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Are you in a bind financially and need to make $500 fast? If you’re in a financial crisis, there are quick and easy ways to earn income rapidly – even within one week’s time span!
Perhaps you can’t think about adding a second job long term, but you have the energy to put in a week of extra hard work. Read the following ways to get a sweet boost in your bank account!
Table of Contents
1. Airbnb Host
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Airbnb Host- Materials You Need: An extra room, an extra home, or an extra RV
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: It depends on how much you charge per day of stay.
If you have an extra room, an extra home, or even an extra RV, you can earn $500 within a week with Airbnb. You get paid within 24 hours of your guest’s check-in time.
The more you are willing to do on your own – such as cleaning services or giving customer service to your renter – the more money you’ll make. Most hosts pay a 3% service fee of the booking subtotal.
When renting out with Airbnb, you are protected with:
- $1M liability insurance if a guest is injured on your property
- $1M damage protection
- Pet damage protection
- Deep cleaning protection
- Income loss protection
Check out RVShare if you have an RV you want to rent out for renters to travel in.
2. Babysit or Senior Care
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Babysit or Senior Care- Materials You Need: Common sense as an adult
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: With the national average at $21 per hour, you should make $500 within 23.8 hours of babysitting.
Though we tend to think of babysitting as a teenager’s job, there are a lot of parents who would pay more to have an adult watch their kids. If you’re an empty nester, you might miss being around children.
The pay is usually immediate. Depending on how much you charge, you could easily make $500 quickly.
Create an account and list yourself on babysitting apps. You’ll also find a plethora of jobs available for senior care as well.
Read 65 Side Hustles for more information about the pros and cons of babysitting.
3. Be an Extra in Movies
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Be an Extra in Movies- Materials You Need: The ability to be on set for many hours without your phone.
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: With the national average at $13 per hour, you should make $500 within 38.4 hours of being on the set.
Perhaps you enjoy being in front of a camera and networking in the film industry. One easy way to make money quickly is to be an extra in movies.
You can take night shifts if you work during the day. I once observed hundreds of extras working on Universal City Walk after dinner as a rock concert audience. They danced and screamed on cue.
Sign yourself up on Extras Access and post a profile picture of yourself; the emails for extra jobs will start flooding your email box.
One of the major complaints of being an extra is that you can’t have your phone on the set because they don’t want pictures or recordings to sneak out, so you do need to come ready to kill time.
Secondly, people complain about having difficulty parking, so getting an app like SpotHero would come in handy. It 1) helps you find the parking garages nearby and 2) compares parking rates for you.
Read 65 Side Hustles for more information.
4. Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
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Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses- Materials You Need: A good credit score, an income, and social security number
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: It depends on the credit cards and how much you spend with those cards.
One of the ways to get cash quickly is to get a credit card that offers a sign up bonus.
For example, with both the Quicksilver Capital One credit card and the Chase Freedom Flex credit card, you can earn $200 bonuses after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account.
That’s an easy $400 after you spend $1000 on living expenses like groceries.
With the Chase Freedom Flex credit card, you also can get 5% cash back on grocery store shopping and earn up to an extra $600 cash back.
You’ll need a decent credit score, an income, and a social security number in order to apply for the cards.
5. Dog Walker or Dog Sitter
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Dog Walker or Dog Sitter- Materials You Need: A love for animals
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: At $20 per 30-minute walk (national average), it would take 12.5 hours of walking.
If you love being around animals, then being a dog walker or a dog sitter would be an easy way for you to make money quickly. Payment is usually immediate.
Sign yourself up on Rover.com. When you meet the owners for an interview, be sure to ask questions about how to best take care of their adorable wheaten terrier Charlie so that they know their beloved pet is in the best of hands.
You can usually charge about $20 per 30-minute walk or up to $25 to $90 per night if you babysit a dog.
Read 65 Side Hustles for more information on dog walking and dog sitting.
6. Uber or Lyft Driver
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Uber or Lyft Driver- Materials You Need: A four-door car (not necessary with Uber rentals), experience driving for one year, some documentation, and you need to meet the minimum age of driving in your city.
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: Some drivers report earning on average $50/hour, so you might be able to make your goal with ten hours of driving.
Being an Uber or Lyft driver is pretty simple if you have a license and one year experience in driving. You’ll also need a four-door car, but it’s not necessary if you rent a car with Uber.
