48 Ways to Make Extra Money This Month

A young woman talks on the phone amidst the chaos of holiday shopping.
Carmen Mandato/ The Penny Hoarder
Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Learn more about how we make money and select our advertising partners.

If you needed extra money, like, yesterday, you’ve come to the right spot.

Our team has compiled a list of creative ways you can fatten your bank account this month. Certainly, there’s something here that fits your needs.

48 Easy Ways to Make Money

Feeling pumped? Feeling ready? Feeling like a million bucks (or like you need a million bucks)?

This is a long list, so don’t get overwhelmed. Go ahead and start now, but be sure to bookmark this post so you can easily return later. We’ll keep it updated as offers change or expire.

Without further delay, here are 48 ways to make money:

1. Search Your Wallet and Cash in on Your Dollar Bills

A crisp dollar bill being held out over a pair of blurred out sneakers.
Tina Russell/The Penny Hoarder

Specifically, dollar bills with strange serial numbers — ones that aren’t easy to come by. The collectors at CoolSerialNumbers.com will pay you big bucks if you have a bill with a rare sequence in your wallet.

Turns out antique coins aren’t the only currency worth cash to collectors.

Check out their website for a full list to see if you’ve got any of these rare bills, but here’s a rundown of the sort of serial numbers these collectors are looking for:

  • 7 repeating digits in a row on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 09999999, 77777776)
  • 7 of a kind on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 00010000, 99999099)
  • Super repeaters on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 67676767)
  • Double quads on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 00009999)
  • and more!

2. Get Free Lottery Tickets

A young couple buying lottery tickets at a kiosk.
urbancow/Getty Images

There’s something so satisfying about those gas station scratch-off tickets, but it’s better to avoid them because, well, that’s not Penny Hoarding.

Instead, try scratching for free using an app called Lucktastic. Each day, it releases a new assortment of digital scratch-off tickets.

Lucktastic says instant wins range from $1 to $10,000. You can also earn tokens that you can exchange for free gift cards to retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Kohl's, Sephora and more.

The app is supported by advertising, which allows it to keep the payouts high and the games free.

3. This Company Will Pay You to Do the Dishes at Night

no dishwasher
Daxiao Productions under Creative Commons

Chances are, you’re doing the dishes right after dinner just like everyone else in your area. Here’s the thing: All these dishwashers running at the same time costs the power company more money. 

That’s why a new company called OhmConnect will pay Californians to do it just a little bit later.

Here’s how it works: OhmConnect will send you a text when a lot of people in your area are using power, and it will pay you to cut back for an hour — whether that means waiting to run the dishwasher, turning off your lights or A/C or even turning off your breaker.

The more you do, the more money you can make.

Some well-paid OhmConnect users use the hour to just leave their house and spend time at the park.

For example, Tanya Williams recently earned an extra $1,700 in one year with OhmConnect — more than $140 a month. A few evenings each week, the 45-year-old stay-at-home mom shut down her home’s electrical panel and took the kids to the pool, or just played board games. 

Talk about easy money.   

4. Get Paid $225/Month While Watching Movie Previews

Carmen Mandato/ The Penny Hoarder

If we told you that you could get paid while watching videos on your computer, you’d probably laugh.

It’s too good to be true, right?

But we’re serious. By signing up for a free account with InboxDollars, you could add up to $225 a month to your pocket. They’ll send you short surveys every day, which you can fill out while you watch someone bake brownies or catch up on the latest Kardashian drama.

No, InboxDollars won’t replace your full-time job, but it’s something easy you can do while you’re already on the couch tonight, wasting time on your phone.

Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.

Signing up takes about one minute, and you’ll immediately receive a $5 bonus to get you started.

The availability is subject to change, but it's possible to earn up to $225 a month watching videos on InboxDollars!

5. Turn Those Crumpled Receipts Into Free Gift Cards

What do you usually do with your receipts? You check out, they hand you a mile-long piece of paper, and you frantically stuff it to the bottom of a grocery bag. Pretty worthless.

But a free app called Fetch Rewards will turn them into gift cards. It partners with tons of brands to give you points for every grocery receipt you share. Then you can exchange them for gift cards to places like Amazon, Walmart, Chipotle and dozens of other retailers.  

