Last Updated on June 8, Robert Farrington Leave a Comment We may receive compensation from affiliate links in this article. I've said countless times that there are hundreds of ways to make money, especially in college. What limits people from doing it is all internal — not external. They make excuses for themselves: Well, today I'm eliminating some of those excuses. Here's my list of over ways to make money in college. Seriously, I brain-dumped every idea I could think of to make money into this list.

Some of them you've heard plenty of times before. Others might be new to you. This might take some time to sift through, but hopefully it gives you some great ideas to go out and make some money.

Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and will earn me a commission. These are all things that I have experience with and I am recommending because they are helpful and are companies that I trust, not because of any commission it may earn me. Making money by selling stuff is one of the easiest ways to make money in college. A lot of students don't think they have things to sell — but they're wrong. Everybody can sell stuff on this list. There are many ways to do this.

For example, the University of California, San Diego has A. Lecture Notes , which pays note takers and charges note buyers.

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Don't let these assignments go to waste. There are services that will buy your old college papers. If you're writing multiple papers per semester, this could be a great little side income. In college, you may want to sell all your furniture before moving home from school at the end of the year.

It's easy to setup a listing and sell anything on Craigslist. Etsy is designed for handmade goods — including stationary, greeting cards, household crafts, and more. The great thing about creating these types of products is that you can do it in your spare time, on nights and weekends. And creating many of these products doesn't take up much space — so it can be dorm room friendly.

Don't think there's much money in selling on Etsy? Well, this teenager paid for her college by selling crafts online. If you have stuff you no longer use — old video games, DVDs, computers, etc. This is a lucrative way make extra money while in college. You know, the ones selling flowers and treats? Well, that could be you. As a college student, just head down to Costco and buy some flowers and holiday candy.

Then, get permission to setup a stand near a busy intersection or on the side of a road. You'll double or triple your initial investment every holiday. It sounds weird, but a lot of medical therapies rely on blood plasma which is slightly different than simply donating blood.

To find out if you're eligible and for locations where you can donate, check out DonatingPlasma. Donating sperm doesn't command much, but it can be a small supplement to your income. However, there's work involved in the process, and it's not painless. People actually will pay money for your hair — long hair, short hair, even men's beards. Let's face it, as you go through college, you find yourself spending less and less time playing your favorite video games.

Why let your awesome characters and game assets go to waste? Why not sell them online to other players? That's exactly what PlayerAuctions. You can buy and sell old video game accounts, characters, and even in-game assets. Depending on what you sell, this could earn you several hundred dollars. The company Small Business Knowledge Center is looking for individuals to send in their junk mail on a regular basis — specifically they are looking for offers relating to personal finance, insurance, investing, and more.

When you do this, they will reward you with points that can be redeemed for gift cards to over different retailers. If you have enough space to grow a lot of food, you could even join a Community Supported Agriculture — where local farmers and residents pool together to buy and sell fresh produce.

This may not make you a millionaire, but if you have enough to sell consistently, it could be a great income stream. Well, you could submit your idea to Quirky. They'll screen your idea, and if they like it, they'll either develop it themselves or in partnership with a major brand.

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In the end, you'll get a cut of all the sales from the final product. Deviant Art allows users to upload images, and they can elect to sell those images as prints or even special projects like mouse pads and more. Higher membership levels earn higher royalties. That's fine, and there are ways to sell your stock photos as well. The Penny Hoarder has a great guide to selling stock photography , and it breaks down step by step how to sell on iStockPhoto or Shutterstock. While this won't typically earn you money although some clever college entrepreneurs have figured out a way to profit selling used textbooks , it is a great way to get some money back for the books you bought each semester.

Renting your stuff is a great way to make some extra money, especially when you're in college. Don't think you have much to rent? One of my best friends did this — he bought a 4 bedroom house his freshman year and rented out 3 of the rooms.

The rent from the roommates covered the rent and all the expenses, and he was able to pocket a small profit each month. By the time he graduated college, he had two rentals and a house for himself.

Maybe a bicycle or camping gear? Maybe it's something that you do use, but not very often. If you want to put your stuff to work for you, consider using a service like Rentything , which allows you to rent almost anything you own. You just create your own rental shop and list items to rent. People contact you and pay you online through the platform. A simple and easy way to boost your income! A similar site is Zilok. If you have a car you're not using in college, check out Turo.

Turo allows you to rent your car to others, and you get paid for it. They make it easy, and for college students, this could be an easy win-win. It's very easy to use and a great way to make some extra money on a space you don't use. Sites like RentNotBuy allow users to rent their clothes and fashion products to others online.

It's quick to create a listing, and easy to get paid. Or are you going to be gone for a set period of time — like the summer? You can use that time to rent out your house or apartment and make some extra money while doing it. AirBnB is becoming much more mainstream, for both landlords and vacationers.

If you want to rent your place and earn some extra money, check it out. Being your own entrepreneur is extremely rewarding, and it can be extremely lucrative for college students and recent graduates. These next money making ideas are bucketed in this category because your earnings are only limited by your own internal drive. There are a lot of ways to get started freelance writing for blogs, and we've put together a full list here: To write for other businesses, look at sites like UpWork , where you can search for listing and apply for freelance jobs.

This is your home-base for everything that you do online, and it, by itself, can turn into a hugely profitable venture. It's really easy to get started. Then, check out our tutorial on how to start a blog or website to make money.

