If you currently don’t have a job, finding ways to make money is likely at the top of your to-do list. The good news is that there are numerous ways to earn income when you aren’t working a steady gig. Some opportunities require Wifi and a laptop or smartphone; others require little more than your physical presence — and some require that you have a little money that you’d like to multiply into more.
Keep reading even if you have a job, because starting a side hustle can be a great option for making money from home.
How to “Make Money With Money” With No Job
What does it mean to make money with money? In simple terms, it means finding ways to make the money that you already have work for you, without necessarily getting a traditional first or second job.
Learning how to make money with money often involves various ways to earn passive income. Passive income is money that you earn with little to no work involved. That doesn’t mean you don’t do any work at all: Some degree of work is required in the beginning to create passive income streams before you can start making money on autopilot. It’s a good idea to use a free budget app to track how much you spend to set up your income stream and to track the money you make.
If that sounds good to you, then you might consider these passive income ideas.
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Earn Cash Back
When you download cash-back apps, you can link your debit card or credit cards, then earn back a percentage of what you spend at partner retailers.
There are several different cash-back apps to choose from, and they all pay different cash-back reward rates. Some of the apps you might consider for online shopping, grocery shopping, or travel include:
• Rakuten
• Ibotta
• Dosh
• Mr. Rebates
You can sign up for one or multiple apps to maximize your cash-back earnings potential.
Invest in Real Estate
Real estate can be a great investment, especially when there’s uncertainty in the stock market. Of course, you might have enough cash on hand to buy a rental property, but figuring out how to make money with money in real estate doesn’t have to be that complicated. Investing in a real estate investment trust (REIT), for example, offers the benefits of real estate ownership without the hassles of operating a rental property. You can also invest in real estate mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to gain exposure to a variety of properties in a single investment.
These investment options might be offered through your online brokerage. You may also consider real estate crowdfunding platforms, which allow you to pool your money along with other investors in a variety of property types. You make money through any of these investments in the form of dividends, which is another type of passive income.
Invest in Dividend Stocks
A dividend represents a share of a company’s profits. Some companies pay out dividends to investors who own shares of their stock as a reward for their loyalty. Dividend investing is something that might appeal to you if you’re specifically interested in passive income or residual income, since you can make a one-time investment, then collect dividends as they’re paid out.
When comparing dividend stocks, it helps to familiarize yourself with how the stock has paid out historically. You’ll also want to consider how often dividends are paid out and what kind of tax liability you’ll incur by receiving dividend payments.
Practice Peer-to-Peer Lending
Peer-to-peer (P2P) loans are funded by money pooled from different investors. Those investors make passive income from the loans by collecting interest from borrowers.
You might consider P2P lending as an investor if you’re looking for another idea on how to make money with no job passively. Keep in mind that with peer-to-peer lending, a higher potential rate of return usually equates to higher risk. If the borrower defaults on the loan you’ve helped fund, you won’t be able to collect any remaining interest.
For that reason, you might want to diversify the types of loans you invest in. You can also balance risk by investing in other things, such as real estate, dividend stocks, or even fine art.
More Ways to Make Money Without A Job
Maybe you don’t have a nest egg to invest up front via a making-money-with-money strategy. Never fear — there are still ways to pull in cash without a conventional 9-to-5 schedule.
Sell Your Plasma
Selling plasma can be an easy way to make extra money without a job or without doing any real work. Plasma donation centers pay healthy people real cash to donate their plasma. Depending on where you donate, you can make $1,000 your first month as a new donor.
Keep in mind that there may be a limit on the number of times you can donate plasma each month. You may also want to read up on potential side effects of donating plasma and how the process works.
Get Cash for Your Clutter
If you have things around the house you no longer need or use, you could sell them to make some quick cash. Some of the places you can sell items you don’t need include:
• Craigslist
• Facebook Marketplace
• Facebook bargain groups
• eBay
• Etsy (for vintage items)
• Consignment stores
You can also try selling items through an app like Mercari or Decluttr (for tech products).
Selling items for cash could generate a steady income if you reinvest the money you make clearing your clutter into a flipping business. Flipping simply means taking things you get for one price, then selling them for a higher price. For example, you might be able to find bargains on clothing or accessories at thrift stores and flea markets, then turn around and flip them on Facebook Marketplace or eBay. You might need to spend a little money to purchase your first items to flip, but this can be another great idea for how to make money with money.
Get Paid to Do Market Research
Companies are always interested in figuring out how to gain a competitive edge. One way they do that is by paying everyday consumers to participate in market research. There are numerous apps and websites that pay you cash to complete surveys, share your opinions, or participate in focus groups. The amount you can make largely depends on which apps or sites you’re signing up for. But this can be an easy way to make money from home using your cellphone or laptop.
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Start a Blog
Blogging can help you to generate passive income in a variety of ways. For example, you might earn passive income from advertisements on your site, affiliate marketing, or product sales. You can also make a more active income by writing sponsored posts or offering some type of service, like coaching or consulting.
