Could you use some extra cash to take a vacation, build your emergency savings or pay down debt? You can make hundreds (even thousands) of dollars more every month, with a side job. Try out one (or more) of these 38 easy ways to make money on the side and reach your financial goals faster.
1. Invest for Income
Owning dividend-paying stocks has been a traditional way the wealthy generate passive income. The best brokerages are Schwab and Fidelity. However, these are full-service brokerages and their fees are higher. If you don’t have a ton of money and don’t wait to pay for full-service, Robinhood is probably your best bet. Look for a low-cost, dividend-yielding ETF or mutual fund. Their onboarding is pretty easy, and they’ll give you free stock if you do sign up.
2. Invest In Bonds
If you’re looking for a way to get into investing without jumping into the stock market, check out SMBX. It is an up-and-coming marketplace for small business bonds. Its model works by connecting everyday investors with small businesses to invest in.
How To Get Started
Sign up is very simple and takes about ten minutes. SMBX bonds pay you about 9 percent per year. The minimum amount you can invest with SMBX is $10. If you’re interested in a meaningful return on your money, helping your local economy, and getting some extra money, SMBX is worth your time. The best thing about it is you aren’t trading your time for money. You just have to invest once and you’ll get paid for years. You can sign up here.
3. Get Paid to Walk Dogs
Rover is an app that is free to download. Once you download the app, you can go through the application process to become a dog walker. Individuals treating Rover like a part-time job — walking two to three dogs every other week for a month — can earn an average of around $1,000/month. Those walking two to three dogs four weeks out of the month can earn an average of $3,300.
Overnight boarding is also another way freelancers can earn with Rover. One person saved $40,000 with his Rover side gig! That’s a pretty awesome side hustle (especially if you love dogs – and who doesn’t??).
What You Need To Get Started
You can start a Rover account on your desktop, mobile browser, or app. On the app, tap “more” and select “become a walker.” Then choose “ get started.” Then you will go about building your Rover profile. The Rover website has tips to help your profile to stand out (a selfie with a dog is always a good choice).
After you create your profile, it will be submitted to the Rover team for approval. You will need to pass a background check. Once you’ve passed, your services will appear to be available for individuals in your area. You’ll begin getting requests and, if you’re available, you can take the job. Then you’ll start earning cash!
4. Make Money from Home with Survey Sites
Survey sites and smartphone apps that work are Google Opinion Rewards, BIGtoken, 1Q, StreetBees and CitizenMe. They all pay a high rate per question answered and, more importantly, pay promply after you’ve answered the questions.
Although most sites won’t be able to replace your full-time job, it’s a good way to supplement your income or make extra cash.
What You Need
All you have to do is sign up and start answering questions to start making money. There are no additional requirements except that most sites require you to be at least 18 years old. You’ll also need a valid email address and payment information.
5. Take Pictures of Your Receipts
It may sound odd but you can actually earn cash by snapping a photo of your receipt with Ibotta. On top of Ibotta giving you cash to shop (literally), you’ll also get a $20 sign-up bonus after redeeming your first 10 offers in 14 days. Most of the time, the offers aren’t even linked to a specific brand. You’ll get $1 back just for buying a box of tea, for instance.
What You Need
Register with Ibotta (the app is free to download). After downloading Ibotta, search for items on your shopping list within the app. Once you’re back home, take a picture of your receipt and scan the barcodes of the items you purchased using your phone.
6. Play Games on Your Phone
Mobile gamers can start cashing in on their game time with Mistplay. It is the first program of its kind and it allows you to rack up loyalty points. All you have to do is choose a game within the mixlist in the app. Then you’ll start getting paid for playing mobile games! Loyalty points can be cashed in for gift cards (Visa, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, Starbucks, and more). The most you can expect to make per month is about $50 but that’s a pretty significant amount to earn for just playing games on your phone. Get started here.
7. Make Thousands Selling Online
Since the launch of eBay, selling online has been a popular side hustle. Now, there are a number of sites where you can sell clothes, things you’ve made, or other items. Consider listing handmade items on Etsy.
What You Need
Amazon is great for selling mass-produced products as well as secondhand books. Select Amazon FBA businesses have been able to grow their monthly income to six figures. The most profitable of categories on Amazon FBA is still books (yes, real books). If you can manage to purchase a bulk number of books for a low price you can sell them on Amazon for 1,000 percent of their original price.
