People On Reddit Share 30 Legit Ways To Earn Money On The Side And They're Absolutely Fascinating Ideas

During these challenging times, people are looking for ways to earn extra money on top of their monthly income. And if you're one of them, this post is for you.

You may not be worried about losing your job, but side hustles do help you earn extra to pay off that debt and invest for the future. Moreover, a side business might give you an idea of something that you want to do full-time in the long run.

There are so many options when it comes to side hustles. You have freelancing, delivering personal services for the community, and many more.

Selling your soul or joining a pyramid scheme isn't necessary when there are legitimate ways to earn a quick buck. You can even take advantage of your skills and talents with these ideas.

A user started a thread on AskReddit, asking people to suggest lucrative activities and side jobs that are legal. Lots of folks brought different brilliant ideas to the table.

From scuba diving for treasure to feeding crows, there's a variety of simple things people can do. We collected 30 of the best responses from the thread, so check them out and perhaps you'll find something that's related to your hobbies and interests.

1. Selling sweets such as butter cakes

Butter cakes. The initial investment usually involves a baking pan, a mixer, and an oven (which most places have preinstalled). Tally up the costs per cake and depending on the country you can sell the cakes for a 300% markup. Even more if you package it neatly.As you develop this skillset you will be able to branch out into other areas like simple chocolate cakes.Before i moved i was selling brick-shaped buttercakes to neighbors for $200 a week and I’m fairly sure i could have made more if I wasn’t a lazy a*s.TheHasegawaEffect, Michael Saechang

2. Go for easy handyman jobs

PBRpleez's answer:

I am an electrician and generally handy, have a truck, and I work off the TaskRabbit app. It has really helped fill the gaps in-between pay checks.

AlexandraSuperstar responded:

You can post your services free on the NextDoor app and avoid having TaskRabbit take a cut. My boyfriend built a handyman business this way and now has 7 employees.PBRpleez, jimmy thomasFollow

3. Feed crows that bring you cash

According to Schmalette:

Not the easiest but the coolest, you can feed crows and when they bring you cash, buy them better bread so they learn that you want cash.

HamBroth's response:

Here I am feeding crows bacon for free and screwing up your market.Schmalette, Sergey Kochkarev

4. Extras on films or TV programs

A user named sawinnz posted:

Being an extra.You essentially get paid a couple hundred for essentially doing nothing.

USSMarauder's response:

One thing: If you've suffered a bad facial injury, you can make some serious money as an extra. Especially if the injury is the kind that would require green screening to replicate.If you've seen LOTR The Two Towers, at Helm's Deep one of the soldiers is missing an eye. That wasn't CGI or prosthetics.sawinnz, James Willamor

5. Buy from a thrift store and sell it for a higher price.

I work at a thrift store. My shift starts at opening time. When I pull in there's a massive line at the entrance every. Single. Morning. For the longest time I had no idea why, but everyone I tell this to speculates that it's because people buy things at the store (everything is *ridiculously* cheap. And when I say cheap, I mean I tagged a vase that was originally $150 for $8. I've also tagged some video games for insanely cheap prices, usually priced around $2) and sell them online for a much, much higher price.ETA: For those who are curious, I work at Deseret Industries (or DI for short).Suspicious_Drive6655, John K Thorne

6. Furniture refurbishing. Sell it afterward.

If you have the space and the means of transport, get free/cheap furniture on Craigslist/marketplace/etc and refinish/fix and resell. I did this through college on top of having a part time job, so it wasn't the most consistent based on how much free time I had, but on good months I could make a couple thousand bucks with not all that much work.AggravatingDot6, Windell Oskay

7. Participate in paid research studies

Sign up for Prolific! Answer a bunch of non-identifying demographics, get the opportunity to participate in paid research studies from universities, various companies and other research facilities all over the world. Ranges from quick surveys, more in depth studies, sometimes you can come across ones wanting to schedule virtual interviews for further research.Based in the UK and you get paid in pounds, but you can cash out to PayPal and easily convert it to local currency. (You can also get a free PayPal debit card upon applying for ease of just using your balance like any other money) If you have the time to really put into it during the day when most studies are posted, and have an internet connection somewhere where you can focus, you could probably make a few hundred a week depending on the studies you’re eligible for. I’ve made $200/week when I was unemployed a couple of times in the past. And that was in the western summertime where there weren’t nearly as many studies as there are at the moment. Highly recommend!sarar3sistance, Anders Sandberg

