25 Weekend Jobs to Make Money on the Side: $500+ a Month

Picking up a new side hustle or weekend job can be a great way to make extra money.

In fact, more people than ever are doing just that. Per the U.S. Census Bureau report, about 13M U.S workers have more than one job.

In this post, I’ll share some of the most popular weekend jobs–and hopefully a few you’ve never thought of too! I’ll try and break down the earning potential for each and offer some suggested next steps if you want to dig deeper.

Ready? Let’s do it!

1. Graphic Designer

There’s always going to be demand for good design. Regardless of the industry and size, every company needs designers.

So, if you’re someone who has an eye for design and is a creative thinker, you should consider taking it up as a weekend job.

Earning Power: Designers can earn anywhere from $5 to tens of thousands for their work. It all depends on the type of design you specialize in and the kind of clients you can attract.

Where to Find Gigs

Once you’ve learned the ropes, you can turn to websites such as:

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• 99designs
• this list of places to source remote graphic design jobs.

The key is to keep taking up projects, hone your skills, and work towards building a compelling online portfolio to secure more clients.

Thinking Beyond Clients

If you have some graphic skills, don’t just wait around for clients to find you. You can begin creating designs you love, putting those on products, and selling them online–all with no inventory.

Merch by Amazon is a popular way to get started, as is creating a drop shipping Etsy shop. In both cases, you can create your products once (as digital files), add them to t-shirts, books, mugs, etc., and sell them over and over again.

2. Freelance Writer

Just like designers will always be in demand, so will writers — because content drives growth.

From blog posts, case studies, and press releases, to advertisements, essays, and business proposals — there is a need for various kinds of content.

There are different genres of freelance writing. You need to first decide where your interests and strengths lie.

After you’ve chosen a genre, you can start accruing relevant experience and building your writing portfolio. The first thing potential clients will want to see is your writing samples!

Clippings.me and Contently are a couple portfolio websites you can use to showcase your work, but of course I highly recommend you have a “home base” blog of your own.

Earning Power: Freelance writers get paid $50-500 per article. When I did some freelance writing, I earned around $75 for 800-1000 word articles, and now that I’m on the hiring side, I pay anywhere from $100-350 per 1000 words.

Where to Find Gigs

You can find weekend freelance writing and editing jobs on:

• ProBlogger
• BloggingPro
• Freelance Writing Jobs

Facebook groups that serve business owners are another good spot to hang out and build a reputation. In my case, I noticed that a site I liked to read had a “write for us” link at the bottom, so I pitched them.

3. Proofreading and Editing

If you’re inclined towards proofreading, you can check out websites such as Proofreading Services and Reedsy that specifically post proofreading jobs.

This type of work can usually be done on the weekends on your own schedule.

Earning Power: Proofreading Services advertises rates ranging from $19 to $46 an hour. When I was doing my own freelance editing, I charged $100-150 for every 5000 words.

I connected with clients initially through Fiverr, and then later through some self-publishing author groups.

4. Tutor or Online English Teacher

The online tutoring market is expected to post an annual growth rate close to 12% during the period 2019-2023, which just proves how much potential it has a weekend (or even full-time) job.

Of course, you could always meet with students locally as well. In either case, you get to choose your own schedule.

To start your tutoring business, first decide what subject(s) you’ll specialize in. Test prep can be particularly lucrative, and there’s a huge demand in China to learn English.

Earning Power: Tutors can earn $15-100+ per hour, depending on the subject matter and location.

Where to Find Gigs

You don’t always need a professional teaching certification, but a TESOL/TEFL certificate can come in handy to get hired by certain companies.

Most online English tutoring companies don’t require it though. These include:

• VIPkid
• EF Education First
• Qkids

For other subjects, you might consider partnering with local school counselors or parenting groups.

5. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants help businesses and individuals with a wide range of tasks, such as:

• customer service support
• email management
• making travel arrangements
• scheduling appointments
• making cold call
• and tons more

Depending on your clients and the type of work, this might be a tough one to do exclusively on the weekends. But I thought it would be worth including since it’s a fast-growing profession and perhaps a gig that starts out as weekends-only could translate into something bigger.

Earning Power: Most virtual assistants (VAs) charge between $15-40 an hour.

Where to Find Gigs

To learn more about starting your own virtual assistant company, check out the free video training from my friend Abbey Ashley, who started her VA business on the side and shares:

• Where to find thousands of potential clients.
• How to make a full-time living working from home.
• What clients are really looking for in a VA. (hint: it’s not prior VA experience)

Click here to learn more about becoming a virtual assistant.

If you prefer the relative comfort of working under someone else’s brand, you might check out:

• Time Etc
• Virtual Assist USA
• Belay Solutions
• Fancy Hands

(But understand these gigs are super competitive!)

6. Survey Taker

Yes, you really can make money for sharing your opinion. However, the most lucrative “online survey” opportunities — like Respondent — usually take place during the week.

Still, if you have extra time on the weekend, there are lots of research companies constantly looking for survey participants. Depending on the website or app, you’ll get paid in the form of cash, gift cards, or discounts.

Earning Power: Think in the range of $1 a day, unless you happen upon some higher paying surveys or focus groups.

Legit, but admittedly low-paying, online survey options include:

• Swagbucks – Mega-popular survey platform with a free $10 bonus; earn up to $35 a survey.
• Springboard America – Higher payouts than many other survey sites, but requires a $50 minimum to cash out.
• Survey Junkie – Popular online survey site with more than 3 million members.
• Prize Rebel – Earn $10-12 an hour doing surveys or completing other tasks. Just avoid the low-paying ones.
• InboxDollars — Free $5 bonus.
• Opinion Outpost – Cash out at just $5 via PayPal or Amazon gift cards. Each survey enters you into a $10,000 quarterly drawing.

Watch out for websites that ask you to pay to take surveys — it’s best to stay away from them.

7. Amazon Reseller

Reselling on Amazon is a popular side hustle, and can absolutely be done solely on the weekends. To get started, all you need is:

1. An Amazon Seller Account — Start with the free Personal seller account. Once you’re selling more than 40 items a month, it makes sense to upgrade to the Professional account level.
2. The Amazon Seller app —  Available on iOS and Android for free.
3. A few dollars to buy your initial inventory.

Then, when you’re out and about, stop by the clearance aisle of your local stores. Use the Amazon Seller app to scan the barcodes and see what the items are going for on Amazon.

The app will tell you your estimated profit after fees. It’s a bit of a needle-in-the-haystack type of search, but I was pleasantly surprised to find some very part-time profit in those aisles.

Once you have a decent amount of inventory, you can send it into Amazon’s warehouse for storage and fulfillment.

Earning Power: $500 a month or more.

8. Flea Market Flipper

The “flea market flipper” side hustle follows the same “buy low, sell high” model as the Amazon FBA business above. The difference is where you’ll source and re-sell your inventory.

Rob and Melissa Stephenson of Florida earn a full-time living finding “odd” items and flipping them for a profit. On The Side Hustle Show, Rob explained he aims for at least $100 profit per item, and tries to 10x his initial investment.

Earning Power: $500 a month or more.

Next Steps

Stop by your local flea market or thrift store this weekend to see what’s out there. Have the ebay app handy on your phone to see what items are selling for online.

The cool thing about this one is you can get started with whatever level of inventory investment you’re comfortable with.

Check out my latest conversation with Rob or watch their free online training for more.

9. Field Agent

Field Agent is an interesting money making app you can use to connect with local mystery shopping gigs.

There’s a bit of a treasure hunt feel to this one, and could be a fun way to turn your regular weekend errands into a side hustle.

Most of these gigs involve evaluating product displays or checking on inventory. They typically pay $3-10 apiece, depending on complexity and the time involved.

