Let’s face it, life today can be extremely expensive. Even if you are working a full-time job or multiple part-time jobs, making ends meet can often be a real headache. Thankfully there are some savvy ways to make extra income on the side that almost anyone can do. Here are some of the best ways.
Sell What You Don’t Need
The first recommendation is to sell items that may be sitting around and unneeded, whether that is sports equipment, collectibles, furniture, construction equipment, tools or electronics. Whether you use eBay, Amazon or any other platform this can be a great way to clean out your home or apartment and earn a bit of extra cash on the side.¹
Go Freelance
If you are self-motivated and need a bit of extra income consider going freelance. Your skills may be worth more than you think. There are a variety of jobs available to earn a side income freelancing including translation work, website building, graphics design, writing, coding, and more. Check out freelancing sites like Upwork, Freelancer, or PeoplePerHour to get started with this. Even Craigslist often has freelance opportunities available for extra income.²
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a website that allows you to earn reward points just for doing the same things you’d normally do on the internet. These points add up and can be converted to money, gift certificates, or discounts. You also get a $10 sign-up bonus to sweeten the deal. Swagbucks won’t make you a millionaire but they will give you some perks and a bit of extra spending money.³
Tax Work
Even if you’re not an expert with a Ph. D. in taxes, if you understand the basics of the tax code and sometimes help friends or family you can expand that into some extra income helping with taxes for money. Depending on how much free time you have to work you can actually earn quite a good amount of money doing this during tax season.
Test Websites
Especially if you’re already online quite often or at least have access to a computer and reliable internet connection, consider testing websites for some extra money. Sites like UserTesting, Analysia and StartUpLift give you a decent amount of money to go to websites and check out how they are working for you and list any issues that come up. It’s easy to do and a total win-win.⁴
Make Money From Your Wheels
If you are driving a reliable car you can rent it out for money on apps like Getaround, or you can become a part-time Uber or Lyft driver and make some extra cash. Particularly if you already commute to and from work for a considerable distance you can even just do one or two trips per day to and from work and make extra money. It really can be a great opportunity to earn a bit extra.²
Help Students
Another savvy way to make some extra money on the side is tutoring. Whatever you are trained in for your work, consider applying it to helping students do well in whatever subjects they need help with, be it math, literature or geography. In addition to often paying quite well, tutoring brings a lot of personal satisfaction as you see students improve and gain confidence in their studies. You can tutor by commuting into a school, holding lessons in your home or by signing up online to do tutoring remotely or even leading entire classes via video call.
Getting Started
These are just a few of the many opportunities to earn extra income to supplement your job or studies. When it comes to choosing a specific opportunity, think about what you’d do for fun anyway. For example, if you really love math, then math tutoring on the side could be a great fit. If you love writing, then freelance writing would be a perfect option. It’s easier than ever to get started, so there’s no reason not to try something.
[1] https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/extra-income
[2] https://www.inc.com/john-rampton/30-ways-to-make-money-on-the-side.html
[3] https://www.swagbucks.com/lp-shop2
[4] https://www.usertesting.com/be-a-user-tester