20 ways to make extra money online and offline

If you’re in need of some extra income, there are numerous opportunities to take on a side job or complete some basic tasks and earn money. While some options won’t earn you much, they may be enough to help you make that credit card payment or cover the cost of gas for your car.

Here are 20 ways to make money online and offline while maintaining some flexibility in your schedule.

Skills-based work

There are many ways to make money if you have a special skill. Here are a few options to consider.

1. Freelance writing

As a freelance content writer, you take on assignments to write articles, blogs, technical pieces and other types of content. In this type of work, you’ll typically earn a certain amount per word or a set rate that you agree upon with the company. You could find yourself writing on anything from higher education to product marketing content, or you can choose to write on topics that you’re particularly experienced in. Upwork, FlexJobs and Fiverr are a few sites that connect freelancers to clients.

• Difficulty level: Easy to medium
• Potential earnings: $73,690 per year

2. Graphic design

Much like content writing, graphic design work is in high demand. You’ll need to have a good grasp of popular design software, such as Adobe products, and establish a solid portfolio. Do some online research and you should be able to find gigs on freelancing platforms like Fiverr.

• Difficulty level: Easy to medium
• Potential earnings: $58,910 per year

3. Negotiate bills

Instead of earning money from work, you could get some extra cash by cutting down on expenses that might be higher than they should be. There’s a chance that one of your bills, such as an internet bill, healthcare bill or rent, can be negotiated for a lower price. It often requires speaking to the provider and explaining why the bill should be lowered. Or, you could download an app to do that for you — apps like Trim and Rocket Money hire experts to negotiate bills for consumers. They come with a fee, but it could be worth it for the amount that you end up saving.

• Difficulty level: Easy
• Potential earnings: You can save hundreds each year by negotiating your bills.

4. Manage social media accounts

Many businesses and organizations struggle or don’t have the resources to navigate social media and keep their accounts updated. It can be an overwhelming task if a business doesn’t have enough staff to prioritize it. For this reason, many companies are willing to pay others to manage and update their various pages, whether that’s Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn or something else.

• Difficulty level: Easy
• Potential earnings: $64,845 per year

5. Teach a language

If you’re fluent in speaking English or another language, use your knowledge to teach others. The best part is you don’t even need to have teaching experience in many cases, and some websites will even provide lesson plans for you to follow. You can sign up with platforms like iTalki, where anyone with relevant skills can sign up to become a language tutor.

• Difficulty level: Medium
• Potential earnings: $60,560 per year

6. Work as a research participant

Want some quick money without doing much work? Look into market research. Lots of companies look for input from consumers on products and services and want your opinion. Typically, all it involves is you using or testing a product or service then writing a review, answering a survey or discussing it with other testers.

• Difficulty level: Easy
• Potential earnings: Varies depending on the study.

7. Tutor

If teaching sounds like something you would enjoy and be good at, look into online tutoring opportunities. You can choose to teach subject matters that you’re interested in and have experience and/or knowledge in. With Chegg, you can become an online tutor and teach students via video. Studypool allows students to post questions and will pay you to answer them.

• Difficulty level: Medium
• Potential earnings: $39,580 per year

Physical labor

If you’re handy, you can earn money by completing physical tasks.

8. Maintenance work

If you’re a handy person, you could market your skills to friends and neighbors. Not everyone is handy, so this can be a much appreciated skill that people are willing to pay for. By doing maintenance work on the side, you could be working on anything from repairs to minor plumbing.

Check out the Handy app if you’re interested in getting paid for maintenance work.

•  Difficulty level: Medium
•  Potential earnings: $46,700 per year

9. Yard work

If you’re not very handy but still want to work with your hands, yard work can be an excellent way to make some money on the side. Shovel snow, mow the lawn, rake leaves — many people are willing to pay for someone else to do work around their yard. You can search for job postings locally or use a site like TaskRabbit that has a category dedicated to yard work.

•  Difficulty level: Easy to medium
•  Potential earnings: $17 an hour

10. Do chores

TaskRabbit is an app that focuses on matching people who need chores done with people who are looking to earn some money. This could include simple tasks from moving furniture to cleaning someone’s kitchen. Just set your rate and availability so people can then hire you on the platform.

