How To Make Quick Money

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You carefully planned out your monthly budget. All the expenses that you could possibly anticipate were accounted for. Above all, you were on track to save until a couple of unexpected expenses knocked on your door.

Sounds familiar?

Yes, we’ve all been in that situation. More times than we would like to admit!

Now, you are in need of quick money either to pay your rent and grocery bills or if you’re in college, you just want to make that extra cash and save.

In either situation, this article is going to help you with 24 ways to make quick money!

24 Ways To Make Quick Money

Let’s look at a few ways to make money fast. These are actionable steps that you can take TODAY and earn money quick.

Depending on your situation, you can pick the one or a combination that works for you.

Living Expenses

1) Negotiate Your Rent

One of the big-ticket items on your expense list is rent. Depending on the state and the city you live in, the amount of savings on the rent will vary.

First, research the rents in your neighborhood and compare how much will you pay for a similar apartment or a shared space. Then, you can reach out to your landlord 2-3 months prior to the end of your lease.

Make your landlord aware that you really love staying there and that the neighborhood feels like home. If there are any other specific things that make that place/neighborhood special, call it out.

Finally, ask them if they can match the rents of similar apartments/shared space in the neighborhood so they do not have to worry about finding another tenant.

Even if you can negotiate a $50-$100 decrease/month, that’s money in your pocket.

2) Earn Cash Back On Groceries

These days, pretty much every grocery store has a rewards program. If you want to earn money quick, this is one of the quickest ways.

Make sure you enroll in these rewards program and you either get a discount on certain items or you get points in your account that has some dollar value.

Once you start using the rewards program consistently, the money will add up.

Walmart, Target, Wegmans, Price Chopper, Whole Foods, and others offer a rewards program that helps you earn cashback, so go ahead and enroll.

You can also download my FREE Budget Checklist to get started or click on the below box to download.

3) Earn Cash Back At The Pump

Are you feeling the pain of rising gas prices? Almost every credit card offers a cashback option on gas. This is another way to make quick money (in the form of cashback)

Every time you swipe your credit card at the pump, you automatically earn cashback. Depending on your card, this could be either 1%, 2% or even higher.

Best cashback apps according to MoneyPantry
Best cashback credit cards according to CreditKarma

4) Earn Discounts And Cash Back For Shopping

Imagine you get paid to shop for your own needs?

I love the idea of availing discounts and cash backs on shopping. Every major retailer has a rewards program and you receive discount coupons and codes as a member.

These discounts can sometimes be as high as 70% and that is a deal you should not pass on.

Sign up to become a member of all the retailers you shop at and this is one of the quick ways to make money.

Related Article: How To Save Money

Deliver And Earn

5) Make Quick Money By Delivering Packages

Another way to make quick money that has become very popular in the last 3-5 years is to deliver for Amazon & Walmart

Both these retail giants are going head to head in expanding their delivery services and are wooing customers with 1-day delivery.

So, in order to ensure 1-day deliveries, they need a lot of local drivers that they can rely on to deliver packages the next day. You can take advantage of this business expansion and work flexible hours over the weekend and make quick extra cash (pays $15-$20/hour on average)

6) Deliver Pizza

Pizza shops, restaurants and chains like Domino’s and Pizza Hut are always looking for help.

2-3 hours of evening or weekend delivery for pizzas can help you earn quick money. The average pay is around $10, so you can easily make about $40-$60 in one weekend.

7) Deliver Groceries

Another way to earn quick money and make an impact in the community is to deliver groceries.

There could be a number of reasons why someone cannot go and get their groceries. From someone being sick to parents attending kid’s activities and not having the time, you can help relieve their stress by delivering groceries at their doorstep.

Grocery delivery services, like AmazonFresh, InstaCart and ThriveMarket are amazing services that you can work with and earn quick money working flexible hours.

Also, you can deliver for Postmates and earn quick money. The average pay for delivering groceries is between $10 – $15 per hour.

8) Get Paid To Shop

Instacart is gaining its popularity for grocery shopping services. The startup operates on a simple matching principle.

As an instacart shopper, you will receive a digital list from the customer. Once you have it, you will shop the items on the list and deliver it to their doorstep.

The average pay during peak hours is around $20 and during non-peak hours is about $10.

Offer Your Services

9) Music Lessons

If you are into playing any musical instruments like Guitar, Keyboard, Piano, Drums, etc., then you can offer lessons and earn quick money.

One of the best ways to have fun and earn money is to teach someone that you pursue as a hobby. You can easily make decent money on the side while working flexible hours.

10) Freelance Services

You can make quick money literally in hours by offering freelance services. From logo, website & graphics design to writing, translation and digital marketing, you can earn quick money by freelancing.

How?

One of the popular platforms that allow you to reach thousands of customers is Fiverr. The best part is that business owners from anywhere in the world can reach out to you online for your services.

Another such platform is Upwork where people look to hire skilled freelancers and professionals.

11) Mowing Services

You can help a neighbor mow his/her lawn and earn quick money. There are so many people that need help with their yard every week.

Hiring a contractor to take care of your lawn is not cheap. If you are looking for quick cash over the weekend, you can help someone mow their lawn while they take care of other business.

It’s a great way to build your network too!

