If you needed extra money, like, yesterday, you’ve come to the right spot.
Our team has compiled a list of creative ways you can fatten your bank account this month. Certainly, there’s something here that fits your needs.
1. Get Paid Up to $140/Month Just for Sharing Your Honest Opinion
If you’re turning blue in the face waiting for a raise at work, it might be time to quit holding your breath and start speaking your mind to someone who wants to listen.
Brands want to hear your opinion to help inform their business decisions on everything from products and services to logos and ads — and they’re willing to pay you up to $140 a month for it.
A free site called Branded Surveys will pay you up to $5 per survey for sharing your thoughts with their brand partners. Taking three quick surveys a day could earn up to $140 each month.
It takes just a minute to create a free account and start getting paid to speak your mind. Most surveys take five to 15 minutes, and you can check how long they’ll take ahead of time.
And you don’t need to build up tons of money to cash out, either — once you earn $5, you can cash out via PayPal, your bank account, a gift card or Amazon. You’ll get paid within 48 hours of your payout being processed, just for sharing your opinions.
They’ve already paid users more than $20 million since 2012, and the most active users can earn a few hundred dollars a month. Plus, they’ve got an “excellent” rating on Trustpilot.
It takes just a minute to set up your account and start getting paid to take surveys. Plus, right now, you’ll get a free 100-point welcome bonus just for becoming part of the community.
2. No Offense, But if You Don’t Use This Free Tool, You’re Overpaying on Amazon
Wouldn’t it be nice if you got an alert when you’re shopping online at Amazon and are about to overpay?
That’s exactly what this free service does.
Just add it to your browser for free, and before you check out, it’ll check other websites to see if your item is available for cheaper. Let’s say you’re shopping for a new smart vacuum, and you assume you’ve found the best price. Here’s when you’ll get a pop up letting you know if that exact vacuum is available elsewhere for cheaper. If there are any available coupon codes, they’ll also automatically be applied to your order.
In the last year, this has saved people $800 million.
You can get started in just a few clicks to see if you’re overpaying online.
3. Stop Paying Your Credit Card Company
Every month, you make payments toward your credit card debt. But you never seem to make a dent. It’s because of those sky-high interest rates — as much as 24% interest. It can feel impossible to get ahead.
But Fiona could help you find offers to cut your interest rate by 70% as soon as tomorrow.
Here’s how it works: Fiona can match you with new loan offers at a lower interest rate — as low as 5.20% APR*. That’s 70%* lower than the average credit card interest rate. And it’s the key to finally getting ahead.
You can use this new loan to pay off all your existing credit card debt, then you’ll be left with one (cheaper) monthly payment that will help you get out of debt faster.
If you have a credit score of at least 620, you could get up to $100,000. With no collateral. And terms go up to 144 months.
Worried you won’t qualify? Take two minutes to check online and see if you could cut your credit card interest rate by 70%.
*Based on creditworthiness. Average credit card interest rate is 24.72% as of 8/14/23, according to Forbes Advisor’s weekly credit card rates report.
4. $10K or More in Debt? Most People Don’t Realize This Option Exists
You’re not an extravagant spender. That’s why it feels so surreal to be in so much debt.
But with higher inflation and rising costs of everyday purchases, so many of us have had to rely more and more on credit cards just to keep up with just our basic needs.
The good news is, a company called National Debt Relief wants to help by negotiating with your creditors to resolve your debt.
If you owe at least $10,000 in unsecured debt (credit card debt, personal loans, medical bills, etc.), National Debt Relief’s experts can set you up with a realistic timeframe and payment plan that works for you.
As your monthly payments with the National Debt Relief program add up, they’ll negotiate with your creditors to settle your accounts. You will have to pay a percentage of debt settled, but it’ll still be way less than your original debt.
On average, you could resolve your debts in as little as 24 to 48 months.
National Debt Relief is one of the largest debt settlement companies in the nation, and has already helped more than 500,000 people. Find out what your best options are for taking control of your debt and re-establishing your financial stability.
It only takes a few minutes to sign up for a free consultation.
