15 Best Side Jobs to Make Extra Money

Are you stressed about your finances and looking for ways to make extra cash? Finding a side job can be an excellent way to boost your income and security. In fact, 1 in 3 Americans already have a side job.

Side jobs are considered work that you can do in addition to your day job — but they can be much more than just ”part-time” jobs. The best side jobs should be flexible, allow you to work as little or as much as you’d like, and pay well for the work being done. After all, your time is valuable and your compensation should reflect that!

There are a number of different ways to make extra money. To help you think through the available options, we’re going to review a few of our favorite side jobs for 2024 — including a number of side jobs that can be done from the comfort of your own home.

Pro tip: if you’re looking for something quick and easy to begin with, online surveys are a great way to get started bringing in extra cash. Two great examples to check out are Branded Surveys and Survey Junkie are two legit options.

What Are Good Side Jobs? Here Are 15 Side Jobs To Make Extra Money

1. Proofreader

Are you constantly correcting your friends’ grammar in your head? What about spotting spelling or punctuation errors in menus? If the answer is yes, then working as a proofreader can be one of the best side jobs for you — and you can make $15-$40/hour working from home.

Proofreaders get paid to complete a key step in the writing process, and practically every kind of written content needs proofreading: blog posts, ad copy, ebooks, novels, resumes, white pages, web copy, and so much more.

If you want to learn more about how to make money proofreading, check out the FREE Four-Figure Side Hustle training to learn the five steps to becoming a successful proofreader.

2. Bookkeeping

Freelance bookkeepers help business owners record and manage daily financial transactions. This can include paying bills, managing payroll, and collecting payments. Bookkeeping is not the same thing as accounting, which means it doesn’t require a degree!

Bookkeepers need to be familiar with popular financial software like Quickbooks and know how to read and create balance sheets. Pay averages $20-$40/hour.

3. Freelance Writing

Freelance writing includes writing a variety of content, like:

• Marketing campaigns
• Blog posts
• Email newsletters
• Online and print articles
• Catalog descriptions
• Ghostwriting
• Web copy
• Grant writing
• Technical writing
• Content mills
• Resumes

It’s a super flexible side job for anyone who’s always dreamed of getting paid to write.

4. Delivery Driver

Over the last two years, food delivery has become one of the most popular side jobs available. It’s both a flexible and a relatively easy way to make extra money. DoorDash is the largest service in the U.S by far, controlling nearly 60% of the total restaurant delivery market share. Because of their growth, DoorDash is always hiring new drivers, for both local and chain restaurants.

DoorDash drivers are called “Dashers”, choose their own hours, and have no minimums or limits to the number of hours that can be driven in a week. Dashers can hop on the app anytime they have spare time to deliver! One of the things many DoorDash drivers love about this side job is the freedom to bring a friend with them.

Learn more in our full DoorDash Driver Review.

5. Take Online Surveys

Taking online surveys is one of the easiest side jobs that can be done from home. While it may not be the highest-paying option available, it can be a great side job due to its extreme flexibility, its ease, and that getting started you can be as young as 13!

Survey sites look for users of all demographics to answer questions about various products and services for market research purposes, and you can get paid $0.50-$3 per survey for your feedback.

Think of online surveys as a paid alternative to playing games on your phone.

If you’re interested, here are a few top survey sites:

• Branded Surveys is free to sign up and use, you’re paid in points that convert to PayPal cash, gift cards, or bank transfer. Sign-up takes less than 10 minutes, and you can start making extra money today!
• Survey Junkie is also free to sign up and use, and you’re immediately matched with surveys based on demographic information you provide during the sign-up process. Survey Junkie pays you points for every survey you complete, and the points convert to PayPal cash, bank transfer, or online gift cards.

Signing up for both of those survey sites can mean even more survey opportunities. Find even more options in Surveys That Pay Cash Instantly in 2024.

6. Earn Cash Back

Are you feeling the effects of inflation at the gas station or grocery store? We sure are! While this isn’t exactly a side job, did you know that you can make money while filling up your tank and buying your groceries? Here’s how:

• Upside: The Upside app (formerly GetUpside) will give you up to $0.25 cash back per gallon of gas. Upside has partnered with over 45,000 locations nationwide, including BP, Circle K, Marathon, Phillip’s 66, Speedway, Valero, and many more.
• Ibotta: Ibotta is a cash back shopping app where you can earn up to 30% cash back when you shop online or in-store at top grocery stores and retailers nationwide.

Both of these apps are free to sign up for — and you can start making extra money immediately.

7. Grocery Shop

Next to delivering takeout, getting paid to grocery shop is one of the fastest growing side jobs. Instacart and Shipt are two of the most popular on-demand grocery delivery services, and they are always looking for new shoppers.

Instacart and Shipt shoppers get paid $15-$20/hour shopping for groceries and delivering to customers’ homes. You can pick your own hours, and the busiest ones are 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and all day on Saturday and Sunday. Learn more in our full Instacart Shopper Review.

8. Rent Out Your Space

If you’re not using all of the space in your house, then we highly recommend Neighbor. Think of Neighbor as the Airbnb for storage! You list your extra space, and neighbors, or people in your area, can rent it out to store all kinds of things. You can even ask and approve what’s being store in advance. This may seem like an unconventional side job, but you can make passive income renting out your extra space through Neighbor.

