What do you like to do for fun on weekends?
When I was younger, weekends were a time to relax and unwind. An opportunity to catch up on some reading, spending time with friends, or just getting in a great afternoon nap.
But there are some days where I don’t have plans, I don’t want a nap, and it would be nice to make a little extra cash rather than lounge around all day.
If that sounds like you, there are options. Whether you want to work from home, on the road, or at a retail establishment, there are dozens of side hustle options you can choose from.
To help you in your search, here is a list of 35 weekend side hustles that you could consider doing right now.
Scan through the list to see if you can find the perfect side hustle, or side hustle stack, for you.
Table of Contents
- 1. Dog Walking/Sitting
- 2. Drive for Uber or Lyft
- 3. Work as a Caregiver
- 4. Deliver Food
- 5. Drive Kids to Practice
- 6. Become a Sports Official (Referee/Umpire)
- 7. Work as a Housesitter
- 8. Work as a Restaurant Server
- 9. Become a Bookkeeper
- 10. Make Money on Purchases
- 11. Clean Houses
- 12. Invest in Crowdfunded Real Estate
- 13. Sell Printables
- 14. Complete Microtasks
- 15. Share Your Opinion
- 16. Make Money With Your Phone
- 17. Freelance Your Skills
- 18. Learn Retail Arbitrage
- 19. Create an Online Course
- 20. Work as a Handyperson
- 21. Start a Blog
- 22. Start a YouTube Channel
- 23. Work as a Virtual Assistant
- 24. Rent Out a Room in Your Home
- 25. Rent Your Car Out
- 26. Start a Photography Business
- 27. Become a Proofreader
- 28. Do Data Entry Work
- 29. Start a DJ Business
- 30. Become an Event Planner
- 31. Work as a Transcriptionist
- 32. Publish an eBook
- 33. Work as a Brand Ambassador
- 34. Become a Tutor
- 35. Start a Mobile Car Washing Business
- 36. Start a Mobile Dog Washing Business
- 37. Teach English Online
- Final Thoughts
1. Dog Walking/Sitting
Earning potential: $15 per hour/$35-$70 per night
If you love dogs, consider a side hustle that allows you to spend more time with your furry friends. You can do this by starting a dog walking or pet sitting business.
Dog walking is fairly straightforward, but pet sitting can take many forms. You could work as a drop-in sitter, checking on the pets, feeding them, taking them outside, and leaving.
Or you could stay at the pet owners’ home, taking care of the pets while the owners are away for the day or a few days. You can also open your home as a pseudo-doggy daycare where owners bring their dogs to stay with you.
How to start: Create a profile on a site such as Rover or advertise services online, through local Facebook groups or even Craigslist.
2. Drive for Uber or Lyft
Earning potential: $15 to $50 per hour
Do you like driving? If you don’t mind time behind the wheel and interacting with people, you might consider working as an Uber or Lyft driver.
As a rideshare driver, you can work when and wherever you want. Using the Uber app, you have the flexibility to take the jobs you want and leave the jobs you don’t.
And although the base earnings for rideshare drivers can be subpar, you can really ramp up your earnings through tips.
Choosing peak times to work, such as nights and weekends, providing excellent service, and engaging with your clients can result in big earnings for rideshare drivers. Especially when clients know how much to tip an Uber driver.
How to start: Download the Uber or Lyft app and apply to be a driver.
✨ Related: 8 Ways to Make Money with Your Car
3. Work as a Caregiver
Earning potential: $12 to $40 per hour
Do you love caring for people? Families everywhere are searching for caregivers for both children and adults.
Depending on your preference, you could find work with babies, older children, seniors, and more.
As with other side hustles, you can choose your clients, the hours you work, and more. You can also choose how elaborate your care will be.
For example, you might offer house cleaning services when you babysit children.
How to start: Sign up at Care.com or a similar site and create a user profile.
4. Deliver Food
Earning potential: $15 to $35 per hour
If you enjoy driving but prefer not to drive people around, you may want to consider delivering food as a weekend side hustle.