And it’s perfect for those of us who don’t want to put a ton of work into this. All you have to do is send Fetch a photo of your receipt, and it does everything for you. No scanning barcodes or searching for offers — and you can use it with any grocery receipt.

When you download the app, use the code PENNY to automatically earn 2,000 points when you scan your first receipt — you’ll be well on your way to your first gift card.

Not so bad for a useless receipt, right?

6. Become a Mermaid

Three mermaids are underwater, and they form a circle with their arms and tails.
Sharon Steinmann/The Penny Hoarder

Do you want to be part of their world?

We went for a swim with the real-life mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida to find out how they get paid to slip into fins and perform for kids (and kids at heart).

From mastering underwater routines to learning how to use buoyancy to your advantage, this job isn't exactly a day at the beach. But if you can keep up, it's every bit as magical as you'd imagine.

To qualify, you must be at least 18 years old and be able to swim 400 yards in less than 15 minutes. Mermaids’ pay starts around $10 an hour.

7. Earn up to $60/Hour as a Part-Time Bookkeeper

Neustockimages/Getty Images

Can you open an excel spreadsheet? Does earning $60 an hour sound appealing? How about the freedom to work remotely while helping others succeed?

Those are the perks of working as a bookkeeper, says Ben Robinson, a certified public accountant and business owner who teaches others to become virtual bookkeepers.

You don’t have to be an accountant or even really good at math to be successful in this business. In fact, all you need are decent computer skills and a passion for helping business owners tackle real-world problems.

The ability to stay moderately organized is helpful too.

Median pay is around $19 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and you have no commute. It’s a great opportunity for parents who want a part time job, recent college grads and anyone who wants to bring in real money working from home.

Robinson shares what it takes to be a virtual bookkeeper, plus tips for making this career work for you in his free class at Bookkeeper Business Launch.

8. Get Paid up to $600/Week to Drop off Starbucks

Your city is filled with two things: Starbucks, and people who want Starbucks.

An app called Doordash will pay you to pick up and deliver an extra latte when you’re already out and getting your caffeine fix. And it’s not just coffee. You can deliver from Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Five Guys and hundreds of other restaurants in your area.

With Doordash, you set your own hours and work as much or little as you want, meaning how much you make is up to you. 

You’ll earn money for each delivery, plus tips. Jose Neri, from California, reports earning $500 to $600 a week working just lunches and dinners. 

The best part? No passengers — that grande, no-whip macchiato will be the only thing to hear your beautiful singing voice.

If you sign up for Doordash now, it’s possible to get your first paycheck this week.

9. Copy This Strategy to Get Checks in the Mail Totaling $526

Walmart store sign
Tina Russell/The Penny Hoarder

Remember when getting the mail was fun? Now it’s just bills. And Valpak envelopes.

But for Colleen Rice, checking the mail meant finding checks. For doing nothing. Seriously. Since she started using a free website called Rakuten, she’s received $526.44.

Rakuten has the hookup with just about every online store you shop, which means it can give you a kickback every time you buy toilet paper on Amazon — even book that flight home for Thanksgiving.

Rice says she uses Rakuten for things she already has to buy, like rental cars and flights. She even used the money she earned to help her pay for her recent cross-country move.

It takes less than 60 seconds to create a Rakuten account and start shopping. All you need is an email address, then you can immediately start shopping your go-to stores through the site.

Plus, if you use Rakuten to earn money back within the first 90 days of signing up, it’ll give you an extra $10 on the first check it sends you.

Talk about money for nothing.

10. Get Paid to Deliver Groceries This Weekend

Need a reliable side gig? Try delivering groceries, takeout and even retail purchases with  Postmates.

The amount you can earn varies, but the median earnings per hour during peak times is $19, CEO Bastian Lehmann said at a 2015 TechCrunch event.

Unlike other apps, you’ll take home 100% of your earnings when you make a delivery — no service fees, booking fees or transaction fees.

You can deliver through Postmates by car, bicycle or foot. Just create an account, then you’ll receive a welcome kit in the mail within a week (a free delivery bag and a prepaid card to make your purchases). Link the card to the Postmates Fleet app, and you’re off to earning extra money.

Actual amount earned will vary, depending on a number of factors. You’ll see how much you earned after each delivery and exactly how your earnings were calculated.

