There are thousands of articles on the web about side hustles, each with their own attention-grabbing title. You know the ones—EARN $5000 A MONTH WITH DROPSHIPPING or MAKE $200 A DAY SELLING PRINTABLES ON ETSY.
Although there are people who make hundreds of dollars a day using these methods, for many of us, they just turn out to be a massive waste of time.
These income streams are incredibly oversaturated, with thousands of people trying to do the exact same thing. They usually require a decent amount of time or money to start up with no real promise for a return on investment. And let’s be honest. Many of us don’t have the extra time to invest in a side hustle and have it amount to nothing.
In this post, I’ll share 18 legit and proven side hustle ideas that will actually make you money. Plus, how to think about finding a side hustle that is best for you!
How to Find a Side Hustle That Will ACTUALLY Make You Money
When it comes to finding a side hustle that will actually make you money, being a copycat won’t work.
Just because Money-Making Mike on YouTube is making a killing reselling URL domains, doesn’t mean you will. Most likely, Mike started his side hustle because he had prior knowledge of which domains sell and which ones don’t. If you don’t have this knowledge, this side hustle will be a giant time and money pit for you.
To find a side hustle that will actually make you money, consider your own unique skillset and think about ways you can add value or solve a problem.
Start by asking yourself the following questions.
- What are you good at? Consider what comes naturally to you. If you’re drawing a blank, ask your friends for input. For instance, one of my friends is amazing with kids and has turned it into a side hustle by nannying a few times a week.
- Can you turn your hobbies into cash? Think about how you spend your free time. Is there a hobby or activity you love that could become a side hustle? Take thrifting, for example; you might try reselling clothing online.
- Are there skills you use in your day job that could be applied to freelance or part-time work? For example, I started my blog because I was working for a website development and marketing agency. I was already doing a ton of content writing, SEO, and knew how to use WordPress. Starting a website just felt like a natural fit.
- How much time and money can you dedicate to a side hustle? Ask yourself, how much can you invest without compromising your primary responsibilities. Some side hustles require more commitment than others.
18 Side Hustle Ideas
Next, I’m going to share 18 side hustle ideas.
As you read through them, ask yourself, does this side hustle align with my hobbies? Does it utilize skills that I already have? Do I have the time and money to dedicate to this side hustle?
Even if none of these side hustles resonate with you, they may help inspire one that does.
1. Resell Clothing
When I was in high school, I had one main goal. I wanted to leave my home town for college. In order to do so, I needed money. So, I tried to make money in any way I knew how.
At the time, the term ‘side hustle’ wasn’t as widespread as it is now. But even then, I knew that I’d never save up enough lifeguarding in the summer or working at Aeropostale to afford out-of-state tuition. Plus, as a full-time student, I didn’t have a lot of time to work. So, I started looking for other ways to make money, ones where I wouldn’t have to trade in so much of my time.
This was years before I discovered the minimalist lifestyle, and I was shopping… a lot. I wasn’t buying expensive things, and honestly, I was mostly just browsing anyway (I grew up in the suburbs, and there wasn’t a whole lot else to do as a high schooler).
Of all my friends, I was always the one to find the hidden gems; designer bags for $5, vintage Levi’s jeans for $7, etc. I realized that by buying these things and then reselling them, I could make a pretty penny—way more than $7.25 an hour, which was the minimum wage at the time.
I used Depop (which hadn’t gotten that popular yet) and eBay. Over the course of four years, I was able to save up $10,000!
If you enjoy thrifting, have an interest in fashion, and keep up with the latest trends, reselling clothes could be a great side hustle for you! You will need to spend some money upfront, but it’s usually pennies compared to what you could make in return.
2. Flip Furniture
One of my friends has the MOST beautiful home; her style is impeccable, and she has a knack for recognizing hidden potential in the most ordinary furniture pieces.
One time, she bought a trunk at an estate sale. Truthfully, I had no idea what she saw in it. I almost didn’t recognize it when I saw it in her home weeks later. She had given it a fresh coat of paint and arranged it so skillfully that it looked like it was worth hundreds.
Flipping furniture she finds at yard sales, estate sales or on the side of the road, is something that she LOVES to do. AND she’s good at it. Since her home only has so much space, when she finds something she loves but doesn’t have room for, she’ll resell it on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp or Etsy.
If you’re also super creative and love rummaging through estates sales, flipping furniture may be a great side hustle for you. Again, you may have to invest some money up front (if you don’t find furniture for free) but it’ll be totally worth it when you make $150 selling a $15 dresser.
If you’re interested in starting a furniture flipping side hustle I found this post to be super informative. It breaks down how to find free and cheap furniture and the best spots to sell. If you’re looking for some inspiration, click here for some before and after furniture flips!
