11 Best Side Hustle Ideas [Earn $1,000+ Per Month]

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There are many articles on how to make money from side hustles, but here’s what makes this one different:

I’ve used the exact side hustle ideas in this blog post to help me:

  • Pay off debt
  • Save more money
  • Make more money

And, I’m going to show you exactly how you can diversify your income through flexible side hustles to help you move closer to financial freedom.

Side hustles have already become popular with millennials pre-COVID and the recent pandemic has accelerated the rise of the side hustler.

americans under 35 side hustle statistic

Image: The Millennial Money Woman | Source: Fortune

With my list of side hustles below, you can:

Let’s jump right in. 

Best Side Hustle Ideas

1. Affiliate Marketing on Twitter

MMW Rating
5/5
Affiliate Marketing on Twitter

Earning Per Hour

$0 to $25+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$0 to $5,000+ per month

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

10/10

Recommended Resource

Do you want to make up an extra $100-$1,000+ per week?

Do you love social media?

If you answered “yes,” then affiliate marketing on Twitter could be the right side hustle idea for you.

To start your journey as an affiliate marketer on Twitter, you’ll need to:

  • Build your Twitter audience
  • Learn affiliate marketing
  • Promote content

To make money on Twitter, you will first have to build your audience and establish that you are a trustworthy source. 

The Create 24/7 Course is designed to do exactly that: to grow your audience and build their trust through high-quality and aesthetically pleasing content.

I took the Create 24/7 course myself, and here’s what I learned:

  • How to build a high-quality audience
  • How to create aesthetically pleasing content
  • How to consistently develop high-quality content
  • How to connect and actively engage with my audience

After dedicating my efforts to the tips and tricks offered in Create 24/7, I built my audience up to over 55,000 followers in just about a year.

Here’s how I started earning $3,000+ per month just using my Twitter account: I learned Twitter affiliate marketing by taking this Twitter Affiliate Mastery course.

If you’re serious about making money on Twitter, this course is the blueprint to make you $100’s and $1,000’s per month.

Make sure that your content adds value to your audience too, and that you’re not just pushing promotions and other affiliate links their way. Otherwise, you’ll probably lose your followers’ trust.

2. Freelance Writing

MMW Rating
5/5
Freelance Writing

Earning Per Hour

$0 to $50+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$0 to $10,000+ per month

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

10/10

Recommended Resource

Have you ever wondered if you could make money (we’re talking north of $3,000 per week) just by sitting down at your computer and writing? 

That’s $12,000 per month.

If you enjoy writing and if you enjoy learning something new, then you should consider joining the Writing to Riches Community.

Here’s what you get when you join the community:

  • Instant access to advanced writing strategies
  • Updated and personalized writing instructions
  • Instant access to marketing and sales strategies
  • A safe space for you to receive feedback on your writing

I’ve personally joined the Writing to Riches Community myself because I don’t ever want my writing style to become stale. 

I know that to be the best, I need to learn from the best, and this community will help me get there.

This is the community that can move you from an average or novice writer to a better (and higher-earning) one.

3. Create and Sell eBooks

MMW Rating
5/5
Create and Sell eBooks

Earning Per Hour

$0 to $20+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$0 to $2,500+ per month

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

10/10

Recommended Resource

Are you interested in earning $2,000 in one week, like I did?

You’ll want to ask yourself these questions first:

  • Are you focused?
  • Do you enjoy writing?
  • Do you want to work from anywhere?
  • Are you comfortable being your own boss?
  • Do you want to work on your own schedule?

If you answered yes to most or all of these questions, then you writing an ebook may be right up your ally. 

Let me tell you from first-hand experience:

Writing an ebook can take a long time (it took me about 100+ hours from start to self-publishing my ebook), but within the first week of releasing my ebook – How to get Rich from Nothing – online, I had already made $2,000!

To some of you, $2,000 may not sound like much – but to me, that money was everything.

If you want to make some spare cash on the side and self-publish your own ebook, here’s are the steps you may want to take now:

Selling ebooks offers a very high-profit margin (aka you don’t have a lot of expenses), you can work from literally anywhere, and you don’t have to store books in a physical space, because you’re selling ebooks!

Guys and gals – with enough practice, you could start earning serious money just by selling your ebooks.

4. Blogging

MMW Rating
5/5
Blogging

Earning Per Hour

$0 to $50+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$0 to $10,000+ per month

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

10/10

Recommended Resource

Do you want to make more than $10,000 per month?

