Freelance writing is the ultimate side hustle - you get paid to write! It’s flexible, it pays well, and it’s enjoyable.

In fact, freelance blogging helped me go from earning $1,600 per month to earning more than $5,500 per month. This profession was my golden ticket to bigger and better opportunities.

The flexibility and sheer amount of opportunity that comes along with freelance writing makes it a fantastic side hustle for anyone who enjoys to write. It can be worked into any college student’s schedule and can be a great side income for everyone looking to accelerate student loan pay-off.

If you want to get your foot in the door and start earning some extra cash here are 14 ways to get paid to write.

Blogs That Will Pay for Your Tips and Stories

If you love sharing your tips and stories and are looking for some one-off ways to get paid for your words, writing for blogs can be a very lucrative endeavor.

The benefit of this side hustle is that you can get paid well but have no commitment to submit articles on a recurring basis. If you have a great idea just pitch it to one of these blogs to get paid!

ACHS – American College of Healthcare Science is look for posts that are 600-1,000 words long related to your favorite topic on holistic health and wellness. They pay $50 per post.

Income Diary – Income Diary is a blog about making money online. If you’re a marketer or successful entrepreneur this could be a good fit for you. They pay anywhere from $50-$200 per post payable via PayPal.

Great Escape Publishing – This outlet is looking for articles about travel. They pay anywhere from $50-$200, depending on the type of assignment you take on.

iWorkWell – iWork Well is a website for businesses covering a broad range of topics. This site will pay you up to $200 per post.

Breaking Into Magazine Writing

One high-paying writing niche that’s a little tougher to break into is magazine writing.

Writing for a magazine can net you anywhere for $0.10-$2 per word. That can add up to a lot of money. If you’re successful in this niche you can make a lot more versus freelance blogging. The only downside is that your work may be a little less consistent.

If you want to break into magazine writing one of the best places to begin your search is the Writer's Market. This book contains hundreds of different publications that will pay you for your words. Not only that, but the Writer's Market has the name of editors to pitch as well submission guidelines and pay.

This is one book I’ve had on my shelf for a couple of years now and is a wealth of information.

Getting Jobs Off of Popular Job Boards

When I first embarked upon my freelance writing journey job boards were my go-to. I scoured my favorite job boards daily applying to as many writing jobs as I could.

You can find jobs like blog post writing, resume writing, and more on job boards.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Problogger Job Board – The Problogger Job Board has many opportunities in many different niches on a weekly basis. Scour this job board daily and apply to anything that seems like a good fit to you.

Freelance Writing Gigs – Freelance Writing Gigs is a blog that scours the web and curates all the best new job offers on a daily basis.

You can find a list of other freelance writing job board sites here.

*Tip* When applying to job boards it’s extremely important that you’re only applying for jobs that you have specific knowledge in. Job Boards can be extremely competitive so the more you can position yourself as the “expert” the higher your chances of snagging that job will be.

Finding Unique Gigs on Craigslist

Another one of my go-to places when I was a beginner freelance writer was Craigslist.

Craigslist is a place you can find unique opportunities. There’s also the possibility of getting scammed on Craigslist so it’s important to do your due diligence and sign a contract before performing any work.

To find writing gigs on Craigslist simply search big cities (like New York or L.A. for example) and then go to the “Jobs” section and click “writing/editing.”

From here you’ll be able to look through the listings and find the work from home opportunities.

My favorite job from Craigslist was writing business descriptions for directories. I would write 100 word descriptions of various business (everything from AstroTurf companies to high-end hotels) which would be submitted to directories. I only received $2 per description, but since they were fairly easy to write the money added up quickly.

I usually netted at least $300 a week doing this in my spare time.

Cold Pitch to Find Your Own Clients

After going the job board and Craigslist route for months I finally transitioned to finding my own clients. I found this method to be the absolute best for creating a steady stream of clients who I actually enjoyed working with.

While finding your own clients is probably ideal, there are a few things you’ll need to do to make this work:

Choose a Writing Niche – Pinpoint exactly what you want to write about.

To get jobs you need to establish that you have expertise in a particular subject. Choose a topic that you enjoy writing about but also are very knowledgeable in.