11. Trade Your Grocery Receipts for Cash

Ibotta review
Tina Russell/The Penny Hoarder

We all want to save money on our groceries. What we don’t want to do is put a ton of work into it.

If this sounds like you — someone who just wants to get in and out of the store and save money without doing much thinking — there’s an app we recommend.

It’s called Ibotta, and it pays you cash-back for buying certain items at the grocery store. 

Before you shop, search for items on your shopping list within the Ibotta app. When you get home, snap a photo of your receipt and scan the items’ barcodes.

Bam. Cash back.

Ibotta is free to download. Plus, you’ll get a $20 sign-up bonus. Here’s how to get it:

  1. Download the Ibotta app. 
  2. Create an account.
  3. Shop, and take a photo of your grocery receipt.
  4. Redeem 10 offers within 14 days, and you’ll get that $20 bonus.

Every time you scan a receipt that includes a participating brand, you’ll earn cash back.

For example, we recently saw an offer of $5 back on a case of Shiner Bock beer.

Once you earn at least $20, cash out via PayPal.

Go ahead, and start earning cash by downloading Ibotta.

12. Stop Deleting Your Emails

Carmen Mandato/ The Penny Hoarder

It turns out deleting your emails could be costing you money. Intrigued?

One of our secret weapons is called Capital One Shopping Price Protection — a tool that gets you money back for your online purchases. It's free to sign up, and once you do, it will scan your email for any receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from one of its monitored retailers, it will track the item’s price and help you get a refund when there’s a price drop.

Plus, if your guaranteed shipment shows up late, Capital One Shopping Price Protection will help you get compensated.

Disclosure: Capital One Shopping Price Protection compensates us when you sign up using the links we provide.

[email_capture_widget]

13. Make Money While Running Errands

When we mention driving for Lyft, we know the first thing that probably runs through your head: Drunken strangers piling into your car, loudly reminding you “This is the best night of my life!” — and maybe even vomiting in your back seat.

Gross. We know. 

But we’ve talked to several Lyft drivers who told us a different story. For them, Lyft is the perfect way to make some extra money — on their own terms. 

For example, Paul Pruce, who had been driving full-time with Lyft for over a year and earns more than $750 a week as a driver.

Best of all, he could do it on his own time. You can work days, nights or weekends — it’s up to you!

14. Make up to $100 for Having Psoriasis

A close-up photo of the corner of a twenty dollar bill.
Samantha Dunscombe for The Penny Hoarder

Living with psoriasis … psucks.

If you suffer from the uncomfortable autoimmune disease that shows itself in rash-like patches of skin, you no doubt split your time trying to get rid of it and trying to hide it.

We found a way you can get a little payback for your suffering — and help others with the disease — without even leaving your couch.

M3 Global Research is recruiting psoriasis patients to participate in paid online surveys. Surveys take about 20 to 30 minutes to complete, and pay $10 to $100. The company is also recruiting for surveys on several conditions, including diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Sign up with an active email address, and after you register and complete your profile, you’ll receive survey invitations tailored to your information. (Don’t worry; you won’t be spammed with irrelevant surveys.)

Just select that you have psoriasis, and you’ll receive market research surveys relevant to living with and treating the condition.

It’s one small reason to be grateful you’re in the elite 2.5% of people afflicted with psoriasis… right?

15. Get Paid to Drink Beer

Neil Callaghan, an advanced level cicerone, currently working at Cigar City Brewing. 
Carmen Mandato/The Penny Hoarder

The craft beer industry is hoppin’, so take advantage of it by, well, getting paid to visit breweries.

When you sign up as a mystery shopper, it’s your job to go to a grocery store, gas station, restaurant or, in this case, a breweries, and provide anonymous feedback.

Now, you can get paid to mystery shop — and drink — at breweries in your area through Secret Hopper. (Clever, right?)

The company is looking for detail-oriented beer-drinkers to hop around to different breweries and objectively rate and review their experiences. One Penny Hoarder gave the gig a try. He paid $16 on his visit to a local brewery. Secret Hopper paid him $20 via PayPal within a few days.

So, no, you’re not going to get rich, but you will get free beer, and that makes us hoppy.

