12 Ways to Make $1,000 Quickly No Matter your Skills

An unexpected bill, sudden emergency, or a spontaneous desire to do something crazy may leave you needing ways to make money quickly. Whether it’s $10 or $1,000, there are ways to make money outside your full-time gig and avoid borrowing payday loans.

Once I realized the opportunities to earn multiple income streams, I tried many options. I’ve learned that you must find a gig or side hustle that you enjoy. It shouldn’t feel like work or another chore. It should be something you feel accomplished doing, or that puts a smile on your face and money in your pocket.

When you enjoy your side hustle, you’ll want to learn more ways to make extra cash because it’s catchy. If you’re ready to join the 4.8 percent of adults with multiple jobs, here are 12 great ways to start.

12 Ways to Make $1,000 Quickly

1. Become a rideshare driver
2. Deliver food
3. Hang out with dogs
4. Rent out your car
5. Sell items you don’t need
6. Get into the sneaker trade
7. Land a freelance gig
8. Offer your services locally
9. Share your extra room
10. Test websites
11. Download apps that pay
12. Ask for a raise (or to work more hours)

Become a rideshare driver

Rideshare drivers take passengers from Point A to Point B. Uber, and Lyft offer opportunities to make extra cash in your free time. You don’t need to set a schedule or even accept every offer you receive.

When you set your app to available, you’ll receive offers with ride details and pay. If you accept the offer, you pick up the passenger and drive them to their destination. Both apps allow drivers to keep 100% of the customer tips.

Considering this option is best if you live in a busy city with plenty of bars, restaurants, events, or a large airport. You’ll find the largest audience/ride demand, potentially increasing your income.

• Qualifications: 19 - 25 years old, depending on the app and you city’s requirements; must have valid driver’s license, insurance, and reliable 4-door vehicle
• Time to start: Usually about a week to pass the background check
• Speed of payment: Weekly direct deposit or instant pay for a small fee

Deliver food

If driving people doesn’t entice you, there are multiple ways to earn money delivering food. You can sign up with apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Postmates to pick up restaurant orders and deliver them to customers. However, ensure you are patient enough to deal with restaurant delays and mistakes, as they happen often.

You can also shop for orders at grocery, convenience, and other stores with Instacart by shopping for a customer’s items, checking out, and delivering them to their location. goPuff is another option that allows you to pick up pre-picked items from a centralized location and deliver them to the customer if you prefer not to spend time shopping.

• Qualifications: 18 years or older, depending on the app with a valid driver’s license, insurance, and reliable car (some areas allow scooters or bicycles)
• Time to start: Usually about a week to pass the background check
• Speed of payment: Weekly direct deposit or instant pay for a small fee with most services

Hang out with dogs

If you love animals, you can create a side gig walking dogs or offering pet-sitting services. Pet owners often need help caring for their pets while they work or travel. You can offer services such as walking dogs at lunchtime, overnight pet sitting services in your home, or occasionally checking in on pets at their owner’s home.

Many people advertise their services on their own, such as on their social media pages or by word-of-mouth advertising. I suggest using apps like Wag or Rover to leverage a larger audience. These apps take care of all the details, including vetting you as a pet sitter and ensuring you receive payment from the client. You’ll pay a fee for using the service, but I like it for the peace of mind it provides.

• Qualifications: At least 18 years old, pass a background check, and prove your pet knowledge with a quick quiz (on Wag)
• Time to start: Usually about a week to pass the background check
• Speed of payment: Weekly direct deposit
• How to earn $1,000: Dog walkers earn an average of $17.64 an hour, so it would take just about 57 hours to earn $1,000.

Rent out your car

Why let your car occupy your driveway when it could earn you money? This passive income opportunity allows you to earn money while you sleep. Many apps offer opportunities to advertise your available vehicle, including HyreCar, Turo, and Getaround. You can make $100 a day or more; depending on how often you rent your vehicle, it can become a lucrative side gig. Just be sure you’re comfortable with someone else driving your vehicle for a day, week, or longer. It can take some getting used to initially.

• Qualifications: Own a vehicle no more than 10 - 12 years old (varies by app) and meet insurance requirements
• Time to start: Usually about a week to get the listing set up
• Speed of payment: Varies depending on trip length
• How to earn $1,000: The average host earns $7,000 - $10,000 a year renting out their car, so it would take about a month and a half to earn $1,000.

Sell items you don’t need

Yard sales can be a great way to earn some extra cash, but if you don’t feel like lugging all your stuff onto your front lawn, you can also list items online for local pickup or to be shipped. You’d be surprised how much cash you can rack up this way. I like Facebook Marketplace for larger items because I advertise to my local market in the hopes of selling the item.

Poshmark is great for designer clothes, accessories, and some home goods, and eBay is perfect for almost any item, especially those you think will have a large audience. You can set up an auction listing and get top dollar for your items.

To be successful on any of these sites, you must take plenty of clear pictures of your items, including comprehensive descriptions, and research similar items to choose a price that will sell.

• Qualifications: Own items with demand for resale and have the ability to list them using a computer or mobile device
• Time to start: Instantly
• Speed of payment: Varies by method of sale (most are instant)
• How to earn $1,000: You could earn $1k quickly by selling large, valuable items or it could take months of selling much lower cost items to reach $1,000.

Get into the sneaker trade

Do you have a pair of Yeezys or Air Jordans? Your sneakers could be worth more than you think since so-called “sneakerheads” will pay top dollar for limited-edition styles. According to estimates, the sneaker resale trade is valued at a whopping $2 billion.

However, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. Sneakerheads know what they want and how much sneakers are worth. Research is key to making it work, including determining which new releases will sell out the fastest and what their resale value might be. Check out sneaker resale groups on Facebook or even Reddit and see what people are talking about the most. You can also stalk eBay to see what’s hot and what people are paying for retro sneakers you have in your inventory.

For example, I found a listing for a pair of men’s Adidas shoes for $34,000. That’s exciting, but the real question is whether they will sell at that price. Instead of looking at live listings, look at completed auctions to see what people actually paid.

• Qualifications: Own sneakers in high demand with a great resale value
• Time to start: Instantly
• Speed of payment: Varies by method of sale (most are instant)
• How to earn $1,000: Depending on the value of the sneakers you have, you could hit $1k quickly selling a couple of pairs of sneakers, or it could take selling 5 - 10 pairs to hit your $1k goal.

Land a freelance gig

Are you highly organized? Consider becoming a virtual assistant and advertise your services on Upwork, Fiverr PeoplePerHour, or Guru. Are you a grammar snob or have a knack for website design? Check out freelance jobs or opportunities to advertise your services on the same sites. Are you handy around the house? You can get paid to help people in your neighborhood by advertising on TaskRabbit.

If you don’t have any ‘special skills,’ don’t worry; there are also opportunities to do small tasks on sites like Amazon Mechanical Turk or Freelancer.

I suggest making a list of what you are interested in or any special skills you possess and match them with available gigs. You can browse sites like Fiverr and Upwork to see what other people offer and then determine what you can do better to capture your target audience.

• Qualifications: Varies based on the website or app
• Time to start: Instantly to a few days, depends on the app
• Speed of payment: Most offer instant pay
• How to earn $1,000:The median pay for freelancers on Fiverr is $71,000/year, or $5,916 monthly, so you could earn $1k by working 30 hours.

Offer your services locally

You probably know someone with a busy schedule who could help with chores, errands, babysitting, or pet-sitting. Let the people close to you know you can lend a hand.

Besides word-of-mouth, consider putting up flyers or advertising on your social media page. All it takes is for a handful of people to know what you offer so they can spread the word. This is a great way to have the opportunity to earn extra money on a whim because you never know when someone might need help.

For example, I have a friend who offers babysitting services. Her neighbors know they can reach out to her when they’re in a pinch, and she’ll help. She makes extra money, and her neighbors don’t have to panic when they need a last-minute sitter.

• Qualifications: Have the skills necessary to offer your desired services, and potentially have references to offer
• Time to start: Instantly
• Speed of payment: Usually instant
• How to earn $1,000: The average babysitting rate is $23.61/hour, so it would take just over 42 hours to earn $1k.

Share your extra room

If you’ve got an extra room, you can make extra money by listing your space on Airbnb. It’s free to list your space; depending on where you live, it could be lucrative. For example, according to Airbnb, you can earn up to $798 a week renting out one bedroom in your New York City home.

However, before renting out a room, be sure you set the appropriate terms and conditions. Airbnb handles the payment, but you must set terms regarding what areas of the house the tenant can use, how they’ll access it, a pet policy, and any other terms you want to include.

• Qualifications: Own a home or room you can legally rent and be at least 18 years old
• Time to start: Usually about a week
• Speed of payment: Up to 30 days for initial payment, then within 1 - 2 days of tenant arrival
• How to earn $1,000: If you earn $798/week, it would take about a week and a half to earn $1k, but the amount you’ll earn weekly varies by location.

Test websites

If you’re looking for a simple way to make money from the comfort of your couch, consider testing websites. You won’t pay the mortgage with this gig, but anytime I can turn ‘couch potato time’ into an opportunity to earn money, I’m in.

UserTesting.com is a popular site that pays users to test websites and apps. While you don’t need special skills, they do require you to pass a simple test to ensure you understand what they need, including how to report issues and errors when testing websites and apps.

• Qualifications: Be at least 18 years old and pass a practice test
• Time to start: Usually within a few days
• Speed of payment: 14 days after completed test
• How to earn $1,000: Most testing opportunities on UserTesting.com pay $10, so you must complete 100 tests to earn $1k.

Download apps that pay

I love that I can quickly turn my phone into an opportunity to earn money. For example, you can download free apps that offer cash back for everyday purchases. All you have to do is shop through the app, get credit for your purchases, and cash out when you reach the app’s threshold. Some of the most popular apps are Rakuten and Ibotta.

You can also turn your phone into an income-earning opportunity by playing game apps or completing surveys. Some of my favorite apps are Swagbucks, InboxDollars, and Solitaire Cash

• Qualifications: Be at least 18 years old and have the required technology (iOS or Android)
• Time to start: Instantly
• Speed of payment: Varies by app
• How to earn $1,000: The average person makes $2 to $5 a day on Swagbucks, so it would take 200 - 500 days to earn $1k.

Ask for a raise (or to work more hours)

Consider asking for more hours or a raise if you already have a job. If you know you’re a valuable asset to your company, make sure your boss is also aware of your contributions, and before you ask anything, be sure you know how to ask for a raise or more hours.

In my experience, some companies have a limited number of overtime hours they can offer. They won’t readily offer them, so you have to ask. The worst thing they can say is ‘no.’

FAQ

Bottom line

I suggest mixing and matching these ideas to create the perfect way to make extra money that works for you. No two people will have the same opportunities or options, so choose what will make the most of your time.

It’s also important to know how to budget, and if you’re always looking for extra money, to figure out why you’re broke. You may need help creating and using a budget to get a job with more predictable hours or to learn how to maximize your time so you can handle weekend side jobs or other side hustles to make extra income.