How to Make $500 Fast: 13 Ways to Earn Extra Money Quickly

Looking to make money quickly? You’re in luck!

There are plenty of side hustles and ways to make money now, and this article covers several realistic options you can implement starting today.

I wrote about How to make $100 fast in a previous article. The personal finance methods covered in today’s article give you the potential to make a bit more to help you make $500 fast. If you’re looking for even more money, please see my article How to Make $1,000 Fast.

Most of the methods covered in this article can be used by anyone, although a few require specific skills. Regardless of your situation, you’re sure to find something that works for you.

Ways to Make 500 Dollars Fast (Without a Job)

1. Sign-Up Bonuses

One of the best ways to make money fast is to take advantage of sign-up bonuses. Many businesses, websites, and apps pay new customers or users to try the product or service or create an account.

Credit card signup bonuses are often worth hundreds of dollars, but you’ll need to wait a few months to actually get the money. Other types of sign-up bonuses are better when you need money quickly.

Here are some of my favorite offers:

• Public.com offers up to $300 of free stock when you create and fund an account*.
• Webull offers up to 12 free stocks worth up to $30,000+ in total.
• Moomoo offers up to 10 free stocks worth up to $2,500 each.
• Empower offers $20 when you sign up and link a financial account.

A few of these offers reward you with free stock. You can hold on to that stock or sell your shares for cash once the stock has settled into your account (which usually takes a few days). Keeping your bonus invested allows you to see that bonus increase over time.

For more options, see our list of apps that give you money for signing up.

2. Delivery Driving

Working as a delivery driver for DoorDash is an excellent way to make 500 dollars fast. You can sign up as a driver and be approved within a few days. Once approved, you can start making deliveries right away to earn money (subject to availability).

It requires no particular skills, and just about anyone can do it.

While working as a rideshare driver for Uber or Lyft is a popular side hustle, working as a delivery driver offers a few advantages.

First, Uber and Lyft have specific requirements that your vehicle must meet to be eligible. If you have an older car, it won’t qualify, and you won’t get paid. DoorDash has no requirements for your car, so any vehicle will do.

Second, you won’t need to have strangers in your car when you’re working as a delivery driver. This is something many people don’t like about rideshare driving (and it can also be a safety concern).

3. Rent Out Your Stuff

Selling your things is one way to make $500 fast, but did you know you can also earn extra cash by renting out your stuff? There are many different things you can rent. The possibilities just depend on what you have that presents a rental opportunity.

One of the best aspects of making money with rentals is that it can be a relatively passive side gig. Instead of making money based on the time you work or the services you provide, you can generate cash flow because of an asset’s value.

Here are a few of the specific possibilities:

Rent Out Storage Space

Do you have space in your home that you’re not using? People in your area need storage space, and they’re willing to pay you to use your space. With Neighbor, you can list space in your basement, attic, garage, shed, or even a spare room.

Neighbor promotes your space to people in your area and handles everything related to payments. All you need to do is ensure the renter can access the space.

Rent Out an RV or Camper

If you own an RV or camper, you may be able to rent it out for a significant amount of money. There’s a strong demand for RV and camper rentals since most people don’t own them.

Chances are, you only use it a few weeks out of the year. Instead of letting it sit around when you’re not using it, you can rent it out and make some money.

RVshare is a peer-to-peer rental platform for RVs and campers. If you have one you want to rent out, just create a profile and list yours so renters can find it.

Rent Out a Truck or Van

If you own a pickup truck or cargo van, you can make 500 dollars fast by renting it out to people in your area. Renters may need a truck or van to move a piece of furniture or for some other purpose.

With Fetch, you can list your truck or van, and they’ll promote it to potential renters in your area. You can earn up to $1,800 per month with a single truck.

Rent Out Your Car

Turo and Getaround are peer-to-peer rental platforms for cars. Instead of going with a high-priced national chain, people in your area can rent your car. They’ll save money, and you’ll make a nice chunk without doing any work.

4. Take Online Surveys

I mentioned surveys as an option for making $100 quickly. I’m also listing surveys as an option to make $500 because there are plenty of opportunities.

There are many survey websites, and if you join several different sites, you can find more opportunities quickly.