8. Game streaming

My little brother goes live on TikTok and plays Fortnite, literally just points his front camera at the TV as he plays. The people who watch him send “gifts” for him to do whatever they ask of him— make his character do a certain dance move, say something funny, or even turn off his console in the middle of the match. Those “gifts” translate into real money on a secure payment app like PayPal. He made about $150 in one day last week. I don’t understand it but he’s putting the money in his savings account so I’m proud of him either way.tenderfoot1914, ulricaloeb

9.

Ask every person you see for a penny or a dollar.In 1987 a guy named Mike Hayes asked everyone he could for a penny to pay for college. He collected 2.3 million pennies. Paid for his education.Muted_Childhood695, foreverseptember

10. Cleaning and detailing yachts

ShipwrightPNW suggests:

If you live by the water, learn to buff and detail yachts. It involves very little skill or talent and pays stupidly well.

time_to_reset adds:

Boats need constant cleaning. Especially those in salt water. You don't have to really know how to do anything special other than to know how to wipe [dung] down. It's also not like cars where you have to be super cautious with paint.Plus, boat owners tend to have money, so they gladly pay for someone to do the [dirty] jobs.I grew up in little town with heaps of boats and during summer there was always heaps of work to do. I liked washing hulls the most. Just chilling in the water all day. But I'm not sure if I would enjoy it as much as an adult anymore.ShipwrightPNW, Pommiebastards

11. Painting as a hobby

I’m a janitor and make pennies but I also paint for a hobby and people sometimes buy what I paint. When they do it helps me out sooo much. It’s what makes it possible to treat my kids to nice things like a takeaway pizza once a month.ClydeinLimbo, GT#4 - thanks for your supportFollow

12.

greedyboy61 suggested:

Uber, c**p full time, but good way to make extra money [part time]. I just worked [Monday to Friday] mornings 6am–9.30am, no drunks, no one wants to talk, everyone just wants to get to work or the airport.

Mike312's response:

I live in a small college town so we have massive demand peaks in Thur through Sun for college kids going out and the 'Sunday Funday' brunch crowd. I've been tempted to get a cheap, nice hybrid, but so many drivers are pretty sketch about if they're actually making money or not.

greedyboy61 added:

It's extra pocket money, if you have your own car and you can pick a time when it's constant work, I never worried about distance, just always having someone in the back, made the best hourly rate I could only do mornings, but the reverse run, work or airport to home, around 4.30pm–7pm is much the same.greedyboy61, Alper Çuğun

13. Take on dog sitting jobs

I dog sit once a month, at least. If you're good with dogs, than it's an easy gig. Plus the last time I dog sat was closer to the ski hill so I rode a few hours every day. I've never worked with Rover on this side of the coin but it might be worth looking into. All I have to do is mention that I dog sit and people are asking for my number. Just be respectful to the dogs' people, be good to the dogs, and word spreads and more work opens up.jovial_finn, TenSafeFrogs

14. Build websites for small businesses

Maybe 10 years ago I stumbled across Internet publishing for local businesses (and some not so local) that thought they couldn't afford a nice web site. The companies that publish professional web sites charge thousands of dollars, seriously inflated prices and it scares small businesses away.Using one of the self publishing services available (I use Godaddy) I can build a functional, good looking web site to advertise services like mobile car detailing, home cleaning services, religious groups and their meetings and so on. I have a decent desktop and high speed connection so publishing isn't hard to do.I'm legit with an LLC and I pay taxes on it all. It's just easier that way in the long run and provides potential customers some assurance that I won't take their money and run.I keep it low key, my charges are ridiculously low, I don't ask for contracts or long term commitments. It's a good service at a low price that I can do from home in my pajamas.Easy money!OGbeachbum, persand

15. Roth IRA investing

Snuggalorian's suggestion

Invest in a Roth IRA before the age of 21. You'll be a millionaire by the time you retire.

ws1173's response:

While this is great advice, this statement is only true if by "invest" you mean "develop a habit of regularly contributing to".Snuggalorian, Hans Splinter

16.

