There are millions of people who would love to make extra money, a little bit here or there to buy something special at the end of the month or to use towards that thing you've been promising yourself for so long. You may not want another job, or anything permanent - just some extra money occasionally, and the knowledge of how to make it whenever you want to.

Making extra money is not a job. It isn't something you need to do every day. In fact, it may not be something you can do every day. It's just a way to make a few extra dollars whenever you need it, a convenient way to generate a little extra to tide you over from time to time without the burden of having to keep doing it.

In most cases, those who need to make extra money already have a day job. They probably work five days a week, or maybe even six and occasionally all seven. The problem then is likely to be that their day job isn't high paying enough to provide for everything. In situations like that, knowing how to make extra money whenever you need it is priceless.

For most people, giving up their day job is not an option. They may have heard all about the wonderful opportunities online on this thing called the Internet where people can earn small fortunes and large ones too for doing little work. However, they cannot risk packing in their day job on the off chance that it will work out for them.

That's where the ability to make extra money comes in very, very handy indeed. If they know how to generate $100, or $200 without too much effort from time to time, it can make all the difference to a family budget. The core income from the day job is not threatened, but the possibility of getting some extra occasionally is always there and always welcomed.

You can of course make extra money by getting a second job. Often this is not really an option because your first job takes up too much time. However, if you can spare a few hours a night, or even just one or two, you might be able to make extra money doing something that's not too stressful or too hard to do.

It doesn't have to be an actual second job either. If you can offer some kind of a service locally you can make extra money doing that. Who knows, it could become so successful that you are able to give up your main day job and work for yourself eventually.

In fact, that's probably the best way to test a work from home job idea; work it in around your day job and see how it takes off. Give it a fair chance to get going, and put enough effort in. If it works out, ramp it up a little, if possible. You will have to gauge things carefully, but you will hopefully at least make extra money in the process.

There are all kinds of services you could offer locally. People forever need things done and they don't always have enough time to do it themselves. If your charges are reasonable, you will most likely get work. You can probably advertise your service in local shops for a small fee, or in a community newsletter, if there is one. Be creative and check out what's available for you.

While there are thousands of things you can do offline in the real world to make extra money, unless you live in a very rural area, online, everything changes. In the online world you have opportunity after opportunity to pursue in a never-ending stream. Not all of the opportunities will suit you, but some most likely will.

The wonderful thing about making extra money online is the fact that all you need is a computer that is connected to the Internet and a little time. You will also need some knowledge of what to do, but that is something you can learn and build up. If you already have a skill that can be adapted to the Internet, and many do, you are already ahead of the game.

Writing is one skill that most of us have already that is needed and in great demand online. The Internet runs on written content, and it constantly needs more and more all the time. If you can supply what is needed, you can make extra money whenever you want to.

Perhaps you know something about web design, or you want to learn. Good web designers are always in demand, and if you don't already know how to do it, there are plenty of free resources available for you to learn from.

In fact, that's the wonderful thing about the Internet. You can learn so much there completely free. There are websites packed with useful and accurate information on how to do just about anything you could think of. If you really can't find what you want to learn free, then there are reports and manuals available at a modest cost that can be worth their virtual weight in gold.

One of the best resources online is the forums. If you need to learn about something that you feel could make extra money for you every month, find a forum on the subject. There are thousands of forums, most of them excellent. They are usually free to join and they are usually really helpful communities where people help each other for the common good.

In a good forum you can ask question, get answers, learn methods, and make friends - as well as extra money, and so much more. While it's true that not everything you find on the Internet is accurate or true, most of it is, or at least, enough of it is for you to make extra money in thousands of different ways.

Perhaps the best of both worlds to make extra money is a combination of online and offline. There is no rigid one way to do this. Just use your imagination and test out things slowly at first. Don't give up your day job until you are certain that what was good to make extra money now and then is now good to do full time.