This easy job allows you to earn cash by picking up food from restaurants and/or grocery stores and bringing it to clients.
You can choose your hours and the individual jobs you want to take. As with rideshare driving, there are certain times of the day and week when demand is higher, so pay will be higher.
How to start: Sign up with a delivery service such as DoorDash or GrubHub
5. Drive Kids to Practice
Earning potential: average $22 per hour
HopSkipDrive is a rideshare company that focuses on driving kids to school, practice, activities, or wherever else they need to go. As a driver, you can set your own schedule up to a week in advance and you’ll see the route and earnings before you accept a ride.
You must be at least 23 years old and have 5 years of caregiving experience. You also have to have a good driving record, pass a background check (including fingerprinting), and have a car that carries at least 4 passengers that is no older than 13 years.
How to start: Sign up at HopSkipDrive
6. Become a Sports Official (Referee/Umpire)
Earning potential: Varies
Do you enjoying sports and comfortable officiating games and matches? If so, you could become a sports official and referee games.
It’s a great way to get some exercise too, depending on the sport, and it’s the type of work that could become full-time if you really dedicate yourself to it.
There are different tiers and levels to becoming a sports official and you’ll want to check the requirements and regulations of the leagues in your area.
How to start: Learn more at the National Organization for Sports Officials.
7. Work as a Housesitter
Earning potential: $15 to $75 per day
Working as a housesitter is as easy as getting paid to stay at someone’s house while they’re away.
The pay will vary based on the job. Some clients want you to hang out at the house while you’re not working.
Others will want you to spend the nights there and maybe complete a list of chores. Working as a house sitter is a great way to live for free.
How to start: Create a profile on sites like Care.com.
8. Work as a Restaurant Server
Earning potential: Up to $50 per hour (with tips)
One of my favorite side hustles is working as a restaurant server. It’s hard work, but you get to make people happy by bringing them food and drinks.
And although the hourly wage for servers isn’t great, the take-home pay can be fantastic when you include tips.
Depending on the restaurant, your ability to engage with patrons, and your willingness to provide great service, you may be able to earn $50 an hour or more.
How to start: Look for server openings at restaurants near your home.
9. Become a Bookkeeper
Earning potential: $20 to $35 per hour
If you’re a numbers person, you may want to consider working online as a bookkeeper as a weekend side hustle.
Bookkeeping involves keeping track of income, expenses, and payroll for small businesses.
Not trained as a bookkeeper? No worries, many free online bookkeeping courses can help you learn. Check out this free bookkeeping course from edX.
How to start: Once you’ve acquired the necessary skills, check online sites such as Upwork or Indeed for remote bookkeeping jobs.
10. Make Money on Purchases
Earning potential: 1% to 40% or more of your purchases
When you sign up with cash back shopping sites like Rakuten, you can earn up to 40% or more on purchases you make.
Rakuten has partnerships with your favorite retailers, and can get you some cash back when you access the store and complete your purchase through Rakuten’s website.
Each app partners with a different list of stores, so you can find deals at your favorite shopping hubs.
How to start: Check out the best cash back shopping apps, shop at partner stores through the apps, and wait for your cash back.
11. Clean Houses
Earning potential: $20 to $50 per hour
If you’re great at cleaning and organizing houses, you could make some serious cash helping the rest of us get and keep our homes in order.
People will hire house cleaners on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis, so you can choose a work schedule that fits your lifestyle.
Work once a month or daily, depending on how much work you can find and how much work you want to schedule.
How to start: Advertise on Craigslist or your local community’s Facebook page, or create a profile on Care.com.
12. Invest in Crowdfunded Real Estate
Earning potential: Varies
Does real estate investing feel out of reach? It doesn’t have to be.
Several companies will allow you to participate in crowdfunded real estate investing for $500 or even less. Crowdfunding securitizes real estate properties and allows individual investors the opportunity to purchase shares of various residential and commercial properties.
Note that real estate crowdfunding is typically a longer-term investment, and as with any investment, there is risk involved.
