119 Legit Ways to Make Extra Money on the Side from Home in 2020

For many, a side gig is the perfect pathway for earning extra money outside of a job.

Side gigs can be flexible and offer some variety in your everyday tasks, which makes them an excellent alternative to getting a second job when you need more cash.

And there are a lot of ways that you can get that extra money you need right from home or in your neighborhood.

Great Ways to Make Cash on the Side Fast

Freelancing

Let’s start with freelancing because it’s, undoubtedly, one of the very best ways to earn money right now.

With approximately 57 million Americans freelancing, there’s no denying that it’s a popular way to make money and that freelancers are in demand.

As a freelancer, you can utilize almost any skill you have, like using social media, taking photos, designing artwork, or editing articles, to earn money in your spare time from home.

And it’s easier than ever to get started, thanks to online freelance marketplaces like:

• Fiverr
• Freelancer
• Guru
• PeoplePerHour
• Upwork

Sitting and Caregiving

Next comes sitting – as in housesitting, babysitting, or pet sitting – and caregiving.

These are perfect gigs for people who love to be around pets and animals, with the exception of housesitting.

As a house sitter, you’ll be all alone in someone else’s home taking care of it while they’re away (although, sometimes, pets will also be involved with this!).

Here are several places where you can find sitting gigs:

• Care.com: Babysitting and caregiving
• Fetch: A flexible service for dog walkers
• Housesitter: Watch houses for people who are away
• Nomador: Find housesitting jobs online
• Rover: Walk dogs or watch them in your home or the owner’s home
• Sitter: Lets you browse babysitting gigs
• Urban Sitter: Find babysitting and nanny jobs
• Wag Walking: Get paid to walk dogs in your neighborhood

Delivering

Delivering is another fun way to make money, and it’s incredibly flexible.

Most delivery app jobs allow you to choose your schedule, so you can sign on to work for just a few hours a week if that’s what you choose to do.

And you’ll get to use your own car – and in some cases, bike! – to deliver, so there aren’t any extra costs to get started.

Flexibility and easy earnings? Sign me up!

Here are several companies that look for independent contractors:

• Amazon Flex: Deliver Amazon packages locally
• Doordash: Deliver orders to customers via the app
• GrubHub: Food delivery
• Instacart: Grocery shopping and delivery
• Postmates: Deliver stuff to residents or businesses
• Roadie: Provide same-day delivery services
• Saucey: Deliver alcohol on your own schedule
• Shipt: Shop for and deliver groceries to customers
• UberEats: The Uber of food

Gigging

Gigging can encompass a lot of things, but the best way to describe the apps below is “gig apps” because they let you do a lot of things.

You can sign up for them for free and begin picking up work as you have spare time.

Nothing requires you to have a fixed schedule, so feel free to squeeze in your work as you see fit.

• Gigwalk
• Field Agent
• TaskRabbit
• WeGoLook

Shopping

Shop ‘til you drop and get some pocket money when you sign up for the apps and panels below.

You can visit your favorite stores, shop as usual, and complete tasks as you shop or scan your grocery receipts to earn rewards.

My personal favorite is Ibotta, which has rebates on loads of grocery items you probably get every week at the store, plus bonuses for purchasing specific brands and meeting goals with your teammates who also use the app.

• Ibotta: Get rebates when you shop for groceries
• Nielsen National Consumer Panel: Take surveys during and after shopping trips to earn rewards
• Receipt Hog: This app pays you to scan your shopping receipts
• Shopkick: Snap photos and scan receipts to get paid

Running a Call Center

The sites below look for independent contractors to work from home as call center representatives for their clients.

The beauty of this work is that, usually, the schedules are relatively flexible, so you don’t have to be glued to the phone all day.

Many positions also seek people who can work evenings or weekends, which can be helpful if you work a regular 9 to 5 job.

