So you’re looking for ways to make money from home… Join the crowd!
Thanks to a genius invention called the internet, Americans are discovering more and more creative ways to cushion their bank accounts from the comforts of home.
Not sure where to start? Pour yourself a cup of coffee (or glass of wine), and keep reading.
How to Make Money From Home in 2019
If you’re looking to make money online, you’ll need to exercise caution. There are a lot of scams out there, but don’t fret: We’ve tested dozens, if not hundreds, of different money-making strategies and included only our favorites.
Yup — none of them involve Nigerian princes, and you really will get paid.
Without further ado, here are 32 legitimate ways to earn extra cash from home.
1. Play Free Scratch-off Tickets
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
There’s something so satisfying about those gas station scratch-off tickets, but it’s better to avoid them because, well, that’s not Penny Hoarding.
Instead, try scratching for free using an Android app called Lucktastic (Lucktastic Match for iOS). Each day, it releases a new assortment of digital scratch-off tickets. Lucktastic says instant wins range from $1 to $10,000. You can also earn tokens that you can exchange for free gift cards to retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Kohl’s, Sephora and more.
The app is supported by advertising, which allows it to keep the payouts high and the games free. For more info, check out our full review.
2. Get Paid to Watch Videos Online
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Most of you already know about InboxDollars, but did you know that it will pay you to watch movie previews, celebrity videos, the latest news and dozens of other videos? Plus, you’ll get a bonus $5 just for signing up.
You need to watch all of the shows in a specific playlist to earn your bucks, so be prepared. InboxDollars lets you know how long the playlist runs before you start watching, and playlists range from a few minutes to about a half hour.
The availability is subject to change, but it’s possible to earn up to $225 a month watching these videos
3. Earn up to $22/Hour Picking up Milk For Your Neighbors
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
You’ve probably heard you can make money picking up other people’s groceries. But doing your own shopping is stressful enough. You just learned where everything is — now you’re supposed to learn the aisles of a different store?
But an app called Shipt will pay you up to $22 an hour to pick up a few extra groceries while you’re already picking up your own.
We talked to one shopper, Destiny Frith, from Nashville, who says the flexibility and high hourly pay makes this a great way to make extra money.
She takes home close to $600 a week — working completely on her own schedule.
Just sign up online (the application is pretty simple). Once you’re approved, pick which jobs you want to take, and Shipt will send you a prepaid card to buy the groceries and deliver them to customers.
Suddenly grocery shopping isn’t so bad, is it?
4. Get Paid for Your Screen Time
Swagbucks is definitely a reader favorite, probably because of the wide variety of ways to make money beyond taking surveys.
It’s also famous for handing out free rewards points (they’re called SBs) at random just for being a member.
Pro tip: Earn a 500 SB (or $5) bonus when you sign up and earn 2,500 SB within your first 60 days.
You’ll get SBs for each survey you qualify for and complete that you can redeem for cash via Paypal or gift cards to a number of popular retailers, including Amazon.
5. Earn up to $25/Hour Delivering Food
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Cities around the country are filled with two things: incredible restaurants and busy people.
You can help connect them by delivering food through Doordash.
As a “Dasher,” you’ll work as an independent contractor, setting your own hours and working as much or little as you want, meaning how much you can make is up to you.
You’ll earn a $6 fee for each delivery, plus keep 100% of your tips. Depending on the day, you could earn up to $25 an hour. If you drive full time, that’s $1,000 a week!
For a real-life case, Jose Neri, a former Dasher in California, reports earning $500 to $600 a week working just lunches and dinners. They could take about two-and-a-half deliveries an hour, and users would tip between 10% and 15%.
All you need to get started is an insured vehicle or a bicycle and a smartphone. You should be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license.
If you’re interested in becoming a Dasher, you can learn more here.
6. Earn up to $60/Hour Helping Small Business Owners
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Does earning $60 an hour sound appealing? And you don’t even have to leave your house? Oh, and you get to help others.
