The Best Side Hustle Ideas When You Need Extra Money Now

Looking for a great side hustle idea?

Side hustles are a great way to quickly increase your income to do things like build your emergency fund, rapidly pay off debt, and save for those big purchases. When I was facing $52k in consumer debt alone, I was constantly looking for different side hustle ideas to pay off the massive debt I had created.

My Favorite Side Hustle Ideas Right Now

These first eight side hustles right now are my favorites. Right now during the COVID crisis, delivering food is the way to go to make decent money as quickly as possible. You can also do well as a virtual assistant for the same reason and make up to $50/hour.

1. Earn $17 to $20 Per Hour Delivering Food From Restaurants

Food delivery from restaurants is my favorite pick right now for side hustle ideas. Since the start of COVID, food delivery is up by over 70% compared to the same time last year. This means there is still a ton of opportunity to earn great side hustle money delivering food.

If you have a car, bike, or scooter, this is a great side hustle for anyone. 

Best Food Delivery Companies
DoorDash	Usually will the highest among all food delivery services
Postmates	Very similar to DoorDash. I would recommend trying both out initially.
Uber Eats	Most well known service and helps if you already Drive with Uber.
Amazon Flex	Amazon is slammed right now and they may be offering bonuses to get more drivers.
InstaCart	They are also extremely busy and there may be sign-up bonuses to get started.

2. Earn up to $50/hour as a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants have been around for years, but during the economic shutdown due to coronavirus, the industry has exploded.

Businesses are turning to virtual support, which means virtual assistants are in high demand. In fact, many small businesses (like Money Peach) need help but don’t want to bring on staff to their location, so instead they turn to virtual support.

This virtual support can be a range of things from responding to and checking email, scheduling meetings, booking travel arrangements, updating social media content — really anything you can do online.

The starting pay for virtual assistants is really good — $15 – $50 per hour. 

I would recommend starting off by posting on your social channels offering services as a virtual assistant. I still can’t believe how many people don’t do this — it is such a simple way to land a job for yourself.

And here’s a pro-tip: think visualization. Make an image using a free service like Canva to create an image with a headshot and all the tasks you can help people with online. This will definitely help you stand out above the rest.

You can also listen to Episode 80 on the Money Peach Podcast where interview Kayla Sloan — my very first virtual assistant.

Think about it: if you could help a business owner spend $10,000 to make $30,000, would it be worth it to them to pay you $1,000 – $2,000 per month to do that for them?

3. Earn Money as a Freelance Writer

I have a good friend, Holly Johnson, that left her job in corporate America to pursue her passion — freelance writing.

She didn’t start off making a ton of money, but over time she created strategies to land more writing jobs, to find out what clients actually want in a writer, and how to be as efficient and profitable as possible.

Today Holly makes $225,000+ per year and if you follow her online you’ll notice something unusual — her family of 4 travels six weeks per year because she can write from anywhere in the world. Right now Holly writes for some of the largest well-known websites like Condé Naste, The Balance, Bankrate and Business Insider.

Keep in mind — you are not going to start off as a freelance writer making six figures per year. But, if you work hard you definitely can make $1,000 – $2,000 per month as a freelance writer.

You can do this the hard way by networking, pitching clients, and trying to price your services yourself. This isn’t a bad way to go, but it definitely takes a lot more effort.

Or, you could get help from a professional freelance writer. Holly has mastered her craft and she will show you exactly how to get started, how to get clients and how much to start charging your clients. She will also help you find the clients you want to write for.

In fact, many of the writers for this blog have come from Holly’s recommendation. She is the go-to resource for many bloggers looking for high-quality writers. And if they have been taught by Holly, then we all know they are high-quality.

4. Get Paid to Proofread

If you are someone (like me) that gets upset when you see your versus you’re spelled wrong or maybe the mix up between there, their and they’re — you are going to love this side hustle. Or maybe you are tired of seeing things like this in print:

Proofreading is a great side hustle (and career) that can be done from anywhere in the world. To learn more abut getting started as proofreader, check out Proofread Anywhere.

A great way to start is by learning from a professional proofreader. They will show you how to get started as a proofreader and explain how lucrative this side hustle really can be.

5. Earn Money Through a One-Page Website

One of the best decisions I made was starting a blog in 2015. This tiny little blog did not make any money that first year — it was merely a passion project about personal finance. However, the following year I made a little bit of money and every year since the blog has grown along with the income.

But you are NOT going to make a lot of money right now starting a blog.

Making money from a blog takes time and it’s not a great side hustle.

However, you definitely will increase your income by starting a one-page website for any services you are offering. Whether you’re a handyman, a Facebook ads consultant, a virtual assistant, a tutor, or any other side hustler, you must have a simple website for people to learn about you.

This is so simple and I cannot tell you how many people make the mistake of not taking the time to create a one page website.

How to Earn more money with your Own Website

If you’re looking to do any of the side hustles mentioned in this post, you’re going to want to create a simple website. Don’t worry — it’s extremely simple.

Let’s say for example you’re looking to get hired as a virtual assistant. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone could go online and read your “About Me” page, have the ability to contact you via your “Contact Me” page and even hire you through your “Work With Me” page?

