Sometimes unexpected expenses come up and you need to find ways to make money fast. Maybe you have an unexpected car repair, something broke in your home, you forgot about a bill, or something else.
Perhaps you need extra income in the next 24 hours or by the end of the week.
No matter how small your timeframe is, there’s probably something you can do to earn at least a little bit of money quickly.
While I think that everyone should have an emergency fund, there are still times when you need to find ways to make money fast.
After all, things come up and sometimes you may not have the cash on hand that you need. Or, maybe you just don’t want to dip into your savings and would like to see what you can do to quickly make some money instead.
Whatever your reasoning is, there are plenty of ways to make money fast for when you need it.
Related blog posts on ways to make money fast:
Here are 10 real ways to make money fast:
Sell stuff from around your home.
Probably one of the best ways to make money fast is to find items around your home to sell.
The average person has a lot of extra stuff in their life. Too many clothes, old electronics (such as old cell phones!) that have been tossed to the side, appliances that have been replaced, books that will never be read again, useless furniture, gift cards that will never be used, and more.
If you’re looking for ways to make money fast, then there are many items around your home that you may be able to sell.
I’ve heard all the excuses for why a person doesn’t want to try selling their stuff:
But, no one will pay for my junk.
That item isn’t worth it.
It’s so much easier just to throw it away.
I would look stupid if a thrift store says no to everything I am trying to sell to them.
What can I sell to make money? I have nothing!
Stop with the excuses!
We all have something we can sell, and there are many places you may be able to sell your things. These include:
Thrift stores – Thrift stores may pay on consignment, cash on the spot, or store credit. Taking your stuff to a thrift store will probably be the fastest way to sell things as they will be able to pay you cash right away for whatever they can sell.
eBay – eBay can be a great way to reach a larger market.
Craigslist – Selling on this free site can be one of the easiest ways to make money fast, but be safe and don’t fall for any Craigslist scams.
Garage/yard sale – This can be an easy way to sell many things at once, plus you can do it all from your home. A downside is that the pay is usually lower.
Facebook – There are specific groups on Facebook dedicated to selling items to someone in the same city as you.
Become an Uber or Lyft driver.
Spending your spare time driving others around can be a great money maker, and it’s one of the most interesting ways to make money fast as you can meet all sorts of people as a driver. Read more about this in my post How To Become An Uber Or Lyft Driver. Click here to join Uber and start making money ASAP.
Here’s a quick snippet from an interview I did with an Uber driver:
“For those unfamiliar with rideshare, it’s basically a way to hail a ride with a smartphone app. There are thousands of drivers out there just like me who work full time jobs, part-time jobs, etc and whenever they want to drive, they can just turn their app on and they’ll be matched with passengers in need of a ride. The entire transaction is cashless and everything is done over your mobile app.
You can drive 80 hours a week if you’d like or you can take an entire month off from driving.
Everything is handled by the app and you are paid via direct deposit weekly. Some customers will tip in cash but for the most part, the entire transaction is cashless.
As a driver, you have to pay for pretty much everything including gas and maintenance on your car but typically I don’t use more than a few dollars worth of gas per hour. The big ‘hidden cost’ is probably the depreciation of your car but you do get to deduct 56.5 cents/mile on your taxes as a driver.”
Find random Craigslist jobs.
There are many, many random one-time jobs that you can find on your local Craigslist.
One great thing about these jobs is that you usually get paid before or right after you complete the work, which means that you can get paid the same day!
To find random gigs in your area, just go to Craigslist and find the “gigs” section.
Here are some jobs I found through a quick search:
Remove yard debris
Gem Show helper
Dirty house cleaner
Passing out flyers and brochures
Kitchen cleaner
Motorhome hauler
Movie extra
Here’s a screenshot of one of these easy to find Craigslist gigs:
And here’s another job that, if you have the right equipment, would make you a nice $200, especially if you were heading that direction anyway:
Rent out a room in your home.
Renting out a room in your house will not make you rich, but I do know a few people renting out rooms in their home and they have been able to pay off their home completely due to this.
If you are interested in renting out a spare room on a short-term basis (such as for vacations), I highly recommend you check out Airbnb. I know people who are making thousands of dollars a month by renting out rooms on this site!
There are many places where you can advertise your rental. You can put a sign on your front lawn, advertise in a newspaper, or place an ad online on a website such as Craigslist.
