How to Make $1,000 Fast: 13 Realistic Ideas for Making Money

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How to Make $1,000 Fast

If you find yourself in a situation where you need to make money quickly, you may not be sure what to do. Fortunately, there are many different side hustle that don’t rely on a job.

In this article, we’ll look at 13 different options that you can consider. We’ll also look at what it would take to reach $1,000 from each of these methods. To keep things simple, I’m not factoring in taxes to this equation, since different people will pay different tax rates.

The methods covered in this article were chosen because they’re good options for helping you to make $1,000 fast. In reality, the best approach may be to combine a few of these different methods.

If you’re looking for more ideas, we also have articles on How to Make $100 Fast and How to Make $500 Fast. The options covered in each article were chosen based on their potential to reach the target amount of income.

13 Different Ways to Make $1,000 Quickly

Here are some realistic ways to earn money fast when you need it.

1. Flip Large Items

In my article How to Make $500 Fast, I mentioned flipping furniture as a great way to make money. But furniture isn’t the only thing you can flip for a nice profit. There are plenty of items that you can buy at yard sales, thrift stores, flea markets, or on sites like Craigslist and the Facebook Marketplace and sell for a profit (see my list of the easiest things to flip for profit).

In some cases you may be able to sell the item in the condition you bought it, and in other cases you may need to touch up some paint, clean it up, or do minor repairs.

Many of the items that you can flip will bring in smaller amounts of money. If you want to make bigger amounts, focus on larger or more valuable items.

In addition to furniture, things like appliances, motorized items (dirt bikes, ATVs, golf carts, jet skis), bicycles, and commercial equipment all present great opportunities.

Flipping larger items can be a little more work than smaller items, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you are willing to jump through a few hoops when everyone else is looking for the easiest option, you’ll find opportunities to make more money.

For example, selling used appliances can be a great option when you’re looking for items to flip for a nice profit. But because of their size and (sometimes) weight, you may need a truck in order to pick them up. The people who buy them from you may also want you to deliver it to them. While this may be extra work, you’ll have less competition and it can mean more money for you.

Getting to $1,000 by Flipping Large Items

The amount of money that you can make as a flipper will totally depend on the specifics of your situation. If you know the value of an item, you may be able to make $1,000 just by flipping a few items in one week. Of course, that’s not always the case, but it is possible if you are focusing on the right items.

If you’re interested in learning how to make money as a flipper you should definitely check out this free workshop on how to start a profitable reselling business. The couple that created this course makes a nice six-figure income working only 20-30 hours per week. With the right knowledge and approach, you can start making money very quickly as a flipper.

2. Find a Temporary Job

It may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of making extra money, but a temp job can be an excellent option. Temp agencies are everywhere, and it’s typically pretty easy to find temporary or seasonal work through these companies.

All you need to do is call a local temp agency in your area and see what opportunities are available. You can usually start working in just a few days or less.

Another option is to use a job board like Indeed. Enter the word “temporary” as the search term and choose your city. You may be surprised at how many temp jobs are listed. I live in a small city and right now there are tons of listings on both Indeed and Simply Hired.

The temporary jobs that you find may be seasonal, so at certain times of the year you may find more opportunities. You can find all different types of temp jobs, so there are a lot of possibilities.

Some will offer full-time hours for a limited period of time, and others will be part-time hours. Some temp jobs also have the potential to lead to a full-time job offer, which may or may not be of interest to you.

Getting to $1,000 with a Temp Job

The pay that you’ll get for a temp job will totally depend on the type of work and the situation. Seasonal work will sometimes pay pretty well because there is a greater demand for workers. Because the pay can vary so much, it’s impossible to say how long it will take to reach $1,000.

3. Offer Services as a Freelancer

Working as a freelancer is a great way to make money from home. I’ve personally made money as a freelance writer and web designer, and there are countless other skills that you could use (like voice overs, graphic design, photography, and much more).

Most freelancers are paid by the project, although some charge an hourly rate. Even those that charge per project usually have a targeted hourly rate that they want to earn, and those rates can be very good. As a freelancer, you can start making money as soon as you land a client.

To get started as a freelancer you can talk to family, friends, and others in your personal network about the services that you offer. Contact business owners or people that you think may be in need of your services. Usually you can find a client or two simply through your own personal network.