5. Get Paid $225/Month While Watching Movie Previews
If we told you that you could get paid to watch videos on your computer, you’d probably laugh.
It’s too good to be true, right?
But we’re serious. A website called InboxDollars will pay you to watch short video clips online. One minute you might watch someone bake brownies and the next you might get the latest updates on Kardashian drama.
All you have to do is choose which videos you want to watch and answer a few quick questions about them afterward.
No, InboxDollars won’t replace your full-time job, but it’s something easy you can do while you’re already on the couch tonight wasting time on your phone.
Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.
It takes about one minute to sign up, and you’ll immediately get a $5 bonus to get you started.
6. Earn as Much as $1K/Month Doing Simple Online Tasks
Is there such a thing as easy money? If you know your way around the web, there certainly is.
That’s because data is currency these days, and many companies are willing to pay cash for it — up to $1,000 per month.
Finding these companies can be time-consuming on your own. But a company called Freecash has compiled all sorts of quick cash tasks from about a dozen advertisers and market research companies thirsty for more data. Freecash has paid out over $13 million to users since 2019.
You can pick and choose your tasks and complete them at your convenience. The coins you earn from each completed task can be converted into things like Visa gift cards, Amazon gift cards, cryptocurrency or cold-hard PayPal cash.
Signing up for a Freecash account is easy and there’s no minimum amount you need to earn before you can cash out. And if you’ve got enough free time on your hands, you can join the ranks of Freecash users making more than $1,000 a month in extra cash.Sign up here to see how much you could earn.
7. Add $500 to Your Wallet for Trying Out Apps
Our smartphones are the world’s greatest time-killers. You can browse Facebook; play a game; download a new app.
You’re doing all this anyway — why not get paid for it? With a website called KashKick, you could get paid for things like answering survey questions or downloading and playing a game — up to $500 in your first month.
You can earn money by playing games or trying new products and services, but surveys are the main way to make money.
Once you earn $10 in your account, you can immediately get paid via Paypal. This is an easy way to make a little extra money while you’re killing time on your couch. All you need is your phone or computer.
It takes just a minute to sign up, and you’ll immediately earn $1 just for completing your profile on the site. You’ll be that much closer to cashing out.
8. Stop Making Payments to Your Credit Card Company
If you’re carrying around credit card debt, you know how hopeless it can feel. The interest rates alone can make it feel like you’ll never escape.
Meanwhile, your credit card company could care less. They’re getting rich off those sky-high rates, after all.
Luckily, The Rate Chopper could help you start to get rid of all that debt — as soon as a few days from now. Here’s how: The Rate Chopper could match you with a lender and a new loan at a lower interest rate you can use to pay off all your credit card balances. Now you’ll just have one bill to focus on, and with the lower rate, you’ll likely be able to pay off your debt that much faster.
If you have a credit score above 600 and you need to borrow up to $50,000, The Rate Chopper can help you find a loan with rates as low as 5.99% APR.* That’s way better than the 20% or more your credit card is charging you.
It only takes a few minutes to complete the form to get your personalized results — and checking won’t affect your credit score. Plus, The Rate Chopper keeps your information encrypted and secure.
And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check and see if you match with a lender. You’ll need to enter your Social Security number when you fill out their form, but The Rate Chopper uses data encryption to help keep your information safe.
It takes just a couple minutes, and it could save you thousands of dollars. Totally worth it.
9. Earn up to $69/Hour Working From Home
We get it. There are kids to drop off at school, errands to run and dinner to cook, so the idea of getting a full-time job without any flexibility just doesn’t work for a lot of people.
Truth be told, life would be a lot easier if you could just make money without leaving the house. But that’s not something most employers offer. But have you considered bookkeeping? It’s the No. 1 most profitable business, according to an article in Inc Magazine.
And you could earn up to $69 an hour by starting your own bookkeeping business, according to Intuit, the creator of QuickBooks.
You don’t have to be an accountant or good at calculus to be successful at bookkeeping. As long as you’re motivated, a company called Bookkeepers.com will teach you everything you need to know. It’s one of the leading training courses in the field, and it even gives you the first three classes for free.
