Make some extra money - 50 Ways To Make Money Online (It's Easier Than You'd Think!)

 

Make some extra money with these 50 creative ideas.

"I wonder if I'll be able to afford groceries for the entire month," you say as your direct deposit hits your account. If your 9-5 paycheck is feeling a little underwhelming, and you're wondering, how to make money online, then you've come to the right place! Webinar Sales Machine

We're rounding up the 50 best ways to make money online—from tutoring to transcribing, watching ads and more. Zcode System - Get up to 670 USD per sale! Sells Like Candy!

1. Sell Old Clothes, Shoes, and Other Fashion Items You Never Use Anymore

Do you have old clothes and such hanging in your closet that you never wear? Apps like Poshmark and Tradesy make it easy to sell your stuff online. No, you won't get them for the price you paid, but you'll make more from them than if they were sitting in your closet doing nothing.

2. Become a Consultant

If you know how to do something other people don't, you might very well be able to work as a consultant on your own time and your own terms. Think things like bookkeeping, social media, copywriting or doing taxes.

Related: Side Hustle Books

3. Become a Transcriptionist

If you type at the speed of light, you might be able to pull in a decent side income as a transcriptionist. Do your due diligence and find a reputable site you can look for gigs on, but TranscribeMe! Is one possible place to start.

4. Buy and Resell Stuff Online

Picture it: You find a popular toy discounted at your local Target, that's going for twice as much on Amazon. You sell it on Amazon and make some easy money. Voila—a side hustle. Oh, and BTW, this is called "retail arbitrage." And when you find something online for super cheap that you then resell, it's called "online arbitrage." Google it. Learn it.

5. Tutor

People hire tutors for everything, from math and English to singing and drawing. You can even do it on Skype! No need to meet in person. Depending on what you're teaching and how much experience you have, you can set a pretty decent hourly rate.

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6. Invest Even With the Smallest Amount of Money

It's not technically a side hustle, but it will make you money with minimal effort on your part! Apps like Stash and Acorns let you invest with hardly any cash at all.

Related: Oh My Posh! Haley Gibbs Has Made Over $65,000 Selling Thrift Store Clothes on Poshmark—Here Are Her Top Tips 

7. Start a Dropshipping Business

If you want to start an online side hustle, dropshipping is an excellent idea because it requires little money to get going. In fact, you don't purchase any inventory until a customer buys the product from you.

8. Create a Private Label Product

"Private label" means that you purchase a blank, unbranded product and slap your own logo on it. Much of what you see on Amazon includes private label products. Note that you'll need decent cash ready on hand to get a private label product up and running, and it can be pretty risky. But if you play your cards right, the payoff can be huge.

9. Sell Apparel on Merch by Amazon

In its quest to take over the world, the marketplace giant created Merch by Amazon, which allows you to design things like T-shirts and sell them on Amazon as a print-on-demand service. Low-cost and low-maintenance, it's a pretty straightforward online side hustle.

10. Join Amazon Mechanical Turk

Another one of the marketplace's many gifts to us is Amazon Mechanical Turk. On MTurk, you can get hired for "micro-tasks" by companies outsourcing some of their work to people just like you.

11. Get Paid to Watch Ads

Look, the internet is going to force you to watch them anyway. You might as well get paid for it.

12. Write an eBook

If you're good with words and think you have something relevant to teach people, an eBook can be a simple way to share your thoughts and make money while you do so. And these days, it's easier than ever to publish your work on platforms like Amazon.

Related: How A Side Hustle Can Add Passion—And a Big Payoff—To Your Career

13. Start a YouTube Channel

Let's be honest: You look amazing on camera. Put it to good use and grow a YouTube channel where you can eventually monetize ad space and sell stuff. Win!

"Share your expertise," says international speaker Adnan Kukic. "We're all good at something. Share your knowledge online through your own blog, YouTube, or another platform. Then, take your existing content, expand on it, and finetune it into an eBook or course and sell that. This way, you'll already have an audience to sell to as well as authority on the subject."

14. Answer Questions

Are you an expert in a field like law, medicine or tech? You could easily make extra money by answering people's questions on a website like Just Answer.

15. Run an Affiliate Website

Did you know that Amazon will give you a cut of every product of theirs that you sell?! Create an online shop where everything you sell is actually available for purchase on Amazon, and make money whenever someone buys from Amazon, through your site.

16. Share Your Opinions on Products

Nothing is more fun than sharing your opinions, and User Interviews will actually pay you to do it. Side hustles don't have to be hard.

17. Offer Your Services on Fiverr

The cool thing about Fiverr is that you can do quick, short-term projects to make money sooner rather than later. Think of writing a blog or creating a logo.

18. Use Your Phone's Lock Screen for Ads

Extra cash may be hiding in the lock screen of your phone. Using Slidejoy, you'll watch ads every time you unlock your phone—and get paid for it.

19. Sell Your Spam and Junk Mail

Nothing is more satisfying than deleting the ever-growing number of junk mail in your email inbox—but hold up. Instead, sell it to the SBKC for market research, and they'll thank you with a Visa debit card.

