The 21 Best Hobbies That Make Money

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Wouldn’t it be great to get paid to do something you already enjoy doing? There are lots of hobbies that make money.

The best hobbies that make money

Who knows, you might already be doing some of these hobbies – you just need to know how to monetize them.

Here are some money making hobbies and how you can turn those hobbies into cash:

Blogging

Creating your own blog is a way for you to express yourself and your ideas. You can write what you are passionate about and help others at the same time. And if you are able to generate income out of it, even better!

I started my first blog seven years ago as a fun way to share fun crafts and recipes I was making and flash forward I now run two blogs and make a full-time income doing it!

Starting is relatively inexpensive. All you really need to get started is web hosting. Then you can use a free theme like this one and this page builder to create your site and then you can start writing.

To accelerate your blogging growth I would recommend you check out some of these free blogging courses.  

If you aren’t tech savvy don’t worry – in the last few years, there have been a ton of tools released to make it super easy for you to get started.

The host that I recommend will even set up your site for you if you message their customer service team or if you are feeling confident follow along with this tutorial on how to start your blog.

When I talk about making money blogging one of the first questions I get is how do you make money with a blog? There are lots of ways!

You will also be able to monetize your blog through ads, affiliate links, and other sponsorships. Your blog also acts as an online portfolio so if you want to offer services it is a great place to direct future clients.

Starting a blog is my favorite hobby to make money online.

Proofreading

We all have that friend that is always pointing out our grammatical errors (I’m looking at you, Jessica). If you happen to be that friend you may be excited to learn that you can turn that skill into an income!

As a proofreader, you will read articles, blog posts, books, papers and then check for grammatical and spelling errors.

This is a super flexible job and you can work at home any time you prefer and anywhere you want to.

You can proofread part-time, or you can even make it a full-time gig, which some people do.

There’s also a lot of proofreading work that you can find online and that need will always be there so you won’t run out of opportunities.

If you are interested in becoming a proofreader I would check out this free webinar to get started.

Surveys

Surveys are one of the easiest hobbies to make money.

If you like to give out your opinions on different topics, taking paid surveys is one activity you can try out during your free time. You can literally take paid surveys while waiting in line or even watching TV.

Most surveys won’t take much of your time and on average take about 10 to 15 minutes.

After you have earned enough points, you can either get paid cash through PayPal or get gift cards in return.

Taking surveys can also be fun especially if the topics are interesting or something that you have a passion for.

You can sign up with more than one survey company in order to have more opportunities for qualifying for a survey and completing them. 

The key is to go for the legit companies to make sure that you are not wasting time and that you will be compensated fairly. In a month, you could earn around $100-$600 by taking paid surveys and voicing out your opinions.

Related: The Best Surveys For Money That Pay Via PayPal

Fitness (Healthy Wage)

HealthyWage is a health and fitness company that has a bunch of fitness and weight loss challenges that you can participate in and earn cash when you succeed. This is a great way for you to stay motivated and reach your fitness goals, and get rewarded at the same time.

There are tasks like personal weight loss challenges as well as team weight loss challenges.

When you register, you will then have video recorded weigh in. There is a HealthyWage Prize Calculator that you can use to determine how much money you can win in a month.

You can key in your weight goal, your bet, and how long it will take you to reach this goal. There are weekly weigh-ins as well. By the end of the challenge, there is also a video recorded weigh in. Once you have reached your goal, you can get your prize.

You can get your friends and family involved too, the more the merrier! The prize money can reach up to $10,000, which is a big enough prize to motivate just about anyone. If you just love exercising and working on your fitness, you will definitely enjoy this.

You can read our full HealthyWage Review here. 

Dog Walking (Rover)

If you are a dog lover, then this may be a dream job for you. You get to spend time with dogs and play with them all while getting paid!

Rover is a site that connects dog walkers with clients or customers around the same area. Rover also allows you to set your own schedule and prices so you get that flexibility.

Aside from dog walking services, you can also provide other pet care services, depending on what you want. You can also set up your pet preferences like size, age, etc.

A 30-minute walk could earn you around $10 – $30. This can add up fast if you take multiple walks per day.

For having fun with man’s best friend, you can earn up to $1,000 a month, which is not bad at all. You can get paid around two days after you have finished a service.

Driving for Lyft

I personally hate driving, but my husband loves it. If he is stressed he goes on a drive to unwind. If you like driving and meeting new people you can drive for Lyft and make money at the same time.

What’s great is that you can pick your own schedule so if you are free at certain times of the day, then you can use the app and drive around for Lyft.

There are also sign up bonuses you can earn like $300 once you reach 100 rides in 30 days.

Create a Shopify store – Dropshipping

If you enjoy making clothes or want to sell different items, you can create your own Shopify store. You can also do a dropshipping method where you purchase the item directly from the manufacturer when your customer orders and the manufacture ships straight from their warehouse. This is great because you don’t have to carry any inventory.

Create an online course

Knowledge is valuable and a lot of people will pay to learn a new skill. The online course industry has rapidly exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry.

If you are an expert at a certain subject you can create your own online course and profit from it as well. You can teach on literally any topic. For example, this course creator teaches new moms how to properly breastfeed.