No matter what business or side hustle you want to create, having a simple website will boost your credibility. Ask yourself this: if two people are offering the same exact services but only one of them has a website for you to learn more about, who are you more likely to hire?

If you’re looking for a simple way to get started building a quick website, I created a free step-by-step guide to help you get started. This guide will allow you to build your website in 15 – 20 minutes and for just a few dollars.

6. How to Earn Money with Affiliate Marketing

If you’re willing to put in the time and effort by starting a blog, then affiliate marketing can be a great side hustle. But remember, it takes time and effort.

With that said, when I created this blog in the beginning, I didn’t know anything about affiliate marketing. I just enjoyed blogging about how to create a budget, save more money, and pay off debt. That was until someone told me my blog could be generating thousands of dollars per month if I added in affiliate marketing.

Admittedly, I was super skeptical but I decided to give it a try.

I didn’t know what to do or how to get started, so I reached out to a blogging friend who started Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing . Within 60 days I increased the monthly income from my tiny little blog by $1,705 (and became one of her testimonies)

Yes, I was more than just a little shocked and since then I have told everyone I know about her program because it really changed my life. I don’t know about you, but $1,705 extra per month for making some tweaks to my blog is life-changing.

Keep in mind, making money from affiliate marketing takes time. Yes, you can make a lot of money from affiliate marketing, but in the beginning I would estimate only a few hundred dollars per month.

“I started my blog in March 2015 and didn’t even know what affiliate marketing meant. And….I didn’t do much about it. I think my largest month was around $500 last year and then died down to sometimes only a few bucks per month. It wasn’t my focus, but I didn’t realize I was leaving money on the table, meaning I was losing money every month! I decided to enroll in Michelle’s course, and I quickly noticed I didn’t know a thing when it came to true Affiliate Marketing! No wonder it just ‘wasn’t working for me’…

Results from the first 60 days of taking the course:

I am still nowhere close to implementing everything I’ve learned [from the course], but….My August affiliate income was $1,792.26.

That’s a $1,705 increase since I became a student of Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. So, my investment in the class was worth it!”

– Chris Peach, Blogger, MoneyPeach.com

7. Earn up to $22/hour Tutoring Online

Maybe you’ve never heard of VIPKID, but it’s actually a household name brand in China. Currently, there are over 70,000 American teachers teaching English as a second language to over 600,000 children in China. The current pay for this reliable side hustle is up to $22/hour.

Before you get started, beware there are some barriers to entry to partner with VIPKID. First, they do require you to have a Bachelor’s degree from either the USA or Canada, and second they ask for “some teaching experience”. However, from a teacher I have spoke with from VIPKID, she said “teaching” doesn’t have to mean teaching in a traditional educational setting.

The lessons are 30 minutes long and you will be paid up to $11 for each 30-minute lesson. One thing to note is since you are teaching across the globe in a live setting, you will be teaching at odd hours (late at night or first thing in the morning). However, the teacher I spoke to said it was fun, rewarding, and it paid well for being able to stay at home and teach from her laptop in her kitchen.

Live in the U.S. or U.K. and hold a bachelor’s degree? You can earn up to $22/hr plus bonuses to teach kids English online from the comfort of home.

8. Earn $600/month Renting Out Baby Equipment

I really love this side hustle right now because the feedback from readers has been extremely positive.

Imagine you’re getting ready to take a vacation with your small children and you start thinking about how you’re going the pack the stroller, the pack ‘n plays, and the crib. Then you start thinking about the car seats, toys, books, high chairs, carriers, noise machines, baby baths, bouncy seats, monitors, jumpers and every other little thing!

Today, that problem solved thanks to BabyQuip.

In 2016, a few parents got together and created BabyQuip to provide families with clean, safe and reliable baby equipment for rent. Since then there have been over 30,000 transactions and guess where the baby equipment is rented from?

If you currently have baby equipment stored at home, you can start renting it out in the over 500 cities across the US and Canada. To start earning money as a BabyQuip Quality Provider you need to apply online and once accepted you’ll have an interview. If you both feel it’s a good match, you will be onboarded so you know how to run your baby gear rental business.

The average BabyQuip Quality Provider makes $600/month, with some providers as high as $5,000 per month. Also, once you’re accepted as provider, you will be added to the community where you can meet other QPs and learn best practices to make the most money.

9. Make $1,000 to $2,000 Per Month Running Facebook Ads

If you were a business owner, would you pay $100 to make $300? What about spending $10,000 to make $30,000?

This is why today over 7 million advertisers are using Facebook ads and these businesses are spending on average between $2,400 and $9,600 on Facebook ads each year. And with over 30 million small businesses in the U.S. alone, there is huge opportunity for people to create a lot of revenue creating Facebook ads for small businesses.

Bobby Hoyt from Laptop Empires has the best program for teaching people how to run Facebook Ads and he really will show you to earn $1,000 – $2,000 per month per client as their Facebook ads manager.