Build a Freelancer’s Websites or Blog – The next step is to make your own little “home” on the internet. If you already have a blog in the niche you want to write in you can simply add a “hire-me” page to your blog.

If you don’t have a blog then create a freelancers website with the domain as your first and last name. You can then add an about me page, a services page, and also be sure to list contact information.

Collect a Few Writing Samples – If you have published work in the niche you want to break into then you’re in good shape! Simply link to those pieces from your writer’s website.

If you have no previous work then you’re going to need to find a blog or business you can submit a couple of articles to for free.

Start Pitching – The next step is to narrow down business and blogs that use freelance writers and pitch them. Be sure to make your pitches customized for each particular business or blog.

Rinse and repeat!

Cold pitching companies can sound a little overwhelming at first but once you get the process down it becomes very simple. If you’re serious about making a living freelance writing this is one of the absolute best ways to get a steady stream of paying clients, I promise!

If you want to start a freelance writing business (especially for bloggers), check out this course: Freelance Writing For Bloggers. It will teach you everything you need to know about how to start writing for online publications.

Get Paid to Write

If you’re interested in earning some extra income by writing I hope that one of the ideas above has inspired you to take action!

Freelance writing can be a fantastic way to earn money and can even lead to full-time income if you can consistently produce quality work.

Do you have any questions about earning money through freelance writing?

Are you strapped for cash? Looking for ways to make an extra $100 a month or more?

I know you care about your personal finances or else you wouldn’t be reading this blog.

But if you’re like me there are times when you feel a slight ping of envy that others are able to save and invest so much money. They just make it look so easy!

Luckily, when it comes to saving, paying off debt, and investing, an extra $100 a month can really add up fast!

That's why we're big believers that it's not just about saving money each month, but solid financial plans should also focus on earning more money each month.

If you’re looking for ways to make a little bit of easy cash here are 10 ways to make an extra $100 per month.

# 1 – Tutor

If you’re in college chances are you’ve got in demand knowledge on particular subjects. A great way to profit from your knowledge is tutor high school aged kids who are struggling.

Parents of struggling high school and elementary aged students would love to have a college student tutor their children. Advertise your services in places that are sure to catch the eye of parents.

Check out our guide on how to get started tutoring in college (and you can do it online as well).

# 2 - Driving With Uber Or Lyft

Driving with Uber or Lyft is one of the most convenient ways to earn extra money, especially if you enjoy driving and want the freedom to choose your hours. With ridesharing more popular than ever, drivers can make a solid income by putting in consistent effort.

For women and non-binary drivers considering ridesharing, Lyft’s Women+ Connect feature offers an additional layer of comfort and control. This option allows women and nonbinary drivers to match more often with women and nonbinary riders, making the driving experience feel more welcoming. Women+ Connect can be enabled in the Lyft Driver app and turned on or off as needed, adding flexibility to the already customizable nature of rideshare driving.

If you’re interested, you can sign up to drive with Lyft and see what bonuses they’re currently offering for new drivers. 

Prefer to deliver food instead? UberEATS provides an option for those who’d rather deliver meals than take passengers. For Lyft, signing up can also bring in extra earnings, and you’ll have the chance to explore Women+ Connect, adding another level of ease to your driving experience.

# 3 – Babysit Or Dogsit

If you have patience and a place where you can babysit you can earn extra cash from the comfort of your home.

The babysitter I use charges $20 per day per kid. This is actually a pretty low price so you may be able to get much more money for your services.

Just don’t take on too many kids at once. Babysitting is definitely a job that can be frustrating at times depending on the ages of the kids you’re watching. Keep that in mind.

And you don't just have to watch kids... you can watch people's other type of kids - dogs. Dog walkers and dog sitters are in high demand. Check out Rover and see if you can snag a gig.

# 4 – Write

There are all kinds of ways you can earn money from freelance writing.

You can write for blogs, magazines, content mills, or local businesses. Your first step in finding a writing job is deciding what kind of writing you want to do.

By writing for magazines you can earn as much as $500 an article – but this is a harder field to break into. If you choose to write for blogs you can average $20 - $25 per blog post when first starting out. Or, if you’re looking for the really easy route you can write for a content mill. Just be aware that content mills will pay the least amount of money.