Those are the perks of working as a bookkeeper, says Ben Robinson, a certified public accountant and business owner who teaches others to become virtual bookkeepers through his online course, Bookkeeper Business Launch.
You don’t have to have a CPA to be successful in this business. In fact, all you really need are decent computer skills and a passion for helping business owners tackle real-world problems.
It’s a great opportunity for moms who want to work part-time, millennials who are just out of college and anyone who wants to bring in real money while working from home.
7. Get Paid When Your Neighbor’s Dog Spends the Night
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
We all want an extra paycheck, but none of us want to get a second job — we’re already exhausted from the first one. Or maybe you’re disabled, retired or a stay-at-home parent who needs a little extra money in the bank. What if there were a way to do that and get your puppy fix at the same time?
Rover is a website that connects neighbors who need a dog sitter with people who love having an extra dog (or two) spend the night.
The average Rover sitter earns $450 a month, but we spoke with stay-at-home mom Bryn Wied, who quickly started earning upwards of $500.
“Within two months, I was turning away business,” says Wied, who dog sits in California. “Within three months, I raised my prices to what everyone else was charging.”
It’ll take a little effort upfront, though (to filter out all the Cruella de Vils). You’ll create a Rover profile where you’ll answer questions about your experience with puppers and set your availability and prices.
Dog owners will reach out to you, and before you know it, you’ll be snuggled up with all the neighborhood dogs — and making extra money.
8. Get Paid for Your Screen Time
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
We’ve all been there. Netflix drones in the background as you scroll Instagram. What are you even doing?
But there are companies that will pay you for all that screen time:
Bread is new on the block, but we like that you can earn up to $450/year on the site. You earn your first $1 just for filling out a profile questionnaire and then you can easily cash out to PayPal once you’ve earned $5.
9. Copy This Strategy to Get Checks in the Mail Totaling $526
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Remember when getting the mail was fun? Now it’s just bills. And Valpak envelopes.
But for Colleen Rice, checking the mail meant finding checks. For doing nothing. Seriously. Since she started using a free website called Rakuten, she’s received $526.44.
Rakuten has the hookup with just about every online store you shop, which means it can give you a kickback every time you buy toilet paper on Amazon — even book that flight home for Thanksgiving.
Rice says she uses Rakuten for things she already has to buy, like rental cars and flights. She even used the money she earned to help her pay for her recent cross-country move.
It takes less than 60 seconds to create a Rakuten account and start shopping. All you need is an email address, then you can immediately start shopping your go-to stores through the site.
Plus, if you use Rakuten to earn money back within the first 90 days of signing up, it’ll give you an extra $10 on the first check it sends you.
Talk about money for nothing.
10.Stop Deleting Your Emails
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
It turns out deleting your emails could be costing you money. Intrigued?
One of our secret weapons is called Paribus — a tool that gets you money back for your online purchases. It’s free to sign up, and once you do, it will scan your email for any receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from one of its monitored retailers, it will track the item’s price and help you get a refund when there’s a price drop.
Disclosure: Paribus compensates us when you sign up using the links we provide.
11. Make up to $100 for Having PsoriasisImage may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Living with psoriasis … psucks.
If you suffer from the uncomfortable autoimmune disease that shows itself in rash-like patches of skin, you no doubt split your time trying to get rid of it and trying to hide it.
We found a way you can get a little payback for your suffering — and help others with the disease — without even leaving your couch.
M3 Global Research is recruiting psoriasis patients to participate in paid online surveys. Surveys take about 20 to 30 minutes to complete, and pay $10 to $100. The company is also recruiting for surveys on several conditions, including diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
After you register and complete your profile, you’ll receive survey invitations tailored to your information. (Don’t worry; you won’t be spammed with irrelevant surveys.)
Just select that you have psoriasis, and you’ll receive market research surveys relevant to living with and treating the condition.
It’s one small reason to be grateful you’re in the elite 2.5% of people afflicted with psoriasis… right?
