Unless you were fully funded by your parents, you were most likely a broke college student, penny-pinching every chance you got and whipping out your student ID for a discount anywhere and everywhere. Whether it’s the movie theatre, restaurants, or clothing stores at the mall, you name it, there’s a good chance they allow student discounts.
For me, this is a story that rings many bells.
While I had several jobs all throughout college, I believe at one point in time I had three, making close to minimum wage when you have rent, bills, and other necessities to pay for isn’t a walk in the park. From time to time I’d take my clothes to the local consignment shop and offer my pet-sitting services to complete strangers when funds were low. The allure of making extra money to supplement my income from a side-gig became quite an obsession for me.
Sure you could go the old school route and just work a part-time job, but these days there’s so much more that you can do to make some extra cash, some of which without ever having to your house. Below is a list of side-gigs that I had in college that worked for me and can work for you as well.
1. Selling Unused Clothes
I think we all are guilty of having clothes in our closet that haven’t been touched in months or even years. If that sounds like you, download Poshmark immediately. Poshmark is a social marketplace that allows you to buy and sell clothing fast and easy. As long as you have access to a printer to print a shipping label and can scrummage up some shipping supplies to ship off your items, you can make money in no time.
2. Nannying
Nannying is a tried and true method of making cash (and a lot of it) on the side. If you’re school schedule permits, nannying is one of the best jobs for college students as it’s low stress, high paying (usually), and flexible. The best part? The pay usually goes up per kid, so you could be making two to three times more nannying than if you had a job in retail, for example.
3. Finding Missing Money
While not your traditional method of making extra cash on the side, it’s proven to be successful for me and it could be for you as well. According to SimpleThriftyLiving.com, there’s around $60 billion dollars worth of unclaimed money circling around the United States right now. A few years ago I had $200 utility security deposit owed to me that I wasn’t aware of. Needless To Say, I was quite happy to cash that check-in.
4. Pet-sitting
If you love animals, want some extra cash, and have some free time, pet-sitting is absolutely the side-gig for you. To find pet-sitting gigs, I joined the social networking platform called Nextdoor to solicit my services to those in my area. Pet-sitting, especially cats, truly is one of the easiest ways to get extra income with minimal work. And because people generally love their animals and will do anything for them, it can pay pretty well too.
5. Making and Selling Goods
Etsy is a wonderful platform to buy and sell unique handcrafted goods, so if you’ve got a creative knack that’s worth profiting off of, start your shop immediately. For a short period of time, I made and sold bracelets which I thoroughly enjoyed in my free time.
6. Blogging
To be honest, I only made in total (at most) two dollars from my college blog. I only stuck around with it for 6 months until this hobby came to a halt as school and work became more pressing priorities. But don’t knock it until you try it. Blogging can be an incredible source of income if you stick with it and gain a substantial following with along with putting out high-quality content. A study done by MyWorkFromHomeMoney.com reveals that roughly 36% of bloggers make enough to consider it a full-time job.
Do you currently have a side-gig? If so, which gig works for you?
