Working a 9-5 doesn’t always cut it when it comes to making ends meet. Sometimes you need extra money and you need it right now. Instead of applying to another job that will take weeks to pay you, try out these next few jobs that pay cash on the spot.
Jobs that Pay Cash on the Spot
- Craigslist
- Clean Houses
- Dog Sitter
- Scrap Metal
- Flip Items
- Snow Removal
- Local SEO Services
- Photographer
- Meetup Event Organizer
- Mow the Lawn
- Sell Crafts
- Paint
- Personal Assistant
While these jobs do pay cash, it does not imply that they're under the table jobs. You should still keep a record of the work you do and pay the appropriate tax on the money collected.
Craigslist
Whether you’re looking to make extra cash to pay for bills, or just want to save money for your rainy day fund, then Craigslist is a good place to start. The classified ad website offers some of the best side hustle jobs that can be done in your after hours or on days you’re not working your regular job.
If you don’t mind doing minor labor work or household duties, then the ‘services’ section within Craigslist is a good place to search for jobs that pay cash. There you’ll find some of the most random jobs ranging from quick yard work to help moving heavy boxes.
A few years back when I moved into my Boston high rise apartment, I posted a job to Craigslist for help hanging portraits and frames on the wall. I offered to pay $60 cash for what I thought would be a couple of hours worth of work. It ended up taking the guy 45 minutes to hang all my artwork. He made out pretty well I would say!
Clean Houses
This may not sound like the most glamorous work, but cleaning houses can pay fairly well. According to the home services website Angi, an individual house cleaner can make between $12 – $25 per hour, depending on your experience.
Other things that factor into how much you earn include size of the house and the depth of cleaning to be done. Basic cleaning services such as dusting and tidying up around the house generally will pay less money versus a deep house cleaning.
This is one side job my mom did to supplement her income when she first arrived in the United States. Most of her clients were found through letting her co-workers and friends know that she was available for house cleaning services. This type of word of mouth can quickly bring in plenty of referral clients to book out your entire weekend.
Dog Sitter
It’s estimated that nearly 4 out of 10 households in the U.S. have companion dogs in the home. So there’s a good chance someone in your neighborhood owns dogs and may need dog sitting help at some point or another!
If you’re great with dogs and love spending time with them, then it may be worthwhile to consider becoming a dog sitter in your area. Your neighbors may also be more open to hiring you if they are familiar with seeing you around the area and know you live close by.
If you’re curious to know how much to charge, then one quick hack is to call a few local competitors and pose as a customer to get their rates. Once you have a general idea of how much professional pet sitters charge, you can set your rate slightly lower to get your first few clients.
Post some flyers around your area and get ready to get paid to play with your new furry friends!
Scrap Metal
Scrap Metal for money ranks darn close to the top for best paying jobs that pay cash on the spot. If you have a truck and enjoy going on scavenger hunts, then this could be the side hustle job for you.
Driving around and picking up curbside metals found discarded on the street or from trash bins on collection day, can be a lucrative way to spend your free time.
One good haul of scrap metal to local recycling centers can net you $100 – $500 depending on the metal.
Here are just some examples of scrap metal you can recycle for cash:
- Washers + Dryers
- Old plumbing (drains, faucets, pipes and wiring)
- Refrigerators + Freezers
- Auto Parts
- Aluminum Cans
For current national scrap metal prices, a good resource to check is the iScrap app website.
Flip Items
Have unwanted clothes or random items around the house you no longer use?
There is a way to turn your unwanted items into cold hard cash, and one way is by selling it locally on the Facebook Marketplace. It’s free to sell on Facebook Marketplace and you’ll pay no fees to list items for sale.
Better yet, if you really want to knock it out of the park and make more money, then you can flip clearance bought items for a profit. If you’re a bargain shopper like me, then this is where your savvy shopping skills can really earn you a nice payday!
In my case, I used to rummage through the clearance aisles of Walmart and Target and flip those products on a similar site for extra cash. The same can be done with Facebook Marketplace. You set the price and ask for cash on the spot for the items sold.
Learn How to Build a Profitable Affiliate Website
(Free Step-by-Step Video Tutorials to Making Money with a Blog!)
Snow Removal
Depending on what part of the country you live, this next job may or may not be an option for you. Here in Boston, we get A LOT of snow during the winter. Sometimes it can be a couple of inches, whereas other times the snowfall can be well over a foot!
In those instances, the backbreaking job of shoveling out one’s driveway and sidewalk can be a real pain. That’s typically the time where homeowners are nearly begging for your help, and they are willing to pay a hefty price for it.
My mom is one such person who’s always in need of snow shoveling help for her large driveway and front sidewalk. As an elder woman, it’s not an easy job for her to do on her own.
On those heavy snow days, my mom’s neighbor’s son comes over with the snowblower to help out. Even though he never asks for money, my mom always pays him $50 cash for shoveling her out.
Likewise, there are many elderly and non-elderly people in need of real help when there’s a major snowstorm. Typically, snow removal service jobs can pay anywhere from $30 – $100 per job.
When the next snowstorm hits, walk around your neighborhood with a shovel or snowblower and pick up some jobs for quick on the spot cash!
Local SEO Services
This next job has the potential to pay out handsomely and it only takes about 2 hours to do.
