every now and then it is a good idea to stop and look at what you are spending your money on.  Chances are you are paying bank fees, higher insurance premiums or utility bills than you need to.  Call up your bank and see if there is a better product that doesn’t take $10 out of your account every month, or shop around for a better deal on your car or house insurance.  A few phone calls and you could be saving several hundreds of dollars each year, which is certainly worth a bit of work now.

1.  Clean out your house for items that you no longer need that you can sell on ebay, at your local trash and treasure or hold a garage sale at your house.

2.  Get a job if you don’t have one.  If you do and you need more money, then apply for a second job, working a couple of evenings or weekends.

3.  Offer your services to neighbors for odd jobs, such as mowing their lawn, doing some gardening or helping with babysitting the kids.

4.  Develop a product that you can sell.  This may be an ebook or a physical product.

5.  Complete that tax return that you have been putting off.  Chances are you might get a refund!

6.  Call up your insurance providers and increase your excess, therefore lowering your premium and instantly making you money by saving money.