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Are you looking for ways to make extra money for Christmas? It’s hard to believe that Christmas is fast approaching – blink and it will be here!
Sure, Christmas is supposed to be about gratitude and love, but it doesn’t hurt to wake up to a tree full of presents on Christmas morning 🎁.
It can get pricey as an average American spends $1000 on gifts alone! The number gets bigger faster when you account for travel costs, food, decorations, and whatever else that comes with the holiday season.
You should be able to spend the holiday season with your loved ones without having to worry about financial stress. If you plan ahead, you could be buying all the presents without dipping into your funds.
Trying to make an extra $1000 might seem difficult with Christmas only a few months away, but if you break it down, it’s around $350/month or less than $100/week. But hey, not everybody spends that much. Sometimes it’s really the thought that counts!
Related: 50 Frugal Christmas Gifts for Kids Of All Ages Under $10
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Table of Contents
Make Extra Money for Christmas
1. Ride-Sharing with Lyft / Uber
You can easily earn $100 a week by driving just a few hours for Uber or Lyft. I just took an Uber the other day and my driver earns a full-time income as an Uber driver. The great thing about this side hustle is that you can work as much or as little as you want and the hours are flexible.
Everything is handled by the app and you are paid weekly. You can also make extra money with tips and people tend to be more generous around the holidays.
The downside of this side hustle is the wear and tear on your car, but you can tax deduct vehicle expenses, mileage, and more.
2. Deliver Food with DoorDash
DoorDash is a food delivery service that offers flexible working hours and pays on a weekly basis. This is a great alternative to Uber/Lyfe if you don’t want people in your car.
While owning a car isn’t a requirement in all cities, a valid driver’s license, insurance, and a clean driving record are. You can use almost any type of transportation to deliver.
There is a guaranteed amount for completing each delivery and you can earn up to $750 per week just from delivering food to customers.
3. Personal Shopping with Shipt
Shipt is a membership-based grocery marketplace where you can earn money by shopping and delivering groceries and household essentials to people that don’t want to or might not be able to get to the store. You pick up an order via the app, collect the items from the list, and then deliver them.
The hours are flexible and you can work as much or as little as you want. You earn up to $22/hr and are paid weekly. While tipping is not required, there is potential for you to earn some extra money if your clients are feeling generous.
4. Seasonal Retail Job
Every year around the holidays, there are signs everywhere looking to hire seasonal workers. According to CNBC, Target, UPS, Amazon, and Kohl’s are looking to attract over 230,000 seasonal workers this year by offering better pay.
A seasonal holiday job may include working at a retail store, Amazon delivery driver, UPS, haunted house, and so on. If you’re looking for a temp job or some extra hours on the weekends, then this is perfect for you.
An added bonus for working retail is the discount, which can come in handy for the holiday season.
5. Test Websites & Apps
You can get paid by doing short 20-minute usability tests for companies that need their websites evaluated. You don’t need any prior work experience or a degree in IT to test websites. They are looking for average, normal, everyday users like you and me.
To test a website, it usually involves you working through a set of tasks while speaking into a microphone from stating what you like or don’t like about the website.
Some sites to sign up for with this are User Testing, UTest, and WhatUsersDo.
Want to join more user testing sites? Here is the full list of website testing companies.
6. Rate Music and Get Paid
This is the perfect side hustle for music lovers. You can earn some extra money by rating and writing short reviews for new music using Slice the Pie. It’s easy, but you do need to make sure that your reviews are very detailed and well written.
You can redeem with as long as you have earned at least $10, and payments are made via PayPal on Tuesdays and Fridays.
7. Help Others Learn English Online
If you’re a native English speaker (not a requirement, but a higher chance of getting accepted), then you can get paid to help people around the world learn English by chatting with them through a site called Cambly. You are paid $0.17 per minute or $10.20 per hour. No prior experience is necessary.
If you have a bachelor’s degree and some experience, Magic Ears is another good option. The hours are flexible and the lessons are prepared for you.
Want more English teaching sites that pay up to $30 an hour? Check out the full list of English teaching sites.
8. Online Tutoring Job
If you’re an expert in your field, Course Hero is a great website for you to make extra money tutoring high school and college students with course-specific questions. Students are connected with tutors on a wide range of subjects and classes.
Course Hero tutors earn an average of $3 for each question answered. By just answering 10 questions a day, you’ll earn $30/day or $210/week.
9. Get Paid to Take Online Surveys
You won’t get rich taking online surveys, but you can definitely earn some extra cash for the holidays while streaming your favorite show on Netflix.
To increase your chances of making money, sign up for as many online survey companies as you can since most of them only have a few surveys per day for you to take. In addition to taking online surveys, some of them will pay you to surf the net, shop online, play games, watch videos, and more.
These surveys are all free to join and use:
- Survey Junkie
- Swagbucks ($10 bonus for signing up)
- InboxDollars ($5 bonus for signing up)
- Survey Voices
- Pinecone Research
Related: 12 Highest Paid Online Surveys
10. Amazon Turking
Get paid for completing simple short tasks in your spare time with Amazon Mechanical Turk.
