21 Easy Ways To Make Money at Home (In 2021)
Moms Make Cents Logo
Search
Close this search box.

21 Easy Ways To Make Money at Home (In 2021)

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase.

Are you looking for ways to make money at home?

Whether you’re in a pinch and need extra cash or just saving up for something, a side hustle or two can be a lifesaver.

In fact, you’re not alone in this.

Did you know Google registers around 250 million searches every year from people looking for ways on “how to make money at home”?

So if you want to earn money from home, these suggestions can help.

In this post, you’ll learn how to make money from home. And who knows, you can transition from a side hustle into making it your full-time work.

Table of Contents

Want to know how to make money at home?

For most, making money from home is the dream.

Luckily, there are skills and services that companies want employees or freelancers to work from home, which you can perform within the comfort of your home.

It’s just a matter of knowing where to find these available work from home jobs.

Finding reliable and legitimate work-from-home opportunities isn’t that difficult. If you know where to look for them and if you have the right skills.

You’re probably thinking, “I don’t have any skills pertinent to these online jobs.”

Well, you’ll be surprised to know you have what it takes to perform these tasks. You just need to confident with what you know and be willing to learn and be trained for further enhancement of your skills.

Are these jobs just for stay-at-home moms?

No, they’re not.

These jobs are also perfect for stay-at-home dads, college students, or just about anyone who’s looking to score extra cash on the side. Doing these side hustles can help you make money easily from home.

When working on these stay-at-home jobs, you don’t need special talents. As long as you are passionately curious and willing to learn, you’re all good.

Are these jobs legitimate?

You’ve probably heard horror stories from people who have fallen victim to scams (like stuffing envelopes).

There are “jobs” that charge upfront fees before you can get started. And because the offer is good, a lot of people are lured into paying, only ending in being cheated out of their money.

In this post, I’m going to help you find and secure legitimate work; one that won’t rip you off.

Some of these stay-at-home jobs can help you make a couple hundred bucks every month; others, powerful money-making ventures that you can do on a full-time basis.

Do you want to know how to make money at home?

Being short on cash can be very stressful. Imagine pinching pennies every month to pay the bills. Or worse, racking up debt just to make ends meet.

Most of us can benefit from earning extra cash. Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent or a college student, making money from doing side hustles can improve your financial situation.

And whether you’d like to admit it or not, having a better financial situation can result in improved mental health and emotional well-being.

If you’re struggling with your finances, I have good news for you.

With the rise of the internet comes a lot of legitimate opportunities to earn cash on the side. These jobs don’t require technical skills or knowledge. And there’s potential to earn big money if you devote more time to it,

I’d like to share with you ways to make money from home.

Wondering what to expect from these jobs?

First off, these are legit ways to make money from home. Not a scam or a rip-off.

And they offer flexibility that you need, allowing you to do the work during your free time while still generating a good amount of money.

Depending on your availability, schedule, or needs, here are some of the best and easy ways to make money from home.

Let’s just into the many ways that you can make money from home.

Have you considered doing online surveys?

There are plenty of ways to score extra cash online. And one of the easiest ways on how to make money at home is to do online surveys.

Throughout the years, online survey sites got a bad rep. A lot of them were tagged as scams and will only cheat you of your earnings.

But I did some research and I found several online survey sites that are truly legit and will pay you fair and square.

Although you can’t expect to earn a full-time income with these sites. But the cash will surely come in handy when you’re pinching pennies at crucial times of the month.

If you think about it, doing online surveys won’t take much effort on your part. And definitely, completing these tasks won’t require technical skills or knowledge. You’re literally earning easy money.

Wondering where to find these online surveys for money?

Here are the best sites.

Survey Junkie

If there’s one online survey site that’s highly trusted, it’s Survey Junkie.

What’s great about this website is that it lets you do more than just online surveys. There’s playing online games and watching videos. Plus, you earn a bonus just for signing up.

Here’s what you need to know about Survey Junkie.

It’s been around for years, which is why it’s considered one of the most legitimate online survey sites.