3. Become a Personal Chef
Do you love to cook? If so, you can turn your passion into a profitable side hustle by becoming a personal chef.
A personal chef goes to people’s homes and cooks meals for them on a regular basis. Hiring a personal chef is a great option for busy professionals or families who want to enjoy healthy, home-cooked meals but don’t have the time or energy to cook for themselves. Personal chefs work with their clients to create a menu of meals that fit their preferences and dietary restrictions. They’ll do the grocery shopping too!
Unlike private chefs, there is no required education to be a personal chef. You don’t need to have any culinary school education or a degree.
I actually just met a girl at a party who told me she was a personal chef as a side hustle!
In her case, she mostly does weekly meal prep. She goes to her client’s homes, cooks two to three meals and puts them in Tupperware to have for the week. She does the meal planning and grocery shopping and charges about $325/day plus the cost of groceries. Depending on where you live, you could charge even more!
When I asked her where she found her clients, she said that she got some jobs through social media (Facebook and Instagram), staffing agencies (meetachef.com), through her website, and by putting up flyers on community bulletin boards around town. One of her clients was actually a neighbor who had heard about her side hustle through word of mouth!
If you’re interested in learning more, I recommend reading this blog post by Chef Shelley.
4. Become a “Mother’s Helper”
I know I know, the term “mother’s helper” sounds a bit dated. But it’s essentially the sweet spot between being a nanny and a house cleaner.
As a “mother’s helper” you won’t have to watch the kids or deep clean. Instead, you help the family with lighter household chores like laundry, dishes, maintaining tidiness, and preparing lunches.
What makes this side hustle attractive is the flexibility. It fits into various schedules – whether you have a 9-5, work from home, or have flexible hours in your day job.
I read about a woman who works from home and is able to be a “mother’s helper” at the same time. She works from the family’s home instead of her own and folds laundry, does the meal prep, etc. while she’s listening in on meetings or taking a break. She’s essentially making two paychecks at once!
From my search, it sounds like the pay varies and is either set by the family or set by the “mother’s helper” depending on where the work is found. However the pay is usually around $25 per hour, not bad!
If you’re interested, check out Care.com. You can also broaden your connections through local parent and nanny Facebook groups for more opportunities.
5. Teach People Your Random Skill
Are you an incredible chess player? Can you play an instrument? Or perhaps, are you into stand-up comedy?
Whatever random skills you have, there is someone out there who wants to learn them.
Platforms like Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer allow you to teach people your unique skills. If you think that your skill is too off the wall and no one will pay to learn it, you’d be surprised.
I’ve seen postings for teaching people to take care of their plants, to do voice impressions, jerky making, and breakdancing. No skill is off-limits.
If you’re interested, I recommend watching the video below. It walks through the best & worst freelancing platforms of 2024 and shares a helpful freelancing platform strategy!
If you’re not having much luck posting to freelancing platforms (they can be pretty competitive), consider advertising your classes around your hometown or on local online neighborhood groups.
6. Start a Handyman Side Hustle
I hate to admit it but I’m quite possible the least “handy” person on the planet. Something as simple as mounting a tv or assembling furniture intimidates me. In fact, I hired a handyman last year to get my tv mounted just so that I wouldn’t have to deal with it myself.
I hired the handyman on TaskRabbit. The job took him less than 30 minutes and I paid him $25.
If you enjoy working with your hands and have experience with plumbing repairs, drywall repairs, HVAC maintenance, assembling furniture, or any other home repair type task, you can start a handyman side hustle and make a decent amount of money doing it!
Here are 7 platforms you can use to find handyman work!
Keep in mind that some of these platforms, like Task Rabbit, have other tasks that you can get hired for that require less expertise. You can make $29/hr. trimming branches and hedges or $45/hr. cleaning. Click here to see how much you can make for different tasks on TaskRabbit.
7. Become a Notary
A few months ago, I needed to get some paperwork notarized. The problem was that it was a Sunday, and my local UPS was closed. On a whim, I Googled ‘notaries near me’ and found a notary who was working out of his home. I called him, and he was able to see me immediately. It took him 5 minutes to notarize the paperwork, and I paid him $10.
I remember thinking, “Man, what a great side hustle! Especially if you’re working from home!”
If this sounds sketchy, don’t worry; I didn’t go inside his home. He set up a foldable table outside his garage. The interaction felt super professional and comfortable. However, if you don’t love the thought of people knowing your address, you can also become a mobile notary and travel to your customers instead of having them come to your home.
Interested? Turns out, becoming a notary is quite simple. You don’t need to have any experience or education.
Start by Googling your state, and the notary public information from your secretary of state’s website will come up. Your secretary of state will give you step-by-step instructions on how to apply to become a notary in your state.