How to start: Check out our list of the best crowdfunding platforms for real estate.
13. Sell Printables
Earning potential: Unlimited
Selling printables on websites like Etsy can be a great way to earn passive income. For example, printable budget worksheets, calendars, and planners are popular with anyone desiring some organization in their lives.
Yes, learning how to design and market printables may take some time, but after that, the hard work is done.
Whether you have a knack for designing great printables – or don’t but are willing to learn – selling printables could be the side hustle that helps you kick your day job to the curb.
How to start: Check out our article on How to Make Money Selling Etsy Printables
✨ Related: What is Drop Servicing? How to Start a Drop Servicing Business
14. Complete Microtasks
Earning potential: Up to $14 per hour
A few companies will pay you to complete microtasks online. When you work at a job like this, you might find yourself testing a website, moderating content on a website, transcribing content, or other tasks.
One thing to consider about working doing microtasks is that, although the pay isn’t great (often between $1 and $7 per hour, the work is easy, and you can do it from home whenever you want.
So, if you’re chilling in front of the TV or waiting for an appointment, you may want to do some micro tasks to earn a few extra bucks.
How to start: Visit Amazon MTurk or UserTesting for more information.
15. Share Your Opinion
Earning potential: Up to $6 per hour
Paid surveys are a popular side hustle. The pay isn’t great, but it’s something you can do on your phone while you’re doing just about anything else.
You might like taking surveys if you are interested in sharing your opinion or influencing the development of future products.
Companies hire survey companies to get honest opinions about what people prefer in their products or services.
And the survey companies pay you for sharing your honest opinions.
How to start: Check out popular survey companies like Pinecone Research.
16. Make Money With Your Phone
Earning potential: Varies
There are other ways to make money with your phone besides online surveys. For example, you can sell stock photos to a site like iStock.
Or you could sell your stuff on a site like OfferUp or other online marketplaces and apps that help you sell your stuff.
You could also start a dropshipping business, play games on your phone to earn money, and more.
How to start: Visit our article on making money on your phone to find the right fit.
17. Freelance Your Skills
Earning potential: $15 to $75 per hour
Do you have marketable skills you can use to earn some weekend cash? Some examples would be:
- Freelance writing
- Resume writing
- Graphic design
- Social media marketing
- Art
- Photography
- Organization
If so, you can get paid to provide these services to others. Advertise your work in the proper niche to find work.
If you’re an artist you could share examples of your work in the gaming community. If you’re a terrific resume writer, advertise your skills on college campuses.
You may have to set your prices lower when you start, then raise them as your skills improve.
How to start: Create a profile on Upwork.
18. Learn Retail Arbitrage
Earning potential: Varies
Retail arbitrage is the art of buying something at a great price (or getting it for free) and then reselling it for a profit.
Look for deals on clearance shelves at stores, garage sales, or online marketplaces. You could also buy an Amazon return pallet to see if you can make a profit.
Your profits will increase as you learn more about what items can sell for and what constitutes a good deal.
How to start: Start small. Get something from the free section on Craigslist, or grab a curb alert item and resell it on eBay or Craigslist.
19. Create an Online Course
Earning potential: $100s to $1000s per month.
Can you share valuable information with people to help them accomplish something?
For example, have you rocked your debt payoff goals? Your fitness goals? Relationship goals? If so, you may want to create a course to share how you’ve found success.
Make the course as simple or complex as you want, and charge whatever price you see fit. Add to your earnings with affiliate partnerships.
How to start: Visit Udemy to learn how to create your first online course
20. Work as a Handyperson
Earning potential: $20 to $75 per hour
Are you great at completing household tasks? Can you fix a leaky sink, replace a toilet, or assemble an entertainment stand?
If these types of tasks sound like they’re in your wheelhouse, you may want to consider choosing to do handyperson work as your weekend side hustle.
When you work as a handyperson, you choose which types of tasks you will and won’t complete, when you work, what you charge, and more.
How to start: Create a profile on a site like Taskrabbit or advertise your services on social media sites and pages.