Local small businesses in your area generally lack the know how for properly setting up their Google Business profiles online. These listings are important because it helps small businesses get found by their potential customers. So the increased visibility is really important to help these businesses thrive.
There are a few parts to having an optimized Google Business Profile. But once it’s set up properly, it’s mainly just managing the profile to make sure it stays relevant on Google and that it remains discoverable by customers.
In general, these local SEO jobs can earn you between $200 – $600 per month if you decide to manage the Google Business profile on an on-going basis. Otherwise, you can help a business owner set it up and simply charge a one-time fee for your services.
The best part is that anyone can learn how to do this in one hour with this free Local SEO course. By this evening, you can make your way to your local neighborhood businesses and nab your first client!
Photographer
If your friends are constantly complimenting you on how great you are at taking photos, then this one side hustle job may suit you well!
These days, you don’t need to be a professional photographer in order to make money with pictures. There are plenty of websites that will pay you for your photos, including these next sites below.
- Clickasnap
- Shutterstock
- iStock
- 123RF
- EyeEm
With ClickASnap you’ll get paid just for people viewing your photo, which is pretty impressive. Maybe now’s a good time to download all those beautiful scenery pictures you took during your last vacation and make money with them!
But hey, if you want to get paid right now for your photography skills, then one way to go about it is to join local FB groups and post about your services there.
Meetup Event Organizer
Are you an outgoing social person?
If so, then there’s a good chance you can make a great deal of money by organizing a fun social gathering! The Meetup community building platform is an ideal place to bring a group of people together and earn some money in the process.
One way in which you can generate income is by organizing an event where you charge people a fee to attend. Some people do this by offering beer brewery tours, city walking tours, or teaching an in-person class such as how to make $1,000 online with affiliate marketing.
These events are also a fun way to expand your circle and network with other like minded individuals on something that interests you!
Mow the Lawn
Mowing the lawn is pretty boring, not to mention there are tons of companies out there already offering these services. So how do you stand out from the crowd and book a crap load of lawn mowing jobs that pay cash on the spot?
The answer: You offer lawn mowing design services.
When you acquire grass cutting skills that incorporate learning how to make fancy designs, people will come to YOU begging for your services! And when that’s the case, you’ll have the upper hand for how much to charge for your awesome lawn mowing designs.
It’s free to learn this skill. Simply go to YouTube for lawn cutting tutorials, and start practicing on your lawn or offer your services for free to start!
Sell Crafts
Not too long ago, I mentioned to my friend that I was having a hard time finding the perfect winter hat for my mom. My mom loves her current hat but it’s noticeably worn out and needs to be changed. She’s been looking for a suitable replacement but nothing seems to be the perfect fit to her exact style.
That’s when my friend mentioned that her mom can crochet the perfect winter hat for her. It would be loose enough and to the dimensions and color I specified. It was the ideal situation, plus my friend’s mom would make some cash from it!
I also have another friend who makes personalized glasses, mugs and t-shirts on a Cricut Maker® machine. She does wedding t-shirts, novelty items and gets plenty of orders simply from word-of-mouth.
All of this is to say that money can be made on the spot by offering friends, family, and co-workers handmade arts and crafts. Personalized gifts put a unique touch to gift giving and many people, including myself, buy these types of gifts.
Paint
Many years ago during my senior year of college, I joined an entrepreneurial internship called College Works Painting. The entire premise of the internship was to start and grow a local painting business in a matter of 9 months. I was 20 years old at the time, and I managed to book $68,000 worth of house painting jobs for the summer.
The program showed us the in’s and out’s of how to paint a house, how to hire painters, keep track of expenses, and make a profit. If I could do all this at 20 years old, then you can do this at whatever age you’re at now!
Now you don’t need to book out entire houses to paint. You can simply offer to paint your neighbor’s deck, or maybe the walls inside their living room. That’s some of the simplest things to paint and very easy to learn how to do.
When I booked these painting jobs, I would go to a neighborhood and knock on doors of houses where I noticed peeling paint. I would give the homeowner an estimate on the spot and if they accepted my proposal, then I would come back and paint the area. It worked like a charm!
Personal Assistant
The title ‘Personal Assistant’ sounds super fancy, but it doesn’t need to be that way.
Many families who have small children are crunched for time and can use a helping hand to get things done. This can be tasks such as grabbing the dry cleaning, taking the kids to school, doing grocery shopping, or even helping them book a much needed family vacation!
Similarly, busy entrepreneurs tend to have busy schedules that leave them with little room for taking care of more personal things. These people are prime individuals who look for personal assistants to help them out.
Forums such as Craigslist are just one way to find these individuals. Better yet, attend a few local business networking events and you’re bound to find someone in need of a personal assistant!
Final Thoughts
These top side hustle jobs that pay cash on the spot are a great way to make extra money, especially if you find yourself in a tight spot.
But did you know that there are ways to make free money without having to do any work? I just found out about this money hack earlier this year, and it’s earned me over $1,300 so far in free money this month.
What’s the money hack? It’s signing up for bank bonus offers. If you need money right now, then read my post on how to make free money with SoFi’s sign up bonus offer.
Enjoyed this post? Come back to it later by Pinning the Image Below on Pinterest!