Being a driver is for anyone – people who are free in the evenings or mornings and moms who have time to kill during their daughter’s dance lesson.
Being punctual, clean, and respectful will get you good reviews and tips.
You can earn a signing bonus, as well as double or triple the amount during peak hours in hot spots, and the money is instantly given to you.
Be aware that though it is rare, you might have to deal with stranger danger and the possibility of driving drunks, especially during weekend night hours.
For more information on how to cash in Uber driving, read Drive with Uber.
For an in depth look at a comparison between Uber and Lyft, check out Driving for Lyft vs. Uber.
7. DoorDash, Uber Eats, or GrubHub
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DoorDash, Uber Eats, or GrubHub- Materials You Need: A valid license, auto insurance, social security, consent to a background check, own a car, scooter, or bicycle
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: Though the average is $16.50/hour plus tip, you can earn as much as $50/hour if you maximize on peak times.
If you want to get some quick money, you can deliver food for DoorDash, Grubhub, or Ubereats. You need a valid license, auto insurance, social security, and consent to a background check; you also must own a car, scooter, or bicycle.
You get to work flexible hours and keep movement while working. You can bring along a friend while you drive, and every once in a while, if a customer doesn’t show up, you might end up with free food.
Dashers nationally earn $25 per hour they work, including 100% of their tips. If you maximize on peak pay and busy hours, you can make quite a bit.
Here is a chart comparing the 3 companies:
| Ubereats | Doordash | Grubhub |
|---|---|---|
| More than 6,000 cities | Servicing over 7,000 cities around the world | Over 4,000 cities in the U.S. |
| Must be at least 19 years old
(If delivering by bicycle or foot, then you must be at least 18 years old.) | Must be at least 18 years old | Must be at least 19 years old (or 21 years old in Chicago and Las Vegas) |
| Get paid right away. (Banks can take a few days to process your funds.)
Can cash out up to 5 times a day with Instant Pay | Direct deposit weekly to bank account
Can select Fast Pay to get earnings once per day for small fee With Dasher Direct, get instant deposits for no fee, plus 2% cash back on gas. | Minimum guaranteed rate
Direct deposit every Thursday Instant Cash Out whenever you want |
To read more in-depth information on the requirements and pay of food delivery, read here.
8. Garage Sale
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Garage Sale- Materials You Need: All the items you want to sell
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: It depends on the amount you sell and the amount you sell each item for.
Though the amount you make in a garage sale depends on a lot of variable factors – the value of what you are selling, how many people shop, and the amount you are selling – you might easily be able to make $500 in one sweep.
Tips on how to throw an effective garage sale:
- Clean out your entire closet of things you don’t wear.
- Start your garage sale on Friday.
- Consider having your garage sale the first weekend of the month when paychecks come out.
- Advertise with signs and balloons. Let social media groups, your local paper, and your church know.
- Have cash change on hand for around $100 cash.
- Don’t put price tags on your item; someone else might value your item a lot more and be willing to spend a lot of money for it.
Read 31 Things to Sell to Make Money for more ideas on what you can sell.
For more information on rummage sales, pawn shops, consignment shops, the flea market, and apps to sell your items on, read How to Sell Household Items Quickly.
9. Instacart shopper
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Instacart shopper- Materials You Need: The ability to lift around 40 pounds and you must be at least 18 years of age
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: Depends on how many orders you deliver, tips you receive, and if you deliver during peak hours.
Instacart is an app that connects you to people who need groceries delivered to them. You pick up their groceries for them and can make from $20 – $25 per hour, while letting you keep 100% of the tip.
Your hours can be as flexible as you want.
How much you make per hour depends on the number of items bought, type of items, and distance. In-store shoppers, who don’t drive, are paid with an hourly wage.
Requirements to be an Instacart Shopper:
- Car (You don’t need a car if you only want to prepare orders and not drive.)
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Legal authorization to work in the U.S.
- Ability to lift 40 pounds
- A smartphone that has the Instacart Shopper app
- A background check
10. Rent out a space for storage
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Rent out a space for storage- Materials You Need: Extra space
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: It depends on how quickly you find a renter and how much you charge.
If you would like to maximize the potential income from the space in your home while not dealing with guests, you can rent out your extra space for storage.
With Neighbor, you can list your space for free.
They charge 4.9% + $0.30 for the processing fee in your monthly rental payout, while they also give you $1 million of personal liability protection.
