If you’re anything like me, you’re super tired of sifting through endless articles promising easy money, only to find empty promises and shady schemes.
That’s why in this post, I’ve documented the real deal – high paying, low stress side jobs that actually put money in your pocket. We’re talking over $1,000 a week!
As someone who restores cars for a hobby (this gets expensive real quick!), I’ve done the legwork to bring you tried and tested methods backed by real success stories, including ones I’ve done.
From freelance gigs to innovative ventures, I’ll show you how real people are turning their ideas into profit. Let’s dive right in.
High Paying, Low Stress Side Jobs to Make $3,000+ a Month
1) Social Media Management OR Social Media Education
If you know your way around the main social media platforms, you can easily pull in well over $1,000 a week, either by offering social media management packages or education and training courses.
Small businesses just can’t keep up with all the algorithm updates AND content creation AND running the day to day aspects of their business.
That’s where a social media manager comes in.
If you opt for the management route, you’ll be physically managing the client’s social media handles yourself;
- You’ll be taking care of the posting
- Making the content
- As well as the overall social media plan for the months ahead
Whilst that might sound like a lot of work, your hourly rate easily compensates for it; anywhere between $100 to $250 is pretty normal in this field!
Or opt for a retainer route and charge by the month based on what you create.
Related: How to Make Serious Money on Youtube [7 Tried and Tested Ideas]
Don’t want to be that hands-on? Go for the course and education route instead.
If you’ve recently built a following on Insta, Tiktok, Youtube, Twitter or a similar platform, bundle your knowledge into a course and sell it more passively.
And the best part? You don’t need a huge following base to make insane money either.
With as little as 1,000 high quality, niched followers who regularly engage with your content, you can expect to make around $800-$3,000 a week depending on your prices.
Real success stories:
- Alex Manderstram – made 6 figures in 6 months whilst working full time, now has quit her corporate job to go full time
2) Fitness Instructor
The number of fitness classes and programs I’ve paid for over the past year alone is insane!
Everything from aerial yoga to pilates to getting the correct running form to callisthenics to weight training to crossfit, I, like many others, trust online creators to achieve specific fitness goals.
Some programs were well over $250, you’d only need to sell one a day to make an insane $7,500 a month!
By 2028 alone, the fitness industry is going to be worth a whopping $132 billion according to Run Repeat.
If you love fitness and can teach an element of it, why not snag a piece of that pie and create your own fitness empire on the side?
Either launch as a personal brand using your name or go the branded route if you have a specific company name in mind and get started on social.
Real Success Stories:
- Squat University – Makes between $1.5-$3.5 million a year
- Move with Nicole – Makes $13,000 a month
- Blogilates – Makes $20-$45,000 a month
Related: Hobbies that make money – build your 6 figure business
3) Delivery Driver
You might be surprised to learn that delivery drivers earn way more than you think, with top drivers pulling in anywhere between $1500-$1800 (£1200-£1500) a week!
Small side note though, this isn’t typically in the gig economy driving e.g. with places like UberEats, Doordash etc.
Food delivery drivers usually only make between $15-$20 an hour if they’re lucky after the company takes their cut and the government takes their share of taxes.
If you’re truly serious about making money with this side job, you’ll want to look at either becoming:
- A courier delivery driver (e.g. for package-based companies)
- A specialized delivery driver (e.g. such as food delivery for high-end restaurants or same-day delivery for retail businesses)
- Or an owner-operator independent delivery driver (e.g you become a part-time but fully self-employed independent contractor who takes on retail jobs)
Depending on the company you work for, courier delivery drivers can make between $40-$60 an hour!
UPS is apparently one of the best courier companies to work for right now.
They’ve just negotiated a worker’s rights deal meaning the average full-time driver will earn about $170,000 (£135,000) annually, including healthcare and other benefits, by the end of a five-year contract.
Right now, with 6 months of commercial driving experience, you could enter on the $42,000 scale. Great if you’re looking for a more long-term way to make money on the side.
