8 Options for When You Need Help With Energy Bill Payments

Photo from Pexels

Originally Posted On: https://designbysully.com/8-options-for-when-you-need-help-with-energy-bill-payments/

 

Did you know that the average household in the United States spent $122 per month on their electricity bill? If you’re having trouble catching up on your electric bill, there are options to make some extra money, or you can even ask for help. We put together this list with some options for making extra money to help with energy bill payments.

Read on to learn more about these side hustles and how the government might also be able to help you.

1. Tutoring

If you are great at a certain subject or know a second language then tutoring online is a great way to make more money. You don’t have to worry that you didn’t receive straight A’s throughout high school or college. The key is how well you know the subject you want to tutor in.

There are websites such as Tutor.com, Studypool, etc. that hire tutors to help students with different topics.

2. Virtual Assistant

Another side gig you can do is offer your services as a virtual assistant. This is great for people that are organized and are down for a challenge. There are plenty of small business owners that need help in order to balance their home lives and work lives.

There are sites such as Zirtual and Upwork that can help you find virtual assistant opportunities where you can make extra money to help catch up with your electric bill.

3. Uber of Lyft

If you own a car, then you can drive for Uber or Lyft and work the hours you have available. The great thing about this option is that you choose how much or how little you want to drive. This is a great option if you live in a busy tourist area or near an airport.

Weekends are also great for driving people around and making some extra cash.

4. Deliver Groceries

For those that love shopping but would rather not spend their own money, then delivering groceries might be right up your alley. There are companies such as Shipt where you get paid to shop for other people’s groceries and deliver them to their doorstep.

This is another way to make money during your free time because you set your own hours.

5. Creative Skills

If you have creative skills then you can freelance and get paid for them. There are plenty of businesses looking for graphic designers, writers, editors, voice-over clients, producers, etc. You can either advertise your services on your own website or use a site such as Fiverr where there are people actively searching for creatives.

6. Influencer

You can actually make money for posting on social media if you have an active following or engagement on your social media profiles. For those that already have a large following on Instagram and Facebook, you can reach out to brands that you love and ask them about partnering up to work together.

They can pay you to share something with your following because this will help increase their business reach to a new audience.

7. Social Media Manager

If you love social media then why not get paid to help business with their social media presence. There are plenty of companies out there that want to increase their presence online, but simply don’t have the time to consistently post. Offer companies to become their social media manager and come up with creative and engaging posts to increase their brand awareness online.

8. Get Paid for Your Photos

Do you love taking pictures? You can get paid for them if you have an eye for it. The great thing is that you don’t have to be a professional photographer for this gig.

There are sites such as Foap that pay up to $10 per photo or sometimes more if you do one of their special “missions.” Keep in mind that they will take 50% of your sales, but something for your pictures is better than nothing when you’re starting out.

Ask for Help

There is an option from the government called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), that can help with paying cooling or heating bills. They also have emergency services in case of an energy crisis.

Keep in mind that the funds from this program can’t be used for sewer or water bills. In order to qualify for this program you will need to be receiving help from another government assistance program such as SNAP, TANF, or SSI.

The one thing with this program is that there are only certain funds available each year and once they run out, even if you qualify you might not receive assistance.

Install Solar Panels

Another option is to invest in solar panels in your own home. Although this will cost you money upfront, in the long run you will not have to worry about paying utility bills or worry about your utility company raising the electricity rates. Solar panel installation is becoming more popular around the United States because of the surprise electricity rate spikes.