21 Side Hustles for Earning Christmas Cash

If you need money for Christmas, here are 21 legit side hustles for making extra cash this holiday season.

Every year, without fail, the holidays seem to find a way of sneaking up. It’s not that we’re unaware of the passage of time; it just flies by faster than any of us anticipates. The only thing faster than that spinning holiday clock is the amount of cash flying from our bank accounts.

On average, in the United States, holiday shoppers spend $1,500 on Christmas gifts and holiday items.

With Christmas spending in the billions each year, it’s no wonder why earning enough money to cover holiday expenses can be an incredibly daunting task.

Getting a jump on that Christmas cash flow is one of the most important things consumers can do to ensure a stress-free holiday.

That’s why we’ve found the answer to all your money tension with 21 side hustles that are sure to curb that sense of wallet-crunching fear this holiday season.

One of the best parts about these side hustles? They are NOT only simple, but they’re fun and can be done in your spare time!

So, are you ready to hustle?

Here are 21 great side hustles for earning your Christmas cash!

1. Make Money With Survey Sites

Do you like sharing your opinion? How about posting your opinion and earning money at the same time? Sounds amazing, right? Online surveys have become a popular, simple side hustle for many women who are balancing everything from full households to other jobs.

Businesses today thrive on consumer opinions like yours, and with so many companies creating and producing, the need for open, honest opinions is not going away any time soon.

One such company that rewards its members on a variety of levels is Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a rewards program that gives members gift cards and cash via a point system for shopping at favorite retailers, searching the web, and, of course, answering surveys. As points accumulate, you can convert them into gift cards for your favorite spots like Amazon or Walmart. You can even get cash back from PayPal. Consider your holiday shopping done!

If you’re serious about earning extra Christmas cash, don’t settle for one survey company; join a few.

Here are some great sites you can take for a test drive:

• InboxDollars: Allows you to earn money every day for completing simple tasks, such as filling out surveys, answering emails, or playing games.
• User Interviews: Browse projects, which include surveys, website testing, and focus groups. One travel study recently paid $125 for 60 minutes, not bad!
• Survey Junkie: Allows you to be an influencer for brands! These surveys will enable you to share your opinion on products and services that will help shape brands to provide a better consumer experience. As you take a variety of surveys, you’ll earn virtual points that you can redeem for PayPal Cash or gift cards for your holiday spending!
• Opinion Outpost: Gives you cash and gift cards for surveys and sweepstakes you complete online!
• Respondent: Recruits individuals for focus groups, surveys, and website testing gigs. Users can earn an average of $60-$140 per gig!
• Branded Surveys: With this platform, you can earn points for taking surveys in your spare time. One hundred points equals $1, which you’ll earn just for signing up!
• Prolific Survey: Make extra cash by sharing your opinions, experience, and knowledge with researchers across academia and the AI industry. 

2. Fall Cleaning? Perfect for Falling into Some Christmas Cash!

Spring isn’t the only time of year that you can clean up and cash in. Fall is the perfect time to clean out those unused items and turn them into extra money.

Online marketplaces and apps are by far one of my favorite ways to make extra holiday cash. Besides being incredibly user-friendly, these sites are brimming with a lot of earning potential. As a bonus, decluttering feels good, too!

Ready to clean up and cash in? Here are some of my favorite “go-to” sites for selling:

• Mercari: Use this online selling app to reach a nationwide audience of buyers! You can sell electronics, clothing, toys, and so much more. Just snap a few pictures of your item, list it, ship it off, and pocket that extra Christmas cash.
• eBay: For anything and everything you find in your house. Easy to use, and you get broad exposure from people looking for items like yours. eBay takes a small percentage of your sales, but it’s worth it when you’re cashing in.
• OfferUp: A must-have app for your smartphone. With zero selling fees and a simple process, it’s going to be a quick favorite. Here’s how it works: Take pictures and upload them from your phone, type in a brief description of your item, and decide if you want to sell your item locally or if you’re willing to ship it.
• Facebook Marketplace: If you’re on Facebook, use their marketplace to sell items locally. It’s totally free to list items, so you don’t have to worry about seller fees. Just list your item, arrange a time to meet up with the buyer, and get your cash.
• Poshmark: If you are a fashionista and you have clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry, and accessories you want to get rid of, try Poshmark. With this online consignment shop, you’ll photograph your items, list them, and then ship them off once they sell. Poshmark accepts items for women, men, kids, the home, and more!
• Craigslist: On Craigslist, you can sell almost anything and everything, from clothing, baby gear, and toys, to cars, old electronics, plants and more! Some categories are free for posting, while others cost a small fee. Just create your listing, meet up with the buyer, and exchange your used items for cash!

