This post may contain affiliate links, please read my Disclosure policy.
Easy ways for millennials to make extra cash and save money, including some cool side hustles and remote jobs to make at least $500 a month.
Millennials want financial freedom. They are no different from other generations when it comes to money. Millennials want to earn money to pay for things responsibly and to have some personal freedom.
It’s true though that Millennials have been saddled as the generation with the most debt; some students debt and some credit card debt.
Ok, they still want to pay these off, buy a house, take vacations and live happy.
Given the reality of high debt level for many millennials, they have to come up with creative ways to save money and make extra cash.
There are many ways in this economy to go side hustling, in addition to keeping a full-time job. Whether you need more money to make ends meet, payoff debts, or work less (more freedom), here are some ideas to make extra cash.
Financial planning for millennials
First, if you’re a millennial with debt, here are some tips on how to refinance your loans.
Also, if you need help setting up a basic budget, see these easy and simple budget ideas.
Be honest about your expenses. Try a no spend month. This is like a financial diet where you only spend on necessities. See how much you can save by spending only on your needs for this month.
By now you’ve probably heard of the gig economy. This is made up of all those freelance jobs and work from home gigs you can do on the side.
These opportunities allow you to make extra cash to pay down debt, secure a financial future and obtain financial freedom.
Here is a round up of posts dedicated to helping you make money with side gigs or thru passive income.
Reliable Ways to Make Extra Income for Millennials
The big one for creating passive income is thru blogging. This requires time and some patient, but it’s a legitimate way to make money online. How to start a blog on WordPress.
- Passive income you can build with your talents
- 5 ways to make passive income with a photography blog
- Passive income for artists, investors and creators
Side hustles and gigs for millennials to make extra cash
But, what if you need money now?
The gig economy has created a number of side hustles millennials can take advantage of. You can keep your full time job and make time to do side gigs online from home or part-time.
This extra cash can go towards paying down your credit cards, making room for savings and investments or putting an emergency fund in place.
Here are some related ideas we have covered already for side gigs
- Participate in focus group and make $75-$200 per session
- 16 websites for freelance work at home
- 15 ways to make extra cash online with photography
- Side gigs for teaching
Sites that pay you for your work and time
If you’re looking for extra cash on the side, there are lots of websites in different areas looking for freelancers.
Be careful with work from home scams, there are some. So, checkout the site before you do any work. Be especially careful with sites asking for money upfront from you.
Freelance writing sites
These sites, including Amazon, pay you for writing content or editing content. Problogger is a marketplace for freelance writers.
Freelance online work
These sites provide curated remote, freelance and online jobs postings. You need to register and become a member to view full postings.
Drive your car for a side gig
You can use your car to add extra money to your income sources. These companies all have drivers jobs for deliveries or for passengers pickups. If you live in a mid sized to large city, you’re in luck because there is high demand for these jobs.
Tutoring
For those who have knowledge in specific subjects, these tutoring sites offer online jobs for pay. Each site with its own requirements you have to sing up and review the terms and pay.
- VIPKID
- Tutor.com
- BuddySchool
- HappyTutors
Rent some of your physical space
If you have an extra room at home or a garage for storage, you can rent it out using one of these platforms.
- AirBnB
- Home Away
- FlipKey
Take Surveys to Earn extra cash
Surveys companies pay you cash or by giving you reward points. This has become a very popular method for making quick extra cash. Here are some of the more popular survey companies.
- Survey Junkie
- Pinecone
- Nielsen
- Swagbucks
- YouGov
More Ways to Make Extra Income for Millennials
Find employment with a government agency
Loan forgiveness program
Employers of certain federal government agencies may qualify for the loan forgiveness program. the Federal government created this program as incentives to attract talent to the government sector.
The loan forgiveness program forgives a certain amount of your loan every year. In exchange, you have to sign an agreement with your employer. This contract requires you to continue to work for the agency for a specific number of years.
The application process for this program starts at the agency employing you. So, before accepting a job, you should ask about the loan forgiveness programs and the requirements.
Another option is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program or PSLF. This program offers loans forgiveness to qualified students with qualified loans.
Both of these programs give you the option to reduce your student loans. This means money in your pocket and perhaps debt free in a shorter amount of time.
Create a Virtual Assistant small business
Bloggers, website masters, online business owners can be busy people. You can offer virtual assistant service to help them with tasks. These may include posting on social media, researching ideas, writing or proofreading content, creating templates and graphics.
To make extra money as a virtual assistant on your own, you need to market your business to build up your clients’ base. Or, you can freelance as a Virtual Assistant. Here are some sites for VA work.
- Time Etc
- Virtual Assistant USA
- Fancy Hands
Find Missing Money or “Free Money”
Yeap. There is an estimated $42 billion Dollar fund of unclaimed money in the US. This money has been forgotten or not claimed at all by their owners.
The two major databases to search for your name or any variations of your name or family member’s are; Missingmoney.com and Unclaimed.org.
If you’re lucky and find your name in any of the databases, follow the instructions to make a claim. You never know you or a relative may have forgotten money in a bank, credit union, from an employer, from a creation etc.
For millennials, the desire to make extra income may be for different reasons. Some millennials have a lot of students and credit card debts. For them making extra cash means ability to reduce and payoff these debts.
There are millennials who are already making enough money to pay down debt. For them making extra cash goes for saving and investing for a more secure financial future.
The gig economy is creating opportunities for millennials to get side jobs, plus online and remote work. These jobs can be full-time, part-time or freelance to help millennials achieve their longer term goals.
Other options for millennials to make extra income include, cutting down on expenses and creating passive income streams. Passive income may not provide you with immediate extra cash, but it’s something you can do with consistency and eventually earn from it.
