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While there is truth to that statement, it’s not encouraging if you’re broke AF.
You may not have a large chunk of money to invest into a side hustle right now. Or you may have a large chunk of money that you just don’t want to pour into a side hustle right now.
Today, I bring you good tidings: There are plenty of opportunities out there that don’t require you to drop a dime. For example, I made $1500 in my first 3 months on Upwork and didn’t have to pay to play.
You can literally get started with a side hustle today with no money in your pocket.
Here’s a list of side hustles that don’t require any startup capital at all!
Prefer video? Watch now for 10 side hustle ideas you can start with NO money. (2021 friendly!)
12 Ways to start a side hustle with no money
1. Test apps and websites
How does $10 for 10-20 minutes of your time sound? Pretty good, right?
Until several years ago, I had no idea you could actually get paid to give user feedback to website and app developers.
It kinda seems too good to be true considering this is basically what you do on a daily basis anyway! But alas, it IS true.
In fact, I signed up with UserTesting.com while I was in pharmacy school. There are other sites out there but UserTesting is the one I have personal experience with.

2. Become a proofreader
If you have a good grasp on spelling and grammar, proofreading could be right up your alley! And of course, spelling and grammar skills won’t cost you anything (unless you totally zoned out during K-12).
With that being said, if someone’s going to trust you to proofread their work, it makes sense that they’ll need proof of your skills. Caitlin Pyle runs one of the most successful online proofreading training programs there is, and you can get a bunch of info you need to get started from her free webinar.
To build your portfolio, you could start by soliciting people your know or college students to proofread their work. Then once you build up your samples, you’ll be ready for bigger clients!
3. Freelance your skills
Oftentimes, people automatically think of freelance writing, not realizing that you can basically freelance any skill! Writing, graphic design, website-building, photography…you name it! And within each of those broad skills, you can specialize.
I started out as a freelance medical writer and now run a healthcare copywriting business full-time! Other people may do sports, entertainment, or technology freelance writing.
How can you start freelancing?
1) Start with your personal network, friends, parents’ friends, LinkedIn, etc. to attract clients!
2) Some people are going to throw tomatoes at me for saying this, but….Upwork, the freelance bidding site, is not the end of the world.
Here’s the riveting story of how I made $1500 in my 1st 3 months on Upwork.
Yes, there are people who may try to lowball you for your services, but it’s ultimately up to you whether or not you want to accept painfully low rates. If you hold onto your standards, you will eventually attract clients who are willing to pay what you’re worth.
| Related Post: Make Great Money Freelancing Online with These Skills
4. Teach what you know
Sharing knowledge and information is what life is all about. If you have expertise to share, you can profit from that!
Teaching, tutoring, coaching, mentoring, and consulting are all ways to share your expertise, but there are slight differences.
For example, the difference between teaching and coaching is described below:

5. Speak at events

THREE of every FOUR Americans are glossophobes…sheesh.
If you’re that ONE of every four who isn’t afraid of public speaking AND you’re actually good at it, you could get paid for your skills.
Here’s some insight on how you can start charging for your valuable time and insight.
6. Sell stock photos
Good with a camera?
Put that camera to work. Take photos, lightly edit them if needed, and sell those bad boys! People are always in search of high-quality, unique stock photos.
For a complete stock photo-selling guide, check out this site.
7. Drive for Lyft
Does this one even require an explanation? Here’s where you sign up.

8. Write an ebook

You can write your own ebook and sell it on Amazon or your own personal website for no upfront costs!
| Related Post: The 7 Best Ways Millennials Can Make Money Writing Online
9. Set up professional online profiles
LinkedIn is a growing online professional network, and people are finally starting to realize how much of an asset it can be.
With that being said, sometimes people don’t have time or know how to build a LinkedIn profile that will get them results.
If you know or are willing to learn how to optimize LinkedIn profiles, you could make a nice amount of side cash!
10. Sit…