It’s helped thousands of people launch their own businesses, including Daniel Honan, a military veteran and former painter. He never considered starting his own company, but he signed up for Bookkeepers.com, and now he’s making $50,000 a year.
It only took him three months to get started, taking one class a week. Oh, and he makes his own schedule, earns up to $69 an hour and is able to spend more time with his wife than ever.If you’re just a little curious, you just have to submit your email address here to take the first free class. If you stick with it, you could be running your own business in just a few months.
10. Get Paid up to $130/Month — Just for Sharing Your Opinion
Taking surveys might not sound like the best way to make money, but if you’re just vegging out on the couch — or pretending to be interested in your partner’s new favorite show — why not click a couple buttons? It could earn you up to $130 a month. Seriously.
There are a bunch of paid survey sites out there, but one of the best we’ve found is Survey Junkie.
You’ll get asked questions like, what kind of laundry detergent you use, or if you prefer Pepsi or Coke. You get points for answering, and many people accumulate enough points to request a check within a few hours.
Completing three surveys a day can add up to $100 each month. Or, complete four or more surveys a day and earn as much as $130 a month!
With over $55,000 paid to Survey Junkie users daily, it’s not hard to see why there are already over 20 million active, lifetime members.
Give it a try by visiting Survey Junkie and clicking the “Join Now” button. It’s free.
11. Stop Paying Your Credit Card Company
If you have credit card debt, you know. The anxiety, the interest rates, the fear you’re never going to escape…
And the truth is, your credit card company doesn’t really care. It’s just getting rich by ripping you off with high interest rates — some up to 36%. But a website called AmOne wants to help.
If you owe your credit card companies $50,000 or less, AmOne will match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every single one of your balances.
The benefit? You’ll be left with one bill to pay each month. And because personal loans have lower interest rates (AmOne rates start at 5.99% APR), you’ll get out of debt that much faster. Plus: No credit card payment this month.
You don’t need a perfect credit score to get a loan — and comparing your options won’t affect your score at all. Plus, AmOne keeps your information confidential and secure, which is probably why after 20 years in business, it still has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.It takes less than a minute and just 10 questions to see what loans you qualify for — you don’t even need to enter your Social Security number. You do need to give AmOne a real phone number in order to qualify, but don’t worry — they won’t spam you with phone calls.
12. Cut Your Phone Bill in Half for 6 Months
Phone bills… amirite? We all have them. We all wish they were less of a bummer. What if I told you you’re probably overpaying for your phone bill right now? Seems like a “yeah, duh” statement, but did you also know you can do something about it?
Right now, Mint Mobile has an introductory offer that cuts the price of its 3-month plan in half when you sign up and pay upfront. Basically, you can set yourself up with a 3-month plan and you’ll get an additional 3 months of service for free after that. 2-for-1 anyone?
You’re probably thinking there’s some kind of catch, but nah. You can try it out for 7 days to see if you like it with no risk, and if not, not biggie.
All Mint plans offer unlimited talk and text and you can choose the data plan that works for you, so it’s kinda a no-brainer to see how much you can save. Try cutting your phone bill in half by switching to Mint Mobile.
13. This Free App Will Give You up to $1K in Free Stock Just for Signing Up and Funding Your Account
Inflation is doing a great job of making it really difficult to buy, well… anything. And that includes stocks.
Luckily, when you open a free SoFi Invest account and fund it with at least $10, they’ll give you free stocks in return — worth up to $1,000.
With SoFi, You can buy full or fractional shares of popular stocks, plus you can invest in exchange-traded funds — or collections of stocks.
If you’re new to investing, SoFi has automated investing tools to help simplify things. Plus, they won’t charge you any SoFi management fees.
It only takes a minute to open a free account and get started. Then, once you fund it with at least $10, SoFi will reward you with your free stock — which could be worth up to $1,000.
14. Cancel Your Car Insurance
When was the last time you compared car insurance rates? Chances are you’re seriously overpaying with your current policy.
If it’s been more than six months since your last car insurance quote, you should look again.