Also, as I mentioned earlier this is not a get-rich-quick scheme. This is going to take 6-8 weeks if you’re moving quickly to not only learn how to do Facebook ads but how to get clients as well. Bobby will show you how, but you have to do the work. If you’re not willing to do the work, then I would move onto the next side hustle.

This may side hustle is not one that you will make money with right away. However, you will make the most money than any other side hustle on this post when you get your first client running Facebook Ads for small and local businesses.

The Best Side Hustle Ideas That Put Your “Stuff” to Work

Another great side hustle idea are the ones where your stuff actually makes money for you.

10. Earn $2,000 Per year Renting Out Your RV

Rent your RV out like a VRBO or Airbnb with Outdoorsy.

If you’re currently an RV owner, did you know over 17 million RVs sit unused for 350 days per year?

Whether you own a large RV, a fifth-wheel, a folding trailer, a camper van or anything similar, there is plenty of opportunity to turn a profit with your RV instead of it sitting idle.

In fact, many RV owners have been renting out their campers for years online ads or through word-of-mouth referrals. However, there is also a lot of risk and unanswered questions when you decide to rent out your RV by yourself.

Now, more people are turning to the largest and safest online marketplace for renting out your RV — Outdoorsy. You can think of Outdoorsy like the Airbnb for your RV.

Outdoorsy also provides plenty of safeguards to protect you and your RV. For starters, all potential renters of your RV have to pass an extensive driving history check before they can request your RV. Also, Outdoorsy provide you the owner $1 million in liability insurance and will also cover any theft or damage.

In addition to both liability insurance and the background check, Outdoorsy offers 24/7 roadside assistance which really turns your RV rental into a fully passive income stream. I know I mentioned above you can make $1,000 – $1,500 per month, however Outdoorsy does state on their website you can “Earn up to $50,000 a year renting your RV to people you trust”.

Since I don’t personally own an RV, I did do some research and found that since their start date in 2014, Outdoorsy has facilitated over 800,000 RV trips and has a Trustpilot rating with a 4.4 out of 5.

How it works:

First you will create a free account with Outdoorsy. Once your account is created, you will then create a profile for your RV. Outdoorsy walks you through the process of creating your profile to include things like the year/make/model of your RV, where it’s located, a detailed description, pictures, list of amenities, and your rules for renters.

Next you set your daily/weekly rental rate and post it to the site. Once someone rents your RV, Outdoorsy will release the funds to you via direct deposit within 24 hours of the start of the rental. 

11. Earn $700/month Renting Out Your Car

Turo is a peer-to-peer car sharing company where you can generate monthly revenue by renting out your car. With over 10 million users and 350,000 vehicles listed, Turo is a safe and reliable way to turn your car into a monthly revenue stream. Currently Turo is offered in US, Canada, the UK, and Germany.

How it works:

To get started you can list your vehicle (any make and model) for free. This process takes about 10 minutes and there are no sign-up fees or monthly charges for signing up.

Next, you can set your own daily price and rental rules for your car. Turo does have recommendations for you if you don’t know, but your pricing and rules for the rental are completely up to you.

Once a guest books a rental with your car, you’ll specify how your guest receives the car and will also “check in” your guest through the Turo App. Within three days after your car is returned and the trip is completed, you will get paid via direct deposit.

Turo takes a commission on the transaction, however in 2019 the average Turo host made $706 per month when they completed 12 trips per year.

The amount of days you would like to rent out your car is completely up to you and you’re also covered up to $1 million liability insurance through a partnership with Turo and Liberty Mutual.

12. Earn $1,000 to $2,000 Renting Out Your Room

Just about everyone has stayed in an Airbnb or at least knows someone who has. But, have you ever thought about making money with Airbnb?

This side hustle pays quite a bit because of what is at stake — you’re renting out a room in your house or your renting out your entire house. And, in some situations you may even be living with your guests during their stay. Whichever way you choose, this is still one of the most lucrative side hustles on the market.

How it works:

It’s free to list your space on Airbnb ad there are no memberships dues, sign-up fees, or any random charges. Instead, Airbnb earns a 3% host service fee per booking.

Once you’re space is listed, you can choose to make it available whenever you want. You also get to set the rules for your guests such as min/max number of nights and how far in advance they can book. As far as pricing, Airbnb has recommendations for you but ultimately you get to set the price you feel most comfortable with, including your cleaning fee, seasonal fees, or any other pricing options you think you may need.

Once your space is booked, Airbnb will usually pay you within 24 hours after the guest is scheduled to arrive via Paypal, direct deposit, or other methods if available. Airbnb also provides you with $1 million property damage insurance, $1 million in liability insurance and 24/7 customer support.

Again, I totally understand that renting out your room, house, or even living with a guest is a pretty big deal. However, you really can earn $1,000 – $2,000 this month and does not take much to get started. No marketing costs, creating your ow website or anything life that. Simply sign up for free, list your space, and start making really good money this month.

13. Earn $500 to $1,000 Per Month Renting Out Space

Peerspace is platform that allows hosts to rent their space for meetings, events, film and photo shoots, or anything else you can think of.

