A really bad economy combined with a close to an all time low job market, has so many people struggling to make ends meet. Thousands of people are left with no job, and when you don’t have a job, and are not working for someone or yourself, keeping up with even the smallest bills gets tough and sometimes impossible.
Fortunately, you don’t have to have a job to earn money, there are many easy ways to make money without a job. And although, many of these income streams may not earn you as much as you used to in your old job, they are great alternatives for making money without a job.
Try Swagbucks, the famous rewards program that pays you for watching videos, taking surveys, shopping and more.
I have gathered a list of 60 ways you can earn money without a job.
Please keep in mind that not every one of these methods may be suitable for you. There are some methods that require a bit education, or special knowledge, and some that don’t. The idea here was to just put out as many ideas as possible, so anyone who is without a job, may be able to find a few method that may work for them, and their unique situation.
So, while some of these ideas may be laughable to you, for others it could be a life line! With that said, here are 60 ways to get money without having a working job:
For a detailed guide of each method (step by step guide, or list of websites that can be used to make money with that particular method), please checkout the included links.
1- Online surveys
As long as you have a computer and internet connection there are lots of paid surveys sites you can use to get paid for filling out simple online surveys.
2- Answer Tech Questions
Good with technical stuff? You can set your own price to answer people’s questions on sites like ExpertBee. Get Paid to Answer Questions
If you have to only sign up for one paid survey site to make money with, I recommend Ipsos-iSay. Ipsos is the most fun and well-paying panel. Give it a try to see how you like it. It is free anyway!
3- Hold a garage sale
It is a great way to clean out your basement, your closet and your storage room while making some much needed cash.
4- Rent your stuff
You can rent out anything from an extra room, to tools, furniture, electronics and everything in between.
5- Virtual Storefront
You can open a virtual storefront using sites like Art.com. They even host your storefront for you. All you have to do is drive traffic ton your storefront and get people to buy products.
6- File sharing
Have a lot of useful documents and files collecting dust in your hard drive? File sharing sites will pay every time someone downloads one of your uploaded files. Get Paid to Upload
7- Ghost shopping
Lots of moms don’t have time to go shopping. You can do their shopping and deliver it to them for a small fee.
7- Baby sit
One of the oldest tricks in the book. Start by baby sitting for friends and family.
8- Cook
Again, people are short on time these days. But eating out every night costs a lot of money. Many people would be willing to pay someone to cook for them.
9- Review Software
Developers pay people through sites like SoftwareJudge to participate in surveys and give them feedback about variety of software.
10- Enter competitions
Since you have a lot of free time, why not enter as many competitions and contests as you can?
11- Work on Fiverr
You can offer almost any kind of service on Fiverr for $5. It could be as simple as video taping yourself promoting a particular product, singing a song, making a logo for someone and anything else you can imagine. How to Make Money on Fiverr
12- Clean houses
Find a few people who need this service and clean their house for a fee.
13- Pet siting
Like to hang out with pets? You can pet sit for people who may be going out of town or are out of the house for long periods of time.
14- Medical tests
Lots of Universities, hospitals, and medical and dental clinics pay people to participate in their clinical tests.
15- Complete online offers
There are hundreds of GPT (Get Paid To) sites that pay you to do almost anything you do on a regular basis, from visiting different websites, subscribing to newsletters, reading emails, shopping and more. Get Paid to Complete Free Offers
16- Painting
Good at painting?…Pick subjects people like and sell them in flea markets, on classifieds sites or even at local galleries.
17- Street performance
If you have got some talent and it is not against the law in your state, you can make some cash by entertaining people.
18- Give massages
Everyone could use a good massage. Put your hands into good use and make some extra money while making people relaxed.
19- Donate blood or plasma
Plasma (the yellowish beige solution in blood) is used for making medicine. You can get up to $50 donating plasma in your local plasma and blood bank.
20- Get Paid to Surf
Websites like PaymentSurf pay you to surf the web. It’s not much money, but if you have lots of free time on your hands and like browsing the web, you may as well get paid for it. Get Paid to Surf
21- Donate eggs-sperm
If you are a male, you can make a decent amount of money donating sperm to your local sperm bank. And if you are a woman, you can get paid anywhere from $1,000 to up to $30,000 for egg donation while helping unfortunate women who are having problems on that front.
22- Focus Groups
They are like paid surveys, but focus groups are actually conducted in a physical location in your local area. You can get paid anywhere from $50 to $300 or more per session, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours or so. Focus Groups
23- Window washing
You can wash windows for storefront businesses. They usually need the service on a monthly or even weekly basis.
24- Sign holding
You can get paid around $10 an hour to basically hold up a sign in front of the store (yeah, sometimes you may have to wear a funny costume).
25- Get paid to tutor
If you are good at math, science, English or any other subject, offer to tutor kids and adults and get paid for it.
26- Write for money
There are hundreds of websites that pay you to write articles on almost any topic imaginable. Get Paid to Write
27- Design T-shirts
CafePress.com allows you to design unique T-shirts for free and sell them.
28- Scrap metal
Find and store scrap metal. When you have a considerable amount, take it to your local scrap yard.