If you answered yes, then blogging could be an option for you.

To me, there are 6 key ingredients to becoming a successful blogger:

  • You have to love writing
  • You should be considered an expert
  • You have to be patient with your blog
  • You need to be consistent with your writing 
  • You have to be persistently marketing your blog
  • You have to enjoy connecting with your audience

So if you want to have the potential to earn $10,000+ per month and feel like you have these 6 key ingredients, then what are you waiting for?

In fact, some bloggers even make upwards of $100,000 per month!

I started this blog back in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with the hope that I could help out millennials and young professionals struggling to make ends meet. 

Now, with the help of HostGator, which runs my website, I can regularly post high-quality content to help out my readers financially. 

Here’s why I like HostGator:

  • It’s reliable
  • You get 24/7 customer service
  • WordPress is included with HostGator
  • You get a free domain name for the first year
  • It’s inexpensive ($2.75 per month, introductory offer) 

Especially for beginner bloggers, HostGator is a fantastic web hosting platform.

It gets better, you can save up to 60.5% with my HostGator discount code: TMMW.

5. Build a Course

MMW Rating
5/5
Build a Course

Earning Per Hour

$0 to $50+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$0 to $50,000+ per month

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

10/10

Recommended Resource

If you want to build an online business, answer to no-one but yourself and make a ton of money, then you may want to consider building a course with Teachable.

Teachable is a website where you can build a course on virtually any topic that you feel you are an expert in and you can sell your course to the world, 24/7. 

You can build a course about anything.

Below are some ideas:

  • Writing
  • Gardening
  • Mathematics
  • Graphic design
  • Content creation
  • Language translation
  • Social media marketing

Whatever you write about, just make sure you are darn good at it too. 

Here’s when your course will not sell through Teachable:

  • You’re vague in your teaching
  • You don’t communicate with customers
  • You’re not familiar with your course topic

Most notably, you have to be able to market your course. 

Below are some suggestions on how to market your course:

  • Using your email list
  • Using your blog or website
  • Using your social media account

Developing a course can literally see you earning more than $50,000 per month…

But that’s only if you:

  • Take your time (it can take months) to build your course
  • Put in the effort and hard work to make your course user-friendly
  • Are patient, even if you are not seeing immediate income from your course

Let me tell you building your course will take a lot of time and it’s certainly not easy. 

But once you see those $100’s, $1,000’s, or even $10,000’s coming into your bank account, you’ll know that your hard work and patience has certainly paid off.

6. Invest in Cryptocurrency

MMW Rating
4/5
Cryptocurrency Investing

Earning Per Hour

N/A

Potential Earnings

$0 to $20,000+

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

10/10

Recommended Resource

At the request of my mom, I have included cryptocurrency as one of the best side hustles… and you know what?

I think she’s right – you can make a lot of money with different types of cryptocurrency.

There are many types of cryptocurrency, like:

  • Ripple
  • Bitcoin
  • Litecoin
  • Dogecoin
  • Ethereum

Here’s when cryptocurrency could be a good side hustle for you:

  • You like risky trading
  • You want to trade 24/7
  • You want extremely efficient markets
  • You want to be a player in the digital currency market

Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t invest in cryptocurrency:

  • You still have to pay off high-interest debt
  • You don’t have an emergency savings account
  • You haven’t invested in your retirement account
  • You’re not taking advantage of your 401k employer match 

Bottom Line: My recommendation is to only invest in cryptocurrency with “fun money” – because cryptocurrency is risky. 

Your investment could pay off – but you could also lose a lot or all of your money. 

If you feel like you’re ready to endure the ups and downs of the crypto markets, then consider checking out Gemini.

7. Deliver with DoorDash

MMW Rating
4/5
DoorDash Driver

Earning Per Hour

$7 to $25 per hour

Earning Per Month

$600+ per month

Flexibility

8/10

Income Potential

4/10

Recommended Resource

If you live relatively close to a city and want to earn a bit of extra cash during your free time, then I’d suggest checking out DoorDash.

The cool thing about DoorDash is that you get paid a base pay (which typically varies from $2 to $10 – largely depending on what is ordered) on top of additional earnings.

How you’re paid with DoorDash:

  • Tips
  • Base pay
  • Promotions

Plus, DoorDash gives you additional opportunities to earn money with what is called “Challenges.”

