In today’s gig economy, many people are finding ways to make extra money with side jobs. If you’re looking to earn more money, especially with tough times like a possible recession, higher prices, and job cuts, side hustles might be a good option.
Side hustles are ways to make some extra money, and if you’re lucky, they could even turn into a full-time job. But not all side jobs are equally promising. We’ve explored various side gigs and discovered the ones that don’t need much money to start. If you’re interested, we’ve got some great options for you.
Here are nine great side jobs you can begin without needing much money:
- 1. Driving for Rideshare
- 2. Delivering Food
- 3. Tutoring
- 4. Doing Paid Surveys
- 5. Earning while Shopping
- 6. Pet Sitting
- 7. Freelance Work
- 8. Various Small Jobs
- 9. Selling Secondhand Things Online
1. DRIVING FOR RIDESHARE
Rideshare apps might not be in the news as much lately, but they’re still going strong. Driving for Uber or Lyft is a good way to make money, with drivers often making $100 or more each day.
Usually, you need to be at least 21 to drive, but the minimum age can differ depending on where you are.
Some people worry about putting lots of miles on their car and paying more for gas, but don’t let that stop you. Lyft and Uber give out nice bonuses when you sign up and often have special offers for busy times.
You can choose when and where to drive, which helps reduce wear and tear on your car. For instance, you can pick up someone going in the same direction as your errands, so you’re not driving around too much just for rides.
How much you earn changes a lot based on things like where you are, how much you drive, gas prices, and tips. On average, full-time Uber drivers can make between $600 and $800 a week, and some even make over $1,000, as per The Ride Share Guy.
2. DELIVERING FOOD
If you’re not keen on having extra passengers and the stress of keeping your car clean, delivering food might be more your style. As a part-time gig, delivering food can bring in some really good extra money each month.
The cool thing is, you don’t even need a car. You can drop off meals using a bike, scooter, motorcycle, or simply on foot with these popular delivery services:
- – Uber Eats
- – DoorDash
- – Postmates
- – Grubhub (in limited areas for non-car deliveries)
Many folks delivering for DoorDash prefer using bikes. It’s easier to move through busy streets, enjoy the outdoors, and essentially get paid while exercising. Just like with rideshare jobs, you get to choose your routes, so if you’re on a bike, you can avoid highways and tough roads.
3. TUTORING
Creating tutorials, how-to videos, or tutoring online is a cool way to make at least $100 every month. You make the video once and keep getting paid every time someone watches or downloads it. Some top creators even earn over $10,000 a month.
You can share your video as a paid course on sites like Coursera or Udemy. Or, if you post it on your YouTube channel, you can make money from ads and sponsors. You don’t have to be a super expert in baking or fixing roofs to make videos. People love learning new things and products through videos.
For example, someone looking up “how to ride a bike” might already know how to do it. But they might want tips to teach their kid or help a friend. There’s a video for almost everything, no matter how simple or silly it seems. You just need patience to explain it well.
This side job is easy for beginners as anyone with a smartphone or video recorder can do it. If you don’t have a tripod for your phone, you can get one pretty cheap on Amazon (around $6 or less) to keep your phone steady while recording.
4. DOING PAID SURVEYS
Taking online surveys is a great way to make some extra money without a lot of effort. You can reliably earn between $50 to $200 every month, and you don’t have to work on it every single day.
Companies that do research team up with survey sites to gather opinions from consumers like you. When you finish a survey that you qualify for, the survey company gets paid and they share a part of that money with you.
Surveys can pay anywhere from $0.25 to $5 or even more, depending on how long and tricky they are. Sometimes it’s just answering simple questions, other times it might need more detailed answers.
You might not fit every survey you try, but you’ll qualify for and finish some. If you do around 3-4 surveys a day, even while watching TV or scrolling through your phone, that’s an extra $100 to $200 a month with not too much effort.
Here are some good survey programs with both websites and apps for you to check out:
- – Survey Junkie: Earn points for surveys that you can swap for free Amazon gift cards or cash via PayPal.
- – Branded Surveys: They pay you points for sharing your thoughts on different consumer topics. You can turn your points into cash using Dwolla or PayPal.
- – Kashkick: Besides surveys, you get paid for trying new offers, freebies, and playing games. You can get gift cards or cash through PayPal with your earnings.
5. EARNING WHILE SHOPPING
If you love shopping at Target, this could be the perfect job for you. With Instacart, you can actually get paid to shop! You won’t keep what you buy, but you’ll wander the store picking items while enjoying a Starbucks drink. Just 10 hours of shopping in a month could earn you an extra $300.