I do a lot of 3d printing and inventing for people.Like, someone will get the Hasbro HASLAB Mandolorian Razor Crest and be like "man.. I sure wish this hole was cut open for action figures to see out in the escape pod" and someone will scan it, send it to me, have me hollow out the window, print a window, and create an 'add on' for the escape pod. As long as it's an 'artist rendition' and a 'fan art' you can probably get around most of the trademark laws.I also 3d printed teleprompter supports for Major League Baseball's internet division.It's a lot of work, and a lot of fun and I made some good scratch. But I have to be home to do it, which kind of sucks.tommygunz007, Kyle Pearce

17. Blood plasma donations (you get paid for it)

Mourningair- answers:

Donate plasma. Especially right now. New donors in my area are getting 100-175.

ReferHvacGuy asked a question:

Can you really call it donate? Sounds more like... selling plasma.

TrollTollTony's response:

Yeah, as a former blood center employee this really annoys me. Blood centers don't pay for blood/plans because those donations actually go into other people for medical procedures. The FDA bans financial compensation for organ, tissue, and blood components.Plasma centers that pay for it send the blood to pharmaceutical companies who use the blood to make drugs that they then spend billions to market and charge customers an arm and a leg for. You aren't donating, you are a wholesale blood supplier for a billion dollar corporation... But that's not as "feel good" so they call it a "donation".Mourningair-, Oregon State University

18. Fanfiction writing

If you have even the slightest amount of writing talent, you can get commissions from weird Furries (or other niche fandoms) to write pretty mediocre stuff for a fat pay check.Example: I know this guy whose paid (on multiple occasions) 70USD a pop for poorly formatted, more or less amateur short stories (under 5 pages) about Furries and Pokemon or whatever.Seriously, these people will gladly pay mad cash for literally any quality of writing as long as it indulges their interests.HellOfAHeart, Adikos

19. Housesitting is such a chill job.

CNRavenclaw's post:

Housesitting. No, seriously; people *will* pay you to just sit in their house while they're on vacation even if they don't have any pets to take care of

GetOutOfThePlanter's reply:

One of my past GFs did this during college. There was rich part of town, she would babysit their home for 6 months of the year during winter while they were overseas.They had cameras and stuff in there to remote check up, but they wanted someone to come and make it seem "someone was home" so nobody got any ideas.She basically just hung out in this 6 bedroom 8 bathroom house with pool, gym, theater room, etc. Was paid 50 bucks a day. They did this for *years*. It basically paid for her college, and once she graduated it was paying for her rent until the family sold off and moved overseas.She actually stayed in touch with them last I heard.CNRavenclaw,Anna Majkowska

20.

formal_pumpkin tells the community:

One girl at my high school started selling food and she was really good with money so she started paying people to sell during other lunches. Eventually she became a monopoly because she was the only person that sold warm chicken sandwiches. She said she makes hella bank.

CylonsInAPolicebox agrees:

I used to sell stuff out of my locker in school. Candy, gum, sodas, pens, pencils, notebooks... Hell, I even had a nice video game rental station running out of my locker in middle school using my personal games. Every time I got a nice thing running the school would shut me down, I kept coming back though, especially with the school supplies. I still think they were super [upset] on that one because I was undercutting the school store, but [screw] them a dollar for a pencil is [effin] ridiculous, especially when you could buy a pack of 24 for like two bucks.formal_pumpkin, Adrian Scottow

21. Take babysitting jobs

Babysitting. I s**t you not, if you watch people's kids you can make easy money. I watched two 8 year olds a couple times a week and it was great. Cooked a meal, hung out with some good kids, helped with homework, put them to bed and did my own thing/cleaned until parents got home.I made $20-25 an hour. Less if it's just one kid.gregorianballsacks, alaina buzas

22.