If you want to get started, check this out: How To Get Paid To Write.

# 5 - Sell Your Junk

If you’ve been holding on to too much stuff for a while why not de clutter and make money while you’re at it?

You can sell clothes, shoes, and home décor fairly well on Facebook Yardsales. For items like DVDs, CDs, college textbooks, and video games give Amazon a try. For large items Craigslist will do the trick.

Here's 10 crazy ways to earn $10,000 - and a lot of it involves selling junk.

# 6 - Sell Other Peoples Junk

If you’re good at selling your own stuff you can take it a step farther and sell other peoples unwanted items.

To do this you’ll need to draw up a contract which states you get a commission for successfully selling an item. You can try doing this with your friends and family first and if it works good advertise your services to others.

Then, take their junk and sell it online. This online arbitrage can be a lucrative way to make some extra money.

# 7 – Sell Photos

Stock photos are in demand. If you’re a photographer or just enjoy taking photos you can actually make money by selling them.

The cool thing is that you can sell the same photo over and over again. All you do is create an account with a place like shutterstock.com and every time someone buys one of your photos you’ll receive a commission.

If you build up a large portfolio of photos you can enjoy repeat passive income.

# 8 – Join a Focus Group

Businesses use focus groups to help perfect their product or service. When you attend a focus group you’ll be giving your opinions and reviews on a certain product or service. The best part is that you get paid for doing this!

There are focus groups in all types of areas. Some focus groups are conducted online while others are conducted in person. To find a focus group to participate in just perform a Google search for “focus groups in your area.”

There are also online focus groups and surveys that you can take to earn money. Here's a couple of our favorites:

• Survey Junkie
• SwagBucks (Plus Get A $5 Bonus)
• HeyCash

# 9 – Clean Houses

There are many people who either hate cleaning their house or just don’t have time for it. If you enjoy cleaning or can at least put up with it to earn some extra cash, this can be an easy solution for you.

You can charge around $50 per house meaning you’ll only have to clean two houses per month to earn your extra $100!

# 10 – Become a Mystery Shopper

Mystery shopping is one of those side gigs that feels too good to be true: you get paid to buy things!

Many companies will offer you money to go in and buy a certain product and review the service you get. Other jobs will be based on service only. For instance you’ll have to test drive a car and rate the service you received at a dealership.

Either way you can easily earn an extra $100 a month by becoming a mystery shopper. You can find mystery shopping jobs at bestmark.com

Other Ways to Make an Extra $100 a Month

Here are some more ways you can make an extra $100 a month.

• Become a Search Engine Evaluator
• Offer Painting Services
• Detail Cars
• Blog
• Become an Affiliate
• Participate in Medical Research
• Do Independent Sales

If you’re in need of some extra cash but are strapped for time give one of these ideas a try. You never know you might enjoy your new side hustle and bring in an extra $1,000 a month!

What are some other ways to make an extra $100 a month?

Do you have a personal finance lover in your life but you’re not quite sure what to get him?

Are you a personal finance enthusiast but don’t know what to ask for?

Or maybe you have children or teens and you want to give them a gift that will help them in the future.

Or even better, maybe you're looking for that subtle gift to give someone who needs to be better with their money and you want to point them in the right direction?

Being a PF nerd myself, I thought I’d make it easy for you. If you’re wondering what to get the personal finance lover in your life, here are seven ideas.

Personal Finance Board Games

If the personal finance enthusiast in your life has a bit of playful side then he’ll love getting a money-related board game.

Here are a few ideas for you:

• Monopoly
• Payday
• Cashflow 101

Board games are an excellent gift that can be fun for a family or group of friends to play. And who doesn’t love Monopoly? I used to play this game all the time as a kid and I would still enjoy it now.

Here's some more personal finance board games if you want more ideas.

Personal Finance Books

Most of the personal finance nerds I know (myself included) love books. There’s a good chance your PF lover may already have a nice collection of personal finance books so you might have to do some investigating before buying.

Here are my suggestions:

• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
• The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach

If you want more ideas, check out our list of the best personal finance books to start investing here.