All you have to do is sign up, then it’ll contact you when you’re needed.

16. Be a Mock Juror

A couple sit together on the floor of their bedroom as they analyze paperwork.
mediaphotos/Getty Images

A mock or surrogate juror reviews evidence and renders a decision to help lawyers prepare for real cases. Participation usually requires a full day cooped up in a hotel conference room.

Fortunately, there are online surrogate juror options, too: eJury and OnlineVerdict. Those opportunities pay $5 to $60, but they can take less than an hour.

To qualify as an online juror, applicants must be:

  • A U.S. citizen
  • 18 years or older
  • Free of any past felony convictions

Creating an account for either site above is free but will require a questionnaire that will ask very personal questions about your age, marital status, criminal history, income, political opinions and more.

17. Get Paid to Drop a Few Pounds

Ways to exercise
Heather Comparetto/The Penny Hoarder

Bottom line: HealthyWage will literally pay you for losing weight.

Not only are you getting more healthy, you’re also making some money. How’s that for motivation?

Here’s how it works:

  1. Read more about HealthyWage, and sign up.
  2. Define a goal weight and the amount of time you’ll give yourself to achieve it.
  3. Place a bet on yourself of at least $200 a month.

Depending on how much you have to lose, how long you give yourself to do it and how much money you put on the table, you could win up to $10,000!

Wondering if it can really work? We talked to one woman, Christina Castro, who lost 84 pounds — and made $1,191.

18. Turn Your Junk Mail Into Cash

A messy pile of mail is displayed on a table.
PamSchodt/Getty Images

You know all those flyers and advertisements you get in the mail each day? The ones you never wanted but have no idea how to opt out of?

Well, you can turn them into cash.

The Small Business Knowledge (SBK) Center is a market research company that wants to get a peep insight your mailbox. Join its consumer panel, and start shoveling that junk mail into a postage-paid envelope and, at the end of each week, send it over to the SBK Center.

No, you won’t be rolling in extra cash, but you can earn up to $20 every six to 10 weeks.

19. Make Your Own Schedule as a Data-Entry Clerk

A man is shown smiling as he talks on his cellphone, and he sits in a chair with his laptop on his lap.
mixetto/Getty Images

Data entry isn’t the best-paying online job, but it is one you can do with few skills or previous experience — all you need is a solid internet connection and a computer, and you must be at least 18 years old.

Pay ranges on a per-hour or per-project basis. Typically, you can pick up jobs as frequently as you’d like through freelance broker sites like Smart Crowd and Clickworker.

20. Clean up Search Engine Mistakes

A close up view of hands typing on a laptop.
playb/Getty Images

Search engines use complicated algorithms to determine the results you see — and they don’t always get it right.

They’re vulnerable to errors, so they need real humans to look at the results and judge them for quality, relevance and usefulness. And those humans can get paid around $12 an hour for the work.

If you want to get paid to clean up Google’s mess (or Bing’s or Yahoo!’s), look for a job as a search engine evaluator.

Tech company Lionbridge is typically hiring for these jobs, and it pays $12 to $15 an hour.

21. Sell Thrift Store Finds on eBay

Cash exchanged at the St. Petersburg Market
Carmen Mandato/ The Penny Hoarder

Selling your possessions on the auction site eBay is one way to pocket some cash quickly.

You can also make money by buying designer clothes for cheap, then selling them on the site to the highest bidder. If you have an eye for fashion — or at least the most popular labels — you can track down inventory at local thrift stores.

Create listings for your items, making sure to include well-written item descriptions and quality photographs to give your listings a professional polish (and get top dollar). Check out similar items to get a sense of where to set your starting bid, and be sure to incorporate the costs of shipping and eBay’s seller fees into your price.

Penny Hoarder Kat Tretina resold designer jeans by starting with a minimal investment — packaging tape and a scale to weigh packages for shipping — and ended up more than tripling her money.

How much money can you make? Your profitability depends upon what you’re selling, but for working 10 to 15 hours a month, Tretina made $500 to $800.

[community_widget]

22. Create a Blog and (Potentially) Earn Millions

A woman sitting at a desk uses her laptop.
iladendron/Getty Images

Want to start your own website? Turn it into some money?

It’ll take quite a bit of dedication, but it can really pay off.