Another good way to get started is to post your services to Craigslist. It’s free, only takes a couple of minutes, and with the huge audience on Craigslist, you’ll probably get some potential clients that contact you.

Freelance job sites are another place to look for your first clients. Some of these job boards are specific to the type of work you’re doing, like the ProBlogger Job Board that includes many opportunities for freelance writers.

Sites like Upwork also provide a lot of opportunities for freelancers, but these sites would not be my first recommendation. There is a ton of competition for the work on these sites and the pay for many of the jobs is not very good. Still, some freelancers do really well with Upwork and other similar sites.

If you’re looking for a side hustle that you’ll continue to do after you reach the $1,000 that you need, freelancing is a great option. But if you’re just looking to make $1,000 and then you have no interest in continuing, I would recommend a different way to make that money.

Getting to $1,000 as a Freelancer

Estimating how long it will take to make $1,000 as a freelancer is impossible. It will depend on the service that you’re offering, and how quickly you can find clients. With a service like web design, you might be able to find one client and earn the $1,000 very quickly. With other services, you may need more clients and more time to find those clients.

The rates of freelance writers vary a lot, but charging $100 for a 1,000-word article would be a very reasonable rate. At that rate you would need to write 10 articles to reach the $1,000 goal.

If you want to learn how to make money as a freelance writer, I recommend the course Freelance Writing 101: Build a Successful Writing Career by Brad Merrill. You can get free access for two months and you’ll learn everything you need to know in this course.

4. Work as a Handyman

Working as a handyman can be a great way to make some extra money. As a handyman you may find yourself doing things like fixing a leaky toilet, changing a light fixture, doing small repairs, interior or exterior painting, and all kinds of other odd jobs.

There is plenty of work available, and you can make a decent hourly rate for your time. You don’t need to be a construction professional to work as a handyman, but you do need some basic skills.

Another great reason to love this opportunity is that you can pick up odd jobs whenever you need some money, or you can put in more consistent effort to make it a more serious side hustle, or even a full-time business.

If you decide that you want to make money as a handyman, there are a few ways you can go about getting started. Of course, you can probably find a few jobs by simply talking to friends and family, since many people will have things around their home or office that need to be done.

You can also post an ad to Craigslist or other similar sites like Letgo and 5miles.

There are also sites like Handy.com, Jiffy, and Takl that will help to match you up with jobs. You can sign up at any of these sites to be a provider and start making money very quickly. At Handy.com you can make up to $45 per hour as a handyman.

Getting to $1,000 as a Handyman

If you were to make $35 per hour, which is a realistic rate for a handyman, you could make just over $1,000 in 29 hours of work. It’s possible you could find that much work in a couple of weeks just by checking with your friends, family, and neighbors. For more details, see How to Start a Handyman Business.

5. Offer Lawn Care Services

There are a lot of services you could offer related to lawn care, including mowing, trimming plants and trees, blowing leaves, spreading mulch, and other landscaping. You could even offer snow removal in the winter.

These types of services are always in demand, and you can make a decent hourly wage by doing them. Many of your clients will also give you repeat business, because there is always more yard work to do.

You could talk to your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to find your first few clients. You can also use Craigslist (I’ve hired a number of people I found on Craigslist for this type of work).

Apps like GreenPal are also excellent resources for finding clients and growing your business (in certain metropolitan areas).

With GreenPal you can bid on projects (mowing lawns) every day, and GreenPal also handles the billing for you.

Getting to $1,000 with Lawn Care Services

Since you can make a pretty good hourly rate with lawn care, the possibility to reach $1,000 quickly is there. LawnGuru claims that their average provider makes $700 per week. If that’s the case, you could reach $1,000 in less than 2 weeks.

6. Become a Delivery Driver

Working as a delivery driver is another excellent option to start making money quickly with a very flexible schedule. While rideshare driving may be the more popular side hustle, delivery driving may be the better opportunity. Your vehicle may not meet the requirements to drive for Uber or Lyft, but DoorDash has no specific vehicle requirements and any car will do.

Another reason this is a great option is that there are a lot of possibilities.

Many of the companies that provide opportunities to work as a delivery driver will involve delivering food from restaurants. These opportunities include:

Deliv is looking for drivers to deliver packages. No passengers and no food involved. You could be making deliveries from retail stores like Walmart, Best Buy, Walgreens, PetSmart, and many others.