3. Earn Holiday Cash with your Car

With the popularity of both Uber and Lyft on the rise, the chances are good that you or someone you know has utilized these services more than once.

The upcoming holidays mark one of the busiest travel seasons of the year, and you can bet that individuals will need drivers for a variety of holiday events. From train stations to airports to holiday parties and gatherings, you can make some serious cash during the holiday rush this season!

You can choose from driving individuals to their destinations or delivering food or groceries to a holiday party.

Below are some of the best companies we’ve found:

4. Freelance Your Way to Holiday Cash!

The freelancing world has never been better for writers and designers alike. With many companies hiring individuals to write on their blogs, create product reviews, design pins and websites, edit content, and more, the possibilities are endless.

Here are some great platforms to get you started:

5. Grab Cash Back for Your Holiday Spending

I will start by saying I’m an absolute lover of coupons. I’m that annoying girl in the checkout area who desperately searches for “that coupon” I know I had before getting in line with restless little ones.

Here are my favorite places to earn cashback online:

• Rakuten: Formerly Ebates, Rakuten is one of my favorite spots to get cashback and score coupons. I have made almost $300 in cash from Rakuten for simply doing what I always do: Shop online! In addition to cashback, Rakuten features a ton of coupons and various deals. Even if you don’t shop online, you can connect your debit or credit card to Rakuten so you can continue to score big at your favorite brick-and-mortar stores.
• Ibotta: Works by helping you earn cash from the products you already buy. You can send a receipt over for review, link your loyalty card, or complete mobile in-app purchases. It’s simple and a great side hustle that will earn you even more cash for the holidays.
• Receipt Hog: Turn your receipts into everyday cash for items with this app. Install the app, snap pictures of your receipts, earn rewards, and redeem them! 
• Shopkick: Imagine conquering most of your holiday shopping this season using “free” gift cards! Shopkick is a rewards app that gives you gift cards for the shopping you already do! Simply install the app and start shopping. 
• Fetch: This rewards app allows you to earn points just by scanning your receipts. For each receipt you scan or upload, you’ll earn a varying amount of points that can be traded in for free gift cards to popular retailers and restaurants.

6. Earn Christmas Cash by Dog Walking and Pet Sitting

By far one of my personal favorites, Rover is an app that allows you to become a “pet parent” for a day, a week, or overnight! You set your own pricing and schedule! Walk a dog on your lunch break, puppy-sit a neighbor’s dog for the weekend, and grab that cash!

To get going on Rover, all you need to do is:

• Create your profile showing who you are
• Choose the types of dogs you would like to care for and the dates that work for you
• Get paid two days after you’ve completed the service!

It’s that simple! Be sure to check out my full Rover review here!

7. Have a Smartphone? Sell your Photos Online!

My iPhone currently boasts 5,400 photos, and while most of them are of my kiddos, I’m betting there are a few pics that I could sell for some cash! Even if you don’t have a “photographic eye,” there is money to be made from selling your photos online!

Here are a few spots where you can sell those beautiful pics:

• Foap: Get the Foap app and then upload your photos! When your photos sell, you reap a profit! The profit split is 50/50, but, in my opinion, every dollar counts!
• Shutterstock: if you have some higher-quality photos, you can upload them for sale at Shutterstock! This is by far one of the most popular stock photography sites, and every time your photo or video is sold, you’ll earn up to 30% of the sale price, all while retaining your copyright. Worth checking out for sure!

8. Become a Website Tester! (No Experience Necessary!)

This is not as scary as it sounds! In fact, it’s a ton of fun! Don’t have any website testing experience? No problem! All you’ll need to get paid is a reliable internet connection!

Here are a few website testing companies to get you started:

• UserTesting: start on this site by getting $10 via PayPal for every 20-minute video you complete. User Testing pays you to visit websites and apps where you’ll complete a set of tasks and get paid up to $60 per test. You will need to install their testing software, and you must speak English in order to participate.
• Userbrain: Earning money with Userbrain is as simple as speaking your thoughts! This website testing company asks users to express precisely what they’re thinking as they go through the tests. You’ll need to install the Chrome extension or iOS app to start testing websites, and then you’ll be on your way to earning cash! Each test takes only 5-15 minutes to complete, and you’ll make $5 per test. Tests are sent out weekly, and you’re paid out via PayPal!