Babysit, pet-sit, house-sit, that is.
Do you know people with kids, pets, or houses who have busy schedules? They could probably use some help with caring for those things/people while they’re away now and again?
Who better to help but you? Sites like care.com aren’t just for childcare. You can also sign up for housesitting or petsitting.
Or just skip the middleman & ask your friends and neighbors!
11. build websites
There’s a second part to this though. A website is also beneficial for your own side hustle promotion.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had an online portfolio where potential clients can get a sense of your personality and what value you can provide for them?
12. Launch a blog
Going right along with the website, blogging can be a side hustle in and of itself. It’s a specific type of freelance writing.
Small businesses are often good to target because they may not have the time or resources to hire their own writing staff, but they may have enough money to pay you to write for them.
Also, launching your own professionally-branded blog can draw traffic to your professionally-branded website where you can sell more of your freelancing services!!
| Related Post: How to Start a Blog Right Now in 3 Easy Steps
Great suggestions! I’m actually working on a few of these right now lol
That’s awesome! Any favorites so far?
Oh, so it’s the libra in me that has caused me to try multiple side hustles every year, lol? None of them have really taken off…yet, but I honestly enjoy just trying new things. At any given time, I have at least 3-5 side hustle ideas formulating in my mind. I’ve even written some awesome business plans and just threw them on a shelf and moved on to the next thing. Hmmmmm, is business plan development my next side hustle?!?!?! Oh gosh, I really am a LaziMillenial 🙂
Haha!! The Libra and the LaziMILLENNIAL 🙂 I think it’s a great idea to try many…You never know what might stick!
Great suggestions. I have my website. Ebooks, and more. Haven’t freelancer yet. I want to speak at events but I just don’t know how to approach that
Thanks for reading Crystal. What kind of topics are you interested in speaking about?
Thanks for this. Further confirmation to finish writing my ebook. No time like the present! Thanks 😊
Kudos to you for starting that project, and thanks for reading!
I”m actually considering selling stock photography, been researching that as we speak. But these are great suggestions there are so many ways to make money now!
That’s awesome! Hopefully it’ll bring in some nice $$ for you. Thanks for reading!
All such good suggestions! In today’s world, there’s no shortage of ways that you can make money and with little to no start up capital.
Thanks for sharing!
So true! Thanks for reading Shauna.
I used to use Upwork a lot when I was first jumping into the world of freelancing. It helped me be able to assist others with their writing needs while also stretching my writing muscles daily. Great roundup of ways to snag some cash.
xx,
Leslie / @hautemommie / http://www.thehautemommie.com
Thanks Leslie! There’s a lot of Upwork hate out there, but I think as long as you know your worth, it’s all good!
This is a great list! I’m definitely going to look into some of these. Especially usertesting. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading! User testing is actually one of my faves. As I was writing this, I was wondering to myself why the heck I stopped lol
currently, I’m blogging, but not making any money… still trying to gain some readers first. I wrote an ebook to giveaway to subscribers for joining my email list, but now I’m thinking about selling it. Do you know how selling ebooks on Amazon works? I also like the idea of selling stock photos, I might try that!
Hey Zoe! Thanks for reading. Selling ebooks on Amazon is actually a pretty simple process. You just upload via Kindle Direct Publishing (https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/). Doesn’t take much time at all. You get up to 70% of the royalties.
One strategy may be to have subscribers who’ve received your ebook do a short review or survey about it. That way you could make any helpful improvements before selling on Amazon.
LOVE THIS! I HATE hearing “it takes money to make money” ugh. It’s such a prominent thought, it took me a while to break it. Dog sitting is my fave way to make extra cash! I love animals, and it has zero start up costs. Kids are a little too much work for me hah, but that is also a great way to make some extra moolah!
Yes! That statement really grind my gears. And I get that in some cases it is true, but not in every case.
Lol at preferring dogs over kids. I’m not huge on animals so I’d take kids over dogs. That’s the beauty of side hustles – there’s something for everyone! 🙂
Hi Megan! A very nice list, good job. With some perseverance and hard work, a lot of these gigs can become a full-time occupation as well. As I side note since you’ve mentioned stock photography: here is a nice guide that explains how much you can earn if you become one: https://www.fastcast.me/blog/how-to-become-a-stock-photographer-a-complete-guide-2020/
Thanks Boko.