It's hard making extra money these days. But it might not be as difficult as you think, since many people have started making extra money from home without physically looking for a job outside home or settling for a temp position.

1. Sell unwanted items on eBay: Ebay has been feeling the economic pinch just like everyone else. So now, they're letting you list many items for free every month, as long as you price the starting bid for 99 cents. Each of us owns enough things in our house that we're pretty sure we won't use ever again.

But now, you won't lose anything listing it on eBay, as there are no insertion fees. List things like stereos, brand name clothing, PC parts and outdated iPods - without spending anything upfront. You'll just pay eBay their final value fee when you sell your items.

2. Sell affiliate products on YouTube: Pick a product you like or think will sell well on Commission Junction, Amazon or Clickbank, shoot a promotional video for it and upload it to YouTube. You can take pictures of the product and include promo captions, or shoot the video explaining how this one product can change your life. Either way, making extra money with videos can sell products quickly and gain more return than just blogging about it.

3. List your services on Fiverr.com: Can you record a commercial? Write a song? Type an article? Be a personal alarm clock? If so, list your service or service package for free on Fiverr.com. As long as you charge $5 for it, you can list it for free and Fiverr will just take $1 for their own commission. The rest is yours!

If you can complete a service in 15 minutes or less, $4 is a fantastic deal. The more services you list, the more clients you'll get and you might find yourself with steady work, sooner rather than later.

4. Look for work on Craigslist: Craigslist is a great place to find article writing jobs, data entry, or website development positions. You can find part-time work, independent contracting work or even full-time positions here. There's no cost involved in contacting Craigslist advertisers, so you really have nothing to lose if you find a job on Craigslist.

5. Become an article writer: Online readers are craving advice and information every day. This creates an opportunity for you. You'll be paid a fee, of course. Find a freelance writing position at a public or private online publisher and write articles for online magazines, newsletters or websites. You don't even have to have a degree unless the client specifically requests it.

Making extra money by writing is perhaps one of the most common and successful ways to get paid writing online. There's barely any startup fees, you can write whenever you feel like, at your own pace, with your scheduling issues being a few loose deadlines for articles. Without a doubt, it's the number one easiest and best way to get paid online for your articles, fast and consistently.