Taking surveys is generally not the highest-paying side hustle regarding what you can make per hour. But one of the significant benefits is that anyone can do it. 

Anyone can sign up to survey sites and start making money immediately. You don’t need to leave home and can take the surveys whenever convenient.

A few survey sites that I recommend checking out include:

• Survey Junkie
• Branded Surveys
• Rakuten Insight

Several sites allow you to make money by doing a variety of other things in addition to taking surveys. You can earn cash by doing things like watching videos, downloading free apps, playing games, shopping online, and more. The more you do, the more you’ll earn.

These sites include:

• Swagbucks ($10 signup bonus)
• InboxDollars ($5 signup bonus)
• MyPoints ($10 signup bonus)

5. Transcription

If you have some typing skills, becoming a transcriptionist is one of the best ways to make $500 fast. Many websites offer transcription work. You can see our list of the best transcription jobs here.

Most transcription jobs involve working as a contractor, and you’ll have a completely flexible schedule.

In most cases, you can work as much or as little as you want and choose the hours that fit your schedule.

Most websites that hire transcriptionists require you to pass a basic practice typing test before starting to work. But once you’ve passed the test, you can start taking work right away. You could sign up today and start making money within a few days.

6. Perform Tasks

You can perform many different types of odd job tasks to make extra money. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk is one of the best places to find opportunities like research, surveys, content moderation, and more. These microtasks make it easy for just about anyone to earn money online.

Once you register with Mechanical Turk, you can browse the Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs) and choose any that interest you. The tasks are generally simple and quick to complete, so you’ll probably complete many different tasks to get paid.

Clickworker is another site where you can find work doing tasks like correcting texts, researching, and categorizing. Just create your free account, fill out your profile and complete an assessment, and you can start working quickly.

25Clicks is another site that offers payment for microtasks.

You won’t get rich with the tasks you’ll find at these sites. However, it’s an excellent opportunity to find paying work to make extra cash in your spare time.

Some survey sites allow you to make money from various tasks like watching videos, downloading apps, and trying different offers. Sites like Swagbucks, MyPoints, and Inbox Dollars all offer these opportunities.

7. Get Paid to Be a Shopper

Shopping is usually associated with spending money, but did you know you can get paid to shop?

While mystery shopping is a side gig that sounds fun to many people, the opportunities to make good money as a mystery shopper are limited.

The better way to make $500 fast is to get paid by people who are unable or too busy to do their own shopping.

Instacart is a food delivery service that’s looking for workers. They offer two different options:

• Do the shopping and make deliveries using your car (independent contractor)
• Do only the shopping in the store with no deliveries (part-time employee)

Both positions at Instacart come with flexible schedules.

One of the things I love about this side hustle is it’s a legit way to earn cash that requires no real experience. With just a car and a smartphone, you can start making money.

8. Freelancing

What skills do you have that would be valuable to others? Think about your current job or other jobs you’ve had in the past. Chances are, you have valuable skills that could allow you to make 500 dollars fast as a freelancer.

You can offer many services as a freelancer, including writing, editing, graphic design, web design, web development, photography, consulting, and more. It’s just a matter of finding your most valuable skills.

One of the best things about freelancing is that you can earn an excellent hourly rate with most services. It’s a terrific use of your time if you’re looking to make extra money.

Freelancing is also completely flexible. You can do the work around your schedule and commitments.

You can freelance part-time, which could even turn into a full-time income if that interests you.

9. Have a Yard Sale

Hosting a yard sale is a proven way to make extra money, not to mention it can also help to declutter your house.

If you have a few specific items you want to sell for extra cash, you can use selling apps and sites like Craigslist, Letgo, or Facebook Marketplace. However, a garage sale can be more effective if you’ve many things to sell.

While it takes a little work to get everything together for the yard sale, you can still pull one off quickly.

We all have some things lying around the house that we could live without, and the garage sale is a great way to make $500 fast from those things you don’t need.

Many neighborhoods have community yard sales, and scheduling your yard sale during one of these times can lead to many more people seeing the things you want to sell.

But if you need money quickly, you don’t need to wait for a community yard sale. Some simple signs will usually attract plenty of people. You can also look for local Facebook Groups that allow you to publicize your event.

