Here on Making Sense of Cents, I talk a lot about different ways to make money on the side. I do this because I truly believe that making money on the side can change a person’s life.
After all, learning about different ways to make money on the side changed my life.
My main side hustle a few years ago mainly consisted of me blogging here on Making Sense of Cents. Then, it quickly grew, my income matched and then exceeded my day job income, and I actually made the decision to leave my day job in order to pursue my side hustle full-time.
As you can probably tell, starting a side hustle significantly improved my life and it’s something I will ALWAYS be extremely happy about. My side hustle income allowed me to pay off my debt quickly, leave the job I disliked, start working towards my passion, and travel extensively.
Taking part in the many different ways to make money on the side can allow you to:
Pay off your debt;
Save for things such as a vacation;
Stop living paycheck to paycheck;
Reach retirement sooner;
Not feel as stuck at your job;
Become more diversified.
Many others believe in the amazing power of side hustle income as well. I recently interviewed many side hustlers, freelancers, business owners, and more about the different ways they’ve made money on the side and compiled them into one extremely informative blog post to help all of you. Plus, they share their tips on how to manage side jobs better so that you can make money on the side while not going crazy.
Below are over 40 different side hustle ideas and tips from the experts. There are many different ways to make money on the side and I’m sure you’ll find one below.
Related articles:
75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
10 Ways To Make Money Online From The Comfort of Your Home
10 Things I’ve Done To Make Extra Money
Ways To Make An Extra $1,000 A Month
Start a blog.
Blogging is how I make a living and just a few years ago I never thought it would be possible. I now make a great living online, I travel full-time, and I enjoy the work I do.
I made over $300,000 last year by blogging and will make more than that in 2016 (I’m hoping to double my income this year).
There are many ways to make money on the side and one of the top ways I recommend is to start a blog. You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $3.49 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
Become a Brand Ambassador.
“A side hustle that I absolutely love is being a Brand Ambassador. A Brand Ambassador quite simply shares talking points and usually free swag with the public in order to build brand awareness. Brand Ambassadors typically work on the weekends at different events so the trick is to manage family time if you have a family. For more information on how to become a brand ambassador check out the following post: How To Become a Brand Ambassador.” – Michelle Jackson
“Love meeting new people? Many cities have active brand ambassador Facebook groups that are constantly looking for product demonstrators, trade show spokespeople, tour managers, and more! And brand ambassadors can expect to earn $15-20 per hour.” – Kate Dore
Related: Become A Brand Ambassador And Make Extra Money
Write a book.
“Self-publish a book on Amazon that focuses on a topic at the intersection of 3 things: 1. your passion; 2. your expertise; 3. a need in the marketplace How much a person could make would be based on how much they want to charge for the book, but I would say you could make anywhere from $50 – $300 / month, depending on your book content / audience.” – John Lee Dumas
“Anyone can be a self-published author now and it is one of my favorite side hustles. Whether you want to share tips on how to do something or want to write a fictional story, any topic can be published. How much you make depends a lot on how much competition there is for the same type of book. I make between $300 and $500 a month for a crowdfunding book I wrote last year while my investing books make between $100 and $250 a month. The best thing is that, once published, they will keep making money year after year.” – Joseph Hogue
“Publish a book. It is easier than it used to be. You can self publish or if you have a platform such as a blog with associated social media you can pitch to publishers and generate interest there. Publishing a book increases credibility and leads to other opportunities such as speaking, course, freelance writing, judging, presenting awards, launching events and a lot of media exposure. Depending on how you do, what niche it is, how well you market it you can make anywhere from nothing right through to millions. Personally, getting asked to publish a book back in 2010 changed everything and was a pivotal turning point for me. Quite a few friends of mine earn a few hundred thousand a year from their books and associated content, others a couple of million. Most authors only make a few thousand if they are lucky though. It is all in how you market and how much of a following/community or tribe you have.” – Kylie Travers
Become a virtual assistant.
There are many ways to make money on the side online, and one of them is by becoming a virtual assistant.
“My favorite way for someone to make extra money from home (and what I would personally do if I needed extra money FAST is to be a virtual assistant. Specifically, I would be a VA to bloggers. There are so many ways to do this, including assistant with social media, creating images, writing content, etc. There are lots of Facebook groups set up specifically for people to sell content to bloggers. Really your income is only limited to the time you want to invest in it. Some VAs charge per hour and some charge per project/post. With a few hours per day, I’d say you could easily make $50-$100 extra per day.” – Lena Gott
“I’ve made most of my money by working as a VA and blog manager for busy blog owners. I fit my side hustle in alongside my full-time job by reminding myself that I was making a temporary sacrifice of sleep and free time in order to build my business to the point I could quit my job. I now make over $5,000/month online with my business.” – Kayla Sloan
A virtual assistant helps a business run more smoothly. You can be contracted for one project (such as collecting data for research) or it can be a continuing job such as replying to e-mails and comments. Virtual assistant work can range widely. There are many, many tasks that people hire virtual assistants for.
