8 Side Hustles Anyone Can Do

Who wouldn’t love some extra pocket money? Some freelance jobs don’t require any experience and can be done by practically anyone. Plus, some of them might pay you for tasks you’re already doing! These 8 easy side hustles can help you pad your purse.

1. Play with dogs

Why not earn some extra cash while watching some furry friends? When you offer your services as a dog-walker or pet-sitter, you can charge as much as $25 an hour, depending on the going rate in your area. To get the word out, you can hang up flyers to advertise your services or sign up with Rover, an Uber-like service that matches up pet-owners and sitters for a small fee.

2. Social media guru

Yes, your Facebooking talents and clever tweets really are marketable skills. You can offer your services to local and remote businesses as their social media brander. Depending on your skill set, you can write the company blog posts, manage their Facebook page, post new pics on Instagram, and send out their tweets. You’ll need to get a feel for the core values and mission statement of the company, but otherwise, it’s just doing what you love on your favorite social media platforms!

3. Yardwork

Do you wield real power with a weed-whacker? Are you an expert lawn mower? Get paid for tending to people’s yards. You can charge by the hour or per job. You may also want to do a survey of other local yard workers to get a good idea of fair asking prices.

4. Take online surveys for pay

Make the time you spend online count by taking surveys on sites like Survey Junkie, Inbox Dollars, and Swagbucks. Most of these sites are easy to use and will pay you as soon as you complete a survey. It’s a quick, easy way to pad your wallet with extra cash.

5. Turn trashed items into treasure

If you’re crafty and love working with your hands, this one’s for you!

Late spring is the perfect time for finding discarded pieces of furniture in the trash. Take a spin around the neighborhood, scouring each block for curbside furniture in decent condition. Haul your finds home and get to work refinishing, painting, changing drawer pulls and more to give the tossed piece of furniture new life. When you’ve finished glamming up your treasure, put it up for sale at a local flea market, sell it to a second-hand or consignment shop, or market it online through eBay or Craigslist. If you really work at it, you may be able to turn a trashed piece of furniture into several hundred dollars.

6. Work for Uber

The ride-sharing giant gives the term “flexible job” new meaning by allowing you to set your own schedule and decide just how many hours you want to devote to driving passengers.

If you don’t like the idea of strangers riding in your car, you can work for Uber Eats instead. With this sister service of Uber, you get paid to pick up fast-food meals and deliver them to customers. Uber Eats offers the same flexibility and great terms as the original Uber and, in some locations, you can even deliver the food on a bike or scooter. It’s a fantastic way to boost your income without committing to long hours or hard work.

7. It’s fair time!

Summer is the season for local fairs of all kinds. Spend some time researching community fairs in your town and the surrounding areas. Is there one scheduled that features a special talent of yours? If you know you can bake a mean pie or you’ve been told your caramel fudge is to die for, try your hand at competing in a fair that features these competitions. You can earn hundreds of dollars in prizes just for doing something you enjoy. Plus, there’s no limit to how many contests you can enter each summer, so you can do this over and over again.

8. Teach and tutor

Are you a geometry whiz or a genuine science buff? Offer your services as an individual tutor for school-aged children this summer and you’ll have a meaningful way to earn extra money. You can help a struggling student work through summer homework or pass makeup exams so they earn their promotion to the next grade. You’ll be using your brains to make a difference in a child’s life while making good money on the side.

If you’ve got a spectacular talent outside the classroom, you can use it to make money this summer by teaching it to students who want to learn how to do it, too. Specialized instructors like guitar teachers or art coaches can charge a pretty penny per session.

While it helps in some cases, you don’t need special training or credentials for earning extra pocket money. Use this list to find the side hustle that works for you and start boosting your income.

Always make sure when you’re looking for a side job that you protect yourself from scams as well. It’s important to know what to look for and how to avoid being scammed.