Notaries (also known as notary publics) make $5 to $10 per signature. After you become a notary public, you can become a notary signing agent and earn even more!
For more information, I recommend checking out the Loan Signing System. You’ll find testimonials, courses, free resources, and tons of blog posts to teach you how to start a notary side hustle!
8. Sell Your Creations at a Farmers Market
Guess where you’ll find me every Saturday morning during the summer? At the local farmer’s market, buying $10 loaves of bread.
I know, so expensive! But, so worth it. Every time I hand over my money, I can’t help but think about how amazing this seller’s profit margins are. I mean, a 5lb bag of flour is only $5!
If you love baking bread, are told you make THE BEST granola, enjoy making ceramics, painting, or have any other creative hobby, selling your creations at a farmer’s market can be a great side hustle.
When I first moved to Washington, I was a cheesemaker at a dairy farm and sold our cheeses at the farmer’s market. The way that market worked was we would either pay a flat fee or a percentage of sales earned. It was always worth it for the sales and the marketing. There were also always plenty of people that sold their creations right outside the farmers market bounds for free.
The benefit of selling your products at a farmers market is that there’s way less competition than if you were selling your ceramics on Etsy, for instance. Plus, there are opportunities for networking that could turn into side hustle opportunities in the future! Let’s say you meet someone who loves your bread and wants to purchase it outside of farmers market hours? Cha-ching! You’re not only making more sales but now you don’t have to pay a cut to the market!
9. Teach English Online
When my partner was in nursing school, he needed an easy way to make money.
He wanted a gig that gave him plenty of flexibility to choose his own hours, and that he could do from his computer so that he wouldn’t have to waste time commuting. He had his TEFL certificate (Teach English as a Foreign Language) and two years of experience teaching English in Peru. So, he decided that teaching English online would be a great option for him.
After reading dozens of reviews, he chose to apply to VIPKid helping Chinese kids learn to speak English. He loved it!
The classes were all one-on-one which made it super easy to connect with his students. There were no tests or homework to grade and the curriculum was already developed, so there was no lesson planning.
He made $18/hr. which wasn’t too shabby (teachers can make between $14-22/hr.)
Unfortunately, he taught at VIPKid back in 2019 and since then, things have changed a bit. I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty details in this post but in July 2021, China announced new regulations surrounding online tutoring. Companies were no longer allowed to hire foreign teachers to instruct children. As a result, VIPKid had to change up its focus to a wider global market. VIPKid is still in business, but there are less job opportunities available. But, it’s still worth applying if you’re interested!
Alternatively, here are 11 other companies to teach English online.
10. Tutor
If you have teaching experience, you can also tutor as a side hustle.
Consider advertising at libraries, on Facebook pages or asking your friends and family members if they know anyone who would be interested (word of mouth goes a long way).
Alternatively, there are many websites that allow you to find students and offer your tutoring services online. Some popular ones include Wyzant, Varsity Tutors, TutorMe, Chegg, and Skooli.
Below is one Reddit user’s review of the platforms:
“I have tutored on Wyzant, Varsity Tutors, and Tutor.com. I would recommend them in that order, though I have not had a lot of luck getting consistent students on Wyzant.”
Reddit user Blechhotsauce
Click here for a comparison of the best online teaching platforms. I also found this Reddit post to be incredibly informative.
11. Become a Content Editor or Proofreader
Do your friends and coworkers constantly ask you to proofread their emails or cover letters? If so, you probably have the skills to be a great content editor or proofreader.
Content editors edit people’s writing. Simple as that. They improve the clarity and readability of college admission essays, blog posts, resumes, and everything in between. Proofreaders, on the other hand, mostly do a final check once the writing has already been edited. They’ll mostly check for grammar and spelling.
Proofreading and editing can be a great, remote side hustle. According to Upwork, you can make anywhere from $20 to $60 an hour! Here’s how Carter Osborne made six figures in 2021 from his side hustle editing college admission essays.
Are you interested in learning more? Click here to discover 17 effective ways for proofreaders to find clients.
12. Become a Referee
Are you a sports lover? If so, becoming a referee could be a super fun side hustle!
If you’ve never officiated before, starting with the little leagues is best. Just reach out to local youth sports groups for the game you have a passion for! It’s often easier than you think to get started.
You can also check out “Say Yes to Officiating,” a national group dedicated to bringing more officials to youth sports. Their website has tons of helpful resources, including pay ranges and contact information, to get started in youth, high school, and college-level officiating for different sports.
The pay ranges depend on the level (the higher the level, the better the pay). But most referees earn between $50 and $100 per game.