People are always looking for space to rent out for birthday parties, baby showers, film shoots, networking events, workshops, and a whole slew of other reasons that require space.

Renting out small spaces by the hour has become increasingly popular over the past few years, and now there is even a dedicated marketplace for it. And for those who aren’t ready to rent out a room in their home quite yet, maybe renting out your space for a few hours will work out better.

Whether you want to rent a room, your backyard, your office or meeting room, your garage, or any other space you can think of, the opportunity is there. And Peerspace is the leader when it comes to peer-to-peer space rental. 

How it Works:

Once you set up a free account with Peerspace, you can create your listing, the rules for your space, the pricing, and the availability. Then you simply list your space and it will become available to whoever is looking for your space within the Peerspace marketplace.

Just like Airbnb, Turo, and Outdoorsy, Peerspace protects you with $1 million in liability insurance and you can also list your space absolutely for free. Once someone rents out your space through their dashboard, you will receive payment from Peerspace, minus a 15% commission Peerspace takes.

Most of the spaces I found during a quick search are in the $50 – $100/hour with a minimum of 2 hours. If you are willing to open up your space just a few times per month, you could easily generate $500 – $1,000 extra as a nice little side hustle.

14. Earn $50/month Renting Your Driveway

A college student at Arizona State University identified a problem and created the solution.

Parking near the campus was difficult and the homeowners who lived near the campus had a major problem with illegal parking on the streets. Jonathan Barkl, a 20-year-old college student at the time wondered if you could take the idea of Airbnb and apply it to your own driveway.

Air Garage is a service that allows you to rent out your driveway for parking in three simple steps. Step one is Air Garage installs a free sign that instructs the public they can pay to park in your driveway.

Step two is for you to install and get set up with their online dashboard so you can manage your driveway parking status. And step three is your driveway is available for rent and you start collecting payments.

If your curious to learn more, I actually had the Air Garage Founder and CEO on the Money Peach podcast.

The Best Side Hustle Ideas That Pay Quickly

These side hustles will not generate the income you can generate with the above list, but they are something you can do right away and get paid quickly.

15. Share Your Opinion Online

Yup, you can actually generate side income by simply giving your opinion via online surveys. It’s not going to make you rich tomorrow, but it’s still a great way to generate extra income during your down time.

I like to do surveys when I’m literally doing nothing else. For example, if I am in the doctor’s office waiting room, or my estimated wait time is 21 minutes or even if I’m riding the train — I may as well make some extra money.

There are also a ton of survey sites out there and I’ll be completely honest — 95% of them aren’t that great. But, there are a few good ones out there that actually have really good reviews.

The top two I recommend are both Survey Junkie and Swagbucks.

Survey Junkie has you answer surveys online (desktop or mobile) and you can earn points that can be exchanged for either cash or gift cards. For every 1,000 points you earn, you can trade them in for the $10 equivalent. Survey Junkie has over 14,000 reviews with a Trustpilot score of 4.5 out of 5 — the highest rating among all survey sites. 

Swagbucks is another great choice because you earn in other ways beyond just answering online surveys. You can earn when you shop online, answer surveys, watch videos, test out new offers from top brands, search the web, play online games, or use their mobile app. Similar to most other survey sites, you can redeem points for cash or gift cards. Since 2008, Swagbucks has paid out over $400 million and sends out over 7,000 gift cards per day. 

16. Inbox Dollars

Another option for a quick-money-side hustle is Inbox Dollars.

Inbox Dollars is a rewards club that pays you in cash for completing a variety of online activities. This can include searching the internet, filling out surveys, printing off coupons, and shopping online. You’re not going to make a ton of money or anything like that, but If you are already doing these things, it makes sense to get paid for it too.

17. Earn $3 to $100 Doing Random Tasks 

Download the free Gigwalking App from Gigwalk and then find “gigs” in your neighborhood that companies are willing to pay you for. Can you check out the price of milk in a certain store for $6 or snap a pic of a storefront for $5 on the way to work? Note: You will start off with the low-paying jobs in the beginning, but prove yourself and you will start getting offered the higher-paying jobs soon enough.

18. Earn $10 to $12 Per Hour as a Rideshare Driver

This is an incredibly popular side hustle and just about everyone has been in an Uber or Lyft before.

To get started, some minimum requirements you need are a car, a smartphone, and the Uber or Lyft app. You become available to drive as soon as you complete the activation process and then you are ready to start earning money. Fares are paid out weekly or up to 5X a day when you register for Instant Pay with your debit card!

The nice part about becoming a rideshare driver is it’s truly on-demand. You can work only when you want and you can drive as much or as little as you’d like. However, from the rideshare drives I have interviewed, the money is good, but not great. 

Uber vs Lyft
Uber	Been around the longest and more widely used.
Lyft	Drivers report getting paid slightly more when driving with Lyft.

19. Fiverr

Fiverr is a platform where you can sell your products and services starting at $5 per gig. After you have a few $5 gigs under your belt, you can start increasing how much you charge. Here at Money Peach, I hire people from Fiverr all the time. Just recently, we found someone for a quick logo design and another to transcribe some videos we created.