20. Start a Blog

I'm not going to pretend this is easy, but it can work especially if the topic you focus on is something really specific. Don't forget to throw in some affiliate links and ads for good measure.

21. Become an Influencer

Again, is this necessarily easy? Naw. But if you love taking gorgeous pictures surrounding something other people also love—like travel, fashion or beauty—you might see serious dollar signs (and you get to have fun doing it).

22. Take Online Surveys

It's not going to make you rich, but it's a way to get extra cash without ever having to leave the house. Save the Student! Has a list that you can check out.

23. Sell Handmade Goods on Etsy

If you're into arts and crafts, you might find a new home—and a side income—on Etsy.

24. Join an Online Focus Group

Get paid to share your opinions, test out new products, watch new TV shows and more.

25. Teach English Online

You already know how to speak it, so what's the big deal?

26. Take on Work as a Virtual Assistant

You don't have to leave your home, you don't have to put a bra on and you make money at your computer. Boom. I call that a win. People hire virtual assistants to do everything from managing their email inbox to posting on their social media pages.

27. Become a Podcast Host

You've got important things to say! Like a blog and YouTube channel, once you have a decent following, you can monetize a podcast.

28. Sell Old Stuff Online From Your Childhood

You might actually be sitting on a goldmine and not even know it. Go through old items from your childhood, collectibles and other things gathering dust around your house, and see what they're going for online. EBay is a good place for stuff like this.

29. Be a Mystery Shopper

Yes, you can actually do this online! Test out websites' user experience, security and other factors, and make cash while doing it.

30. Create an Online Course

History and math aren't the only courses people pay for. Make no mistake about it: You can indeed create and charge for courses on arts and crafts, playing the clarinet, woodworking, improving your golf swing and just about anything else.

Related: Another Poshmark Success Story! Seller Nick Waskosky Shares His Thrift Store Hacks for Turning $10 into $400

31. Play Games on Your Phone

Imagine making money while you're playing games on the toilet. What a world!

32. Flip Domain Names

Note: This takes training and education, and you shouldn't assume you'll make money overnight (although you can). That being said, flipping domains can be insanely lucrative.

33. Create (or Buy) and Sell Websites

Some people create and build out websites with the sole goal of selling them for a profit as soon as they can. You can also do this with pre-existing websites.

34. Test Out New Websites

This is similar to mystery shopping, although the objective might be slightly different. Companies will sometimes hire people to dig through their websites and purposely look for things that don't work.

35. Be an Online Customer Service Chat Agent

If you don't mind getting berated (kidding! Maybe...), plenty of companies are on the hunt for customer service agents to assist people via chat.

36. Become a Wholesale Online Seller

"Selling online can be a side income or it can replace your regular job," says Aymeric Monello of The Wholesale Formula. "It can be whatever you want it to be." Monello moved to this country from France less than 10 years ago not even knowing the language. In 2019, he sold his Amazon wholesale business for over $400k.

Do you have to grow your biz that big? Certainly not. Can you? Yes! Online side hustles, for the win.

37. Offer Social Media Services

Social media agencies are popping up left and right, and for a good reason: You can make so much money, it'll keep you up at night. Or, you can simply do light social media for a few brands here and there and just earn a little money on the side. Your call!

38. Get Paid to Watch Videos

You can easily win points for watching videos online or on your phone, and then redeem those points for cash or other "prizes."

39. Review Software

Websites like Capterra will pay you to leave reviews of software, websites, and tools you've used. Seriously, could online side hustles get any easier? They've sent me so many $10 Amazon gift cards, it's ridiculous (ridiculously awesome).

40. Listen to Music

Yup, it's true. Some websites will pay participants (in cash, Amazon gift cards, etc.) to rate and review music. Sometimes, this data is used by radio stations and such to better understand what people want to hear. Pretty sweet, yeah?

41. Take on Freelance Writing Jobs

This writer has been at it for 10 years and still can't believe she gets paid to do something so fun. But here we are. Learn how to be a freelance writer and you might find yourself with a really decent online side hustle on your hands.

42. Earn Cash Back and Rewards for Shopping Online

Fine, yes, I included another not-really-an-online-side-hustle. Rakuten (formerly Ebates) gives you cash and rewards when you shop. You guys! It's free money!

43. Do a Google Search

I didn't think this could be real, but yes, you can make money simply by looking for things in search engines, like Google and Bing. Check out Qmee for more.

44. Sell Your Pictures

All kinds of people are searching for all kinds of photos, and they might just pay to use yours. Upload your pics to platforms like Adobe Stock or Getty Images (iStock) and see if you get any bites.

45. Share Your Notes With Students

Man, I took the best notes in college. Opportunity: Missed. Yes, you can sell your notes to other students. Sounds shady, but it's legit. Stuvia and Nexus Notes are worth a look.

46. Try Peer-to-Peer Lending

This is exactly what it sounds like: people lending other people money, as opposed to those latter people needing to go to a bank. You still charge interest, obvi. Lending Club is a popular choice for this.

