Welcome to Day 6 of the Money Management course!
Today we’ll cover ways you can easily bring in extra dough on your spare time.
A few of these side hustles will get you cash in just one day! Others are more involved. You might find that some might be more suited for you than the rest but they are all great ways to make money.
Start flipping for cash
Look around your home. Without a doubt, there will be a few items you haven’t used in a year (or more) but keep anyway.
If that’s the case and you don’t see yourself using it soon, then post an add up on Craigslist. Realistically, that stuff is just losing value collecting dust. You might as well sell it and get the most out of it now.
Struggling to let go? Check out my post on Why your clutter is costing you money every day.
If you’re ready to turn that clutter into cash, click here to see how I easily make $1,000 in extra income each month flipping. This article will cover ways to find things to flip and how you can make money with $0 down.
Bonus tip: if you’re getting into flipping and selling, I cannot stress enough the importance of a good picture. I get SIGNIFICANTLY more interest in posts with clear pictures. My stuff ends up selling much faster.
Browse the Craigslist gigs section
The beauty of the gigs section is that the jobs on there are generally a one time deal. You aren’t committing yourself or your time in the long-run. It’s perfect if you’re just looking for a quick buck!
Another great selling point for the Craigslist gigs section is that you can find just about any kind of gig. From moving to landscaping, creative, writing or other contract work. There’s a huge amount of diversity. It’s unlikely that you won’t find something that works for you.
If you’ve never been to the gigs section, you can find it at the bottom righthand side of the Craigslist homepage. Make sure you are looking at gigs in your location!
Honestly, it doesn’t hurt to have a quick browse at what’s available near you. You might even find something you actually want to do! If you don’t, well sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. The gigs section is a great place for that.
Some of the gigs might seem pretty crapy. Don’t be discouraged, there’s good stuff mixed in with the crappy gigs. Keep looking and you’ll find something. You don’t need to settle for the first gig you see. You can be selective with your time! If you think the work isn’t great or the pay too low, then don’t take it (unless you’re really really desperate for $).
Fill out online surveys
You’ve probably heard this one before. It comes up this often because it is that easy to make money with.
If online surveys are news to you, then even better!
Basically, whenever you’ve got yourself some free time, get online and start a survey.
If you’re a good multitasker, you can easily do a survey while you watch your favorite TV show or movie.
It’s a great way to make extra $ because it’s that convenient and flexible. You could be making money on the train or bus on your way to work.
Waiting on a friend? Start a survey instead of jumping on Instagram or Facebook.
There’s really no limit to where and when. It’s only a matter of thinking about and doing it!
If that sounds like your jam, here are two companies I recommend using (obviously there are countless others but these are the most popular):
Collect scrap metal
This might seem like a random way to make money but I kid you not, you can easily get a couple hundred bucks in a few hours.
A friend of mine was a car mechanic at an Infinity dealership. He would joke about the “scrap metal guys” that came by the shop at the end of the day. They would roll up with their trailers or pick up trucks and ask if the dealership was getting rid of any old engines.
These “scrap metal guys” would bring in about $200 for a single engine. They collected everything that was metal (not just engines), brought it to the scrap yard and got paid!
Going from mechanic to mechanic is just one example of the places you can pick up metal. Sometimes, you might just be driving past a house or commercial area and notice metal abandoned on the side of the road. Keep your eyes open when you’re out and about.
It’s an easy way to make a quick buck.
The one piece of advice I will give you is that in order for it to be worth it, you likely want to rock up to the scrap yard with a large enough load of metal. You don’t want to be driving around only to break even on the cost of gas. So make sure you’re collect A LOT of metal.
The downfall of this side hustle is that you either need a truck or a trailer. It’s likely not worth your time or gas money bringing in a small amount of metal in your Honda Civic.
Junk removal or moving
If you have a truck or trailer, here’s another easy way to make money quickly.
Do you know anyone who’s moving or doing a serious spring cleaning/renovation?
Your truck has a lot of value to them. For most people having to move large loads of furniture or garbage is a huge headache.
People will easily pay for you to solve a problem they don’t want to deal with.
