Looking out for second income opportunities has become the norm. There are a thousand and one reasons why you might need extra income. It could be to pay for necessities such as your vehicle, hire a babysitter, as well as offset your debts. Sometimes, it’s necessary to work a side job to meet up with monthly obligations like gas and electricity bills or groceries.
How to Make Money While Working A Full-Time Job
If your monthly paycheck can barely take you through the month, and you’d like to know how to make extra money on the side, then you should consider these 18 great ideas to make money while working a full-time job.
- Freelancing
One of the most common questions you’d ever hear from cash-strapped Canucks is, “how do I make an extra C$1000 a month? The answer is simple. In the current global job market, just about any skill or service can be sold in exchange for money. It doesn’t get simpler than this.
Whether you’re a programmer, web designer, translator, or typist, freelancing is the way to go for those who’d like to make extra money from home legitimately and without hassles. All you need is a PC and a Wi-Fi connection, and you’re ready to go.
There are many companies where you can render your services online for a fee, and these include:
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Cloudpeeps
- College Recruiter
- Guru
- ServiceScape
- Zirtual
2. Drop-shipping
There are hundreds of jobs you can do for extra money, but it’d be tough to find any as easy as drop-shipping. You have nothing to do except create a virtual store to connect the manufacturers of a product to consumers and take orders.
You can run your drop-shipping business from the comfort of your home or even at your full-time job.
3. Crafting
If you like to work with your hands, then you can learn how to make extra money from crafting handmade goods. Handmade furniture and oil paintings sell for attractive prices on online stores like Etsy. But first, you’d need to sign up on the site and purchase a listing.
Crafting is an inspired way to turn your hobby into hundreds of dollars. You don’t always have to sell your products online, but if you choose to do so, there are other e-commerce platforms to choose from such as:
- Aftcra
- Artfire
- RebelsMarket
- Folksy
- Bonanza
4. E-Book Publishing
It’s easier to publish your work and reach out to the audience today than it was in the last two decades. Budding novelists and writers make good money selling their works on e-Publishing platforms like Amazon KDP and Smashwords.
You can make a decent income with your computer and just a little bit of imagination.
5. Catering Services
It’s a little too much to ask you to use your “knife skills” to open a restaurant. If you want to be successful, then that’s a full-time job. Nonetheless, you can use your kitchen talents to run a catering service on your weekends and work-free days.
6. Events Planning
If you want to know how to make money without losing your full-time job, and you have the knack for organizing events, you should try event planning as a side hustle.
Some of the activities you can plan include birthday parties and weddings. You can do the former on your free weekdays, and the latter on the weekends.
7. Photography
You can turn your love for photography into a side business. Amateur photographers make money taking pictures for events. If you’d like to make extra cash through this route, you need to invest in a quality camera and other accessories.
If events photography is not your thing, you could take random photos and sell them on stock photo platforms.
8. Rent-a-friend
Did you know some people rent crowds for events? You can sign up with websites that allow you to make an appearance at places like funerals and weddings.
Apart from the free food, you also get paid for your time. If you find this idea morbid, you can join a modeling agency and work part-time for money.
9. Moving Services
If you have a spacious vehicle like a minivan or truck, you can use your car to run a moving service. Making money through this idea involves moving packages from one place to another.
10. Food delivery
If you’d like to know how to make extra money with a smaller vehicle, then food delivery is your answer. You can deliver takeout and other food items for companies like:
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Instacart
- Peapod
- FreshDirect
11. Recycling Trash
There are Canadians presently earning cash through trash, and you could be one of them. That’s if you know what to look for and where to find them.
Recycling isn’t the fastest way to billionaire status, but some items you collect can be valuable and fetch at a reasonable price. A few things you can sell for money include:
- Scrap metal
- Car batteries
- Ink cartridges
- Bottles
- Plastic bags
12. Landscaping
If you lack the ideas to make money with your mental skills, you can use your brawn. Landscaping involves making money off people who aren’t able to care for their lawns. It includes anything from trimming the grass to taking care of the flowers.
If you have more than a passing interest in gardening, you could help your clients plant their gardens. Apart from the satisfaction you get out of making money from this side gig, you get to work out and keep in shape.
13. Cleaning services
You can make money fast today by immediately registering a cleaning service and setting up a shop. One thing is sure; you’d never run out of clients. Cleaning homes and offices is an excellent way to earn good money away from your full-time job.
14. Repairman
If you have the knack for fixing electronics, you can try your hand at becoming a repairman. Formal training isn’t necessary for the job, although you can brush up your skills by watching videos online.
To be a repairman, you’d need to invest in repair tools. It’s necessary to invest in high-quality tools that will last a long time.
Many guys started out fixing electronics as a hobby, helping out their families and friends. As their reputation grew, they ended up turning it into a full-time job.
Repairing faulty phones and computers is one of the lucrative ways of making extra cash. In some instances, these jobs often pay higher than working full-time.
15. Start a blog
Although it doesn’t work out for everyone who tries it, running a blog is one of the real ways to make money from home. To start a blog, you need to have a working computer, purchase a domain name, and have a niche you’re passionate about blogging.
The truth is making money from blogging takes considerable time and dedication. More than 80% of people who start a blog for profit end up falling by the wayside. If you have the will and determination to grind on despite the odds, there are several ways to make money from a blog. Some of these ways include:
- Blog content monetization. You do this by running referral programs on your blog. Google AdSense, WordPress Affiliates, and Amazon Affiliates are a few examples.
- Write reviews for money or become a social media influencer.
- Sell your content on your blog. Some of the content you can sell includes e-books, online courses, and custom products.
16. Ridesharing
If you’re still interested in other ideas to make money with your vehicle, joining a ridesharing network will fetch you good money as a side job. All you need is a reliable vehicle.
These days, it isn’t necessary to know your way around town. Google maps and the mapping services in the ridesharing app pretty much tells you where to go and calculate the distance.
Some of the ridesharing platforms in Canada include:
- Uber
- Lyft
- Ola
- Didi
- SuperShuttle
- Blacklane
- Talixo
Delivery companies like UPS take on drivers for part-time deliveries. You can look at the delivery requirements on their website and apply them with your laptop or smart device.
17. Sitter jobs
If you enjoy taking care of little kids or looking after pets, you could apply to be a sitter in your spare time. You can grow your clientele by offering your services within your social circle before expanding into the neighborhood.
Offering your services within your immediate environment helps build your credibility. Potential clients are unlikely to hire someone they’ve never heard of or seen before.
18. Grocery Shopper
As ludicrous as it might sound, some Canadians don’t like shopping for their groceries. You can offer to help them do their grocery shopping and get paid in return. It’s a side gig that makes good returns without you investing anything except your time.
Final Thoughts…
Side jobs will always be a necessity, considering current economic realities. The extra money we earn goes a long way to make our lives easier.
You can try any of the ideas that you find appealing. And if it doesn’t seem like a good fit, you can keep testing out different side gigs until you find the one that works for you.
