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This post is all about the best side hustles for college students.
Hey guys, we all know how hard it is to find a job. Especially in college. (When you have to deal with class schedules and no experience) But there’s actually ways that you can make money and pay for things you like without a full on job.
Trust me, I spent a lot of time looking for part time jobs during freshman year. And it seems like no one wants to hire college students. People think side hustles are hard to start for some reason. But trust me, I’ve done plenty and let me tell you thats not true at all.
Really anyone can make a side hustle. And that’s why I made this post to go through 18 of the best side hustles for college students to make it easy for you to see exactly what you need to do and start making that sweet money in no time! I hope you find all of these helpful and more!
This post shows you the best side hustles to make money.
BEST SIDE HUSTLES 2021
1. Sell your class notes or make custom study guides
If you’re in college, then you know how stressed everyone gets during exam time. There have been so many times when I’m scrambling to get into a study group or attend some last minute review because I feel like I don’t understand anything.
And if you’re in college, then you also know how fast professors tend to talk. So fast sometimes that people give up even trying to take notes and just stare in frustration. (Can anyone else relate lol?) Instead of freaking out.. Why not capitalize on that opportunity and put together some good notes that everyone else wants?
It doesn’t even have to be hard. You can literally record the lecture and then transcribe it after. Or just do bullet points and make it clear and easy to understand. Maybe type it out if you have bad handwriting. Even go further and put together custom study guides.
I guarantee you those same people who are stressing last minute cause they didn’t do anything all semester will pay you BIG to have a good shot on the exam.
2. Rent your spare room on AirBnb
Not gonna lie this is one of the easiest ways to make money that doesn’t really require you to do anything. It’s like selling real estate but the easy version. If you own your own apartment with a spare room or share with one with friends w/ extra space, this could be a great way to bring in some extra change.
And you can choose who you rent it to as well so it’s not like you have to take your chances with some crazy weird person. Plenty of people are doing this and making so much money just from renting out a room that they weren’t even using anyway.
But if you just have a dorm and not an apartment, I wouldn’t recommend this because usually RAs have rules that only students can stay in the dorms. (Lame, I know.) And you probably have to notify them as well. BUT if you do have your own place (as so many college students do these days), you can def make some easy money to help pay your rent.
3. Tutor fellow students
I mean I don’t wanna be obvious but if you’re on a campus, why not take advantage of all the students willing to pay for better grades? Especially if it’s in a subject you’re already good at. Just spend a few hours here and there helping out some peeps and make an easy paycheck.
Maybe you’re really good at math (can’t relate lol) or science. Find a way to explain that and make it simple for other people to understand. And i’m sure you’ve played school before as a kid or helped a sibling with their homework. It’s not that hard to teach what you know.
Usually your school will have like an official organization that you can join and get assigned to people. But if not, go freelance. There is no shortage of students wiling to pay for extra help.
4. Make money freelance writing
Everyone knows you can make money writing books but did you know can make money just writing simple articles for websites too? Yes, and I’m not talking about your own blog. (Though you can def do that as well). I mean sites like Medium will pay you real money to write interesting articles that other people want to read.
And come on, you’re in college. You’re gonna be writing essays anyway. Why not get paid hundred of dollars for some of them. Instead of a crappy A- or B+.
And the best part is this is something you can do on your own time. There’s no set hours so you can easily fit this into whatever college workload you have. Just write a few articles a month and make easy money to help pay for your ramen noodles diet.
Here are some of the best sites that will pay you for your writing:
5. Do favors for people on Task Rabbit or Craigslist
We all know how good it was to get paid for doing chores as a kid. But did you know you can still do this as an adult? Sites like TaskRabbit and Craigslist post tons of small jobs from people willing to pay others to do it for them.
TaskRabbit in particular is great because it doesn’t have the sketchy reputation of Craigslist. (We’ve all heard stories lol). And it’s mainly focused on those small repetitive tasks that no one wants to do so they pay other people to do it.
In college in between class you’ll likely have a lot of free time. (I set my schedule up to have hours 🙂 Instead of wasting that taking a nap, why not do a couple easy chores and make some quick money!