Wholesale shower curtain ring sales to independent motels in Brooklyn, NYC area.They don’t have a Union and there are no Mobs to take interest in the market.38% of immigrants staying at motels steal shower curtain rings for cheap jewelry and aftermarket sales. So there is always an unserved market cash on the table at any given flea bag motel in the NYC area. Try it and you will be amazed.Realistic-Cheetah-14, F Delventhal

23. Lawn mowing and yard work

Preferably if your a kid. But mowing lawns or raking/mulching leafs, or shoveling snow.What I learned as a kid doing this, is that you charge like 5$ because in adults eyes, your just a kid that doesn’t know money. So most people will pay you like 15-20$.And yea sometime there will be that person that will give you the $5 and leave but the chances of getting extra are a lot higher.thehub1233, Dushan Hanuska

24. English online tutoring

This is anonoramalama2's suggestion:

Teach English to foreign students online.

But according to itismejacobg:

I think this has become a common misconception. There's usually a pretty lengthy approval process, many companies won't hire someone without a bachelor's degree, the hours suck until you've been with the same company for a long time (usually over a year), pay isn't always great and they can change the rate whenever they want, and students can be incredibly difficult to work with. It can be a super draining gig, and there's often very strict punishment for being late or missing a class.It's probably way better if you're working independently and have your own clients, but teaching English to foreign students online through an existing company is NOT an easy gig.anonoramalama2, Nenad Stojkovic

25.

myjunkermail said:

Officiate youth/high school sports. I generally make at least $30/hour and it’s good exercise.

flargenhargen responded:

Get to have crazy parents scream into your face.myjunkermail, Steve

26. Bartending jobs

geniusatwork282's suggestion:

Assuming you’re in the United States, bartending. I know it sounds like a basic, boring answer, but tip culture can be great. Breaking out my tips into dollars-per-hour, and adding it to my base pay, I typically make anywhere from $30-$40 dollars an hour. And most bartending jobs are part time.

easy10pins's response:

Former bartender here. The tip money is great but feeling with drunk people can become tiresome.geniusatwork282, Steven Miller

27.

According to LtAgn:

Well, I heard that the Furry community pays artists pretty well. If you're good at art, it might be worth looking into.Speaking of art-related things, virtual streamers are kinda big right now, so assets like Live2D models and backgrounds sell for quite a lot.

david0990's response:

> "Furry community pays artists pretty well. If you're good at art"They pay even if you're kind of [bad]. The Furry community is super weird and well paid or employed Furries tend to just support "up and coming" Furry creators in hopes of having their earlier works and supporting their community. BUT they can get super dark, and sketchy very fast. I have family that are part of their communities and it can get ugly. Several artists get trapped doing furry art and deviating they can get mass hate from the community.LtAgn, Julian Hodgson

28. Participate in paid medical studies

Right now, I'm in a paid medical study. I'm getting $10k for 3 weeks of my time. You take drugs that are going through the whole approval process. If the drug gets this far, it's generally known to be safe already. They are testing for how long it lasts in your system with various dosage amounts, fasted vs. unfasted, etc.Sabiann_Tama, Navy Medicine

29.

Available_Ad9182 tells the community:

I met a guy at a church camp who did door dash for extra money. His wife and him were on a strict budget and the main income was saved. Door dash was how he paid for his toys (guns, new tents and camping gear). Both agreed that the door dash money was the other person’s to keep.

three-sense's response:

I do DoorDash and it’s pretty good for “toys”, which in my case is new release video games and smaller electronics. I don’t see it paying for a house, car, etc., but it’s a solid side hustle to do so you won’t have to dip into your ancillary paycheck as much.Available_Ad9182, joey zanotti

30. Look for trinkets during a scuba dive

My buddy tried scuba diving and thought it was a really cool hobby. So he spent like 2-3k on equipment for his weekend hobby. He started selling his funds online. Fast forward 6ish months and he quits his job because him scuba diving every other week and selling shark teeth he finds on eBay and to bulk buyer companies was making him more than his job as an EE. Last year he made over $100k doing this.pro185, Andrew Skudder

The best thing about a side hustle is that you can always pick something you're interested in.

The daily grind at work can be monotonous and repetitive. So if you have a side job doing what you love, it balances things.

Who knows, you may even have the opportunity to grow that side hustle and turn it into something more meaningful.