Sometimes unexpected expenses come up and you have to find ways to make money fast. Maybe you have an unexpected home repair, something broke on your car, you forgot about a bill, or something else.

Perhaps you need to learn how to make extra money in the next 24 hours or by the end of the week.

No matter how small your timeframe is, there’s probably something you can do to quickly earn at least a little bit of money.

While I think that everyone should have a 3 to 6 month emergency fund, there are still times when you need to find ways to make quick cash.

After all, things come up and sometimes you may not have the cash on hand that you need. Or, maybe you just don’t want to dip into your savings and would like to learn how to make money fast instead.

Whatever your reasoning is, there are plenty of ways to make money fast.

See below on how you can earn some quick cash.

Related articles:

• 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
• How To Make a $100 a Day | 25+ Ways to Make Money Fast
• 10 Ways To Make Money Online From The Comfort of Your Home

1. Find random Craigslist jobs for quick ways to make money

Craigslist is a great place to go if you are wanting to learn how to make money fast. There are many, many random one-time jobs that you can find on your local Craigslist.

One great thing about these jobs is that you usually get paid before or right after you complete the work, which means that you can get paid the same day!

To find random gigs in your area, just go to Craigslist and look for the “gigs” section.

Here are some jobs I found through a quick search:

• Sign holder
• Event worker
• Quilt repairer
• Mover
• Handyman
• Motorhome transporter
• Movie extra

2. Rent out a room in your home

Renting out a room in your house will not make you rich, but it’s one of the many ways you can learn how to make money fast. I know a few people renting out rooms in their home and they have been able to completely pay off their mortgage due to this.

If you are interested in renting out a spare room on a short-term basis (such as for vacations), I highly recommend you check out Airbnb. I know people who are making thousands of dollars a month by renting out rooms on this site!

There are many places where you can advertise your rental. You can put a sign on your front lawn, advertise in a newspaper, or place an online ad on a website like Craigslist.

Everyone and everything is online now, and this makes it so much easier when you are trying to find out how to make money fast. This means posting your ad online will most likely be your best choice, especially as it would get someone renting from you quickly.

Always be honest with what you put in your advertisement. You should be honest about how big the room is, what rooms come with the agreement, if there is a separate entrance, and more. Also, be sure to include pictures of what is included. 

3. Answer surveys online

This one won’t earn you actual cash overnight, but you can start now and receive your first check or payment within a month.

Survey companies I recommend include Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, VIP Voice, ProOpinion, Pinecone Research, Opinion Outpost, Survey Spot, and Harris Poll Online.

These online survey companies are free to join and free to use! You get paid to answer surveys and to test products. It’s best to sign up for as many as you can, as that way you can receive the most surveys and make the most money.

4. Walk dogs and/or pet sit as one of the ways to make money fast

If you love animals, then you may want to consider walking dogs or pet sitting if you are wondering how to make money fast.

This side job may have you going over to your client’s home to check in a few times a day, you may be staying at their house, or the animals may be staying with you.

For dog boarding, you may be able to make around $25 and up per day for watching someone’s dog or other pet in your home. This is a great service to offer, and if you love animals (which you should if you are going to do this) then it could be fun as well!

Rover is a great company that you can sign up with in order to become a dog walker and pet sitter.

5. Sell stuff from around your home

Whenever someone is trying to figure out how to make money fast, I always think of selling things from around your home as the first option.

The average person has a lot of extra stuff in their life. Too many clothes, old electronics that have been tossed to the side (such as old cell phones!), appliances that have been replaced, books that will never be read again, useless furniture, gift cards that will never be used, and more.

If you’re trying to learn how to make money fast, there are many items around your home that you may be able to sell.

I’ve heard all the excuses for why a person doesn’t want to try selling their stuff, like:

• But, no one will pay for my junk.
• That item isn’t worth it.
• It’s so much easier just to throw it away.
• I would look stupid if a thrift store says no to everything I am trying to sell to them.
• I don’t have anything to sell!

Stop with the excuses!