I’d be honest. Survey Junkie is my favorite site. I’ve had a couple of gigs with the company for years.

So how much does this survey site pay?

You can earn between $5 and $25 when you take an online survey.

And if you indicate during your sign-up process that you’d be willing to participate in focus groups, you can potentially earn up. Among other tasks that you can do for more cash include conducting phone interviews or testing out new products.

You can also earn watching videos or playing games. With the videos, you can just play it in the background while you go about with your other tasks. For every game or video you complete, you earn a corresponding amount.

When you have at least $10 in your Survey Junkie account, you may request a payout. Payments may be made through PayPal or you can request to have it in gift cards.

Click here to get started with Survey Junkie.

Swagbucks

Here’s another trustworthy survey site that I love.

With Swagbucks, you can do a lot of things to rack up your Swagbuck points, which you can redeem for cash or gift cards.

In addition to doing online surveys, Swagbucks lets you shop online, play games, and watch videos. The more tasks you complete, the more Swagbucks points you gain, which translates to more cash or gift cards.

At the moment, Swagbucks is only available to residents in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Germany, France, Ireland, Spain, and Canada.

And just like Survey Junkie, you earn bonus Swagbucks points by just signing up.

Once you reach 2,500 Swagbucks points (which is equivalent to $25), you can request for a payout. Cash payments are made through PayPal. You may also opt for gift cards.

If you want to get started, click here to sign up for Swagbucks.

MyPoints

You can earn money doing online shopping, playing games, and watching videos with MyPoints. But the main way to rack up the cash is through online surveys.

Once you have $10 in your MyPoints account, you can request a payout. Payments are made through PayPal.

Get started with MyPoints by clicking here.

Here are other online survey sites that I’d like you to check out.

Ipsos i-Say is a simple and straightforward website. If you stay active and take more surveys, you get more rewards. What’s more, you get to join its sweepstakes that let you in on more opportunities to earn more money and win other prizes.

Vindale Research is an online survey site that’s been around for quite some time now. Apart from surveys, it also offers other ways to earn cash; these include watching videos and reading emails.

Pinecone Research is an exclusive site. You can only join by invitation. Its regular surveys will take you around 15 minutes to complete and pays about $3. However, there are surveys that take longer to finish and pay more.

Opinion Outpost features surveys that generally take around 10 minutes to complete. After signing up, you will receive your assignments via email. This site pays quickly. Plus, it does a quarterly lottery, giving you more chances to earn extra.

MySurvey has an easy-to-use web interface that lets you quickly navigate and take surveys. You can download its app so you can work on its surveys on your phone or tablet while you’re on the go.

Toluna lets you try out a new product and give your feedback to earn extra cash. Other ways to make money on this site include joining polls, playing games, doing fun challenges, and interacting with other members.

Want to earn more doing online surveys?

Maximize your earning potential by signing up with multiple survey sites. Nobody said you’ll have to stick to one site. So might as well join two or more or all of them.

Love to teach? Consider teaching online.

Here’s a quick way to earn thousands of dollars per month. And that’s on top of the income you get from your main or day job (if you have any).

If you are passionate about teaching, then becoming an online teacher might just be a natural progression for you.

Check out these wonderful online teaching sites.

VIPKid

Looking for a great company that pays well for teaching English online?

You’ll love VIPKid. This site is in need of teachers who have the competency and willingness to teach English to kids in China.

VIPKid has all that you need to be able to perform your teaching duties. It has an online portal that connects you with your students. Also, all lessons are prepared by the company, so you don’t have to worry about what to teach.

The best thing about being an online English teacher for VIPKid is that you can choose your work schedule. Most classes are at night, which is perfect because your kids will be asleep and the house is quiet.

With VIPKid, you can earn between $14 and $22 per hour. At this rate, you can potentially earn thousands every month.

To apply as an online English teacher for VIPKid, you need to have a bachelor’s degree. Having some teaching experience is preferred but not required.

If you’d like to learn more about this company, check out my VIPKid review.

QKids

Don’t have a degree yet still interested in teaching English online?