Everyone and everything is online now, so posting your ad online will most likely be your best choice, and would make this one of the ways to make money fast, especially as it would get someone renting from you quickly.
Always be honest with what you list in your advertisement. You should be honest about how big the room is, what rooms come with the agreement, if there is a separate entrance, and more. Also, be sure to include pictures of what is included.
Read more at A Complete Guide To Renting A Room For Extra Money.
Answer surveys online.
This one won’t earn you actual cash overnight, but you may be able to make money right away and eventually receive your first check or payment within a month.
Survey companies I recommend include Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, Clear Voice Surveys, VIP Voice, Product Report Card, Survey Club, ProOpinion, Pinecone Research, Opinion Outpost, Survey Spot, and Harris Poll Online.
These survey companies are free to join and free to use! You get paid to answer surveys and to test products. It’s best to sign up for as many as you can, as that way you can receive the most surveys and make the most money.
Walk dogs and/or pet sit as one of the ways to make money fast.
If you love animals, then you may want to consider walking dogs or pet sitting if you are looking for ways to make money fast.
With this side job you may be going over to your client’s home to check in a few times a day, you may be staying at their house, or the animals may be staying with you.
For dog boarding, you may be able to make around $25 and up per day for watching someone’s dog or other pet in your home. This is a great service to offer, and if you love animals (which you should if you are going to do this) then it could be fun as well!
Rover is a great company that you can sign up with in order to become a dog walker and pet sitter.
Learn more about this at Rover – A Great Way To Make Money And Play With Animals.
Babysit and/or nanny for families.
Parents are almost always looking for good babysitters, and they are willing to pay well for a night out.
Websites like Care.com and SitterCity.com allow you to advertise your services while letting you see if there is anyone in your area needing your services. This means that you may be able to find a one-time job or even a permanent babysitting gig just by searching online.
When I was just 14, I was making $10 an hour babysitting for a neighbor. I babysat 40 hours a week and it was a great way to make extra money! And, I found this babysitting gig by just looking at the bulletin board in my neighborhood.
If you have any special skills or provide extra work, such as cleaning up around the house, teaching the child how to speak another language, tutoring, picking up the child from activities, and so on, you will most likely be able to charge more than $10 an hour too.
Help move furniture.
Moving is a task that most people dislike.
Movers can earn a broad range when it comes to hourly pay, but it’s usually somewhere around $50 an hour if you run your own business.
To find moving gigs so that you can learn how to make money fast, you may be able to simply post an advertisement on Craigslist, placing flyers around town, or telling those that you know. Many people find movers at the last moment, so you may be able to find a quick job quite easily.
By just searching Craigslist, I was able to find several people who needed help moving, as you can see in the screenshot below:
Mystery shop.
Mystery shopping can be one of the more fun ways to make money fast while also getting paid to eat at a restaurant or to go shopping.
While you won’t make your money back right away in most cases, you can sign up for mystery shopping companies today and get your first mystery shop done fairly quickly.
Some don’t require you to spend money either, such as if you do a phone call mystery shop where you just have to call a store and pretend to be a customer with questions.
And yes, I used to mystery shop in the past, and I did it quite often!
A few years ago, I mystery shopped a lot to make extra income. I made anywhere from $150 to $200 a month mystery shopping and received free meals, makeup, and more. I only used Bestmark for mystery shopping, so I know that they are a 100% legitimate company.
There are other legitimate mystery shopping companies that exist, but you should always do your research.
Maintain and clean yards.
Yard maintenance is another one of the ways to make money fast. You can make money by mowing lawns, killing/removing weeds, cleaning gutters, raking leaves, and so on.
While mowing lawns will require you to have a lawn mower of some sort, you could always do something that won’t require much equipment, such as raking leaves.
No one likes to do lawn maintenance. Okay, I guess some people do. But, the majority of people would rather do other things with their time.
Due to this, there are many ways to find yard cleaning jobs. You can:
Post a Craigslist advertisement announcing your services.
Search Craigslist gigs, as discussed above, and see if there are any available in your area.
Post flyers on a local bulletin board.
Announce your services on social media, such as your personal Facebook account.
Go door to door and see if anyone needs any work done.
What other ways to make money fast can you think of? What have you done in the past when you needed quick cash?
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