"The surest way to ruin a man who doesn't know how to handle money is to give him some." - George Bernard Shaw

SavingAdvice.com Blog

Bridging the gap between saving money and investing


Join Now or Login

make money on the side

20 Easy Ways to Make Money on the Side

By 6 Comments

10 ways to make money on the side

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 10 easy ways to make money on the side and reach your financial goals faster.

1. Earn Extra Cash as an Uber Eats Delivery-Partner

You can make a lot of cash easily just delivering food for Uber. Fares may vary depending on where you deliver. However, it’s one of the easiest and fastest ways to build your bank account. Learn more about becoming an Uber Eats delivery-partner and start earning before you know it.

What You Need

Some of the requirements to become an Uber Eats delivery-partner, are that you must be at least 19 years old, and have a driver’s license and insurance. You’ll also need at least one year of driving experience. Uber Eats delivery-partners must also have a 1998 model vehicle or newer.

2. Make Money from Home with Survey Sites

Survey sites like Survey Junkie and Swagbucks are an easy way to make money without leaving home. 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.

make extra money driving

3. Earn Up to $25 an Hour as a Babysitter or Petsitter

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 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.

4. Invest for Income

Recent SEC changes mean its cost effective to start building up passive income flows. With a lot of newer fintech startups, you can start investing and earn extra cash without much effort. In fact, you don’t even have to have a ton of cash to get started. You can start investing with as little as $5. Many of these apps allow you to evaluate your desired risk level. Generally, the higher the risk, the more money you’ll see immediately.

Good places to start are new startups like Stockpile or Emperor Investments, which currently offers 6 free months without management fees.

5. 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 1000% of their original price.

You can also sell items around the house like appliances and household items on Craigslist. This platform is great for selling larger, unneeded items like furniture, old cars, electronics, outdoor items, and appliances.

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.

6. Get Paid to Work Out

Sites like 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, at 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 betters must meet to be able to participate. Everyone must be 18+ and have a BMI (body mass index) of at least 18.5%. If your BMI would fall below 18.5% after losing 4%, 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.

7. Grocery Shop for up to $25 an Hour

Shopping might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of ways to make money on the side. However, with services like 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 U.S., 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.

8. 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.

9. Earn as Much as $100 Testing Websites

Companies like 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.

make extra cash

10. 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% 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% 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!

11. Use Your Credit Cards

Credit card issuers typically offer cash back 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 cash back 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.

12. Make Old Furniture New

Restoring old furniture is 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, 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.

13. Sell Your Home Grown Food

If you like to garden, 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.

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.

14. 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. 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.

15. Participate in Clinical Trials

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.

make money landscaping

16. Landscaping and Odd Jobs

Shoveling snow and mowing lawns seem to be jobs that people are always looking for help with. 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 like 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.

17. Sell Your Sperm or Eggs

Selling your sperm or eggs might seem odd, 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 like 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.

18. Shop for People

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 like 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.

19. Evaluate Google and Other Search Engines

You can get paid to evaluate search engines and search results. This typically means giving your input on the quality of the pages that come up when you search specific terms. Companies like Appen pay people $12 to $17 per hour to evaluate websites and social media pages.

What You Need

There is typically a test and hiring process to become a search engine evaluator, and you’ll need, at least, an Internet connection and computer.

20. Offer Services on Fiverr

Some people are actually working full-time on Fiverr these days. You can offer nearly any type of service and get paid, usually around $5 per task. There are options to include add-ons and additional services if you need to increase your rate. Whether you’re a graphic designer, a writer, or someone who can carry out simple tasks online, you’ll likely find some way to earn money on Fiverr.com.

What You Need

What you need to make money on Fiverr depends on the types of tasks or services you provide, but for the most part, you’ll simply need a computer and Internet connection.

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

Material Connection Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and make a purchase or sign-up Saving Advice will receive an affiliate commission – which will help keep the site going. I only recommend products I think will add value to savingadvice.com readers. I am disclosing this in compliance with Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

20 Money Making Ideas That Work

By 2 Comments


money making ideas that work

For the past two decades wages in the United States have been pressured by rising health care and housing costs. Accordingly there is a lot of interest in ways to supplement ones income. However not all ways of generating extra money are equal – some are more effective wealth builders than others. Here are 20 money making ideas that work.

