How To Make Money As A Student Athlete

So you walked through the stage to get your diploma. Then what?

This question probably goes through the mind of most student-athletes during their final year in school. The biggest fear of most athletes (it was also a fear of mine) is to find a job after graduating. What is their biggest dream? To keep competing.

During college, a lot of student-athletes do not have the time to do extra work outside their schedule since being a student-athlete itself is a full-time job. Go to practice, go to class, go to practice again, go to class again, do homework, rest, compete. When you are an athlete, you are an athlete 24 hours of the day, 7 days a week. There's not much time left to make money or save money.

Graduation can be a heartbreaking moment for many athletes as they feel they are forced to make a decision; it's either work or compete. There are many reasons that evolve around that decision, and one of the biggest is money. We all need money to eat or pay our bills in order to have a comfortable life. Without a scholarship and stipend to help pay their expenses, a lot of athletes see no other choice but to start working. But, there's a way to balance the two.

Here are some tips on how to save/make money while being an athlete and after you're done with school.

1. Control your Expenses

A lot of us don't know how to manage our money during college. Some students receive stipends of $1,300 dollars to help pay the bills, but at the end of the month, they don't "see the color of the money." There are tons of apps out there that can help you with that. I personally use "Money Lover."

With this app you can track your expenses based on categories such as grocery shopping, education, bills, income, entertainment, and etc. This way you can know exactly how much money you spend and on what. The app also offers budget planning, bills reminders, and an in-depth report that shows you where your money comes and goes. It's worth a try!

2. Babysitting

It's a classic way to make money, but it works. Whether you're still in school or graduated, babysitting is an easy and quick way to earn some extra cash.

The good part of it is, you don't need to spend your night working at a restaurant fighting for tips. You get paid pretty well to mainly sit on the couch, watch a movie, and maybe play some games. A great website to find babysitting jobs is Care.com. On their site, you can also find pet and house sitting jobs. All you need to do is to sign in, create a profile, and start looking for clients that would be a good match with your schedule and experience.

What an easy way to make an extra $15-$30 bucks!

3. Private Lessons

Another way to make extra cash is by giving lessons. Were you a tennis player? Find a place where you can give private tennis lessons. You already have a list of contacts that can help you with that: coaches, trainers, friends, etc. This business works most through word-of-mouth. Once you start giving private lessons, it's not hard to find new clients. Let people know you are offering them. Post it on Facebook, LinkedIn. I taught, and still teach, swim lessons and am able to make almost $300 a month.

4. Online Gigs

There are a lot of online platforms where you can make money selling small services. One of the most famous right now is Fiverr.

You can offer pretty much anything from graphic design, data analysis, cooking recipes, writing and translating for people all over the globe. Gigs normally cost $5 dollars, which might not seem a whole lot, but it's a way to get your work exposed and make some money doing things that you actually enjoy doing.

You'll receive rating and feedback of the services you offer based on the quality of service provided including time delivery and customer satisfaction and then you are able to start moving up levels. There are three levels of Fiverr. Each level offers you more benefits and also more money. You can move up from getting payed $5 to $40.

It's a pretty cool platform, easy to use and welcoming to several levels of professionals.

5. Sell Things You Don't Use Anymore

You know that book that is covered in dust on your bookshelf? Or that shirt you decided to keep but you never ended up using? Selling things you don't use anymore will get you money. There are several websites where you can do that; eBay, Craigslist, Amazon. The list is huge. However, there are certain websites where some things sell better than others.

Tradesy is a great website to sell clothes, bags, accessories, and shoes. It's super simple too. You upload pictures of the items you want to sell and they will give you a quote on how much they can give you for it.

All the books that you had to buy during college can be turned into money at Cash4Books.net They also accept other types of books, but textbooks are the most popular.

If you are a gamer and have a bunch of old video games, CD's, Blu-Rays and DVD's, Bonavendi is your spot. Their philosophy revolves around the idea of recommerce. Or, in other words, the idea that electronics should not end up at a scrap yard. The cool thing about the website is, different than eBay and Amazon, prices are fixed. No crazy auctions and complications. You create an account, enter your items, and Bonavendi identifies the best vendors for you. The best part of it all is, once your products are sold, you get your cash right away.

6. Sell Things That You Create

There are also websites where you can sell things that you create. Etsy is a growing marketplace with approximately 24 million of users around the world. The focus is on handmade items. It can be shirts, craft and supplies, jewerly, even books and paintings. You are able to sell and buy items from all over the globe.

There's a 20 cent listing fee and also a 3-5 percent fee after the product is sold. But if you consider the fact that they offer you a platform to sell your products and also provide exposure, it's not that bad. Other websites have collect fees of almost 10%.

7. Make Money by Listening to Music

I know... this is a thing! You can actually make money just by listening to music. It's not a whole lot of money, but Slicethepie gives you the opportunity to get some cash by providing meaningful feedback to bands, record labels and artists.

Cool, huh? In the meantime, you get to know new bands and songs!

8. Write a Blog

Blogging has been around for many years, but the increase on accessibility has opened doors for more and more people to create their own blog. It can really be about anything. In fact, the more specific you are, the better. The Internet has given people the ability to look for what they want at whatever time they want it, and this means that people want someone who can speak directly to them.

If you are super into recycling, write about it. If you enjoy darts, write about it. You might be surprised to see how many people have the same interest as you or who want to learn more about something you're an expert on.

There are so many people out there who started their blog just for fun and now turned them into their source of income.

WordPress and Tumblr are great platforms to start on your own blog. They are easy to navigate and they offer some cool templates for free.

9. Freelance Work

I would say Upwork is an "upgraded" version of Fiverr. It's more professional, which means the pay is higher, but the idea is the same. Upwork is a premier workplace platform for big companies to hire and work with independent professionals on a global scale.

If you are talented and skilled, don't miss the opportunity to connect and work with other professionals.

Projects vary from big to small, short or ongoing, and individual or team-based, which means you can go at your own pace. You can accept jobs that fit into your own schedule. The platform covers a variety of skills such as web developers, accountants, IT's, and writers.

10. Become a Tutor

Becoming a tutor is a great way to use your education while you're not in school. Besides helping your brain from shrinking and forgetting all the things you learn in college, it's also a great way to help others. There are a few places online where you can apply to be a tutor. If you are good in chemistry, math, english, or if you speak a different language, use that in your favor!

Tutoring usually pays well and it can now be done online, through Skype, Google Hangout, Facebook conference calls. I mean, there are plenty of ways on how this could be done.

A great website to check is Tutor.com

Now it's your turn! How do you keep competing and earning money?

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