There are a lot of different kinds of jobs posted such as identifying objects in a photo or video, translating content, editing, transcribing, verifying restaurant details, and so much more. You only need $1 to request payment or you can use the money to shop on the Amazon website.
Related: 10 Amazon Work From Home Jobs (Best Ways To Make Money On Amazon)
11. Trade Stuff in at Amazon
Amazon Trade-In program allows you to trade in your electronics, movies, video games, books, music, iPhones, and so much more for Amazon gift cards.
Your item has to be listed in the Trade-In Store in order for you to trade it in. Amazon will tell you right away the amount you will get for your item before you submit it. Once the item is shipped (free of charge), they will send you an Amazon gift card if your item is accepted.
12. Sell Your Textbooks
If you have any gently used textbooks lying around that you don’t need anymore, you can sell them for some quick cash on eCampus and Cash4Books. The books need to be in good condition to be accepted.
13. Make Money with Your Car
Did you know that you can rent out your car for extra cash while you’re not using it? You can rent it out while you’re at work and it’s just sitting in the parking lot.
Getaround is a car-sharing platform that provides renters access to rent and unlock cars shared by people nearby. The renter can book and unlock the door with their phone, so you never have to meet them for anything.
The renters and vehicles are automatically insured by Getaround policy with 24/7 roadside assistance. They are also responsible for refueling and returning it to the original location at the end of the trip.
Related: How To Make Money With Car Wrap Advertising
14. Make Money Sexting
This is a bit unconventional and definitely not for everybody, but if you like chatting and flirting online, you can make some great money for Christmas. A friend of my friend makes a full-time income chatting/flirting online.
Learn more about how you can make money flirting online.
Related: Phrendly Review: Can You Really Get Paid To Chat With Men?
15. Decluttr
Decluttr is a website and app that offers an easy way for you to sell your old smartphones, video games, electronics, books, LEGO toys, and more.
Get an instant valuation by typing in the barcode number from your item or scanning it if you’re using a smartphone. Once the barcode is entered, Decluttr will tell you the price they’ll pay you for that item. Ship the item to them for FREE and they will pay you the day after your item arrives.
16. Make Money Shopping (Ebates)
If you’re not using Rakuten (formally called Ebates) for cashback while shopping, you’re really missing out, especially during the holidays. There are over 2,500 stores that you can get cashback from including Amazon, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Target, etc.
Usually, you can earn around 5% cashback, but during the holidays, you can get up to 10%. I managed to get so much back shopping last holiday season.
Learn how you can get a free $10 Walmart gift card for signing up.
17. Mystery Shopper
Being a mystery shopper is a fun way to make some extra money while getting your steps in.
You can make anywhere between $100-$200 a month as a mystery shopper, but not all gigs are created equal and some might not even be worth it if you have to travel far.
There are a lot of mystery shopping scams out there, but some reputable ones that you can apply to are BestMark, Market Force, and A Closer Look.
18. Start an Etsy Shop
Etsy is an online marketplace for handmade items that had a total sales of $3.93 billion in 2018.
If you’re crafty and creative, selling your handmade items on Etsy can be a great way to make money this holiday season. You can sell jewelry, printables, customized mugs, and so much more. Here is a list of 65 DIY craft ideas to get you started on Etsy.
19. Get Paid to Lose Weight
Earn money and lose weight at the same time? It’s a win-win situation to me. My cousin didn’t join HealthyWage, but a local program that is similar to HealthyWage and managed to lose 20 lbs for her wedding.
If you want to shed some weight while making money before the holidays, check out HealthyWage and learn how you can win up to $10,000!
Related: 10 Free Apps that Pay You to Walk
20. Sell Your Unwanted Stuff
We all have extra things around the house that we don’t need. You can easily make a few hundred dollars just by selling old electronics, kid toys, used clothes, appliances, books, furniture, and whatever else you might have.
You can sell your unwanted items on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, Offerup, Craigslist, or even have a garage sale.
My two personal favorite places are Facebook Marketplace and Offerup. Facebook marketplace is a great place to sell old appliances and furniture. The items are usually sold on the same day and you don’t have to worry about shipping.
The items I have managed to sell on Offerup are shoes, clothes, and purses. I choose to sell locally only because I don’t want to deal with shipping. However, the people on Offerup will lowball you, so make sure you price it a bit higher than what you’d like to sell it for.
21. Dog Walker / Pet Sitter
People often travel out of town during the holidays and they need someone to watch their furbabies. Alternatively, you can also earn great money being a dog walker if petsitting is not for you.
If you’re an animal lover, then this is a great service to offer to make extra money for Christmas. Check out Rover and connect with pet parents to begin your dog walking or pet sitting side hustle.
Recommended reads:
- 30 Work At Home Proofreading Jobs For Beginners
- 16 Online Transcription Jobs For Beginners
- 15 Legit Companies Offering Virtual Assistant Jobs
- How To Work From Home As A Bookkeeper (Up to $60/Hour)
There you have it! Some simple ways to earn some extra money for the holidays. What are some of your favorite ways to make extra money for Christmas?
