How to Make Money Fast (Every One of Them Legit)
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In college, I was always interested in finding different side hustles to make extra pocket money. Whether taking my girlfriend out for a date at the nice Indian restaurant in town or grabbing a drink with members of my improv troupe, having some extra cash for the weekends always came in handy. As a busy double major, I wouldn’t have been able to take on a part-time job, but by finding ways to make money online, I could squeeze in my work whenever it was convenient.
No matter why you want to make extra money, there are plenty of ways to do it. If you want to know how to make money fast, here’s an extensive overview of some of the best money-making opportunities.
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Online vs. in-person
Not all of the money-making ideas on the list below require the same sort of time commitment. Even so, you can still make good money for an extra round of drinks or a lovely movie trip if you spend some time with these activities. Of course, if you want to make a lot of money, you’ll want to be able to commit to a side hustle that accommodates your schedule — which means it may or may not be something you do online or in person.
There are pros and cons to online side gigs versus in-person side gigs. Many online side gigs are more straightforward, although they pay much less. You also need to manage working from home, which can be especially difficult if you’re a college student living in the dorms with a roommate who would rather be playing video games or partying.
On the other hand, in-person side hustles such as various ridesharing apps take more of your spare time to complete. While they often pay better than their online counterparts, you must treat them more seriously. This is fine if you can make room for flexible, part-time work in your week, but not everyone has that luxury.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Ways to Make Money Fast
Survey Junkie
While there are many survey sites, Survey Junkie is one of the most popular destinations for earning money by taking online surveys. If you’re passionate about helping brands develop and deliver products or services that appeal to you, then Survey Junkie is something to consider. Each survey you complete on the website earns you points, which can later be withdrawn via PayPal or redeemed for gift cards to popular shopping destinations.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is quite similar to InboxDollars in its offerings. You can make money by taking online surveys, playing free games, and watching videos to rack up earnings using the platform. You can also earn free gift cards from time to time just by doing tasks you normally would do online. Swagbucks has also helped consumers earn over $600 million in cash back, coupons, and gift cards. While Swagbucks’ earning potential isn’t enough to constitute part-time income, for a primarily no-strings-attached way to make a bit of extra cash each day, Swagbucks is a great platform.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing has been around for a while, but affiliate marketing has taken off thanks to the proliferation of blogs. At its heart, affiliate marketing involves linking to other websites or products (such as Amazon listings) in the hopes that your blog readers will click on the link and purchase. If a purchase is attributed to your blog, you can earn a cut of the sales.
Starting your affiliate marketing blog is relatively straightforward, and there are plenty of social media communities and online courses that can help you get started. Affiliate marketing can take some time to get rolling, but once your affiliate marketing blog is up and running, it can be a great source of passive income.
Airbnb
If you have a spare room in your home — or have a vacation property you don’t visit all the time — then renting out your room or house can be a great way to earn extra income. Airbnb is one of the most popular platforms to host your home, and even comes with a calculator to help you estimate what sort of earning potential your property may have. For example, a spare private room in Chicago could earn you up to $1,400 monthly. Now that’s easy money!
Airbnb has a robust support community to help you learn more about becoming a host. They even offer special coverage for their hosts, including $1M liability insurance, $1M damage protection, pet damage protection, and deep cleaning protection. While not everyone is comfortable playing host, when you consider that you can subtract the cost of hiring a cleaning service to take care of your property after someone stays from your overall rental, Airbnb is a straightforward way to earn extra money.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Amazon
While you likely think about Amazon as a website where you spend your money, it’s possible to make money selling goods on Amazon, too. In school, I found that selling my used textbooks on Amazon offered a much better return than other campus booksellers. Some people make money by purchasing items from places like China on the cheap, waiting months for them to ship to America, and then reselling them at a small markup.
A quick tip if you plan on selling through Amazon: read about their strict condition guides. One time, I mistakenly selected the wrong condition for a textbook I was selling, and even though I had disclosed in the item description that there was water damage on the cover, I still had to refund the entire sale when the buyer complained because I hadn’t picked the right condition.
Related: How to Make Money Dropshipping
Care.com
If you’re interested in helping others out in person rather than starting an online side hustle, Care.com can be a great resource. From babysitting and pet sitting to tutoring and housekeeping, Care.com makes it easy to set up your profile and provide the services you’d like to offer others.
For example, when someone is looking for a dog walker, they can request a job, and you can apply. Setting up your profile and responding to job requests only takes a few minutes, so you can start making money as soon as possible. As a useful database and marketplace for individuals to offer various services and odd jobs, Care.com makes it quick and easy to connect with interested buyers.
Related: How to Make Money on Care.com
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Craigslist
When you need to make fast cash, selling some old things on a website like Craigslist can be a great way to make money without shipping things across the country. Craigslist has a long history as an online classifieds website, making it a popular destination for shoppers interested in saving money on different items.