12. Trade Your Grocery Receipts for Cash
We all want to save money on our groceries. What we don’t want to do is put a ton of work into it.
If this sounds like — someone who just wants to get in and out of the store and save money without doing much thinking — there’s an app we recommend.
It’s called Ibotta, and it pays you cash-back for buying certain items at the grocery store.
Before you shop, search for items on your shopping list within the Ibotta app. When you get home, snap a photo of your receipt and scan the items’ barcodes.
You can list anything in less than a minute. Just snap a photo, set your price and go. Unlike other selling apps, Letgo is totally free and doesn’t charge a commission.
14. Get $5 to Invest in Companies You Care About
It’s no brilliant secret that investing can be a smart way to make money.
Sometimes, though, it feels restricted to a few wealthy elite.
ButStash is different. This app lets you start investing with as little as $5 and for just a $1 monthly fee for balances under $5,000.
Stash curates investments from professional fund managers and investors and lets you choose where to put your money.
But it leaves the complicated investment terms out of it. You just choose from a set of simple portfolios reflecting your beliefs, interests and goals.
Bonus: Right now, The Penny Hoarder is teaming up with Stash to give youan extra $5 after your first investment.
15. Get $5 to Start Saving More Money
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Life starts to feel a bit dull when all your money goes to bills and responsibilities. You intend to treat yourself, but usually, you don’t wind up getting the things you really want, like those music festival tickets you’ve been eyeing for months.
Instead of being consumed by the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle — the one that doesn’t leave much wiggle room — try a better savings method.
You can automate it with Dobot, a free financial app that helps you visualize your goals and makes it easy for you to save for the things that you care about.
Get started by downloading the app, then connect your checking account. The app’s algorithm will analyze your spending patterns to determine small (and safe!) amounts of money to withdraw into a separate, FDIC-insured savings account.
Bonus: Get a free $5 bonus toward your goals once you complete your first transfer.
The purpose is to boost your financial health, so Dobot won’t ever withdraw too much — it ensures you’re left with enough money to meet your spending needs as you save.
Whether you’re saving for a new apartment or growing your emergency fund for the next (unexpected) storm, this automated strategy can get you there at your own pace. To set it up: Add a photo to visualize your goal, give it a name, note the amount you need and the date you need it by.
Enter your phone number to download Dobot for Apple or Android. And just like that, you’re one step closer to saving money to reach your financial goals.
16. Get a $5 Amazon Gift Card For Playing Words With Friends
Get paid to play games on your phone? Yeah, right. We’ve all heard that before.
Here’s what that usually means: Logging dozens of hours on games you’ve never heard of, just for a few cents.
Gee, thanks.
But a free Android app called Mistplay actually pays you for playing popular games like Words With Friends 2, Yahtzee, Clash Royale, Star Wars and more.
As you play, Mistplay rewards you in points, which you can exchange for gift cards for brands like Visa, Amazon and more.
You’ll get 200 points just to sign up, plus an extra 100 points when you enter the code penny100 after sign up. Those easy 300 points are already worth $1, and once you earn $5, you can cash out.
The more you play, the more you’ll earn. Plus, Mistplay offers some bigger in-game rewards — up to $20.
It takes just a few minutes to sign up and start getting paid to play games.
17. Get Paid to Lose Weight
Bottom line: HealthyWage will literally pay you for losing weight.
Not only are you getting more healthy, you’re also making some money. How’s that for motivation?
Define a goal weight and the amount of time you’ll give yourself to achieve it.
Place a bet on yourself ranging from $20 to $500 a month.
Depending on how much you have to lose, how long you give yourself to do it and how much money you put on the table, you could win up to $10,000!
Wondering if it can really work? We talked to one woman, Teresa Suarez, who lost 68 pounds — and made over $2,400.
18. Create an Online Course
You don’t need experience or a degree to make money teaching on Udemy. If people want to learn what you have to teach, you can create a potentially profitable video course at home. Curious? Here’s where you can find out more about how to create a Udemy course.