Related: How To Become a Virtual Assistant and What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?
Become a coach.
“Coaching is a great way to make side income. It needs practically no monetary investment… just time. Just be mindful of what you charge per hour, as almost everyone starts way smaller than they really should. When pricing your coaching services, if in doubt, double it!” – Chris Ducker – ChrisDucker.com
“One on One coaching is a really simple and fast way to start earning income fast for yourself. While people who’ve been doing this for a while will typically earn around $300, $500 an hour, someone just getting started could expect to earn $50 a $100 an hour. The benefit with this side business is that you can earn more per hour starting out which means you won’t have to work as much to earn as much. Also, consider offering package deals, this will allow you to sell at a higher price point and this gives a definite start and end date to things.” – Chris Holdheide
Sell on eBay or Craigslist.
“I go through twice each year and pick up items I’m not using to sell on craigslist or ebay. I make about $3-400 each time I do it. That’s an extra $800 for something cool!” – Lauren Bowling
“One of my favorite ways to make extra money is to go around my house and find one thing to sell on Craigslist every week (particularly on Fridays right before the weekend when everyone loves to get rid of their money ;)). It not only helps you de-clutter and get rid of stuff that’s no longer important to you, but also make some good side money that you can then bank towards something you do care about! I made over $1,200 doing this last year and it helped fund a Roth IRA. Give it a shot!” – J. Money, BudgetsAreSexy.com / RockstarFinance.com
“One way that a person can make side income is by selling items on eBay. The amount of money varies. It depends on how many items you are selling and also the type of items. I’ve had months where I’ve made $300 (part-time), but I’ve also had months where I’ve only made $50.” – Jason Butler
Whether you have old clothes you want to sell, a car, electronics, or something else, eBay or Craigslist can be a great way to sell many different types of items.
Related: How To Sell On Ebay
Invest your money.
There are no guarantees when it comes to investing, but you should always start sooner rather than later. If you are looking for a good investing platform, I recommend Motif. Motif Investing allows individuals to invest affordably. This approachable investing platform makes it easy to buy a portfolio of up to 30 stocks, bonds or ETFs for just $9.95 total commission. Plus, you will receive up to $150 for FREE when you use Motif Investing when you sign up under my link.
Edit for others.
“One way a person can make a side income is to provide edits to authors. The amount they can make depends on the type of edits they provide and the number of projects they take on. I primarily take on larger projects that involve either developmental edits or line edits (or both!) but short story projects can also be a good way to work on brief projects while making a side hustle and break up the monotony of projects that are the same length. How much a person can make can also vary based on how they charge; for example, I charge per word in order to provide a better estimate, but some people charge per page. ” – Megan Harris
Get paid to search online.
There are three main ways to make money on the side by searching online.
Swagbucks is something I don’t use as much, but I do occasionally earn Amazon gift cards with very little work. Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded points called SB for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough points called SB, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. You’ll receive a free $5 bonus just for signing up through my link!
InboxDollars is another online rewards website I recommend. You can earn cash by taking surveys, playing games, shopping online, searching the web, redeeming grocery coupons, and more. Also, by signing up through my link, you will receive $5 for free just for signing up!
Another one you may be interested in related to this one is Nielsen Digital Voice. Digital Voice is a part of Nielsen, which I’m sure you’ve heard of. All you have to do is surf the web and you may be able to start earning money.
Become a proofreader for court reporters.
In 2014, Caitlin made slightly over $43,000 by being a freelance proofreader, while also going on several fun vacations. If you are looking for a way to make money on the side, this may be something you want to look into.
“Court reporters use digital stenography machines in combination with computer-aided transcription software to write verbatim records of various legal proceedings. They report depositions, trials, hearings, arbitrations, case management conferences, compulsory medical examinations, examinations under oath, and pretty much any other type of legal proceeding. Because of the sensitive nature of legal proceedings, it’s imperative that as many errors as possible be eliminated from transcripts — an especially major error could ruin an entire trial! A fresh set of eyes will 99% of the time catch more errors than the same eyes who saw the text from start to finish, too. An excellent proofreader is a huge asset to a court reporter — especially a court reporter who wants to make more money.” – Caitlin Pyle – Make Money Proofreading By Becoming A Freelance Proofreader
Answer surveys.
You can get paid to answer surveys and to test products all from the comfort of your home. Due to this, I think it’s one of the easy ways to make money on the side as you don’t need any experience, skill, inventory, or anything like that.
