Could you use some extra cash?
There’s never been a better time to make some extra income on the side!
I have researched several possibilities, I have even tried some myself, and want to share with you 12 different side hustles that you can do that actually will generate a decent amount of earnings for you in your free time.
If you would need any further information on the items listed below, be sure to check out this video for more details…
1. Uber or Lyft
I’m sure you’ve probably ridden with Uber or Lyft. But, you can become a driver and earn money with these companies. Maybe you’ve thought about it, and the thought does deserve consideration if you’re looking for some extra cash.
Being a driver for Uber or Lyft is a flexible side hustle that you can take advantage of and actually earn a decent amount of money as well. They both have different earnings. I’ve seen them advertise anything from $20 to $35 an hour.
Now, every town is going to be different, so it’s a hard one to know exactly what you’re going to earn until you start driving. What I think is great about becoming a driver is truly the flexibility offered, as it gives you some control over your own schedule and when you want to work. Both Uber and Lyft are really trying to recruit drivers at the time this article was written. So it’s definitely an option to consider if you’re looking for a good flexible way to make some extra cash.
2. CleanLots
This one’s kind of interesting. So I stumbled across CleanLots probably six or nine months ago, but basically this guy named Brian, built his own business where he was going around to different local businesses and cleaning, picking up the trash on their parking lots.
He developed a system where he’s doing this and is now making over six figures just picking up trash off the parking lot! Brian has created an eBook where he shows exactly how to do this and basically tells you exactly what you need to do in order to build a business like he did. And, if you’re not looking into building your own business, and you like being outside walking a lot, working for CleanLots something definitely to consider.
3. Airbnb
You might’ve already used Airbnb, and if you haven’t heard of Airbnb yet, let me introduce you. Not only can you stay at an Airbnb rental, you can actually earn some really good money just by renting out your house or by renting out even a room in your house (I’ve even heard about students renting out their dorm rooms).
Depending on what city you live in and how well traveled it is, will determine your potential earnings. I have friends, who every time they travel and go out of town, they rent their house out. And, in many cases they actually earn money while they’re traveling because they’re getting paid more from a renting out their house than they’re actually spending to stay other places.
Renting out your living space does come with some concerns. One of the big concerns that many people have is, “What happens if somebody comes in just a destroys my house?” Airbnb has already thought of this. They have a million dollar host guarantee where they will just take care of anything that happens (up to one million dollars), which is really great. They also offer host protection insurance. Being a host with Airbnb makes me feel a whole lot better versus just renting out to somebody on Craigslist, because with Airbnb you can see and choose who is going to rent out your place.
Another cool thing is that you can see what reviews the potential renters have, and if you don’t want to rent to somebody you don’t need to, nor do you have to. This kind of flexibility just eliminates a lot of concerns and risks. If you’re traveling, or if you are going on on a vacation, this is definitely something to consider… because you could easily make a few hundred, if not a couple thousand dollars, depending on how long you’re gone.
4. Amazon Flex
With Amazon Flex, you basically deliver boxes for Amazon. UPS just isn’t cutting it. Amazon is everywhere and they are delivering stuff like crazy, especially with their Prime Now program. This has created an even greater need for them to hire their own delivery drivers, and this is where the Amazon Flex program steps in.
As of the time I’m writing this article, one can make $18 to $25 an hour, which is really cool and it’s also a very flexible side hustle! You can be your own boss and set your own schedule. On top of this, I don’t know if it gets much easier than driving to an address using GPS, drop a package off on the doorstep and then walking away… and to be able to potentially make $25 dollars an hour doing just that! That is pretty cool.
5. UserTesting
There are a lot of companies who have built a website for their brand and they want to see how users respond to it. As well as, if the website is communicating what they want to be communicated. So they hire testers to come on and test their website. This is where UserTesting comes in to play.
You can become a website tester using the UserTesting app or website. Just think, you could be testing websites and getting paid to do it! During each test there will be several questions asked of you and these companies will be looking for your feedback. Like… Does this landing page makes sense? Do you know where to click to get to the store or where the checkout button is located? You simply just answer the questions posed to you using a headset microphone and your job is to answer questions that they ask you about their specific website.
So it’s really pretty simple, not much to it, and you get paid $10 a test while working from home. They estimate that most tests take about 20 minutes to complete. With these figures, you’re looking at earning around $30 an hour.
Now, the only downside about this one is that I don’t know how scalable it is…in that I don’t know that you could turn this into a full time job. The amount of tests available may not be the same from day to day, or even week to week, so you might be limited on what’s available to you. But either way it’s a pretty simple way to make some extra cash. Below is our step-by-step review of UserTesting, check it out:
6. Selling Used Books
Yes, you’ve read that right! You can earn some extra money by Selling Used Books. I’ve gone into Goodwills searching through and finding used books that I can buy and sell for a profit.
I use an app to scan each book to see what I could sell it for online. And, oftentimes you can go to Goodwill and buy a book for $0.25 that you might be able to sell for $5 or $10 online. If you can repeat this a few times, you can actually make some decent money in this side hustle.
So, if you don’t mind sifting through books at Goodwill (or any thrift store, flea market, garage sale, etc.), this may just be the gig for you. I think it’s a really fun and it’s something that you could do to earn some decent cash. If you’d like further details about selling used books like I have, here is our how-to video!