Related: Best $30+/Hour Jobs that Don’t Need College Education!
4) Copywriting or Freelance Writing
There’s no doubt about it, freelance copywriting or any kind of writing for that matter is a skill that takes time to hone, but guess what? It’s SO worth it.
No matter what a company or small business puts out into the world, it requires words, and not just any words, but words that convince, persuade and sell.That’s where you come in.
Good freelance copywriters can rake in an incredible $1500-$4000 a week when working with the right clients.
With the rise of AI, people are seeking authentic, clear writing that’s informative and still sounds human, now more than ever.
I’ve written an entire post on where to find the best high-paying freelance writing gigs (as well as their average rates and how to secure them). Be sure to check it out!
If you’re new to writing, I highly recommend checking out a copywriting course online to get started.
You don’t need to plough hundreds or even thousands of dollars into the top ones right away, some of the cheaper ones are still packed with value.
I’ve also written a super in-depth blog post on how I became a freelance writer without any experience, including how I snagged my first clients and made $6,000+ a month in just a few months.
Real Success Stories:
- Laura Belgray, Owner of Talking Shrimp – Her 1 person business makes $1 million a year, offering Instagram copywriting and website services. That’s $1,450/hour by the way!
5) Personal Chef, Meal Prep Service or Treats Creation Boxes
Okay so you don’t need to be the next Gordon Ramsey to make this 6 figure business idea work.
With a little bit of prep know-how, a small portfolio (if you’re looking to be a personal chef), and a social media page, you can easily make $2000-$5000 a week!
Whether you offer a tailored nutrition meal prep service for fitness enthusiasts training for their next big marathon or a busy parent seeking to lose a bit of weight or an entrepreneur who just doesn’t have the time to cook from scratch, you could very quickly have a side job that turns over close to or more than $10,000 a month.
I also love the idea of treat boxes too! I’ve seen these do SO well on Tiktok and Instagram, especially on live.
I saw one woman make on tiktok that went viral and she ended up selling over $4,000 worth of doughnuts literally overnight!
With a little bit of creativity, truly anything is possible with the power of social media on your side.
Real Success Stories:
- Healthy Chew – Makes $220k/year, offering meal prep advice and plans to busy moms
- Prep Kitchen – Makes $150k/year
- MealPro – Makes $430k/year, after recently expanding into a 3 man team
6) Pet Sitting, Dog Walking or Doggy Day Care
Love pets? The pet sitting and care industry was worth a staggering $232 billion in 2023 alone. You only need to tap into a tiny portion of that market to make incredible money.
If you have a bit more space to work with e.g. a large garden, with the right permits you could even run a doggy day care business.
Most people charge on a half-day or full-day basis making it an easy way to calculate exactly how much you’re going to make every week.
On the bottom end of the scale, someone taking it seriously by working 15-20 hours a week, could expect to make an additional $45,000 a year.
If you became good at it and built a roster of regular clients, you can expect to make around $77,000 for the same amount of hours.
Real Success Stories:
- Happy Doggy DayCare – Makes $170k/year
- Camp Bow Wow – Makes $1.2 million/year
Related: How to Start a Successful Dog Treat Business From Home ($4,000+ a Month Idea!)
7) Online Tutoring
You’ve likely already heard of the English tutoring services such as Magic Ears and QKids, but what most blogs don’t tell you is that some of these sites treat you, the teacher quite poorly.
There are a ton of fees no-one tells you about;
- Everything from if the child doesn’t like the lesson you get docked pay
- If the child doesn’t turn up, you get a penalty
- If the parents don’t like you either, you just don’t get paid for the lesson even if you’ve already delivered it!
The best way to make money tutoring is either by working with a reputable tutoring company i.e. VIPKid AND/OR building your own personal brand by using social media or Youtube and offering your own private services.
Related: How I Make $4,400 a Month as a VIPKid Tutor (A Real Deep Dive Review!)
With VIPKid, the average tutor pulls in an extra $2,000 a month, working with 25 minute classes – bonus – the lessons are pre-made so no lesson planning!