• Difficulty level: Easy
• Potential earnings: $18 an hour

11. Babysit

By watching other people’s children, you can easily make quite a bit of money, especially if you specialize in working with kids who have special needs or are trained for emergency situations. On websites like Care.com, you can find plenty of families looking for a trusted babysitter. Care.com will take care of background checks and asks applicants other important questions parents will want to know about you.

• Difficulty level: Medium
• Potential earnings: $30,370 per year

12. Walk dogs or pet sit

If child care isn’t your thing, there are also plenty of ways to make a few bucks watching people’s pets or walking their dogs. Consider downloading the Rover or Wag apps. These apps can connect you to pet owners looking for some help with their furry friends. As you build up good reviews, that can help you land more gigs on the app over time.

•  Difficulty level: Easy to medium
•  Potential earnings: $31,830 per year

Sales and donation ideas

Look through your closet, attic and other storage spaces. You could have valuable items that can be turned into quick cash.

13. Sell products on an online marketplace

Creative and artistic? Consider selling your wares on an online marketplace like Etsy or Depop, where people regularly visit to purchase jewelry, art pieces, clothing and trinkets. To break even, be sure to budget the cost of materials and shipping compared to how much you’re charging your customers. Also remember that there are often listing fees and/or transaction fees for utilizing online marketplaces.

• Difficulty level: Easy
• Potential earnings: $81,617 per year

14. Flip used furniture

Handy with furniture and good at finding a bargain? Purchasing cheap furniture and fixing it up to work and look better could earn you some money if you’re able to sell it to someone. Consider posting your work online or set up a booth at a flea market.

• Difficulty level: Easy
• Potential earnings: Varies

15. Rent out your place or room

Renting out your home to traveling strangers is an excellent way to make some money. If you’re someone who isn’t home much — perhaps you travel often — or you have an extra bedroom, offering your home up as an Airbnb might be the best way for you to make some extra cash. Set your house rules, get some nice photos of your home and establish a schedule for when your home would be available.

• Difficulty level: Easy to medium
• Potential earnings: $40,000 per year

16. Donate plasma

Donating plasma is one way you can make some extra money while also helping out those in need. Plasma is needed by patients suffering from a variety of medical complications, such as severe burns and blood clotting problems. How much you earn will vary depending on the plasma donation center — if you donate regularly, you could earn up to $500 per month. Each state or city may have different requirements so be sure to check with the plasma donation center you’re planning to visit.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Potential earnings: $500 per month

17. Sell used products

Have an old gaming console or an old phone that’s gathering dust on the shelf? From Facebook Marketplace to apps like Decluttr, there are a lot of buyers out there looking to get their hands on used, affordable tech. You could even go as far as purchasing electronics and fix them or refurbish them before selling them off again for a higher price.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Potential earnings: Varies

Transportation services

If you have great driving skills and reliable transportation, you can get paid for providing transportation and food delivery services.

18. Drive for Uber or Lyft

If you have a fairly new car and a good driving record, driving for a ridesharing service like Uber or Lyft can be an easy and flexible way to make some quick money on the side. You can work on a schedule that fits your lifestyle, whether that means working early mornings, nights or weekends.

• Difficulty: Easy to medium
• Potential earnings: $19 per hour

19. Food delivery

If driving people around for Uber doesn’t sound right for you, maybe delivering food is a better fit. With services like UberEats, Grubhub and Doordash, you can contour your work schedule as a driver around your normal schedule and deliver food orders. Plus, one of the perks of delivering food is that you can do it in your car, bicycle or even just by walking.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Potential earnings: $57,000 per year

20. Become a grocery shopper

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people tried to avoid going to the grocery store as much as possible. As life begins to normalize, many customers still want to avoid visiting the grocery store. If you’re looking to make some extra cash, you can apply to become an Instacart shopper to pick up and deliver groceries for people.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Potential earnings: $37,273 per year

Bottom line

No matter which route you take to get some extra cash, make sure that if you’re using an online platform it’s legitimate. Check reviews and look into what the site’s verification process is like.

It’s also important to consider your own spending habits before overworking yourself. If it feels like you’re overloaded, consider where you might be able to make changes in your budget or work on developing savings habits.

— Amanda Push wrote a previous version of this story.