How to Make an Extra $500 a Month

Making an extra $500 a month can give your finances a nice boost. Whether you‘re saving up for a vacation, paying down debt, or building an emergency fund, that extra cash can go a long way. The good news is that in today‘s gig economy, there are more ways than ever to earn extra money.

With a bit of effort and creativity, you can find options that fit your interests, skills, and schedule. This guide covers 25 practical ideas to help you make an extra $500 per month. Let‘s dive in!

Online Opportunities

The internet has opened up a vast array of money-making opportunities. If you have marketable skills and a computer, you can get started right away with these online side hustles.

1. Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is one of the most accessible online gigs. If you have decent writing skills, you can find freelance writing jobs for blogs, magazines, businesses, and more.

The pay averages $0.10 – $0.50 per word, so writing 1,000-2,000 words per day can help you hit that $500 monthly goal. Top freelancing sites like Upwork and Flexjobs are great places to find clients.

2. Proofreading

Closely related to writing is proofreading. Lots of businesses hire remote proofreaders to polish their content, fix typos, improve formatting, and more.

Rates typically range from $15 to $25 per hour. Aiming to proofread around 20 hours per week should allow you to make an extra $500+ per month. Websites like Scribbr and Grammarly always have remote proofreading jobs available.

3. Virtual Assistant

As a virtual assistant (VA), people and companies pay you to handle administrative, technical, and creative tasks virtually. Common VA duties include email management, data entry, research, design, web development, and more.

VAs typically earn around $15-$25 per hour. Hitting that $500 monthly goal equates to working around 20 hours per week as a part-time VA. Websites like Belay, Time Etc, and Zirtual can help you find VA jobs.

4. Online Surveys

In your spare time, you can complete online surveys via websites and apps to earn extra money. Popular survey sites like Survey Junkie, Inbox Dollars, Vindale Research, and Prolific let you share your opinions to earn cash and rewards.

You likely won‘t hit $500 per month with surveys alone, but they make for easy supplementary income in your downtime. Expect to earn around $1-$5 per survey, with surveys taking 5-30 minutes each.

5. Online Tutoring

If you have teaching experience or expertise in academic subjects, tutoring students online is a rewarding way to earn extra money. Sites like Chegg, Tutor.com, VIPKid, and Wyzant connect tutors with students virtually.

Most platforms let tutors set their own hourly rates (usually around $20-$100 per hour). Hitting that $500 monthly goal depends on your tutoring rate and availability. But a couple hours per day or 10-15 hours per week is usually realistic.

6. Rent Out Your Space

Have extra space you aren‘t using, such as a spare room, parking space, or storage shed? Renting it out is an easy way to earn passive income without much effort on your end.

List your unused space on platforms like Airbnb, RV Share, Boat Setter, and Stashbee to start making money. Open availability and high demand can help you earn over $500 per month.

7. Rent Out Your Vehicle

Similarly, if you have a car, RV, boat, or other vehicle that mostly sits unused, you can rent it out for profit. List your vehicle on sites like Turo, Getaround, Outdoorsy, and Boatsetter to make up to $500+ per month for relatively little effort.

8. Online Arbitrage

Online arbitrage involves buying products online that are underpriced, then selling them for a markup. To get started, you need to get a feel for real market prices, find discounted products in online stores or wholesalers, then relist them profitably on sites like eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Amazon.

This does take some research, inventory management, and logistical work. But the payoff can be worthwhile, with the potential to clear $500+ in monthly profits once you build momentum.

9. Affiliate Marketing

If you have a website, social media following, email list, or other online audience, you can make money by promoting relevant products as an affiliate. Companies will pay you generous commission for sales you refer their way.

Sign up to become an affiliate partner for brands relevant to your audience. Then link to their products organically in your content. Most programs pay 5-30% commission on each sale. Once you build an engaged following, affiliate promotions can earn $500+ per month fairly passively.

10. Sell Stock Media

From photos to videos to graphics, stock media platforms will pay you for uploading your creative media files. You can shoot your own photos and videos to upload or create digital graphics, illustrations, template files, and more.

Top stock media sites like Shutterstock, Getty Images, Adobe Stock, and Vecteezy offer generous royalty payouts for popular media that gets purchased. This earns you passive income that can surpass $500 per month over time.

In-Person Opportunities

If you prefer earning money face-to-face instead of online, plenty of lucrative side hustle opportunities allow you to work directly with people and businesses around town.

11. Rideshare Driving

Driving for a rideshare company like Uber and Lyft allows you to earn money by picking up and dropping off passengers in your area. You simply turn on the app when you want to start accepting ride requests based on your availability.

Most rideshare drivers earn around $15-$25 per hour before expenses. Expect to drive 15-25 hours per week to reliably clear an extra $500+ each month. An efficient hybrid or electric vehicle can help maximize your earnings.

12. Food Delivery

Delivering food for services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, Instacart and Grubhub is very similar to rideshare driving. These apps connect local restaurants with hungry customers and facilitate delivery.

As a driver, you simply log onto their platform when you want to start accepting food delivery gigs based on your availability. Delivery drivers typically earn around $15-$25 per hour. So plan to drive 15-25 hours per week to make that extra $500+ per month.