47. Read

It can't be. It's just... Too good to be true. Using a site like Online Book Club, you can read books online (or it looks like they're sometimes mailed to you), and then you get paid to leave an honest review. You can bet your behind I just signed up.

48. Manage Emails

Yes, this might be one of your tasks as a virtual assistant. However, it's also a job in and of itself. Companies will hire people solely to manage their inboxes, respond to emails and set up appointments via email.

49. Start a Facebook Subscription Group

Charge people to join your Facebook group and give them exclusive access to the content they're dying for.

50. Go to Jury Duty

Jury duty sucks... Unless you can do it without leaving the house. EJury will pay you to participate in mock juries or focus groups to help attorneys prepare for court. It won't make you reach, but it is an effortless online side hustle.

Ready to get started? Here are 155 hustle quotes to help you stay motivated.

18 Best Ways To Make Money In College, According To Experts

9 Ways for Teens to Save Money

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If you’re finding yourself swiping your credit card way more often now that you’re living a more independent life in college, it might be time to learn how to make a little extra money to offset your spending.

The bad news is that there are no get-rich-quick tricks that’ll magically deposit hundreds into your bank account. However, college couldn’t be a more perfect time to set up your savings and investing habits, work patterns, and mindset to ensure you’re getting paid what you’re worth for future money success — all while potentially taking on extra side hustles like social media content creation, dog walking, tutoring, and selling things online. There are college-specific side hustles to take up, wise mentors to be found, and thanks to the years ahead of you, lots of compound interest to be earned on your savings and investments.

Carrie Schwab, board chair and president of the Charles Schwab Foundation knows what it’s like to navigate your new money situation in college. “Kids who have jobs on campus tend to do better in school and in their careers because they build relationships and mentorships on campus. There are multi-level benefits to working during college,” Schwab notes. The financial literacy advocate — who has worked part-time jobs, had finance internships, and even did a stint as a dishwasher when she was younger — emphasizes that making money is just as important as saving it. “Savings and budgets are important, but keep in mind that those don’t help you create wealth,” Schwab pointed out.

 © Design by Yoora Kim Carrie Schwab and Deborah Golden weigh in on creative ways for college students to make money. Keep reading for ideas from retail to coding bootcamps and more.

If you're someone who's interested in learning how to make money little by little, all you have to do is take a look around campus to find a wealth (no pun intended!) of opportunities. College students are the ideal candidates for tutoring, babysitting, paid internships, resident advisor jobs, and social media brand ambassador positions. It's also a good idea to take on a mentor.

Deborah Golden, US Cyber Strategic Growth Offering and Strategic Risk Leader at Deloitte, explains that a mentor is invaluable. "As I look back now on college, I really believe that my mentors saw things in me before I saw them in myself," Golden recalled. Whether they're talking you through an interview for a paid internship or celebrating when you score that big scholarship, inspiring mentors who can share tips, give money advice, and potentially connect you to your next internship are crucial to helping you become the kind of person who can bring in the big bucks.

Setting a foundation for your career and personal finances can begin in college. You can start working in your industry, save up to pay off loans, fight against the wage gap by asking to be paid what you are worth, and create financial stability for your future self — all while you're still a college student. Here are some expert-backed ways to make money in college that you might not have thought of before.

1) Apply for scholarships — it's free money

If you're a college student paying for your tuition with your own money, chances are that most of your earnings will be going toward those payments. A quick Google search will reveal that lots of scholarships (whether they're for certain racial groups, genders, fields of interest, hometowns, or majors) are just waiting to be applied for. Reducing your tuition expenses and loans is one of the best ways you can "make" money, because less of your paychecks will have to go towards those bills — your money will be able to sit pretty in your bank account instead.

2) Utilize work-study

Federal work-study, offered through FAFSA (Federal Application for Student Aid), allots an amount of money you can earn by working an eligible part-time job in order to pay for your education expenses. It'll feel like any other part-time job, but you'll be getting paid a set amount that the government has given you through your FAFSA application.

Check with your campus admin center or financial aid office to see what kind of work-study jobs they offer, whether they're front desk positions or administrative jobs in your department. Some people turn down the work-study because it's a scholarship that requires you to work shifts, but it's an easy way to score a part-time job and snag some extra money that you don't want to leave on the table.

3) Investing (it's simpler than you might think)

Is creating wealth in college even possible, with limited work hours and student debt? Yes, as long as you remember to think about the bigger picture. Investing allows you to take advantage of the power of compound interest (the interest you earn on interest) for long-term gains.

Say you deposit $300 into an investment account and gain 7% interest on your stocks in one year — you'll have $321 by the end of the year. The following year, you'll gain interest on your $300 again, as well as gaining interest on your $21 interest from last year. If you don't ever deposit any more money after that initial $300, in 20 years and assuming a 7% return, your $300 could turn into $1,161.

Check out this compound interest calculator to see how your money could grow over time. Tip: Set your rate of return to 7%, the average return on the total stock market over the past 100 years.