19. Sell Your Crafts, Vintage Finds and Even Project Supplies
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
If you’re creative, you can make some decent money selling your work through Etsy. Although there are some fees, including a 5% transaction charge, the marketplace connects you with more than 33 million buyers globally.
That’s a whole lot of potential customers.
Pro Tip
Establish a strong brand and backstory. Connecting with customers makes them more likely to spend time on your shop.
Even if you aren’t creating masterpiece paintings or elegant jewelry or adorable baby clothes, you can still make money through the platform. For example, one Penny Hoarder contributor, Janet Berry-Johnson, made about $200 a month selling needlecraft kits and patterns.
Maybe you’re more of a vintage type? Adventure through flea markets and even eBay to find vintage items you can fix up and resell through the platform.
Sure, this is still work — but not really, if you enjoy it!
20. Start a Blog
The startup costs for blogs are minimal: Just secure your domain name and hosting — only $2.95 a month from Bluehost.
You’ll need to write some quality content to get into WordPress (or your blogging platform of choice) and start sharing it through social media. Once you feel comfortable, you can monetize your blog through Google AdSense and affiliate programs for some nice passive income.
Data entry isn’t the best-paying online job, but it is one you can do with few skills or previous experience — all you need is a solid internet connection and a computer, and you must be at least 18 years old.
Pay ranges on a per-hour or per-project basis. Typically, you can pick up jobs as frequently as you’d like through freelance broker sites like Smart Crowd and Clickworker.
20. Get a $5 Amazon Gift Card For Playing Words With Friend
Get paid to play games on your phone? Yeah, right. We’ve all heard that before.
Here’s what that usually means: Logging dozens of hours on games you’ve never heard of, just for a few cents.
Gee, thanks.
But a free Android app called Mistplay actually pays you for playing popular games like Words With Friends 2, Yahtzee, Clash Royale, Star Wars and more.
As you play, Mistplay rewards you in points, which you can exchange for gift cards for brands like Visa, Amazon and more.
You’ll get 200 points just to sign up, plus an extra 100 points when you enter the code penny100 after sign up. Those easy 300 points are already worth $1, and once you earn $5, you can cash out.
The more you play, the more you’ll earn. Plus, Mistplay offers some bigger in-game rewards — up to $20.
It takes just a few minutes to sign up and start getting paid to play games.
23. Write and Sell an Ebook
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
If you’re a subject-matter expert or have an intriguing life experience, you could write a book. But there’s no need to send it off to all the major publishing houses in New York City.
You can self-publish ebooks through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Writer Steve Gillman wrote a book in a week. Note: Ebooks don’t have be hundreds of pages long. Gillman found many books as short as 6,000 words.
After publishing on Amazon, he started making $350 a month. The best part? He continued to make money, even months and years later.
How much you can you make?
How much you make hinges on a number of variables, including how much you list your book for and how many copies sell. For reference, Amazon pays writers up to 70% royalties on ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99.
24. Design PowerPoint Presentations
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
If you have a knack for designing awesome PowerPoint presentations, turn your talent into a money-maker.
Graphic designer Magda Maslowska designs custom presentations and infographics for businesses and keynote speakers who don’t have the time or skills to do it themselves. If you have an eye for great presentations, consider launching a business of your own.
25. Do Calligraphy on the Side
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Maybe you don’t want to be a content writer, but if you have excellent handwriting skills and a set of calligraphy tools, you can address envelopes. You could make $2 to $5 a pop just for being a talented calligraphy writer!
It doesn’t sound like a lot, but book a wedding with 100 guests, and you could rake in $200 or more for handwritten invites.
Launch your own website to sell your services, or offer calligraphy through Etsy. For example, Margo Dittmer gets creative with her calligraphy services and sells custom wedding certificates for $175 each on Etsy.
26. Make Money Doing Voice-Overs
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Janna Polzin, a stay-at-home mom in Toronto, earns money by talking to herself. In her closet.
