How To Make $1,000 a Week on the Side the Realistic Way

Making an extra $1,000 a week on the side might sound too good to be true, but multiple side hustles can help you earn money in your spare time. Freelance writing, reselling used clothes or household goods, taking paid surveys, and renting out your car or home are just some ways you can earn that extra income. The key is to combine multiple income streams.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make $1,000 a week with a side hustle, keep reading for some ideas to help you spark your next money-making adventure.

Leverage your existing skills as side gigs

Turning skills you use at your day job or hobby into paying work can be one of the best side hustles. While some people might not want to do the same work on the side that they do for their full-time job, monetizing a skill or hobby — like writing, graphic design, or digital marketing, can be a great way to make money quickly.

Freelance in your spare time

Average earnings: $48 per hour, according to ZipRecruiter

Starting a freelance business provides more flexibility than a regular job and lets you create your schedule and workflow. Look for skills you already have and can do from anywhere with a computer and internet connection.

Some common freelance jobs include:

• Writing
  
• Website design and development
  
• Photography
  
• Voice-overs
  
• Music composing
  
• Accounting
  
• Bookkeeping
  
• Virtual assistance (business administration)
  
• Proofreading

Fiverr and Upwork are two popular platforms to advertise your business and get clients. Fiverr is free to start and advertise your gigs. You pay 20% of your earnings to Fiverr when you sell and complete a job. Upwork requires you to purchase “connects” which you pay to bid on tasks, so there’s a little more risk using Upwork.

Sell a product or service

Average earnings: $17.59 per hour and up, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Some people like the idea of freelancing but don’t want to do the same thing they do during the work week.

If that sounds like you, here are some hobbies you may monetize:

• Crafting
  
• Arts (drawing or painting)
  
• Photography/videography
  
• Digital product creation

Etsy and Shopify are known for helping crafty people showcase their creative work, but these platforms aren’t all about jewelry and crafts. If you have a computer background or like to code, don’t think you can’t create items to sell on websites. Many people use these sites to sell practical things like spreadsheet templates, software, or prompts for ChatGPT.

Photographers or videographers can sell their work on Shutterstock or Adobe Stock, while sites like Bandcamp or SoundCloud can help you sell your original music or recordings. Just be aware of the various platforms’ policies and fees, and make sure you’re selling enough to make it worthwhile.

Make money with your real estate or car

If you own property or a car, you could use them for money-making opportunities. You could rent your home to others for vacations, short-term rentals, or even storage. You could also rent your car, use it for ride-hailing services, or use it for delivery services.

Rent out your property

Average earnings: $37,956/year, according to ZipRecruiter

Using your extra space can be a great way to earn additional funds without much effort. Airbnb is a popular site for home rentals, but other options include:

• Vrbo
  
• Homestay
  
• Booking.com

Keep in mind that when you rent out your property, you let others use your property as they see fit. Whether you rent a room or the entire property, be sure to have your terms and conditions in writing so your tenants understand what’s acceptable and what is not.

Rent out your storage space

Average earnings: $294/month, according to Neighbor

Alternatively, you could rent your space for storage. If you have a spare bedroom, basement, or secure shed available, a site like Neighbor can help you connect with people looking for a place to store extra stuff. People in dense cities with empty garages or driveways can use sites like Spacer and JustPark to rent out their available parking spots.

Rent out your car

Average earnings: $6,900 to $13,797/year, according to Turo

While driving can be a good, relatively easy way to earn money, it is time intensive, and you should consider the wear and tear on your vehicle, fuel cost, and extra insurance costs when calculating your net profit.

If you’d rather rent out your car than drive it, look into a platform like Turo or Getaround. Both sites help car owners rent their vehicles to others when they aren’t using them. Getaround even uses keyless access through their app, so you never have to meet your renter in person to trade keys.

Start a ride-sharing hustle

Average earnings: $19 an hour, according to ZipRecruiter

Ride-sharing is often what people think of when they’re wondering how to make money on the side. Companies like Lyft make it easy to sign up and start driving, especially if you can be available during peak times like evenings and weekends.

To get approved, you must have a valid driver’s license, pass a background check, and have a vehicle that meets the platform’s requirements.