And if you look through a website called CheapRatesOnline, you could save yourself up to $500 a year*.
It takes just two minutes to answer some questions, and CheapRatesOnline’s smart matching technology will show you the insurance providers that are the best fit for you. And don’t worry — CheapRatesOnline uses advanced data security and encryption technology, so all your details are safe.
The website is free to use and can even save you up to an additional 20% if you add another vehicle to your policy. You could be paying as little as $19 a month* for car insurance.
CheapRatesOnline has already helped millions of people find affordable car insurance. See how much money you could save with a new policy.
15. Get Up to $10,000 Just for Switching Your Stocks to This App
So you have some money in stocks, and you’re feeling good about it. But did you know you might be eligible to earn an additional bonus?
An app called Public offers bonuses when you switch your brokerage account over to them — you may get up to $10,000*.
Here’s how it works: When you sign up and transfer at least $5,000 from another brokerage account, they’ll pay you a bonus! Depending on the amount you transfer, you may get up to $10,000*! They’ll even cover any transfer fees your brokerage charges you on the way out.
Public lets you invest in many well-known companies, such as Amazon, Google, Disney, Target, Netflix and many more. Many public companies even pay on a regular basis for your share of the profits, called dividends.
It takes just minutes to download the app, set up your account and earn your bonus.
16. This AI App Analyzes All Your Investments at Once
We all want to grow our wealth. And we’re doing all the right things — we invest, we have retirement accounts. There’s just one problem: Most of us don’t see the full picture of our investments.
Without a full analysis of everything you’ve invested, you’re likely to miss key ways your investments are working against one another — or overlook ways they could work together.
An AI app called Magnifi can analyze all your brokerage and retirement accounts at once and then show you opportunities you may have never realized were possible.
Are you paying too much in unnecessary fees? Do you have any hidden risk or overexposure? Magnifi will tell you right away.
The more accounts you link, the more Magnifi can help you manage — including 401(k)s, IRAs, individual stocks and ETFs held in almost any brokerage.Want to see the opportunities you’re missing with your investments? Penny Hoarder readers can get started today worry-free, with plans starting as low as $1/month.
17. Get Up to $300 for Holiday Shopping This Year
If you bank at a traditional brick-and-mortar bank, your money probably isn’t growing much (c’mon, 0.40% is basically nothing).1
But there’s good news: With SoFi Checking and Savings, you stand to gain a hefty 4.60% APY on savings when you set up a direct deposit or have $5,000 or more in Qualifying Deposits and 0.50% APY on checking balances2 — saving’s APY is 10 times more than the national average.1
Right now, a direct deposit of at least $1K not only sets you up for higher returns but also brings you closer to earning your $300 welcome bonus (terms apply).3
You can easily deposit checks via your phone’s camera, transfer funds and get customer service via chat or call. There are no account fees, no monthly fees and no overdraft fees.* And your money is FDIC insured (up to $2M of additional FDIC insurance through the SoFi Insured Deposit Program).4
It’s quick and easy to open an account with SoFi Checking and Savings and watch your money grow faster than ever.
18. Get Paid for Your Opinion
Swagbucks is definitely a reader favorite, probably because of the wide variety of ways to make money beyond taking surveys. It’s also famous for handing out free rewards points (called SBs) at random just for being a member.
You’ll get SBs for each survey you qualify for and complete that you can redeem for cash via Paypal or gift cards to a number of popular retailers, including Amazon.
Even better? You’ll earn a 500 SB (or $5) bonus when you sign up and earn 2,500 SB within your first 60 days.
19. Should You Cancel Your Homeowners Insurance?
If you’re a homeowner, you probably have home insurance that you hardly ever think about — which is great because that means you haven’t needed to use it.
But if you’re not regularly reviewing your coverage and shopping around for competitive rates, you’re likely overpaying.
It’s super easy to find out, though. Provide Homeowners Savings will show you quotes and compare pre-qualified rates to make sure you’re getting the best price for your coverage.