21. Start a Blog
Earning potential: $100s to $1000s per month
If you love writing and interacting with others, you might find a great side hustle in running a blog.
You can start your own blog, or buy an existing blog by looking on a site such as Flippa.
It does take some time before a new blog starts earning cash. However, once you have a solid following, you can generate passive income.
How to start: Follow the links above to create a new blog or to buy an existing one.
22. Start a YouTube Channel
Earning potential: Unlimited
Side hustles such as YouTube channels can earn you serious income if you have an engaging personality and great information to share.
Popular YouTubers like Mr. Beast and PewDiePie spend millions of dollars annually sharing information, pulling pranks, and entertaining online crowds.
You could use your YouTube channel to teach viewers a skill, make them laugh, or entertain them in different ways.
How to start: You just need to get started! Decide on your content, publish videos, and work to grow your audience through social media engagement.
23. Work as a Virtual Assistant
Earning potential: $15 to $40 per hour
A virtual assistant is an administrative assistant who works remotely. As a virtual assistant, you’ll complete a variety of tasks, such as:
- Maintaining a schedule for your employer
- Managing contractors or employees
- Assisting clients
- Managing a website
This is a great job for someone who is organized, great with people, and likes variety in their work.
You can find virtual assistant work as a W-2 or contracted worker.
How to start: Search for job positions on sites such as FlexJobs or Upwork.
24. Rent Out a Room in Your Home
Earning potential: Up to $80 per night or more
If you have a spare bedroom in your house, you could rent it out on Airbnb. A short-term rental for travelers can earn you a lot of money over time.
You can also choose which days your rental is and isn’t available. That way, if you need a break from sharing your home or have family or friends visiting, you can do so client-free.
How to start: Create a profile on Airbnb and VRBO. Make your rental room and the common areas of your house warm and inviting.
25. Rent Your Car Out
Earning potential: $500 or more per month
If you live in an area where renting vehicles is common, you may be able to earn some weekend side hustle money by renting out your own vehicle.
Renting vehicles is popular with vacationers, business travelers, and locals who don’t own a car.
As with other side hustle ideas mentioned here, you can choose which days you rent your vehicle.
How to start: Create a profile on a site such as Turo.
26. Start a Photography Business
Earning potential: $50 to $1000 per session or more
Do you have a gift for taking amazing photos? As a photographer, you can make side hustle income in many ways, from doing family or individual photo sessions to working weddings or other events to earning passive income by selling stock photos.
You could also specialize in business photography or real estate photography. Choose the avenue that most appeals to you and your photography talent.
How to start: Advertise on Facebook and other social media accounts, including examples of your work.
27. Become a Proofreader
Earning potential: $12 to $40 per hour
Proofreaders are responsible for proofreading everything from technical manuals to works of fiction.
You can easily do this side hustle from home if you have a computer and a strong internet connection.
Of course, being detail-oriented is important if you want to thrive at this type of work. Depending on your proofreading work, you may be paid per hour or page.
How to start: Reading this Wallet Hacks article on How to Earn $17+ an Hour as a Freelance Proofreader is a good place to start.
28. Do Data Entry Work
Earning potential: $4 to $25 per hour
When you work as a data entry clerk, you’re pretty much just typing information into a computer program.
As with proofreading, data entry jobs often pay per page. That means that the faster you type, the more you can earn. Accuracy is important, too, so be sure your work contains limited errors.
You can find both remote and in-person data entry jobs to choose from. Note that you may get paid very little as a beginner data entry specialist. However, your pay should increase as you gain experience.
How to start: Search the net for data entry jobs or data entry jobs from home.
29. Start a DJ Business
Earning potential: $300 to $1000 or more per event
If you’re great at entertaining a crowd, you may want to consider starting a DJ business. How fun would it be to play music for fun events and hype up the crowd as you rock some serious tunes?
Once you have the necessary equipment, you’re ready to start working as an integral piece of parties and events of all sizes.
How to start: Advertise your services on community social media pages, wedding event planning pages, and more.