How do you start investing? Schwab recommends opening a Roth IRA, which many major banks (Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, Vanguard, Bank of America, and Chase, to name a few) allow you to easily do online. A Roth IRA is a retirement savings account that lets you contribute any income you've paid taxes on — you can buy stocks with your Roth IRA money, and then cash out on those stocks (and all the interest you've gained) completely tax-free at age 59.5. A regular savings account only grows if you keep contributing money, and a regular investment account requires you to pay taxes on anything you withdraw, but Roth-IRA money will grow on its own even without consistent contributions and you won't get taxed on withdrawals.

"It's such an underutilized tool. Saving for your retirement is so critical but it sounds so boring for young people — I get it. I was there," explains Schwab. "But if you could just set it to save and invest for the long term and put it on autopilot, it'll grow tax-free over time."

Note: You can't take out your money from a Roth-IRA before retirement without paying a 10% penalty, so make sure you're only investing money that you won't need immediate or short-term access to for bills, tuition payments, rent, etc.

“It’s not about how much money you make and invest, it’s about how much time. If you can make money, and start to put it aside for the future, you can have more time for your money to grow,” Schwab notes. Once you deposit the money and use it to purchase stocks, you can set it and forget it while it slowly grows on its own.

Any amount of money you can make and invest will be setting your future self up for success. Even skipping one late-night Uber Eats order and dropping in that $25 you saved will pay off in the future. If you want a low-commitment method of automated investing, try an app like Acorns. The micro-investing site rounds up your purchases and deposits the small amounts into an investment account. For example, if you buy a sandwich for $5.50, they'll round up the cost to $6 and deposit $0.50 into your investment account.

4) Work in a retail or service industry job

Call local restaurants or retail stores to see if they're hiring waiters, cashiers, or other part-time positions. And if you're wondering if that restaurant job will actually help you in your future career, know that essential skills like time management and customer service translate across many industries. "You learn how to be interactive. You learn patience. You learn how to work with financial systems. There are a lot of different types of skills that you learn in the less obvious places," Golden explained. Plus, you'll get paid.

Golden continued, "I actually worked in a restaurant at school to make sure that I was getting the income that I needed. Working throughout college challenged me from a time commitment perspective to make sure that I was maintaining my GPA while being almost full-time at a restaurant throughout the week. And I learned so much — you learn to be really good at figuring out where to leverage your time in college."

5) Walk dogs

Miss your family pup while living at college? An easy way to hang out with some adorable dogs while making extra cash on the side is to become a dog walker. Apps like Rover, Wag!, Steady, and Holidog allow you to sign up and take on paid dog walking gigs — most require a quick background check, and then you're able to begin accepting jobs.

Keep in mind that these apps may take a percentage of commission from all of your earnings – so be sure to read the fine print before you start dreaming about what you'll buy with a day's worth of earnings.

6) Babysit or nanny

If you love working with little kids, good news — parents who are in need of childcare often are hoping to hire college students who have a little more experience as opposed to a high schooler. Babysitting is a flexible part-time job that you can pencil into your calendar on nights when you're free, and depending on how old the kids are, you might even be able to squeeze in some homework time while they're napping.

Sites like Care.Com or UrbanSitter.Com are an easy place to start if you're new to your city and aren't sure how to find babysitting gigs. You can also ask some of your commuter classmates or check local Facebook groups to find out if anyone in your community is in need of a babysitter or nanny.

7) Freelance

Taking on a freelance gig means that you're working on smaller projects (think coding, design, writing, styling — you name it!) rather than committing to being employed full- or part-time. Not only will freelancing in your field help you gain flexible work experience with people who are crowdsourcing freelancers (a.K.A. Looking to hire a bunch of people for short-term work), but it also helps you figure out what you want to do long-term with lower stakes. Golden, who works in cyber tech, explains that there is plenty of demand for STEM-related gigs that can be found on LinkedIn, college job boards, or even your own network. "They can be short-term tasks, or mid- to long-term tasks where you can try out different types of activities like coding, web development, IT support, and design."

Golden's best advice when it comes to finding these opportunities? "Just ask! Everyone has a network — your school and school advisors, family, friends, or even former colleagues from past jobs or internships." A family friend, a previous boss, or a professor might know someone looking to hire a college student for a programming task that you'd be the perfect fit for — so don't be afraid to ask around and put yourself out there.

For more general and non-STEM field freelancing, sites like Fiverr.Com allow you to advertise services for everything from graphic design and resume writing to translation and music. You get to set your own prices, and then clients can hire you directly through the site.

Set aside a percentage of your self-employment income to pay your yearly taxes (use this calculator for a rough estimate) in April. Since they aren't deducted from each paycheck the same way that a part-time job would automatically deduct taxes from your pay you'll have to pay it back at tax time.

8) Open up a high-yield savings account

If you're reading this article, there's a good chance you already know what a savings account is. But did you know that there are savings accounts that give you extra interest on your money? According to a survey conducted by Bankrate.Com, the average savings account interest rate is 0.16%. If you have $500 in a savings account, the 0.16% interest will earn you 80 cents a year. However, a high-yield savings account (HYSA) offers anywhere from 1% to 3% interest depending on the bank, which would earn you anywhere from an extra $50 to $150 a year.