29- Give rides
Use your car to make some fast cash by transportation people from point A to B.
30- Pawn shop
When it comes to the question of how to make money without a job, pawn shops are usually one of the first things many people think of. You can always pawn something, whether it’s a tool, an electronic or what have you, if you are in desperate need of money.
31- Rake leaves
Find elderly people or any home owner who doesn’t have the time or the physical strength to get rid of the leaves and do it for them.
32- Recycling used tires
Recycling companies offer free tire pickups if you have at least 100 tires or so. Since state regulations prohibit storing used tires in an open air space, most auto shops will be happy to give you their used tires for free. Take them down to your local tire recycling facility and get cash for them. How to Make Money Recycling Used Tires
33- Dumpster Diving
It’s dirty, but worth the effort, especially if you can manage to find valuable items, which are actually found in dumpsters more often that not.
34- Gardening for neighbors
Lots of people, especially in upper class neighborhoods, are willing to pay you to do their gardening chores for them.
35- Shovel Snow
If it’s winter and snow on the ground, you can bet somebody is gonna need help shoveling the snow. You can charge around $10-$20 per yard. Obviously, the bigger the yard and the more snow there is, the more you can charge.
36- Sell used books
You can find books (even college textbooks) in your local flea market and second hand stores for pennies on the dollar. Sell them on Half.com, Amazon.com or used book specialty sites like Cash4Books.net for a higher price. How to Make Money Selling Used Books Online
37- Organize events
Good at throwing parties and events?… Why not use your skills to make money as an event planner?!?
38- Make an e-book
Put your knowledge and expertise to good use by creating an e-book where you give people tips and guide them on whatever topic you are knowledgeable about.
39-Telecommute
Search any job site like Monster or HotJobs for telecommute jobs. Telecommute jobs can be done from home.
40- Sell your stuff
Sell your unused and unwanted stuff on eBay, Craigslist or other classified and auction sites. How to Make Money on eBay
41- Become a guide
Are you an expert on a subject or have a lot of experience with a particular subject? You can get paid to become a guide and write articles sharing your tips and tricks about the topic on sites like about.com.
42- Submit to Directories
Submitting websites to web directories is a great way to promote websites. Most webmasters don’t have time to do it themselves, so they pay you to do it for them. Use webmaster related forums to find these webmasters.
43- Link building
Link building is one of the most important things for maintaining a successful website. But it’s time consuming. To save time, many webmaster are willing to pay you to do it for them.
44- Sell other people’s stuff
Not everybody knows how to sell on eBay or on classified sites, offer to sell their stuff for a fee.
45- Install software and applications
Lots of people, including elderly, don’t know how to do a lot of simple tasks related to computers and Internet, like installing software and applications. Provide software installation services for people.
46- Cut grass
It doesn’t take a technician to cut the grass. Start by offering your services to people around your neighborhood and expand from there.
47- Become a Virtual Assistant
Researchers, bloggers, writers, small businesses and many others hire virtual assistants to help them get simple tasks done. It could be anything from replying to emails and keeping track of sales to providing customer support and so on. How to Become a Virtual Assistant
50- Make Videos
Make use of your video camera and make interesting videos of yourself, nature and anything in between and upload them to ad revenue sharing sites Revver and Break. They share a percentage of the revenue from ads displayed along with your videos with you.
51- Stock Photos
Take pictures of anything you can think of and upload them to sites like iStockPhoto.com. You get paid every time someone downloads or buys one of your pictures. Get Paid for Photos
52- Paid Forum Posts
A new-born online forum doesn’t have a lot of members and to attract more members, it needs to look busy. That’s why new forum owners pay people to become members and post on their forum.
53- Virtual property
You can play on Second Life and acquire virtual land, houses, stores, etc. Then you can trade them for real money. If you get lucky enough, you may even become a millionaire like Ansche Chung.
54- Translate
Speak a language beside your mother tongue? You can get paid to translate documents, audios, videos and more for variety of people and companies. Get Paid to Translate Online
55- Wash cars
Offer to wash cars for other people in your neighborhood.
56- Recycle aluminum cans
Another old trick from the book. You can find cans just about anywhere and there is a recycling facility in almost any town.
57- Cut hair
If you know how to do it, then why not make some extra cash by offering your service in the neighborhood or in the local park.
58- Mystery shopping
Companies higher mystery shopping agencies to conduct evaluations of their stores and their employees. You can go on these shopping assignments as a mystery shopper. Not only do you get paid for doing so, in some cases, you get to keep the products you bought, for free. Get Paid to Shop
60- Walk dogs
Many dog owners don’t have enough time to walk their dog. Offer to do it for them for a fee.
Bonus:
61- Get Paid to Search
There are a few search engines that pay you to search the web using their engines. Not much money, but you probably search online everyday, why not get paid for it!
Conclusion
I hope these ideas of making money without a job will help some of you who have lost your jobs or are just looking for ways to make extra money.
Please feel free to share any method or idea you use or have used before to earn cash while out of job. Or, simply share your experience and tips about how to make money without a job.