Here’s an idea of how much extra money you can make with Neighbor:

• Garage: Earn between $100-$600 per month
• Driveway: Earn between $50-$150 per month
• Shed: Earn $50-$200 per month
• Parking space: Earn $50-$300 per month

Neighbor is free to join, pays monthly, offers liability coverage, and there is only a small processing fee on each reservation. Learn more in our in-depth Neighbor Review.

9. Start a Blog

Blogging easily has the highest earning potential out of any of the side jobs on this list. It’s also something you can start and grow on your own schedule from home.

With blogging, you’re in total control of when you work, what you blog about, and how you monetize your site. Starting a blog can be a life-changing gig, and there are bloggers who make $10,000 a month or more.

If you’re interested in learning more about blogging:

• Read How to Start a Blog in 2022: The Easy Step-by-Step Guide to learn more.
• Check out Bluehost — this is the blog hosting service this blog was built on. It comes with WordPress, which is the most popular blogging service, and you can start a blog for less than $3 a month.
• Let our team help you start a blog with our free installation and set-up service, Launch That Blog — this is a free service when you sign up for Bluehost

10. Tutor

Tutoring is one of the best side jobs if you’re a teacher, and we highly recommend BookNook because they are actively hiring new tutors!

BookNook is an online tutoring platform that connects K-8 students with tutors who can help them develop critical math and reading skills. Tutors make $15-$22/hour and must meet at least one of these requirements:

• 3+ years teaching or tutoring or
• 1 year teaching or tutoring and at least a bachelor’s degree or
• 1 year teaching or tutoring and current enrollment in a teaching credential program

You also must be a U.S. citizen to qualify. The tutoring sessions last 30 minutes, and you will work with 1-4 students at a time. There’s no lesson planning involved — BookNook handles this part for you.

BookNook tutors are paid twice a month via direct deposit.

11. Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a broad category and involves one of our favorite side jobs: running Facebook and Instagram ads.

Running Facebook and Instagram ads for small businesses is simply online advertising on two of the largest social media platforms in the world. Because of the massive reach these platforms have, Facebook and Instagram continue to be the best online platforms for small businesses to increase their traffic and visibility.

You can make around $1,000-$1,500 per month/per client with just a few hours of work each week. And because it only takes a few hours a week to keep your client’s ads running, this is great part-time job.

12. Freelancing

Freelancing is taking existing skills (graphic design, bookkeeping, web development, copy editing, and more) and using them to work as an independent contractor for multiple clients.

Because more and more companies are outsourcing work to freelancers, it’s not uncommon for freelancers to make anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 per month.

13. Caregiver

Families are always looking for kind and caring people to help them with childcare, and that’s why this is a great side job if you’re already staying home with your own kids. You can make $300-$500/week per child providing childcare service from your own home.

If you’re interested in learning more, Care is one of the most popular platforms for families and childcare providers to connect on. It’s free to sign up and list your services, and there is an optional one-time fee if you want to include a background check on your profile.

14. Dog Walker & Pet Sitter

If you prefer dogs and cats to small children, walking dogs and pet sitting might be a great side job for you! Dog walkers make anywhere from $10-$25 per walk, while overnight pet sitters get paid $30-$50 per overnight stay.

While you can start reaching out to friends, family, and neighbors and telling them that you’re offering pet care services, we also highly recommend Rover. Rover is already used by thousands of pet sitters across the U.S. There is a one-time processing fee of $35 when you create a profile, and you keep 80% of all reservation costs booked on Rover. Read our Rover Review to learn more.

15. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants (VA for short) are a massive help to business owners because they get paid to do online tasks like:

• Scheduling meetings and appointments
• Inbox management
• Basic bookkeeping
• Publishing blog posts
• Light digital marketing work
• Data entry

Those are just a few things you can get paid $15-$40/hour to do as a virtual assistant. This is one of the best side jobs if you’re staying at home with your kids because most of the tasks are short and can be done on your own schedule.

Where to Find Side Jobs

There is no shortage of side jobs out there, whether you are looking for something from home or want in-person work. Below are some of the best place to find side jobs right now:

• FlexJobs: This job site lists work-from-home and remote side jobs, and it has excellent filtering tools so you can create a personalized job searches.
• Craigslist: Yes, Craigslist is still a solid place to find side gigs. You can browse the Gigs section to find ones related to domestic, crew, computer, event, talent, and writing. Be aware that there are scams, so ask lots of questions and avoid anything that sounds too good to be true.
• Your network: We’re talking about reaching out to people you know and telling them that you’re looking for work. Maybe someone needs lawn care services, bookkeeping help, or wants to pay someone to run errands. You never know until you put yourself out there.

The Final Word on the Best Side Jobs

There are so many ways to make extra money right now, but you have to know where to look. This list is your first step, and our top picks are:

• Driving for DoorDash: You can schedule your own hours and make $15-$25/hour
• Taking online surveys: You can make $0.50 to $3 per survey with Branded Surveys and Survey Junkie