Let’s be honest: everyone could use a little extra money every month. Maybe you want to save for a vacation, or just stop living paycheck to paycheck. Whatever your reasons, there are ways to earn side income without having to give up all of your free time. Here are five legitimate ways to make some extra cash each month.
1. Sell Your Gently Used Clothing
Selling gently used clothing won’t make you rich, but if you play your cards right, you could make some extra money every month with this strategy.
Start by going through your closet and picking out clothing items you haven’t worn in a while. If you need fast cash, you can take your clothes to a local consignment shop, like Plato’s Closet. Or, you can sell online at sites like ThredUp and Poshmark. It may take some time to find buyers, but you’ll almost always get more money this way.
If you plan to sell clothes online, you’ll need to:
- Take clear, well-lit photos
- Compare and research prices to set competitive prices
Start with your own clothing items. Once you have a few sales under your belt, you can try shopping at local thrift stores, like Goodwill, to find gently used clothes to sell.
2. Freelance
Virtually everyone has a skill they can use for freelance work. From design to writing, data entry, translation, programming and marketing, the freelancing world is vast.
Websites like Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer make it easy to get started and build a client base. If you’re fluent in more than one language, you can offer your services through One Hour Translation or Gengo.
It can take some time to get clients and build a portfolio, but the beauty of freelance work is that you can charge whatever you want as your rate (within reason, of course).
3. Become a Rideshare Driver
If you have a driver’s license, a smartphone and a car, you can earn extra cash driving for Uber or Lyft. It’s easy to get started, it’s easy to make money and it’s easy to get paid.
The key to success as a rideshare driver is location. If you live in a rural area, there may not be a high demand for ridesharing services, but if you live in or near a big city, you may be able to work as much and as often as you’d like.
In Chicago, for example, Lyft and Uber drivers make about $15-$20 an hour, but in a rural area, drivers may only wind up making about minimum wage due to low demand and farther driving distances.
If you’re in a good location, driving for Uber or Lyft may be a great way to earn legitimate and substantial side income.
4. Work as a Virtual Assistant
As a virtual assistant, you can earn money working from home helping other people complete tasks. It’s easy to get started as a virtual assistant thanks to websites like Remote.co, Upwork and Indeed.com.
To succeed, you’ll need to have excellent organizational and time management skills.
5. Start a Blog
If you have a passion for something and excellent writing skills, you can turn your passion into a blog. Maybe you love fitness, cars, hiking or exploring the weird and unknown mysteries of the world. No matter what you’re into, you can create a blog about something that interests you.
Starting a blog doesn’t require a whole lot of resources – just a lot of time. In fact, you can create a free blog on WordPress.org. If you’re serious though, you should invest in your own domain name and purchase hosting for your new blog.