Major retailers like Costco and Walmart are listed for product surveys and audits. No purchases are necessary.

Earning Power: $10-25 a day.

10. Blogger

Making money through blogging might sound like a pipe-dream, but when done right, can prove to extremely lucrative option.

I’m living proof of this! I started blogging way back in 2009, and for years it was just a fun creative outlet. Over time though, I found a niche, refined my skills, and started to make real money.

Earning Power: Blogging can be a highly speculative project. Most will probably never be profitable. Still, if you can crack the code, top sites are earning $5000 a month or more.

Early on, focus on knowing your readers and consistently creating content that appeals to them.

Once you have established a loyal community of readers, you can sell advertising, offer sponsored content, partner with brands and influencers, and even sell your skills and expertise.

Related: Here are 15 Ways Websites Make Money

Next Steps

Check out my free video series on how to start a blog, if you don’t have one already. Think of a blog niche that interests you and that you can write about.

It might be helpful to start with a mindmap of your broad topic and the various sub-topics you’d like to cover. For instance, under personal finance, you might have subcategories of:

• Getting out of debt
• Investing
• Frugal living
• Making extra money
• Retirement planning
• etc.

For inspiration and actionable advice, you might like my Blogging Mixtape — a binge-worthy series of interviews with successful bloggers making anywhere from $5000-100,000 a month!

11. Affiliate Marketer

This is closely related to blogging above, since most affiliate marketing requires a website. (Though some do very well through other channels, like YouTube.)

How affiliate marketing works is you earn a commission for referring sales and sign-ups to the brands and services you believe will help your audience the most.

You can see examples of this throughout Side Hustle Nation. For example, this single post on the best Udemy courses for entrepreneurs has earned over $30,000 in commissions over the years.

Earning Power: Like blogging, results will vary based on your niche and skills. Top affiliate marketers can earn $5000 a month and up.

Next Steps

Consider listening to a couple affiliate marketing-related podcast episodes. These in particular will help you get a sense for what’s possible:

• Profitable Affiliate Marketing, Even in an Insanely Competitive Niche
• Affiliate Marketing Case Study: Zero to $20k/month in a Year

12. Search Engine Evaluator

The importance of search engine optimization has given rise to a new role: Search Engine Evaluator.

Even though it’s essential to write content that pleases the Google ranking algorithms, websites also to write for humans and ensure the content matches user intent. This is where Search Engine Evaluators come into the picture.

This online part-time job requires you to evaluate search results and ensure they are relevant.

Earning Power: $9-15 an hour.

Next Steps

If this is something that interests you, check out companies such as Appen and Lionbridge — they’re often on the lookout for Search Engine Evaluators.

13. Loan Signing Agent

This particular weekend job has been very popular in Side Hustle Nation the last few years.

Loan signing agents are the Notaries that help walk new homebuyers through those giant stacks of mortgage documents. For their time, expertise, and attention to detail, they typically earn $75-150 per appointment.

Earning Power: $1000 a month and up.

Next Steps

To become a signing agent, you’re essentially starting a specialized mobile notary business. That means researching the requirements in your state and probably investing in some training.

Once certified, you can begin to accept signings that fit with your schedule through various signing services (databases of other signing agents), or by building your own direct relationships with real estate and escrow offices.

In this video interview, I sit down with a mobile Notary earning $8000 a month to learn more about how the business works.

14. Translator

More and more businesses are realizing the importance of translation. In fact, the employment of interpreters and translators is projected to grow 19% from 2018 to 2028.

That’s pretty surprising in the age of Google Translate, right?

Spanish, French, Arabic and the Asian languages are all in high demand.

However, being a translator is not only about translating. It also requires candidates to have strong writing skills and accurate understanding of the niche.

Earning Power: $13-30 an hour.

Next Steps

To qualify as a translator, you (obviously) need to proficient in at least two languages. Many companies also ask for professional certification as evidence.