Related: The Best Jobs for Introverts to Feel the Most Fulfilled
8) Virtual or Executive Assistant
Virtual assistants are plastered everywhere in these typical make money posts, but what most don’t tell you is that real virtual assistants can make a very generous 6 figure income annually, even if they work on the side.
Some have even made their fortune working nights, and then go onto to quit their day job.
Related: Where to Find High Paying Virtual Assistant Clients (Even as a Beginner!)
You might want to invest in a basic virtual assistant course to make sure you have the knowledge to complete the required tasks for someone.
This also lets you see which areas of knowledge you might need to brush up on to become successful.
On the very bottom end of the scale, the average virtual assistant earns $35,000 a year, with the top end being closer to the $84,000 mark.
Related: How I Made $10,000 a Month as a Virtual Assistant Working From Home (Real Success Story)
Real Success Stories:
- The Techie Mentor – Makes $650k/year
- Desire to Done – Makes $150k/year
- Jemma, The Virtual Assistant – Made 10k/month after just 6 months
9) Online Coaching
Coaching might seem like it’s too saturated, but if you’re good at what you do and you can get people results, no field is ever too saturated!
Successful online coaches can earn anywhere from a few thousand dollars per month to a mega six or seven figures per year!
The most profitable niches to enter into as an online coach include:
- Business and Entrepreneurship Coaching
- Career Coaching and Professional Development
- Health and Wellness Coaching (e.g., fitness, nutrition, weight loss)
- Life Coaching/Personal Development
- Relationship and Dating Coaching
- Finance/Wealth Management Coaching
- Executive Coaching
- Mindset/Performance Coaching
Related: 30+ Small Business Ideas to Become Your Own Boss (Lucrative Ideas List!)
Real Success Stories:
- Nick Hatter, Life Coach – Makes $320k/year
- Samantha Mendelez, Life Coach – Makes $430k/year
- Katie Bressack, Hormone Health Coach – Makes $160k/year
10) Graphic Design
Making money as a graphic designer is easier than most credit online, especially if you work for a niche that is a little tech-shy e.g. segments of the small business industry.
In case you’re not sure what it is, graphic design involves leveraging your creative skills to provide visual solutions for clients, businesses, or projects.
Think banners, social media posts, advertising brochures, 3d mock-ups, logos, brand elements etc.
Highly recommend taking a course in graphic design if you’re newer to this!
And you don’t have to go full self-employed straight away either; many newbie graphic designers build up a portfolio on Fiverr first before launching their own private studio.
Despite what many think, Fiverr isn’t always a race to the bottom either.
Many creators charge top money, and if you consistently get good reviews and publish a portfolio on their website, Fiverr actively will promote you and specifically feature YOU over everyone else (even if they’re considerably cheaper).
Remember, it costs Fiverr time and money too if a seller doesn’t deliver on the work, or doesn’t do it to a high standard in the form of a dispute – so they’ll try to promote the best sellers first.
Related: 17 Easy ways to Make Money Using Canva ($5,000+ Ideas)
Real Success Stories:
- Chris Olson – Makes $120k/ year on Fiverr
- Nicole Elmore – Makes 68k/year on Fiverr
11) Consulting
I’ve left consulting to the end, purely because out of all of the ideas, it requires the most experience.
You can’t really consult unless you’ve already done the thing you’re consulting on, so you’ll typically need at least 1-3 years of experience in the field, BUT if you’ve come from a corporate or skills-based background and are looking for a way to get back into work, then you can easily leverage your existing skills to pull in anywhere between $80,000-$600,000 a year!
The average consult makes roughly $130,000 a year according to Statista.
The most profitable consulting niches are:
- Management
- Financial Services
- Technological Infrastructure/Services
- Health
- Environmental
- Marketing
- Education
- Supply Chain,
- Legal
- Executive
- Human Resources Consulting
Real Success Stories:
- Tracie Forbes – Makes $140k/year
- Dr.Megan Rossi – Makes $720k/year