You can also sell appliances and household items on Craigslist. This platform is great for selling larger, unneeded items like furniture, old cars, electronics, and outdoor items.
eBay produces fewer million-dollar sellers than the Amazon FBA program, but if you have the right items, you can do well. Antique sellers and people with collectibles do best on eBay.
8. Rent a Room in Your House
By now, most of us have heard of Airbnb but may not have considered using it as a way to earn extra cash. On average, Airbnb hosts make about $924 per month. That number varies though, depending on the space you’re renting and average prices in your area. The more you have to offer, the more you can charge. Based on the site, renting a whole space in Atlanta can earn you about $2,007 per month. If you don’t have a spare room to increase what you can earn using Airbnb, talking to an architect or a builder about increasing your property value can help as an idea for your property home improvement.
Airbnb Requirements
All you need to do to get started with Airbnb is post a few photos of your rentable space. Whether it is the whole house or just a portion of it, pictures are what will sell your space (that and good ratings). On the Airbnb site, you can choose your location and what you’re renting (whole space, private room).
You’ll also want to block out any days you don’t want people staying in your home, as well as minimum and maximum stays. After you’ve done that, you’ll want to also establish rules. For instance, most Airbnb hosts don’t want you to throw a party in their home or smoke inside. Then you can begin accepting guests! Signing up only takes a few easy steps.
9. Get Paid To Unlock Your Phone
S’more is a relatively new app that allows you to earn points by adding advertising content to your lock screen. Once you download the app, you’ll get paid every day the app is active on your phone. The average pay is 10 cents per day (that’s an extra $3 per month).
How It Works
That may seem too good to be true, but people have actually been able to make some cash this way. S’more will display relevant content on your screen. When you unlock it, you can choose whether or not you’d like to learn more about the offer. If you’re not interested, no big deal. You’ll still earn points for allowing S’more to use your phone for the ad. Points can be cashed in for gift cards. Learn more here.
10. Earn Up to $25 an Hour as a Babysitter or Petsitter
Calling all baby and children lovers!
Many teenagers babysit, house sit, or petsit to earn money in high school. However, it can prove to be a great side hustle later in life as well. If you have good references, you can pull in a significant amount of money.
What You Need
Care.com is a great website to browse open babysitting and petsitting jobs in your area. The site requires you to be at least 18 years old to apply for babysitting positions. Each job will have specific requirements you must meet before applying. For instance, some families will require you to have CPR certifications. Other families would prefer you have 10+ years of experience with kids. Visit the site to sort through open nanny positions that fit your qualifications.
11. Get Paid to Drink Beer
Who wouldn’t love getting paid to drink beer? Well, good news! You can.
Similar to secret shoppers, Secret Hopper pays people $20 to visit local breweries and rate their experience. Keep in mind, you will have to pay for your brews upfront, then Secret Hopper will send you about $20 via PayPal within a few days. As long as you keep your tab under $20, it is essentially drinking for free (who wouldn’t love that).
12. Get Paid to Work Out
Although it may not be as exciting as getting paid to drink beer, you can also earn money by hitting the gym. Here’s how you can turn your workout into cold, hard cash.
Sites such as DietBet and HealthyWage provide a way to make extra money while getting healthy. You put a certain amount of money on the line and challenge yourself to reach certain goals. Then, in the end, if you have met those goals, you’ll double your money (or more). Both of those sites require an initial investment though.
If you really want to earn cash without any money out of pocket, AchieveMint is absolutely free and pays you to go to the gym or share healthy meals on social media. For every 1,000 points, you receive $1. The app is completely free, and you don’t have to do anything but exercise and live a healthy lifestyle to get paid.
What You Need
DietBet has some requirements bettors must meet to be able to participate. Everyone must be 18+ and have a BMI (body mass index) of at least 18.5 percent. If your BMI would fall below 18.5 percent after losing 4 percent, you will also not qualify to participate. DietBet users are also asked to refrain from binging, purging, dehydration, and any medical weight-loss surgery. HealthyWage has the same guidelines.
