Are you trying to find creative ways to make money at home? You aren’t alone; nearly three-quarters of Americans feel the same way as you.
No one likes to feel like their budget is tight, but finding opportunities to make extra cash is hard, especially if you already work a full-time job. You come home exhausted, and the last thing you want to do is work a part-time job.
You just want to stay home and relax while making money. That can’t be possible, is it?
It is possible to make money at home and supplement your income. My big break came when I started to make money working on websites and blogging. Now, I make a full-time, six-figure income at home, but it all started when I wanted to make a few extra dollars at home.
Don’t despair; I put together a huge list of ways how to make extra money online. Some of these creative money-making ideas can generate full income, while others side gigs bring in extra cash here and there.
Keep reading to find the best opportunity.
18 Creative Ways To Make Money From Home
Have you read a bunch of lists about how to make money at home and still not found the perfect option for you? Here are some of the most creative ways to make money at home; you might love one of these.
1. Sell Your Photos
Anyone with a modern smartphone, like an iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 12, has a high-quality camera available to them. These smartphones have triple-lens with wide angles and an optical zoom that competes with many digital cameras.
Instead of taking random pictures to share with your Facebook friends, turn your photos into money by selling your photos to customers who need and want them.
Start by taking pictures of landscapes, gardens, pets, or whatever else interests you. Then, sell prints or sell the rights to stock photography sites.
How much money you can make selling photos varies based on the niche’s demand, how much your competition charges, and the fees you pay. Also, if you take photographs of people, they’ll need to be compensated as well.
2. Teach Online Classes
Turn your knowledge and experience into an extra way to make money. Don’t ever let something that you know well exist in your brain without earning you money. Don’t know where to start? Enroll in the Blog Profit Accelerator course and learn how to go from 0 to $1K fast. 😉
People crave knowledge, so turn that into a business and start offering to teach online classes and courses. Start by teaching classes in an area that you love. Do you have a hobby that you love? Is there anything that people ask your advice on?
Those are what you need to teach online. Then, look to see if there is a demand for these classes.
3. Sell Things On Facebook Or EBay
Do you love to go to yard sales and shop the deals? Are you the ultimate bargain finder? If so, selling your finds on eBay, Amazon, or Facebook Marketplace could be a lucrative option for you.
Head out Saturdays with cash and a goal to find 20 things that you can sell for a profit. Yard sale prices are bottom dollar; they want to get rid of what they have fast and make a quick buck. You want to find something you can make a buck on as well, so it’s the perfect setup.
One time, I went to a yard sale and found a beautiful diaper bag. I bought it for $2 – such a steal – and sold it online for $55. A $53 profit on one item is a great find.
4. Sell Your Food Waste
This is one of the most interesting ways to make money. Some creative souls find unused food or produce that will be tossed away and sell it at farmer’s market for a profit.
Others take the unused food and make recipes and dishes out of it. Then, they sell the food for an even bigger profit. Doing this requires some serious ingenuity and creativity, along with a love of cooking, but if you have all of that, this could be a ticket to make extra money.
5. Recommend Products You Love
Do you naturally love to talk about the products you think are great? If so, selling those products to your friends and family through affiliate marketing is a great way to make money off things you already love.
The way that affiliate marketing works is simple. You find products that you love (that’s a big key) and recommend them to friends and family. If you love to build an audience and network, try building a following on different social media platforms.
Then, you recommend the product to your audience and receive a cut of the profit as your share. It’s typically a sale percentage ranging from 1-40%.
Companies like Amazon offer affiliate programs, but their percentage is rather low, so you have to sell to a lot of people. Look for smaller companies that offer you a larger profit with each sale.
6. Rent Out Unused Spaces Or Rooms
Renting out unused spaces is a smart way to make money without needing to do too much.
Some people rent out rooms on AirBNB or VRBO to people visiting their city or looking for a place to crash for a few days. If you really want to make an income this way, build a separate living space and rent it for weeks at a time.
That’s not all!
You also can rent out your backyard if it has a nice view and size. If you have enough space, offer to let people pitch tents and camp in your backyard. Offer to let people rent it out for weddings or parties.
People need space to park their boats and recreational vehicles as well during the off-season. That gives you a way to make a profit if you have space. You do need to check your local ordinances to make sure it’s legal.
7. Sell Coupons Online
If you love coupons, try selling coupons online. Selling individual coupons won’t make you much money, but if you sell them in packets or multiples of 10, the profit increases.
Some coupon sellers use eBay, but consider websites that are meant for coupon sellers. You also can try selling coupon bundles on your local Facebook marketplace.
8. Tour Your City
If you live in a city with many tourists, offering budget-friendly tours for visitors is one of the clever ways to make money.
Tours can be simple ideas like bike or walking tours, or you might get specific. Offer ghost tours at night, or local bar crawls. Make sure you are knowledgeable about the history of your city and create plans and routes to follow.
Word of mouth will only get you so far when offering tours. It’s best to start a website to help local tourists find your services.
9. Test Websites
Companies want to know what visitors to their website think about their experience and how to create the right changes.