Take, for example, Helene Sula, a professional travel blogger who visited more than 85 cities last year and earned $200,000, in part through her blog, “Helene in Between.”

We recommend you start by building up your high-quality content. Then you can look into advertising platforms like Google AdSense, a tool that automatically serves your readers display ads. The price advertisers pay varies, so there’s no way to say how much you can make using Google AdSense, but you’ll get paid when a reader interacts with the ad.

If you want all the details, check out our guide to starting a blog, gaining page views and monetizing it.

23. Stream on Twitch

A close up view of a person holding a video game controller.
Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder

Your mom was wrong. Playing video games might not be a waste of your time after all.

Cory Michael started streaming his gaming sessions and over four years attracted 29 million people to watch him tackle Destiny and other multiplayer online games. As a result, Twitch accepted his partnership application and agreed to pay him to play.

How much money can you make? Michael explained to The Penny Hoarder that there are three ways to make money streaming on Twitch: tipping, ad revenue and subscriptions. Top Twitch streamers can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.

24. Rent out the Clothes That Make Your Friends Jealous

A woman on her couch surrounded by clothes.
Tinatin1/Getty Images

Are your friends always complimenting your great sense of style? Try making money off that killer taste!

You can rent out your clothing online through a site like Style Lend.

There are a ton of others on the market, but take sure to read the fine print on rental sites. Some don’t charge any fees to the buyers and sellers, but some charge a rental commission per order. You’ll need to price your wears accordingly to account for any commission handed over to the company.

25. Rent out Your Ping-Pong Table

Happy start up team having fun in the office while playing table tennis.
BraunS/Getty Images

Got a Ping-Pong table you don’t use? Someone might need it for a party, so why not rent it out? You can make money with almost anything in your home now thanks to websites like Zilok that make it easy to rent out your stuff.

Zilok is free for individual members to create listings, but rental businesses have to pay fees. To list your item on Zilok, you’ll have to create a post with a description, photos and a price per day. Once a renter finds your product, Zilok takes a commission depending on the listing price. For everything under $10, the commission fee is $1. Fees range between 5% and 9% for all other price categories.

26. Sell Your Friendship

A woman holding a fanned out pile of large bills.
ljubaphoto/Getty Images

Get paid to be someone’s buddy! We're not kidding.

You can register to become a friend at RentAFriend.com, where paying users can contact you to attend concerts, sporting events, family functions, VIP events and more.

You can charge up to $50 an hour and set your own schedule.

Friends working full time (five days a week) earn up to $2,000 a week, plus free dinners and access to those events I mentioned.

What could you do as a friend for 40 hours a week?

First of all, the site clarifies that it is “solely a platonic friendship website” — beyond that, options are endless.

If you have a special skill, like cooking or speaking a foreign language, you could teach them. Some people traveling or new to an area hire a friend to show them the town.

Some people just want someone to talk to.

27. Let NASA Pay You to Stay in Bed All Day

A man lays in bed in the dark as he uses his cellphone.
amenic181/Getty Images

Unfortunately, we haven’t found a way to get paid as a professional napper, but this opportunity is pretty darn close: NASA will pay volunteers to take part in bed rest studies.

Yup — you turn yourself into a test subject and spend 60 days in bed, all in the name of science.

It might be tougher than you think, though. You’ve got to shower, dress, exercise and eat… all from your bed.

The good news is the gig pays. One of the more recent calls for volunteers offered $19,000 for 60 days.

28. Do Online Transcription

A woman sitting on a sidewalk bench works on her laptop.
Carmen Mandato/The Penny Hoarder

Those listening skills you honed by eavesdropping on your roommates’ conversations could finally pay off with a job in online transcription.

Transcription jobs usually require an assessment test to gauge your typing speed and accuracy. Depending on the service, you could be listening to a car commercial or court hearings, so find out what you’re getting into before you apply.

Cherry wishes she had known that tip before she signed up for her first transcription gig, which brought in $85.15 over six months for a job that required extensive testing and a lot of studying to follow a strict style guide.

“For that first transcription job, oh my gosh, I spent hours on that, and I got paid so little,” Cherry said. “I wish I would have just, in the beginning, told myself, ‘Hey, this just isn’t going to be worth it. Find something else.’”