When you offer rideshare driving services, you earn a flat fee from the service, plus you keep 100% of the tips, so offering great customer service is a good way to increase your earnings.

Deliver food

Average earnings: $17.34/hour, according to Payscale

Food delivery services like DoorDash, Instacart, and Grubhub are other ways to make money with your vehicle. Delivering food, household supplies, groceries, and even packages can help you earn good money from your car without having strangers in your vehicle.

The requirements to sign up for food delivery services are typically less restrictive than rideshare because you aren’t taking people in your car. Like rideshare driving, though, you earn a flat fee from the service, plus 100% of the tips customers offer.

Try online side jobs to make extra money

You likely use the internet daily — why not use it to your advantage to make some money on the side? The internet is a goldmine for money-making ventures like taking surveys for real money, selling items, tutoring, affiliate marketing, and more.

Take paid surveys

Average earnings: $1 – $20 per survey (varies by platform)

Another way to make money online is to answer paid surveys on sites like:

These survey sites connect their members with brands who want to better understand how people use their products. In exchange for providing their opinion and answering brand surveys, members earn rewards that they can trade for gift cards or cashback rewards for shopping online.

Sell secondhand goods

Average earnings: Varies based on what you sell

The best online selling apps can be an excellent way to clear out electronics, home goods, or toys you no longer want to earn extra cash. These apps include:

• Ebay
  
• Craigslist
  
• Amazon Renewed

If you have gently used clothing or household items, you may consider sites like:

• Poshmark
  
• ThredUp
  
• Facebook Marketplace

When listing items for sale on a website, take photos using natural lighting and a white backdrop to reflect the light onto your product better. Be upfront about the article’s condition, and take pictures of the front, back, sides, and any labels, scuffs, marks, or tears. Try to complete light repairs or cleaning before reselling an item to up the value, but be careful of refinishing or otherwise damaging collectibles.

Tutor students online

Average earnings: $14 to $18 an hour, according to VIPKid

While online tutoring might be a natural fit for educators, you don’t have to be a teacher to be a successful tutor. If you have a background or passion for a particular topic and are a good communicator, tutoring kids and adults can be a great way to share your expertise and earn extra cash.

For example, sites like VIPKid offer one-on-one English classes for children aged 4 to 15. You don’t have to be an English teacher to sign up. Still, you need to hold at least a bachelor’s degree (not necessarily in education), have at least two years of teaching, coaching, or mentoring experience, and be able to meet all of the technology requirements of the site.

Offer affiliate marketing services

Average earnings: $39/hour, according to ZipRecruiter

People with an established blog or other online presence can join affiliate marketing programs to help them potentially earn passive income. Affiliate marketing is when brands or companies pay a third party (in this case, you) to promote their goods or services to increase sales. In exchange for recommending them, the company pays you a percentage of each sale you generate.

If you already have an online following, you can join an affiliate marketing program like:

You can also work directly with a brand or company’s affiliate program to earn a higher commission or pitch to specific brands that you think would be a good fit.

Get into social media marketing or influencing

Average earnings: $28/hour, according to ZipRecruiter

People with a large following on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or other social media platforms can capitalize on the number of viewers they have. Social media influencers can earn extra cash with

• Brand partnerships
  
• Affiliate marketing
  
• TikTok Creator Rewards Program
  
• YouTube Partner Program

You can also earn money by creating and selling merchandise, ebooks, or online courses.

While social media marketing and influencing can be profitable if you have many followers, you likely won’t get rich immediately if you don’t have a large number of viewers. Still, if you are consistent and smart about building a following, you may generate revenue over time. Remember to be authentic about the products you promote, and don’t link to anything you wouldn’t use yourself.

Download apps to earn money or cut spending

There’s an app for everything, even for earning extra money. You could invest in stocks and bonds, earn cash back while shopping, or use a budget app to help you save on your bills.

Invest in stocks and bonds

Average earnings: Varies based on chosen investments

Investing in stocks and bonds could help your money work for you, especially if you can leave it invested in the stock market for a long time. Investment apps like Acorns, Robinhood, or Stash can help you start your investing journey.