That’s how you can help. Share your thoughts with the companies about how they can change their design, content, or usability.
It sounds complicated, but testing websites is fairly straightforward and one of the easy stay-at-home mom jobs out there. Some websites pay their users up to $10 for a 20-minute test. It doesn’t sound like much, but if you do three per day, that adds up to $30 extra per day.
10. Sell Your Wardrobe
If you have a lot of clothes, selling your wardrobe is a great way to turn unused items into cash. While selling clothes at yard sales is a great idea, that’s not the best way to make the most cash.
Consider websites like ThredUp, which pay for more items than you’ll make selling them at a local sale. Depending on the brand, these websites pay $2-25 per item! If you have a lot of designer clothes, you could make some serious bank this way.
11. Find Creative Jobs on Fiverr
Take a look at Fiverr and all of the services that people offer. People sell everything from voiceovers to freelance articles and everything in between. Some of the gigs are truly weird, but if it makes you money, then take advantage of these unique ways to make money.
The nice thing about Fiverr is that the platform is completely safe to use, and they ensure you’ll be compensated for your time.
12. Sell Your Notes
If you took great notes and attended lectures at your university, think about selling your notes. Some Etsy sellers even create custom notes from course books and sell them to students, especially nursing students or those studying for a science degree.
13. Try Being An Online Mock Juror
A mock juror is someone who takes a look at the evidence and gives a decision. This helps lawyers prepare for real cases. Typically, you have to commit to a full day of work either at a specified location or online.
Online mock jurors make between $5-60 per hour of work, so it’s a wide potential of income. You will have to be a US citizen that is without any past felony convictions.
14. Become A Mystery Shopper
Here is a job that I never believed was a real option. Are people really mystery shoppers, or is it just a scam to get your email?
It turns out that being a mystery shopper is a real gig that you can work on the side. Local stores and restaurants outsource mystery shoppers to take notes and pictures. Afterward, the company gives you a questionnaire and the compensation you deserve for your time.
15. Become A Language Teacher Online: ESL Teacher
Many websites nowadays look for people to online English teachers, and other languages are desired as well. The demand in Asia and other countries for people to learn English is dramatically growing; take advantage of this.
Research all of the websites and companies to find the one that works for you. Some require that you have a bachelor’s degree and specific workspace, while others have relaxed requirements.
Depending on the company you use, you’ll make anywhere from $15-30 per hour. Many let you make your schedule, develop classes, and set your rates.
16. Open An Etsy Shop Or A Shopify Store
Are you a crafty person who makes beautiful products? Perhaps you crochet, knit, or make wreaths. There are many different crafts that you can sell online.
No matter what your craft is, Etsy is the place for it. Selling to your personal friends on social media only makes so much money. Etsy lets you tap into millions of buyers who want to buy from people just like you.
The amount of success stories you can read of women making money on Etsy is endless.
Take a look at Wendy Boudreau, the creator behind MoonlightStamper, which she opened in 2008. She makes custom invitations and stationery, and she makes up to $4,000 per month with her business. A quick look at her shop and reviews shows that her customers love her work. She’s rocking it!
Another example is Amy from Health Beet. She sells portion plates on Amazon and Shopify. She loves selling on Amazon because it’s largely passive. In February, she brought home $18k from Amazon!
17. Sell Vintage Items On Etsy
Do you love to hit up yard sales or hole-in-the-wall antique shops? Maybe your grandma has tons of vintage items that she gave to you? Etsy is a fantastic place to sell vintage items.
Open an Etsy shop and start to list the vintage items that you have. Make sure you do a bit of research about the company and history of the item and look to see if it’s for sale in other places to get an average price for this antique.
Remember that Etsy takes a commission percentage for each sale you make and might want to offer included shipping. These help you determine the right prices for your items.
18. Start A Cake Baking Business
A friend of mine turned her love for baking creative cupcakes into a business that she runs out of her kitchen. She sells luxury cakes, and her clients love them.
If you want to start a cake baking business, make sure you check your state’s laws to ensure you don’t need a kitchen permit. You need to follow the laws.
Need some inspiration?
Take a look at Janie’s Cakes, founded by Janie Clapp. She ships thousands of pounds of cakes each year to fans around the country who love her cakes. She makes enough to have an entire business with employees, and she started small at her house.
How Can I Make An Extra $1000 A Month?
If you want to find the perfect side hustle for you to make an extra $1,000 a month, you aren’t alone. A 2020 study shows that around 70% of Americans want to add another income source to become financially stable.
Making an extra $1000 helps pay off debt, increase your savings, or allow you to do fun things with your family.
It sounds like making this type of cash is hard, but it’s not. We live in a digital world, opening up thousands of online opportunities for making money. More and more employers offer part-time working at home jobs, and the freelancing world bustles with opportunities for everyone.
Here are some of the top ways people like you are making an extra $1000 per month while still working their full-time jobs.
How Can I Make $100 a Day?
The average salary in the United States is around $40,000, but living costs continue to rise. If you love your job but find that you need to make extra money, you might find yourself wondering: “How can I make $100 a day?”