For online translation jobs, check out sites like:

• Language Line
• Pactera
• WordLingo

15. Transcriber

Audio transcribers listen to recorded or live speech and type what they hear. One is expected to be detail-oriented, quick, efficient, and accurate in this role.

This is a time-consuming task, which is exactly why many companies (especially medical and legal) outsource it to freelance transcribers or companies.

Earning Power: $8-15 an hour; average earnings according to TranscribeMe are $250 a month.

Next Steps

While there is no specific degree required, you’ll need good quality headphones and transcription software.

You can find online transcription jobs on websites like:

• TranscribeMe
• Daily Transcription
• Casting Words

16. Web Developer

Businesses of all shapes and sizes need websites, which has meant lots of demand for web developers.

The job of a web developer is to build and design websites in line with the brand’s vision. While graphic design and coding skills can help, they may not be necessary thanks to the today’s website building software.

The thousands of free and inexpensive themes available for WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace make it easy for you to become a weekend web developer.

Earning Power: $250-1000+ per website.

Next Steps

You can find remote web developer jobs on freelance sites like Upwork or Fiverr, but you may have more luck just approaching clients locally.

Walk down your town’s main street and check the websites for the businesses you see. If they don’t have one — or it looks like it was last updated in 1998 — that’s a prime target to strike up a conversation.

Of course if you’ve never built a site before, it probably makes sense to practice on your own first!

17. Pinterest Manager

With nearly 300 million active users, Pinterest is a social media force to be reckoned with. But many businesses don’t have the experience, interest to learn, or time to invest in figuring out how to leverage Pinterest as a traffic source.

That’s where you come in. And with automated tools like Tailwind, it’s a gig that’s perfect for a weekend side hustle.

Earning Power: $250-500 per client per month.

Next Steps

My friend Gina has a cool free workshop on what this business entails and how to get it off the ground. If you’re already on Pinterest all the time anyway, most of this will be second nature!

You can also embed yourself in certain Facebook groups of bloggers or business owners, and be sure to answer any Pinterest-related questions that come up.

18. Virtual Recruiter

A weekend gig as a corporate recruiter is a great fit if you love playing matchmaker. Hiring great talent is a major pain point for companies, and because of that, they happily pay “finder’s fees” to recruiters who can refer great candidates.

For example, Indeed will pay you up to $5000 for referring qualified candidates. You can also earn $1333 when your referral gets hired through Hired.com.

Earning Power: Up to $5000 per referred hire.

19. Pooper Scooper

It’s not the most glamorous weekend job in the world, but somebody’s got to do it. Plus, it turns out that more and more people are outsourcing this chore.

Erica Krupin of Michigan shared how she started her $1000 a week pet waste removal business on The Side Hustle Show. “It doesn’t feel like work,” she explained.

Earning Power: $10-25 per yard per week.

Next Steps

Post flyers around your neighborhood advertising your service, post in local Facebook groups, post on NextDoor, and network with local veterinarians to begin to build a client base.

Then, schedule all your cleaning sessions for Saturday morning. It’s a simple, recurring revenue service business.

20. Bookkeeper

One of the first jobs that many companies hire out is “someone to keep the books.” If you have experience in this field, or just love numbers, this could be a good weekend job for you.

Most businesses don’t need a full-time bookkeeper so they’re open to hiring someone part-time.

Earning Power: $100-300 per client per month.

Next Steps

Network with business owners locally or online and let them know about your service. It might make sense to check out this free training on how to start a remote bookkeeping business.

21. Delivery Driver

For years, a popular weekend job was delivering pizzas. Now, thanks to apps like Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart, you’re no longer limited to just pizza — and you have a lot more flexibility over your schedule.

I sat down with Kevin LaCombe from Minneapolis, and he broke down the ins and outs of driving for Instacart as his side hustle:

Earning Power: $10-25 an hour.

Next Steps

Sign up with one of the apps listed above, get approved, and get to work!

Unlike some of the other weekend jobs listed on this page, there’s no hunting for clients required in this one. Orders come through right on the app, and you can accept or reject them.

