Side hustle jobs to make money NOW

Thank you to VIPKID for sponsoring this blog post.

Whether you’re out of work/ had your work reduced or if you’re just trying to add another source of income to help meet your money goals, it can be so hard to find legitimate work from home jobs.

Especially when money is tight, it’s frustrating to wade through all the multilevel marketing and scammy “opportunities” that either won’t make you any money for a long time, or worse, will cost you money!

Here are some completely legitimate work-from-home jobs that can create an additional income stream.

1: Tutoring

I’ve recommended VIPKid before because I personally know several people who LOVE working for them and earn a great side hustle income with the company. If you don’t know who they are or what they’re about, here’s the skinny.:

VIPKid has over 700,000 students and 100,000 teachers worldwide. Their primary customers are children (and their parents) in foreign countries who need to practice and learn English. VIPKid provides the curriculum and teachers make their own schedules for when to teach. Students are taught one-on-one in short, live video sessions following the lesson plan.

Teachers can expect to earn $15-22 per hour and can teach from anywhere in the world.

Who can teach?

All you need is a bachelor’s degree, two years experience working with kids (experience could be volunteering, babysitting, teaching) and legal eligibility to work in the US or Canada.

FUN FACT – Older teachers can do really well on VIPKid as many overseas parents value life experience and maturity.

Tips for Success

• Be engaging – Successful teachers are personable, upbeat people who can connect with and encourage kids as they try to learn! Show this in your VIPkid interview and they’ll see you’re a great fit!
• Show your professional side – You may be working with kids but their parents are the ones booking the teacher based on your online profile. Use a Linked In-style profile photo with professional dress, good lighting and a clean-cut appearance to help get slots filled.
• Use props – VIPKid teaches children English the same way we teach American children the basics. Great VIPKid teachers use what they have and free or cheap props to help illustrate what they’re teaching. If the lesson is on fruits, a teacher can hold an apple when saying the word to help illustrate the lesson. You can also print off photos online or use things around the house to show the words. The Dollar Tree also offers lots of flash cards and dirt cheap teaching tools for just $1. (I’d wait to buy these until you know what lessons you end up giving over and over!)
• Hide distractions – Teachers who use a plain wall or fabric background are able to keep students on track and focused on the lesson and props.
• Increase income – VIPKid offers incentives in the form of more dollars per hour. You make more per hour if you do X number of bookings per week, what hours you teach during (peak hours are Beijing time).

Check out VIPKid here.

2: Gigwork online

Already good at something? Make some money doing it! If you have a skill or a creative bent, you can monetize it by offering it for sale on sites like Fiverr or Upwork, or locally on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist (use common sense y’all, be safe.)

This is obviously less guaranteed than doing per-hour work, and fluctuates by demand, but you can set your own prices and do this work entirely from home with a bonus of it likely being something you enjoy!

My finance friends Talaat and Tai did a challenge to see how much they could make on Fiverr doing podcast editing, brand consultation and financial coaching. They made over $200 across two months working only a few hours. Check out their video on this here.

If you have graphic design experience, know how to do any sort of web work, know a musical instrument or enjoy making music, art or crafts, you can create an account and try to sell it online.

After creating the job offered, you get to sit back and do the work when people buy it, it’s not a hugely active gig. It also costs nothing to create a job or account.

I’ve actually helped people re-arrange, decorate and organize their rooms for a small fee (when i was in my debt payoff days) and while I’m a novice at interior design, I could offer my services digitally.

3: Rent out your property/ stuff

• You can monetize your yard or driveway by signing up as a host with UpCloseRV and allow people passing through to park their RV on your property.
• You can rent out your home if you leave on AirBnb.
• Turo  allows you to rent your car out for a day.
• Neighbor lets you rent space in/around your home for other people to store stuff.

4: Deliver stuff and people

If you’re willing to do a little commuting you can still stay safe and make good extra money in your community. Here are a few companies that pay well and are hiring now.

AppJobs: Appjobs compiles gig work into one website so you can see who’s hiring now in your area, what the rates are and save a little time.

Ubereats: You know what ubereats is! Deliver food to people for a fee. Their laziness is your profit.

Other delivery companies: Instacart, Amazon Flex, Grubhub and Doordash.

5: Help people out

Sites like Care.com and TaskRabbit.com help connect you with local gig work where you help people with specific jobs such as babysitting, senior care, running errands, etc. The pay varies, as does the job length and difficulty, but its worth checking out.

Walk dogs: People are going back to work soon and will likely be needing their dogs walked again! My friend Vee loves Rover.com and make a great profit walking furry friends. I’ve used this service myself and Rory loves it!

See more of my side hustle suggestions in this video.

*Some of the above links are affiliate links meaning we may earn a small commission when you use them at no additional cost to you!