6. Take survey studies on Prolific
You probably haven’t heard of this but there’s this site called Prolific where you can participate in research studies online and get paid for it. If you’re a psych major, then you already know what a research study is. Basically they ask questions, you answer, and that gives them data to learn more about a particular subject.
Lots of colleges and research firms submit surveys on the site for other people to answer. I’ve even seen ones from Yale and Harvard. Basically it’s super legit and not at all a scam like some of the other survey platforms. It doesn’t even have to take a long time. They tell you up front how much the study will take so you just select which one you want, answer the questions, and watch that easy money roll in.
I already made over 30 dollars in just a couple weeks! So no this won’t pay all your bills but you will def be able to make some extra bucks for dinner or a nice top etc.
7. Sell your old clothes online
This is definitely something I wish I’d started doing way sooner. We all have tons of clothes laying that we don’t wear or stuff that no longer fits us. Instead of throwing it out as waste, it makes way more sense to sell them to others.
And think about it. In college, you’ll be going out to the mall, getting new clothes for the holidays, maybe throwing out your old clothes from high school. There is no better way to handle all that than to sell the old stuff and make some money from it.
You will literally be giving people clothes they will appreciate AND making yourself some more money to buy clothes that YOU appreciate. Talk about a win win.
Here are a few sites that I love for selling clothes online:
8. Review apps and websites with User Testing
Kinda similar to Prolific in a way but basically this lets you make money from testing out apps/websites and then giving your feedback on it. This is something you can do on your own time whenever you feel like it. And it doesn’t take long.
I know there’s ones on there where they want you to record a 5 minute video trying out all the features and then tell them what you found confusing or how they can make the product better. Companies loves this because they obviously want to sell more products. And knowing what average people like makes their products better.
Again, you don’t have to spend all your time on here. Just choose which apps/websites you want to review and go!
Here are some other sites that pay for user testing:
9. Make cute crafts to sell on Etsy or Ebay
If you love making arts and crafts for fun, then you will love making money from it even more. Believe it or not, there are people willing to pay real money for your little art projects and handmade jewelry. Honestly, you might even wanna buy stuff from other people when you see how creative people are on there.
In college you might join an art club and make a few crafts. Instead of just putting that on your shelf and calling it a day, why not make some real money from people who will appreciate it even more. Put that creativity to work!
I swear there is a huge market of people online who need cute little handmade decor to spruce up their apartment/office, etc. And like I said, you might even come across something you like as well. There’s no reason not to try this.
10. Give people rides with Uber or Lyft
If you’re one of the few people lucky enough to have a car, then you should definitely consider this. No you may not be able to do this all the time because of classes and whatever. But there will still period of times in the day where you’ll be perfectly free to drive someone somewhere for a nice 50 bucks.
Unfortunately I was not one of those people lucky enough to have a car so I couldn’t do this. But I know tons of people with keys who certainly did make money doing this. You may think that it’s not a worth it or oh you can’t make that much doing it part time. But an extra few hundred dollars from driving around like 5 people can certainly make a difference.
And you can even drive other students around to places they wanna go and charge a smaller fee.
11. Write mini novels and sell on Kindle
This is probably not something you thought of before but honestly if you love writing, you def wanna try it out. Basically, you know Kindle (everyone knows Kindle). It’s an e-reader that has a large online ebook store. Believe it or not, you can write mini novels (not even full books), sell them on Kindle, and make tons of money per month.
Yes, I’m not kidding. There are people on here making THOUSANDS a month. It’s crazy but it’s definitely possible. The key to this is choosing a niche genre and then writing stuff that you know other people will want to read. Make it a series so people get hooked needing to read more.
And like I said, these don’t need to be full length novels (that take years to write). Thats the best part! Everyone can write a short story. Just a choose a catchy genre that you yourself love writing and give it a shot!
12. Offer/Lead workout classes with your friends
Do you love working out? Are you at least mildly fit? I hope you answered yes to those questions, but if not, thats okay lol. At any rate, you can totally set up a makeshift exercise class with your friends and invite a lot of other people to join you guys for a small fee.
Market it like you’re gonna teach them how to get fit like you. Show them cool workouts and help them get themselves in better shape. Almost like a personal trainer but more casual. Maybe closer to a yoga instructor.