From books and DVDs to video game consoles and furniture, you could sell all sorts of things on Craigslist to make a quick buck. Read up on common Craigslist scams to avoid issues fulfilling the sale.
eBay
EBay is a great option if you’d like to make some quick cash selling old belongings or collectibles but aren’t too keen on meeting strangers. You can set up your eBay listings as online auctions or buy-it-now listings and make money in under a week. When a bidder or buyer completes a purchase, you can instantly get payment via PayPal.
One thing to note about eBay is that you’ll need to have some shipping materials and packaging supplies on hand once a buyer makes a purchase. Consider offering free shipping to make your listings on the platform more enticing. If you’d prefer to keep more of the proceeds from your sale, you can also charge buyers the total shipping cost.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Etsy
Are you crafty? Did you purchase a Cricut for your crafting and are now looking to monetize that hobby for some extra income? Etsy is a website that allows you to easily create an online storefront to sell your homemade items and goods. From woodworking to quilting and hand-drawn portraits of pets, the sky’s the limit to what sorts of handmade items you can sell on this online platform. Best of all, you can set up your pricing and inventory so that you don’t get inundated with orders you can’t fulfill.
Fiverr
If you’re interested in freelance work but need some help getting the word out, Fiverr is a great platform to consider. Fiverr lets you post jobs in various areas — from video editing to writing to copyediting — and you can accept gigs as requested. I’ve used Fiverr from time to time for some extra income, and it’s a relatively straightforward user interface to use.
One thing to note about Fiverr is that the platform will take a percentage of your earnings. As such, it’s a good idea to consider this percentage as your pricing gigs to ensure they’re worth your time.
InboxDollars
While “free money” is usually too good to be true, many InboxDollars’ offers feel like free money. You can be rewarded for watching videos (usually advertisements), which takes little to no energy. InboxDollars also offers surveys and different shopping promotions and offers to help you earn a little bit more money while using the platform.
Surveys on InboxDollars could take anywhere from a few minutes to twenty minutes, but they’ll sometimes earn you up to $20 or more. You can even make money for playing different online games. All of InboxDollars’ offers are based on brand research, and you’ll get real money (not points) for your time and insights.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Lyft
While ridesharing isn’t for everyone, joining a platform like Lyft as a driver can be one of the fastest ways to make money. It does take a bit of time to create your account and go through the approval process; however, once you’re set up in the system, you’ll be able to start earning almost immediately. Lyft is great because it lets you drive and earn money on your schedule. This means you don’t have to give up your other work and honestly treat Lyft as a side hustle.
Right now, Lyft is advertising a guaranteed $2,400 in earnings in your first month of driving — provided you meet some criteria and stipulations. Regarding the part-time jobs on this list, Lyft has a lot of perks to consider if you’re looking to make a sizable amount of money from driving and tips each month.
Mechanical Turk
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk was a bizarre but fun way to make extra money each week when I was in college. One of the nicest things about Amazon Mechanical Turk (or MTURK as many refer to it) is that you have many different options for your online tasks. From surveys to user testing to transcription, all kinds of tasks can make you quick money.
As far as easy money goes, some image moderation tasks are so simple that you can mindlessly complete them in front of Netflix. They may only pay you a couple of cents a task (and you’ll need an Amazon payments account to accept payment), but those pennies can add up throughout the evening.
Mystery Shopping
Have you ever considered mystery shopping as a side hustle? A mystery shopper goes in to make a purchase or ask a question, posing as a consumer. However, they’re evaluating the business they’re visiting to help provide more detailed information about how everyday customers are treated.
Mystery shoppers generally make between $15 and $20 an hour, which isn’t half bad compared to other options on this list. Other reputable mystery shopping companies include BestMark, Market Force, IntelliShop, and Secret Shopper.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Podcast
Are you interested in a creative project that’s fun to work on and offers you the chance to earn some extra money, too? Starting a podcast has never been easier, thanks to websites like Anchor.fm. Anchor.fm lets you automatically distribute your podcast across various popular platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. You can opt into Spotify’s advertising network to earn money with your podcast, making monetizing your episodes easy.
Rover
If you like the sound of Care.com but are specifically interested in working with animals, creating an account on Rover might be worthwhile. Founded in 2011, Rover.com is a website that makes buying and selling various pet care services easy. Whether you want to cat sit or walk dogs, there are various pet-related opportunities to advertise and respond to on Rover. Rover’s service fees are 20% per booking, so keep that in mind as you figure out how to price your services appropriately.
Shutterstock
Do you love photography or have an eye for capturing subjects in interesting angles and poses? Shutterstock is a stock photo website where you can quickly generate a passive income stream by uploading high-resolution photos to be used by companies and corporations. Of course, you need to be willing to waive your usage rights to the images, but if you live in a big city or have friends interested in modeling, this can be a fun and easy way to make some extra monthly money. Your licensing fee cut ranges between 15% and 40%, depending on how popular your work is on the platform. You can also use an app to add filters to your photos and tweak them differently.