Homeowners can save hundreds of dollars when they cancel their current homeowners insurance and switch this way. It takes just two minutes to get quotes from multiple insurers, so you can see all your options side-by-side. Get started here to see how much you could save.
20. Get Paid to Sign Legal Documents
A Notary Public is actually a formal government designation. The “Commission” (or term) usually lasts about four years, and it’s a side hustle worth considering.
As a notary, you can make money on the side by signing legal documents such as wills or power of attorney forms — even school- and sports-related forms. You’ll need to be 18 years old and complete the appropriate application with your state. Only about a dozen states require some form of training or exam.
We highly recommend finding a specialization to increase your earnings and eliminate competition from banks and UPS branches that offer notary services. For example, you can find a niche in real estate as a Notary Signing Agent and charge more for your services, shooting your earnings potential up to hundreds of dollars per document packet.
21. Ask This Company to Reduce a Big Chunk of Your Credit Card Debt
Not trying to be dramatic, but card debt is like a dark, suffocating abyss that swallows your finances and leaves you feeling trapped and helpless.
So, what if you could just… get rid of credit card debt that’s weighing you down?
A company called Freedom Debt Relief could help you do just that. Its negotiators could work directly with your credit card companies to reduce your overall credit card debt.
It’s free to talk with a Freedom Debt Relief debt consultant to determine the best strategy for your situation. You’ll need to show why you’re struggling to make your payments and tell them a little bit about your finances.
Then, Freedom Debt Relief will work out just how much of your debt they could reduce — they’ve already helped over 850,000 people settle over $15 billion in debt.
Once enrolled in the program, Freedom Debt Relief will negotiate a settlement with your creditor, and if you approve the offer they come back with, you’ll pay off that reduced balance though a monthly program deposit.It’s free to see just how much of your debt you can get rid of.
22. Get Paid to Drink Beer
The craft beer industry is hoppin’, so take advantage of it by, well, getting paid to visit breweries.
When you sign up as a mystery shopper, it’s your job to go to a grocery store, gas station, restaurant or, in this case, a breweries, and provide anonymous feedback.
Now, you can get paid to mystery shop — and drink — at breweries in your area through Secret Hopper. (Clever, right?)
The company is looking for detail-oriented beer-drinkers to hop around to different breweries and objectively rate and review their experiences. One Penny Hoarder gave the gig a try. He paid $16 on his visit to a local brewery. Secret Hopper paid him $20 via PayPal within a few days.
So, no, you’re not going to get rich, but you will get free beer, and that makes us hoppy.
All you have to do is sign up, then it’ll contact you when you’re needed.
23. Become a Mystery Shopper
Got an eye for great service? You could make money — and get the occasional free meal — as a mystery shopper.
Companies want to know the employees serving their customers are putting a good face on the brand. Because a CEO of a huge chain can’t pull an “Undercover Boss” every week, many companies send mystery shoppers into the field to rate the customer experience.
This can be a simple way to make extra money — if you’re efficient. Here’s what to do — and what not to do — if you want to be a successful mystery shopper.
24. Turn Your Junk Mail Into Cash
You know all those flyers and advertisements you get in the mail each day? The ones you never wanted but have no idea how to opt out of?
Well, you can turn them into cash.
The Small Business Knowledge (SBK) Center is a market research company that wants to get a peep insight your mailbox. Join its consumer panel, and start shoveling that junk mail into a postage-paid envelope and, at the end of each week, send it over to the SBK Center.
No, you won’t be rolling in extra cash, but you can earn up to $20 every six to 10 weeks.
25. Get Paid to Drop a Few Pounds
Bottom line: HealthyWage will literally pay you for losing weight.
Not only are you getting more healthy, you’re also making some money. How’s that for motivation?
Here’s how it works:
Read more about HealthyWage, and sign up.
Define a goal weight and the amount of time you’ll give yourself to achieve it.
Place a bet on yourself ranging from $20 to $500 a month.
Depending on how much you have to lose, how long you give yourself to do it and how much money you put on the table, you could win up to $10,000!
Wondering if it can really work? We talked to one woman, Christina Castro, who lost 84 pounds — and made $1,191.