Also, the Fiverr platform does take 20% from each gig. Therefore, if you do a $5 gig, you will take home $4 per gig. However, if you can complete 3-4 gigs in an hour, your hourly rate could start at $16 – $20 per hour.

This is a very popular side hustle for good reason, but keep in mind you may not make a of money when you first start out. It may not feel worth it in the beginning because you will need to do small jobs to build up your rating before you can start charging more.

The Referral Program Side Hustle Ideas

These sites mentioned below are not to be used as a source of income, but rather a simple way to make a few bucks here and there. Most of them mentioned are ways to save money online, however they do offer gift cards for referring your friends. Again, not a big money-maker but more of a reminder you can still make a few bucks if you use any of these sits.

20. Rakuten (Formerly Ebates)

Rakuten is a company that has partnered with over 2,000 online companies to form an affiliate relationship with each of them. An affiliate relationship simply means Rakuten and each online company have created a partnership where Rakuten will refer you or I to buy something from them, and that company then sends Rakuten a thank-you referral.

The good news: Rakuten then splits the thank-you referral with you, and you earn  cash back. And when you refer your friends to Rakuten, you will get a referral commission. As of this writing, I have personally made $1098.48 since I joined Rakuten. Ninety-five percent of that came from referrals.

Even if you don’t plan on sharing your referral link, you still should sign up for Rakuten (free) and save money on all of your online purchases.

21. Honey Browser Extension

Honey works the same exact way as Rakuten — a refer-a-friend program.

Recently purchased by PayPal, Honey is a free tool that will search for online coupons and apply them to your online shopping cart to make sure you are saving the most money. Instead of searching for coupons one at-a-time and applying them individually, Honey does all of this for you in the matter of seconds.

Not only will you save money, but you can also make a little bit of money with their refer-a-friend program. For anyone you refer to the app, Honey will send you $5 as soon as they purchase something via the app up to $1,000. I have personally made over $3,000 with their referral program. You max out at $1,000 and then you need to create a new Honey Account and share out your new referral link.

 

The Create and Sell Side Hustle Ideas

Selling your stuff online is a great way to earn money quickly. Here are some of the go-to places for selling stuff online.

22. Offer Up

OfferUp lets you list and sell for free. It’s more of a “you’re on your own” site like Craigslist and LetGo, but is fairly popular and is well-organized. It also looks like OfferUp is surpassing Craigslist as the go-to place to sell your stuff locally.

23. Amazon

Selling on Amazon is almost identical as selling on eBay in terms of fees and ease of use. However, sometimes items that don’t sell as well on eBay do better on Amazon and vice versa. Either way, it is a side hustle worth looking at if you can buy for cheap and resell for a higher price.

24. eBook Publishing

Make money by writing your own book and self publishing it on Amazon for free. There are different options available for how your can price your book and earn income from the sale of your book in the Amazon store. Questions about self publishing your own book? 

25. Etsy

Instead of having to open up your brick and mortar store, sell your creations on Etsy. Whether you make clothing, crafts, baby toys, or jewelry, you can open up your own store at Etsy. I have a friend selling her awesome clothing line on Etsy and it brings in a very nice income for the family. This is another great side hustle, but don’t expect instant results. You may need to be patient for this one.

26. Craigslist

We all know you can buy and sell stuff on Craigslist, but have you ever thought about offering a service you can provide. If providing a service isn’t your thing, you can scan Craigslist for great deals and then later resell items for a profit. This takes persistence and patience, but I have a friend who went from a $4k truck to a $24k in truck in 18 months by flipping cars from Craigslist.

There are also many other sites competing with Craigslist and you may have better exposure by posting on these sites like Craigslist.

27. Zazzle

Make money on Zazzle as a designer by selling your artwork on different products or you can actually make and manufacture the products for sale. I have a friend who takes old dry wood and paints slogans on them. She needs to sell them on Zazzle; she could create a very quick and profitable side hustle.

28. eBay

You can have your own store up in only a few minutes at eBay. To start, you must have a seller account, must be verified through PayPal. You are even able to give a detailed description of your store with a catchy design to attract customers. I have a friend who will buy all of the unused bras at a last chance type of store and resell them for a profit at her eBay store. Last I heard, she was doing $1,000/month in her first couple of months.

29. Sell Your Photos Online

Do you take amazing photos? You can actually sell your photos online at places like iStockPhoto, Shutterstock, Fotolia, and Bigstockphoto. Photos can be sold over and over again, allowing you to earn a residual income! Beyond just photos, if you have anything to sell online, this would be a quick and easy way to make extra cash.

The Get Hired to Work Online Side Hustle Ideas

30. Earn $15 to $18 Per Hour as a Work-From-Home Customer Service Rep

There are many companies that hire part-time customer service representatives who can from home. Well-known companies like U-Haul, Hilton, Apple, Cruise.com and more hire customer service reps who work from home. I have a full list of the best customer service jobs to work from home here.

31. Do Transcription Work or Data Entry Work

Another great side hustle you can do from home is transcribing audio or video into captions. I personally have hired many people from Rev.com to do all of our captions for our videos and the quality is always great.