It’s a legitimate question; $100 a day equals $3,000 per month if you consistently made this amount. That’s enough to change anyone’s lives, but you might only want to make $100 a day a few days throughout the month.
1. Deliver Groceries
Companies like Instacart offer grocery delivery services to people like you and me. If you work for Instacart, you make between $7-10 an hour plus tips. They claim that an average worker makes between $200-500 per week delivering groceries.
When you deliver groceries, you take as few or as many jobs as possible. When a delivery becomes available, you view it and decide if you want to pick it up. Some jobs are as simple as picking up an online order at your local grocery store, while others require you to go to the grocery store and shop for the customer.
The good thing is that you know all about the job before you pick up and get started!
2. Offer Pet Walking Services
I used to laugh, thinking that people made money by pet walking, but if you live in a larger city, pet walking is a lucrative side job.
An average pet walker charges up to $20 for a 20-minute walk and $30 for a 30-40 minute walk! If you want to make $100 per day, all you need to do is walk five pets per day. That’s one hour or so of your life.
Pet walking is popular in large cities where people don’t have backyards for their pets. They hire walkers to come to pick up their pets and take them for walks when they’re at work.
Start by offering your services to friends and family and grow your business with word of mouth. You might also want to start a social media page once you have feedback to find more clients.
3. Work For Uber Or Lyft
If your city has Uber or Lyft, driving for these companies is a great way to make $100 per day. An average Uber driver makes between $12-17 per hour. So, if you want to make $100, you need to work for 5-6 hours per day.
That might not be practical every single day, but if you’re not busy for a few hours, picking up rides is a great side hustle. If you live in a bigger city, you have the potential to make more than $17 per hour if you hustle!
4. Clean Houses
Cleaning houses is a solid choice for a reason; people always want someone to clean their house. An average house cleaner makes between $20-35 per hour or more, depending on their location and services.
All you need to do is start offering your services to friends and family. See what they need and want, taking the time to take their criticism, and grow your business. Before long, you’ll find more clients and start a full business cleaning homes.
Don’t let the idea that cleaning houses is a side gig stop you from giving it a try. Some people make full-time incomes cleaning homes. That might be harder if you live in a small area, but don’t give up.
5. Mow Lawns
Mowing lawns is a seasonal job, but it’s an easy way to make $100 if you find a few people who will pay you. The going rate for mowing lawns is $15-25, so if you have four to five customers, you made your $100.
If you want to make more money, consider upselling your business and offer landscaping services, bush trimming, garden care, and more. Busy people happily pay for someone to take care of the outside of their home so that they don’t have to worry about it.
6. Start Investing
Investing is a passive way to make money, but it’s real. Once you take the time to learn about investing, you’ll realize that you can make your money work for you.
I suggest taking a course on investing in understanding how to do so properly. Once you learn the basics, dive into the investing world. Making an extra $100 per day is no problem once you learn how to properly invest your money.
7. Flip Furniture
My aunt flips furniture and loves her side hustle. If you’re creative and have an eye for interior design, this is a creative way to make money.
Here’s what you need to do.
Find used, cheap furniture at yard sales or online and develop a creative way to make it look new again. Put your plan into action, “flipping” it, and then sell it for a profit online.
It’s best to start an online social media platform to sell your pieces and get your business name out there. As it becomes more popular, people will seek you to revamp their old, sad furniture instead of getting rid of it!
8. Do Short Tasks On TaskRabbit
TaskRabbit offers short, easy tasks that you can get paid to do. They typically only take a short time, so don’t expect to make a ton of money doing one. However, if you accomplish several in a day, then you’ll make great money.
Here are some tasks that you might want to try.
- General cleaning
- Furniture assembly
- Yard cleaning
- Personal assistants
- Delivery
- Car washing
- Babyproofing
- Deep cleaning
- Decorating
There is a task for everyone on this website; you’ll find something you can do and make money without any trouble.
How Can I Make Money Fast Legally?
All of the above creative ways to make money are legal; I would never suggest that you try anything illegal. From blogging to delivering groceries and everything in between, these are legal ways to make money.
If you want to make money fast, perhaps due to an emergency, some of the best options include:
- Sell Your Used Items
- Offer Babysitting Services
- Sell Your Crafts
- Work for Uber or Instacart
How Can I Make Lots of Money In The UK?
Many of the gigs that are available in the United States are also available in the UK. Make sure you understand the difference in reporting income and taxes to avoid getting in trouble. The UK requires you to register differently and report when you have made a set amount of money.
Freelancing and side hustles exist worldwide, so if you live in the United Kingdom, don’t fret. You can make money at home as well.
Here are some of the most popular money making opportunities in the UK.
- Blogging
- Freelance writing
- Selling photos
- Freelance writing
- Designing websites
- Graphic designing
- Selling wares on Etsy
These are just a few ideas to get started. You also can clean houses, walk dogs, pet sit, and more. The above jobs work for you as well.
Start Finding Ways To Make Money
Making extra money at home isn’t a pipedream; it really happens for millions of people every year. More people than ever turn their side gigs into full-time incomes, so take a look at these creative ways to make money and get started. It’s never too late or early to bring in the extra income that your family needs.