9. Become a VA (Virtual Assistant)

Do you love helping others? Becoming a virtual assistant (VA) is one great way to not only do what you love but earn some serious Christmas cash in the process! A VA is skilled at providing businesses with administrative, technical, or creative tasks.

Becoming a virtual assistant does take a little bit of know-how, so you’ll want to research this side hustle before diving in full swing! You can take a course on how to become a VA, or if you already have some experience, you can check out these job boards to land your first virtual assistant gig!

10. Cash in on Books, Old Phones, and More!

More than likely, you’ll do your share of online shopping this holiday season, and what better way to earn some Christmas cash than by trading in your old electronic devices, video games, and books for Amazon gift cards? If you have books collecting dust from your college years, old cell phones, gaming devices, and more, the Amazon trade-in program is for you! These may be gift cards, but if you shop at Amazon the way I do, it is just as great as cash in hand!

For more ways to sell your books online, check out this list of sites that will purchase your used books!

11. Start a Blog

If you love to write and want additional money for the holiday season, starting a blog might be the perfect side gig for you. While getting significant traffic and making a full-time earning from your blog may take time, many part-time bloggers enjoy earning extra cash and freebies from their website.

Here are a few quick ideas for monetizing your blog so you can make a little holiday cash: 

• Affiliate Income: Endorsing products you love is one way to make money quickly from your blog. Check out if the companies you want to endorse have an affiliate program on their site, write about these products, and promote them! You can check out some popular affiliate platforms here.
• Monetize with Google Adsense: Signing up for it is easy, and it allows other companies to place ads on your site, from which you’ll be able to collect commission. In order to make money using Google Adsense, you will need to boost up overall traffic to your site. 
• Write Sponsored Blog Posts: If you already know brands that would benefit from the additional exposure, you can advertise and pitch posts to other companies that would happily pay you to write a post about their products and services. Becoming an affiliate for these companies is another way to “double down” on these posts and earn even more money. 

12. Love Amazon? Try These Side Jobs

If you’re like many of us, shopping on Amazon has become almost second nature. Known as the place for everything from A to Z, you can now also take advantage of two Amazon programs to earn some cash: 

• Amazon MTurk: Make money by completing small tasks such as data input, taking surveys, and more. Simply sign up using your Amazon account.
• Amazon FBA: You don’t need an elaborate storefront to become a seller on Amazon. With Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) program, you can shop for local deals on items from school supplies to toys and then resell those items at a higher price back on Amazon. 

For more ways to make money with Amazon, including part-time and full-time jobs, check out this post.

13. Nanny, Child Care, or Caregiver Positions

Even with the explosion of work from home opportunities, many parents still need childcare, and when the busy holiday season approaches, this is especially true. Becoming a nanny or childcare provider allows you the flexibility to choose when you want to take on jobs and when you don’t. 

Besides traditional nanny or childcare positions, you can also help as a caregiver to seniors. To stand out among other caregivers, you can also get a Babysitting and Advanced Child Care Certification from The Red Cross.

Here are a few popular platforms where you can start a profile and begin making money as a caregiver almost immediately:

14. Other Micro-Tasking Jobs 

Earning money for the holidays doesn’t need to take hours away from your day. Micro-tasks are the perfect way to grab extra holiday cash in a flash. These tasks often include data entry, watching videos, proofreading, writing social media updates, and so much more. Because these tasks are short and can be completed just about anywhere, you can take on a few in between your lunch break, on your way home, in between other jobs, or at night. 

Below are a few places you can dive into for micro-tasking your way to a holiday payday: 

15. Tutor for Holiday Cash

Tutoring is a fantastic way to make some holiday cash if you love teaching. There are a few ways you can go about scoring a tutoring job, from signing up on one of the platforms listed below or by “advertising” your services among friends, family, or even at local libraries.

Check out these companies to start tutoring students online:

• Cambly: Help kids and adults around the globe learn English simply through conversation.
• Care: Offer your specific tutoring services (certain subject areas or industry-specific knowledge) on Care, where you can connect with individuals locally and around the country. You can also advertise other services here, such as childcare and pet care, among others. 
• EF: On Education First (EF), you can teach online ESL(English as a Second Langauge) classes. To get started with this flexible side gig, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree and TEFL certificate of at least 40 hours.
• Studypool: Help people of all ages in a wide variety of subjects like algebra, business, chemistry, foreign languages, SAT prep, and more. Earn up to $7,500 a month as an independent contractor!
• Tutor.com: Whether you’re a seasoned teacher, professor, or industry professional, you can tutor remotely from anywhere around the globe on Tutor.com. 