Citizen Shipper offers a different type of delivery option. People who need a delivery can list the details of a shipment, and drivers (like you) can provide a quote. The customer then picks the driver that they want to hire. Some of these are longer trips, like from one city to another. It can involve delivery of just about anything.

Did you know that you can also work for Amazon as a delivery driver? Through Amazon Flex you can earn $18 – $25 per hour (according to Amazon) delivering packages to customers.

Getting to $1,000 as a Delivery Driver

Amazon claims that Flex drivers make $18 – $25 per hour. Deliv claims that its drivers make up to $22 per hour. The food delivery services involve tips, so it’s hard to estimate how much you’ll make. Let’s go with $20 per hour, which should be realistic according to Amazon and Deliv. At that rate, you’d only need to work 25 hours to reach $1,000 earned.

7. Drive for Uber or Lyft

One of the more popular ways to make money in the gig economy is through ridesharing apps. Of course, Uber and Lyft are the most popular options.

This is a very flexible side hustle that you can do whenever it works for you. You’ll set your own schedule, regardless of how many hours you want to work.

Another major benefit is that you’ll get paid quickly, so it doesn’t take long to start making money.

Thanks to programs like Lyft’s Express Drive, you don’t even need your own car to start this side hustle.

Getting to $1,000 as an Uber or Lyft Driver

There are a lot of conflicting reports about how much drivers actually earn. Some claims are as high as $25 per hour, and others are as low as $10 per hour. Somewhere in the middle is likely more accurate for an average, so we’ll go with $17 per hour. At that rate, you would need to work 59 hours to reach the $1,000 mark.

8. Rent Your Car

Continuing on the topic of renting things, did you know that you can make money by renting out your car? Websites like Turo and Getaround make it easy to make money passively from your car (Read about how Justin is making $2,000 per month with car sharing).

Other people in your area who need a car can rent from you rather than going to one of the major car rental chains. They’ll get a better price and you’ll make some easy money.

One of the nice things about this side hustle is that it is completely flexible. You can rent out the car when you don’t need it, and have it to yourself for when you do need it.

You don’t need an expensive or fancy car to do this, although you might be able to charge more if you do have an expensive car.

If you have an extra car, or a car that is not needed most of the time, you may want to consider this because it’s an easy way to make some passive income. If you currently use your car most of the time, maybe you could start using a bike or walking more, depending on how far you need to go.

Getting to $1,000 by Renting Your Car

According to Getaround, the average owner makes $6,000 per year. If that’s the case, it would take you two months to reach $1,000. Not bad for a passive way to make extra money. Combine that with another side hustle to make money even faster.

9. Work as a Virtual Assistant

As a virtual assistant (VA), you could offer a wide variety of services, including things like managing social media profiles, blog editing and management, moderation of forums and Facebook Groups, customer service, and other types of tasks.

A lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs outsource work to VAs in order to increase efficiency and there is plenty of work available. You could get started as a VA very quickly and work in your spare time. Working as a VA can be a great side hustle or even a full-time job.

The hourly rate that you’ll be able to earn will vary depending on the work that you’re doing. To could take a very generalized approach and offer a lot of different services, or you could specialize in one area. The highest-paid VAs typically specialize.

If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to take advantage of the workshop 5 Steps to Become a Virtual Assistant by Kayla Sloan.

Getting to $1,000 as a Virtual Assistant

If you charge $25 per hour, you would be able to earn $1,000 with 40 hours of work.

10. Pet Sitting and Dog Walking

Working as a pet sitter and/or dog walker is one of the best side hustles. Not only can you make good money, but you can get started very quickly. Just create an account at Rover or Wag, fill out the details of your profile so pet owners in your area can find you, and you’ll be in a position to start making money. Of course, you can also find clients with other methods like through your personal network, a post on Craigslist, ads on local bulletin boards, etc.

There is a lot of work available for pet sitters and dog walkers and the pay can be pretty good. Dog walkers typically charge a set price for a walk, and many will offer a few different lengths. For example, you might offer a 15-minute walk for $15 or a 30-minute walk for $25.

Pet sitting rates will depend on a lot of factors, like the length of time you’ll be watching the animal, the type and size of the animal, and whether it is daytime hours or overnight.

