Today I want to teach you effective and legitimate ways to make an extra $1,000 a month or more outside of your full-time job.
Perhaps you are looking to make money to either supplement your income to help with bills, pay off your student loans, or so you can invest more money in the market.
Regardless of why you need to find ways to make an extra 1000 per month, here is the simple truth about making extra money:
Making extra money every month is very simple with the internet.
While most of the ideas below are designed to help you make money from the confinements of a desk and laptop, some are also creative and service-related.
Additionally, what I promise is not to bore you with tick-tack-type ways to make money such as filling out surveys, driving for Uber or scanning your receipts.
Those are legitimate ways to make extra money, (here are 41 ways to do just that) but for today, this article will contain legit ways to make $1,000+ per month on the side!
First, here is a quick list of the actual ways I have personally made $1,000 per month:
Actual Ways I Used To Make 1000 per Month:
Growing up, I worked at a golf course which led to learning way too much about grass. However, this carried over well when I worked for my brother's landscaping company as the lawn division manager.
As a teacher, I was bringing in an extra $5,000-$6,000 every summer working in landscaping. However, that isn't the only way I was able to make an extra $1,000 per month in my 20s and 30s, I also:
- Started my first blog, Money Life Wax at age 30
- Exterior painting (Shutters, doors, and trim of homes)
- Designed websites for clients ranging from $700-$1,500
- Landscaping on my own & yardwork for neighbors
- SEO Consulting, Digital Marketing, & Social Media Management (Current)
- Small business sales (Roofing & Gutters)
- Selling things online
- Rental properties
- Investment Returns
I did all of this because my wife and I had a combined student loan balance of over $275,000 when we got married in July of 2016. We had to do something and we had to do it fast!
An extra $1,000 per month was an extra $12,000 per year that we could use to pay off our student loans. Now, with the student loans close to being gone, we can save for our future and invest more in our brokerage accounts!
16 Ways To Make an Extra $1,000 a Month
1. Start a Blog
Starting a blog in 2017 was one of the best ideas I ever acted on.
The process of starting my own blog was fairly simple and within 30 minutes, I officially started what is now Money Life Wax. However, just starting a blog didn't immediately turn into $1,000, or even $100 for that matter.
It wasn't until I used the skills I learned blogging and paired them with #6 below (Digital Marketing) that I started pulling in $1,000+ per month just six months later.
I did make $25 with my first affiliate sale just two months in and after learning as I went, I was slowly able to increase my blogging earnings. But keep in mind, there are countless bloggers making $1,000's and in some cases millions per year blogging. My friend Kelan and his wife make $250,000 per year blogging.
If you're seriously considering blogging, here a few tips:
- Start with Bluehost and get hosting, a domain, WordPress & security for $3 a month
- Have a catchy domain name
- Write 4-5 articles before going live
- Think of this as a long term way to make money (treat it that way by doing research, staying consistent, and networking)
- Read this entire article on blogging pitfalls to avoid
2. Crowdfund Real Estate With Fundrise
Buying a rental property (#5) to make an extra $1,000 or more per month takes capital, takes expertise, and truthfully some guts.
Dealing with renters, maintaining a rental property and filing taxes can be a pain, but if you don't want to be a landlord and you still want to invest in real estate, look into crowdfunding.
While traditional crowdfunding can be seen as risky if you don't do your homework, the first thing that comes to crowdfunding these days is Fundrise.
You can literally become a real estate investor with Fundrise in a few minutes..!
A well diversified portfolio is key and having real estate in your portfolio is simple with Fundrise. You start by selecting a plan and initial minimum investments begin at $500 and go up from there.
Next, select the target of your investment;
- Supplemental
- Balanced
- Long-term growth
The average annualized return for all Fundrise investments in 2018 was 9.11%, net of fees, assuming dividend reinvestment, according to Fundrise.
So in order to create a $1,000 per month with Fundrise means you will need some time and capital to grow your accounts balance, but even a small investment of $1,000 can start helping you earn returns by choosing the supplemental income program!
3. Manage Social Media Accounts
Are you someone who knows how to grow Instagram accounts and Facebook Pages? Or perhaps you know how Pinterest's algorithm ranks pins.