How can these banks afford to pay that much interest? Raya Reaves, finance coach and founder of City Girl Savings, explains that it's because the banks are typically online only. "You aren't going to be able to walk into a physical location. Because of that, these online banks don't have the same type of expenses like brick-and-mortar locations have, so they can pay out more in interest to their customers," says Reaves. "If you're keeping your money in a certain place, you may as well get the most bang for your buck, and you can do that with a high-yield savings account." TL;DR — let your savings work for you. Ask your current bank about transferring your existing savings into one of these instead.TRB System Membership Card

9) Sell your textbooks and notes

Make back some of the money that you spent on textbooks at the beginning of the semester by selling them when the class ends. You can either sell them back to the publisher, on a website like AbeBooks.Com, or directly to an underclassman or fellow student through a Facebook group.

And if you pride yourself on your color-coded notes and font-like handwriting, you might be able to sell your notes. Sights like Stuvia.Com and Studypool.Com allow you to sell your flashcards, study guides, and lecture notes — all things that you've worked long hours to put together. Just double-check your college handbook to make sure they don't have a policy that bans students from selling notes.

10) Become an RA

Becoming a Resident Advisor is a great way to make money as a college student. Like any other job, you'll have to apply and interview for the position. You might need to be involved in school groups, offer references, and maintain a certain GPA. Once you're offered the job, you'll be in charge of a group and have to conduct one-on-one meetings, floor initiatives, and events for your residents throughout the school year.

Depending on where you go to school, RAs typically receive access to meal plan credits and free housing in the dorms all year long — you might even receive an hourly salary or a weekly stipend. Even if your college doesn't pay RAs an hourly wage, you'll still save thousands on rent that you can tuck away or even invest.

11) Freelance as a social media manager

Utilize the skills you've accumulated during the hours that you've spent scrolling through Instagram and making TikToks with friends (secretly hoping that one of them might go viral one day) as a social media manager. Lots of local businesses, restaurants, and boutiques are in need of ~young and hip~ Gen Z college students to help them out with everything from planning an aesthetically-pleasing feed to learning how to use trending sounds and edit photos.

You can do a one-time consulting session with someone, where you sit down for an hour or two and help them come up with a social media strategy, or ask for an hourly rate and handle all of their social media postings. The best part? You can work from your phone. Check out sites like Guru, Upwork, or Fiverr to get started, or reach out to the business directly via email.

12) Become a tutor

Would you be comfortable helping other people understand your favorite subjects better? You could become a tutor, like Golden, who worked with a tutor and as a tutor during her time as an undergrad. "When I first started taking coding classes, some were really challenging so I learned from other tutors and therefore learned that I also really liked to be a tutor and to help people with challenging problems," she explained. "It's a good way to not only learn from others but to learn what you want to try doing in your career. I actually really enjoyed being a tutor, so I did that throughout my college career."

Reach out to your campus tutoring center to see what their hiring requirements are, or tutor younger students whose parents are looking to hire some extra help for them through sites like Wyzant or The Princeton Review. Not only is tutoring an excellent way to make money as an undergraduate student, but it's also a way to help you solidify your ability to explain topics as you re-teach the concepts. It's a win-win!

13) Donate plasma

For those who are squeamish about needles, this might not be for you!

Plasma donations are a little different than blood donations because the machine they use will remove the liquid-y plasma from your blood, and then return the blood to your veins. However, it's still a passive activity like donating blood, because you get to just sit there while the technician operates the plasma-sorting machine.

The age limit for donating plasma ranges from age 16 (typically with written consent from a parent or legal guardian) to 18 years old depending on the state you live in. Various sources report that you could earn anywhere from $20 to $60 per session, but the exact amount varies based on your plasma, your weight, and your location. Find your local plasma donor center and call to confirm the requirements in your state.

14) Join Postmates, Uber Eats, or TaskRabbit.

If you have a car or even a bike, you'll be able to use those resources to take advantage of money-making apps like Postmates and Uber Eats. Work as a pickup and delivery person when you have a free weekend or evening — just make sure that the cost of gas isn't cutting into your earnings too heavily.

If you'd prefer to pick up a wider range of tasks, sign up for TaskRabbit and run errands ranging from grocery pickups, garden watering, and organization to picking up dry cleaning, helping someone move furniture, and transporting documents across town.

15) Take on a paid internship

Your time is valuable, so if at all possible, see if you can score a paid internship rather than an unpaid one. "Paid internships are fabulous," Golden emphasizes. "Think of your paid internship as a tryout period for your career. Try as many different types of internships and interviews as possible throughout your collegiate career so that you really get a tryout period so you can say, "Oh I really like that," or "No, I didn't like that."'

And don't forget to apply for lots of them, rather than counting on one or two interviews to go successfully, because some of the paid internships have a very limited amount of slots. Some of them even open a year in advance. But going to your college resource center, writing those cover letters, and saying yes to every interview in order to practice your interviewing skills will pay off when you receive your first paycheck for your interning hours.