There is a certain amount of work that goes into setting up a blog and growing various income streams. But it’s entirely possible to make a full-time income from home as a blogger, even if you’re starting with no experience and very little money.
Offer Childcare, Senior Care, and Pet Care
If you want to make money offline, consider babysitting, pet sitting, or dog walking within your social circle or local area. You might also branch out to offer help to seniors who need it. For example, if you don’t mind leaving the house, you can hire yourself out to run errands for elderly people who may not have transportation. Or you may earn extra money by sitting with a senior for a few hours a day while their regular caretaker does the grocery shopping or cleaning.
Rent Out a Room on Airbnb
If you’ve got a spare room, you might have an easy solution for how to make money without a job. You can rent out a spare room or part of your home on Airbnb to create passive income. Or you might take on a regular roommate, which can help to reduce your share of monthly expenses.
You’ll need to register for an account on Airbnb to start hosting guests in your home. Before you do that, however, it’s important to check the zoning laws where you live to determine whether you need any special permits to act as an Airbnb host.
Rent Out Your Car
Have a car that you rarely drive? You can rent it out to people who need a vehicle short-term through a site like Turo. Renting your car for cash is similar to renting out a room on Airbnb, in that you’re effectively sharing your vehicle with someone else. This can be an easy option for making money with your car passively versus driving for Uber or Lyft.
Recommended: What Credit Score Is Needed to Buy a Car?
Become a Tutor
Tutoring is something you might consider if you’re comfortable helping students learn and you want to be able to make money from home. You might offer tutoring services virtually through a site like Tutor.com or from the comfort of your home if you’re helping students locally. Keep in mind that with tutoring websites, you may be required to pass a skills test or show proof of a college degree in order to get approved.
Freelance Online
You might try freelancing to make money without a job if you have some marketable skills. (Freelancing is also a good option if you’re looking for a good job for an introvert.) Some of the ways you can make money as a freelancer include:
• Proofreading
• Virtual assistant services
• Graphic design services
• Website design
• Freelance writing or editing
If you’re not sure where to get started with making money as a freelancer, you might try a site like Fiverr. With Fiverr, you can list your freelance skills and services, along with your preferred rate. Potential clients can browse freelancer profiles and if yours is a good fit, hire you for their project.
Sell Photography
Selling photography online is another way to make money from home. You’ll need a good camera (or smartphone camera) to take pictures, and it’s helpful to have good editing software on hand. Once you have some pictures to sell, you can upload them to a site like Shutterstock or Foap.
These sites allow you to license the rights to your photography. When someone purchases a license, you earn royalty income. Once again, this is another good way to make money passively without leaving home.
Sell eBooks or Low-Content Books
Ebooks and low-content books like blank journals or lined notebooks can be an excellent way to create steady income without a lot of ongoing work. You can create an ebook or low-content book, upload to a self-publishing website like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), and collect income each time you sell a copy.
You typically don’t need much to get started with self-publishing, other than a great idea for a book and some graphic design software to create your covers and interiors. When deciding where to sell your finished books, take time to research the fees each platform charges, since they can eat into your earnings.
How to Make the Most of Extra Income
Figuring out how to make money with money or in another way that doesn’t involve having a job can increase your cash flow, sometimes significantly. But it’s important to think about what to do with extra money that you’re earning from a side hustle or passive income ideas.
Some of the best ways to put extra income to work include:
• Paying down high-interest debt
• Increasing your savings
• Investing money in the market, where it can grow through compounding
• Reinvesting it into new passive income ideas
Those are just a few ways to make the most of supplemental income, versus simply spending all of the extra cash you’re bringing in.
The Takeaway
Earning money while still having the flexibility that comes from not having a conventional job is an attractive prospect. If you’re testing out different ideas for how to make money with money (or make money even when you don’t have capital to invest), there are plenty of passive income ideas worth trying. A budgeting app can help you track your expenses and revenue to find the method that delivers the biggest rewards.
Take control of your finances with SoFi. With our financial insights and credit score monitoring tools, you can view all of your accounts in one convenient dashboard. From there, you can see your various balances, spending breakdowns, and credit score. Plus you can easily set up budgets and discover valuable financial insights — all at no cost.
FAQ
How can I make money with no job?
Starting a side hustle or online business, or doing gig work, are great ways to make money without a job. It’s possible to make money online or from home doing things like market research, shopping with cash back apps, mystery shopping, or offering freelance services.
How can I make $100 without a job?
The fastest way to make $100 without a job is to sell something. For example, you might sell items around the house that you no longer need, or resell bargain items that you find on Facebook or at flea markets. If you’d like to make $100 a day or $100 a week consistently, then you might consider pet sitting, dog walking, freelancing, or blogging.
How do I live without a job?
Living well without a job starts with creating a realistic budget and understanding how you spend your money. Having savings to rely on can make it easier to live without a job if you expect to be out of work temporarily. You can also work on finding ways to make money without a job, including passive income ideas, or gig work.
Photo credit: iStock/Natalia Bodrova
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