40 Easy Ways Anyone Can Make Extra

40 Easy Ways Anyone Can Make Extra Money On The Side
By Ashley Barnett Get our free 7-day course on earning & saving more
Extra money can have a huge impact on your finances. Here are 40 easy ways you could start earning extra income today — from a few dollars at a time up to thousands a month!
Earning extra money can make a huge impact on your finances. You can get debt paid off faster or build up your emergency fund. Or even use the extra cash to do something fun that you wouldn’t normally be able to do.
Luckily, there are a million ways to make money. Here are just a few to get you started:
Online jobs you can do in your spare time
These opportunities are like typical jobs — you sign up with a company and they assign you work.
Medical transcription
There is a pretty big market for transcription of all kinds, but medical transcription is it’s own beast. You can be trained to transcribe medical voice files online at many colleges, but the price for training varies widely. I found two that offer it for about $550: Ashworth College and Penn Foster. But be sure to do your research and make sure you’re getting what you are looking for. Some employers will even provide their own training or cover the costs.
Most medical transcription jobs are work from home, and there are full- and part-time options available.
At-home customer service
Did you know that sometimes when you call a company the person you are talking to is at home? Pretty cool, huh? There are several companies you can sign up with to have access to at-home call-center jobs:
• LiveOps
• Alpine Access
• Working Solutions
Be a translator
If you are lucky enough to speak another language, you have a special money-making gift. With today’s global economy you can hire yourself out as a translator. Translate text from one language to another, or make calls for those of us who only speak one language.
Upwork has a whole section just to match translators with clients.
Search engine evaluator
Google, Yahoo, and Bing pay people to evaluate their search results. It seems they pay between $12 and $15 per hour and work can be sporadic, although some people report regular work. Here are some places to start:
• Leapforce
• Lionbridge
• Appen
Evaluate websites
Website developers want feedback on their work. Is the site intuitive? Do you like the colors? Is it easy to find what you are looking for? UserTesting pays $10 per site evaluation, which takes about 20 mins. Register on their site and you will be contacted if you fit into the demographics of a site they need reviewed.
Part-time “in person” businesses
These businesses require regular contact with live people. That means they typically need to be done during regular daytime hours and with some customer service.
Housesit
When people are away from their homes for long periods of time they need someone to look after their home. This can be as simple as getting the mail and watering the plants or as complex as actually living there while the owners are away. Housesitting is especially popular in places where there are a lot of second homes, where the owners are away for months, sometimes years. I have family that lives in a very upscale vacation area where caretakers are paid to live in multi-million dollar homes and maintain them while the owners are away!
Babysit or pet sit
If you like kids, babysitting is an excellent way to make extra money. You can take kids full time or just be a weekend warrior while the parents head out on a Friday night. Another option is to look after school-aged kids before and after school.
If kids aren’t your thing, you can always pet sit for people while they are on vacation. This is perfect while you are in school since school breaks tend to coincide with times that people normally go out of town.
Help a disabled person with day-to-day life
Disabled people often need quite a bit of help, yet it can be tough to find. Oftentimes, they just need someone in their home for a few hours a day to help with certain aspects of life, such as getting ready for work, cooking a meal, or changing the sheets on the bed. If you are a caring, dependable person you can make real money helping out a disabled member of your community.
Dog walker/pooper scooper
If you like the idea of pet sitting, but want a more regular income, you can dog walk or scoop poop. If you can walk several dogs at once, you can earn quite a bit for less than an hour’s work per day. Same thing with scooping poop. A local company in my city charges $10 per visit and comes twice a week. They also offer litter box changes, also $10.
Combine dog walker, pooper scooper, and pet sitting and you could really have a profitable business.
Delivery person
Delivery isn’t just for pizza. During their busy times, such as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, florists will hire extra drivers to deliver their bouquets. I have several friends who do this for a few days around these particular holidays and it pays about $100 per day.
Rent your parking spot/garage/car
If you live in an urban area where parking costs a premium, you might be able to make a few bucks renting out your parking spot. If you have a garage that you don’t need, or don’t need all of, you can rent out the unused portion as storage for a neighbor.
If you have days that you don’t use your car, you can rent it out. Sites like RelayRides allow you to rent out your personal vehicle for days, weeks, or months. Earn money while you are on vacation or if you are thinking of buying a new car, maybe keep your old one and rent it out for a profit.
Uber/Lyft
If you don’t like the idea of renting out your car for others to drive, you can always drive them around yourself. Uber and Lyft are revolutionizing the cab industry. Check out our full review of driving for these two services here.
Give tours of your city
If there is a particular area of your city you know especially well, you can be hired to give tours. You could be a hiking guide of the trails in your area. Or give tours of local bars, or museums. And it doesn’t have to be long — an hourlong tour might fit perfectly into someone’s vacation schedule.
People will pay a lot of money for a good tour. A local hiking guide in my area charges $135 per person for a 4 hour tour, with a $450 minimum.
Handyman (or woman)
If you are handy around the house, there is work out there for you — doing anything from housecleaning to home repairs. Gardening, window cleaning, “honey-dos,” painting, decorating, hanging pictures — so many tasks need to be done around the house and some people simply can’t do them, or don’t want to do them, and that’s an opportunity for you to step in, help out, and make a few extra bucks.
Run errands, virtually or in person
There are people out there who just need stuff done. Phone calls made, appointments set, emails sent, items returned, dry cleaning picked up, etc. Task Rabbit is a website that matches taskers (that’s you) to those needing tasks. They can be in-person or virtual.
Turn your hobby into a business
If you have a special skill, you can turn it into a little business. The options are truly endless. Some popular ones are:
• Computer repair
• Baking
• Selling crafts
• Graphic design
• Tutoring
I knew a guy who liked to do pig roasts in his backyard for his friends. They were so popular he started a catering business and only does pig roasts. Another guy liked to make pancakes so he started a pancake catering business. Pancakes!
But it doesn’t have to involve food. A good friend of mine hosts coloring parties. She provides the supplies and people pay $10 each to come over and color. Yes, these are adults. She makes a few hundred dollars a month having people over to color. True story.
Part-time online businesses
Online businesses have more flexible hours, although you will still have to deal with people on occasion.
Sell stuff on Facebook/Craigslist/eBay/Amazon
If you have stuff lying around that you don’t use, you could always sell it for a few extra bucks. But if you really want to make a go of this, you can flip items you find at Goodwill or yard sales and turn it into an actual business. You can even take it step further and sell items for other people on consignment.
You are probably familiar with using Craigslist, eBay, and Amazon (at least as a buyer, if not a seller), but Facebook is also becoming a popular place to find buyers, and you don’t need to have 5,000 friends on Facebook to make it work. Here’s an ecourse if you want to learn more.
Virtual assistant
If you are an organized person with good computer skills, consider becoming a virtual assistant. Depending on your skills you can earn up to $40 per hour doing tasks for busy business owners. You will need to be professional, punctual, and able to work unsupervised.
Create Facebook or Twitter profiles
Business owners are busy and often don’t have the time or desire to attend to details, like making their social profiles look good. If you like this sort of thing, go online and find businesses with terrible profiles. Contact the business owner and offer to create a professional background for a reasonable price.
Freelance writer
Writing articles for websites is a great way to make extra money. If you enjoy writing and have an interest and knowledge in a particular subject, you can become a freelance writer. Getting started can be tricky, but once you are established in a particular niche, jobs will start coming more easily. To start, check out a few freelance writing boards such as:
• Worldwide Freelance
• Freelance Writing
• Morning Coffee News