If you're specifically looking to go into a business, engineering, consulting, or computer science career, you might want to look into early identification camps that larger corporations like Deloitte host over the summer for students. "They're a way to get ingrained and get you noticed as a potential future intern or employee with that company," Golden shared. "It's kind of a hidden gem for people to get a leg up prior to the internship program. Usually, the ID programs are a year earlier than the internship program."

16) Surround yourself with mentors

Picking up a quick job that pays you by the hour is great, but don't forget about how important it is to set your foundation so that you continue to make money throughout your career. Finding older professionals who can mentor you through your internship wins and challenges helps you build a support system that is crucial for a high-achieving person who wants to make a lot of money. "A mentor is invaluable," Golden explains. "You can bounce ideas off of your mentor, whether it's about potentially changing your major or searching for work opportunities." A mentor could even help you figure out exactly what salary to ask for so that you don't get underpaid or accidentally sell yourself short.

Mentors can also assist you if you're hoping to break glass ceilings in a challenging field, like entering a male-dominated field as a girl. "Women, on average, get paid 80 cents to a man's dollar," noted Schwab. "So find women that inspire you. Speaking to your mom or your mom's friends or your friends' moms about their careers, I think you'll find that you'll be very inspired. They're all so powerful in their own right."

17) Create a start-up or a small business

One of the best parts about being in college is that you're surrounded by people brimming with ideas. You have the ability to get a team of friends or classmates together to create an app, service, product, or site — in fact, many of the famous companies that we know and love today (Facebook, FedEx, Google, Dropbox, Microsoft, etc) were founded by college students.

Or, take the small business route and utilize your skills in art, drawing, painting, cooking, organizing, or crocheting to make some extra cash. You can use Etsy to sell physical products and digital artwork, or take advantage of the fact that you're on a college campus surrounded by plenty of students who might want to buy something and spread the word to their friends.

18) Flip clothing

Make the most of the clothing that's currently spilling out of your under-the-bed drawers by flipping it. You can either pack it up in a reusable bag and take it to a place like Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads Trading Co., Plato's Closet, or another consignment shop, or you can sell it yourself online. Websites like Poshmark, Depop, Mercari, and ThredUP are all great for helping you clean out your drawers, get rid of your clothing sustainably, and make some quick cash.

Or, you could try your hand at sourcing specialty items like vintage clothing or sneakers and then reselling them at a small markup. Golden, a self-described "sneakerhead," confirms that her hobby could be a great way for a college student to make money. "It's the perfect example of spending money, making money, and saving money," she explains. "You buy the sneaker you love, and then at some point, it could be a week, a month, or a year later, you sell it, make money from it, and then you save the money. It's fun when you find something you enjoy, and I enjoy kicks quite a bit — but I get bored of them now and then, so I'll flip them and find something else to add to my collection.

How To Make Money Fast: 24 Proven Ways

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Whether you need to reel in your spending or just want to get ahead with your finances, consider picking up a side gig for extra cash flow. You can become a ride-share driver, take online surveys, make deliveries for Amazon or leverage your unique skills to earn more. Keep reading to learn more about building your wealth.

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How To Make Money Fast

There are plenty of ways to get money fast, whether you’re looking to make money in just a single day, online at home or via a side hustle. Read on to learn about 24 of the best options that are available.

How To Make Money in One Day Without a Job

If you don’t have time to get a job — or you already have a job and need some extra money on the side — take a look at how to get money fast with some items around your home.

1. Sell Your Gently Used Items on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace

Do you have gently used items that you no longer want? If so, there probably is someone — or several someones — who gladly will pay you for them. Take a few photos, write a brief description and post your items for sale on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. You also can make a tidy profit by selling high-quality clothing and accessories on platforms such as Poshmark or Tradesy.

2. Trade in Old Gadgets and Electronics for Cash

To make quick cash with minimal effort, try trading in your old, unwanted electronics for cash. Here are some items to consider:

Phones

iPods

Fitness trackers

Tablets

Game consoles

Laptops

Buyback services will purchase old gadgets and electronics like these online. Some electronics buyback services include ItsWorthMore, Decluttr, Gazelle and Trademore. You can also use eBay and other third-party marketplaces to price your items appropriately and sell them independently.

3. Sell Unused Gift Cards

If you have unwanted gift cards gathering dust in a drawer, sell them. You might not get full face value for the cards, but it’s not like you’ll take a loss. Remember, you didn’t buy them. So, it’s essentially free money in your pocket.

Sell unused gift cards on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or eBay. Or, visit sites such as CardCash to see how much you can sell your gift card for and make the sale in just a few clicks. You also can offer gift cards on your social media accounts to see if there are any takers.

4. Host a Yard Sale

Yard sales are an effective way to figuratively kill two birds with one stone. Not only can you put money in your pocket fast, but you can also get rid of items in your home that are doing nothing more than collecting dust.

The process is simple.