Related: How to Get Paid to Take Pictures
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
TaskRabbit
Are you handy? TaskRabbit is a website that helps connect handymen (and women) to homeowners needing extra help around the house. Many jobs are available to browse and perform via TaskRabbit, including cleaning, assembling a desk or table, delivering groceries, or mounting a television on a wall. Once you’ve become a Tasker, you get reviews each time you complete a job so that other customers can see that you’re trusted for work in home repair, shopping, and delivery. As many Taskers perform a small number of tasks each month, their earnings are generally around $100. However, if you go after it, you could earn thousands of dollars on the platform.
Uber
Like Lyft, Uber is a ridesharing app and platform that allows you to drive others around to earn money and tips. Uber also offers the option to pick up and deliver food from restaurants through Uber Eats, meaning that you can maximize your earning potential any time you’re on the road. Uber is an in-person gig and may not be for everyone, but it offers a higher earning potential than other options. It is more of a “real” job, however. Taking surveys doesn’t take much effort, but Uber does, thus resulting in higher potential income from this gig. If you’re interested in a side hustle, Uber or Lyft is worth considering, and they often feature sign-on bonuses.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Upwork
Like Fiverr, Upwork is a website that lets you respond to various independent contracting and freelance work. Whether you pursue work as a virtual assistant, copywriter, designer, or software developer is entirely up to you. As a freelancer, you can bid and pitch yourself on various job postings that meet your needs and specialty, putting you in charge and letting you come to clients rather than the other way around. Upwork handles invoicing for you, and payment can be received directly to your bank account via ACH transfer and through different platforms like PayPal, Payoneer, and wire transfer.
Sell unused gift cards
Do you ever get a gift card as a gift, only to be dismayed that it’s for a restaurant or store you don’t often go to? Would you rather convert your Amazon gift cards from this past Christmas into money that can be used to pay your utilities or tackle your credit card debt? If so, selling unused gift cards on a website like CardCash or ClipKard could be worth pursuing. All you have to do is list your gift cards and ship them to their destination once an offer has been accepted. From there, you can earn money via PayPal or a check. While you may have to sell your gift cards at a slight loss, you can use that money for whatever you’d like!
Related: Best Apps to Get Free Gift Cards
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
Costs and fees
All platforms on this list are free to create an account for. However, there are some different fees you may need to be aware of. For example, platforms like Fiverr, Shutterstock, Upwork, and Rover take a percentage of your earnings as a service fee to use their platform. eBay also has seller fees that you’ll want to consider.
Other money-making opportunities above have additional costs, such as regular car maintenance, postage, and shipping. If you’re selling items on Etsy, you’ll also need to factor in the costs of making your wares.
Beyond the costs of each gig, you’ll also owe income taxes on any earnings you make. While some people will try to tell you that you can skirt around this if your income from a specific endeavor is less than $600, many states are changing those requirements — especially regarding online work. If you are deriving income from any of the above activities, you will need to make sure you claim that income on your tax return.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Easy to do. For the most part, all of the ideas on this list are specific activities that you can perform with little to no training. While cleaning someone’s bathroom or taking surveys isn’t necessarily glamorous work, it is easy.
- Money can be transferred quickly. Thanks to the fact that almost all of these jobs have an online or app-based component, getting your money electronically is secure and fast.
- Scalable. With transparent pricing, it’s easy to see how you can accelerate or decelerate your earnings based on how much time and energy you have to put into the activities above. This is especially true with ridesharing platforms and websites like Taskrabbit, Fiverr, and Upwork.
Cons
- Fees can be high. With some of these websites, you’ll be paying a premium to have the exposure and trust associated with being on their platform.
- Extra costs can be tricky to predict. If you’re relying on your car or painting materials to perform your work, it may be challenging to have the right amount of stock or anticipate car repairs as you start out.
- Some platforms require waiting periods. On some of these websites, money has to sit and clear before you can make a withdrawal. This varies from platform to platform—and never goes longer than a 30 day waiting period—but if you really need money fast you’ll need to be wary of this.
Use InboxDollars To Make Real Money!
- Cashback rewards club that pays out real cash.
- Play games like Solitaire and Mahjong for a chance to win money.
- Watch videos and fill paid surveys to earn today.
- Includes a first-class referral program
The bottom line
Not all of the above ideas are for everyone, but you’re sure to find something with such an extensive list that tickles your fancy. Especially as you’re starting, certain tasks may take a bit longer as you get a feel for the user interface or work involved. However, once you get in a groove, you’ll better anticipate the time commitment and earning potential. Taking any of the above jobs for a spin can best indicate what works for you and your schedule.
You may want to make money fast or start a side hustle for various reasons. Whether you’re trying to pay down debt or save for a big purchase like a car or a home, the above gigs can help you get there faster. Keep the above list in mind, and you might be surprised by just how quickly you can supercharge your earnings.
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Writer
Brent Ervin-Eickhoff is a Chicago-based writer, stage director, and filmmaker with a background in digital marketing and content creation. In addition to Joy Wallet, Brent has written for Complex, Volkswagen, HowlRound, Picture this Post, and Third Coast Review, among others. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation at Court Theatre at the University of Chicago. Brent graduated from Ball State University with Academic Honors in Writing.
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