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33 Ways to Earn a Living Without a Job
Here are some ideas to get you started. This list, of course, is by no means comprehensive.
- Cleaning houses
- Cleaning out vacated rental properties (as a perk, sometimes you get to keep items that have been abandoned, and you can sell them on Craigslist or make use of them yourself)
- Yardwork: raking, mowing, landscaping
- Trimming trees
- Cleaning out gutters
- Repairing items: home repairs, small appliance repairs – whatever you’re good at fixing, there is likely a person who needs that item fixed
- Cooking for those too busy to cook for themselves
- Babysitting
- Before and after school childcare (It can be really tough for working parents to find someone willing to drive their children to school and pick them up)
- Weekend or overnight childcare
- Pet-sitting
- Dog walking
- Laundry service (I recommend doing this at a laundromat instead of running up your own utility bills – you can build the price of the coin operated machines into your fee)
- Run errands – some folks are working during regular business hours and don’t have the time to do those little errands like stopping by the dry cleaner, going to the grocery store, etc.
- Shovel snow
- Help people move – if you have a strong back, you can be the hired muscle
- Wash cars
- Do a paper route (it’s not just for kids anymore)
- Recycle aluminum or plastic
- Recycle scrap metal – if you have a truck, run an ad offering to pick up used appliances, etc. Most people are thrilled to have someone haul off their old junk.
- Pick up poop – a friend I used to know made a LOT of money from his willingness to pick up dog poop in people’s back yard on a weekly basis
- Make and sell…something. Maybe you make jewelry, knit scarves, carve duck decoys – whatever. Find a venue to sell your handmade items, like Etsy, craft sales, EBay, or the local paper.
- Rent out a room in your home – you can get big dollars if you live near a college.
- Sell excess garden goodies from a stand in your front yard
- If you have a really good eye, you can make money buying cool vintage stuff at yard sales and online, cleaning it up, then reselling it to an antique shop. Be careful, though – you can just as easily lose money doing this.
- Do you sew? You can make money doing mending and alterations – many tailors charge up to $20 to hem a pair of pants.
- Got a green thumb? Set up and tend to vegetable gardens for your neighbors
- Sell social media influence: if you have a busy Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook page, sometimes you can do sponsored posts for companies who want to reach the people that interact with you
- Start a blog about something you love. Keep in mind, this is not immediate money. It can take months or even years before you make a profit.
- If you have a marketable talent, create an account on Fiverr. You can sell logos, digital artwork, small online jobs…the sky is the limit but the price is $5.
- If you have professional experience, use it to hire yourself out as a consultant. You can charge a great deal of money to provide an outside perspective in many different types of industries.
- Teach something. Again, you can use former professional experience for this. But you can also teach some of the marketable skills above, like crafting, repairing, or gardening.
- Network marketing sales. I know, I know. You’re going to say I’m crazy. But there are a lot of people making a lot of money selling things like Scentsy, Pampered Chef, and essential oils. Beware of spending a whole lot of money getting started, but if you find a product that you love and believe in, you may end up joining the ranks of those who are very successful at it.
