15 Ways To Make Money Fast in 2024 (2024)

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Looking for creative ways to boost your income or pad your savings? A side gig could be just the solution you’re searching for. From driving for a ride-share service to completing online surveys, delivering packages or capitalizing on your unique talents, the possibilities for earning extra cash fast are endless. Keep reading to learn about 15 ways to build your wealth.

How To Make Money Fast: 15 Ways

There are plenty of ways to get money fast, whether you’re looking to make money in just a single day, online at home or via a side hustle. Here are some income generation methods that can help you make money quickly.

1. Sell Your Gently Used Items on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace

• Earnings vary by item

Do you have gently used items that you no longer want? If so, there probably is someone — or several someones — who gladly will pay you for them. Take a few photos, write a brief description and post your items for sale on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace.

You also can make a tidy profit by selling high-quality clothing and accessories on platforms such as Poshmark or Tradesy.

2. Trade in Old Gadgets and Electronics for Cash

• Earnings vary by gadget condition and model

To make quick cash with minimal effort, try trading in your old, unwanted electronics for cash. Here are some items to consider:

• Phones
• iPods
• Fitness trackers
• Tablets
• Game consoles
• Laptops

Buyback services will purchase old gadgets and electronics like these online. Some electronics buyback services include ItsWorthMore, Decluttr, Gazelle and Trademore. You can also use eBay and other third-party marketplaces to price your items appropriately and sell them independently.

3. Sell Unused Gift Cards

• Earnings vary by gift card value

If you have unwanted gift cards gathering dust in a drawer, sell them. You might not get full face value for the cards, but it’s not like you’ll take a loss. Remember, you didn’t buy them — it’s essentially free money in your pocket.

Sell unused gift cards on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or eBay. Or visit sites such as CardCash to see how much you can sell your gift card for and make the sale in just a few clicks. You also can offer gift cards on your social media accounts to see if there are any takers.

4. Work as a Freelancer

• $5 or more per project

Fiverr is a great place for first-time freelancers looking to build experience and their portfolios. From logo design and animation to editing and voice-over work, you can find tasks suited to your skills. Prices start at $5 per project.

Once you accumulate feedback, referrals and experience, you can start charging much more. Some people have taken their Fiverr gigs full-time, with jobs paying as much as $10,000 per project, according to the company’s website.

5. Track Down Unclaimed Money

• The amount you might find can range from a few dollars to thousands, depending on what’s owed to you.

About one in seven Americans have unclaimed property that’s being held by state governments and treasuries, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. If you’ve ever rented an apartment, switched banks or insurance companies, changed jobs, purchased traveler’s checks or paid a utility deposit, you could be one of them.

Each state maintains its own unclaimed money database you can search for free. The U.S. government maintains a web page, located here, that links to state sites as well as to federal government resources for finding unclaimed VA life insurance, FHA mortgage insurance, tax, investments, savings bonds and other funds.

6. Open an Online Dropshipping Store

• About $2,000 per month

Amazon and Shopify are two sites where you can open your own store, automatically add products and have them shipped directly from the suppliers to your customers. You’ll need to do your due diligence when it comes to selecting products and suppliers and marketing your store, but both platforms have extensive educational resources to help you get started. Shopify’s dropshipping app also has lots of information plus a profit margin calculator.

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Shopify says dropshippers can make $2,000 per month working part-time in an established store.

7. Be an Affiliate Marketer

• Up to $300 a day or more

Affiliate marketing involves sharing products online and earning a commission by joining one or more affiliate programs, such as Amazon Associates, ClickBank or ShareASale. You’ll earn by promoting and selling those products through your blog or social media channels.

According to Affise, a performance marketing platform for advertisers, low-level affiliates can earn up to $300 a day, while high-level affiliates can earn more than $3,000 a day.

Affiliate marketing can be an entire career — not just a side hustle — based on passive income, which is as close as most people will ever get to free money.

8. Become an Online Survey Taker

• Up to $16 an hour

It’s not the most exciting side hustle, but there is money to be made by filling out online surveys. Many sites such as Survey Junkie and Swagbucks allow users to earn cash and gift cards.

You also can visit the website of the Columbia Business School Center for Decision Sciences to sign up for online research studies that pay about $16 an hour.