You might want to check out QKids.

Just like VIPKid, you’ll be teaching English to kids in China. The lessons are also prepared so you don’t have to worry about what to teach during your classes.

With QKids, you can earn around $16 to $20 an hour. This site also offers flexibility, allowing you to choose your work schedule.

Did you know you can get paid to exercise?

Are you a health buff?

For fitness geeks, here are awesome apps that can help you earn money from home.

Yes, you read that correctly. These apps will pay you to exercise.

Check out Achievement. It’s a stand-alone fitness tracker that logs your exercise activities and rewards you based on your performance.

Achievement also tracks your diet, weight gains or losses, sleep schedules, and more. You earn corresponding points for every achievement.

When you reach 10,000 points (which is equivalent to $10), you can redeem for rewards.

You might also want to check out these apps that pay you to walk.

SweatCoin gives you the motivation to go out and take a hike. For every 1,000 steps you make, you earn 0.95 SweatCoins, which you can redeem for rewards.

If you’re not keen on walking around the neighborhood, you might be interested in Gigwalk. You can walk to your favorite restaurant or visit shops to earn points. It’s one of the top apps that lets you exercise for cash.

Charity Miles is a wonderful app that lets you donate the money you earned from fitness activities to your favorite charitable organization. You can run, bike, or do your indoor workouts to log in the points for earnings.

With Carrot, you get paid to walk. There are daily and weekly challenges set in the app; if you hit your goals, you earn points.

MapMyFitness is a great fitness app that will motivate you to push harder. You won’t earn cash here, but you can get cool stuff from Under Armour once you hit your goals.

If you like walking and you love dogs, you can earn up to $20 per walk.

With Rover, you get an exercise app and a platform that connects you with dog owners who want their furry pups taken out for a walk.

Interested in becoming a website or app tester?

Did you know you can get paid to test apps and websites?

This is kinda like doing online surveys. Only this time, you’re answering questionnaires in relation to the functionality, usability, and design of websites and apps.

So what does a website or app tester do?

It’s an easy job, actually. You don’t need technical skills or extensive experience to perform the tasks.

The operative word is “testing.” So all you need to do is test a website or app and see if functions as intended or desired.

In some jobs, you will need to voice out your feedback. So you’ll be speaking through a microphone as you test the app or website.

To get started as a website or app tester, you will need a computer that’s connected to the internet. There may be instances where you’ll have to speak through the mic, so you’ll need a microphone; perhaps a webcam too.

However, the key skill required of a website or app tester is having good communication skills. After all, you will need to convey your feedback as you examine the app or website.

Website or app testing isn’t a full-time job nor does it offer a full-time income. But for a two-hour work a day, you can rack up a couple of hundred dollars.

That’s quick and easy money for work that doesn’t entail much effort.

Not bad, ey?

It is possible to earn more doing this line of work. Just sign up for more websites or apps to test.

Wondering where to find these testing gigs?

Swagbucks and Survey Junkie are among my top go-to sites.

There’s also User Testing. It features a practice round so you can learn the ins and outs of the job before getting into your first actual task. Once you pass the trial, you’re up for the paid testing gig.

You should also check out UserFeel. It lets you earn $10 for easy work that only takes about 10 to 20 minutes to complete.

WhatUsersDo is a perfect site for beginners. If you provide value in your reviews and timely submitted your assigned testing tasks, you get to have more assignments every month.

With UTest, you can earn up to $3,000 a month, doing full-time testing. The tasks, however, are a bit technical. You’ll be looking for bugs on software.

Earn good money testing pre-released games and mobile apps with UberTesters. Plus, you can work on your own schedule.

Wondering how to make money at home as a blogger?

You’re probably thinking about how do bloggers make money.

That tiny piece of internet real estate you call your blog may become a potential source of passive income.

I highly recommending reading this how to start a blog guide if you are serious about blogging.

So how to make money at home as a blogger?

There are many ways.

Let’s start with affiliate marketing.

The idea is to refer people to a certain product, service, or brand. So you write about it in your blog and tell your readers why it’s great and they should buy it.

