(This post contains affiliate links – please see my disclosure policy in the footer).
If you’re saving up for that awesome summer vacation or want extra cash for wedding season, there’s never been a better time to supplement your income than now!
I love this time of year but I tend to spend way too much money. There’s just so much going on in summer, I just can’t help but spend beyond my means.
The last few summers have been particularly hectic and, yup, very expensive!
When you’re in your 30’s, everyone you know is either getting married, inviting you to BBQ’s or wanting to go to festivals or to the beach.
It will come as no shock to you that Americans spend on average 12.5% more in the summertime than at other times of the year (bar perhaps Christmas).
If you want to enjoy summer to the max … and we all do, then you probably want to get busy with some side hustles to lighten your load!
To that end, I’ve put together some of my favorite side earners that I’ll be leveraging this summer right into October!
1. Survey Junkie
I use Survey Junkie all the time. They are by far the best survey company I’ve come across.
You can earn up to around $18 an hour with them and I’ve even heard of people earning up to $75 for just one survey when participating in focus groups (i.e. in person or over the phone).
Their surveys are so easy to do as well and you can do them sat watching TV or even in bed!
There are plenty of people on their TrustPilot page who have earned $50 in a week with them. That’s $200 a month for very little effort!
No wonder they have a really high rating on TrustPilot.
2. Do a Clinical Trial
Clinical trials are an excellent way of earning good money fairly quickly. You will attend a clinic and be required to test new drugs in a test setting with others in the group taking a placebo. Most trials pay in excess of $1000 per trial and often a lot more.
Obviously this is not risk free but the companies operating these trials are well regulated and, if you’re lucky, you’ll be the one taking the placebo. Most of these trials require you to be healthy and some require that you abstain from alcohol, nicotine and even sex whilst the trial is under way.
However, not only do you get paid a handsome sum for your services, you can be proud of the fact that by taking part you are advancing scientific research and helping to discover new treatments for mankind.
Whilst not strictly a web based method, there are now a number of companies operating websites advertising for people to take part in clinical trials across the country.
If you’re in the US then try Center Watch.
If you’re in the UK try Covance Clinical Trials based in Leeds and Parexel and Trials4Us in London are worth looking at if you’re interested in doing your first clinical trial.
3. InboxDollars
InboxDollars offers a number of ways you can make money online with their app.
You can earn by:-
- Completing surveys
- Surfing the web
- Reading emails
- Playing games
- Reviewing Products
They are therefore a very versatile company to use meaning you’re less likely to render yourself brain dead by spending some time with them.
Their website is a joy to use and they offer a $5 sign up bonus just for entering your details.
It’s worth signing up for the sign up bonus alone!
Expect to earn about $10 per hour with Inbox Dollars!
?Want to make up to $300 extra each month? Check out these free websites!
Join Survey Junkie: Expect to earn on average around $10 an hour. However, their focus groups (i.e. surveys in person or over the phone) do pay on average around $75 when available and are subject to your location – I earned $300 one month with them – 5⭐ rating on TrustPilot!
? Get a free Survey Junkie registration bonus when you sign up
Join SwagBucks: The second best survey company. Make money completing surveys, watching videos and playing games – up to $10 per hour – $5 bonus and tons of ways of making cash!
Join MyPoints: Again, make money completing surveys, watching videos and playing games – up to $10 per hour.
4. Flip Goods for a Profit
You could flipping goods this summer for a profit. Basically just look for anything that’s good value and try selling it for more money than what you bought it for is a great way to get some side income rolling this summer!
You will need to spend some time trying to work out what you want to buy and sell. If you find a niche area, this will help you build up better knowledge of where to source your cheap products from, and with time you will be able to identify products that have excellent resale value.
You can flip things like books, old computer games, clothes, computer parts, old cell phones. The list is endless!
Here are a few ideas of where to source cheap products to sell:-
- Garage sales
- Closing down sales
- End of season sales at big retailers
- Bargain bins at big retailers
- Ebay
- For sale forums on online message boards
- Department store clearance racks
- Second hand stores
- Charity shops
Rob and Mel make over $100k a year doing this as a full time hustle.
They even have a course to show you how to do it.
5. Install Money Making Apps on your Phone
Why not make easy cash by installing money making apps on your phone like the Nielsen app.
There doesn’t get more passive than this app.
Simply download the Nielsen app onto your mobile and they’ll send you $50 a year.
That’s for each device too!
Does it get any easier?
6. Rent out your rooms
People are now making a ton of money renting out their properties to people.
You don’t even need to rent out your entire house. You could just rent out a room or two.
The good thing is that you can just do this as and when you want. Some people will rent out on a short-term basis. Others rent out to people wanting accommodation on a more long-term basis!
