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16 Best Summer Side Hustles for Seniors

Spend your summer stuffing your wallet with extra cash.

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Updated May 30, 2024
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Summer is a great time to take on a few extra hours of work if you want to make more money as a senior.

Plenty of seasonal options are available when you have free time during retirement and want something to keep you busy while putting extra cash in your wallet.

So check out these senior side hustles that are perfect for the summer season.

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Pet sitting

Halfpoint/Adobe senior woman with dog adobe

Summer means plenty of vacations, which also means pet owners are looking for help.

Consider working as a pet sitter by either taking care of pets inside your home or visiting a client’s home each day to make sure pets are fed and cared for.

Ridesharing

Prostock-studio/Adobe senior man on his auto adobe

Ridesharing allows you to set your hours and drive as much as you want to earn extra income with your car.

This could be a great summer side hustle if you live in an area with seasonal travelers during the summer months.

Tutoring

Miljan Živković/Adobe student having private lesson adobe

Students may be out of school, but the summer is a great time for them to work on subjects they’ve struggled with or take on additional work to stop the potential summer slide in education.

You can work in-person or online and offer your tutoring skills in a variety of subjects, including topics you may have covered when you were working.

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Short-term rental

luciano/Adobe senior man with cardboard box

Summer means tourists who want to travel for events or take a vacation to enjoy the nicer weather.

Consider renting your home out for short amounts of time while you’re not there to earn extra income from your space.

House sitting

olezzo/Adobe mature woman in glasses

Vacationers may want to have someone checking in on their home while they’re away to make sure mail and packages are brought in, or plants are watered.

It’s a great option for just checking in and a good way to make money if you pick up multiple clients.

Babysitting

N Lawrenson/peopleimages.com/Adobe child kissing grandmother

Parents find it difficult to keep their kids busy and cared for during summer break so offer up your services as a babysitter.

You can drive kids to camps or spend the day planning activities with them until they go back to school in the fall.

Gardening

Dusko/Adobe senior man in greenhouse

Gardening is a relaxing activity, especially when it comes to planting new flowers or pulling weeds.

Offer your gardening services for clients who aren’t able to do it or don’t want to do it. You can pull weeds, prune bushes, or help design and plant flower beds.

Food delivery

Halfpoint/Adobe courier delivering to senior woman

There are plenty of events in the summer where hosts may order food for delivery, or perhaps customers don’t want to face the heat to get dinner.

You can work for a food delivery service in the summer such as DoorDash or Grubhub and deliver food to customers while also setting your own hours.

Reselling on websites

Andrii Zastrozhnov/Adobe sealing the parcel

Homeowners use the summer as a time for yard sales and garage sales, so check out your local area and see what you can find.

Look for items you can resell for a profit on websites like eBay, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace to earn a little extra cash from some easy garage sale shopping.

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Blogging

insta_photos/Adobe senior female executive

It may be a great time to start a blog just in time for summer, depending on which topics you want to cover.

Blogs are free to start, and you can earn income from advertising while talking about summer topics like where to go on a summer vacation, places to visit in your local area, or what you need to pack for a summer vacation.

Bookkeeping

goodluz/Adobe senior woman working in office

Accounting is an important part of any business, especially in the summer for businesses that have a new fiscal year starting on July 1.

You can use your accounting and bookkeeping skills for seasonal summer work to help companies prepare their records to finish off the old fiscal year and start a new one.

Notary

Maria Vitkovska/Adobe senior businesswoman using laptop

A notary public is an official who verifies signers and reviews documents that confirm their identity when they sign legal documents.

The summer can be busy with notaries needed for home closings and legal filings. It’s a good idea to get licensed by your state and take on jobs as needed.

Real estate agent

cherryandbees/Adobe giving keys to senior man

Home sales can get busy in the summer months as families move from one place to another.

You can become a real estate agent working in the summer months to help with the influx of clients and help buyers and sellers find their next home.

Selling crafts

pikselstock/Adobe Making ceramics from clay

Turn your crafting skills into profit by selling your crafts for money.

Summer means farmers' markets and art fairs that make it easy to find marketplaces to sell your crafts.

Seasonal event staff

cherryandbees/Adobe barman polishing the wine glass

Summer means outdoor concerts, outdoor movies, and other awesome outdoor events.

It also means venues are looking for support staff for those outdoor events, so think about working concessions or helping as an usher for concerts and other events.

Tour guide

FS-Stock/Adobe elderly man giving a tour

Another option to work with tourists is to take on a job as a tour guide.

You can work with a local company offering tours of your city or specific attractions. You also may be able to become an independent tour guide and give tours on your own.

Bottom line

bnenin/Adobe working on laptop at home

Side hustles are a great way to make extra cash to supplement your income if you retire early or earn some spending cash for your own travel.

It’s also smart to revisit your retirement budget and account for additional income from a side hustle so you know where you stand financially.

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Author Details

Jenny Cohen

Jenny Cohen is a freelance writer who has covered a bit of everything, from finance to sports to her favorite TV shows. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and FoxSports.com.