Related: Here are our top money-making apps.

22. Etsy Seller

Etsy is a fast-growing marketplace for unique and custom items designed and sold by real people. (Not that products on Amazon aren’t designed by real people, but I think you get what I mean.)

And what’s cool about Etsy these days is you can create and sell digital products and print-on-demand products. That means no sweating over production and order fulfillment — it all happens automatically.

Earning Power: $500 a month or more.

Next Steps

Think about your areas of interest or expertise. Could you create products for that niche?

Set up an Etsy store, and play around Printful to create a few sample products.

Check out this post/podcast episode on selling drop ship and digital products on Etsy for inspiration. Of course it takes time upfront to design the products, but after that it just might be your next passive income stream!

Some friends of mine teach a popular course on selling printables on Etsy too if you want to check it out. (It’s normally only open a couple times a year but they gave me a secret access link just for Side Hustle Nation!)

23. Knife Sharpener

Matt Rowell earns a few hundred dollars a month sharpening knives as his side hustle. This is an interesting weekend job where literally every house in town is a potential customer!

Matt charges $1 per inch of blade, with a minimum of $5 per knife. For him, that works out to $30-60 an hour, with an average customer spending $20 per order.

Earning Power: $100-500 per month or more.

Next Steps

Of course you’ll want to practice on your own knives before you start charging other customers. Matt recommended the Edge Pro Apex sharpening system and said he basically watched YouTube videos to learn how to use it.

It’ll set you back around $280 for the basic kit, and Matt has added some other attachments to enable him to sharpen a wider range of blades.

From there, it’s all about getting the word out. That could be on NextDoor, at your local farmer’s market, or through flyers in your neighborhood.

24. “Experience” Host

One interesting weekend job is hosting local “experiences” in your hometown. That could be things like:

• Walking tours
• Beer tasting tours
• Guided meditation workshops
• Cooking classes
• Foodie tours

One Side Hustle Show guest had hosted hundreds of guided meditation experiences through Airbnb — at $50 a pop!

The cool thing here is you can set your own rates and availability.

Earning Power: $50-200 per experience and up.

Next Steps

Take a look at platforms like Vayable and Airbnb Experiences to get a sense of what’s already available in your area. What’s missing? What could you improve or pivot on?

A friend of mine posted an “unplugged” (smartphone-free) hiking tour in Tennessee, and began to get bookings right away.

25. Podcast Editor

Another trend to piggyback on is the rapidly growing number of podcasts. As more and more people are producing on-demand audio shows, the demand for editing services also increases.

You can learn everything you need to know technically for this weekend job on YouTube, and most editors have clients set up on a recurring monthly basis. (I pay a flat monthly fee for my editing service!)

Earning Power: $30-100 per episode.

Next Steps

It probably makes sense to practice producing your own podcast first if you’ve never worked with audio editing software. That way, you’ll be able to understand how everything works and know first-hand the pains other hosts feel in producing their shows.

Then, begin to join the conversation in various podcasting Facebook groups. Or, you might find a niche group that isn’t specifically for podcasters, but many members happen to run podcasts.

For example, Steve Stewart has done exceptionally well becoming the “go to guy” for podcast-related questions in the FinCon community.

Conclusion: Weekend Jobs Abound — Pick One that Works for You!

Clearly there is no shortage of weekend jobs or part-time side hustle ideas. The bigger challenge is just picking the one or two that make the most sense for you.

Here are a few ways to keep the momentum alive:

1. Fill out the form below with your name and email and I’ll send you my free report: The 5 Fastest Ways to Make More Money.
2. Subscribe to The Side Hustle Show (Apple | Android).
3. Join the free Side Hustle Nation community on Facebook.

Hustle on!

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Adela Belin helped draft this post. She’s a content marketer and blogger at Writers Per Hour. Adela is passionate about sharing stories with the hope to make a difference in people’s lives and contribute to their personal and professional growth. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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