Types of Side Hustles

Find Your Side Hustle

The average household in the United States has about $16,000 in credit card debt. Americans like to spend, but too often aren’t making enough for the amount of stuff they’re buying. One solution a growing number of people are turning to is the side hustle.

Side hustles are ways to make some extra money on top of your full-time job. If you can find something you’re good at that people are willing to pay for, you can make money in your free time to supplement whatever you get in your work paycheck.

Businesses have developed a number of platforms devoted to helping match people willing to do a lot of different types of work with people that need it. With the help of these platforms, about 10% of people have become participants in the gig economy.

If you could use a little extra money each month and are considering a side hustle, here are some of the options to consider.

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1.    Rideshare Driving

One of the first and biggest side hustle opportunities to come onto the scene was working as a rideshare driver, and it remains a common choice. The popular apps Uber and Lyft, as well as a number of regional alternatives, help people needing a ride find drivers willing to provide one. Some rideshare drivers even treat it as their main job, but you can do it in your off hours as a side hustle.


2.    Pet Sitting

When people with pets travel, they have to leave their pets somewhere – and many people would prefer their beloved animals to stay in the home of a pet lover rather than being crowded in with others at a kennel. Rover lets potential pet sitters create profiles on the site so people needing somewhere to leave their dogs and cats can book with you.


pet sitting side hustle3.    Dog Walking

People are busy and sometimes it’s hard to get high-energy dogs out for walks as often as they need them. If you like the idea of making money by walking dogs, sites like Wag (and the aforementioned Rover) will help match you up with people looking for help. You can get healthier and make some extra cash at the same time.


4.    Vacation Rentals

If you have extra space in your house or a property you don’t use full-time, listing it on HomeAway and AirBnb could be a good way to supplement your income. People will pay to stay somewhere more comfortable than a hotel with more useful amenities, like a kitchen and washer and dryer.


5.    House Sitting

When people travel, they often worry about leaving their house unattended. They need their plants watered, their mail brought in, and to know their home is safe and sound throughout their trip. That’s where house sitters come in. You can get paid to stay at someone else’s home in their absence and take care of their stuff. House Sitters America and Trusted House Sitters can help you find people needing house-sitting help.


6.    Food Delivery

A number of services will hire drivers to deliver groceries and takeout to customers. If you don’t mind driving around town, you can sign up to make money delivering food with Instacart, Shipt, Doordash or one of the other food delivery services out there.


7.    Selling Handmade Items

If you’re good at making anything homemade that people are likely to want to buy – that could be crafts, clothes, jewelry, soap, you name it – you can make some extra money selling them. Etsy makes it easy to get started with an online store so interested buyers can start finding the items you make.


8.    Selling Your Old Stuff

You probably have some stuff around the house you never use and don’t need. Some of that stuff could be something that other people are interested in buying. Go through your rooms and closets to see what you can find that’s likely to attract a buyer. Sites like ebay and Craigslist let you list just about anything, while some sites focus more on specific types of items like Poshmark for clothes and TIAS for antiques and collectibles.


9.    Selling Your Art

If you’re a creative, you can do what you love in your spare time and look for buyers (or renters) on sites like Creative Mart and TurningArt. It’s not easy to make a living as an artist, but the internet makes it easier than it used to be to make some money on the side for your art.


rideshare driving side hustle10. Renting Your Car

If you don’t use your car all that often, you can make money by letting other people use it with the help of sites like Getaround and Turo.


11. Renting your Parking Space

In many cities, a parking space is a valuable commodity. You can rent yours out during the times you’re not using it to make some extra cash with Just Park and Parqex.


12. Renting Your Clothes

If you’re into fashion and have a closetful of nice clothes in good condition, StyleLend can help you find people willing to pay to rent items in your closet.


13. Babysitting

The go-to way many people used to make extra cash in their teens is still an option in adulthood. Parents are always in need of people to watch their kids when they go out.  Sitter City and Urban Sitter can help you find babysitting opportunities.


14.  Housecleaning

Some people hate cleaning the house, or simply find it hard to keep up with when busy. If you don’t mind cleaning and are good at it, you can make some money on the side by cleaning your neighbors’ houses. Housekeeper.com is a good place to start finding clients.


house sitting side hustle15. Chores and Errands

TaskRabbit lets people list a range of tasks they need help with and are willing to pay people for. From running errands, to assembling furniture, to making home improvements, you can make extra cash by helping people out with various things they have trouble doing on their own.