Either way, if you can leverage your social media skills, you can make a killing (like $1,000+) managing social media accounts for small businesses starting at a minimum of $150 a pop!
Small business owners are constantly looking to unload burdensome tasks including social media. Often times large digital marketing companies charge way too much for social media management or a secretary with little experience is left posting kitten photos online (with no clue what the social media strategy is).
This is where you come in!
Here is how to land social media management jobs for small businesses to make extra money:
- Create a portfolio of some sort or if you have a large following on Instagram, use that to your advantage (it's OK if you don't have results yet)
- Do a little research on current strategies (all social media companies want engagement on their platform)
- Understand what ranks and gets engagement
- Check out graphic design options like Canva
- Let your network know you're managing accounts and you can do a three month trial for a discounted rate
- Offer several social media service packages
- Use one job to land your next job (<— this is huge)
- Provide tons of value and go above and beyond to lock in ongoing clients
- Lock in four clients at $250 a month and you have $1,000 per month!
- Automate posts using Buffer or Hootsuite
- Never buy followers
- Explain to clients it's not about followers, but meaningful engagement with a local audience!
4. Landscaping (Mulch, Edge & Cleanout)
Don't knock it until you try it, but landscaping is lucrative when you know what you're doing, and trust me – after some simple plant knowledge – landscaping isn't hard to learn.
With my hatchback, a tarp, some gloves, a few landscaping tools and my experience from the landscaping industry I have completed landscape jobs upwards of $700 in a single day.
Mowing grass at $25 a yard is a simple way to make $100 per week when you have four neighborhood yards (over the course of a summer that is an extra $1,000+), but the real money is in landscaping.
Each spring/summer, many HOA's hand out property notices and often times landscaping is one of the many infractions homeowners have to deal with.
Weeds, overgrown shrubs, lack of mulch and poor grass quality is easy to fix with a quick trip to the hardware store, but many fail to make it happen… which is good for you.
Offering clean-out and mulching services is a quick way to next $150 up to $1,000 depending on the size of the yard.
Here Is How You Can Sell Landscaping Jobs To Make $1,000 per Month:
- Look for neighbors with really poor landscaping
- Create a quick flyer with a QR scan code to a google form or email, and include your cell number. Don't forget to pull at the heartstrings a little and let them know you're a neighbor or teacher, etc.
- On the flyer, include rates and a description of your services. Let them know that your goal is to increase curb appeal and meet HOA standards
- To complete the job, edge the mulch beds, clean out old mulch, pull weeds, and place in a tarp to dump somewhere (or use organic debris bags to throw away) since it's organic. Next, apply mulch!
- Always collect money upfront or at least 50%!
5. Buy a Rental Property, or Two.
Buying a rental property isn't something you do on a whim. Real estate takes time, energy, research, effort, and a little guts to start getting into the field.
The best rule when it comes to determining the value of a potential rental, is can you get 1% of the purchase price each month in rent? For example, if you buy a $150,000 house, can you rent it for $1500?
While landing a rental that meets these metrics might mean beating the streets, but if you can do it – you're going to bring in some profit. The mortgage on $150,000 is approximately $750 per month depending on what you put down.
That same rental is now netting you somewhere around $750 per month, almost an extra $1,000 per month! Just don't forget about property maintenance, taxes, and other factors!
What About Air Bnb Rentals?
Air BnB owners got hit hard at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but some owners amassed a small fortune beforehand.
While there is overhead involved with Air BnB vacation rentals, most owners claim profitable properties and get a vacation spot at the same time.
Key factors to consider include peak rental seasons, the ability to rent year-round, and property management/cleaning fees.
Of course, you could always Air BnB a room if you live close to an urban city or airport, or simply rent out a room/basement in your home for $1,000 per month.
6. Start a Web Design & Digital Marketing Company
Want to know how to easily make $1,000 a month? In fact, want to know how to make $1,000 in a single day?
Design a website for a small business and offer website maintenance packages.
Nothing beats having ongoing web management clients and designing websites for small businesses from the comfort of your home – a way to make money that is seriously lucrative.