After her son was born in 2013, this stage actress turned to the online acting community and kept hearing about one voice-acting platform again and again: Voices.com.
“I often walk away from my computer thinking, I can’t believe I just made money from that!” she says.
Voices.com is an international online voice-over acting marketplace that helps vocal talent — both professional and amateur — find clients who need them.
27. Use Your Type-A Skills as a Virtual Assistant
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
If you have a knack for organization and communication, you just might make the perfect virtual assistant.
These days, you don’t have to be the busy corporate assistant you see in old movies or on TV. You can work right from your couch.
Folks will pay you to help schedule their days, answer emails, update their website, run social media accounts and book travel accommodations — all from the comfort of yourcouch.
Have old college textbooks taking up valuable shelf space? You could host a garage sale or sell them on eBay or Craigslist, but one of the easiest ways to get rid of them is through Amazon.
With Amazon Trade-In, you can trade in your used textbooks, plus other items, like electronics, in exchange for an Amazon gift card.
Just enter the item’s information on Amazon’s Trade-In page to see how much you could pocket. Shipping is free.
29. Help Make the Internet Better as a User-Tester
Did you know you can get paid to poke around on websites and test out apps? It’s called user testing.
Basically, companies will pay regular folks like us to offer feedback on websites and apps. How’s the design? Can you find your way around? Have questions that aren’t answered?
You can make up to $60 per test through sites like UserTesting. The best part? You don’t need any user-testing experience — just a solid internet connection.
30. Become a Freelancer and Set Your Own Hours
Have you considered freelancing? You can operate as a freelancer in just about any industry — from freelance writing to accounting to design to web development.
If you’re just starting out, consider finding gigs through freelance platforms. This will help you gain experience and connect with clients — without having to put a whole lot of work into marketing your services.
31. Sell Your Photos (Even If You Took Them With Your Phone)
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Fancy yourself a solid amateur photographer? Instead of posting all day, every day, to Instagram, why not turn your work into some extra cash?
Start with a stock photography marketplace like Foap.
Download the Foap app, then upload your photos — even if you took them with your phone. When your photo is purchased, you automatically profit. Because Foap does most of the legwork, you’ll split the profit 50-50.
Want to go even bigger? Upload high-quality images to Shutterstock, one of the more popular stock photography sites. Each time your photo (or video) is sold, you pocket up to 30% of the sale price (while retaining the copyright).
32. Earn $12/Hour Doing Random Google Searches
Search engines (think: Google, Yahoo and Bing) use complicated algorithms to determine the results you see — and they don’t always get it right.
Although these algorithms are “smart,” they’re also prone to errors. Imagine searching for photos of hummingbirds — only for a photo of a seagull to pop up. Or maybe you’re looking for some news on immigration — only to find you’re reading a tabloid site.
That’s where humans can intervene as search engine evaluators. It’s your job to analyze search results and judge them based on quality, relevance and usefulness. And you can earn around $12 an hour or doing so.
32. Tutor Kids From Around the World (From Your Couch)
Did you know you can make money tutoring online?
There are several online-learning platforms focused on teaching English as a second language to students in other countries. For example, Angela Brumbaugh is a QKids teacher. She teaches 36 half-hour sessions a week and makes up to $20 an hour through the platform.
Then there’s VIPKID, another online tutoring site. Jennifer Ross works part time for the company, and at $22 an hour, she brings home more than $520 a week.
Our Favorite Work-From-Home Advice
Making money from home sounds all glitz and glam — and it can be, in a sweatpants kind of way. But there are also things you need to know before fully diving in. Here are a few resources to help you get started:
Listen: There are a lot of work-from-home scams out there, so be sure to use your best judgement. We shared exactly how we vet the work-from-home jobs we write about — so you can do it on your own, too.
If you’re looking to settle into a full-time work-from-home job, you’ll want to stock your home office with the essentials. Trust us when we say: Working from a couch all day isn’t good for your posture!
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
