15+ Ways to Make Extra Money Today

Written By Melissa  |  Earn Extra Income  |  3 Comments

We’ve all been there… the rent is due soon and you need to make money now. As a young adult, there are many expenses, planned and unplanned. This means sometimes you have to go above and beyond to make extra money.

If you need to make extra cash today, we’ve got just the list to help you do it! Not everything on this list will be quick and easy, and some may require elbow grease, but if you need to make extra money now, this list will help you do it!

Ever wish you could make extra cash during your free time? Turns out, it’s easier than you think! Look around your house or think about the skills you already have, and start making money right now.

These 15 ways to make extra money are a great jump-start to building a side business around your stuff and your skills.
Find! This post did not just have the typical ways to make extra money. And there's one that I can do this weekend! I'm on it ;)

Make Extra Money This Weekend by Selling Items Around Your House

Selling items around your house is one of the easiest ways to make extra money on the weekend. Chances are, you probably have old stuff you’re not using anymore, whether it’s electronics, clothes, or even furniture. By selling items you no longer use around your home, you’ll clear up space around your house and make extra money.

1) Gone

You have probably already heard of (or tried!) Craigslist and eBay. But there are other ways to sell your items beyond these sites. Gone is an app that helps you sell your electronics. Gone is awesome because it sends you all packaging and shipping materials, plus they sell your item for you at the best price. You get paid once your item is sold, and you can receive a check, PayPal transfer, or Amazon gift card.

2) OfferUp

Don’t want to deal with shipping at all? Check out OfferUp, which connects you to other buyers and sellers in your location. OfferUp is an app. All you do is take a picture of the item you want to sell, price it, and wait for someone to contact you. OfferUp is similar to Craigslist in that you’ll be selling your items locally. Meet your buyer in a public location, preferably with a friend to be safe.

3) SwipSwap

SwipSwap is a funny name, but it’s serious about selling your items. If you’re on Facebook, type in “SwipSwap (or Swip Swap) [your city]” and look for groups of people in your area who are buying and selling items. Swip swaps are like Craigslist, but are extremely local and Facebook groups are often private. In many big cities, you have to prove you live in the city before you can be approved.

However, local swip swaps are one of the safest ways to sell your items and make extra money on the weekend. To sell, take a picture of your item, include a brief description and the price, and wait for someone to bid on your item. Some people will try to haggle, whereas others will message you to buy outright. Another bonus to swip swaps are that people live fairly close to you, meaning you won’t have to drive out of your way (or pay for shipping) to sell.

Sell Your Clothes

4) Poshmark

Poshmark is an app that helps you sell your clothes. If you’ve been meaning to sell a pair of Tory Burch flats that never fit right, Poshmark is your chance!

Selling on Poshmark is easy: take a few pictures of your item, add a description and price, and wait for someone to purchase. When someone purchases your item, Poshmark helps with shipping by sending you a prepaid and pre-addressed label.

5) ThredUp

Similar to Poshmark, ThredUp sells designer clothes and so much more. I’ve had the most luck with ThredUp in selling because I typically don’t sell my designer clothes (I wear them until they can’t be worn anymore…). However, I do occasionally sell non-designer items that simply don’t fit me, and they do sell well on ThredUp.

Earnings on ThredUp vary (from 10-80% depending on the price of the item), but ThredUp does all the work of selling your item for you, from processing your item, to putting it online, and sending it on its way. All you do is pack a bag (provided by ThredUp) with gently worn, clean, and preferably in-season items, then drop it off at your local post office. You can even schedule a pick up if you’re super busy! Once received by ThredUp, your items are processed, posted online, and you’re contacted as your items sell. You make money after the items sell.

6) Consignment Stores

If you need money now, raid your closet and your apartment for anything you can sell. If you have some gently worn clothes, especially work-appropriate attire, make some extra money by taking your clothes to a consignment store. Consignment stores will split the profit with you, usually 60-70% to you and 30-40% to the store, but the only work you have to put in is dropping your clothes off!
Is your stuff too big to take to a consignment store? Or do you want to save time and money by not driving? The internet to the rescue! Online consignment stores like Thredup.com will help you sell your gently worn clothing. And don’t forget Craigslist for selling bigger, heavier items. The best part about Craigslist is people will generally text or call you right away for your items, meaning you’ll make cash money fast.

7) Yard Sales

Yard sales might get a bad reputation for being time-consuming or a hassle, but they are quick ways to make extra money. Go through all of your old stuff, even things that are more than gently worn. Kitchen items, furniture, and baby items generally do the best at yard sales, but you’ll be surprised at what sells!

Make Extra Money & Sell Your Skills

Don’t really want to sell anything around your house? That’s okay, there are still ways to make extra money this weekend!

8) Amazon’s Mechanical Turk

For a little extra money, you can use your skills to do a few side tasks on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Tasks vary daily, but can be anything from transcription to basic research. Most tasks can be finished relatively quickly, and once your work has been approved, you get paid.

9) Fiverr

Have an awesome voice? Like to review resumes? Are you great at creating logos? Consider selling your skills online at Fiverr to make extra money. Since your work will be selling for a base price of $5, you’ll want to choose something not terribly time intensive. Need stock photos for your creative designs? Check out this list of 100+ places to find free stock photos online.

Say you’re really great at designing logos: for $5, offer one black and white logo design. For an extra $5, you can offer multiple revisions. For another $5, you can offer logos in color. This way, you’re not wasting your time doing multiple revisions for someone who only wants to pay you $5, and you’re making extra money for your talent.

10) Become a Rideshare Driver

If you have a car, like to drive, and are sociable, you may love being a rideshare driver. You can choose one of the “big three” ridesharing companies, or you can choose all three: Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar. The best money-making days are usually the weekends, especially after the bars close, but you don’t have to drive at 2 a.m. just to make extra money. Driving can be very lucrative during the day, especially during rush hour, so give it a try and drive for a few companies to see which one suits you best.

11) Be a Sitter

To make extra money, offer your skills as a babysitter to friends and family. Don’t like kids? Offer to petsit or elder-sit! Ask around and see if anyone needs a sitter, either to watch their children for a night, their pets for a weekend, or to check in on an elderly family member a few days a week. You could make money right now – and in the future, if you like it!

12) Offer Your Skills on TaskRabbit

Similar to Fiverr.com, TaskRabbit markets your time for money, and you set the price. If you can plan an event, move furniture, or decipher Ikea instructions, you could find yourself in demand on TaskRabbit. TaskRabbit tasks come up regularly, which makes it an easy way for you to make some extra cash today and in the future.

13) Make Extra Money Surfing the Web

We’ve covered Swagbucks before, where you can earn money for surfing the web and doing various online tasks. Not only is Swagbucks free to join, but you can earn money throughout the day just by using Swagbucks for regular internet searching and more.
In addition to Swagbucks, you can use Inbox Dollars to make some extra money today. Like Swagbucks, you can take surveys through Inbox Dollars, play games, and even redeem grocery coupons to make extra cash.

Turn your Trash into Treasure

14) Sell Your iPhone Photos

If you love taking pictures and already share them online, consider getting paid for your talent. Foap.com will take your photos and sell them to major media outlets, then split the profit 50/50. The best part about Foap is you can make some serious money from it: you’re paid $5 per photo you sell and, if brands like your photos, they can pay you hundreds to thousands of dollars to take specific photos. This could lead to a full-time job in photography.

15) Rehab Old Furniture

Someone else’s trash can be your treasure – if your talent is reviving the past. Visit yard sales around your neighborhood, or rehab old furniture you already have. You can sell it at your own yard sale, put it up for sale on Craigslist, or take it to a consignment shop to possibly get even more money for it.

Bonus! Sign Up to Work as a Brand Ambassador

While it may not make you money today, consider signing up with a marketing agency to make additional money on the side. If you find yourself consistently needing extra money, or if you work freelance or part-time hours, you may want to look into taking more gigs over the long term. You’ll have the most luck looking for brand ambassador positions if you’re in a larger city. For best results, join a few marketing agencies and grab the jobs as they open. If you want to learn exactly how I made $20 an hour in college as a brand ambassador then grab this extra money video course.

I’ll tell you exactly how to find jobs as a brand ambassador and exactly what you need to know to book them consistently. The extra money course also includes specific steps you can take to earn money online.

Thanks to the internet, there are a lot of opportunities for you to earn extra money today. In fact, you may have some photos on your phone, furniture in your house, or skills in your repertoire you could sell right now! Consider some of the above money making opportunities for making money right now.

With these 15 ways to make extra money, you’re sure to find something quick and fairly profitable. Over time, if you really want to start a regular side hustle, you may want to consider expanding your Fiverr business, help other people sell their items online. Or even start your own blog. This blog post will walk you through the steps to starting a money making blog.

All of these ways to make extra money will take more time, but they can be worthwhile long-term ways to make extra money, too.