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11 Ways to Generate Passive Income (Without Driving Anywhere)

Make some extra cash without leaving the comfort of your own home.

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Updated May 28, 2024
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Dreaming of boosting your income without getting a second job or even leaving your house?

Passive income can work for you while you’re cooking dinner, taking a shower, or working at your main job. Adding multiple streams of income that are (mostly) hands-off can help you bulk up your bank account.

Let’s explore several different ways for you to create income streams from the comfort of your own home.

Get paid up to $225 a month while watching viral videos

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Open a high-yield savings account

kerkezz/Adobe financial advisor consulting a client

If you’re saving up for a big purchase like a car or house, why not move the balance to a high-yield savings account and put your money to work?

Switching your cash to one of the top high-yield savings accounts is a smart way to earn compound interest. Most of these accounts have no or low minimum balance requirements.

Purchase certificates of deposits

Andrii/Adobe conceptual business photo

CDs are available for a variety of term lengths, usually with at least a 3-month minimum. The longer you leave the money, the more interest you will earn.

There may be minimum deposits needed of around $500-$1,000 for this passive income strategy.

Invest in peer-to-peer lending

Atstock Productions/Adobe businessman giving or paying money

Peer-to-peer lending allows you to lend money directly to individuals or small businesses. You then earn money on the interest while the borrower is repaying their loan to you.

This type of lending may allow you to receive higher-than-average returns.

Stop overpaying when you shop online

Shopping online has its perks. It's super convenient, but it can be time consuming to find the best deals. Instead of hunting for coupon codes (that don't always work!) and opening tons of browser tabs comparing prices, you can try Capital One Shopping.

Capital One Shopping makes saving money effortless. Just add the browser extension and when you check out, it'll scour the internet for coupon codes to help you save cash. And before you check out at 25+ major retailers, Capital One Shopping will notify you with a friendly pop-up if the item you're buying is available cheaper somewhere else.

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Join a real estate crowdfunding platform

Jirapong/Adobe agree to buy a home

You can skip the hefty upfront cost by using real estate crowdfunding platforms like Fundrise or Crowdstreet. These platforms pool money from multiple parties to fund real estate projects.

Investors make money when these projects turn a profit, though profits are not guaranteed.

Start a YouTube channel

N Felix/peopleimages.com/Adobe live streaming a broadcast online

With an audience of 2.7 billion people, YouTube offers creators a gateway to passive income.

Building a loyal audience can take some time, but once you do, you can monetize your content through ads, brand partnerships, and even sell your own products.

Design print-on-demand items

Chaosamran_Studio/Adobe drawing sketch design creative Ideas

Print-on-demand services like Printify or Printful, work by creating, packaging, and shipping custom items after a customer makes a purchase.

Using free design software like Canva, you can create digital art or graphics to put on t-shirts, tote bags, mugs, and more.

Rent your car

NDABCREATIVITY/Adobe happy customer buying new car

Car marketplaces like Turo and Getaround allow you to rent your car when you’re not using it. These platforms even offer key-free exchanges so you don’t have to meet your renters face-to-face.

Rent your unused spaces

pikselstock/Adobe young female backpacker renting apartment

Using sites like Stow It or Neighbor.com, you can rent your unused space to people who need it. It’s like Airbnb but for your stuff. You can rent an empty garage, shed, barn, driveway, or land. Rentals are on a month-to-month basis, but you can allow people to rent for several months to years at a time.

Shop through rebate sites

JHVEPhoto/Adobe commerce and online retailing company

Sites like Rakuten and TopCashBack offer shoppers cashback credit on purchases from hundreds of online stores. Whenever you want to buy something online, you click through their affiliate links and they give you a small percentage back.

You can also make even more by choosing to redeem your credits for a gift card instead of a cash payout.

Resolve $10,000 or more of your debt

Credit card debt is suffocating. It constantly weighs on your mind and controls every choice you make. You can end up emotionally and even physically drained from it. And even though you make regular payments, it feels like you can never make any progress because of the interest.

National Debt Relief could help you resolve your credit card debt with an affordable plan that works for you. Just tell them your situation, then find out your debt relief options.

How to get National Debt Relief to help you resolve your debt: Sign up for a free debt assessment here. (Do not skip this step!) By signing up for a free assessment, National Debt Relief can assist you in settling your debt, but only if you schedule the assessment.

Try it

Sell digital products

iana_kolesnikova/Adobe thinking about something while sitting

Digital products take an upfront effort to create the product. But once you create a course, ebook, or digital journal, you can sell the item over and over again.

The best digital products are ones that solve a specific problem, like a household budgeting spreadsheet or digital journal for weight loss.

You can sell your product on a marketplace like Etsy, or build your own store through Shopify and drive traffic to your site with online ads.

Start a blog

bnenin/Adobe hands typing on laptop keyboard

Pick a topic you know a lot about and write blog posts that answer specific and highly searched questions. Sites like Answer the Public can help you find highly searched terms in your niche.

You can monetize your blog through Google Adsense or affiliate links. This will take some time to build up an audience, but once the work is done, you can start collecting passive income and building wealth.

Bottom line

Flamingo Images/Adobe standing in an modern office

Not every stream of passive income is completely autonomous. With a little time and effort on the front end, you can set up multiple streams of income that will bring you extra cash on the back end.  

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Author Details

Holly Humbert

Holly is a writer who recognizes that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to personal finance. She is passionate about entrepreneurship, women in business, and financial literacy. With more than four years of experience, her work has been featured on MarketWatch and The Ways to Wealth.