Related reading: What Can I Sell?

10. Flipping Furniture

Flipping furniture is one of the best and most under-appreciated side hustle opportunities. It’s easy to find free and low-priced furniture by shopping at yard sales, flea markets, Craigslist, and the Facebook Marketplace.

The same furniture you can pick up for next to nothing can be re-sold for a nice profit after something as simple as a few coats of paint.

It doesn’t require specific skills (free YouTube videos show how to paint or refinish furniture), and it’s flexible. Work on this side gig whenever you have the time or need extra cash.

Furniture flipping could be something small you do from time to time, or it could grow into something bigger.

One of the keys to making money as a furniture flipper is to find the right pieces of furniture. You’ll want to get solid wood furniture to give yourself the potential to make a nice profit.

11. Dog Walking or Pet Sitting

Dog walking and pet sitting are excellent services for extra income. You can offer one or both.

Many dog owners don’t have the time in their schedule to walk their dogs as often as they’d like, and others have physical limitations that make it hard for them. Many of these people are willing to pay others to walk their dogs.

This is a great way to get exercise and make money simultaneously! And, of course, if you love animals, this is a good opportunity for you.

Likewise, pet sitters are always needed, so there are plenty of opportunities.

You may be able to find clients through your own personal network or classified sites like Craigslist, but there are also some other valuable resources. Rover and Wag are popular sites where you can create a profile as a service provider.

Wag is focused on dog walking, but Rover is a great place to offer other services, like pet sitting and doggy daycare.

According to Rover, offering boarding (overnight care) for dogs or cats is the best way to earn money. They say sitters who offer to board earn more than double providers who do not offer to board. See How to Become a Pet Sitter for more details.

Care.com also has a category for pet care, so you can create a profile there as well.

12. Babysitting

Babysitting is one of the oldest side hustles around, but still a great opportunity. There will always be parents who need someone trustworthy to watch their kids, so there will always be work for babysitters.

According to SitterCity, the average rate for a babysitter is $17.50 per hour.

Aside from the constant need for babysitters, there are a few other things to love about this opportunity:

1. Many of your clients will give you repeat business
2. Your business will grow by word-of-mouth (parents love to talk about anything related to their kids)
3. If you’re responsible for kids after they’re in bed, you may have some downtime

Of course, you can find babysitting work in many different ways. The best option is word-of-mouth, so tell your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers that you are available. Most parents prefer to hire someone they know or someone recommended by a friend.

Websites like Sittercity, Sitter.com, UrbanSitter, and Care.com allow you to create a profile and list your availability. People looking for a babysitter will find you on these sites, which can be a great way to pick up some clients.

13. Clean Houses

Cleaning houses, or offices, is another excellent way to make extra money. You don’t need any particular skills and can start making money quickly.

It’s also flexible. You can do it on a small scale with just a few clients to make a little extra, or you can make it something more significant by taking on more clients. You can even outsource some or all of the work if you want.

There will always be a need for cleaning services, and many of the clients you pick up will provide recurring work with weekly or monthly appointments. As a result, it’s a great way to earn money when you need it.

Like many other service-related businesses, you can get started by checking with your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to find your first few clients. Or try Craigslist. There are also other local advertising options.

My wife found the lady that cleans our house through an ad in a local magazine that has ads for restaurants and different types of service providers.

Care.com is also an excellent resource for finding clients. You can create a free profile, list your services and your hourly rates, and people in your area can hire you.

How to Make $500 Fast: Final Thoughts

There are plenty of realistic ways to make 500 dollars fast. In this article, we looked at 13 options with the specific goal of reaching $500. For even more personal finance ideas, check out my article on How to Make $100 Fast.

READ NEXT: How to Get Free Money Right Now and Fast

*Public.com offer valid for U.S. residents 18+ and subject to account approval. This is not a recommendation. You can lose money with any investment. Open To The Public Investing is a member of FINRA & SIPC. Regulatory and firm fees apply. New customers receive free stock with value $3-300; 0.3% receive the max value. Cryptocurrency trading provided by Apex Crypto LLC (NMLS ID 1828849). Apex Crypto is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services. See Public.com/disclosures/