This is definitely worth looking at especially if you’ve got students at college nearby or if you live in the city where people are often wanting rooms for short stays.
You’ll have probably heard of them by now but AirBnb is the most well-known company for renting out a room or property to earn a healthy side income.
7. Get Paid to Name Companies Online
The online company, Naming Force, actually pays you to create names for businesses. You submit your ideas and if your name is selected, they pay out around $50 – $250.
The process starts off with you and others putting forward your name ideas. The best picks are then narrowed down using a voting system that you can also participate in. When the best names are short-listed, they then go to Naming Force’s clients who choose the one they want to use.
If the client chooses your name, you are named on the website’s “winner’s page” and you collect your reward.
If you’re creative with branding, this is definitely worth looking at!
8. Save Money On Groceries and Shopping
I love making savings on shopping as you’re spending that money anyway. Why not get cash back and half your weekly grocery and shopping bills!
A great way to make your bank balance look a bit healthier each month is to leverage cash back and reward websites.
Check out:-
Rakuten : Earn cash back on 100’s of items. Just sign up for $10 cash back bonus!
Ebates : Earn cash back on 100’s of items! Just sign up for $10 cash back bonus!
9. Drop Shipping
Why not make money online by opening up an online ecommerce store. It’s never been easier to set up an online store than it is today. The most convenient thing is that you do not even need to store inventory or stock. By setting up a store that uses drop shipping, the supplier (usually in China) will simply send the product purchased from your online store straight to the customer.
There are literally thousands of YouTube videos and blogs showing you how to set up such a business. I have found Jack Kitchener’s YouTube videos to be very helpful at showing you exactly how to kick start such a business and make it profitable.
One of the most popular methods for setting up an online drop shipping store is using Shopify to construct your store and then you ship your products direct from your supplier when you get a purchase. You can also set up a store on Amazon and use fulfilment by Amazon to deal with all your shipping and returns. This allows you to set up an online store quickly with very little capital needed up front.
10. Test Websites
You should definitely try testing some websites this summer to supplement your income.
Companies pay people like you to simply browse around on websites, complete a few forms and then provide feedback afterwards.
They pay handsomely too!
The company UserTesting will pay you $10 per test and you only need to commit around 10 – 20 minutes of your time. That’s an awesome $30 an hour for little more than browsing the net, which I am sure you do plenty of anyway.
There are companies out there who are willing to pay you for your insight and experience of using products, services or your knowledge of a particular topic.
UserTesting comes well recommended!
11. Do Free Lance Work
If you’ve got particular skills in things like web design, writing, e-marketing, legal drafting, sound engineering, or anything else, then why not put your expertise to good use and get paid for freelance services you can offer.
There are now a whole host of websites out there where you can market your services on a freelance basis and attract clients.
My favourite is Fiverr which has all manner of freelance workers offering out their talents. The subscription to Fiverr is free but they keep 20% of the sales you generate from working as a freelancer on their website.
Here’s a list of my favourite freelance sites:-
12. Crowd Sourcing
Crowdsourcing is a method whereby companies can engage the services of a wide number of people on the internet to get a big job done.
This normally involves tasks like product testing, filling in surveys, translation, data entry, form filling and search engine optimization. When you’ve completed the task, you’ll be paid a fee direct into your Paypal account.
Most of the work you’ll be doing will be quite tedious, so it’s probably best to swerve this one if you like exercising the ol’ grey matter. However, if you are android-esque in your ability to concentrate, you’ll do just fine.
Here’s a list of my favourite crowdsourcing opportunities:-
13. Vindale Research
Another fantastic survey company is Vindale Research.
You earn money by completing surveys and panels. The “panels” are basically third-party companies that Vindale refers you to and you complete surveys for them instead.
A lot of “panels” provide opportunities to enter into prize draws which you are automatically entered into.
They do advertise that you can earn $75 per survey which are usually for products for you to review, which you can keep after!
Generally the more complicated the survey, the more you earn.
Their payments are usually higher than a lot of other survey companies so they’re definitely one to consider.
You generally earn around $1 to $2 for surveys that take around 5-10 minutes to finish.
Another bonus is that you get cash rather than points so you know exactly where you are.
They also offer different ways of making money so you aren’t confined to battling your way through surveys alone and can find other more enjoyable ways to make extra cash.
14. Take Party in Study and Research Groups
One such company providing this service is Respondent.
Basically you sign up to their panel, provide some basic details about your location and profession and you are then provided with a list of studies to join.
This can involve completing surveys, being interviewed about a topic or simply just providing your opinion. They pay up to $350 for your participation too!
For some of the studies you do need to have specialist knowledge in that area but others anyone can join!
