Great tips for making more money

Now that you've maximized your job earnings, it's time to think about boosting your earnings outside the office. There are so many ways to make more money without making a lot more effort, just by thinking creatively. Here are a few Smart Cookie tips to get you started:

• Clean out your closets. Rather than throwing your used clothes away, why not find them a new home, where they will continue to be loved? Smart Cookies clear out their closets on a regular basis and often sell the shoes and clothing items at a consignment store, on eBay, or on craigslist.org. One of the Smart Cookies makes about $300 at the end of each season and puts that toward new clothes. Katie sold her wedding dress for $800 on craigslist.org. You can do the same with clothes — or toys — your baby has outgrown. Some grow so fast that they never even get a chance to wear all the outfits that their parents bought or received as gifts, and a toy may hardly be used if the baby isn't interested. Another possibility? Donate the clothes or toys to charity and keep the receipt. You can write off the value of your donation when you do your taxes the next year and feel good about helping out those who are less fortunate.

• Clear out the clutter. Here’s an incentive to clean up your home: You can get rid of your junk and make money by having a yard (or a garage) sale. Team up with friends, family members, or neighbors and combine your stuff. Then you'll have extra help running the sale and extra inventory to attract more buyers. And who knows? You might end up swapping items with your friends or neighbors.

• Sell stock photos. If people regularly ooh and aah over your Flickr pictures, maybe you’re destined for photographic greatness — or at least a few extra dollars. It’s easier than ever to get your photos out in front of the public. There's a lot of competition, but there's also a lot of demand. Marketing stock photos can be a convenient way for you to build up a secondary income stream. Try Fotolia.com, Dreamstime.com, Shutterstock.com, and Bigstockphoto.com to upload and market your photos.