For your efforts, you can earn commissions for every sale made.

Affiliate marketing using your blog is one of the best ways to earn money from home. There’s no need to meet deadlines. You don’t have to answer phone calls or reply to emails.

The potential to earn passive income begins once you have the blog up and your readers can see your affiliate marketing post.

If you’re considering monetizing your blog, you might want to check out these affiliate programs for bloggers. These are top affiliate networks that can help your blog and your income potential grow.

I highly recommend ShareASale. It’s a big network with a wider reach. And it’s friendly and accommodating to new bloggers.

AWIN Global Affiliate Marketing Network is a partner with the leading brands, which include M&S, Trip Advisor, Etsy, AliExpress, Air New Zealand, Disney Movie Club, and Groupon.

With FlexOffers, you get access to highly renowned brands like Macy’s, Sephora, and Lyft.

Of course, the most popular of them all is Amazon Associates. You earn 10 percent in commissions when someone buys the product through your blog.

What’s great about affiliate marketing?

With affiliate marketing, you don’t have to go to the office day in day out to earn money. It pulls you out of the regular 9-to-5 job. You basically own your time, working only on your blog when you feel doing it.

Affiliate marketing is an online business that doesn’t require that much capital to start. You don’t have to come up with your own product or maintain and inventory. You just create a blog and produce targeted content.

Best of all, you earn money even while you sleep. The passive income potential you get from affiliate marketing is limitless. As long as web traffic streams to your blog, you earn money months or years after you’ve done the content.

Is this something you might be interested in doing?

Are you passionate about writing?

There are plenty of job opportunities for a freelance writer.

Online magazines and media publications, social media, even businesses—they all need writers to help produce content online.

So if you have a passion for writing, you might be interested in becoming a freelance writer.

Did you know the top writers earn up to $200,000 a year?

Now, if you have a blog, you can use it as a platform to promote your services as a freelance writer.

To become a freelance writer, you don’t have to be an English major.

As long as you are able to research the topic, write coherently, and convey your thoughts effectively, you’re all good.

You can find writing gigs on Upwork and Fiverr.

Be the unsung hero and become a virtual assistant.

Behind a successful online entrepreneur is a virtual assistant. He or she handles the bulk of the work, taking care of the day-to-day operations of the business.

Would you be interested in becoming a virtual assistant?

As such, you will be doing specific tasks that an assistant would in a regular office setting; only this time, you will be performing your duties “virtually” or from behind the computer within the comfort of your home.

What does a virtual assistant do?

You’ll be handling all the office-related stuff. You’ll schedule meetings, reply to emails, answer calls, and manage the social media accounts.

Virtual assistant duties also include doing bookkeeping or accounting work, handling customer service, and performing other admin tasks. Other virtual assistants also write content and create graphics.

The usual rate for virtual assistants is around $15 an hour. But if you specialize in a particular field, the pay could reach up to $50 per hour.

Do you like to design websites?

Graphic design requires some level of skill. But you don’t need a degree to get started.

A little bit of training and practice will help you be on your way to designing websites. You can also enhance your skills by taking online courses.

Did you know graphic design can be a lucrative venture?

Graphic designers charge around $25 an hour on average. But the highly experienced ones command an hourly rate of up to $300.

Isn’t that cool?

Nowadays, many companies need help from graphic designers especially when it comes to their marketing. So there’s a lot of design gigs to go around.

What’s great about being a freelance graphic designer is that you can choose which projects to take. And it’s all up to you how much to charge per project.

If you want to get your name out there, Fiverr and Upwork are good places to start. Just have your portfolio ready so you have something to present to potential clients.

Want to become an online proofreader or editor?

Whether they are working for themselves or for others, bloggers, writers, and authors need another set of eyes to spot errors in grammar, syntax, punctuation, or spelling.

If you have a good eye for detail, perhaps you’d like to consider becoming a proofreader or editor online.

There are a lot of proofreading courses to help you enhance your skills and improve your command for English grammar.

This free proofreading webinar is a great place to start.