My favorite online course platform is Teachable. They have a free plan you can use when you are getting started (that’s what I did!) and you can upgrade to one of their pro plans in the future if you want to add on more features!

Thinkific is another online course platform if you want to compare the two options.

Photography

Photography is another hobby that you can use to get a good income from. You can use your skills to photograph weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, family photo shoots, and many other events.

Aside from events, you can sell your photos as stock images and get paid a good amount for them. If you have a good camera and some editing software, you can definitely make a lot for your photos since there is always a demand for them.

Sell on Etsy

There are lots of items you can sell on Etsy. It’s one of the biggest platforms out there for you to sell unique, handmade or vintage items. Most commonly you would find jewelry, clothing, bags, home decor, furniture, toys, craft supplies, and many more.

Etsy is an e-commerce website that you can use to make the most out of your creativity and artworks. You can also use Etsy to increase your exposure so that you can sell to more people (apart from relying on just your website for example).

Amazon FBA

Fulfillment by Amazon is a service offered by Amazon that will store the items that you have in what they call “fulfillment centers”. Once your item is sold, they will then pick it up, pack it, and then ship it. Amazon even takes care of all the customer service aspects of the whole selling process.

This great free course from the Selling Family teaches how to start selling on Amazon FBA.

Fashion (Stella & Dot)

For fashionista mommas out there, you can make the most out of your creativity and passion for fashion when you become an independent stylist for a company like Stella & Dot for example.

You don’t need to have any experience in the fashion industry at all, as long as you love anything and everything related to fashion and accessories. As an independent stylist, you will be selling Stella & Dot’s jewelry and other accessories online and earn a commission.

You can also join trunk shows in order to increase your sales potential. You would be required to invest in a starter kit that costs $199 so that you’ll be able to start your journey and become profitable.

DoorDash

DoorDash is a food delivery service. You deliver food to customers from all kinds of restaurants. If you love food, this is also a good opportunity for you to check out new food places and explore food selections.

Once you’ve submitted the application then you need to install the app on your phone and then you can start taking orders.

What’s great about this service is that you can also choose what schedule you would want to be delivering or taking the orders. This makes it flexible for you to do if you have another full-time job and just want to do DoorDash as a side hustle.

There is is a minimum of $10 an hour that you can earn while some drivers say that they can earn up to $25 an hour. There is also an opportunity for you to earn tips, which is always a plus.

Flipping items

If shopping and finding deals is one of your hobbies, then flipping items can be a great option for you to generate money out of doing what you love. You can check out garage sales, clearance warehouses, and thrift stores to find gently used clothing, accessories, and other items that you can “flip” or resell for a profit.

Other profitable items that you can try to flip are appliances, furniture, musical instruments, vehicles, and high end/ vintage electronics. You can resell your items in places like eBay, Poshmark, Craigslist, or ThredUp.  

Make sure you buy good quality items of good value that have no stains, tears, or anything like that so that you can sell them for more than what you bought them for. You can also watch out for items that still have the tags attached to them.

If you have a good eye for things and enjoy searching/shopping for different valuable items, you can make use of this in order to earn a profit.

My friends from Flea Market Flippers have a great free workshop that will help you figure out if becoming a reseller is a good fit for you.

Social Media Management

Social media is something we all do nowadays, in one form or another. If you love spending time on social media, then doing some work that revolves around it could be a great way for you to earn some money while doing what you already do every day anyway.

Some companies would hire freelancers to take care of their social media accounts either as a part-time job or a full time one. You will be in charge of managing their accounts, engaging with the audience, writing posts, commenting, and other tasks that involve social media management.

This post about becoming a virtual assistant is a great place to start!

Podcasting

If there is a topic or a subject that you can’t get enough of, you can start a podcast about it and share your opinions about it to other people. It’s another way you can share this information without writing, but rather through talking and communicating in a verbal way what you think.

There are also lots of topics you can talk about so options are out there for you. You can make money with your podcast through affiliates, sponsorships, or when you sell a product or service with your podcasts.

You can develop a good audience base that you might use later on if you want to grow or evolve your business.

Graphic Design

Companies like CafePress, DesignCrowd, Fiverr, Crowdspring or 99 Designs help you connect with customers that need graphic designs for shirts, logos, websites, gifts, book covers, and others.

If you have a talent for creating images, designs, and art, you can try becoming a graphic designer. There are lots of companies out there that need graphic designs for their marketing campaigns and they would also pay well for your services.

It’s an in-demand job right now but you will also have lots of competition so the more experience you have, the more you can fully take advantage of it and also improve your skills.

This free design course can help teach you the basics.

YouTube tutorials/ videos

YouTube is one of the most famous platforms out there for people who like to watch videos or even learn different things by watching videos. If you like being in front of the camera and also like to talk and share information, you can create YouTube tutorials and videos and get views to earn money.

Being a YouTuber, you can also get money from ads, sponsorships, endorsements, and others.

Conclusion: Profitable Hobby Ideas

There are tons of ways you can turn your hobbies into cash. Because you already love doing these activities, you can be sure that you are enjoying the tasks that help you earn money at the same time.

What hobbies do you have that help make you money?