Rev.com says you can expect to earn on average $240 per month and you can also get paid weekly via PayPal.

I really love this side hustle because you can do this from home, on your own time, and work as much as you would like.

32. User Testing

Don’t want to do an online survey, but still like to surf the web and earn some cash? Companies will pay you to try out their apps or visit their websites and give them feedback. Usertesting and UserFeel uses your feedback on apps and websites that aren’t as user-friendly and then pays your for it.

The Some Skill Required Side Hustle Ideas

So, not all side hustles are for everyone. In fact, these ones below do require some skill to make money. But, the more skill you have, the more money you will make!

33. Become an Online Coach

If you have an idea and can help people, pay attention. Whether it is motivating someone, helping them pass a class, or teaching them how to build a website, this can all be done online. Setup you’re pricing, terms, and accept payment through something as simple as PayPal and you are on your way. I recommend using Skype or Google Hangouts since it is 100% free.

34. Create an Online Course

Is there something you are good at and can teach to others? My good friend Holly Johnson will show you how to get paid to as a Freelance Writer with her course Earn More Writing.

Another friend doing great things is Bobby Hoyt. He’s teaching people how to create Facebook Ads for small businesses with his online program, The Facebook Side Hustle Course. In fact, his average student earns $1,000 – $2,000 per month.

And, one of our former virtual assistants here at Money Peach left us to create her own online course — teaching people how to become virtual assistants. Her course is called 10kVA and her students are making up to $50/hour as virtual assistants.

35. Earn $900 Per Week Spray Tanning

A good friend of mine (Jessica) has become the queen of spray tanning in our area. In fact, she is making $900 per week cash spray tanning both the ladies and the men and it’s all through word-of-mouth! 

I asked her how she got started and she said this:

• She started with this exact tanning kit
• She uses this tanning tent
• She taught herself how watching YouTube

36. Earn $39/hour as a Voiceover Artist

You know those people who talk on radio and TV commercials but you never see their faces? They’re called voiceover artists, and they get paid good money to do what they do.

Sites like Backstage list available voiceover jobs, and Carrie Olsen, professional voiceover artist, has a great web site that can help you learn how to become a voiceover artist.

37. Make $200 to $300 as a Resume Writer

If you have a knack for writing compelling and attention-grabbing resumes, consider offering your services on sites such as freelancer.com, Craigslist, or on any social media platform.

When someone is going in for a job interview, it’s worth it for them to pay $200 – $300 per resume for a high-quality resume. In addition to writing resumes, you should also offer services such as writing cover letters and proofreading.

38. Catering

If you love cooking, serving food, and entertaining at your own home, then get paid to do it for someone else. This can be fun and can often go from side hustle to full-time if you’re really good at it!

39. Computer Repair

If you love “playing” computers, then help someone repair theirs and get paid for it. Note: You must know a little bit about computers.

40. Make $25/hour Teaching Computer Skills

How many Baby Boomers (or anyone for that matter) do you know who are still having trouble checking their email. If you were able to navigate to this web page, then you probably have the skills to teach extremely basic computer skills to an extreme beginner.

41. Make $300 to $500 Per Month Teaching Music Lessons

From singing to playing piano or any other number of instruments, parents everywhere are seeking music lessons for their kids.

If you have a gift for a musical skills, consider teaching that skill to local kids. You might be able to find jobs by looking on Craigslist, OfferUp, or Facebook Marketplace. You should also seek out local public school or homeschooling groups to connect with parents who have school-aged children.

42. Earn $300 to $500 Playing Guitar Gigs

A friend of mine finds guitar gigs online, on Facebook, and in the paper all the time. He shows up, plays for a few hours, and leaves with cash in hand. Note: you must be good at playing the guitar.

43. Earn $25/hour Doing Handyman Work

Some people are handy and others are not. Let your neighbors know that you are available to hang a ceiling fan, patch a hole in the drywall, fix an irrigation leak, or paint a fence. All can be done for them ASAP for a small fee.

I love TaskRabbit. Whether I need a doggy door installed, someone to clean my house this weekend, or even mount a TV, I can go on TaskRabbit to find someone in an instant. YOU could be that person I find next on TaskRabbit for hire!

44. Earn $18 to $22 Per Hour as a Lifeguard

Become a lifeguard and earn $18/hr – $22/hr part-time. Not only do you make some extra cash, but you are guaranteed to get a little tan as well.

45. Start Your Own Tutoring Business and Earn $30 to $85 Per Hour

Tutoring is a great side hustle and it’s in high-demand. According to Care.com, the most commonly requested tutoring subjects are SAT prep, math, English, chemistry, biology and physics. If you feel you have an expertise in teaching on any of those subjects, I would highly encourage you to start offering your services as a tutor.

Create a simple 2-3 page website with an about page, a contact page, and of course a hire-me page. 

Once you have your site up and running, don’t be shy — share your link to your site on social media and chances are someone will be calling you shortly. If not, I promise someone knows someone needing a tutor and you’re the first person they thought of because they saw your post.