1. Blogging for Others

Sites like problogger.net are great for finding companies who are interested in hiring free lance blog writers. Most free lancer blog writers can get between $25 to $400 per article. If you work at this consistently you can bring in between $5,000 and $10,000 annually. Typically you’ll be given a topic and a schedule and asked to generate some content. Alternatively, some website owners will pay you to manage their sites for them. This is pretty much like being a real estate property manager. You do the management work for a set fee.

2. Blogging for Yourself

Blogging for yourself essentially means becoming a small scale internet publishing operation. You’ll have to learn to write compelling content, market your content, negotiate with advertisers, perform search engine optimization, learn to hack computer code, etc. There are blogs for all sorts of topics – frugal living, saving advice, marketing, lifestyles, automotive, etc. Some bloggers get rich, for example Slashgear’s Ewdison Then is pulling down between $60,000 and $80,000 per month and Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani makes $110,000 per month. One significant downside to blogging is low compensation- a lot of small time bloggers make under $2 dollars per hour.

3. Coin For Bill Changer

One way to make some extra money is to start a coin for bill changing business. The idea here would be to go to peoples homes and exchange all their coins for bills on the spot. Coinstar and banks can charge a big percentage, so this business could be a win/win for people who enjoy coins. A lot of people have large jars of coins and don’t have time to exchange all of them. This service can be especially good seniors or for people who are disabled.

4. Goodwill Outlet Reseller

The thing to do is go to the closest Goodwill Outlet Store – not the regular Goodwill store. The outlet stores are deeply discounted – usually selling used stuff by the pound. They are often dirty and you’ll need to dig through a ton of stuff to locate things to sell. That said, you should be able to turn $100 or so into $500 or more by reselling stuff on Craigslist and eBay. If you ever wondered where flea market sellers find the things they sell, it’s the Goodwill Outlet stores. This is especially good for students – don’t bother to get a summer job. Learn this skill and you’ll make way more money.

5. Become a Psychic Advisor

There are certain basics required before you start a career as a psychic. You:

  1. Need to be psychic
  2. Need to know how to give a reading, you need to be very sensitivity and have great communications skills
  3. Need to know marketing, sales and legal issues.

When it comes to getting paid, you have a couple of options. You can either hang out your own shingle or work a contract. If you get a contract its likely to be 1099 work. Psychics who work on contract get paid per reading and can easily clear $600 in a couple of months. One disadvantage of working on a contract is you have far less flexibility and the company takes a cut of your income. One significant downside is psychic work can be stressful as you are often asked to solve people’s problem in a very short amount of time.

6. Collect Scrap Metal

Among this list of money making ideas that work is collecting scrap metal. A good way to find scrap metal to sell is to go out on dirt roads where people dump trash. Another way to find scrap metal is to offer to clean a person’s yard for a very low fee. If they let you haul away all the trash can get you a good amount of scrap to sell. If you hustle, you can make about $50 a day doing this. Collecting scrap metal can have long and irregular hours – you never know when might get a call to clean up someone’s yard.

7. Sell Textbooks on Ebay

Selling textbooks on Ebay can be a good side hustle. Use an application like BookScouter.com to find out how much a given book is worth. BookScouter will let you enter a book’s ISBN number and will tell you how much the book is worth and which buyback company will give you the best price. Use this tool to find books on EBay that are worth more on the open market than it will cost you to obtain. If you make a profit of $4 or $5 dollars off each book, you just need to sell a few books a week to make decent money. You’ll need to be sure your business operations are in good shape.

  • Check the condition of the book before buying it. Buyback companies expect some wear and tear, but if there are ripped pages or severe cover damage, it might not be accepted.
  • Carefully pack your books. Buyback companies typically provide a prepaid shipping label, but you need your own packaging. If the books are damaged in transit you will eat the loss.
  • Watch payment fees. Paypal does a great job harvesting fees for themselves, so if you are offered the choice you’ll want to consider check payment.

8. Sell Produce at Local Farmers Markets

If you live in a rural area, consider selling your produce a local farmers market. Vegetables and eggs are often in high demand. Vegetables can go for $1-$12 dollars a pound. Eggs can go for $2-$4 dollars a dozen. You may not make more than $20 a week or so unless you scale things up.

9. Sell Cosmetics Via Avon or Mary Kay:

Some feel that any company which utilizes a multilevel marketing model is a socially irresponsible company. However, mainstream companies like Avon or Mary Kay could teach you both business skills as well as provide some side income. Turnover in these kinds of businesses tends to be high and the average profit can be quite low – Canadian Mary Kay consultants on average earn less than $100 per year.