12) Tutoring Sessions

If you are good at studies and like to teach someone, this is a perfect way to earn money fast.

For example, you can offer tutoring sessions for math, science or even technical coding for that matter. The other advantage is that you get good at your own craft by teaching. The average pay is between $10 – $20 per hour.

Alternatively, you can create an online course on Teachable and sell it online.

13) Become A Virtual Assistant (VA)

There are countless small businesses that need someone to help them on an as-needed basis.

For example, if the business owner is busy with building a business, he or she is always going to need help managing emails, calendars, appointments and someone who can reply to emails.

Another way you can make money quick is by managing their social media platforms. A small business might not have the manpower to dedicate someone to manage their social media presence.

Upwork and Timeetc are popular platforms for VA services.

You can easily make $15 – $25 per hour on average by offering virtual assistant services online plus work flexible hours.

14) Coaching Services

If you are a sports enthusiast, you can earn quick money by offering coaching services.

School teams are always looking for good coaches to bring their expertise to the field and train the kids. Baseball, softball, football, soccer, tennis, track and many other such sports need coaches with an experience that can help the kids get better at the sport.

It can pay between $15 – $25 per hour on average.

15) Refereeing Services

Similar to coaching services, you can also be a referee for evening and weekend games.

It’s a good way to be in the game and make an impact but has a lighter workload vs. being a coach. The average pay is around $15 per hour.

Earn Money By Selling Stuff 

16) Organize A Yard Sale

Take a look inside your storage areas and I bet you’ll find stuff that you either do not need or use.

You can organize a small yard sale and sell items that are in good shape. The payout can be significant if you have old antique items that are hard to find elsewhere.

Also, a yard sale can be an excellent opportunity to network with your neighbors and others who stop by to check out. It can help build your social skills along with your sales and marketing skills (to sell your items) which can come in very handy.

17) Sell Stuff On Facebook And Ebay

If a garage sale is not your preferred choice to sell items, you can sell it on Facebook Marketplace and eBay.

You can sell literally everything from phone cases/phones to cars on both sites. Given the extremely powerful databases of both sites, you can make a good chunk of money on the side by selling items you don’t need.

To learn more about Facebook Marketplace, check out the details here.

18) Flip Items Online

Flipping items between online platforms has really gained traction in the last 5-6 years. You can make quick money if you know how to leverage the price differential between the 2 platforms for the same item.

It’s as simple as buying an item on 1 platform and selling it on the other (for a higher price) and earn the difference in prices.

19) Donate

If you look around your basement, garage, or storage room, I’m sure you’ll be able to find stuff you don’t need.

You can donate the stuff you do not need to thrift/goodwill stores. The store will provide a receipt with the equivalent $ amount.

And, the BEST part? In some cases, your donations are tax-deductible. See IRS guideline here

20) Sell Old Electronics

If you have old phones, cds, video games, and other electronic items, you can make quick money by selling them online.

Sites like Amazon, Decluttr, Swappa, Gazelle, and others make it easy to get rid of those unwanted items and cash out.

Since there are a number of sites that offer selling electronics, each tries to differentiate it from the others either by price or by rules on the types of items accepted.

Related Article: Money Mistake To Avoid

More Ways To Earn Quick Money

21) Write Online Reviews

Do you write product reviews after shopping online? Yes, I do too! Now, you can make money for every review you write.

I love this especially since I’m not doing out of the routine but now getting paid.

Vindale Research focuses on paying you for online reviews across multiple products and product categories giving you some variety.

Similar to Vindale, there is Review Stream where you can leave reviews for all kinds of products. Also, there is Software Judge that focuses on product reviews related to technical products and softwares.

22) Take Online Surveys

Good companies that are customer-centric are always looking for customer feedback to improve their products and services.

So, they offer you the opportunity to earn quick money by taking surveys that can help them either innovate or improve an existing product.

Survey Junkie is a popular site for online surveys across multiple products. Also, check out Swagbucks that offer free gift cards for your points. I like Swagbucks as you can earn points even for your search activity and shopping.

23) Drive With Uber And Lyft

If you like to drive and meet new people, driving for Uber and Lyft could be a perfect gig to earn quick money.

The advantage of driving for them is the flexible hours that you can choose and drive whenever you want. They also offer new driver bonuses depending on your city.

24) Get A Promotion

If you are looking to take a leap in terms of your earnings, focus on getting a promotion at work. Take on more responsibilities, support your manager in projects that he/she is not expecting your help, and elevate your performance.

Once you have the achievements on your list, you are in a driver’s seat to ask for a promotion and get a raise. The raise is generally more than a few hundred dollars so that will go a long way in supporting your financial goals.

Check out the article How to ask your boss for promotion from I will teach you to be rich.

Summary

Remember, no matter what phase of life you are in, going the extra mile to make a few extra bucks goes a long way.

It all starts with your mindset and the sooner you develop a savings mindset, the more you will be inclined to make quick money. Even an extra $1,000 toward your student loan at 5% compound interest can save you $629 over 10 years.

At the end of the day, if your goal is to achieve financial freedom, you need to start making quick money right now. Try as many ideas and options as you’d like and see what works the best for you.

How do you make quick money? Please share your experience, thoughts, tips, and ask away any questions in the comment section below!