13 Savvy Money-Making Ideas (2024)

Watching tots isn't just for Kristy, Stacey, and Claudia. Taking care of munchkins pays well these days (around $20 an hour), and now Websites like SitterCity.com and Care.com connect you with families in your 'hood.

Earn extra dough by selling clothes you no longer wear to an online consignment store. PoshMark.com and ThreadFlip.com let you post pics of your jeans and bracelets and set the price you want for them. The Website takes 20 percent of the profits, but on the flip, gives you free prepaid postage to mail it out.

If you have a marketable talent—like writing, editing, Web design, or graphic design—try freelance work in your spare time. Create a profile on elance.com or odesk.com and you can earn an average of $25-$75 an hour, depending on the job and your experience.

If you're driving to another city, sell seats in your car to other passengers on ZimRides.com. You decide how much you want to charge, arrange a time and place to meet up, and then collect the cash via PayPal. Alternately, you can rent out your car using RelayRides.com. Set the price for an hourly or daily rental, and you'll receive 60 percent of the fee. (RelayRides screens every driver, and you get final approval).

Whether you spend most weekends at your boyfriend's place, or are going on vacation/a work trip, you can make a profit off your place by listing your apartment on AirBnB.com. It's free to sign up; you just give the site three percent of the total cost when someone rents.

You seem handy to us? On TaskRabbit.com, you can search listings of errands posted by people in your area—everything from data entry to event planning to assembling IKEA furniture—and sign up for whatever gig you're interested in. What you'll make varies depending on the chore (grocery shopping is $35 on average, house cleaning is about $60).

If you make killer salted-caramels, have a knack for calligraphy, or design cute graphic tees, open up an online shop using Etsy.com or Storenvy.com. It's free to set up, and Etsy reaps just 3.5 percent of your profits, while you get to keep all your earnings on Storenvy. Chances are you won't make a boatload, but if it's something you love doing anyway, why not earn a few extra dollas?

Dogs are good for your health, and your wallet. Animal lovers can easily get in touch with with pet owners on free-to-join sites like Care.com and Rover.com. Expect to earn about $10-$20 per walk, and $25-$50 per overnight stay.

Seriously. The apps EasyShift, FieldAgent, and WeReward give you simple assignments, like taking a picture of a box of cereal at the grocery store, checking the price of gas when you're filling up, or completing a short survey. You only make a few bucks per "shift" but it just takes a couple of minutes. Or sign up for a mystery shopper gig via mysteryshop.org, where you'll get about $15 for evaluating a customer service experience at a nearby business.

If you rocked the SAT, consider teaching test prep courses for Kaplan or Princeton Review, where you'll start off earning around $15 to $25 an hour. You can also find all kinds of online tutoring gigs at Tutor.com (what you make depends on what subject and grade you're teaching), Care.com, or the old-school way—putting up a sign at your local library or coffee shop.

Got great style? Work that skill on StyleOwner.com, where you get to create your own online boutique—and reap the profits. Design your own virtual storefront, choose merchandise from retailers you love, and then tweet and Facebook about your site to send friends there. You earn 10 percent of the profits from anything they buy. Niiiice!