If you are really wanting to figure out how to make money fast, you will be able to find something to sell. You might not realize it now, but you probably have a lot of stuff sitting around to sell. And, there are many ways you can sell your things, including:

• Thrift stores– Thrift stores may pay on consignment, cash on the spot, or store credit. Taking your stuff to a thrift store will probably be the fastest way to sell things as they will be able to pay you cash right away for whatever they can sell.
• eBay– eBay is an online marketplace that can be a great way to reach a larger market for all sorts of things, like clothing, electronics, collectibles, etc.
• Craigslist– Selling on this free site can be one of the easiest ways to make money fast, but be safe and don’t fall for any Craigslist scams.
• Garage/yard sale– This can be an easy way to sell many things at once, plus you can do it all from your home. A downside is that the pay is usually lower.
• Facebook– There are specific groups on Facebook dedicated to selling items to people in the same city as you.

6. Babysit and/or nanny for families

Parents are almost always looking for good babysitters, and they are willing to pay well for a night out.

Websites like Care.com and SitterCity.com allow you to advertise your services while letting you see if there is anyone in your area needing your services. This means that you may be able to find a one-time job or even a permanent babysitting gig just by searching online. 

This is one of the things I did when trying to find ways of how to make money fast. I actually started when I was just 14 and I was making $10 an hour babysitting for a neighbor. I babysat 40 hours a week and it was a great way to make extra money! And, I found this babysitting gig by just looking at the bulletin board in my neighborhood.

If you have any special skills or provide extra work, such as cleaning up around the house, teaching the child how to speak another language, tutoring, picking up the child from activities, and so on, you will most likely be able to charge more than $10 an hour too.

7. Help move furniture

Moving is a task that most people dislike, but if you’re up for some physical activity, then it’s one of the many things you can think about when you are trying to find how to make money fast.

Movers can earn a broad range when it comes to hourly pay, but it’s usually somewhere around $50 an hour if you run your own business.

To find moving gigs so that you can learn how to make money fast, you may be able to simply post an advertisement on Craigslist, place flyers around town, or offer your services to anyone you know that might be moving. Many people find movers at the last moment, so you may be able to find a quick job quite easily.

By just searching Craigslist, I was able to find several people who needed help moving, as you can see in the screenshot above.

8. Mystery shop

Mystery shopping can be one of the more fun ways to learn how to make money fast while also getting paid to eat at restaurants or to go shopping.

While you won’t make your money back right away in most cases, you can sign up for mystery shopping companies today and get your first mystery shop done fairly quickly.

Some don’t require you to spend money either, such as if you do a phone call mystery shop where you just have to call a store and pretend to be a customer with questions.

And yes, I used to mystery shop in the past, and I did it quite often!

When my husband and I were in debt I looked into mystery shopping. I tried it out and loved it! It was easy and I made anywhere from $150 to $200 a month mystery shopping and received free meals, makeup, and more. I only used Bestmark for mystery shopping, so I know that they are a 100% legitimate company.

There are other legitimate mystery shopping companies that exist, but you should always do your research.

9. Become an Uber or Lyft driver for fast ways to make money

Spending your spare time driving others around can be a great money maker, and if you are wondering how to make money fast, it might be one of the most interesting ways to do so because you can meet all sorts of people as a driver. 

One of the guys in my neighborhood started using Uber several months ago as a way to bring in extra income for his family. He has a full-time job and family obligations, so he normally makes himself available to drive late on Friday and Saturday nights. With consistency and understanding of the local market, he’s turned it into a tidy little side hustle. Some weekends are a bust for him, but on others, he pulls in as much as $1,000.

Whether Uber (or Lyft) is a good side gig option for you depends a lot on your schedule, where you live, and the vehicle that you drive. However, if you have the right availability and are near a high demand area, it might be a great way to bring in some extra cash on the side. 

10. Maintain and clean yards

Yard maintenance is another one of the ways to make money fast. You can make money by mowing lawns, killing/removing weeds, cleaning gutters, raking leaves, and so on.

While mowing lawns will require you to have a lawn mower of some sort, you could always do something that won’t require much equipment, such as raking leaves.

No one likes to do lawn maintenance. Okay, I guess some people do. But, the majority of people would rather do other things with their time.

Due to this, there are many ways to find yard cleaning jobs. You can:

• Post a Craigslist advertisement announcing your services.
• Search Craigslist gigs, as discussed above, and see if there are any available yard work jobs in your area.
• Post flyers on a local bulletin board.
• Announce your services on social media, such as on your personal Facebook account.
• Go door to door and see if anyone needs any work done.

How can I make money right now?

As you learned from the list above, there are many ways to make money right now.

Simply find one or two, or more, and see which ones interest you the most.

What other ways to make money fast can you think of? What have you done in the past when you needed quick cash? Do you need to learn how to make fast money?

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