9. Be a Rideshare Driver

• $21 per hour (median)

Driving for a rideshare service like Uber or Lyft makes it easy to earn money in your spare time, using your own vehicle. Both services require a background check as part of their application process, but once you’ve been accepted, you can start driving right away and cash out multiple times each day.

10. Be a Delivery Driver

• $19 per hour (median)

Spark, Amazon Flex, GrubHub, Roadie, UberEats and DoorDash are just a few of the companies that pay drivers to make deliveries using their own car. Rules, pay and requirements vary by company and platform. However, you can stack delivery gigs to maximize your time.

11. Tutor Students Online

• $18.30 per hour on average

If you have a computer, an internet connection and expertise in just one subject area, you can tutor students online. TutorMe hires tutors in more than 300 subjects and pays $16 an hour. Preply uses tutors in more than 100 subjects. Tutors set their rates and earn an average of $18.30 per hour, according to Preply’s internal data.

12. Work as a Virtual Assistant

• Average income of $25.38 per hour

A virtual assistant can work for an individual or a big business, performing tasks that include responding to customer phone calls, setting appointments, assisting with travel or event planning, or posting to social media. Since many people do these things daily as part of their personal agendas, they are well suited to virtual assistant jobs.

13. Become a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker

• Median income of $15.31 per hour

Sign up to watch pets while their owners are out of town. Pet-sitting sites, such as Rover, connect pet owners with sitters for a cut — 15% to 25% — of the sitter’s earnings paid by client users. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, pet sitters make a median of $15.31 an hour, or $31,830 a year.

14. Mow Lawns

• Median income is $17 an hour

Lawn care is a booming industry; it takes little more than owning a lawn mower and a weed trimmer and being willing to work. Depending on the lawn size, you can expect to rake in between $17 an hour on average or more.

So, how do you get started?

Once you have the equipment, take a stroll through your neighborhood and look for lawns the owners haven’t mowed or maintained. When you find them, knock on the front door and explain that you’re a neighbor starting a lawn care service and would like to take care of their lawn.

Chances are, you’ll run into “no” plenty of times before you get your first “yes,” but don’t let that discourage you. Keep trying until you build a lucrative lawn-care service.

15. Access Your Paycheck Earlier

Although not really a way to “make money,” this tip can help you gain access to your money faster if you’re in a pinch. Many banks offer early access to paychecks you have direct-deposited into your checking account. You can also check into paycheck advance apps to help you access your paycheck two to three days faster than regular bank processing times — or instantly if you want to pay an extra fee, such as 1%.

What To Avoid When Looking for Fast Cash

While you might be desperate to get your hands on some quick cash, there are some avenues you should avoid, including payday loans, car title loans and high-interest personal loans or debt consolidation loans. All of these types of loans can come with fees and astronomical interest, which can saddle you with expensive debt that can be difficult to pay off.

Also, be wary of online jobs that don’t require any special skills, education or experience but have a high rate of pay or generous perks. If an opportunity seems too good to be true, it likely is. Unfortunately, many online job offers can be scams.

How To Build Sustainable Wealth

Once you’ve made extra money, you should focus on setting yourself up for long-term financial success. It isn’t just about how to make money fast, but also about keeping it.

Investing

If you’re a beginner when it comes to investing, take time to set your investment goals. Here’s what you should think about:

1. Figure out how much you can budget for investments.
2. Choose your investment types based on your risk tolerance.
3. Choose a platform to invest with.

With these in mind, you can create a solid foundation where you can not only begin building your wealth but also continue maintaining it.

Budgeting

Creating a budget allows you to compare your income to your expenses, as well as to set goals for spending and saving. While there are different budgeting techniques, all of them revolve around tallying your expenses and reducing expenses where you can.

Saving Money

Regardless of how you choose to make money, you need to be able to store your cash safely and have easy access to funds when you need them.

Opening a savings account can be your first step to building sustainable wealth. And if you find that you need more help in reaching your savings goals, you can work with a qualified and reputable financial advisor.

Final Take

If you’re looking for how to make money fast, there are plenty of options available. Scroll through this list, assess which methods align with your skills and resources and don’t hesitate to take the first step today.

Daria Uhlig, Joshua Rodriguez and Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting for this article.

Information is accurate as of June 13, 2024.

The article above was refined via automated technology and then fine-tuned and verified for accuracy by a member of our editorial team.