As the tri-state begins to experience early phases of the economy reopening, many people are still being left in the dark about when they will get back to work. Here are 11 tips from consumer expert Clark Howard on how you can start earning extra money right now . 

1 -Find Missing Money in Your Name
A quick search of MissingMoney.com and/or Unclaimed.org could lead to a surprise payday.

Unclaimed money from bank accounts, insurance policies, rental and utility deposits, safe deposit boxes and other places make up the billions of dollars sitting with state governments.

2 -Swagbucks: Watch Videos, Take Surveys and Surf the Web
Swagbucks is a way to earn free gift cards. Like some of the cash back apps, Swagbucks awards users points for online shopping. But it’s different because you can also get rewards for searching the web, watching videos and taking surveys.

3 -Amazon Mechanical Turk
If you want to work from home on your own schedule, Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is an online platform where businesses post various micro-jobs that workers can complete for a small cash reward.

MTurk refers to the micro-jobs as Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs). The time commitment and the pay rate for each HIT can vary significantly — most don’t require any special skills.

Here are a few examples of the tasks that workers can complete on MTurk:

Surveys for academic research
Identify objects in a photo or video
Transcribe audio recordings
Research data details

4 -Sell your unwanted stuff
eBay and Craigslist are two places to list used items for sale, including furniture, clothing, electronics and toys.

More recently, apps like OfferUp, Poshmark and Facebook Marketplace have become popular tools to sell your unwanted stuff.

Sell Just About Anything

5 -Run Errands or Help Someone With Their To-Do List
You can make quick cash by helping someone else check off odd jobs on their to-do list.

Plenty of people are always looking for help moving, assembling furniture, mounting a TV, cleaning or even running errands.

Taskers get to be their own boss. They work as independent contractors and use the TaskRabbit platform to obtain clients.

6 -Start Your Own Pet Sitting Business
Animal lovers can make an extra $1,000 or more every month, according to Clark.

For those who don’t already have clients, the online service Rover can help you build your business. 

Sitters can set their own rates, but Rover takes a 20% cut. 

7-Drive for Uber or Lyft
If you want to earn money on your own schedule, driving for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft is another option to consider.

Both companies frequently offer guarantees for new drivers, like earning several hundred dollars for the first 100 or so trips.

8-Food Delivery: UberEats, GrubHub, DoorDash and Postmates
If you know your way around the grocery store, you can get paid to shop and deliver groceries by working as an independent contractor for Instacart or Shipt.

Shipt says shoppers can earn up to $22 an hour. 

9 -Make Deliveries for Amazon Flex
Sticking with the delivery theme, Amazon Flex delivery drivers can make up to $18 to $25 an hour.

Amazon pays by the delivery block and opportunities are available in more than 50 cities to deliver for Amazon.com, Prime Now, AmazonFresh and Amazon Restaurants and more.

10-Rent Out Your Car With Turo
Turo is a peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace. For owners, it provides the opportunity to list your vehicle for free and earn 65% to 85% of the trip price when it’s rented. Insurance protection is included.

11 -Earn Cash Back for Your Shopping
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. There are a handful of popular cash back apps that will reward you for buying things that are probably already in your grocery shopping cart.

With the Ibotta app, earning extra cash is as easy as 1-2-3:

Add offers to your account
Buy those items at the grocery store
Upload your receipt

MORE: Coronavirus Resources