Would you like to make $1,000 a month working from home? Then keep reading! I have a list of real-life ideas to make money from home!
When I first launched my blog, I wanted to make an extra $700 a month to pay for the extras in my life like fitness classes, baby and me classes, and coffee stops.
Even though I worked 10 hours a week as a social media manager, the money I made from that job covered bills, food, and my blogging expenses.
To cover my extracurricular activities, I sold things online and at thrift stores. I participated in paid focus groups and even worked an occasional weekend shift at my old nursing job.
Fortunately, my blog gained traction quickly, and within three months, I started earning money from it. Today, I make a full-time income from my blog. The point of my story is if there is a will, there is a way.
If you need to make $1,000 a month working from home, you can do it.
Here are some great side hustle ideas, stories, and ways for you to make extra income from home!
1. Sell Digital Downloads
Whether you want to earn a little or a lot, creating digital downloads like printables, ebooks, online courses, templates, patterns, photos, images, and SVGs is an excellent way to generate a passive income stream. You don’t even need your own website to get started. Simply create your digital assets using Canva, upload your products to a platform like Etsy or Creative Market, promote them on social media, and watch the sales trickle in. Cody Berman, who co-created the E-Printables Side Hustle Course, earned $700 in his first week selling printables on Etsy. If you’re curious about a digital download business, sign up for this free workshop.
2. Tutor Students Online
If you have expertise in a subject like algebra or are a teacher, tutoring can be an excellent way to make $1,000 a month. There are tons of online tutoring platforms that are looking for qualified individuals to help students with their studies. For instance, top tutors on Course Hero can earn up to $1,500 a month for answering homework questions online. With Studypool, tutors can earn up to $7,500 a month! For more ways to make extra money with your expertise, check out this list of online tutoring jobs.
3. Dog Walking with Rover
With the Rover app, you can make $1,000 a month walking and caring for dogs! Just download the app and sign up to be a pet sitter. Choose which services you’d like to offer (walking, pet sitting, or boarding) and your pet preferences, then set your prices and schedule and start earning cash! This mom started using Rover to pet sit other dogs in her home and found that she could easily make an extra $1,000 a month. She even got to pick her preferences; other dogs must get along with children and cats.
Of course, dog walking and pet sitting aren’t the only way to make extra money with the gig economy! You can deliver food with Uber Eats or DoorDash, or you can drive kids to school using HopSkipDrive. Like picking out groceries? Use Shipt or Instacart to make extra money grocery shopping and delivering food, or pick up a babysitting or housesitting gig using Care.com.
4. Start a Side Hustle on Fiverr
Fiverr is an online platform where people can sell services. The initial concept behind the site was freelancers sold services like content writing, graphic design, proofreading, editing, bookkeeping, transcription, digital marketing, and more for $5.00. Today, the site has evolved, and freelancers charge anywhere from $5-$10,000 per service. Services have evolved, too; today, there is a business and lifestyle section where people are selling cooking classes, craft lessons, personal trainer sessions, consulting services, and more. It’s totally free to join, and once you sell your service, Fiverr will charge you a 20% fee. This gal from Hustle and Slow earned $1,133 writing 500-word blog posts in her first month on the platform.
5. Rent Your Stuff
We all know about Airbnb and people making excellent money renting their houses, but let’s face it: most of us don’t have an extra home to rent. However, there are other unique ways to earn $1,000 monthly from the on-demand rental marketplace. Whether you have sports equipment, a car, an RV, a boat, a swimming pool, or a fancy handbag, there is a marketplace for you to list and rent your items for a profit. For instance, on Neighbor, you can earn an extra $50-$150 renting space in your driveway! Add in a few more items; you can realistically make $1,000 a month! Check out this article for a full list of rental marketplaces to explore.
6. Become a Craft Seller
If you enjoy making arts and crafts, you can make $1,000 a month selling handmade goods on Etsy or Amazon Handmade. Kirsten La Greca decided to test the waters on Etsy by selling embroidered scarfs. After being on the platform for a month, she finally made a sale, then another, until she finally hit $1,000 in sales. She kept at it, and after a couple of years of being on the platform, she earned $25,000 annually or $2,083 a month. For more tips about success on Etsy, check out this interview with Melanie from Simple Made Pretty.
7. Craigslist Seller
One thing that often stops people from pursuing a side gig is that they don’t have a website. In the following example, Aimee Pass earned $3,500 in one month using a $5 Craigslist ad. She posted one $5 ad for family photography sessions and another $5 for live aquarium plants. From these two ads, she generated $800 from selling her aquarium plants and landed $2,700 in photography work. If you’d like to know more, you can read Aimee’s tips for selling stuff on Craigslist.
8. Start a YouTube Channel
If you enjoy creating video tutorials, you can make good money as a YouTube creator. Of course, you’ll need to spend time growing your channel as YouTube requires partners to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time on your content in 12 months. However, once you meet this criterion, you can start making money through Google ads. One mom who has found major success as a YouTube Creator is Judy Travis. Not only does she have millions of followers, but she regularly earns a million dollars annually, creating parenting and beauty videos. If you want to make money creating YouTube videos, check out this tutorial to get started.