13. House Sit/Pet Sit
Another great side hustle option (especially if you work from home) is to house sit or pet sit.
House sitting is just as easy as it sounds. You essentially just stay at a person’s house while they’re away. Depending on the homeowner, they may ask you to water their plants or check their mail, but that’s usually as far as the list of demands goes. This side hustle is entirely passive which means you make money without actively doing anything (just enjoying a change of scenery). Click here for 11 additional passive income ideas!
According to ZipRecruiter, you can make an average of $17/hour house sitting. Check out TrustedHouseSitters, HouseSitter, MindMyHouse and HouseSitSearch for gigs in your area!
Pet sitting is similar, with the added responsibility of taking care of a pet. Depending on the pet owner, they may want you to stay at their home during the pet sit or bring their pet home with you. Check out Rover, Care and PetSitter for pet sitting jobs.
14. Dog Walk
Dog walking is another great side hustle if you love animals. And if you have your own dog that you’re already taking on walks, why not walk another one and make some extra money!
One of my friends was a dog walker all throughout college. It was a really easy way for her to make money in between classes. She started out booking dog walks through Rover, and eventually got enough returning clients hitting her up directly that she was able to get off the app entirely.
If you’re interested, I highly recommend watching the video below about how a New Yorker makes $100k a year walking dogs! It’s a super cute video and will seriously inspire you to start a dog walking hustle.
15. Sell Plasma
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, scientists need hundreds of plasma donations each year to develop treatment for just one patient who has a rare and complex chronic disease.
Plasma can’t be made in a lab, which is why thousands of people make great money (and a huge difference) by selling their plasma.
My partner’s sister actually sold plasma in college. She would just hang out in a lounge chair between classes and do her homework or read. It took about an hour, and she said that it didn’t hurt more than a typical blood draw.
The most popular plasma donation service is BioLife. If you’re interested, new donors can make up to $850 their first month. Keep in mind that not everyone can donate plasma. Here are the specific eligibility requirements.
16. Become a Figure Model
When I was in high school I was a HUGE art nerd and took every art class that was available to me. In one of them, my school hired a figure model named Meg and we were taught how to draw bodies from life.
Meg wore a leotard and held poses for ten minutes or so to give us enough time to draw her. She was in her 60’s and didn’t have a stereotypical “perfect” model body.
I forgot all about Meg until a few years ago, when a new friend told me that she had a side hustle as a figure model at the local art school. Unlike Meg who posed in a leotard, my friend posed nude. But, she didn’t mind. All of the students were super respectful and she was making $30/hr just to hold a pose! Plus, she loved being a part of the art community and actually became friends with some of the students.
I’ve considered taking on a figure modeling job ever since, but I haven’t been able to work up the nerve. If this sounds fun to you though, I recommend searching ‘art model’, ‘figure model’, ‘life model’, and ‘life drawing model’ in Google. Look into jobs at high schools if you aren’t comfortable being fully nude. “Physical fitness” isn’t required for models (artists want to draw all sorts of different bodies) and you get breaks between poses.
If you’re interested, I highly recommend scrolling through this Reddit post. It’s a Q&A from a figure model!
17. Get Paid to Grocery Shop
I get that shopping for groceries isn’t the most fun activity in the world, but some people really hate it. In fact, they’d rather just pay someone to do their grocery shopping for them.
If you don’t mind grocery shopping, or even find it fun (after all, it is kind of like a treasure hunt), consider becoming an Instacart Shopper and getting paid to grocery shop and deliver groceries for other people.
Interested in learning more? Check out this Instacart Shopper review.
18. Deliver Food
If grocery shopping isn’t your jam but you don’t mind the delivery aspect of Instacart, consider delivering food instead.
You can make a decent chunk of change through apps like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats.
This side hustle idea isn’t very unique and I’m sure you’ve heard it before so I’m not going to elaborate on it in this post. If you do want to learn more, I found this post to be super informative. It gets into the nitty gritty details for how to be successful on Uber Eats!
Let’s Wrap This Up
There you have it—18 side hustles that will ACTUALLY make you money and not just waste a ton of time.
If you take anything away from this post, remember this: there are side hustles all around you! Instead of simply copying someone’s printable or design and attempting to sell it on Etsy, reselling domains, drop shipping or trying any of the other oversaturated side hustles, think of ways that you can add value to your community or solve a problem using YOUR unique skills and interests.
As I was researching side hustle ideas, I came across a post by J.Money from budgetsaresexy.com that listed 80+ real-life side hustle stories. These side hustles range from a professional poop scooper and lice picker to a cricket seller and everything in between. It’s actually INSANE all of the ways that people can make money on the side!
Are you thinking about trying one of these side hustles? Let me know in the comments below!
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