Overall, DoorDash is growing rapidly (founded in 2013 and already partnered with over 300,000 restaurants) and is an awesome way to earn a bit of extra monthly side income.

8. Online Surveys

MMW Rating
2/5
Online Surveys

Earning Per Hour

$0.50 to $1+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$10 to $50+ per month

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

1/10

Recommended Resource

Do you ever feel like staying in bed, watching TV, and still earning a little bit of spare change on the side, all while in your pajamas? 

Guess what – you can make that happen, with online surveys!

Back when I was studying for my undergraduate college degree, I made a few extra dollars with online surveys to help me through the rough spots growing up – and so can you!

Here’s what you need:

  • Wifi
  • A computer
  • Online surveys

Take a look at some of the top online survey companies:

ySense is probably the most user-friendly out of the 3 mentioned – and you can be as young as 16 years old to open a ySense account. 

To earn money with ySense, you can:

  • Watch videos
  • Download apps
  • Sign up for websites
  • Complete paid surveys

Swagbucks, on the other hand, is likely the most popular site of the 3 mentioned.

You can be as young as 13 (with parental guidance) to open an account and start earning money – and potentially start investing!

In fact, I was rejected several times from taking surveys when I first signed up to Swagbucks because my profile didn’t match some of the requirements.

Lastly, InboxDollars is another deal site where you can earn money while watching TV.

With InboxDollars, you’ll have to wait until you’re age 18 to open an account and start earning a few extra dollars. 

Similar to the YSense and Swagbucks, with InboxDollars, you make money when you:

  • Play games
  • Shop online  
  • Read emails
  • Watch videos
  • Take paid online surveys

It won’t be much income, but it certainly can add up and compound over time.

9. Dog Sitting

MMW Rating
3/5
Dog Sitting

Earning Per Hour

$3 to $10 per hour

Earning Per Month

$25 to $1,000+ per month

Flexibility

10/10

Income Potential

4/10

Recommended Resource

If you are a dog lover and want to earn extra money, then Rover is an awesome side hustle idea.

Below are some sweet stats about Rover:

  • On-call vet assistance
  • 24/7 Rover customer service
  • Pet sitter background checks 
  • Complimentary pet insurance
  • 25,000+ pet sitters across the U.S.

On average, you can earn about $25 per day for sitting dogs!!

Here are some of the services you can provide:

  • Daycare
  • Pet sitting
  • Dog walking
  • Dog boarding 
  • Pet transporting

You connect with potential customers through Rover’s online app.

What I love about Rover is that although you communicate via text message to your customers – your actual phone number is encrypted and you use a different phone number through the Rover app.

Aka anonymity. And I love it.

10. Real Estate Crowdfunding

MMW Rating
3/5
Real Estate Crowdfunding

Earning Per Hour

$0 to $10+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$0 to $1,000+ per month

Flexibility

4/10

Income Potential

8/10

Recommended Resource

If you want to make extra money on the side, then you could consider investing in real estate crowdfunding.

However, you will have to take on a little more risk (for possibly a higher reward).

If this sounds like your cup of tea then you may want to consider real estate crowdfunding with apps like GROUNDFLOOR.

GROUNDFLOOR is a platform where you are the bank and lend money to home flippers for a short period of time. 

Below are some basic GROUNDFLOOR stats:

GROUNDFLOOR

Minimum Investment

$10

Fees

$0

Average Returns

10%+

Investor Types

Non-accredited investor funds

Specialization

Residential debt investments

Default Risk

High

A little red flag should be popping up when you see the words “high default risk,” which essentially means that there is a high risk of you not seeing your money paid back in full – or at all.

However, you’ll also see that the average return for most investors who have used GROUNDFLOOR in the past is 10% or more… so it’s not a terrible investment.

GROUNDFLOOR is a risky investment – but there certainly is an opportunity for you to also make money.

11. Real Estate Rental Investing

MMW Rating
3/5
Real Estate Rental Investing

Earning Per Hour

$0 to $10+ per hour

Earning Per Month

$0 to $1,000+ per month

Flexibility

2/10

Income Potential

7/10

Recommended Resource

If you’re a first-time real estate investor and just want to dump your money into rental income opportunities and not into the stock market, then Roofstock may be the right side hustle choice for you.

Roofstock is an optimal platform for:

  • Fee-conscious investors
  • First time real estate investors
  • Investors who want immediate income

Below are some Roofstock stats:

Roofstock

Minimum Investment

Down payment of a $40,000 to $150,000+ home

Or, you’ll have to finance your home purchase via a mortgage

Fees

3% or less

Signing up is $0

Average Returns

11% to 12% - before expenses

Investor Types

Non-accredited investors can use Roofstock

Specialization

Residential debt investments

Default Risk

High

Here’s the gist of Roofstock:

  • You purchase a home
  • The home already has tenants living in it
  • Within 45 days after the home is rent ready, you’ll start earning money

The downside with Roofstock, of course, is that you will be owning a home and there is a lot of responsibility that comes with owning a home – and that’s mainly why I’m not the biggest fan of Roofstock.

In other words, Roofstock side hustle income is certainly for those of you who have already taken care of your basic financial situation and ready to invest in real estate.

Side Hustle FAQs

A side hustle is like being an entrepreneur – or a sidepreneur – who earns money outside of their regular 9 to 5 day job to earn side income. 

Here’s the goal of a side hustle: To reach your financial goals faster.

Each of the best side hustles I’ve listed in this blog post can certainly help you reach your financial goals faster – no matter what they are, such as:

  • Paying off debt
  • Investing for retirement
  • Paying for a fun vacation
  • Saving in an emergency fund

The most important part is simply starting and sticking with it.

The fastest way to making an extra $100 a day is by starting – and sticking with – a side hustle. 

Some of these side hustle ideas include:

  • Starting a blog
  • Becoming a “Dasher”
  • Becoming an affiliate marketer
  • Selling products via your social media

There are so many ways to earn side hustle income – some of which could actually out pay your current 9 to 5 job!

If you’re tired of waiting for your paycheck and want to break the proverbial chains of your 9 to 5 job, then a side hustle is exactly what you need. 

The fastest – and likely the easiest – way to start a side hustle is to:

  • Think about what you’re passionate about
  • Consider which side hustle is your best match
  • Research your side hustle’s potential income and other information

…And then all that’s left is to simply start!

If you’re someone who’s not exactly motivated to put your 100% into a new side hustle, that’s totally ok. 

If that’s you, then consider:

  • Becoming a Dasher
  • Taking online surveys
  • Becoming a dog sitter/walker

If you’re someone who’s extremely motivated to break the shackles of the 9 to 5 job and potentially start earning some serious income then you may want to consider:

  • Starting a blog
  • Becoming an affiliate marketer
  • Selling products / services on social media

The world is yours for the taking – you have to make your own opportunities and commit.

The fastest way to making an extra $1,000 (or more) per month is by starting – and sticking with – a side hustle. 

Some of these best side hustles include:

  • Starting a blog
  • Becoming a land lord
  • Creating your own course
  • Becoming an affiliate marketer

There are so many ways to earn side hustle income – and if you stick with these best side hustles long enough, you may actually out-earn your current 9 to 5 job!

How sweet is that?!

There are so many best side hustles out there – but the most profitable ones are the true gems. 

In my opinion, the major money makers are:

  • Blogging
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Creating an online course

Your income potential is literally unlimited. 

I’ve seen people who make the following income from the 3 best side hustles above:

When talking to my young professional clients and my audience on both Pinterest, Twitter and when I’m doing interviews on podcasts, it seems like the most popular types of side hustles include:

  • Blogging
  • Dog sitting / walking
  • Taking online surveys
  • Creating your own course
  • Selling through social media

There is never 1-answer-fits-all type of situation.

Closing Thoughts


Although I’m sure we all wish for it, there is no proven strategy (that’s legal, at least) to earn a ton of money overnight. 

You can however, increase your annual income if you are:

  • Persistent 
  • Dedicated
  • Consistent

…And that’s why I created this list with some of the best side hustles – some of which you can earn money literally from your bed (I’m typing up this blog post in my pajamas right now – no kidding). 

Here’s the best thing about these best side hustles: For many of them, if you work at them long and hard enough, you can actually earn an income equal to or better than a full-time salary!

And who doesn’t want to earn:

  • $1,000 per month
  • $5,000 per month
  • $10,000 per month
  • $50,000 per month
  • $100,000+ per month

Here’s your chance if you commit, are persistent and maintain a long-term mindset. 

Your bank accounts will thank me later. 

Which side hustle idea are you most inclined to pursue? Let me know in the comments, below.

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