Cherry had better luck after discovering the transcription service Rev, which offered a user-friendly platform and more lucrative projects.

How much money can you make? Making 40 cents to 75 cents per minute of transcription at Rev, Cherry earned $87.45 in one month for less than four hours of work.

29. Answer the Phone

A young woman walks down the street. She wears sunglasses and is smiling down at her phone screen.
Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images

Have you ever considered doing customer service from the comfort of your home? An increasing number of companies are hiring work-from-home customer service reps, instead of running call centers.

These jobs can be full– or part-time and offer a variety of schedules, including daytime, evening and weekend shifts with a range of pay depending on the position and location.

Your job is usually to answer customer questions over the phone or via online chat. You may find sales positions that include higher pay and performance incentives; or technical support positions, which are best if you’re tech-savvy and have an interest in helping people understand technology.

You should enjoy helping people, though! You know how a bad customer service call can totally ruin your day? You don’t want to be the bad rep on the other end of that call.

30. Get $5 to Start Saving More Money

martin-dm/Getty Images

Instead of being consumed by the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle — the one that doesn’t leave much wiggle room — try a better savings method.

You can automate it with Dobot, a free financial app that helps you visualize your goals and makes it easy for you to save for the things that you care about.

Get started by downloading the app, then connect your checking account. The app goes to work and will determine small (and safe!) amounts of money to withdraw into a separate, FDIC-insured savings account.

Bonus: Get a free $5 bonus toward your goals once you complete your first transfer.

The purpose is to boost your financial health, so Dobot won’t ever withdraw too much — it ensures you’re left with enough money to meet your spending needs as you save.

Whether you're saving for a new apartment or growing your emergency fund for the next (unexpected) storm, this automated strategy can get you there at your own pace. To set it up: Add a photo to visualize your goal, give it a name, note the amount you need and the date you need it by.

Enter your phone number to download Dobot for Apple or Android. And just like that, you’re one step closer to saving money to reach your financial goals.

31. Create and Sell Courses

Casual students with female teacher in modern college building, woman in her 50s explaining to young people in their 20s
JohnnyGreig/Getty Images

Are you a self-taught coder with a knack for simplifying instructions? You could create an online course about it. Maybe you’re an expert at finger-picking techniques on acoustic guitar; you could make a course about that, too.

If you’re good at explaining whatever it is you specialize in, people out there are eager to learn, and with Udemy, you can create and host online courses — no master’s degree required.

32. Get Crafty (But Not Too Crafty, If You Don’t Want)

A hand is shown writing calligraphy in a notebook.
Michael House for The Penny Hoarder

If you’re a creative, consider selling your art on Etsy. Although there are some fees, including the 5% transaction charge, the marketplace connects with more than 33 million buyers globally.

Those are a lot of potential customers.

If you aren’t necessarily the artsy type, you could still make money on Etsy by selling craft supplies. For example, Penny Hoarder contributor Janet Berry-Johnson made about $200 a month selling needlecraft kits and patterns.

33. Publish a Kindle Book

Smiling woman enjoying at home and using digital tablet.
BraunS/Getty Images

If you’re a subject-matter expert or have an intriguing life experience, you could write a book. But there’s no need to send it off to all the major publishing houses in New York City.

You can publish ebooks through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Penny Hoarder contributor Steve Gillman wrote a book in a week. Note: Ebooks don’t have be hundreds of pages long. Gillman found many books as short as 6,000 words.

After publishing on Amazon, he started making $350 a month. The best part? He continued to make money, even months and years later. He outlines exactly how he did it and the best tips and tricks for you.

34. Swap Books for Amazon Gift Cards

A Kindle e-reader sits atop two paperback books.
Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder

Have old college textbooks taking up valuable shelf space? You could host a garage sale or sell them on Craigslist, but one of the easiest ways to get rid of them is through Amazon.

With Amazon Trade-In, you can trade in your used textbooks, plus other items, like electronics, in exchange for an Amazon gift card.

Enter the item’s information on Amazon's Trade-In page to see how much you could pocket. Shipping is free.

35. Teach English as a Second Language

Angela Brumbaugh of Fort Worth, TX tutors online in her home for QKids.
Photo courtesy of Angela Brumbaugh

If a classroom full of grimy squealing kids isn’t your scene… we get it. You can still work as a teacher. Better yet: You work as a teacher, set your own hours and work from home.