16. Sell on Etsy

Whether you want to create physical products or not, you can make some extra cash this Christmas by opening your own Etsy shop. Besides crafts and physical items, you can sell digital products like printables, invitations, party decorations, and more to make additional income for the holidays. 

Creating an Etsy storefront takes minutes, and filling your store with goods depends on how quickly (and how many items) you make.

Related content: 25 Christmas Crafts to Make and Sell for a Profit

17. Make Money Cooking From Home

If you love to cook, you can make an excellent way to make money for the holidays. From writing recipes to food blogging and even opening up your kitchen for others to use, there are various ways to make this a profitable side gig this Christmas. Don’t forget to offer your cooking services to local friends and families as well. As the holiday season approaches and calendars get booked, people often look for ways to simplify their lives.

18. Rent Your Space

My husband was in search of storage space not too long ago and decided to look into professional storage units. Much to his surprise, all of the storage units within 30 minutes of our home were booked solid. Whether it’s an in-law suite, an apartment, or even your garage, renting out space is a great way to turn what you already have into working cash for the holidays. Here are a few ways to rent out your space for holiday cash:

• Rent out your living room or other large venues for parties.
• Rent out that ample backyard for events or boat and RV storage.
• If you have space that would be perfect as an office, you can rent that out.
• Rent storage space in your garage or shed.

There are several platforms you can use to list your space. Here are a few: 

19. Transcribe Some Audio Files

Transcription work is another excellent way to make holiday cash. Watch videos or listen to audio files and transcribe what you hear. There are many platforms to choose from, and many sites offer caption work as well. Popular transcription sites like Rev offer their transcribers up to $1.10 per audio minute of transcription writing. This adds up to some pretty solid holiday coin!

Here are some transcription sites that are great for earning Christmas cash:

20. Proofread Your Way to Profits

Do you love examining text to ensure it’s absolutely right? Proofreading as a side hustle is the perfect side gig for making that extra Christmas cash. Not only can you do it in the comfort of your living room or while lounging in bed, but there’s an abundance of proofreading jobs out there, so you can take this side hustle as far as you would like it to go!

Here are a few fantastic platforms for finding that perfect proofreading gig: 

21. Mystery Shopping

If you have excellent memory recall, attention to detail, and solid written communication skills, being a mystery shopper can be a fun way to earn Christmas cash and freebies. As a mystery shopper, you’ll secretly evaluate your shopping, dining, or entertainment experience by rating key aspects of the event. Sometimes, these shopping gigs are done online, over the phone, in person, or via a smartphone app. Your first gigs will generally be lowering paying opportunities, but as you build your reputation as a high-quality and detail-oriented shopper, you’ll get invited to higher-paying gigs. 

To explore this holiday side hustle, check out: 

Ways to Save Money on Christmas Expenses

Making extra money isn’t the only way to stop the financial pressure of the Christmas holidays. By watching how much you spend and by being thrifty, you can stretch your holiday dollars further.

Create a Holiday Budget

First, start by creating a realistic budget and prioritized list of gift recipients. If you find that your budget doesn’t allow for gifts for extended family, friends, teachers, or co-workers, consider making something, writing a note of appreciation, or hosting a holiday potluck. Instead of spending money that you don’t have, focus on celebrating friendships, showing appreciation, and letting your loved ones know how much they mean to you.

Purchase Secondhand

For the people that you do want to purchase gifts for, try buying secondhand items from a garage sale, Craigslist, or your local Salvation Army. You can also find great deals on resale sites like thredUP, Poshmark, and Decluttr. Kids outgrow clothing, shoes, and toys so quickly that you can often purchase like-new condition items for a fraction of the retail price. 

Obtain Assistance

If you need financial assistance this holiday season, there are Christmas assistance programs for low-income families. Organizations like Angel Tree Program, Toys for Tots, Trees for Troops, and Blue Santa provide items like toys, food, Christmas trees, and clothing for families in need. Most of these organizations start taking applications in October, so it’s best to apply now before the December holidays roll around.

Last Words About Making Christmas Money

As you can see, there are lots of ways to make extra money for the holidays. Pick a few that pique your interest, and start now. If you’re interested in work from home seasonal part-time jobs, this post has a bunch of hiring companies. And remember, saving money during the holiday season is equally important, so be sure to budget and plan accordingly.

How are you making extra money for Christmas? Share it with us below! Have questions about making money on the side? Ask away! We’re here to help!

Originally published November 5, 2018. Content updated October 2024.