26. Get Free Stock
Here’s the thing about investing: The sooner you start, the better. And we found a company that will give you free stock to get started. An investing app called Robinhood will give you free stock worth between $2.50 and $200 just for downloading its free app and funding your account.
Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Robinhood. Both investing beginners and pros love it because it doesn’t charge commission fees, and you can buy and sell stocks for free — no limits. Plus, it’s super easy to use.
Whether you’ve got $5, $100 or $800 to spare, it takes just a couple of minutes to sign up, fund your account and get your free stock — a nice boost to help you build your investments.
27. Sell Coupons Online
When I was researching my post on how to sell coupons online, I was shocked to see an eBay auction with a high bid of $361 — for one coupon! It was a 10%-off coupon, and it was close to Christmas. Grocery coupons sell for a lot less.
But if you ever get bank or credit card coupons offering nice bonuses, you can get $10 or more selling them on eBay.
28. Mask Up This Weekend
Have you heard of a luchador?
It’s a masked Mexican wrestler, and San Diego resident Motros Jungle (whose real name remains a secret per the tradition of luchadores) makes extra money hopping into the ring each weekend.
“You go from being just a regular, average Joe to becoming a superhero as soon as you put the mask on,” he says.
Motros Jungle says he makes anywhere fro $200 to $500 for three matches during the weekend. That doesn’t include merch — T-shirts, stickers, buttons and masks.
Learn more about what it takes to become a luchador.
29. Stream on Twitch
Your mom was wrong. Playing video games might not be a waste of your time after all.
Cory Michael started streaming his gaming sessions and over four years attracted 29 million people to watch him tackle Destiny and other multiplayer online games. As a result, Twitch accepted his partnership application and agreed to pay him to play.
How much money can you make? Michael explained to The Penny Hoarder that there are three ways to make money streaming on Twitch: tipping, ad revenue and subscriptions. Top Twitch streamers can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.
30. Rent out Your Ping-Pong Table
Got a Ping-Pong table you don’t use? Someone might need it for a party, so why not rent it out? You can make money with almost anything in your home now thanks to websites like Zilok that make it easy to rent out your stuff.
Zilok is free for individual members to create listings, but rental businesses have to pay fees. To list your item on Zilok, you’ll have to create a post with a description, photos and a price per day. Once a renter finds your product, Zilok takes a commission depending on the listing price. For everything under $10, the commission fee is $1. Fees range between 5% and 9% for all other price categories.
31. Practice Kaizen
In Japanese, kaizen means “improvement.” Basically, it’s the practice of continuous improvement. Penny Hoarder Steven Gillman suggests applying kaizen principles to your personal finances.
For example, he applied the kaizen approach to home improvements — making small changes over the course of three years. Then, he sold his home for a solid profit.
It’s all about the baby steps.
32. Sell Your Friendship
Get paid to be someone’s buddy! We’re not kidding.
You can register to become a friend at RentAFriend.com, where paying users can contact you to attend concerts, sporting events, family functions, VIP events and more.
You can charge up to $50 an hour and set your own schedule.
Friends working full time (five days a week) earn up to $2,000 a week, plus free dinners and access to those events I mentioned.
What could you do as a friend for 40 hours a week?
First of all, the site clarifies that it is “solely a platonic friendship website” — beyond that, options are endless.
If you have a special skill, like cooking or speaking a foreign language, you could teach them. Some people traveling or new to an area hire a friend to show them the town.
Some people just want someone to talk to.
33. Let NASA Pay You to Stay in Bed All Day
Unfortunately, we haven’t found a way to get paid as a professional napper, but this opportunity is pretty darn close: NASA will pay volunteers to take part in bed rest studies.
Yup — you turn yourself into a test subject and spend 60 days in bed, all in the name of science.
It might be tougher than you think, though. You’ve got to shower, dress, exercise and eat… all from your bed.
The good news is the gig pays. One of the more recent calls for volunteers offered $19,000 for 60 days.
34. Answer the Phone
Have you ever considered doing customer service from the comfort of your home? An increasing number of companies are hiring work-from-home customer service reps, instead of running call centers.