16. Tutoring

Plenty of kids need help in school – and some adults need help in learning things like coding or foreign languages. Wyzant and ClassGap help tutors and people needing tutors find each other.


17. Consumer Surveys

A lot of companies find value in what they can learn from surveys. You can cash in on that by participating in consumer surveys. Swagbucks will provide you with surveys that pay.


18. Design T-shirts

Have a t-shirt idea you think could sell? There are a number of sites that allow you to design t-shirts that people can buy, letting you keep a portion of the profits. Cafepress and Spreadshirt are a couple of options to try.


19.  Tech Support

Are you the one that always gets called when a friend or family member is struggling with computer problems? If so, you can start making money by providing tech support to people willing to actually pay for that help. HelloTech matches people that know technology with people that need help.


20.  Interior Decorating

If you loved designing the interior of your own home and constantly get compliments on it, then you can make money helping other people design their homes. Try Decorist and Havenly to start finding clients.


21.  Professional Organizing

Some people are just bad at organizing things. And some of those people are willing to pay others to come in and make their messy desks, cabinets, and garages into a cleaner, more organized space. While there’s not a platform just for professional organizers yet, you can use one like TaskRabbit or create your own website to promote your services.


22. Voice Acting

Businesses need voice actors for ads, audio guides, video narration and more. If you have the right equipment and a strong voice, you can make money on sites like VoiceBunny and Voices.com.


23. Transcription

Sometimes people need to take audio recordings and write out everything that was said, and often they’re willing to pay someone to do the work for them. You can find transcription work with TranscribeMe.


brainstorm side hustle24. Translation

If you’re fluent in more than one language, then you can make some side money providing translation services. Give MotaWord and Unbabel a look.


25.  Car Advertising

Make money during your daily commute by letting companies use your car to advertise their businesses. Wrapify and Carvertise help companies find people willing to let their cars get wrapped in advertisements for pay.


26. Affiliate Marketing

If you have a popular blog (or are willing to put the work in to create one), by including links in your posts to businesses that have affiliate programs, you can start making money for the referrals your website sends their way. Do some research into affiliate programs relevant to what you write about get signed up.


27. Give Tours

Travelers often appreciate a local perspective of the places they visit. With sites like Tours by Locals and Vayable, you can be the one providing that perspective while making some extra money at the same time.


28. Proofreading and Editing

Are you good at catching typos and grammatical errors? You can pick up some proofreading and editing work as a way to make extra money. There’s not a good platform devoted specifically to proofreading and editing, but you can create a website or use sites like Upwork to get started.


29.  Cooking

If you love to cook and your friends are always thrilled with what you make for them when they come over, you can make meals for strangers to increase your monthly income. Feastly and Bon Appetour both let chefs create a menu for a hosted dinner that consumers can buy tickets to.


30. Selling Ideas

We’ve covered most of the types of physical items you can sell, but there are a couple of ways to sell your ideas as well. You can get paid to help companies come up with names on Name Station. And you can help companies and organizations solve problems on Innocentive.


31. Peer to Peer Loans

This is the kind of side hustle that requires you to have money to make money, but if you can afford it, peer-to-peer loans can earn you regular interest. Prosper and Lending Club are some sites that enable investments in peer-to-peer loans.


32.  Personal Trainer

If fitness is one of your passions and you have the skills to help other people craft better workouts and meal plans, look into providing services as a personal trainer for some extra cash. You can find clients in your town or provide virtual training with GymGo.


33. Help people move.

Everybody with a truck knows how it feels to be that guy – you know, the one who always gets a call anytime someone you’re acquainted with needs help moving. You can finally be that guy for pay with the sites Buddytruk and GoShare. Instead of helping people out for beer, get some actual cash.


A lot of people start out doing some of these side hustles and become so successful they turn it into a full-time business. If you find yourself nearing that point, you can cut out the middleman and set up your own website to start finding clients. It will legitimize your business and give you more power to set your prices and keep more of your earnings.

In the meantime, try out the side hustle that most appeals to you and see how you like it.

One thought on “33 Types of Side Hustles

  1. House sitting should not be on this list. Both sites subscribe to the house sitters code of conduct which specifies there is no exchange of cash at all, ever. We are long term house sitters in Costa Rica. It does mean we live here rent free, but we do other business to earn income.

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