A Scanner

If you're looking for a great gift for that personal that loves to digitally organize their finances, a scanner is a great tool to help!

Scanners can be pricy, but for a couple $300, you can get a useful tool that allows them to scan in all of their personal finance documents.

My pick is the Fujitsu SnapScan iX500 Scanner. You can connect this with Evernote and really go paperless!

Magazine Or Newspaper Subscriptions

If you’re not sure what your personal finance enthusiast already has in his library, a magazine subscription could be the solution. There are several great magazines on the topic of money. Plus, you can usually get magazine subscriptions for up to 90% off using services like DiscountMags.

Here are four good ones:

• Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine
• Consumer Reports magazine
• Inc. Magazine (for the entrepreneurial spirits)

You could even look into getting magazines related to your friend’s specific interests. There are magazines on all types of specific topics like real estate, stock market investing, and business, just to name a few.

A money-related magazine would make a fantastic and inexpensive gift.

Tax Preparation Software

Tax season is right around the corner and if your PF-loving friend files her own taxes, tax preparation software would be an awesome gift.

There are several options but the most common tax preparation programs are TurboTax, H&R Block tax software, and Tax Slayer.

You can find the full list of the best tax software here.

This would be an amazing Christmas gift — just in time for the tax season.

Money Management Programs

Computer software — to be specific, finance software — is another great idea. I personally love staying organized and a good money management program is a nice way to keep everything in order.

Here are some good options for personal finance software programs:

• You Need A Budget
• Quicken

There are paid and free versions of several different money management programs. Although a lot of these programs are similar, Quicken seems to be the most popular paid version.

A Budget Book

While some people are crazy over money management software, there are still old-fashioned people (like me) who’d prefer a budget book and pen.

Budget books are just what they sound like: a book full of budget templates!

Check out this simple Budget Planner here.

If All Else Fails Go with Cash

If you don't know what to get, just give cash or a variation of it - like giftcards or even stock!

Gift cards are great gifts for just about everyone and I think they are especially great gifts for personal finance lovers. Ninety-nine percent of personal finance lovers enjoy saving money. By purchasing them a gift card they’ll get to save money on their normal expenses.

The more practical the gift card the better.

You can also give the gift of stock! This is a really cool gift for the personal finance lover because you're helping them save for the future in a unique way! Check out our full guide on the best way to give the gift of stock.

There you have it — more than seven gift ideas for personal finance lovers. Happy shopping!

What would you buy a personal finance enthusiast?

In an ideal world you’d be able to work full time, have a full class load, maintain some sort of social life and balance it all perfectly. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world.

Having a job while attending college is one of the keys to avoiding monstrous piles of student loan debt. But it can be hard to find a job that allows the flexibility you need. This is where a flexible part time job can come in handy.

There are hundreds of perfectly legit ways to earn a part time income on your own hours from the comfort of your home.

These ten flexible part time jobs are a great fit for college students. Note: these are all freelance jobs - which work great for side gigs.

Special Promo - The Brambila Method. Do you want to quick-start your side hustle journey? Check out this course from Adrian Brambila and learn how to make your first $1 online from side hustling. Over 8 days, you're going to learn 8 proven tactics to make money, and you'll even get access to 4 side hustle ideas you can launch immediately. Just plug and play. Sign up for the course here >>

1. Freelance Writer

Freelance writing is how I started my work from home journey and is one skill that is in huge demand. As more and more companies build their presences online the need for competent writers has grown as well.

The pay of a freelance writer can vary greatly. At the low end you can expect to get $20 per article and at the higher end you can earn $1,000 or more. The pay you earn depends upon your areas of expertise, your writing abilities and how well you’re able to market your services.

The beauty of freelance writing is that, while you’ll have deadlines to meet, you won’t have a set schedule. You can also scale up or down on work as your other commitments fluctuate.

Note: recent laws have made this less lucrative in certain states (such as CA and NJ), but that doesn't mean it's not a great part time gig.

If you’re interested in earning money writing check out this post: 14 Ways to Get Paid to Write.

Or, jump into this course that will teach you how to become a freelance writer from someone who makes six figures a year freelancing. Check out: Earn More Writing.