These jobs can be full– or part-time and offer a variety of schedules, including daytime, evening and weekend shifts with a range of pay depending on the position and location.
Your job is usually to answer customer questions over the phone or via online chat. You may find sales positions that include higher pay and performance incentives; or technical support positions, which are best if you’re tech-savvy and have an interest in helping people understand technology.
You should enjoy helping people, though! You know how a bad customer service call can totally ruin your day? You don’t want to be the bad rep on the other end of that call.
35. Get Crafty (But Not Too Crafty, If You Don’t Want)
If you’re a creative, consider selling your art on Etsy. Although there are some fees, including the 5% transaction charge, the marketplace connects with more than 33 million buyers globally.
Those are a lot of potential customers.
If you aren’t necessarily the artsy type, you could still make money on Etsy by selling craft supplies. For example, Penny Hoarder contributor Janet Berry-Johnson made about $200 a month selling needlecraft kits and patterns.
36. Publish a Kindle Book
If you’re a subject-matter expert or have an intriguing life experience, you could write a book. But there’s no need to send it off to all the major publishing houses in New York City.
You can publish ebooks through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Penny Hoarder contributor Steve Gillman wrote a book in a week. Note: Ebooks don’t have be hundreds of pages long. Gillman found many books as short as 6,000 words.
After publishing on Amazon, he started making $350 a month. The best part? He continued to make money, even months and years later. He outlines exactly how he did it and the best tips and tricks for you.
37. Swap Books for Amazon Gift Cards
Have old college textbooks taking up valuable shelf space? You could host a garage sale or sell them on Craigslist, but one of the easiest ways to get rid of them is through Amazon.
With Amazon Trade-In, you can trade in your used textbooks, plus other items, like electronics, in exchange for an Amazon gift card.
Enter the item’s information on Amazon’s Trade-In page to see how much you could pocket. Shipping is free.
38. Teach English as a Second Language
If a classroom full of grimy squealing kids isn’t your scene… we get it. You can still work as a teacher. Better yet: You work as a teacher, set your own hours and work from home.
There are several online-learning platforms focused on teaching English as a second language to students in other countries.
Angela Brumbaugh is a QKids teacher. She teaches 36 half-hour sessions a week and makes up to $20 an hour.
“The curriculum is set for you before class, and your job is to simply guide the children through the lesson, offering guidance, smiles and tons of encouragement,” she says. That’s a big perk for many: No lesson planning.
“The students are hard-working, curious and light up the classroom with their smiles,” she says. “Class time actually goes by fast, and the only con I can see is sometimes I wish I had more time to spend with them!”
39. Become a Life Coach
According to a Forbes’ article on surprising six-figure jobs, about 20% of life and business coaches top $100,000 annually.
The article notes that “No special degree or training is required,” but if you want, you can get certified by the Universal Coach Institute. You can coach your clients by phone and email from the comfort of your home.
40. Pretend to Be a Patient
Fake patients, more formally known as “standardized patients,” are used to train new doctors. It’s essentially an acting job, as explained in NPR’s profile of Gabrielle Nuki. The 16-year-old is paid $15 to $20 per hour to play different roles while medical students examine her.
If you can act and don’t mind being poked and prodded by aspiring doctors, you can look for this work at a number of medical schools.
41. Earn up to $30/Day Watching Movies
When he was just getting started, The Penny Hoarder CEO Kyle Taylor used to get paid to attend movie premieres. He got $30 to see a Harry Potter premiere! (He would have totally gone for free.)
Theaters and movie studios want to collect data about the audience that attends their movie premieres. They want to know how many people buy tickets on opening day, which screening time is most popular and which previews are being shown. And they want independent data from third party evaluators — that’s where you come in.
These are known as “in-theater checks” and to apply, you’ll need to fill out an application with one of the largest mystery shopping companies, Certified Field Associates. The application is just a few questions long and nearly everyone in the United States and Canada is eligible to be hired.
In-theater checks don’t have huge paydays attached to them, but you can usually expect to make between $10 to $20 per hour.