• Alorica
• Asurion
• Cruise.com
• LiveOps
• Pleio GoodStart
• Sykes

Blogging

Unlike what many make it seem, bloggers are not overnight successes.

However, those who do find success in making blogging their career – which are many – will tell you that putting in some hard work to start with can pay off in the end.

Start a blog now, make some content for it, and get it moving.

In several months, you should start seeing a boost in traffic and be able to start monetizing your blog with things like affiliate marketing and sponsored posts.

You can get started on a blog with no coding experience whatsoever with Wix and Squarespace.

Selling

Got stuff to sell?

These places are where to go to do it.

You can sell new or used items to avoid having to do a yard sale and take up a full weekend to possibly sell a few items.

Instead, list the stuff you have and find buyers directly who need them.

• Amazon FBA
• Bonanza
• Craigslist
• eBay
• Etsy
• Letgo
• Poshmark

Designing

Those with artistic abilities can use them to their advantage as a way to make some money.

These sites let you create designs to sell as logos, t-shirts, or even as digital downloads for others to buy.

On places like CafePress and Zazzle, you don’t even need to hold your own inventory.

Just upload your designs and let the companies take care of printing them and shipping the products people buy from you.

• 99Designs
• CafePress
• Etsy
• Teespring
• Zazzle

Testing Websites and Apps

Do you have a keen eye for detail and enjoy providing feedback?

Testing apps and websites could be the side gig for you.

The sites below pay in the $10 to $20 range for about 20 minutes of testing time.

You just need to visit the site or app and provide your feedback on what you loved or what could be better.

• ErliBird
• TryMyUI
• UserFeel
• Userlytics
• UserTesting

Renting

When you have stuff you don’t quite want to part with but want to make money from, then renting should be your go-to.

And there’s probably a website that’ll help you rent anything you own, from your extra parking spot to your car.

Here are some places to try:

• Airbnb: Rent your home or space in it
• AirGarage: Rent your parking lot or garage
• BabyQuip: Find renters for your baby gear
• FlipKey: List vacation rentals
• HomeStay: Rent a spare room in your home
• HyreCar: Rent your car to rideshare drivers when you aren’t using it
• SpotHero: Find people who need your parking space
• Turo: Offer your car for rent when you don’t need it

Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping is a very flexible side gig that’s great for people who like to help companies improve their customer service skills.

As a mystery shopper, you’ll visit or call a specific store and provide feedback on your experience, which goes to the heads of the company to help them learn key areas to improve.

• A Closer Look
• Bestmark
• Checker Patrol
• Intouch Insight
• MarketForce
• Pinnacle
• Secret Shopper
• Sinclair Customer Metrics

Hunting for Treasure

You can pick up a cheap metal detector for under $100 and go searching for “treasure”!

It’s not a conventional way to make money, but it’s a legitimate way that you might want to consider.

Just be careful where you use your metal detector and start digging, because many public properties may have regulations about digging up the ground.

Using the Internet

The Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel pays you in rewards to use the internet, leave the app running, and let the app collect some data about what you’re using the internet for.

It won’t make you a lot of money, but it is a passive income stream that helps you get paid to do something you’re doing anyway every day.

Betting on Weight Loss

Are you planning to make this the healthiest year of your life in addition to making extra money?

Then betting on your health can be a great way to do it.

The apps below let you gain cash for losing weight and getting healthy.

All you need to do is keep exercising and working toward your goal to reach the finish line and boost your income along the way.

• Achievement
• DietBet
• HealthyWage

Selling Photos

Snapping photos can be fun, but it doesn’t help your bank account much.

Unless you sell them, of course.

The following apps and websites pay you when you sell your photos to customers on their marketplaces:

• 500px
• Alamy
• EyeEm
• Foap
• Fotolia (Adobe Stock)
• Shutterstock

Transcribing or Translating

Put your listening and typing skills to use when you translate documents or audio files or transcribe audio to text.