30. Become an Event Planner
Earning potential: $500 to $2000 per event
Are you a social butterfly with a knack for planning a killer party? If so, why not start a weekend side hustle as an event planner?
You could work helping people plan weddings, birthday bashes, corporate events, and more. If you’re great at staying organized and know how to make a party extra special, this could be your thing.
How to start: Offer to do a couple of events for free, take photos, and get reviews. Then, create a website and social media accounts showing off your work.
31. Work as a Transcriptionist
Earning potential: $13 to $50 per hour
Transcriptionists work at converting audio files into written files. There are three basic types of transcriptionists: general, legal, and medical transcriptionists.
Transcriptionists typically get paid per audio minute. While general transcriptionists might not make a high per-hour wage, medical and legal transcriptionists earn more.
As with data entry clerks, the faster and more accurately you can perform the job, the more you’ll earn.
How to start: Read our article on the best transcription jobs. You’ll find information on training, pay, and where to find work.
32. Publish an eBook
Earning potential: Varies
If you’re a talented writer with valuable information to share, consider side hustling as an author. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction work, you can upload your book with an eBook program and sell it on popular sites like Amazon.
If you choose the right program, you only have to upload your PDF or other doc, and the program will do all the formatting for you.
Then, advertise your book on social media and blogs to gain awareness. If the book is good, the money will follow.
How to start: Visit Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing to learn how to publish an ebook.
33. Work as a Brand Ambassador
Earning potential: $12 to $20 per hour
A brand ambassador represents product brands (usually food or beverages) at stores and warehouse clubs. They’re the people you see serving pizza and other goodies at your local Sam’s Club, Costco, or Walmart.
If you’ve got an engaging, outgoing personality, you might want to take advantage of this weekend side hustle.
How to start: Look online for job openings or check with your local warehouse club
34. Become a Tutor
Earning potential: $20 to $50 per hour
Are you highly skilled in school subjects like Math, Science, History, or English? If so, you may want to consider working as a private tutor.
As an independent tutor, you can choose the subject you teach, your work hours, and how many clients you want to work with.
How to start: Advertise on high school and college campuses or sign up with a company like Tutor.com.
35. Start a Mobile Car Washing Business
Earning potential: $20 and up per car
A mobile car washing business could be great for earning extra cash on the weekends.
Bring your own supplies and use your clients’ water source and hose to clean the vehicle inside and out. A little handheld vacuum and a trash bag will help you clean the inside of the car.
Car wash soap, a soft rag, and tire cleaner will work for the outside. Be sure to bring soft towels for drying the vehicle as well.
How to start: Advertise by distributing flyers and posting on community social media sites.
36. Start a Mobile Dog Washing Business
Earning potential: $35-$60 per dog
Everyone needs to wash their dog. However, not everyone wants to do it themselves, and finding time to schedule an appointment with a groomer can be difficult.
A mobile dog washing service can help pet owners solve these issues. As the owner of this business, you would go to pet owners’ homes and wash their dogs.
You could use the clients’ water source and wash the dogs in the yard, driveway, or inside space. Eventually, you may be able to save enough to have a mobile dog-washing van that has everything you need.
How to start: Start by washing dogs in a client’s yard and advertising services online. Move up from there!
37. Teach English Online
Earning potential: $14 to $22 per hour.
There are quite a few good side hustles for teachers. If you enjoy teaching, you may want to start a side hustle teaching English to foreign students.
Even if you can’t speak other languages, you can find work as an ESL (English as a Second Language) tutor.
You can choose the hours you work, and many ESL tutoring services offer a one-to-one student-to-teacher ratio, making classroom time much easier.
How to start: Visit an ESL tutoring site like VIPKid to learn more or begin the application process.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, our list of 35 weekend side hustles. As you can see, there is no shortage of ways to boost your income through side hustles, most of which are easy to start. Use our list to narrow the selections and make a personalized list of your favorite side hustle ideas.
From there, the best thing you can do is just get started. You never know where your next weekend side hustle will lead.
