One of the best things you can do to improve your financial situation is to find ways to make extra money on the side of your regular income.
This will put you in a much more comfortable financial situation by:
- Reducing your money stress
- Allowing you to pay off debt faster
- Giving you more money to spend on things that matter to you
If your end goal is to become financially independent, having multiple income streams is a must.
Luckily, you don't need to invest a ton of money or take on a ton of risk to add some extra cash to your wallet each month. If you've got time, you can turn it into money.
Keep in mind:
Each opportunity on this list has a different earning potential.
Some of these hustles can make enough money to replace a full-time income (if desired), while others might not be as consistent or high-earning.
For that reason:
I suggest you try out as many different methods on this list as you can, and then figure out what works best for you. If you just read these ideas and give up before even giving them a shot, you're selling yourself short.
Table of Contents
Ways to Make Extra Money Online
1. Answer Surveys
Surveys are a classic way to make extra money from home.
In fact, they're so talked about that many believe they're a complete scam. But, they're not. There are actually plenty of legitimate paid survey sites out there…you've just got to know where to look.
Here are some examples of popular ones:
The way they work is simple:
- Brands and researchers ask questions about things like product ideas, shopping habits, and in some cases even things like psychology and science.
- You answer their questions and get paid.
If you'd like to learn more, check out these guides:
- Best Paid Survey Sites: Guide to Taking Surveys for Money
- Find Online Surveys by Payout Option
- Find Paid Surveys In Your Country
- Best Paid Survey Apps: Earn Money On the Go!
- Best Paid Surveys for Teens and Kids (Sites & Apps)
- Top Surveys That Pay Instantly (No Minimum Payout)
2. Test Websites and Apps
Testing websites is a super fun and easy way to make extra money online. I do it in my spare time and I usually make at least $50 a month for about an hour of work.
Now don't worry, in most cases, you don't need any advanced technical skills to test websites. If you can browse the web (which you're doing now), you're good to go.
Some more advanced testing jobs may require you to search for bugs and other more technical things, but you can avoid those if you'd like. That said, most sites offer training for this, so you could also take the time to learn something new!
Popular options to try include:
For more ideas on where to get started, check out these sites that pay you to test websites and apps.
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3. Start Freelancing
Freelancing involves providing a service (usually an online one) and getting paid for it.
Examples of freelance service ideas include:
- Writing – Here are some places to find online writing jobs.
- Proofreading – Here's a guide on becoming a proofreader.
- Transcription – Check out these online transcription jobs for a head start.
- Virtual assistance – Do admin work like research, email management, and more.
- Tutoring – Check out these online tutoring jobs for a head start.
Once you know what type of service you want to provide, check out this guide for finding freelance clients.
4. Try Micro Tasking
If you don't yet want to dive directly into freelancing, micro jobs can be a nice stepping stone.
These typically involve things like:
- Data entry
- Training AI
- Research
- Transcription
- Writing
- etc.
The big difference between this and freelancing is that, rather than working on one big job, you'll be working on dozens of mini jobs. Some will only take a few seconds to complete.
That's not always the case, but it is a common scenario.
To learn more, check out this guide to micro jobs.
5. Start a Blog
One of the best ways to make money online is to start a blog.
A blog is all about building an audience and providing that audience with valuable content. If you can do that, the monetization will come naturally with a bit of practice and time.
If you're interested I suggest checking out my how to start a blog that makes money post. In that post, I'll show you how to set up your blog and then I'll show you 5 different ways you can monetize it.
For me, blogging has been an amazing learning experience and I'm just starting to see success.
I've only been promoting my posts for a couple of months now, and I've gotten about 13,000 page views and made around $50. I know it isn't a lot but it's a start and it proves that what I'm doing is working!
6. Create an Online Course
One of the best ways to make extra money online is to create and sell an online course. It's semi-passive income as well; once you create the course all you need to do is maintain and update it.
If you can't think of any ideas for your online course, I suggest looking at Udemy's top-rated and trending courses. You should find some inspiration there and you'll see what people are willing to pay money for.
Next, you'll want to start learning how to create a money making course, and you'll also want to think about where you may want to launch your course.
Launching your course through your own website is always an option, but you could also choose to host it through one of these sites (they take a small commission):
If you choose to go the self-hosted route, I suggest hosting your site with Siteground.
7. Sell Photos
Websites these days are producing tons of articles daily and they need photos to go along with them, so where do they go? Stock photo sites.
You can upload your photos to these sites and every time someone downloads one, you get paid.
Since thousands of photos are uploaded to stock photo sites every day, you're going to have to be strategic to stand out from the competition. The key is to pay attention to what type of photos are downloaded most and upload photos that work well for advertising.
Learn more with these 6 tips for better stock photos.
Here are some stock photo sites you can upload your photos to:
8. Review Music
This is probably one of the coolest ways to make extra money on this list, but it takes a while to earn a decent amount.
What you'll be doing is reviewing music on SliceThePie.com.
When you first start out, you'll have one star on SliceThePie. As you write quality reviews, you'll get more stars and you'll get paid more per review.
Once again you won't make a fortune doing this and it takes time to build up your reputation, so you should only try this if you really like listening to music anyway.
9. Get Paid to Be Active
This is one of my favorite ways to make a bit of extra moolah because you're getting paid to do something you should already be doing.
Here are some apps to try:
For more ideas, check out these apps that pay you to walk or apps that pay you to work out.
10. Start a YouTube Channel
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's easy to make money from YouTube because it's not. Making money with YouTube requires you to build up an audience, which takes dedication and time.
However, if you're willing to put in the work, the payoff can be huge. There are countless YouTubers making thousands of dollars a month through advertising, affiliate marketing, product sponsors, selling their own products, and more.
You can get in on the action, but don't start a YouTube channel if your only goal is to make money with it.
Your goal should be to provide value to others in the form of help, entertainment, and your awesome self. Once you can do that, people will follow and so will money.
11. Sell Your Data
Yep, companies will pay you for your data. That includes things like:
- Apps you use
- Websites you visit
- Physical locations you visit
- Health data
- and more
Places you can go to sell this stuff include:
For more ideas, check out these paid data collection sites and apps.
12. Get Cash Back
Earning extra money while shopping has never been easier, it's so easy in fact that you'd be silly not to take advantage.
Try these to get started:
For more, check out these guides:
13. Get Paid To Do All Sorts of Stuff
That title is extremely vague for a reason.
GPT sites (aka get-paid-to sites) have a variety of money-making opportunities on them.
Things like:
- Watching ads for cash
- Trying new apps and games
- Filling surveys
- Checking in (literally logging in and pressing a button)
- Trying new services
- etc.
Some places that pay you to do these include:
For more ideas and details, check out this full guide to GPT sites and apps.
14. Browse the Web for Cash
If you're someone who spends a lot of time exploring the old interwebs, this might be one of the best ways for you to make extra money.
Unfortunately, most of the opportunities here don't pay a lot, but hey, money's money.
Popular options include:
Here are all the current ways we know how to make money browsing the web.
Earn Extra Cash With Stuff You Own
15. Rent Your Spare Room
Did you know that some Airbnb hosts are pulling in six-figures? Now, you may have no interest in starting a full-blown Airbnb business, but this just goes to show that you can make a lot of money as an Airbnb host.
For example:
This lady rents out her spare room for ten nights per month in order to cover her rent and live comfortably for the rest of the month. You can do the same!
It may not be the ideal situation, but if you're in a rough spot financially, it's a good temporary solution.
Interested? List your spare room on Airbnb today.
If you'd like to learn a bit more before you get started, check out this super in-depth step-by-step guide to becoming an Airbnb host.