Getting to $1,000 as a Pet Sitter or Dog Walker

Because these services can vary and because many jobs won’t involve a set hourly rate, it’s hard to calculate the number of hours you would need to work to reach $1,000. That being said, many dog walkers and pet sitters are able to earn a few thousand dollars per month, so having a goal of taking one month to earn $1,000 is a pretty good starting point.

11. Rent a Room

If you have a spare room in your home, you can easily make some extra money by renting it out. You could find a long-term tenant, or rent it out on a daily or weekly basis.

The increasing popularity of Airbnb makes it very realistic to make extra money with this side hustle. Thousands of people are using this approach to cover a portion, or all, of their monthly mortgage payment.

The amount you can make will vary depending on where you live, the details of the room, and other factors. By renting a room you can start making money very quickly, and it’s mostly passive income.

Renting a room or part of your home isn’t the only option either as there are plenty of things you can rent. If you have the space, you could allow people to park RVs or campers on your property. Many people don’t have a place at their home to park them.

You can also use Stow It to rent out storage space. Or use LiquidSpace to rent out office space.

Another option would be to rent land to a farmer if you have a large property (check out Shared Earth). You could use Campspace or Gamping to rent your land to campers.

Getting to $1,000 by Renting a Room

The amount that you can make with this approach will really depend on where you’re located and what you have to offer. In the right situation, it’s possible that you could make $1,000 in a week, or in other cases it may take a couple of months to reach that amount.

If you’re in a location with a strong rental market, this is an opportunity that you should probably consider. Since it is mostly passive, you shouldn’t need to devote a lot of time or effort to it, which means you can combine it with other side hustles.

12. Offer Music Lessons

If you have musical ability, why not use those skills to make some money? Offering lessons for piano, guitar, and other instruments (as well as singing) can be a great way to make some extra money.

You can either find clients on your own through your personal network and connections, or post to Craigslist, Letgo, 5miles, and other classified sites.

There are a number of websites that help instructors/teachers find students. Some of these websites require you to have specific experience offering music lessons in order to qualify, but others are open to those without experience, or with limited experience. You can check out sites like TakeLessons, Lessonface, and Live Music Tutor to see examples of these types of sites. Some focus on online lessons and some on in-person lessons in your local area.

Even if you’re not currently qualified to become an instructor at any of these sites, you can start giving lessons in your local area by finding clients on your own. Once you have more experience, you may be able to qualify for some of these sites.

Getting to $1,000 by Offering Music Lessons

If your starting rate is $25 per hour, you would be able to reach $1,000 with 40 hours of work. How long it takes to find those clients could depend on a lot of factors, but with the help of your personal network and Craigslist you could probably find your first few clients pretty quickly.

13. Work as a Caregiver

Working as a caregiver is another option for a service-related side hustle. This could involve senior care, working with special needs children, in-home nursing, and more.

The best way to find work as a caregiver is to use some sort of agency or website that will match you up with clients. You can create a profile at Care.com and provide details of the services you offer so others in your local area can find you.

You can also apply at sites like TrueCare24 and CareLinx.

Getting to $1,000 as a Caregiver

According to Indeed, the average hourly rate for a caregiver is $12.63. At that rate, you would need to work 80 hours (or about 2 weeks) to make $1,000.

Conclusion:

There are a lot of different ways to make extra money. This article looks at 12 options that can help you to get to $1,000. They all offer good potential, so the key is to pick one that seems like a good fit for you and take the necessary steps to get started. And if you’re looking for ways to make money on a more consistent basis, please see this list of ways to earn $1,000 per month.

You may also want to see the other articles in this series for even more ideas: How to Make $100 Fast and How to Make $500 Fast.


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  • Fractional shares
  • Access alternative investments
  • High-yield treasuries accounts
  • Social community of investors
  • User-friendly interface
  • Commission-free trades of stocks, ETFs, options, and ADRs
  • Powerful screening and charting tools
  • Free real-time level 2 data
  • User-friendly mobile app
  • AI monitoring
  • AI-powered price forecasts
  • Free investing courses
  • Commission-free trades of stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrency
  • Buy fractional shares for any amount
  • Extended trading hours
  • Advanced reporting tools
  • Schedule recurring investments
  • IRAs now available
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