7 Surprising Ways To Earn Extra Money During The Holidays
There are so many things to love about the holiday season. We look forward all year to celebrations with friends and family, enjoying all the traditions that make this season special.
But if you’re trying to save money, the holiday season brings with it some added stressors, too.
You may wonder how you’re going to swing the extra cash to purchase gifts or make travel arrangements. Travel plans and holiday gatherings may also interfere with your normal work schedule.
If you’re looking for a little extra work to provide a much-needed financial cushion during this time, it’s not as hard as you think. Many opportunities exist. Some of these are fairly flexible and can be quite lucrative. Some may even blossom into year-round moneymakers.
So here are some unique and surprising ways to earn extra money during the holidays
Making Deliveries
Since the pandemic, more and more families do their shopping online, especially over the holidays. As a result, the need for delivery drivers becomes even more pressing. It’s exacerbated by the fact that many regular employees take time off during the holidays.
Start by looking for opportunities at companies like DHL, FedEx, Amazon and UPS. You might also want to check out Postmates. This is an online platform for ordering deliveries of food and beverages. Because of busy schedules during the holiday season, there is even more demand for this service. You can use your own car to make deliveries, or even a bike or motorcycle.
Caring For Pets
Pet owners often need help during the holidays. Sometimes they just have too much going on or they might be traveling out of town and need someone to care for their fur babies, especially if they’re planning to stay in a hotel which isn’t pet-friendly.
If you don’t want to stay in someone else’s home, consider boarding dogs at your own home during the holidays. You can earn over $25 a day for this service. If you’re an animal lover, that means you get to enjoy spending time with these adorable pets, a lovely added bonus.
Often, you can find dog-walking or pet-sitting gigs simply by searching Facebook and/or Craigslist.
Babysitting Or Nannying
What does every parent want? An evening out, of course. They are willing to pay good money for someone to make that happen by babysitting their children for a few hours. If you’ve already raised children, your wisdom and experience can be valuable assets.
The holidays are the perfect time to offer your babysitting services since many parents are dealing with packed social schedules. These often include office parties or adult events which compel them to leave children at home.
There are plenty of sites like Care.com or Sittercity.com where you can advertise your babysitting services, as well as searching through posts asking for help. Depending on what you want, you can find a one-off job just for the evening or something more long-term.
You can expect to earn a minimum of $10 an hour babysitting. Consider asking more if you can provide additional services like housework or homework help.
Tutoring
Since the pandemic, many kids are struggling with academic losses and in need of support. Besides that, kids are now facing a holiday break in which many will fall even further behind. High school and college students are about to take their final exams and could use the extra assistance as well.
There are a number of great websites that match tutors with students, such as Course Hero. Some of these even allow you to tutor online, which offers some great flexibility in your schedule.
Course Hero has the added benefit of a wide variety of subject areas and levels, so you can choose to tutor in an area that meshes with your expertise and background.
Driving
Driving for Lyft or Uber is a great way to earn extra cash over the holidays. If you’re still unfamiliar with these apps, they allow anyone to order a ride via their mobile device.
A nice bonus about driving for a rideshare company is that you get to determine your own schedule. Because of this flexibility, all kinds of people have been using Uber and Lyft to earn money, including college students, retirees, or even people who already work full-time and need some extra work on the side.
If you want to expand this service beyond what you can find on these platforms, there are added opportunities helping out people in your community, such as children or senior citizens who need help with transportation. To find these, try searching message boards for parent groups or seniors.
Another nice perk to driving is that it allows you to meet lots of interesting people.
Be an Assistant
With the chaos of the holiday season upon us, many people feel like they need extra help, whether it’s for watering their plants, house sitting, preparing meals, wrapping gifts, grocery shopping, or doing the laundry.
All of these essential tasks can be challenging to accomplish with parties, travel and holiday shopping filling almost every hour of the day.
If you can assist with these tasks, you will find an opportunity to build your reputation as an established holiday assistant in future years.
Assembling
New toys, furniture and appliances often require assembly. Besides that, families sometimes purchase new tables and chairs for hosting large gatherings.
But the last thing anyone wants to do after opening gifts or when preparing for a party is spend hours putting stuff together. All it takes is a lot of patience, a little basic skill, and or the desire to learn a new skill and you can do this job for others.
If you’re skilled at putting such items together, consider hiring out this service by advertising online or by word of mouth in your community. Make a post on social media letting people know that you will provide this service. You can also advertise on Taskrabbit or Angie’s List.
Conclusion
Are you ready to start earning some extra cash this holiday season? Try out one of these gigs and let us know how it went.
Remember – it always helps to think outside the box!
Have a Wonderful Day!