13. Dog Walking/Pet Sitting

Do you love animals? Turn your passion into profit by offering pet care services like dog walking, pet sitting, boarding, waste scooping/disposal, and more.

You can register as a service provider with Rover, Wag!, Care, and Fetch! to get matched with pet owners needing assistance. Expect to earn around $15-$25 per dog walk or pet sit. Achieving $500 per month depends on the number of bookings you can secure.

14. House Cleaning/Handyman Services

Everyone needs help keeping their homes clean, organized, and in working order. Offering professional house cleaning, organizational, and handyman services can earn you great money.

You can market niche services like decluttering, deep cleaning, laundry, furniture assembly, hanging decor, home repairs, lawn care, and more. Expect to charge around $50-$100 per service appointment based on the specifics. Aiming for 8-15 jobs per week makes hitting $500 per month realistic.

15. Car Washing/Detailing

Wash cars in people‘s driveways or offer full auto detailing services to make extra cash. Market your affordable and convenient car washing and detailing services via flyers, social media, and websites like Spiffy.

Aim to charge $20+ per standard wash and $100+ for premium interior detailing jobs. Wash around 20 cars per week or detail a few higher-end vehicles to make an extra $500+ per month.

16. Garage Sale Flipping

Frequent local garage and estate sales to find valuable items you can resell for big profits online. Vintage wares, collectibles, musical instruments, electronics, furniture, appliances, tools, and more tend to have the best flipping potential.

Use eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, Poshmark, Depop and niche sites to list items once you snap up worthwhile finds. This does take some hunting, research, listing, and shipping work. But uncovering a few big-ticket items to flip each month can earn $500+ in profits.

17. Event Services

Local events often need temporary staffing to handle tasks like setting up, breaking down, checking guests in, serving food and drinks, directing parking, and more.

Sign up with an event staffing agency to get matched with local event gigs suited to your skills and interests. Pay ranges from $12-$25 per hour, with opportunities to work multiple events per week if desired. Working a full weekend schedule can often yield $500+ per month.

18. Market Research

Businesses and organizations frequently hire people to test products and services, take surveys, participate in focus groups, try samples, visit locations anonymously, analyze data, and complete other market research activities.

Sign up with market research firms like Fieldwork, Market Cube, User Interviews, Survey.com, and Respondent to qualify for local opportunities suited to your demographics.

These gigs often pay $50-$200 each, taking around 30 minutes to a few hours. Hitting that $500 monthly goal depends on your eligibility for high-paying studies and availability to participate in enough projects.

19. Tutoring Locally

Similar to tutoring online, you can also offer in-person tutoring services to K-12 and college students in your area. This is great for subjects that benefit from hands-on instruction.

Offer tutoring in academic subjects, test prep, music lessons, athletic coaching, learning disabilities therapy and more. Expect to earn from $20-$100 per hour depending on expertise level and subject matter. Aiming for 5-10 tutoring hours per week easily hits that $500 monthly goal.

20. Event Photography/Videography

Local events often hire photographers and videographers to document weddings, conferences, parties, concerts, and more. If you have photography/videography skills and equipment, covering events on weekends or evenings makes for lucrative side income.

Typically photographers earn $100-$300 per hour of event coverage, while videographers earn $150-$500+ per hour. Taking on just a couple events per month can yield $500+ worth of profits.

21. Mobile Services

Think about services that you can provide to clients on-location. Pet grooming, hair styling, makeup application, massage therapy, personal training, and tailoring are examples.

With the right equipment and vehicle to transport it, you can travel directly to clients‘ homes or event venues to provide personal services at their convenience. Professionals in these fields often earn $50-$150+ per appointment. Aiming for 8-15 client appointments weekly can definitely score you an extra $500+ per month.

22. Crafts & Handmade Goods

Turn your creativity into cash by selling homemade crafts, art, jewelry, clothing, decor, baked goods, beauty products and more locally. Attend craft fairs, holiday bazaars, farmers markets, and other community events to set up as a vendor.

You can also take custom orders, host direct sales home parties, and promote your goods through local consignment shops, boutiques, salons, stores and markets. Handmade creators often price items from $5-$50+, keeping approximately 50% profit margin. Only take orders you have bandwidth to fulfill, with the potential to produce $500+ worth of goods monthly.

Make $500+ Per Month Via Various Side Hustles

As you can see, plenty of promising options can help you start earning an extra $500 or more per month. Available gigs span all sorts of industries, skills, schedules, and preferences.

The most important step is picking side hustles well-suited to your abilities so you can be consistent. Be realistic about how much time you have to dedicate to money-making activities outside your regular job.

Strive for that sweet spot between profitability and workload capacity based on your bandwidth. Track your net earnings as you try different strategies.Double down on what proves most lucrative and dump what isn‘t worth your time.

Stay focused on providing excellent services and goods so happy clients and customers keep coming back month after month. Keep finetuning your offerings and marketing to grow your income over time.

With dedication and some elbow grease, that extra $500 every month is totally within your reach. Now get hustling!