6 Easy and Lucrative Side Jobs

Description:

Make some extra cash without breaking a sweat.

By Liz Smith
Whether you want to be more aggressive about paying off credit card debt and putting more into savings or you just want to live a more extravagant lifestyle, you're probably ready to start earning more. Side jobs can help you attain your financial goals. Check out some of the easiest and most lucrative opportunities to help you earn more on your own terms.

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1. Pet Sitting or Babysitting
Taking care of someone's dog, cat, child, or even iguana can be serious work. But you can earn some serious cash. Rates vary, but you could earn between $12 and $25 per hour depending on your experience. Your side gig can be a regular weekly or multi-day deal or just a once-in-a-while income boost. To get started, you can ask for referrals from family and friends or turn to a site like care.com.

2. Tutoring
You can earn some serious green while working as a tutor, coach or instructor. This could involve reaching out to students through a school or tutoring agency and helping them with math, science or a foreign language. It could also involve teaching a sport or a craft. If you want to earn as much money as possible, you might want to consider getting an advanced degree.

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3. Becoming a Waiter or Bartender
The service industry tends to have flexible hours, so you can work around the schedule at your day job. Working late nights and weekends can help waiters and bartenders make more money. And if you're social, you'll likely find both jobs easy and maybe even fun. Most places have a base minimum hourly wage, so the majority of your earnings will come from tips.

4. Freelancing
You can use the skills you've already developed to start freelancing. The sky's the limit, so you could become a freelance writer, graphic designer, photographer or app developer.
A freelancing gig is one of those businesses that are relatively easy to start. But if you don't know how to get into it, you can begin by looking online or within your network for opportunities. Once you invest time into it, you might decide that you'd rather turn your side hustle into a full-time job. And eventually it could lead you all the way into retirement.

5. Getting Involved in Research
Sharing some of your insight can add some bulk to your wallet. You can participate in focus groups and get paid to share your thoughts on products and services. You can also sign up to be a test subject in a scientific, pharmaceutical or psychological study or donate some of your bodily fluids. Usually the more invasive the experience, the more money you stand to make.

6. Package and Sell Your Talents
If you're interested in arts and crafts like knitting, soap-making, woodworking, jewelry-making or calligraphy, you can sell your products online or through a local store or market. The same goes for your knowledge too. You can put your wisdom into an eBook, a whitepaper, a video package or even an online course. And the best part is that you can set your own prices.