46. Start a Baking Business

Do you have a gift for baking goodies such as cake, muffins or cookies? Why not use that gift to make yourself some extra cash?

Events such as birthday parties, weddings, office parties and meetings, retirement parties and more often have baked treats as a part of their celebration.

Advertise your culinary skills on Instagram, Facebook, and Craigslist. Also, don’t forget about local event venues to show off your bakery services.

47. Earn up to $31/hour as a Sports Umpire

Are you knowledgeable about the rules and regulations of certain sports? Do you like working with kids? Recreation associations often pay good money for organized sports umpires for football, baseball, and more.

In our area, umpires earn about $30 an hour. Check with local sporting organizations for job opening details.

The Physical Labor Side Hustle Ideas

If you don’t putting in a little sweat equity, you can do very well side hustling with some physical labor attached to it. I did #50 when I was getting out of debt and generated over $1,000 each month.

48. Earn $500 to $1,000 Per Month Cleaning Pools

This requires very little overhead and is simple to do. Go to Google Earth and look up which homes in your neighborhood have a pool, and offer to start today. I actually did this to get out of debt and it worked out great!

49. Earn $500 to $1,000 per Month House Cleaning

People are busy and don’t have time to clean their homes. This is where you come in. Search your area in Craigslist to get an idea for pricing your own services. Then market your services to friends, family and ask for referrals. Don’t be shy — the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

50. Earn $500 to $1,000 Per Month Mowing Lawns

If you don’t have the funds to purchase all the equipment, then offer to your mow lawns with their equipment. I actually did this in grade school because I wasn’t old enough to drive. I just showed up, grabbed their lawnmower, and was paid.

You can also find really good deals on used equipment on the Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, and Craigslist. This side hustle does require some upfront costs, but it’s a definite money-maker. I would recommend offering your landscaping services on OfferUp and inside the Facebook Marketplace.

51. Earn $25/hour Painting Gates

Gates fade and someone needs to repaint them. A kid in the neighborhood took pics of faded gates and pretty gates and posted them on the mailbox with his number and price. (I think one of the faded gate pics he took was my gate also). He spent about 2 hours taking off all the slats, sanding them down, and repainting them. He charged me $50 and was happy to pay it.

52. Earn $25 to $75 Per Hour Shoveling Snow

No one likes shoveling snow and this is why you will be paid for it.

53. Earn $5 per Window Washing Windows

I recently paid a guy to wash my windows because he advertised $5/window. He spent about 1 hour washing a total of 20 windows and walked away with $100 cash. His entire setup was a bucket and a squeegee. Maybe I should wash my own windows and my neighbor’s windows for an affordable price of only $5 a window.

The Really Unique Side Hustle Ideas

If you are unique, then you deserve some unique side hustles. Some of these are extremely cool, but a few of them…well I am still waiting for you to try.

54. Sell Your Hair Online

Thinking about a new hair style? You may want to. People are paying between $100 and $4,000 for quality hair. Just remember to wash it more than once a month before you get ready to sell. A great place to sell your hair is Hairsellon and they have a hair calculator here to show you how much they will pay you.

55. Make $50/hour Painting Street Numbers

A father and son rang my doorbell and pointed out to me my street numbers were faded. “For only $10, they would repaint my street numbers so my house would look better”. I paid it and it took them 37 seconds. They did 6 houses on my street alone. This is a great little side hustle.

56. Make $40/hour Doing Tasks For People

Whether someone needs furniture assembled, they need a package delivered across town, they need their TV hung on the wall, or a ceiling fan installed, you can get hired to do all these and much more via Task Rabbit.

The average Taskers are making around $40/hour, with some making around $2,000 per week!

To get started you first need to register for a free account online. Then you have to attend an online onboarding session to explain exactly how become a great Tasker. Once you’re approved, you can start accepting your first job via the TaskRabbit app and start earning money.

57. Start Earning $500 – $1,000 Per Month Home Staging Business

Somebody is always selling a home, and homes sell faster and for more money when they are “staged”.

As a home stager you can tailor your business to meet a variety of client needs. Creating relationships with local realtors is one way to help you find home staging clients. To create your pricing, find a local staging business and ask them for their rates. I would start lower than than what they currently offer to create business and then once you’re established, raise your rates.

58. Start an Estate Sale Service Business

An estate sale business buys a large majority of a client’s belongings, including furniture, vehicles and more, at a group rate and sells the stuff individually for profit.

This is a business that will take some work as you get to know the ropes but can be very lucrative in the long run.

59. Start a Vending Machine Business

Many companies want vending machines installed at their businesses for the convenience of employees and clients alike.

Although this type of side hustle would involve some costly initial cash, you may be able to make it up quickly if you install the machines in thriving businesses that service large numbers of people.

60. Pick Up Trash in Parking Lots

Brian Winch came on the podcast to share how he picks up trash around parking lots and now earns a 6-figure income by doing so. Although it may not be glorious work, it does pay well and it’s extremely affordable to get started. 

The You’ve Got to be Kidding Me Side Hustles

Before you read on, just remember the name of these side hustles are you’ve-go-to-be-kidding-me side hustles. Some of them will actually shock you ?.