Tell people about it on your instagram. Charge like 5 dollars or less. Have a bunch of people sign up and then put together a zoom class. Put on some music and have a fun time getting fit and making money all at the same time!
13. Design cute t-shirts and sell them on Teespring
If you’re like me and you loved making tie-die shirts as a kid, this will be perfect for you. I know this sounds too good to be true, but yes you can actually make money designing cute t-shirts and selling them online! Seriously, who didn’t grow up wanting to have their own clothing line?
Basically, there’s this site called Teespring where they let you set up your own online store. Then you can design your custom shirt with their art tools. Kinda like photoshop. Once you’re done designing the theme, then publish it to your store and start selling!
Make sure you make clothes that you yourself would want to wear. Interesting cool designs go with different events or whatever. Be creative. You can even market yourself wearing them on your social media to encourage your friends to buy them as well with a simple link.
14. Sell art on RedBubble or Society6
Wow, I spent so much time drawing and making cool art as a kid. But I had no idea growing up that you could actually make money from it selling your masterpieces online. There are sites like Red Bubble and Deviant Art that you let you upload your stuff to a portfolio and sell them to other people who would love to have them.
I had no idea this was legit at first but apparently people can make 100s a month on there! Enough said. Definitely set up your account and start making money from your art today.
15. Rent your friendship for a day
Guys, I’m not lying lol. I know this sounds like a joke. But believe it or not, there are actually sites now that let you advertise your friendship and sell it to lonely people for a day. You can meet in person or just do it online. But basically you just give them a friend so they feel less lonely.
It may sound odd but you set up a profile just like you would a dating site but for friendship. Then you match with people that select you and charge an hourly rate. Typical fees are like 15 to 50 dollars an hour. (How much is your friendship worth lol?)
Who doesn’t love just hanging out and having fun? This could be a way to do that and make money all at the same time. And who knows, you might even hit it off with someone and make a real friend.
Here are some of the top sites for this right now:
- Rent a Friend (this is the one everyone knows because it says it all in the name. It may sound crazy but just give it a try. You might make someone’s day lol)
- Rent a Cyber Friend (this one is strictly online friends. not meeting up in person)
- FriendPC
- Freelancer (these last two aren’t just for selling friendship but if you look at the bids, you can see there’s def tons of people doing that lol)
- Fiverr
16. Become a personal assistant on the weekends
Have you ever wanted your own personal assistant? Chances are you have and that’s why its so obvious that tons of other people out there would want one as well. And let me tell you, some of those are people with serious cash to burn and will pay you good money to handle their simple tasks that they don’t have time for.
You can do this on the weekend when you have tons of free time anyway and pick up some extra spending money. Doesn’t have to be hard tasks either. Think faxing some document somewhere. Proofreading a report. Running a few errands. Arranging travel. Stuff that anyone could do but would rather pass off to someone else.
You can usually find these jobs on basic job board sites that everyone knows like Indeed. Or even just search google and tons of links will pop up. You will love the easy money trust me.
17. Become a streamer on Twitch or YouNow
Do you have a big personality? Are you at least a little funny or attractive? If so, you can definitely start a streaming account and make good money just talking to people and goofing off on stream. I know normal average people who made an account one day and now make a couple hundred a month.
And this does not have to be hard or difficult. You can do stuff you’d already be doing anyway. Like playing video games. Or drawing a painting. Or hanging out with your friends. Whatever it is, I guarantee there are bored people online who would love to watch just to pass the time.
If you’re gonna be doing that stuff anyway, why not turn your camera on and make money from it. And who knows, you could easily blow up and become one of the people making tens of thousands a MONTH doing this.
18. Help foreign students learn English
I know I bring this up a lot but that’s because it’s sooo easy to make money like this. You speak English? You’re in college? Okay, you’re qualified. Seriously. You don’t need some professional education to be teach these kids english.
There are tons of sites out there that will connect you with kids from China etc who just want a couple hours to practice speaking with a native speaker. You can earn real money like 100 dollars a session from this.
And I swear this is not something that will take up tons of your time. You can set up a few appointments a week to fit perfectly with your schedule. Then just help them with simple vocabulary and do speaking practice with them.
Here are some of the best sites for doing this: