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

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

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.

Monetize your hobbies

Average earnings: $17.59 per hour and up

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.

Use 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.

Property rental

Average earnings: $37,956/year

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.

Storage space

Average earnings: $294/month

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.

Ride-sharing

Average earnings: $19 an hour

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.

Car rental

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

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.

Food delivery

Average earnings: $17.34/hour

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.

Consider money-making opportunities online

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 selling items, tutoring, affiliate marketing, and more.

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.

Online tutoring

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.

Affiliate marketing

Average earnings: $39/hour

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:

• ShareASale
• Impact

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.

Social media

Average earnings: $28/hour

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.

Surveys

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

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

• SurveyJunkie
• Inbox Dollars
• Swagbucks

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.

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.

Stock market 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 or Robinhood can help you start on your investing journey.

Acorns¹² 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.

Robinhood³⁴ 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.

Since all investing carries risk, thoroughly research any platform or service to understand how it works and your potential for loss before depositing funds. Read and understand all account information, including disclosures and fee summaries, and avoid speculating or trying to time the market. Instead, focus on leaving your money in stable investments for as long as possible and contributing consistently over time.

Cashback apps

Average earnings: Varies based on what you buy

Common cashback apps include:

• Ibotta
• Rakuten
• Honey
• Capital One Shopping

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:

• PayPal
• Gift cards
• Check

Don’t forget budgeting apps

Finally, a budget app like Rocket Money or Trim can help you negotiate and save money on your bills, putting more money back into your bank account. These apps can help you:

• Track your spending
• Develop a budget
• Make automatic savings based on your spending habits

While many of the services are free, these sites also have premium services for a fee that will help you negotiate bills or cancel unwanted subscriptions. Although you have to pay for these bill-canceling features, it may be worth using them if the app can help you get rid of unwanted subscriptions that save you serious cash.

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.