42. Monetize Your Doodles
We talked to one guy who sells his art online and makes $2,000 a month.
His whole life, he always doodled in the corners of notebooks and napkins, but he never imagined he could make a living from it. Now he sells his imaginative drawings of pizza and sharks and dinosaurs.
Here are some tips to get started:
Start small.
Create marketable products.
Push yourself. Look for opportunities to get better in your own work, even if it’s just watching YouTube tutorials.
43. Get the Props You Deserve for Being Active
If you live an active lifestyle (or need an incentive to become more active), the Achievement app will reward you for making healthy moves, including upping your step count and logging your sleep.
Achievement connects to your phone’s health apps and runs in the background, so it works passively. Many users report being happily surprised when logging on and checking their progress.
Once you earn 10,000 points, you’ll score $10, which you can deposit directly into your bank account.
Pro tip: Achievement connects to more than 30 Android and iOS health-related apps, including MyFitnessPal and Garmin. The more apps you connect, the more earning opportunities.
44. Do Odd Jobs
TaskRabbit helps you connect with people in your area who need help getting things done — anything from picking up dry cleaning to calling customer service and tolerating the hold music.
Keep an eye out for virtual tasks, which are mostly centered around personal assistance, administrative work or research help. You can do those an earn money without even walking out your door.
Rest assured you won’t be getting paid pennies to solve someone’s Excel woes. Check out these tips from users who make more than $2,000 a week through the app.
45. Get Paid to Tutor Kids Online
Love kids but don’t want to commit to the classroom?
You can get paid to tutor students online. Take notes from this former teacher, who makes up to $75 an hour.
If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve rounded up a list of companies hiring online tutors.
46. Sell Your Smartphone Photos
If you have a smartphone and a photographic eye, making money may have just gotten a lot easier. Oh – you’ll also need access to marketable scenery.
An app called Foap lets you turn your smartphone photos into cash.
Here’s how it works:
1. Download the free app and create an account.
2. Take a quality photo and upload it to Foap’s marketplace.
3. Someone buys the license to your photo for $10. You make $5.
If your photo sells 20 times, you make $5 each time and end up with $100 in your pocket — all for about five minutes of work. Pretty cool, right?
47. Rent out Your Old Baby Gear
Sharon Steinmann/The Penny Hoarder
Are you a mom?
You’ve probably got a lot of baby gear. Think: a crib, a car seat, a playset. Don’t let them collect dust when your kid starts growing out of all that stuff. You can rent out those old baby necessities to traveling parents. Because it costs how much to check a stroller on a plane?!
Check out this peer-to-peer rental site called goBaby. There, parents who are traveling can hit you up for that stroller or car seat so they don’t have to travel with the cumbersome gear.
And you can make some money. Sounds like a win-win.
48. Start Freelancing
Making a living as a freelance writer, editor or both is possible. Just take notes from Jamie Cattanach, who, in her first year as a full-time freelancer, made more than $50,000. That was several thousand more than she made while working full time on a salary.
Starting her freelance business wasn’t exactly a breeze, so she offered some advice to budding freelance writers.
49. Get Paid to Keep Kids Safe
Babysitting is all about connections and reputation. Once you build those relationships, babysitting can become a serious side gig.
One of the best ways to get started babysitting is to work on your reputation by proving you can be relied on in an emergency. The American Red Cross can help you with that.
The Red Cross offers first aid training, CPR classes and several babysitting courses to help prove you’re trustworthy and qualified to render aid, should a child in your care need it.
Babysitters in the U.S. earn an average of $19 an hour, according to 2022 data from Sitter City. But with strong references from people who know your work ethic, you can nurture your connections and command even higher rates.
50. Teach Chess
Love to play chess? Tutor other chess players online to make $35 to $50 per hour.
Tutoring sites like WyzAnt can take a big cut (40% until you hit 20 hours of tutoring!), but as an online tutor, you’ll get practice (and get paid) without leaving the house.
Even if you’re a lower-rated player, you can charge $20 per hour to work with beginners.
Comments