It’s a bit like delivering meals, but instead, you’re dropping off someone’s shopping. You decide when you work and choose which deliveries you want to do. Instead of delivering lunch, you’ll be bringing people their Target orders, like groceries, clothes, toys, and home stuff.
Instacart shoppers can make around $20 per hour, and sometimes even get tips from customers on top of that.
6. PET SITTING
If you adore spending time with dogs or cuddling up with pets, pet-sitting could be your dream job. You might earn around $16 per hour walking dogs or caring for pets, thanks to apps that connect pet lovers with busy pet owners.
Your tasks could include walking dogs, feeding them, playing, cleaning litter boxes, and more.
The pay changes depending on what you do. For instance, staying overnight with a pet might pay more than just taking a morning walk. But some people manage to make this their full-time job.
On Rover, a popular dog-walking app, full-time walkers can make around $3,200 a month, while part-timers might see about $1,000.
Apart from Rover, here are other pet apps to think about:
- – Wag
- – GoodPup
- – Wooftrax
- – PetBacker
- – Pawshake
- – Fetch! Petcare
You don’t need special certifications, but you might need to pass a background check, be at least 18, and show that you know how to handle a dog on a leash and use different harness styles.
7. FREELANCE WORK
Fiverr is a cool place where writers, designers, and other online workers can earn extra money. People there do all sorts of jobs for businesses, and the top earners make over $100,000 a year.
I’ve used Fiverr to hire folks for writing blogs, making designs, doing research, voice acting, and creating animations. The people I’ve hired work for small companies, big brands, and even huge Fortune 500 companies. The kinds of clients they get are really varied.
The most wanted skills on Fiverr include things like:
- – SEO marketing (sharing posts online, making backlinks)
- – Writing (blogs, web content, infographics)
- – Videos (talking or animated)
- – Graphic design (logos, web design)
- – Virtual assistant jobs (like managing emails or schedules)
- – SEO checks (reports on website changes)
- – Voice acting (for videos or commercials)
- – Digital marketing (like social media stuff)
- – Tech stuff (like making websites)
- – Photography (taking pictures of stuff)
On Fiverr, you can charge between $5 and $500 or more for your work. When you’re new, it’s a good idea to set your prices a bit lower until you’ve finished some projects and got good reviews.
Apart from Fiverr, you can also find similar jobs on websites like Upwork, Freelancer, and others like Truelancer or 99Designs.
8. VARIOUS SMALL SHOPS
There are two types of folks: those who ace putting together IKEA furniture and those who struggle with it. Those who find it tricky are happy to pay someone else to do it for them, and they pay quite a bit for the service.
If you’re thinking of joining this group, you could earn between $5,000 to $52,000 every year. Whether you do it part-time or full-time, there’s plenty of work out there.
Websites like Thumbtack, TaskRabbit, or Jobble are good places to link up with locals who need help with different tasks, not just IKEA stuff. Other jobs could be assembling different furniture, yard work, cleaning, or even setting up events.
Assembling IKEA furniture is a popular task. According to TaskRabbit, people who put together furniture can make $18 to $28 an hour. But in reality, the pay might be higher. I recently hired someone through TaskRabbit who charged close to $35 an hour.
Right now, there are more people looking for help than those offering their services. If you charge around $25 per hour, doing this as a full-time side job could earn you $52,000 a year.
9.SELLING SECOND HAND THINGS ONLINE
Cleaning your closet is great for your mind and your money. You can find things you don’t use and sell them online, making around $200 to $300 or even more. A mom made over $2,300 by selling her kids’ old clothes on Facebook. This shows that selling used clothes can save and earn you a lot of money.
It’s easy to sell online. You just take a picture, make a post (which takes less than a minute), and wait for someone to buy it. If you’re not sure how much to sell it for, the app can suggest a price based on what similar items are selling for.
Some clothes sell better than others, especially popular brands, vintage styles, or athletic labels. Besides selling clothes, there are other ways to make money, like dropshipping (selling items directly from manufacturers), print-on-demand (making custom designs for things like T-shirts), being a virtual assistant, or creating content for brands on social media.
If you’re looking to make quick money, there are gigs you can do in a day, like delivering food or doing tasks like pet sitting or yard work. To earn $100 a day, you might need to commit more time, but things like walking dogs, doing freelance work, or even creating a podcast could help you reach that goal.
You don’t always need startup money to start a side hustle. With so many options available, there’s likely a side hustle that matches your interests and skills. It’s all about finding something that fits you, whether it’s managing social media, working as a virtual assistant, or exploring other fun ways to make some extra cash.