2. Social Media Manager

Another higher paying freelance job is a social media manager.

The median pay rate for a social media manager is $14/hour, however, if you are effective at your job you can certainly earn a much higher hourly rate.

One of the more popular approaches is helping local small businesses run their social media accounts - something you could easily do on the side.

You can look for social media positions at sites like Upwork.com or Montser.com or you can pitch local businesses.

3. ESL Teacher

If you like teaching and are looking for a way to earn doing it there are many places seeking ESL (English Second Language) teachers.

These positions require the ability to teach English to non-native English speakers. You generally do not need to know a second language.

If you’re interested in becoming an ESL teacher you can browse some opportunities in our full guide: How To Get Paid For Teaching English Online.

4. Online Tutor

Tutoring jobs have always been great options for college students but can be cumbersome if you’re working with a busy schedule.

Tutor.com will allow you to work as little as 5 hours per week and up to 29 hours per week. You’re able to schedule sessions ahead of time according to your schedule or you can pick up one of the available sessions at any time.

There are broad range of topics in need of new tutors. You can check out that list here.

5. Transcriptionist

Transcriptionists listen to audio and transcribe that content into text documents. There are a number of different transcriptionist opportunities – medical transcription, transcribing podcasts, transcribing speeches and more.

There are also many scams when it comes to transcription so you need to be wary when looking for these types of jobs. A general rule of thumb is to never pay to get a job.

The average pay for transcription sits right around $15 per hour.  However the pay will depend upon your speed and accuracy. Most companies will require you to pass a skills test if you’re a new transcriber.

Here are some places you can find legit transcription jobs:

• Rev
  

6. Start a Blog

Let me be clear – blogging is definitely not a get rich quick scheme or an easy way to earn money. (Despite what anyone tries to tell you.)  But if you have a lot of spare time, especially since we’re now on summer break, starting a blog and working on it can pay off over time (like, in a year or two.)

You can read here how Robert built a blog in his spare time and sold it for $11,000.

While this particular job isn’t going to earn you immediate income it could definitely pay off down the road if you’re willing to put in the effort.

Read our full guide on How To Start A Personal Blog or Website.

Or, jump into this course to learn how to make money blogging: Earn More Blogging.

7. Search Engine Evaluator

Big search engines like Google and Yahoo hire evaluators to make sure that the search results listed for specific search terms are relevant.

These jobs generally pay $10-$15 per hour and are very flexible. To be considered for a search engine evaluator job you’ll need excellent research and communication skills.

Here are some places you can apply for this type of work:

• UserTesting
  

8. Website Tester

Companies always want to make sure their websites are user friendly and attractive. This is where website usability testers come in.

As a website tester you review a website and (normally) record a video of you using that website along with your audio commentary. If you have good communication skills this could be a perfect fit for you.

There are no set hours with this type of work. If you’re in interested in becoming a usability tester you can sign up with these companies:

• UserTesting – Pays $10 per test.
• UserFeel – Pays $10 per test.
  

(Tests normally take anywhere from 10-25 minutes to complete.)

9. Data Entry Specialist

Data Entry jobs are not the highest paying online jobs but can be a good fit for beginners looking for fairly simple work. As a data entry specialist you take a set of data and organize it or put in a specific program.

You can expect anywhere from $6-$12 per hour for this type of work.

Here are some places to check out:

• Clickworker
• UpWork.com

10. Freelance Researcher

Have you ever had a question that you needed an answer for but didn’t feel like researching yourself? There are now freelance research sites dedicated to answering those questions.

AskWonder is one site I’m familiar with that hires freelance researchers to answer their customers’ questions. The pay varies depending on the complexity of the question being asked.

The top researchers at AskWonder earn up to $35 per hour.

Finding a Flexible Part Time Job that Fits You

There’s an abundance of flexible part time jobs online but it might take a little trial and error to find the one that best suits your skills, schedule and pay requirements.

As you’re looking for jobs be wary of scams. Never pay to get a job unless you’re purchasing required equipment and when in doubt check the company on the Better Business Bureau website.

We also have a list of 100 other flexible jobs here.

Are there any flexible part time jobs you’d add to the list?