Survey companies I recommend include VIP Voice, Earning Station, American Consumer Opinion, Survey Downline, ProOpinion, Pinecone Research, Opinion Outpost, Survey Spot, National Consumer Panel, and Harris Poll Online. They’re free to join and free to use! It’s best to sign up for as many as you can as that way you can receive the most surveys and make the most money.
Clean homes.
“One great way for a person to start making some side hustle income is to clean houses. It’s a chore that’s always in demand (I personally hate having to clean), and it’s pretty easy to get into. You can make anywhere from $100 a job and up, all depending on the time and level of cleaning you do.” – Glen Craig
Find a part-time job.
There are many, many part-time jobs out there that may be able to work along with your schedule at your full-time job. You can find a job on sites such as Snagajob, Craigslist (yes, I’ve found a legitimate job through there before), Monster, and so on.
Start an e-commerce store.
“A great way to make a side income is with an e-commerce store. Unlike a blog or an info site which does not actually sell anything, an online store allows you to quickly scale and generate revenue immediately after launch. My wife and I made over 100K in profit in our first year with our shop.” – Steve Chou
Drive a taxi or become an Uber driver.
“Drive a taxi at night. I’m reliably told that on Friday and Saturday a taxi driver who owns his/her car can make up to $300 per night. Nothing to be sniffed at! But what you decide to do as ‘side hustle’ depends on what you like to do and what you are really good at. If you like dogs, start a dog walking/sitting hustle.” – Maria Nedeva
Related: How To Become An Uber Driver
Write online.
“Freelance writing is an excellent side hustle because you can commit your time “per article,” and work at any time of the day or night. Most people can expect to make $50 per article and up. However, a lot of people – including myself – make considerably more as a professional freelancer.” – Holly Johnson
Test websites.
“One cool way to earn money on the side is by testing websites. There are a number of sites out there, but UserTesting.com is the best. You get paid $10 for testing websites and apps and following their instructions. It’s simple, easy, and you can earn about $30/hour with this. The work is not guaranteed, but it’s a great way to maximize any of your downtime with earning extra cash.” – Grayson Bell
Prepare taxes.
“One great side hustle most people can easily learn is preparing taxes. If you start your own tax preparation firm, your potential is unlimited. However, if you’re just learning, try getting a part time job at a place like Liberty Tax or H&R Block or a local CPA firm. At the big brands, like Liberty Tax or H&R block, you can probably expect to make between $10 to $15 per hour depending on your location and experience. This job is generally only seasonal, so it allows you to have summers and the holidays off from your side hustle.” – Lance Cothern
Become a photographer.
“Photography! Most people only think to hire a photographer for big events like weddings and baby announcements because photographers are expensive. Charge $100-$200 for an hour package at a local park, and in one weekend by booking your friends and family, you can easily make $2k with just family portraits. With the popularity of photo cards from sites like Shutterfly, you can be a saving grace for families on a budget and you’d be surprised at how many folks you know who would hire a photographer in budget!” – Shannyn Allan
Create a website.
“I’ve created several simple websites about apps and websites that I like and use. I write about how the apps work, pros/cons, other similar apps, etc. Some of the apps or websites give me credits or money when I get new users to sign up or use their service. I’ve made about $4,500 over the last three years, and I haven’t spent more than a few hours working on the sites during the last two years. I’d say overall I only put in 20-30 hours.” – Louis DeNicola at Saveful.com
Take part in research studies.
“If you live in a city, or near a university or teaching hospital, you can make money participating in research studies that need human subjects. Just go to craigslist, click on “volunteers”, and type in “research”. There are a wide variety of studies out there: some are medical (if you’re generally healthy, you can often be a control subject), and some are more about psychology or other related disciplines. You can make anywhere from $10-$20 for a short, one-time study to hundreds or even thousands of dollars for longer, more involved studies. Another benefit is that you get to learn about the research that’s being done, which is often fascinating.” – Sarah from The Yachtless
Make money online.
“The best way that I know how to make side income is online. Specifically, by freelance writing and blogging. The amount of make you can make online is unlimited. If you’re just starting, maybe you’ll make $500/month. But over time, you can increase your earnings to $5,000/month and before long even more than that. I don’t know another side gig where the income growth potential is so high.” – Natalie Bacon
Film weddings.
“One way that my wife and I made $5,000 in the past year on side income has been filming weddings. A year and a half ago we had no video experience. Once we bought a camera and posting videos, we’ve had friends and friends of friends start asking us to film their weddings. Most everything we learned about video came from asking other film peeps to show us the ropes or looking up “how-to” videos on Youtube. Since weddings are typically on the weekends, they really are an ideal side hustle. They don’t get in the way of our typical work week at all and they pay high margin. Once you have some film experience under your belt, you can charge $3-5k per wedding film, easily. If you’re interested in getting started filming weddings, I would recommend tagging along with an experienced shooter. From my experience, they are always looking for good help if you’ve got an eye for good shots and can work well under a little stress (there will be brides after all). This past fall we apprenticed and was well worth the long weekend shoots. We learned so much about shooting good wedding film and made a good amount of money in the process.” – Heath Padgett
Create a product to sell.