9. Start Your Own Blog
While blogging has changed tremendously since I first started, it’s still a viable way to earn $1,000 or more in monthly income. With blogging, you’ll need to diversify how you get your traffic and how you monetize your platform; luckily, there are many ways to do so! Of course, you should learn the best SEO (search engine optimization) practices, email marketing, and social media marketing. As far as monetization goes, you can work with an ad network like Raptive or Mediavine; you can work with brands on sponsored campaigns, as well as affiliate marketing, selling digital products, services, merchandise, and more!
One well-known blogger who has earned millions from her personal finance blog is Michelle Schroeder-Gardner. What started out as a hobby for her quickly became her full-time gig that supported her family. Besides the flexibility that blogging offers (Michelle lived on a sailboat for a couple of years), blogging allows you to write about your passions and has unlimited income potential.
10. Content Creator
With content creation, you’ll create content for platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Amazon, Vocal, Patreon, and others! Which platforms you decide to use will depend on the type of content you’re creating (written, audio, video, photo, or images). And the same is true for how you’ll earn money. Some platforms, like TikTok, have creator funds, and others, like Amazon, have affiliate revenues and creator rewards and bonuses.
With content creation, you can generally repurpose your content for multiple platforms, which increases your earning potential. Some people do content creation as a side gig, while others do it as their full-time job. How much you can earn will depend on multiple factors, such as your niche, the platforms you’re using, the type of content you’re creating, and how large your following is, but motivated beginners should be able to generate $1,000 a month fairly easily.
11. Customer Service Agent
Not all remote customer service jobs require agents to work a full 40-hour workweek. Many 1099 companies hire part-time gig workers to service a variety of client programs. Generally, with these opportunities, you’ll choose your schedule a couple of weeks in advance, and you’ll earn a wage based on the hours or minutes you work.
Reputable companies to explore include Working Solutions, ACD Direct, Omni Interactions, and NexRep. With customer service representatives earning an average of $20 per hour, you only need to work 12.5 hours weekly to make $1,000 a month!
12. Virtual Assistant
If you have excellent organization, time management, and attention to detail, working as a virtual assistant is a great way to earn $1,000 a month! Besides the soft skills I mentioned above, you’ll also need to be tech-savvy, have top-notch communication skills, and be self-motivated. Generally, in these roles, you’ll handle calendar management, travel planning, email correspondence, and other administrative tasks. The tasks you’ll work on will depend on who you’re working for and what they need assistance with.
According to Indeed, the average income for a virtual assistant is $26.89 per hour, which means you only need to work 37 hours a month to earn $1,000! If you’re interested in a part-time job as a virtual assistant, explore BELAY, Byron, and Worxbee.
13. Participate in Focus Groups and Online Surveys
While surveys and focus groups are sporadic, if you sign up with multiple platforms, you can reach your goal of $1,000 a month. With most platforms, you must answer several qualifying questions to ensure you’re the right demographic for the study or survey. If you meet the criteria, you’ll receive an invitation to participate. Studies and surveys commonly occur online, via phone, web meeting, or in person.
Over the years, I’ve done a fair amount of surveys and focus groups, and it’s a great way to add extra money to your wallet. Focus groups tend to pay well; the last couple that I did paid $100 for an hour of my time. Surveys tend to pay less, but the more you complete, the more you’ll earn. Some platforms, like Swagbucks, offer new users a $10 bonus.
One thing to note with these market research opportunities is that you’ll get a lot of emails, so you may want to create a separate email account for these activities.
Here are some companies to explore:
14. Train AI Tools
With the explosion of AI technologies comes the need for humans to train these tools. For these independent contracting positions, you must be tech-savvy, detail-oriented, and have excellent research, writing, and editing skills.
One company that hires AI trainers is DataAnnotationTech. To get started with them, you’ll create a user profile, and you’ll need to take an initial assessment test. The test will take about an hour and can be tricky, so be sure to take your time and fully focused on providing the best answers possible. If you’re accepted, you can begin working on tasks in your dashboard. The starting pay for these roles is $20 per hour, so you’ll only need to work 12.5 hours a week to make $1,000 a month!
Other companies to explore include:
You Can Easily Make $1,000 a Month Online
As you can see, there are many ways to make $1,000 a month working from home! All you need is a laptop, an internet connection, and the motivation to get started!
One important thing to note is the roles included in this article are independent contracting positions or small business ideas, which means you’re responsible for self-employment taxes. However, as a small business owner, you have more freedom to create your own schedule, and there is no cap on how much you can earn.
Need more ideas? Be sure to check out this article; it has some really interesting ways to make an extra $1,000 a month – including face painting, parking lot trash pickup, and selling worms!
Whichever of these practical ideas you choose, you’ll be well on your way to earning extra money in any given month.
Originally published June 3, 2015. Content updated November 2024.