In 2018 I started a digital marketing company offering content writing and social media services (#3). Since 2018, I have expanded my agency to focus on:
- SEO consulting
- SEO writing
- Web design
Each of which I had no clue about in 2017 when I started online entrepreneurship. Fast forward to today and I routinely bring in over $1,000 per month outside of my full-time career in just digital marketing alone.
To start a digital marketing company, start by doing this:
- Identify 1 or 2 areas of expertise (don't try to do everything, be great at one thing) whether it is SEO, Design, Graphic Design, Social Media, Writing
- Do research on your area of expertise, consider starting an LLC
- Look into courses for SEO or Blogging to get the upper hand
- Make a Facebook Page and Instagram handle
- Create a simple website with Bluehost/WordPress for $3 a month
- Tap into your power base, aka your local network
- Look for small businesses with bad websites & internet presence
- CALL them and reach out
- Market your services
Serious about digital marketing to make extra money monthly? Email me here and I will send you some of my packages to help you out!
7. Flip Things, Sell Them Online
If you haven't heard of Flea Market Flippers, they are a power couple who buy things at flea markets, garage sales, online, and even sometimes find things in dumpsters, then fix them up and sell them on eBay!
Not only have they made lots of money doing this (see video below where they made $79,000 in one year – that is $6,500 per month) but they have helped countless others do the same!
Rob and Melissa have a free webinar you can tune into here to learn more if you're looking to learn how to flip items and sell them online to make an extra 1000 or even more each month!
In addition to flipping things as one of many ways to make an extra 1000 a month, you can also sell things from your house using these methods:
- Facebook Marketplace
- Amazon
- Craigslist (guide to selling here)
- Offer Up
- Posh Mark
- Etsy.com
- Garage Sales (guide to selling here)
What About Retail Arbitrage?
Retail arbitrage refers to the buying of certain items at a store to sell for a profit online.
In this case, buying things at stores like Home Goods, Tj Maxx, Marshals, Ross, and even larger well-known retails stores such as Target. Retail arbitragers buy items to sell on platforms such as eBay or Amazon and typically those who look to make extra money doing this do so by selling items like:
- Sunglasses
- Jerseys
- Sneakers
- Decorations
- Anything unique
- Electronics
8. Freelance Design & Freelance Writing
Content is huge in the digital age. Every company is constantly looking to reach more and more potential clients and they do this with written content, video content and social media.
You can offer freelance services to companies and business owners in the form of freelance writing, graphic design, video editing, web design, social media help, editing, and copy-writing.
Most freelancers charge a flat amount per project or an hourly wage of at least $25!
To start freelancing, build a portfolio of some sort to showcase your ability, this might even mean offering some of your writing or design services for free.
Next, be sure to reach out to influential freelancers (this is one I have used to write articles who rocks) on social media or join Facebook Groups for freelancers.
Next, after getting some pro advice and creating your freelance portfolio, start looking for clients, and offer your services at a discounted rate! As you do more and more work, you can increase your price after adding upfront value.
Find freelance clients by:
- Friends and business owners
- Promote yourself on social media
- Use freelance platforms such as Fivver or Upwork
Some freelance writers are able to generate $50 up to $150 per article. Write 10 articles at $100 each and you have no made an extra $1,000! Or you can look at this way, just 40 hours a month at $25 an hour is an extra $1,000 per month on the side!
9. Tutor English Online
One of the most popular online and work-from-home gigs right now is tutoring English online.
Most online tutoring gigs pay around $20 an hour and offer flexibility to when and where you want. Granted, to make an extra $1,000 or more each month means tutoring 50 hours a month, this isn't a bad gig for teachers turned to stay at home parents or college students!
Popular online tutoring platforms include:
- Wyzant
- VIPkid
- Chegg
- Tutor.com
- Freelance toutoring
>> Read my review of the best online tutoring gigs here.
10. Become a Real Estate Agent
Aside from renting a room in your home, perhaps one of the best way ways to make an extra $1,000 a month is to become a real estate agent outside of your full-time job.
Earning extra income can go a long way and selling a few houses per year is a smart way to start earning.