“I’m biased, but I think creating an online product and selling it is one of the best side hustles a person can do. But people shouldn’t be scared for the term “product”. A product can be anything – an idea or content, a course, a widget, a downloadable printout, anything! And there are so many different avenues to sell today: create a blog, start an Etsy shop, sell on eBay or Amazon. The great thing about the Internet is that there is somebody out there that is looking for something and everything. If you’re a teacher, sell your classroom notes. If you’re an engineer, share your though processes. Anything can be turned into content, and anything can be packaged and sold.” – Robert Farrington
“The ways to make a side income are really endless. I’ve encountered so many ways entrepreneurs are able to make a side income. Although blogging has been the most lucrative way for me to make a side income, my favorite way is creating courses. Creating a piece of content showcasing your expertise in a specific are and people paying you for it is a great and rewarding feeling.” – Jeff Rose
Manage databases, apps, and more.
“Managing, designing or configuring cloud-based apps- ranging from social media and content management systems (like WordPress) to databases. I learned to administer salesforce.com databases for nonprofits and last year made $6,000-$15,000/month pretty consistently working from home. (The going rate for these services is $50-$200/hour) What helped me was going through a self-study course on the platform, getting a couple of certifications, doing some spec work, then going out and asking clients if they needed my services. I call it “Learn, Slay It, Sell It.” Find out about growing trends, get up to speed then see if people will pay you to do it. If you become enough of an expert at it, they will! The nice thing is that it doesn’t have to be anything you studied in school, just something you studied on your own and mastered enough to be marketable.” – Aja McClanahan
Build websites.
“One way to make side income is to build websites for people and for businesses. The first website I ever built I charged $1200. Even if you dont know programming, it is easy to learn by watching free tutorials on Youtube. I think it would be very realistic to make $2,000 – $3,000 on the side building websites.” – Deacon Hayes
Become an alcohol demonstrator.
“Back in college, I made extra money on side side pouring alcohol samples for people in grocery stores. It was easy and paid well, considering how I don’t even know how to open a wine bottle (If I wasn’t using a product in a bottle that had a twist top, I asked someone else to help open it). The job paid $20 to $25 per hour and I could choose when I’d like to work and what job opportunities I’d like to accept. If you like to talk to people and prefer a laid back and good paying side job, being an alcohol demonstrator is definitely worth looking into.” – Chonce at My Debt Epiphany
Become a consultant.
“Become a consultant in your spare time doing some of the same work you might do in your full time gig. This works best with white collar office type roles where you can do your work at home at your computer. Just make sure you don’t compete with your current employer.” – Jim Wang
Tips from the experts on ways to make money on the side.
Along with the many different ways to make money on the side above, I also asked experts for their top tips when it comes to managing a side hustle.
“One of the best ways to think about how to make extra money is to identify what people are already paying for. I, for example, recently hired someone to manage my Pinterest account. That’s a great hustle you can master through a course or ebook, then execute from anywhere on your own time. Make someone else’s overwhelm your opportunity.” – Stefanie O’Connell
“Set boundaries. If you don’t you will get pulled in every direction and your health, personal life, finances, everything will suffer. Set boundaries for times you will work on your side hustle, what you are willing to do and stick to it. Don’t let checking social media creep into time you are watching your kids play sport or time you were going to work out. No money makes up for lost relationships or lost health. ” – Kylie Travers
“To accommodate a side hustle that makes a serious second income one ought to re-organise their life. I’d say that keeping a time/task diary helps. For a week write down all you do and how long you do it for. Analyse it and decide to stop doing anything that is: a) not productive; and/or b) doesn’t give you a lot of pleasure. You’d carve up a lot of time. You can also start looking for activities that you can combine to save time; e.g. running and commuting to work.”- Maria Nedeva
“My favorite (and least-favorite at the same time) way to manage everything (four kids & four blogs) is to work when our kids go to sleep. I will do some things during the day, but nothing that will require my attention for more than just a few minutes. My husband and I work from home, on our blogs, so we spend around 4 or more hours every night working side by side on them. We also try to squeeze in two hours during the preschool hours. This allows us to spend our time with our kids during the day and work together at night. While we might be a little more tired than usual right now (haha!) we figure that we can make up this time when our kids are older and in school. <img src="http://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/72x72/1f609.png" alt="