There are several online-learning platforms focused on teaching English as a second language to students in other countries.

Angela Brumbaugh is a QKids teacher. She teaches 36 half-hour sessions a week and makes up to $20 an hour.

“The curriculum is set for you before class, and your job is to simply guide the children through the lesson, offering guidance, smiles and tons of encouragement,” she says. That’s a big perk for many: No lesson planning.

“The students are hard-working, curious and light up the classroom with their smiles,” she says. “Class time actually goes by fast, and the only con I can see is sometimes I wish I had more time to spend with them!”

36. Become a Life Coach

Two women sit together and discuss materials appearing on a laptop and a mobile device.
Drazen_/Getty Images

According to a Forbes’ article on surprising six-figure jobs, about 20% of life and business coaches top $100,000 annually.

The article notes that “No special degree or training is required,” but if you want, you can get certified by the Universal Coach Institute. You can coach your clients by phone and email from the comfort of your home.

37. Pretend to Be a Patient

Doctors and nurses wheeling patient in
Sam Edwards/Getty Images

Fake patients, more formally known as “standardized patients,” are used to train new doctors. It’s essentially an acting job, as explained in NPR’s profile of Gabrielle Nuki. The 16-year-old is paid $15 to $20 per hour to play different roles while medical students examine her.

If you can act and don’t mind being poked and prodded by aspiring doctors, you can look for this work at a number of medical schools.

38. Earn up to $30/Day Watching Movies

A couple leaning close to each other eat popcorn and watch a movie in the theatre.
andresr/Getty Images

When he was just getting started, The Penny Hoarder CEO Kyle Taylor used to get paid to attend movie premieres. He got $30 to see a Harry Potter premiere! (He would have totally gone for free.)

Theaters and movie studios want to collect data about the audience that attends their movie premieres. They want to know how many people buy tickets on opening day, which screening time is most popular and which previews are being shown. And they want independent data from third party evaluators — that’s where you come in.

These are known as “in-theater checks” and to apply, you’ll need to fill out an application with one of the largest mystery shopping companies, Certified Field Associates. The application is just a few questions long and nearly everyone in the United States and Canada is eligible to be hired.

In-theater checks don’t have huge paydays attached to them, but you can usually expect to make between $10 to $20 per hour.

39. Monetize Your Doodles

A woman holding two pieces of hand-drawn art behind her back.
Carmen Mandato/The Penny Hoarder

We talked to one guy who sells his art online and makes $2,000 a month.

His whole life, he always doodled in the corners of notebooks and napkins, but he never imagined he could make a living from it. Now he sells his imaginative drawings of pizza and sharks and dinosaurs.

Here are some tips to get started:

  • Start small.
  • Create marketable products.
  • Push yourself. Look for opportunities to get better in your own work, even if it’s just watching YouTube tutorials.

40. Get the Props You Deserve for Being Active

Man running in the woods with his dog on a leash.
vgajic/Getty Images

If you live an active lifestyle (or need an incentive to become more active), the Achievement app will reward you for making healthy moves, including upping your step count and logging your sleep.

Achievement connects to your phone’s health apps and runs in the background, so it works passively. Many users report being happily surprised when logging on and checking their progress.

Once you earn 10,000 points, you’ll score $10, which you can deposit directly into your bank account.

Pro tip: Achievement connects to more than 30 Android and iOS health-related apps, including MyFitnessPal and Garmin. The more apps you connect, the more earning opportunities..’”

41. Do Odd Jobs

g-stockstudio/Getty Images

TaskRabbit helps you connect with people in your area who need help getting things done — anything from picking up dry cleaning to calling customer service and tolerating the hold music.

Keep an eye out for virtual tasks, which are mostly centered around personal assistance, administrative work or research help. You can do those an earn money without even walking out your door.

Rest assured you won’t be getting paid pennies to solve someone’s Excel woes. Check out these tips from users who make more than $2,000 a week through the app.

42. Get Paid to Tutor Kids Online

mother working at home on laptop with daughter
martinedoucet/Getty Images

Love kids but don't want to commit to the classroom?