10. Illustrate Books For Children

One way to make side income is to illustrate a childrens coloring book and sell it on lulu.com. Self publishing is appealing because authors generally get a bigger cut of the sales profits than books published through a publishing house. Most self published books aren’t much good – just 1% to 5% percent of books have a high level of sales, so if you go the extra mile you can make decent sales. On average, illustrated ebooks sell around 100 to 150 copies.

11. Write and Sell Ebooks

According to the Association of American Publishers in 2014 ebooks generated $3.3 Billion in sales. The amount of profit going to writers of ebooks and ease of publishing are two reasons for their popularity. Writing an ebook can be an extensive proposition with the entire process lasting between 3 and 18 months. The average ebook earns about $300 per year, with many books earning significantly less. Popular sales platforms include the Amazon’s kindle, ebooks.com or the like.

12. Catch Crabs

Crab is a hugely popular dish. If you live in a coastal area, restaurants will pay several dollars for every crab caught. This can be a good way to for kids to supplement their income or for families to make some money on the side while vacationing. You will need some equipment such as a cooler, a fold up chair, ice, a crab trap, bait, a knife, gloves and a net. Crabs are generally only found in saltwater. WARNING: laws regarding crab harvesting have generally gotten tighter in recent years.

13. Tutor English

If you live in an area with large populations of recent immigrants, tutoring English can be a money maker. You’ll be able to charge at least 10 dollars an hour and you should be able to find at least two or three students in your area without a lot of trouble.

14. Buy Things For Others

Internet coverage is less prevalent in rural areas. If you live around folks who have limited access to the internet, you can always purchase things for others who need to buy something online. A reasonable markup is 1 or 2 dollars per transaction. Senior citizens or persons who are on a limited income may need this service.

15. Record Deeds

Yes, you can record deeds yourself. To record a deed you just need to take it to the appropriate recording office in your area. The recorder will then index and transcribe the deed in the public record where it will be available for anyone to see. You can charge between 1 and 5 dollars for each deed you record.

16. Collect Bottles and Cans

Aluminum bottles and cans sometimes carry a deposit. You can get 5¢ to 10¢ for each can or bottle you return a designated recycling spot. While you have to get a lot of cans and bottles for this to add up, the idea can work if there is a large event in your area where a lot of bottles and cans will be left behind. Here are the 11 states that pay you when you return them:

  • California (5¢)
  • Connecticut (5¢)
  • Hawaii (5¢)
  • Iowa (5¢)
  • Maine (5¢)
  • Massachusetts (5¢)
  • Michigan (10¢)
  • New York (5¢)
  • Oregon (5¢)
  • Vermont (5¢)

17. Write And Sell Poetry

If you are a wordsmith you can always write poetry and get it published. Sometimes a magazine or other source will run it. You won’t get much for the poetry – between $5 and $25 but having your work published can be a feat in and of itself. As an additional bonus the funds you earn will cover the cost of postage it took to submit your work.

18. Donate Plasma

Donating plasma is one of our money making ideas that work. Donating plasma can be unpleasant as you need to get a needle stuck in your arm. However if you can’t find work at temp agency and you need grocery money, you can always sell your plasma. You’ll make $60 – $75 dollars per week. Some donation centers require a full physical and might ask you to answer a lot of medical history questions which can take several hours.

19. Write College Papers

This is an ethical grey area, however some websites will purchase term papers and resell them. In order to make this business model work, you need to locate sites which broker the papers. The submissions are graded based on style, level, etc. B papers tend to sell faster than A papers – evidently people don’t want others to suspect they are buying term papers, so lower grades fetch a higher price. The good news is that you can sell the same paper more than once. You can also type up papers for other students who aren’t great typists or who don’t have a computer. You can charge up to $2 dollars a page. Most papers are 4 to 6 pages long.

20. Christmas Light Installer

If you’re looking to make some extra money this holiday season, consider being a christmas light installer. A christmas light installer puts up the holiday lights on peoples houses. If you work at it you can pull in a 5 figure income during the 2 month holiday season. To be a successful installer you need a ladder, hooks to hang the lights on, tools to install the hooks, and strands of lights. A good installer can charge $50 – $100 for a basic installation. To be good at this you’ll need to find areas where people want to have their lights hung up, but don’t have time to do it on their own. This model is great because you have the potential for add on income doing light removal and gutter cleaning. When you come back to take down the lights, if you have a truck you can also ask if they would like their Christmas tree removed.

If you like this article please visit the saving advice forums for more money making ideas.

Photo Credit: Dustin Moore.