These places look for independent contractors who want to work their own schedules:

• Athreon
• GoTranscript
• Rev
• Scribie
• TranscribeMe

DropShipping

Set up a shop on Shopify to make your own online store.

Then, use the super popular dropshipping method to sell stuff to your customers without ever having to hold a piece of inventory in your home.

Instead, the places that carry the items will do all the hard work – the packaging and shipping – while you just worry about placing your customers’ orders.

You can use a company like Doba or Alibaba to find products you want to sell.

Writing and Publishing

Love writing?

Why not get paid to do it!

Sign up with Clearvoice or Skyword to become a freelance writer who connects with clients on the platform to write blogs, articles, and other pieces of content.

Or, try Kindle Direct Publishing to write and publish your own books to sell on the Amazon platform.

• Clearvoice
• Kindle Direct Publishing
• Skyword

Managing Social Media

Find clients who need their social media channels managed for them.

It’s not tough to do in today’s digital age where most businesses want to be on social media but may not have the time or know-how to handle it on their own.

This work is commonly outsourced, so it shouldn’t be too challenging to connect with brands or entrepreneurs who need your help.

Be a Tour Guide

Context Travel lets people sign up as tour guides for areas that they consider themselves experts in.

You must hold a higher education degree or have equivalent licensure or credentials.

Coaching

Become an online coach and share your knowledge with people all over the world!

These sites make it simple to get started with coaching or online course creation using their online platforms:

• Skillshare
• Take Lessons
• Udemy

Tutoring or Teaching

You can also share your knowledge with others as an online tutor or teacher.

This is becoming a popular side gig because its flexible and fun, and you get to meet students from all over the world in some cases.

Try these teaching sites:

• Magic Ears
• Preply
• QKids
• Tutor.com
• TutorMe
• VIPKID

Be a Private Cook

Cooking enthusiasts can host private cooking classes or meals with Travelling Spoon.

People who are vacationing in or stopping through your area can book a dining experience with you!

Letting Your Body to the Work

Put your body to work by making you some money – all in ways that are perfectly legal, I’d like to add.

Here are a few legitimate ideas:

• Sell your hair with HairSellon
• Donate (and get paid for) blood plasma with BioLife
• Sell sperm or eggs
• Find clinical trials on gov

Using Surveys and Reward Sites

One of the most fun side gigs, in my opinion, is taking surveys and using reward sites.

No, they won’t make you rich, but they couldn’t be easier to use.

Sign on whenever you want to make a few extra bucks here and there.

These are some of my favorites:

• InboxDollars
• Ipsos i-Say
• Pinecone Research
• Survey Junkie
• SurveySavvy
• Swagbucks
• Toluna

Drive Neighborhood Kids

Zum lets you transport neighborhood kids where they need to go, like picking them up from school, bringing them to a babysitter’s house, or taking them to soccer practice.

Top drivers in the company earn about $750 per week, so it can be a lucrative option.

Doing Stuff in Your Neighborhood

Finally, it’s important not to forget what’s in your own backyard – or neighborhood, rather.

There are so many things you can do for neighbors depending on where your skills lie, from being a handyman to helping people move their stuff to a new home.

You can even apply with Amazon to start selling your professional services!

But if you want to get started quickly, putting an ad in the newspaper, on Craigslist, or advertising your services on Facebook can be the way to go.

Here are several ideas to get your brain juices flowing:

• Paint
• Clean pools
• Help people move
• Mow lawns
• Landscape yards
• Clean cars
• Repair cars
• Offer oil changes or other car maintenance
• Repair computers
• Shovel snow
• Offer entertainment (dress up for parties, play music, etc.)
• Deliver food
• Moving stuff for people
• Wash windows
• Tutor neighborhood kids

How to Make Extra Money on the Side from Home

It’s time to bump up your income!

It’s not hard to do when you have some ideas tucked in your back pocket.

Which ideas from the list above are ones you want to try?

Feel free to let us know in the comments.