Would you like to work as a transcriptionist?

As a transcriptionist, your job is to listen to audio files and write them down in a text document. So you’ll need to enhance your listening skills as well as your typing abilities. There are a lot of free courses that can help you improve.

Did you know transcriptionists are in high demand nowadays?

You can make good money doing this stuff; you can earn more if you have experience transcribing legal and medical audio files. On average, transcriptionists make around $20 per hour of audio file.

As a freelance transcriptionist, you have discretion on how many audio files to transcribe as well as the length of each one.

What do you need to get started?

All you need is a good computer that’s connected to the internet. For your convenience, you can buy a pedal that controls the audio; it’s worth the cost.

Would you like to explore a career in transcription?

You can check out Transcribe Me to get started on these jobs. It’s one of the top-rated sites for people seeking transcription projects.

Transcribe Me is highly acclaimed for its easy-to-use platform, steady workstream, and above-average payouts. Its top earners can get as high as $2,200 a month.

What’s great about Transcribe Me is that there’s room for career advancement, growing into higher-paying positions and projects. And you gain insights into other industries, particularly in the legal and medical fields.

Want to become a successful transcriptionist?

Build a budding career in transcription by enrolling in courses available in Transcribe Anywhere.

This site helps aspiring transcriptionists through affordable courses and all-inclusive education. You might also want to check out its free mini-courses.

Have you considered doing data entry?

Data entry is one of the best ways on how to make money at home. If you have a computer and a stable internet connection, then you’re good to go.

It’s great work that you can do in your free time. Plus, the pay is good too.

You’re probably wondering what tasks you can expect in data entry jobs.

In data entry, you’ll be grouping data from various sources into a single file. Other tasks may include processing invoices and rebates, gathering names to create a marketing database, and maintaining a spreadsheet of revenues and expenditures.

Because we live in a data-driven world, there’s a huge demand for data entry.

This job also offers plenty of options. You can work for a company or become a self-employed project manager.

Are you considering a career in data entry?

Check out DionData Solutions. This company understands the challenges facing many individuals and families with kids.

Because of the increasing need to be with their children at home, a lot of these parents are unable to work regular 9-to-5 jobs. However, there is still the pressing need to earn income.

This is where DionData Solutions seeks to help.

The company is committed to helping these individuals and families in achieving their dreams and maintaining their quality of life by providing them job opportunities.

DionData Solutions is a legit data management service company that provides free training to aspiring data entry professionals. It also hires people who can help them process data for its clients.

Are you fluent in another foreign language?

If you are bilingual and can write or speak in another language, then you can make money with those skills.

Have you considered becoming an online language translator?

There are a lot of companies who can use your talent and pay you good money for it. Online translators are needed for media productions in a wide spectrum of industries, including law, healthcare, marketing, and information technology.

And because of this specialized skill, the pay is high. You can earn more if you’re a native speaker of that foreign language or have had previous working experience as a translator.

Wondering where to look for jobs as an online translator?

Check out WordExpress. Founded in 1993, the company is the leader in foreign language communication.

WordExpress has a global reach, working with some of the largest entities and prestigious companies, including Fortune 500 corporations like Warner Bros. Pictures and Fox Sports.

Its certified translation services cover varied fields, which include contracts, patents and intellectual property, brochures, technical manuals, and marketing materials.

You might also want to check out AberCap. This company is looking for bilingual transcribers, writers, and caption editors.

The tasks include listening and creating subtitles and captions for TV shows, movies, and training videos.

Create online courses.

Are you good at something?

A lot of people are looking to learn new skills that they can use at work or in their side hustles. So if you have something of value that they can add to their skill set, you can get paid for teaching them.

You can share your knowledge or skill by creating online courses and selling them.

Courses can range from playing the guitar to computer programming. These lessons are video-based. To add more value to your courses, you can include worksheets and exercises for your students.

There are a lot of online learning platforms. But the most popular is Udemy. Online courses can sell up to $200 there.

Do you have a background in accounting?

You might find the idea of online bookkeeping appealing.