That being said, don't confuse being a real estate agent and making money doing so as something you can put minimal effort into and create success.
People skills, organizational skills, and negotiation skills are all part of the game and if selling homes was easy, everyone would do it! That being said, if you're serious about becoming a real estate agent to make more money, check out the interview below that teaches you the steps:
>> Read & watch this interview on How to Become A Profitable Agent
11. Sell Photos Online
Like taking photos?
Of course, you can take photos as a freelance photographer or a wedding photographer and make $1,000+ in a single wedding, but you can also sell stock photos online!
Selling photos online requires a few skills, like starting with taking and editing high-quality photos, but it can be profitable! Not to mention, taking photos is typically something photographers enjoy, so getting paid to sell photos is a win-win.
>> For a complete guide to selling photos online, check this article out: 9 Places to sell photos online
12. Start an Amazon FBA Business
An Amazon Fulfillment Business is no easy task, but it can be lucrative.
With such a large market share, Amazon is constantly outsourcing and looking for support in fulfillment areas (think about how fast you get that book you ordered just yesterday).
However, to make $1,000's, there is a lot to learn, like:
- How to filter the products you consider selling
- How to discern the best opportunities
- How to create your seller account
- Learn the FBA process
- Learn about Amazon Seller Central
- Manage your business
- Create great product listings
That being said, if you're serious about exploring Amazon FBA as a way to make money, start with this guide to starting an Amazon FBA Business
13. Consider Direct Sales & Multi-level Marketing
Ok, let's be honest, who hasn't been hit up by “One of those things,” that clearly was copy and pasted several hundred times?
Regardless, there is something behind the industry if it's topping $35 billion in North America alone. While direct sales and multi-level marketing is not for everyone, that doesn't mean it's not a viable option for you – depending on who you are and what you want.
There are certainly those who go about their direct sales business all the wrong ways, however, some stay-at-home moms and couples find direct sales/network marketing as a viable way to make money.
Often times MLM's are confused as pyramid schemes due to the “Pyramid” like structure, however, actual pyramid schemes are illegal and shut down by the FTC.
To make an extra $1,000 a month with direct sales, prepare to hustle and don't think it will happen overnight. If you're seriously considering direct sales as a way to make extra money, be sure to:
- Recognize it will take tons of effort and involves selling (any side hustle does in a sense)
- Find a company and product you can align with
- Be authentic and organic in your approach, not spammy
- Treat it seriously to get rewarded seriously, it's a business you're starting in most cases
- Make sure the company and your sponsor has had success
14. Write & Sell an Ebook
Let's say you're an expert in a specific industry or in a specific niche, such as wine or SEO. You could leverage your background knowledge to write an eBook and sell it online.
To make a $1,000 a month selling eBooks you would need to sell:
- 1000 books at $1
- 200 books at $5
- 100 books at $10
- 20 books at $50
Don't let this overwhelm you! Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, you need to first write the book. And by book, it doesn't have to be a traditional book like you might be thinking.
You can write a how-to guide, such as “How to pay off debt fast” or “How to start your own roofing company.” While this requires expertise on your end, there is something you're good at.
Sit down, pull up a Google Doc, and set out to write 500 words a day for 1 month straight. At the end of the month see what you got, edit it and see if you can't land a few sales!
Note: This may take time, however with a large social media following you can expedite this process!
15. Become a Virtual Assistant
Perhaps you're an expecting mother looking to stay at home when your child is born and still need at least $1,000 per month to help with bills.
Consider exploring becoming a virtual assistant from home and making a $1,000 or more doing so! While you don't have to be an expecting mom – anyone can be a virtual assistant – what you need to possess is organizational skills, social media skills, or some sort of skill.
If you are unsure what you can do as a virtual assistant, you could take a virtual assistant course like this one and learn how to make an extra $1,000 a month or more.
Typical Virtual Assistant Jobs include:
- Social media work
- Freelance writing or design
- Bookkeeping
- Calendar & organizational help
- Email outreach
- Other tasks businesses need to be completed
16. Flip Cars
I have a friend who loves working on cars and he looks for deals on Craigslist all the time. Once he purchases a car – usually a Honda or Toyota – he fixes them up, drives them for a few months and sells them for a profit.
While he certainly knows what to look for and what to avoid, flipping cars is just something he does outside of his full-time job as a remodeling business owner.
One tip he shares, look for cars that hold value or have a large niche like followings (think Honda Civics, Nissans, Toyota Tacomas), and if someone is looking to get rid of it fast or it “Won't start,” go check it out.
If you can jump it – then it starts and might need some tuning. You can buy cars, dirt bikes and motorcycles and make extra money each month flipping them!
17. Clean Houses
Making money isn't always glamorous. But neither is having debt or not growing your net worth! So if you're someone who likes cleaning or organizing, consider offering these services on the side!
A single-family home typically costs $150-$200 per cleaning and locking in a few regulars can help you make an extra $1,000 or more every single month!
Junk Removal To Make $1,000:
Hauling junk from people's home's to the dump can net some quick cash for a reasonable amount of work. Be it tearing down an old fence or deck, or perhaps cleaning out a rehab, taking things to the dump can help you haul in $100 and up per load!
>> If you're looking for consistent work, look into the 13 Best Part-Time Jobs here
18. Invest in Stock Index Funds
Yes, you can make quick money investing in individual stocks, however, that takes expertise and lots of effort… and some upfront capital… and expertise!
All joking aside, if you're looking to make $1,000 per month on the side, there are other ways to use investing to your advantage that don't require you to be the next Warren Buffet.
One way is to use the Motley Fool Rule Breaker's service that looks for stocks primed for significant growth.
Also, there's the Stock Advisor that makes successful stock recommendations. This Motley Fool newsletter review will be your guide whether you're a risk-taker or like to pick strong stocks to hold on to for some time
While apps like Robinhood, Acorns, and M1 are all great starting points for investing, simply investing in stock index funds might be your best bet to amassing returns in the $1,000's.
A comparison of perhaps the most popular index funds, or ETF's by Vanguard – the VOO and VTI – speak for themselves (see the best Vanguard Index Funds here):
As of Dec 31, 2019. Photo Credit: VOO vs VTI
Dollar-cost averaging – investing the same amount of predetermined money every month regardless of the market – might be the simplest and most effective strategy. But it also will put you on the fast track to making an extra 1000 or more each month… passively!
I ended with stock index fund investing as a way to make $1,000 or more per month because here is the magic behind creating side hustles:
Use The Money To Invest!
The goal is not to side hustle forever, but to instead pay off your debt then redirect side hustle money into a brokerage account or rentals to earn more money that is passive in nature.
Taking the extra $1,000 you make each month and habitually investing it in your brokerage account with Vanguard or another brokerage for three consecutive years would put you in a postion to have $1,000 per month investment returns.
Making an Extra $1,000 a Month Is Simple
If you take away anything from this lengthy article on ways to make an extra $1,000 per month is that all of this will take effort and action on your behalf.
Don't let that thought of make $1,000 scare you from making your first $100. Sometimes a big goal – like needing extra money to pay down your debt or save for a house – might result in over analysis on your part, thus never taking action.
The key to any side hustle that is going to actually generate some serious side income that could even become a business for you, is just taking that FIRST STEP!
- Want to start a digital marketing company? Create a social media handle and spend 15 minutes a day growing it.
- Considering walking dogs as a small business owner, find one dog to walk and make business cards
- Thinking of freelance writing? Reach out to a Facebook group and find out where to start
Networking is key to making extra money, but don't underestimate the power of simply taking one step forward each day.
My first blog sucked, I re-branded within 60 days and I would have never imagined that in 5 months I would have my first $1,000 month blogging/digital marketing.
So here is to you taking some action and making that extra $1,000 per month!
Josh writes about ways to make money, pay off debt, and improve yourself. After paying off $200,000 in student loans with his wife in less than four years, Josh started Money Life Wax and has been featured on Forbes, Business Insider, Huffington Post and more! In addition to being a life-long entrepreneur, Josh and his wife enjoy spending time with their chocolate lab named Morgan, working out, helping others with their debt and recommend using Personal Capital to track your finances.