16. Sell Stuff You Don't Need
We all waste money on things we don't need sometimes. We'll buy something and then a month later we'll never touch it again.
I myself will admit to being a bit of a packrat, keeping stuff I haven't used in years just because “I might use it one day.”
If you're willing to do some decluttering you might be able to make some extra cash in the process. Who knows, you could have hundreds of dollars worth of things you never use lying around.
You know what they say: “One man's trash is another man's treasure.”
Here are some things you could sell:
- Books – If you're a bookworm or you just finished college, you might have some books you can sell for extra cash. Head over to BookScouter.com and they'll find out where you can sell your book for the most cash.
- Clothes – If you like to buy new clothes a lot, you might as well sell your old ones to free up space and make some money to put towards the new ones. Try Poshmark, ThredUp, or Tradesy.
- Other stuff – Try Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, or eBay.
17. Donate Things For Money
Donations are typically a one-way transaction, but there are some things you can get paid to donate.
Here are some examples:
- Men can donate their sperm
- Women can donate their eggs
- Anyone can donate their poop for money
- Anyone can donate their plasma
Side Jobs for Make Extra Money
18. Drive People Around
If you've got a car why not use it to make some extra money by driving with Uber or Lyft?
It's not a glorious gig, but it allows you to set your own schedule, and if you follow these success tips, you should be able to rake in a steady stream of extra money every week.
Don't have time to drive people around because of your day job? Worry not because Uber and Lyft offer a “destination mode”.
When you use this mode you can set your destination (ie., your workplace) and then you'll only receive requests from passengers that bring you closer to that destination. You'll still have to leave a bit earlier but it's an easy way to make some extra money on your way to work.
If you're interested then sign up to drive with Uber and sign up to drive with Lyft. It's always good to be on both.
19. Deliver Things (That Aren't People)
If you've got a car but driving people around sounds like a nightmare, then maybe you're better off driving around inanimate objects.
Some of these jobs don't even require a car, a bike or even a pair of legs will be enough if you live in a city. All that matters is that you can get a package from point A to point B.
So, what will you be delivering? It's really up to you but you'll have the option of delivering food, groceries, alcohol, and pretty much anything else people need to be delivered. It all comes down to which companies you sign up for.
Here are some food delivery companies to check out:
If you're thinking that food stank is going to funk up your ride, worry not because I've got another delivery job that will suit you perfectly:
As a Roadie driver, you can decide what items you want to deliver and how often, and you'll see beforehand how much you'll make for each delivery.
20. Complete Odd Jobs
Every day there are people who need something done that they can't, or don't want to do themselves. You know, things like setting up TV's, cleaning, handing out flyers, random jobs like that.
Since people want to get these things done for cheap, they hire taskers (that's you). As a tasker, you'll have a certain skill set and you'll be helping with these random jobs. This means you get to pick and choose which jobs you want to apply for, and your schedule will be pretty flexible.
If you want to make extra money living the task life, go here:
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this list of ways to make extra money on the side, and I REALLY hope you found something on this list to get excited about.
Honestly, it doesn't matter which one of these side gigs you decide to start, what matters is that you actually start. Don't just exit out of this tab and move onto the next blog post, pick something and try it out.
Trust me when I say: It's going to feel so good when you earn that first bit of money on your own.
I hope I've inspired some of you to take action and earn some extra dollar bills for yourself, that extra money (doesn't matter how much) can be life-changing!
Other posts you might like:
- 25 Passive Income Sources to Make Money While You Sleep
- 15 Legitimate Work From Home Jobs That Pay Good Money
Thank yourll a lot for the time you’ve spent viewing
Glad you found the content helpful Ethan!
thank you so much
Welcome! Thanks for reading
Thank you Dylan
You’re welcome Marueen! Glad you found the article helpful.
Enlightening,informative and transformative.
Thank you 🙏
EXCELLENT
Glad you liked the post, Rashed!