13. Grocery Shop for up to $25 an Hour
Shopping is probably the last thing that comes to mind when you think of ways to make money. However, with services such as Instacart, you could earn hundreds of dollars. If you sign up and are accepted, it can be a great side hustle (especially if you’re able to pick up groceries in your area without traveling too far).
What You Need
Basic requirements for becoming a shopper with Instacart are that drivers must be 18+, eligible to work in the United States, consistent access to a vehicle and smartphone, and the ability to lift between 30 and 40 pounds. If that sounds like you, check out Instacart to get started.
14. Pick Up an Extra $50 Being a Friend
RentAFriend.com pays you to be a friend. For instance, people who are new to the city might “rent” a friend to see what the city has to offer. Or, you might be hired to attend an event.
What You Need
You can earn as much as $50 an hour, just for being someone’s friend. There are no membership fees or fees associated with this.
15. Earn as Much as $100 Testing Websites
Companies such as UserTesting are always looking for people nationwide and will pay you to test websites. Depending on the site, pay may vary. Typically, testers are paid per test study, starting at around $8 per test, up to as much as $100 per test. If you pick through the offers, you may be able to land a high-paying gig for little-to-no-effort on your part.
What You Need
To start earning extra cash, you’ll need to be at least 18 years old and have access to a laptop or desktop computer. Smartphone access may be required for some testing as well.
16. Rack Up Cash Back
No matter what time of year it is, Ebates can help you earn cash-back on all of your purchases. This company provides you with cash-back opportunities at more than 2,500 stores. Throughout the year, you can get up to 3 percent cash back on eligible purchases at participating retailers by using the linked card. During the holiday season, Ebates is known to increase your cash back to 10 percent or more.
What You Need
To start getting money back with Ebates, simply link a valid credit card to your account and shop. After you do that, sit back and watch your rewards stack up!
17. Use Your Credit Cards
Swiping your credit card definitely isn’t the best way to earn extra cash, but if you are disciplined, you can get cashback. Read your card’s terms and conditions to see what purchases are eligible. And, of course, always pay your credit card bill in full each month.
Credit card issuers typically offer cashback and sign-up bonuses for using the card. If you use your card for purchases you’d make anyway, such as on groceries and everyday purchases, you could potentially earn hundreds of dollars per month. Keep in mind that it’s important to pay your balance in full each month so you aren’t charged interest, otherwise, the APR will likely cancel out any extra money you earn. Also, be on the lookout for annual fees and calculate whether or not any bonuses or cashback are worth paying for the card.
What You Need
A credit card that awards you for the purchases you make. Be sure to research and sign-up for cards that offer the most cash back for the categories you most often spend in.
18. Make Old Furniture New
Restoring old furniture is a big business and it usually doesn’t cost much out of pocket. Plus, you can usually find old furniture that no one wants for free on the side of the road, or online with various local garage sale sites. If you have some extra time to paint and restore the furniture (and don’t mind dumpster diving), you can resell it and make quite a profit.
What You Need
You’ll typically need something to restore, such as old furniture. Try to find free items and check with friends and family. You’ll also need materials for restoration and repainting.
19. Sell Your Home Grown Food
If you like to garden (and are actually good at it), you might want to consider planting some produce and selling it. Many people make hundreds of dollars selling their vegetables at farmers’ markets and to other people in the community. Besides produce, however, if you happen to live in an area where you can keep chickens, it’s possible to make some extra money selling eggs. Here’s what happens to our food supply if farmers can’t farm.
What You Need
Gardening is fairly simple, but you’ll need to research what grows best in your area. Other supplies you’ll need include a small area for gardening — although there are many indoor options as well — seeds, gardening tools, and patience.
20. Sign Up For Class Action Lawsuits
Sign up for any class action lawsuits you think you qualify for. Leave no money on the table. Class action lawsuits take time to filter through the court system, so you won’t get paid immediately. However, if you work this consistently you’ll get a couple of hundred extra bucks a year. Consumeraction.org has a good listing of open lawsuits.
21. Sell Your Trash
If you cringed reading that, you’re not alone. Selling your trash seems like a really odd way to earn a few extra bucks, but people do it! Dumpster diving has become popular over the years and, as it turns out, one person’s trash really is another person’s treasure. You can earn cash from selling everything from your old wine bottles to magazines online. At the very least, you can get some change for it at your local recycling plant.
