If there are two things that most of us have in common, it’s that we’re very busy and we could do with a little more money. It seems these two areas are in conflict with each other — how can we boost our finances if there aren’t enough hours in the day? If that’s how you feel, then the weekend side hustle could be for you.
Side hustles from home are a great way to earn some extra cash, and over time they can turn into a decent income. You can get started without buying any expensive equipment or needing advanced training. These side hustle jobs are ideal if you’ve already got a lot on your plate or you can't get out of the house, but you want to see if running a small business is right for you.
You don’t just need to take our word for it. We’ve chatted with experts from across the world about the side hustle. Here are some of the home-based hustles they recommend.
5 Easy Side Hustles from Home You Start This Weekend
1. Offer Pet-Sitting Services in Your Neighborhood
Looking after a pet, either in your home or the owner’s house, is a great way to spend time with a companion animal. Brian Meiggs of My Millenial Guide says, “If you love animals, this is a great way to make some extra money on the weekends. You can advertise your services online or through word-of-mouth.”
Money-saving expert Andrea Woroch agrees: “Pet parents may be looking for sitters when they head out of town for the weekend and this is a great opportunity to find easy work that pays well. As long as you like spending time with animals, you can make up to $1,000 a month by petsitting through sites like Rover.com. If you have a yard, that’s an added bonus. This side hustle isn’t too demanding either and you can make your own schedule.”
You won’t need any equipment to get started. Helpful skills include understanding an animal’s needs, being willing to interact with a pet and being friendly and reliable. If you want to venture outside the home, check out our guide to starting a dog-walking business.
2. Rent Out Your Car Over the Weekend
You might not think of your vehicle as a money-making opportunity, but there’s some hidden value that you can unlock.
Harry Campbell from The Ride Share Guy explains, “One of the best and easiest weekend side hustles is renting out your car. If you have a working car that you don't use on weekends, you can easily rent it for use and make some money in the process. It's all up to you to set the price, conditions and availability, so this side hustle is extremely flexible and entirely manageable from the comforts of your home. You can use services like Turo.com to easily manage all of this.”
You’ll need a car in good repair that you don’t need over the weekend. Then you can sign up on a car-sharing marketplace, and away you go!
3. Sell “Printables” and Digital Files on Etsy
Etsy is a popular choice for the craft-minded entrepreneur, but what if you don’t want the hassle of having to hand-make every item and ship it out?
Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation has the answer: “Another business with the potential to scale is printables. These are digital files you upload to Etsy that you can sell over and over again. Think budget planners, chore charts, templates, intake forms, wall art, habit trackers, etc. You can create these files from your computer at home with a tool like Canva, and since Etsy handles the file delivery, you don't have to worry about running to the post office in the middle of the week.”
You’ll need to open an Etsy store and think about the types of digital files your customers will want. After that, you can design some printables yourself or work with a designer to put something beautiful together. The only tool you will need is some graphic design software like Canva, Gimp or Photoshop.
4. Create Content with Freelance Writing
Writing articles and blogs (like the one you’re reading right now) is one of the main ways that businesses market themselves. Someone needs to create all of that content, and that’s often a freelance writer. This is known as content marketing, and it helps businesses and brands get found on Google when people are searching for products and services.
Karley Copperthite of Life by Kar says, “If you want to get into freelance writing, first create a profile on Upwork. From there, add your rates and area of expertise, and start working with clients. You can also find clients on your own to write for in places like virtual assistant Facebook groups.”
Writing can be an extremely rewarding career, and writing over the weekend through a platform like Upwork or Fiverr can help you decide if it’s right for you.
5. Educate Others with Virtual Tutoring and Online Courses
If you want to share your knowledge, then online tutoring or course creation could be perfect. We heard from Andrea Woroch earlier, and she’s got some more great advice on tutoring from home.
“Sites like Tutors.com and Varsity Tutors hire remote tutors on a range of school subjects from elementary level to high school subjects and you can choose to offer guidance for the subjects and level you feel most comfortable with. Weekends are great since many kids are busy with school and sports during the week, so they may be looking for tutor support on the weekend.”
If you don’t want to teach in person, then online course creation is another channel you can use to reach people. The Rideshare Guy says, “ I would also suggest creating a course to teach your skills to other people. Choose a skill you can teach, create a course, market it on various platforms and enjoy the benefits.”
So, there you have it. Five awesome side-hustle ideas that you can start from home this weekend. These are all great ways to dip your toes into the waters of business ownership. When you’re ready to get going, download our complete side hustle checklist and turn your weekends into some extra cash!
Paul Maplesden
Paul is a freelance writer, small business owner, and British expat exploring the U.S. When he’s not politely apologizing, he enjoys hats, hockey, Earl Grey Tea, mountains, and dogs.
