How to Make More Money on the Side
Who doesn’t love making more money?
We have done so many things over the years to make money and have tested all the ones we share here.
We also did a recent update for 2023 with ways to make money on the side.
One year, we did a monthly updates about ways we made money on the side. Check them out with details on what we did and how much we made here.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here.
How to Make Money on the Side
Firstly, you need to work out what you want to do, how much time you have for it and work out payment.
A separate bank account is a good idea.
By directing your side hustle money to a separate account you can keep track easier plus it won’t get absorbed in your daily life.
You can choose what to use it on.
Share Economy
Having people in your space or using your things is not for everyone.
You can make good money from it though for very little effort.
Here are my favourites.
1. Airbnb
The laws for short term rentals are changing in some areas so check what is relevant for where you are.
You can rent a whole place or rent rooms individually.
For tips on how to do it, read how to make money with Airbnb.
2. Uber Carshare
Uber Carshare enables you to rent out your car for cash.
Check the insurance they offer as well as your regular insurance.
Be aware people will not care about your car as much as you do and they will not take as good care of it.
3. Rent Out Your Space
Sensing a theme here? Renting out things gets you easy money!
List your garage, driveway or storage areas on Spacer or similar sites.
If you have enough yard or driveway space you can rent it to someone to store their caravan.
You can even rent out your swimming pool on Swimply!
Check out this post on how to make money from your stuff and space.
4. Airtasker
Everyone has a list of stuff they need done and plenty of people list those tasks on Airtasker to get others to do them.
Most of it is basic such as cleaning, putting together items and moving stuff.
It’s free to join, you can get some weird requests though.
Read how to make money on Airtasker for tips on how to make it work for you.
5. Driving or Deliveries
Most of the drivers we speak with love the flexibility but the pay is pretty low.
We’d be inclined to suggest you do something else with that time such as blogging, freelance writing, VA work etc.
But some people find driving or doing deliveries works best for them.
You can either drive people for Uber, Taxify, Ola, Shebah etc or deliver food through UberEats.
Packages can be delivered with Amazon but from what we have heard, they have high volumes and low pay for the level of work.
All of these options are extremely flexible around your regular work though and my delivery guys love it.
Ways to Make Money From Home
I shared a variety of ways I have made money from home and remotely in another article.
Having worked predominantly from home and around my kids, I have a lot of ideas and things I have tried.
Working from home or making money from home requires discipline because it’s easy to get distracted by everything.
You need a good internet connection and set clear boundaries for work time vs family time otherwise you can end up working all the time.
6. Online surveys
Not all of them are scams and we test them regularly to ensure the ones we mention are paying out properly, customer service is good and there are lots of surveys.
You can look at the full list of the best Australian online survey sites we’ve tested for you to find out more..
Swagbucks is great, it has multiple ways to earn money plus they pay in USD.
Octopus Group is the highest-paying paying in Australia and our favourite.
Prize Rebel has done well for us and pays in USD as well.
7. Sell Or Resell Items
We’ve made over $10,000 in a month and loads of other people we know have easily made a few thousand each month buying things to resell or simply selling things around their home they no longer use.
You can look at selling for others and getting paid for it as well.
We have all my top tips and information here.
8. Blogging
This is not for everyone and not as easy as everyone thinks but is our favourite.
We have done well with it as have many of our friends.
You need a topic you are interested in and happy to write about consistently, quality content, social media skills (or the capacity to outsource) and a few other things.
Check out this post for our tips on how to set up a blog and make money from it.
With blogging, it is not the same as it used to be and we view it more as owning a website now.
Generally, you need an active social media presence as well.
That said, you don’t need to be the face of it or even have anyone know you own it.
So it can be a good anonymous way to make money for some and is easy to outsource too.
9. Freelance Writing
Another favourite of ours, freelance writing started for us after blogging.
It was unexpected as we had been blogging for a year, landed a book contract and got offered freelance writing gigs.
There are so many opportunities to get paid gigs.
We’d highly recommend doing a course, honing your skills, learning how to pitch and getting ready before launching into it.
Check out our tips plus some paid writing options here.
10. Be a Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants help in all areas of business from basic admin and emails to graphics, marketing and anything else they want to specialise in.
If you have a background with admin skills you can make $20 to $100 an hour (depending on your skills.
Only high-level executive virtual assistants or those who manage others earn the top end per hour). Find out more here.
Random Ways to Make Money
Today we have more ways to make money than ever before and so many ways to do it online.
Here are some random ways to make money which you can’t do all the time but pay well when you can.
11. Medical Testing
$4,050 is how much we were paid to test a medication we needed anyway which had already been extensively tested.
You can read about medical testing here.
We’ve seen offers for $500 through to $10,000 this year for medical testing and not all of it required you to take medication or have needles.
12. Mystery Shopping
We haven’t done this in ages but people who read The Thrifty Issue do and have said it’s still good.
How much you make will vary, it tends to be mostly fast food and the rate isn’t huge.
We don’t have any companies we recommend right now. You can find out more here.
13. Bonuses
Bank accounts, investing apps, sign-up bonuses there is cash to be had everywhere!
Check out this list of freebies which includes quite a few signup bonuses. Look for bonuses and freebies!
14. Market Research
When I have done it, I’ve been paid $100 to $150 an hour.
Some of them can be done in your own home, others are in a central location.
It’s usually fairly simple, you give your opinion on stuff.
Sometimes they have great food too!
Check out this post for more info.
15. Voiceover Work
A few years ago, we interviewed Brett who does this professionally.
Some of our friends in the States make good money with it too and there is a demand as more and more people are involved with social media and businesses are creating different content.
Read Brett’s tips on voiceover work.
16. Pet and House Sitting
Another option some of my friends do is house and pet sitting.
Once you have a good reputation the pay can be pretty good.
Often you start doing it for free though. Read this post with tips from my friend.
Domestic Options
Any domestic chore can be an easy way to make money on the side.
Cleaning, ironing, gardening, babysitting and similar tasks are often the first thing people outsource when they need more time.
The pay can vary from $30 to $50 an hour depending on what you do and where you live.
Have your own business (you can start one for under $100 here) or advertise on Gumtree, Facebook, school newsletters etc.
Other Ideas
This post has 43 ways for single mums to make money (which anyone can do).
Tips For Making More Money On The Side
When it comes to making money on the side there are a couple of things which can make a real difference.
1. Do multiple options at the same time
Many of the options I have shared can be done at the same time without much effort.
For example, you can rent a room on Airbnb, list your garage on Spacer, your car on Uber Carshare while doing one of the other side hustles.
Having low effort ones you can do at the same time as others increases your income easily.
Online surveys can be done anytime (such as when you are waiting at the doctors or at school pick up).
Ironing can be done in an evening watching TV, and buying things to resell can be done anytime because once the items are listed your time is free.
Plus there are loads of apps you can make money at any time.
Do you get the idea?
Find the ones which work for you and you can do at the same time to diversify and increase your income streams.
2. Go for the Highest Income Stream
This doesn’t always mean highest per hour, it means the most regular income as well as the highest.
Which options are going to get you the most money for the least amount of time/effort?
To us, this is important because you are using your spare time to do it and still want to be able to spend time at your job, studying, socialising etc.
If you spend 3 hours driving for Uber to make $30 when you could spend those 3 hours babysitting to make $60, it makes sense to babysit, right?
Unless you prefer driving to babysitting. It depends on how you want to spend your time but thinking about how to get the most money with the least time/effort matters.
Look at the options you have available to you and work out which ones pay the highest as well as provide regular income.
How do you make money on the side?
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