22. Share Your Knowledge
There are various services online that will hire you to tutor and teach a variety of subjects from English to history and math. Many of those services pay around $10 to $15 per hour and don’t always require a teaching degree. VIP Kids is a great example. Some online teachers have been able to turn it into a full-time job. You can also look for opportunities to tutor at local colleges and schools if you prefer in-person opportunities in your area.
What You Need
For online teaching, you’ll need an internet connection. It will depend on the service you teach through whether you need a degree or certification. Popular services you can try include Teachaway.com and International TEFL Academy.
23. Sell Your Body To Science
It might sound intimidating, but a lot of people make extra money participating in clinical trials. Often this involves trying out medication or certain procedures for research. Sometimes the trials can last over days or months and can pay as little as $25 per visit or hundreds of dollars.
What You Need
Most clinical trials will have requirements that you will need to meet in order to qualify for the trial. Check with medical facilities in your area for any opportunities.
24. Watch Movie Previews
That’s right, you can get paid to watch movie previews! InboxDollars has been a well-known side hustle site for some time. However, did you know the app will actually pay you to watch movie previews and other videos? Sign up today, and you’ll get $5 immediately!
What is Required
To earn money watching videos with InboxDollars, you’ll need to watch all of the shows on that specific playlist. This can take up to half an hour, depending on the list. Watching videos on InboxDollars can help you earn up to $225 per month though, so it is definitely worth the extra effort.
25. Landscaping and Odd Jobs
Shoveling snow and mowing lawns seem to be jobs that people are always looking for help with and if you don’t mind doing those tasks, you can earn pretty good money taking care of it for others. There are also a wide variety of odd jobs that you can get paid for as well. You can choose to advertise on your own, or you can join apps such as TaskRabbit, which allows people to find you and hire you.
What You Need
You’ll need some way to advertise your services plus any tools necessary for landscaping or odd jobs. You might already have most of the tools or materials you need so you just need to get started to start earning extra money.
26. Sell Your Sperm or Eggs
Selling your sperm or eggs might seem shocking, but it’s an easy way to make some extra money when you’re in a pinch. First, check local clinics, but you can also sign up to sell sperm or eggs with companies such as NWCryoBank.com.
What You Need
For this option, the clinics might have certain requirements you’ll need to meet before you can be paid for sperm or eggs. Some of the factors for consideration might be age and health.
27. Shop for People
Yes – yet another way you can get paid to hit the stores!
Not only can you earn money shopping for people and basically running errands, but you can also get paid to be a mystery shopper. Some of the companies that will pay you for mystery shopping include Market Force and BestMark.
What You Need
You can advertise your shopping services free with sites such as Craigslist or you can sign up to be a mystery shopper with a company that pays you. For either option, you really just need to be willing to take the time to shop at specific retailers.
28. Easily find side hustles on Appjobs
You can get paid by offering your services at Appjobs. Appjobs is a website or app to use when looking for part-time or full-time work. Whether you have an extensive work background or are looking for job opportunities that require little to no experience, there is work to be found on Appjobs. The company specializes in platform-based opportunities or “gig jobs” that offer flexible schedules and gives you the chance to take charge of your financial life. There is a wide variety of categories to choose from such as work from home jobs, online teaching, or freelancing. It has helped over 2 million people worldwide find work and have job offers available in over 40 countries and 3,700 cities. Every gig is a fresh start through Appjobs.
What you need to get started:
Creating an account with Appjobs is simple: you just need to give your email and choose a password. Once you have created your account, then you have the option to provide basic information so you can get personalized job offers based on where you live and what resources you have!
29. Sell Your Data
Companies like Facebook and Google all make substantial amounts of money from selling their users data. This data typically entails things like your demographics, your browsing history, social media activity and credit card transactions. Usually these big companies provide nothing back to the consumers who provide the data. However, due to regulatory change this situation is starting to evolving. A number of start-up companies are now compensating you if you allow them sell your data.
They usually pay you something like $3 to $5 a month. This isn’t a lot, but normally the front work is minimal, and the rest of the income is passive.
Here are three companies that are legitimate, don’t have any fees, actually pay you and work without a lot of hassles.