Numbers will form the bulk of your work. You will be responsible for recording financial transactions, creating financial reports and statements, and handling the company’s accounts.

The best thing about this job is you have the option to work for a company or pursue your own freelance bookkeeping business.

Don’t have experience or knowledge in bookkeeping or accounting?

You can take free online courses to learn more about the craft.

Did you know you can earn between $16 and $80 per hour as an online bookkeeper (learn how here)?

If you are passionate about numbers, then this job is one of the best ways how to make money at home.

Want to get started doing online bookkeeping?

If you want to work at home as a bookkeeper try this free three day bookkeeping series.

Are you deal-savvy?

Then you’ll probably flourish as an online Amazon seller.

There are two ways to do this.

First, you can try private labeling. It’s where you buy your products in bulk from your supplier and sell them as your own by putting your brand’s label.

Second is retail arbitrage. You get your inventory on sale then sell it on Amazon for a profit.

You’ve probably heard about Amazon FBA business. The concept is similar to retail arbitrage. You get your items at a discount then sell them at a marked-up price to earn a profit.

To learn more about this easy-to-follow business model, check out my Amazon FBA guide.

Interested in dropshipping?

In dropshipping, you don’t actually have possession of your items. Here’s how it works.

The customers would order the items from your website. Once you receive their orders, you would contact the manufacturer and convey these orders. It is the manufacturer that will ship the items directly to your customers.

Dropshipping is a good business model because it doesn’t need a big investment. Nor does it require big money upfront. You don’t even have to maintain an inventory.

It’s perfect for busy moms who may be preoccupied with other things.

On the other hand, you can also work as a mystery shopper.

You’re basically shopping for someone else. Which begs the question, why would anyone pay another person to shop for them?

Are millionaires and billionaires really that busy that they have to employ someone to do their shopping?

Well, it isn’t exactly like that.

There are companies that hire mystery shoppers—people who will shop and buy things for them.

Why do they do this?

For market research purposes.

Companies will assign specific items to buy, and mystery shoppers will obtain these items. Then the shoppers will make a report, providing all the information that these companies need regarding the purchased stuff.

With the feedback given, these companies will use the input to improve their own products or sales.

Mystery shopping isn’t limited to buying items. Some companies may ask their secret shoppers to go to restaurants and hotels then provide details of their experience.

Wondering where to find these mystery shopping gigs?

Check out my post on the best mystery shopping companies.

Wondering how to make money at home?

Whether you’re a busy parent, college student, or just someone who wants to score some cash, doing extra work can get you out of the tight spot.

Earning a few hundred or thousand bucks every month can give you a breather. You can use the money to cover the monthly bills. Or you can use it to go on a family vacation.

Share your tips below on how to make money at home!

computer with on desk with the text how to make money at home computer with on desk with the text how to make money at home computer with on desk with the text how to make money at home

McKinzie Bean
McKinzie is a mom of two, and a personal finance enthusiast. She loves teaching other moms how to save money, make money, and take control of their financial situation. She has started five profitable businesses and in college, she double-majored in Financial Planning and Psychology. You may have seen her in publications like Forbes, The US Chamber of Commerce, Yahoo Finance, Money.com, The Penny Hoarder, & more.

2 thoughts on “21 Easy Ways To Make Money at Home (In 2021)”

  1. Theres not much better than making money from your couch! my wife an I love it.

    I never found much value in the surveys out there, I always felt they were time consuming. However, this VIPKid approach is something I am going to look into a bit more.

    Nice article, and keep up the hard work on your site. Your passion oozes from your articles!

    -Chris

  2. I like to focus on longer-term money making strategies like flipping blogs or investing in the stock market, but I think these will work great to bring in extra cash for the holiday season. I’m going to look into drop shipping (I love love love the idea of not having to house physical items!)

    Swagbucks is a fav, for sure. I’m trying to decide if I should cash out my Swagbucks points for toys for the kids, or Disney stocks for each of them. One is more practical, but seeing their faces frantically tear through wrapping paper is a gift in itself haha. Thanks for sharing!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *