











Other Side Hustles

Like the Online Side Hustles section above, but these 19 ideas require you to leave your house.

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107. Drive for Uber or Lyft

Unpopular Opinion Alert: I purposely kept Uber and Lyft out of the Traditional Jobs section above because people don’t make as much money driving as they think.

An MIT study based on self-reported earnings and mileage data from 1,100 rideshare drivers concluded they earn an average hourly rate of either $8.55 or $10.00 (depending on the methodology) meaning either 54% or 41% of drivers make less than their state’s minimum wage.

However, this study by Ridester found that drivers overestimate their earnings by an average of 37.4%. If we adjust those hourly rates to account for inflation of self-reported data, the new hourly estimates are $6.22 and $7.28 depending on the methodology.

That same study by Ridester came to this conclusion:

Since our survey breaks out earnings by city, we can look and see that Philadelphia drivers earn more than the $13.70 national median, coming in at $17.62 per hour. But when we deduct the per-mile costs of $0.458 for the 18.27 miles [driven per hour] we get an average hourly expense of $8.37. That means the average Philly driver earns a median income of just $9.25 per hour.

And as that excerpt says, that’s for Philadelphia drivers already making $3.92 per hour more than the national average. Their estimated $0.458 per-mile cost (lower than the IRS rate) doesn’t really change when leaving higher-paying areas, which means the national average hourly rate is something like $5.33 ($9.25-$3.92).

The Takeaway: The average Uber or Lyft driver is netting somewhere between $5.33-$7.28 per hour after all driving-related expenses.

Of course, that’s just an average. You can make more and you can make less. Being a rideshare driver can be a source of income, but many drivers fail to understand that a large portion of their income comes from converting their car’s future value to cash now.

108. Deliver for Postmates or Caviar

If you’d rather transport goods than people, check out Postmates or Caviar (a higher-end food delivery service). Many of the same expense-related concerns about Uber and Lyft apply here, and Ridester did some research to determine the average earnings by Postmates workers considering those costs. They concluded the following:

Drivers have earned up to $25 an hour consistently. This was during the stage when the startup company was onboarding couriers as they entered the market. The actual average wage may be rounded off to $9.23 per hour, recent reports reveal.

This driver worked for both Postmates and Caviar and estimated he made $14.97 per hour before expenses. Because there’s a lot of parking and waiting here compared to driving for Uber and Lyft, let’s say vehicle-related costs are half of what we applied as a rideshare driver. That puts our after-expenses rate at $13.01 per hour.

He also said, “And don’t expect to make this much five days a week. The Logistics Associate at Caviar told me that Mondays through Wednesdays are slow.”

I think delivering for Postmates or Caviar is preferable to driving for Uber or Lyft, but there’s no doubt in my mind this is a slightly more demanding job, too.











Postmates offers a great opportunity to make money while traveling if you’re visiting one of their partner cities.

109. Become a notary

Notaries can make $20 or more serving as professional impartial witnesses. There’s a catch, though: Being a notary is a little restricting state-wise. Most states only let you be a notary in that one state, and you can only notarize documents inside state borders.

However, some states give you more flexibility, and being a notary in these states opens up a little extra earning potential:

Illinois : Residents of bordering states can apply to be a notary

: Residents of bordering states can apply to be a notary Kentucky : Allows out-of-state residents to be notaries

: Allows out-of-state residents to be notaries Montana : Only Montana residents may be notaries in the state but they have jurisdiction in North Dakota and Wyoming

: Only Montana residents may be notaries in the state but they have jurisdiction in North Dakota and Wyoming North Dakota : Only North Dakota residents may be notaries in the state but they have jurisdiction in Montana and Wyoming

: Only North Dakota residents may be notaries in the state but they have jurisdiction in Montana and Wyoming South Carolina : If you live in South Carolina but work in North Carolina, Georgia, or Washington D.C., you can be a notary in those states.

: If you live in South Carolina but work in North Carolina, Georgia, or Washington D.C., you can be a notary in those states. Wyoming: Only Wyoming residents may be notaries in the state but they have jurisdiction in North Dakota and Montana.

It gets a little complicated, so check out this Wikipedia entry if you’re interested.

110. Find local gigs on TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit is the in-your-town version of Fiverr where people post gigs for furniture assembly, moving help, and general handyman (or handywoman!) work. “Taskers” as they’re called set their own rates and apply for jobs. If accepted, they complete the work and get paid.

According to Jamie Viggiano, TaskRabbit’s Vice President of Marketing, Taskers who commit to the platform can make upwards of $7,000 per month.

That same article profiles a few Taskers, one of whom I think applies to most people: David Cordova. He charges $25 per hour for events and $60-$80 per hour for more demanding tasks. He tries to take 2-3 jobs per day from Monday-Friday and makes $500-$700 per week. Not bad!

111. Deliver packages with Roadie

One major advantage frequent travelers have is they travel frequently.

Duh, Bryan.

You can make your travel work for you by signing up for Roadie, a service that connects drivers with people who need stuff delivered. When you sign up, Roadie sends you a link to their mobile app, which displays delivery jobs all around the country. Some are short–less than 10 miles–but others are 600+ mile journeys that pay over $200. If you’re already heading that way, it’s a good way to offset your gas expenses.

112. Translate signs, menus, etc.

This one is less formal, but have you ever traveled to a foreign country and seen something translated poorly from the local language to English? I have, specifically menu item descriptions that are way off. No matter what the translation is–Spanish to English, English to Chinese, whatever–offer your expertise for a negotiated fee (or a free lunch).

113. Sell ad space on your vehicle

Wrapify lets you turn your car into income by wrapping advertisements around it. They have three levels of ad-takeover, each paying a different range. Check out this example car with full wrapping, estimated to make $264-$452 per month.











Nielsen data shows that car advertisements give companies a great ROI. You can get a piece of that with Wrapify.

In addition to Wrapify, check out these other car advertisement companies:

114. Sell your things

Downsizing is a necessary part of life on the road. In fact, unless you have a helpful family member who can lend you free attic space, it may actually cost you money to keep your stuff. Instead, free up space and make some scratch by selling your things on eBay, Craigslist, OfferUp, Poshmark, Mercari, the Facebook Marketplace, or other marketplace apps.

115. Rent out your home

If you aren’t going to be living in your home, let someone else pay your mortgage. List your house or apartment on sites like Airbnb, HomeAway, or VRBO. You can also cut out the middleman and sublet through Craigslist.

116. Be a movie extra

Want to make $180 and be a movie star? Try becoming an extra. Find a casting agency, like Central Casting or Backstage, and create an account. If you’re spending time in or near a particular city, Google “casting agencies in [city].”

There may be a fee to sign up, but after that, all you do is wait. When film crews need someone near you, they’ll call. Your job is to be reliable and do your best to meet their needs. If you do a good job, expect more calls.

117. Housesitting

A fun way to make money while traveling is to housesit for other people who are traveling. And sometimes those homes are luxurious. We’re talking better-than-a-hotel fancy. Just make sure you’re good with pets as Trusted Housesitters found that up to 80% of housesitting gigs are because the homeowners want someone to look after Fido.

Trusted Housesitters is a great way to find gigs. There’s an annual membership for both homeowners and sitters ($119) but no other fees are taken out for each sit you complete, and the average homeowner pays $25-$45 per day.

Other housesitting sites to check out:











Trusted Housesitters has 1,000s of house and pet sitting opportunities around the world.

118. Petsitting and dog walking

As mentioned above, 80% of housesitting jobs are really petsitting jobs, so you can use a lot of those sites to find petsitting gigs, too. However, you can also just straight-up dogwalk or petsit, either in someone else’s home or your own.

Rover is the leader in pet-related services. This thread on Rover’s forum is a good discussion about how much you can make. The consensus seems to be that $1,000 or more per month is doable if you’re willing to dedicate 20 hours per week. That puts the pay at about $12.50 per hour. One person said, “I’m netting $1,000-$1,100 a month working about 20-25 hours a week. I could make more if I boarded…” and the use of “netting” there makes me think those numbers are after Rover’s 15% service fee.

119. Babysitting

Care.com is like Rover but for kids.

(I actually read somewhere that Rover is like Care.com but for pets, but I like dogs more than kids so I flipped it.)

The site matches up sitters with people who need babysitting or other personal care services, such as senior care. Indeed reports that the average babysitter or nanny makes $13.74 per hour with senior caregivers making $16.34 per hour.

120. Make money by getting in shape

Physical fitness is an important part of our daily lives. In fact, a study in Cardiology found that not exercising is worse for you than smoking.

HealthyWage and Achievement are fun ways to make money hitting your fitness goals.

HealthyWage lets you make a weigh loss bet, and if you hit your goal using their verification system, they pay up. If not, well, you lose your bet. Their prize calculator gives you an idea of the kind of money you could win, but you have to enter a weight loss goal that’s at least 10% of your starting weight.

Achievement gives you points for completing certain fitness goals, such as logging food on MapMyFitness or recording a workout on Strava. For every 10,000 points, you earn $10 in redeeming power. You can earn up to 80 points each day for each kind of tracked activity–walking, cycling, running–plus up to 6 points each day for things like logging food and sleep. This person said they walk 6,500 steps per day and average 52 points from it. If you do that, plus log your food and sleep, every day, it’ll take 188 days to earn $10. Clearly this isn’t a big money-making app, but it’s a great way to stay on target for your health and fitness goals.

121. Recycle bottles and cans

“There is gold in the streets just waiting for someone to come and scoop it up.”

When Walter White said that, he was referring to crystal meth. But he also could have been talking about empty bottles and cans. Apparently, a full-time can collector can earn $30-$50 per day. That’s about $1 per hour scavenging for 20 cans.

Of course, you could also drive to Michigan for that sweet, sweet $0.10 deposit.

122. Donate plasma

Plasma is the clear part of your blood made up mostly of water with enzymes, salts, and proteins. Each donation takes 60-90 minutes and pays $20-$50. To be eligible you must be 18-69 years old and weigh at least 110 lbs. Depending on where you go, you can donate up to twice every seven days, giving you an earning range of $160-$400 monthly.

However, donating plasma isn’t always pleasant. Donors often feel drowsy or lightheaded after the process, and donating frequently gives your body little time to recover. If you’re physically active, be careful with how often you donate.

123. Secret shopping

When Dawn and I lived in Hawaii, we used to find secret shopping assignments on iSecretShop that paid us to evaluate our local grocery store. All we had to do was go in, do our normal shopping, snap some pictures of whatever they wanted–the produce section, the deli, etc.–maybe talk to an employee, and then document it online. In return, we got $25.

Other secret shopping sites to check out:

124. Keep your ears open for odd jobs

When we were visiting Tombstone, Arizona we went to a bar called Four Deuces Saloon. We enjoyed some local beers on tap from Tombstone Brewing Company (awesome brewery) and Old Bisbee Brewing Company (pretty good) when we met a man named Nic who was also passing through town. We got to talking and asked what he does for work. Nic told us he doesn’t work for money but rather for food and a place to park his minivan in exchange for doing odd jobs.

About an hour later we were all talking to a local from Tombstone who runs a hot dog stand. Nic seized the opportunity and asked our friendly purveyor of frankfurters if he needed any help setting up the following day. The hot dog man said yes, and I presume Nic showed up the next morning to help out in exchange for a meal.

One of the best parts of traveling is embedding yourself in the local culture. As you’re doing so, keep your ears open for opportunities to provide value. Hopefully you can earn some money instead of just hot dogs.

125. Hunt for diamonds

Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is one of the only places in the world where the public can search for diamonds. Over 33,100 diamonds have been found there since 1972. That’s an average of two diamonds per day at an average size of 0.25-carat. This site has some fancy math that estimates the value of a rough diamond at $375 per carat, making each 0.25-carat diamond worth $98.75.

In 2015, someone found an 8.52-carat diamond there worth $1 million. In 1924, before it was a state park, someone found a massive 40.23-carat diamond that holds the distinction of being the largest diamond ever found in the US.

So grab your shovel and your box screen and get hunting!