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If you’re already working, but find yourself falling short of cash regularly, you might want to look at a few ideas for increasing your income.  Or maybe you’ve been wondering how you’re going to get your holiday shopping done when the money you make is already spoken for?  While running out to get a second job may be impossible due to family responsibilities, this is a list of 5 unconventional ways you can increase your income:

1.  Babysit. Do you have children of your own that you get ready for school and make sure they get on their bus?  There are many families who have to leave for work before their children get off to school and are in need of someone to give them a hand.  Recently, I agreed to watch a little girl from 7am until the bus comes at 8:20am, three mornings a week, for $25 a week.  I’m not doing it to get rich, and it’s not enough to break the bank of the parent needing the help, either.  But the extra $100 each month is earmarked to finally start saving (something I haven’t been able to do regularly yet, because I always need to use my income for bills!)

Some parents may need after school care, too.  Most parents get home an hour or two after the bus drops off their kid(s), and most parents are not comfortable leaving their children home alone until they are teenagers.  Put an ad in your local newspaper, hang fliers around local shops, and just put the word out you’re available and see what happens!  What’s one more kid to get ready for school, or entertain for a couple hours before dinner?

2. Write & Submit How to Articles to eHow.com. Write articles that teach someone step by step how to do stuff you know how to do, and post on your eHow.com account (free to create).  Set up your account with a Google Adsense ID (free to get) and you can earn revenue over time for people who click ads when viewing your how-to articles.  Along those same lines, look for other revenue sharing article sites – once again, this is not a way to “get rich” overnight, but as long as the articles are being viewed online and people are clicking ads – you will earn money for writing an article one-time.

3. Rent Out Your Garage. Most of the United States is about to hit the cold, dreary winter months.  There are people who don’t have a garage but have things that could benefit from being stored in one through-out the winter.  Do you have room in your garage or storage shed?  Rent it out for the winter, charge less than a self-storage place and you ‘ll find a “tenant”.

4.  Turn Ideas into Cash. Do you have an idea for simple, inexpensive gifts that families could buy and give this holiday season?  With everyone tightening up their spending, you can bet people will be on the look out for nice gifts that don’t cost an arm and a leg.  Can you make mini gift-baskets or gift bags?  Turn your ideas for inexpensive but nice gifts into a holiday business – get the word out about your products, hold an open house, run a fundraiser for the local preschool and take orders.  You may need to enlist your kids helping you fill the orders, but you’ll help your community afford nice gifts and make some extra cash as well.

5. Set up Blogs. Do you know how to install WordPress or start a Blogger.com account?  There are many people who don’t know how, but want to.  Connect with these people and get their blogs set up for them – if you know how, you know it can be done in a reasonable amount of time, especially if you’re doing it often and have all the files you need at your disposal!  Charge a fee to get people “connected” and you can make some extra cash from your computer.