Go through your house and find all the items that have been hidden away in closets and cupboards for longer than you remember. Next, get your hands on a few pieces of construction board and make signs to point people to your home for a yard sale.

Now, set your unused items up nicely in your front yard or driveway and post signs starting at the nearest main road to your home, directing people to your sale. Be sure you have cash on hand to offer customers change. Then watch the money roll in!

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How To Make Money Online at Home

If you want to make decent money without the 9-to-5 grind, there are easy ways to score cash online. You won’t get rich quickly, but you could make as much as you would with a regular job. Here are some ways to get money fast online.

5. Work as a Freelancer

Fiverr is a great place for first-time freelancers looking to build experience and their portfolios. From logo design and animation to editing and voice-over work, you can find tasks suited to your skills. Prices start at $5 per project.

Once you accumulate feedback, referrals and experience, you can start charging much more. Some people have taken their Fiverr gigs full-time, with jobs paying as much as $10,000 per project, according to the company’s website.

6. Be an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing involves sharing products online and earning a commission by joining one or more affiliate programs, such as Amazon Associates, ClickBank or ShareASale. You’ll earn by promoting and selling those products through your blog or social media channels.

According to Affise, a performance marketing platform for advertisers, low-level affiliates can earn up to $300 a day, while high-level affiliates can earn more than $3,000 a day.

Affiliate marketing can be an entire career — not just a side hustle — based on passive income, which is as close as most people will ever get to free money.

7. Sell Digital Products

Digital products can be sold through a number of marketplaces, many of which also handle physical sales: WordPress blogs, eBay and Etsy are a few popular options to sell courses, artwork, printables and more.

According to Oberlo, there were 2.14 billion global digital buyers in 2021. The more digital products you have to sell, the more passive income you’ll potentially make.

8. Become an Online Survey Taker

It’s not the most exciting side hustle, but there is money to be made by filling out online surveys. Many sites such as Survey Junkie and Swagbucks allow users to earn cash and gift cards.

You also can visit the website of the Columbia Business School Center for Decision Sciences to sign up for online research studies that pay about $16 an hour.

9. Become a User Tester

If you have 20 minutes to spare, you can make money fast at home on UserTesting, which pays $10 per test. The company pays people to visit websites and apps, complete sets of tasks and give opinions on the experience.

10. Tutor Students Online

If you have a computer, an internet connection and expertise in just one subject area, you can tutor students online. TutorMe hires tutors in more than 300 subjects and pays $16 an hour. Preply uses tutors in more than 100 subjects, and the tutors set their rates. English tutors on the site typically charge $15 to $25 per hour before Preply’s commission.

11. Work as a Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant can work for an individual or a big business, performing tasks that include responding to customer phone calls, setting appointments, assisting with travel or event planning, or posting to social media. Since we do these things daily as part of our personal agendas, many people are well suited to virtual assistant jobs. Indeed reported that virtual assistants earn an average of $15.79 an hour.

12. Work as a Content Translator

If you know two or more languages, you’re in luck. Content translation is a booming business with hundreds of job postings on sites like Indeed at any given time. All you need to do is convert content from one language to another. 

Some of these jobs can be quite lucrative as well. Many listings on Indeed have rates starting at around $50,000 per year, but that price can climb significantly higher.

13. Become a Music Coach

If you know how to play the piano, guitar, saxophone, drums or any other musical instrument, or even if you’re a great singer who can convey how it’s done, you can make money helping other people learn how to do what you love.

The average private piano lesson could be anywhere from $40 to $100 in your pocket for each lesson. You could make even more money teaching groups of three or more, with the average group lesson costing between $40 and $50 per hour per participant.

You can earn a similar amount of money teaching other instruments, like the guitar, or giving vocal lessons.

14. Translate Phone Calls

Another option if you know two or more languages is to become a phone call translator. Several companies are happy to pay $20 or more per hour to have you translate phone calls for their foreign language-speaking customers.

Some jobs for phone call translators pay $60,000 per year or more if you want to translate full-time.  

Other Ways To Make Money Quickly

So, you can make money online fast. But, if you’re willing to work outside your home, there are many more options for side gigs. If you want to avoid getting a traditional job altogether, you may want to pick up multiple side gigs to help you make enough income.

15. Become a Ride-Share Driver

Driving for Uber or Lyft is among the most popular side hustles because of the flexibility this option offers. You can pick your schedule, drive when and where you want, and rent or lease a car through the ride-share company if needed.

16. Make Deliveries for Amazon or Uber Eats

Uber Eats drivers make an annual average of $62,339 a year, according to salaries reported on Indeed. Even with an average salary that’s this high, you’ll still be working on a contract basis. That means you can set your own hours and work as much as you need to.

You can also use your car to work as a delivery driver for Amazon Flex. Drivers typically make $18 to $25 per hour, depending on factors such as your location and how much you earn in tips, according to Amazon.

17. Become a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker

Sign up to watch pets while their owners are out of town. Pet-sitting sites, such as Rover, connect pet owners with sitters for a cut — 15% to 25% — of the sitter’s earnings paid by client users. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, pet sitters make a median of $13.81 an hour or $28,730 a year.