You can get paid to tutor students online. Take notes from this former teacher, who makes up to $75 an hour.

If you're not sure where to start, we've rounded up a list of companies hiring online tutors.

43. Sell Your Smartphone Photos

Tim Snell under Creative Commons

If you have a smartphone and a photographic eye, making money may have just gotten a lot easier. Oh – you’ll also need access to marketable scenery.

An app called Foap lets you turn your smartphone photos into cash.

Here’s how it works:

1. Download the free app and create an account.

2. Take a quality photo and upload it to Foap’s marketplace.

3. Someone buys the license to your photo for $10. You make $5.

If your photo sells 20 times, you make $5 each time and end up with $100 in your pocket — all for about five minutes of work. Pretty cool, right?

44. Start Freelancing

Carmen Mandato/ The Penny Hoarder

Making a living as a freelance writer, editor or both is possible. Just take notes from Jamie Cattanach, who, in her first year as a full-time freelancer, made more than $50,000. That was several thousand more than she made while working full time on a salary.

Starting her freelance business wasn’t exactly a breeze, so she offered some advice to budding freelance writers.

45. Rent out Your Old Baby Gear

Woman walks through a store pushing two babies in a double stroller.
Sharon Steinmann/The Penny Hoarder

Are you a mom?

You’ve probably got a lot of baby gear. Think: a crib, a car seat, a playset. Don’t let them collect dust when your kid starts growing out of all that stuff. You can rent out those old baby necessities to traveling parents. Because it costs how much to check a stroller on a plane?!

Check out this peer-to-peer rental site called goBaby. There, parents who are traveling can hit you up for that stroller or car seat so they don’t have to travel with the cumbersome gear.

And you can make some money. Sounds like a win-win.

46. Do Calligraphy on the Side Do Calligraphy on the Side

Maybe you don’t want to be a content writer, but if you have excellent handwriting skills and a set of calligraphy tools, you can address envelopes. You could make $2 to $5 a pop just for being a talented calligraphy writer!

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but book a wedding with 100 guests, and you could rake in $200 or more for handwritten invites.

Launch your own website to sell your services, or offer calligraphy through Etsy. For example, Margo Dittmer gets creative with her calligraphy services and sells custom wedding certificates for $175 each on Etsy.

47. Get Paid to Share What’s in Your Fridge

A woman stands in front of an open refrigerator with a bowl of salad in one hand and a plate of fried chicken in the other.
YinYang/Getty Images

Remember the Nielsen company? The one that’s always tracked TV ratings? Well, now it wants to know what’s in your fridge.

Once you sign up to participate in market research through Nielsen Consumer Panel, you can either use your smartphone, or the company will send you a free barcode scanner. Every time you go shopping, you simply scan the UPC codes on the back of each product and send your data to Nielsen.

Nielsen will reward you with gift points, which you can redeem for free electronics, jewelry, household items or even toys for the kids.

The longer you stay on the panel, the more opportunity you have to earn points toward prizes. You’ll also receive entries for the panel’s many sweepstakes. Prizes include vacations and brand new vehicles.

48. Sell Your Crafts, Vintage Finds and Even Project Supplies

A woman goes through her old clothes to sell online.
If you’re creative, you can make some decent money selling your work through Etsy. Although there are some fees, including a 5% transaction charge, the marketplace connects you with more than 33 million buyers globally.

That’s a whole lot of potential customers.

Even if you aren’t creating masterpiece paintings or elegant jewelry or adorable baby clothes, you can still make money through the platform. For example, one Penny Hoarder contributor, Janet Berry-Johnson, made about $200 a month selling needlecraft kits and patterns.

Maybe you’re more of a vintage type? Adventure through flea markets and even eBay to find vintage items you can fix up and resell through the platform.

Sure, this is still work — but not really, if you enjoy it!

49. Rent Your RV

RV owners: When’s the last time you hit the open road?

If you’re not living in your rig full time, rent it out through an online peer-to-peer rental marketplace, like RVshare. Think of it like Airbnb… but for RVs.

We spoke with Karla and Patrick Atherton, who’ve been using RVshare since October 2017. In 2018, the couple made $37,830.55 through the platform.

To see how much you could earn by renting your RV out, snag a free estimate in just a few minutes.