If you don’t necessarily know anyone who’s moving, spring cleaning or renovating, put an ad up on Craigslist and some flyers around your neighborhood.
You don’t have to physically move stuff (unless you want to, you could probably make even more $). Be specific as to what service you are offering.
Is it just transportation or are you also offering assistance with loading/unloading?
Airbnb your pad
Next time you’re going on vacation, plan ahead and put your place up for rent. It will basically balance out the cost of your vacation (obviously dependent on how much you’re spending).
Renting out your place is honestly such easy money. It requires little to no effort and has a pretty damn good payout (depending on where you live).
Maybe you don’t plan on going on vacation but you still have a sweet place you could potentially rent out?
Chances are, you can probably offset the cost of your entire month of rent in about 1 week.
If you’re really looking for easy money, maybe you could stay with family or a friend for a week? For most of us, rent makes up the biggest chunk of our monthly costs. You’ll be sitting there laughing if you can work out living rent-free by occasionally putting your pad up on Airbnb.
Rent out your garage, parking spot or storage
Do you have a garage that sits virtually empty? Maybe you live in an apartment building and have a parking spot or storage unit.
You could be making very easy money renting them out. The best part is, you only have to put in effort at the beginning. Once it’s rented, you can sit back and enjoy the money coming in every month. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Get on Craigslist and get an idea of what similar garages/parking/storage are going for. Post yours up and make sure your ad includes a picture! People tend to be very visual and will often scroll past an ad without a picture. Take the extra couple minutes to include a photo of your space! You’ll rent it out WAY FASTER!
Love dogs? walk ’em!
If you’re a fan of furry four-legged friends, sign yourself up for dog walking.
Bonus, the fresh air and walking is awesome. I have a dog and personally, I love going out with him.
Even on days when I’m tired and don’t feel like walking, I never regret getting some fresh air! It really helps me clear my head and let go of daily stresses.
You’re not going to be making crazy amounts of money dog walking. Probably only about $10 an hour but if you like being outside and like dogs then it’s a pretty easy enjoyable pay-check!
If dog walking is your jam, you can easily put up a Craigslist ad (you’ll get more interest if you ad a picture of yourself with a furry friend). The upside of Craigslist is that 100% of the money goes to you. The downside is that you probably won’t get a lot of gigs.
As a dog owner, my pup is basically family and it’s difficult for me to trust leaving him with someone. For that reason, I use Rover.
You’ll get a lot more interest on Rover than Craigslist just because dog owners trust Rover more. You likely won’t make as much as you would on Craigslist for each hour of walking. To be fair though, you’ll get a lot more walks through Rover so you could still end up with more money.
If you want to max out on your returns, you can offer house sitting and Airbnb your place while you’re away.
Two birds one stone (or two paychecks one stone?).
Get paid to stay at someone else’s place, play with their dog and get money renting out your place. Not too shabby I’d say.
Become an Uber driver
Do you have a car? Why not let it cost you nothing?
You can easily even out the monthly costs of owning a car by driving with Uber.
It’s very easy money and you choose when it works in your schedule.
Uber’s only requirements vary by city but at a minimum include the following:
- valid driver’s license
- proof of residency
- online screening (they check your driving record and criminal history)
- your car must be a 4 door that’s no more than 10 years old
- valid insurance on the vehicle
Do you meet the above requirements? Give it a try! You have complete control over your time making it a very flexible side hustle.
You can sign up to become an Uber driver here.
Deliver for foodora
Maybe Uber isn’t an option for you because you don’t have a car. No sweat!
If you have a bicycle, you can easily deliver for foodora. There are a number of delivery services out there but foodora is one of the most widely available.
Similar to Uber, you are the master of your schedule. Decide when you want to hustle and when you don’t!
Bonus, you’re not just doing your wallet a favor! Cycling is incredibly good for your body and overall health!
Signing up for foodora is also much easier than Uber in that you don’t need to show proof of insurance, valid driver’s license, etc.
If you’re interested in delivering for foodora, you can sign up here.
I hope these suggestions have been helpful and that you’ve found a side hustle that works for you.
Make it rain my friend!