Acorns

Acorns¹ <p class=””>Sign-up bonus is exclusively for new customers who have not previously opened an Investment Account. Offer must be redeemed by setting up an Acorns investment account and making your first investment ($5 minimum).<br></p> ² <p>*Important Risk Disclosure</p>


<p>Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Please consider, among other important factors, your investment objectives, risk tolerance and Acorns’ pricing before investing. Investment advisory services offered by Acorns Advisers, LLC (Acorns), an SEC-registered investment advisor. Brokerage services are provided to clients of Acorns by Acorns Securities, LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member <a href=”https://www.finra.org/#/”>FINRA</a>/<a href=”https://www.sipc.org/”>SIPC</a>.</p>


<p>Round-Ups® investments are transferred from your linked funding source (checking account) to your Acorns Invest account, where the funds are invested into a portfolio of selected ETFs. If you do not maintain an adequate amount of funds in your funding source sufficient to cover your Round-Ups® investments, you could incur overdraft fees with your financial institution.</p>

<p>Only purchases made with Round-Up accounts linked to your Acorns account with the feature activated are eligible for the Round- Ups® investment feature. Round-Up investments from your funding source will be processed when your Pending Round-Ups® investments reach or exceed $5. </p>


<p>The average Acorns investor, with a verified and active account, has rounded up $166 between 1/1/21 and 4/30/21. Individual results will vary and the average Round-Ups® only take into account the investments themselves and do not reflect the impact investment volatility will have on overall performance.</p>


<p>For additional important risks, disclosures and information, please visit <a href=”https://www.acorns.com/terms/”>https://www.acorns.com/terms/</a>. </p> provides users with saving and investing options using their spare change and small, consistent deposits. You have several account options including:

• Taxable investment
  
• Retirement account
  
• Investing account for kids

Each of the accounts can have automated deposits and a recommended portfolio based on your goals. Acorns will automatically invest your spare change if you enable Round-Ups and link your debit and credit cards. Acorns rounds up purchases to the nearest whole dollar and will hold onto the money for you until it reaches $5 and then invest it in your portfolio.

Robinhood

Robinhood³ <p>All investments involve risk including loss of principal. Interest is earned on uninvested cash swept from your brokerage account to program banks. Robinhood is not a bank. For margin enabled customers, to earn interest through the cash sweep program, a cash balance is needed. If you have a margin balance, there is no cash balance to earn interest.</p> ⁴ <p>Terms apply. Rate subject to change.</p> offers similar features and helps users invest in:

• Stocks
  
• Crypto
  
• Options
  
• ETFs

Robinhood doesn’t charge commission and can be a good option if you already understand the basics of investing and want to keep your costs as low as possible.

Stash

Stash is like Acorns in that the focus is on investing small amounts. Stash is a popular choice for small-dollar micro-investing because the platform lets you start investing with as little as $1. It offers a wide variety of fractional shares, which are partial shares of stock, so you can build a diversified portfolio with even a small amount of money. There’s no guarantee you’ll make $1,000 investing, but Stash is a good option for beginners interested in trying to grow their money this way.

Use cashback apps to save when you spend

Average earnings: Varies based on what you buy

Common cashback apps include:

These apps help you find coupons, compare prices, and even offer rewards for purchasing using their apps or sites. Some apps also offer additional coupons or can search the web and automatically apply any coupon codes they find to your purchases. Others allow you to instantly compare prices so you know you’re getting the best deal.

Through partnerships with big-name retail stores, these apps provide a percentage of the cost of anything you buy through their sites as cashback or rewards. When your cashback reaches a certain point, you can withdraw the funds in several ways including:

Track your spending with budgeting apps

Finally, a budget app like Rocket Money, Monarch, or Quicken Simplifi can help you get a handle on your spending and plan for your expenses with the goal of saving more. These apps can help you:

Read our Rocket Money review, Monarch review, and Quicken Simplifi review.

FAQs

Bottom line

While focusing on just one of these tips might not get you an extra $1,000 a week immediately, incorporating a few into your daily life might help you make some money. Try combining a long-term strategy like developing a side hustle or creating a social media following with relatively easy things, like taking online surveys, using an investing app, and selling items you no longer need.

Earning money from a side hustle takes patience, but it is possible. Do your best to juggle your day job, family, and side hustle, and focus on staying consistent over time to help you see the most significant rewards. And who knows? Eventually, you could work your way to $1,000 a day.