61. Earn Up to $1,000 Per Month as a Sperm Donor

This is straight out of the movie Road Trip when they need gas money. However, you can make substantial money donating sperm, with some places offering up $1,000/month to healthy men. Be aware, if you’re not a true thoroughbred, you won’t be paid as much!

62. Earn $1,100 Per Month as a Plasma Donor

Since there is no way to synthetically make plasma, you will be compensated for your donation. Rates vary from state to state, but you can make up to $1,100/month for only a few hours of your time….and blood.

I personally know quite a few people who are doing this and they all have positive things to say about it. Not only do they like getting paid the money, but it feels good to help provide something that will end up saving someone’s life. Full disclaimer: I don’t like needles at all so you will never see a personal review from me on this one.

We have a full list of where you can sell blood plasma here.

63. Earn $40 to $80 per Hour as a Cuddler

Ah yes, cuddling. This is an actual real job and I recently saw it featured in a news segment. People are paying for up to 3 hours of platonic hugging (and they pay a lot). Job requirements: enjoy hugging strangers.

64. Earn $50/hour to Pick up Dog Poop

Who likes picking up dog poop? Nobody. This is why you can get paid for it. I did this interview on our local news channel about a guy who now makes a full-time living picking up dog poop.

65. Earn $20 to $50 Per Hour as a Rent-a-Friend

You can sign up for free at Rentafriend to be someone else friend both part-time and full-time with pay between $20/hr – $50/hr. Yes, this sounds very strange from the outside looking in, but a lot of times you are helping someone get acquainted in a new town, meet a new group of friends, or simply have a cup of coffee with. Most importantly – friendship is always platonic (no touching).

The Old School Side Hustle Ideas

These are some of the classic side hustles that we call the easy peasy ones. If you are looking for simple, but yet effective, these are the side hustles for you.

66. Earn $20/hour Babysitting

If you like kids and don’t go out on the weekends, become a babysitter. Advertise to all of your friends (and Facebook Friends) that you will watch their kids so they can have a date night. New to the area? Then get connected with Care.com to become a certified/recommended babysitter in your area.

67. Earn $15/hour Dog Walking

Create this ad: “Love your dog but simply don’t have time to walk them? Let me help you!” There will always be someone willing to pay to keep their doggy happy, and this person is you. However, if you want to sign up through a dog walking marketplace, try out WagWalking.com.

68. Sell Drinks

I live in Phoenix where it will hover at 116°F during the summer. During the hottest weeks, there is a guy who sells snow cones and water for a premium.

I asked him how business was recently – he smiled and said “Business is gooooooood”. Buy a case of water at Costco for $0.12 a bottle and resell them for $2 wherever it is HOT. Who wouldn’t pay $2 for ice-cold water during the dog days of summer?

69. Make $25 to $45 Per Day House-sitting

Who doesn’t want to get paid for simply living in someone else’s house for a few day days? This is simple and people will pay you for it. You can think of it as a mini staycation too!

70. Make $8 to $10 Per Hour as a Mystery Shopper

Get paid $10 – $30 on average to be a mystery shopper. However, beware because there are a lot of scams out there. I recommend checking out Marketforce, Best Mark, and Intelli-101 before you head anywhere else.

71. Earn $500 to $1,000 Per Month Pet Sitting

If you truly love animals, then why not get paid to hang out with someone else’s dog or cat for the weekend? You can become a pet sitter at Care.com or specialize in only watching over someone’s pooch at Rover.

72. Sell ScrapMetal

Post in your social media or offer in the newspaper that you will come and take any scrap metal away for people. Not only could you make a few extra bucks for hauling away metal, but then you could sell it at a scrap yard. Double whammy!

73. Sign Spinner

Do you ever see those people standing on the corner, wearing headphones, oblivious to the entire world around them, and flipping signs in the air? They are making money and you can too. What about sign holder? Well, maybe you’re not the spinning type…

Takeaway on All These Side Hustle Ideas

Remember, a side hustle is a just that — a way to make extra money on the side.

You’re not going to get rich doing any of these. You may one day generate a lot income from a side hustle, but don’t expect that to be the norm in the beginning. But, if you’re looking to make $50, $100, $1,000 or even $2,000 extra per month, then the side hustles mentioned can help you get there.

• Work means work. Whichever side hustles you choose will take effort on your part.
• Find something you are already good at (or enjoy) and start there.
• Determine how much money you need and then work backwards from there. This will help you determine which side hustle will be best for your goals.
• The side hustles that pay more require more time and effort. The opposite is also true.
• No more than three side hustles at at time.
• Not all side hustles are glorious, but the least attractive side hustles often pay the most.
• If you come across a side hustle that says “get-rich-quick” — go the the next one. It’s just not true.
• Commit, commit, commit. The biggest mistake you will make is giving up on your side hustle too early.

Now I need your help…

If there are any other side hustles that you have done and have actually made money with, I would love to know about them. Simply leave a comment below and let me know what you did and how much extra you money you were able to generate. 

I’m glad you found this post and good luck in your next side hustle adventure friend.