18. Get a Babysitting Gig

Babysitters are always in demand. According to ZipRecruiter, they make an average hourly pay of $16.25 or more. Plus, watching two kids can come with an increase. According to Care.Com, add 50 cents to $1 to your hourly rate for each additional child you babysit — double that for an infant.

19. Install Christmas Lights for the Holidays

According to Thumbtack, most installers charge double to install lights on a second story. And don’t forget about the removal costs. Thumbtack also noted that you can charge about half of what you charged to install for that. You also can choose to wrap outdoor trees with lights and charge $60 to $1,200 for each, depending on tree size.

Many seasonal jobs are available that pay quite a bit, but you’re going to need to rotate through them if you want to maintain income all year round — or work very hard during that one season.

20. Become a Home Organizer

A professional home organizer makes up to $49 an hour, according to PayScale, with an average hourly rate of $20.18. To start organizing professionally, post listings on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, or connect with your neighbors on NextDoor.

21. Help With Home Gardening

Do you have a green thumb? Maybe it’s time to become a gardener. The average gardener makes around $16 per hour, according to Indeed, so you’ll need to work about 19 hours to make $300. Plus, on average, gardeners make $3,938 in overtime per year.

22. Assist With Deliveries or Moving

Delivery drivers often need some muscle to help them load and unload their trucks for deliveries and moves. Sign up with GoShare to become a “helper” and earn a minimum average of $38 per hour. Or, at Dolly, the “hands” are paid $20 an hour, plus tips.

23. Start a Snow Removal Service

Remember going door to door as a kid with your snow shovel asking neighbors if they wanted the sidewalk or driveway shoveled for a few dollars? Adults with a good, working snow blower can do that, too — or advertise their services on social media. According to HomeAdvisor, the going rate is $25 to $75 per hour.

24. Mow Lawns

Lawn care is a booming industry; it takes little more than owning a lawn mower and a weed trimmer and being willing to work. Depending on the lawn size, you can expect to rake in between $48 and $211 on average for every lawn you take care of each time you show up to provide services. 

So, how do you get started?

Once you have the equipment, take a stroll through your neighborhood and look for lawns the owners haven’t mowed or maintained. When you find them, knock on the front door and explain that you’re a neighbor starting a lawn care service and would like to take care of their lawn.

Chances are, you’ll run into “no” plenty of times before you get your first “yes,” but don’t let that discourage you. Keep trying until you build a lucrative lawn-care service.

How To Build Sustainable Wealth

Once you’ve made extra money, you should focus on setting yourself up for long-term financial success. It isn’t just about how to make money fast, but also about keeping it.

Investing

If you’re a beginner when it comes to investing, take time to set your investment goals. Here’s what you should think about:

Consider Your Investment Goals

Figure out how much you can budget for investments.

Choose your investment types based on your risk tolerance.

Choose a platform to invest with.

With these in mind, you can create a solid foundation where you can not only begin building your wealth but also continue maintaining it.

Budgeting

Creating a budget allows you to compare your income to your expenses, as well as to set goals for spending and saving. While there are different budgeting techniques, all of them revolve around tallying your expenses and reducing expenses where you can.

Saving Money

Regardless of how you choose to make money, you need to be able to store your cash safely and provide easy access to funds when you need them.

Opening a savings account can be your first step to building sustainable wealth. And if you find that you need more help in reaching your savings goals, you can work with a qualified and reputable financial advisor.

Final Take

If you want to get money fast, there are plenty of ways to do so. Scroll through this list, determine which options are best for you and get started today.

FAQ About Making Money Fast

How can I get immediate money?

One of the best ways to get money immediately is to sell your unwanted goods. Used electronics, unused gift cards and several other items you might have lying around your house may be just what you need to immediately put some money in your pocket. Of course, selling things isn't the only way to make money fast. Use any of the options above to get your hands on the money you need.

How can I earn $1,000 today?

It may be difficult to earn $1,000 today, but it's not impossible. Start by looking through your home for items of value that you're not using. Do you have an old computer, 3D printer or any other piece of technology you can sell? What about gently used clothing or kitchen items?

Next, try to find private buyers and sell them as many of your items as possible.

Take the items you have left to the pawn shop. Of course, pawn shops are in business to make money, so you'll get less than you would for selling your items to a private party, but they can get you closer to your $1,000 goal.

Keep in mind that pawn shops will try to lowball, so it's best to negotiate to try and get as much money for your items as possible.  

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Just about anything on the list above can help put $100 in your pocket quickly. Sell your gently used items, give people rides using a ride-sharing platform like Uber, become a music coach or take advantage of any of the other tips mentioned above.

How can I make $500 fast?

You can make $500 quickly in multiple ways, but the easiest way is likely to sell your unwanted goods. It might surprise you how much money you have tied up in unused items collecting dust around your house.

Joshua Rodriguez contributed to the reporting for this article.

Information is accurate as of Oct. 14, 2022.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.Com: How To Make Money Fast: 24 Proven Ways