If the renter is late or stops paying, Neighbor will make sure you’re paid up to two months and then help you with next steps.
For more ideas of things you can rent out for pay, read 101 Ways to Make Money Without a Job.
11. Rent out your car
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Rent out your car- Materials You Need: A working car you don’t need to drive
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: It depends on the type of car you are renting out.
One way of passive income would be to sign up your car with Hyrecar. Take a lot of pictures of your car and list it.
Beware because there are possible negatives- your renter might smoke or stack up unpaid tolls and parking tickets.
If your renter decides to let their friend drive your car, there could be trouble. Hyrecar insures the renter but not any friends who might get a free joy ride.
12. Resell Items in Your Home
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Resell Items in Your Home- Materials You Need: Used items
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: It depends on how many items you sell and how much they are worth.
You might be surprised at the thousands of dollars you have within your own home. If they’re just filling your home with clutter and not being useful, you can sell them for some cash in your pocket.
Here are some ways to sell them:
| PRO | CON | |
|---|---|---|
| Declutter
(For electronics, DVDs, video games, books, etc.) | ||
| Amazon Trade-In
(For electronics) | ||
| Facebook Marketplace | ||
| Craigslist | ||
| eBay | ||
| Consignment stores or pawn shops | ||
| Garage Sale (read more above) |
For more in depth information on how to sell a specific item and which website/ selling method is best for your individual item, read 31 Things to Sell To Make Money and 55 Best Things to Buy and Resell.
Here are informative articles on selling the following:
| Electronics | 5 Smart Ways to Sell Used Electronics and Make Quick Cash |
| Books | How to Make Up to $100,000 Selling Books on Amazon FBA |
| Clothes | 17 Places Online Where You Can Sell Clothes for Cash |
| DVDs | The 14 Best Ways to Sell Your Used DVDs |
| Jewelry | 15 Tips on How to Get Rid of Old Jewelry |
| Miscellaneous: gift cards, art, junk mail, old newspapers | 101 Ways to Make Money Without a Job |
13. Work for a Temp Agency
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Work for a Temp Agency- Materials You Need: You will need a resume.
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: It depends on how many days you work and for how much per hour.
One easy way to make extra money is to sign up with a temp agency. Companies have people out due to sickness, maternity leave, or temporary health absences.
Apply at a temp agency and fill out all your capabilities – e.g. if you’re bilingual, if you know how to work certain software, how fast you type, if you’re willing to do manual labor, etc.
They also ask what is the minimum you will work for and also if you’re willing to work night shifts. Answer all the questions honestly because the shifts they give you will be highly dependent upon your answers and capabilities.
The jobs range. Here are some fields they hire for:
- Secretarial work
- Factory work
- Food services
- Cashiers
- Customer service
- Transportation
- Construction
- Copywriters
- Architects
- Lab technicians
- Graphic design
- Engineering
- Manual labor
- Health care
If you do a good job, your job can lead to a permanent position. My husband worked for a temp agency for a while; they hired him out to a bank, and the bank liked him so much that they wanted to hire him full time.
14. Craigslist Gigs
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Craigslist Gigs- Materials You Need: Varies
- How Much Time It Will Take to Make $500: Varies
One place you can look for extra money is on Craigslist for temporary gigs. Search “gigs” on Craigslist in your city and you’ll find a list of quick side jobs you can get.
Here are some jobs they’ll list, which pay as much as $45/hour:
- Dishwasher
- Line cook
- Banquet server
- Busser
- Holiday Lighting Technician
- Promoters at Costco
- Someone who hangs flyers
- Bartenders
- Photo Booth attendant
- Rock Climbing Wall attendant
- Handwriter for marketing cards
- Cleaner for Airbnb
- Movers
- Painters
- Delivery drivers
- Extras
For more ideas for part-time easy gigs, from virtual English teaching to delivering for Amazon, read here.
May You Be $500 Richer!
Whether or not these tips are a temporary fix for your finances or a new regular way to pad your income, I hope to find you $500 richer within a week!
For more excellent quick money-making ideas, read How to Make $400 Fast, How to Make $300 Fast, How to Make $200 Fast, How to Make $100 Fast, and How to Make $50 Fast.
Happy earnings!
Author:
As a homeschooling mother of four, Christine has always had to find creative ways to make her family survive on one income, barring eating potato soup every day. She has learned to not only pounce on killer deals and optimal sales but also works plenty of side gigs to make extra money. Learn more about Christine.