7. Liveops
Liveops hire call center agents at their virtual call center. You can work from home as a call center agent, as long as your house is quiet or you have a quiet room in your home where you can answer phone calls. And, if you do, you’re good to go.
There’s a good amount of flexibility in terms of setting your own schedule with Liveops. The earnings on this one might be lower than a few of the other ones we’ve explored on this list so far. But obviously being able to work from home and being able to set your own hours is a pretty a desirable thing.
8. Starting an eBay Business
Starting an eBay business might sound more intimidating than it actually is. I did an experiment where I wanted to see if I could start an eBay business. I went out and bought guitar necks from a wholesaler, at a wholesale price. And then, I resold them on eBay. I measured out my profit to see how much I earned, and to see if this was something that could scale up. All of those results are in this blog post here.
eBay is a great place to start a business. A friend of mine paid off $80,000 of debt just using eBay and working a few hours on each Saturday. In my interview with him, found here, he talks about his strategy of how he used eBay to pay off his debt and how simple it was for him. So, if you haven’t sold anything on eBay, definitely check out the interview.
And, if you’re considering to start selling on eBay, start with the stuff around your house. That’s a great way to begin earning some extra cash. And then if you enjoyed that, you can then decide to turn it into a business if that’s something that you want to do.
9. Upwork
Upwork is a website where I actually go to hire a whole bunch of people. Basically it’s a community of freelancers who do just about everything. As a freelancer you can go here and create a profile of the hirable skill you have.
Do you excel in creative writing? Are you a fast typer? Can you give presentations for people or companies? How about logo design? Or, maybe you do web research or can offer virtual assistant services. The possibilities are nearly endless.
If you want to earn some money on the side, put your profile out there on Upwork! You can set your own price and whatever you want to get paid. Companies and individuals alike will be searching for something, some skill.
Not only do I hire from this website, I know several others who hire almost exclusively from this website. So, if you have some sort of skill that you could freelance with, this is definitely something to consider because you have control on what jobs you take and what your pay is.
I’ve actually had a few friends who’ve started here and got their feet wet as they were trying to work out of working for another company to become a full time freelancer. It’s just a great way to start getting some business, if you’re starting your freelance business!
10. Takelessons
And in the similar vein, something else you could do is if you have some sort of skill that you can teach other people. With Takelessons, you can become a teacher and you can teach about whatever the thing is that you’re really knowledgeable about.
There’s all kinds of lessons, like: academic tutoring, any kind of computer skills, cad software, Microsoft office, foreign languages, instruments, etc.! That’s what I found to be really cool, I didn’t even know they offered music lessons until I started looking into this side gig in further detail. You could teach guitar lessons virtually, and you don’t even need to be local.
The lessons you teach on this site are virtual. Therefore, you can reach a much wider audience than just the 15 miles around your house that you might normally be teaching guitar lessons. So it’s a great way to take your skill and turn it into some extra cash. So if you have a skill that you’re great at, share it with people and actually get paid to teach!
11. Real Estate Investing
Real Estate Investing is obviously not a very quick turn this into cash type of deal. But I did an interview with Brandon Turner and he explained some of the basics of how to get started as a beginner in Real Estate Investing. If you’re considering doing this, definitely check out the interview below, because Brandon is one of the smartest guys in the industry.
He works for probably the biggest real estate website, a real estate education website online right now called BiggerPockets. He’s written a few books and is just super, super knowledgeable. He started with one rental property and just continued to add more and more. Now he’s got a huge portfolio and he makes a really nice income from all of his real estate holdings.
So if you are thinking about getting into real estate investing, definitely check out the interview to get a little more detail before you move forward.
12. Turo
I really love Turo because it’s like Airbnb, but for your car. Individuals rent out their cars to other people needing a car. So instead of having to go to Enterprise or Hertz to rent a car, you can rent from individuals. Most of the time, you can get a rental for a fraction of the price. It’s just a whole lot easier and more convenient.
I haven’t rented out my car yet, but I’ve rented a lot of cars using Turo and it’s just brilliant. One of the things I love, obviously, is that it’s considerably cheaper than renting from the big car companies. This is a terrific and unique way to save money renting cars!
But on top of that, when I travel especially, is the time that is saved. In certain airports, I may need to take a couple trams or a bus to get over to the car rental area because airport is so big. Sometimes that takes me a half an hour just to get there, and then have to stand in line to get the rental. Many times when I’ve rented from Turo, the person renting the car to me will actually come right up to the baggage claim area and I can just walk right out with my bags and hop in the car!
Now, when it comes to earning money with Turo, the value of your car is a big component of how much you will earn. Lower end cars and older cars, may still be rented (I once rented a car that was 15 years old), but just at a lower price. People will still rent these cars because it’s going to be cheaper to rent! Even if you do have a newer or a nicer car, it’s something to consider as well because you’ll get paid considerably more.
And, if you’re worried about damages to your vehicle, they offer insurance to cover any accents that might happen. So, if you have a car and you’re interested in making some cash from it, definitely consider Turo.
So these are some of my favorite side hustles that pay well, but I’d love to hear from you down in the comments what else that you’d recommend!