- Invisibly
- Reklaim
- UpVoice
All of these pay cash or giftcards. The best thing to do is sign up with all three and get the most money you can.
30. Check Your Wallet For Rare Coins and Bills
Believe it or not, those crumpled-up $1 bills in your wallet may be worth more than face value, especially if they are stamped with a rare serial number. Collectors will pay serious cash for odd bills. Check out our post 17 Bills in Your Wallet Worth More Than Face Value to see if your hold any additional value and how you can cash them in.
31. Become a Mock Juror
You won’t want to skip out on this jury duty!
Being a mock juror used to entail spending an entire day locked away in a conference room. However, the great age of technology has made it easy for you to earn some extra cash as a mock juror for lawyers prepping for cases. OnlineVerdict and eJury are two such websites where you can sign up and make between $5 and $60 per mock case. These typically take less than an hour.
Qualifications Needed
To be a mock juror, you’ll need to be at least 18 years old. You’ll also need to be a citizen of the United States and free of any felony convictions. To create an account on either of the sites mentioned above is totally free but may take a few minutes. You’ll have to answer questions about your background, income, political opinions, and more personal information.
32. Let Nielsen Take a Look Inside Your Fridge
Remember Nielsen Consumer Panel? The organization used to be interested in what you were watching on television. Now, they want a look inside what the average American has in their refrigerator. All you have to do is scan the UPC codes after you go shopping and send them to Nielsen. After that, the company will reward you with points, which can be used on various items. You could even earn enough points to win a vacation or brand new car!
33. Flip Thrift Store Finds
Thrift shopping has become much more popular in recent years as becoming financially savvy has raised in popularity. You can turn your next thrift store visit into a side hustle. Find underpriced items in the store and sell them online for a profit. There’s no telling how much you’ll be able to make!
Selling Items Online
Before you get started with this venture, you’ll want to know where you should sell and how much certain items are worth it. Many people who sell on eBay, for instance, sell a certain type of item almost exclusively. This typically involves collectibles, antiques, large metal signs, or odd items people are willing to pay big bucks for. Craigslist is good for flipping the items quickly to locals for a small profit. If you’re lucky enough to find clothing with the tags still on it at the thrift store, you may be able to sell it for a notable profit on the Facebook Marketplace. Do a bit of research before you starting flipping.
34. Hold A Garage Sale
Clean out the closets, call some friends, and put on a yard sale. You’ll probably make a couple of hundred bucks. Things that sell well are usually consumer electronics, collectibles, silver bullion, or other high-end valuables. If you can’t sell some of your belongings at your sale, you can always donate the items to charity for the tax deduction.
35. Get Rid of Old music and Electronics
Decluttering is a great way to raise money and clear up space. It used to be that you had to hold a garage sale or sell your stuff individually on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace to get the most value for your old DVD collection. However, with Decluttr, you just scan the bar codes of items you want to sell and see how much money the company will give you.
36. Sell Your Intellectual Property
If you’re interested in photography, you can make money off the intellectual property you have by selling your photos on Foap.com. Foap helps companies with their marketing messages. Foap pays you $5 for every picture someone buys from you.
There is no guarantee that brands on Foap will want your pictures. But even if you only sell a few each month, that’s easy money for something you’ve already done.
37. Answer Questions For Money
The internet is full of information that isn’t very good. Websites such as Quora and JustAnswer let people with specific expertise, such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and the like answer questions from people who would otherwise have to pay out the nose for the information.
So, if you’re a subject matter expert, this could be a good way to earn a bit of cash – the yield is generally good for the time spent. That said, don’t expect to get rich on Quora or JustAnswer, but you can pick up a few extra dollars.
38. Look for Unclaimed Money
State Governments have billions in unclaimed funds. Most of this money is just sitting around, waiting for its owner to claim it. There is no good reason not to claim this money, so if you think you are owed something, check The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators to see if you have any unclaimed property.
Bottom Line
Each of these options can help you make more money and get closer to reaching your financial goals. Whether you want to save more, pay off debt, or go on a nice vacation, you’ll find plenty of ways to make money on the side to get there.
Read More
- 100 Ways to Make an Extra $100 This Month
- Clever and Easy Ways to Make Extra Money for Christmas
- Ways to Make up to $1,000 Extra Every Month
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