With time and effort, you can be on your way to six figures per year. If you are looking to do this type of work online, consider becoming a virtual assistant and you could earn several hundred dollars or more per month. It might not seem like a way to earn a lot of money, but you can. In fact, we highlight how you can use Fiverr to pay off your student loan debt if you're smart about it. For example, you could be asked to identify a picture or type certain text. When I was in college, I used to do these gigs in class and earn money while taking notes.

This could be everything from making small graphics for advertisements to full site redesigns. To get started, check out a site like 99Designs, where you can enter design competitions and if you're selected as the winner, you get paid.

You get paid based on the advertisements displayed on your videos — so the more people that watch your videos, the more you get paid. Design And Sell T-Shirts — Another way to get paid for your art is to design T-Shirts and sell them online.

The great thing about this is that T-Shirts are more than just pictures — funny sayings and phrases work very well too. Two of the most popular sites to sell T-Shirts on are Zazzle and Cafepress.

Many different industries are looking for people to transcribe audio into text. For example, podcasters like to have their episodes transcribed into text to post online.

You can find lot of transcription opportunities on UpWork. Many people have found success with creating both games and regular apps. The trick is to find an unmet need and harness it. You could sell your handwriting on sites like Etsy for a great price. Many people are searching for individuals to write in calligraphy, especially for invitations and stationary for special occasions.

Do you have an area of expertise that you teach or help others in already? You could create an online course around that topic and sell it.

There are courses for everything, so don't worry if you think that your topic is too obscure. If so, you could be come a translator. There is translation work that is needed across a variety of platforms — from people speaking to written translation work. What if you could become a call center operator at home? You can, and sites like LiveOps allow anyone to join and become an on-demand call center agent.

There are some steps you have to take, but it can be a great side income stream if you get started. If you have a great voice, and a simple microphone setup at home, you could get paid to do voice over work for people and businesses.

This was a show about people offering to ship stuff around the country for others. Well, it's real, and sites like uShip connect people that need to ship stuff with drivers and carriers with trucks that can do the work.

If you have a truck, this could be a great way to make money. The following aren't quite jobs, and they aren't quite online business opportunities. They fall in the middle, and I'm calling them tasks that you can do to earn money. Most of these are geared towards millennials and college students looking to make some money doing odd-jobs. Swagbucks lets you earn points called SB, which you can then redeem for cash or gift cards. There are lots of way to earn SB, and it can be a great source of extra income each month.

There are several online survey sites. Check out this list of the most reputable ones to get started:. You'll see market research studies advertised all over most college campuses, and the point of these studies is simple — companies want the opinions of college students. In return for sitting in a room doing market research for an hour, most studies will reward you with cash or gift cards. You're paid for the testing that you do.

These are full-time jobs, or even really freelance work. For example, you might be asked to go grocery shopping or to pick up lunch at a restaurant and bring it to someone's office or house. These small jobs can add up to a nice side income. It's as simple as that. As such, there are services popping up across the country that will do this for you — and you can setup a dog poop service in your own neighborhood.

For example, senior citizens and disabled persons consistently need help taking notes, and many local Heath and Human Services departments pair up note takers to people in need.

If you have time and are willing to travel around town, you could earn a little side income taking notes for the needy. Once again, many different studies are taking place that need healthy volunteers to try out different things.

Some may require you to be monitored while you sleep, while others might test different drugs on you. Regardless, it's a good way to earn a lot of extra money.

One the platform, people will post jobs and how much they're willing to spend. As an Agent, you can apply to the job and then if you're award it, you can get paid when it's complete. What most people don't realize is that most scholarship competitions get very few entries, simply because people assume they won't win. Check out our guide to finding and entering scholarship competitions. Most places around the country allow you to get paid for turning in bottles and cans.

Plus, it helps clean up the area too! There's a lot more money to be made with scrap metal recycling, but it's also harder to find the stuff to recycle. If you find scrap copper or metal, you can get paid a significant amount for it. Believe it or not, you can be. With a service called RewardTV, you can play TV trivia games and win prizes for doing it. For example, Nielson Mobile Panel is an app that you can earn rewards on just for having it installed.

It will take snapshots of what you're doing and use those for advertisers to know more about your demographic. It takes away some privacy, but you get paid for it. If you're a loving person that doesn't mind hugging and cuddling with strangers, you could get paid for it. Now, don't get the wrong idea, this is just for cuddling. People are always looking for interesting people to officiate their weddings, and you could get paid for it. For example, if you're a skydiver who officiates weddings, you could get paid to host a sky diving wedding ceremony.

Since most pastors don't do these extreme sports, it's a great side income for those that do. You just share with it your shopping, and it will give you a rebate for it. Pretty interesting app that's an easy way to earn some extra cash. Have some free time during the summer? You could spend that time looking for programming bugs in new and existing software. Look for postings on job boards or your college campus.

For example, United Airlines recently announced that it will give frequent flier miles to people who find hacks, and Google publicly displays the cash rewards they give for people who find exploits and report them. I know this first hand. Chances are, most business owners aren't creative. But there are services to help, and you can get paid for it. NamingForce and SquadHelp are two services that hold business naming contests, where the winner can get paid in cash!

The Rideshare Guy has some great resources to help you get started and figuring out the best ways to make the most money for driving. Get a bonus to get started.

Did you know you could get paid just for answering questions. This can be a great way to help others and get paid at the same time. Of course, you can always earn money by working. These are jobs that college students and young adults are well suited for given school schedules, summer vacations, and more. If you have friends and neighbors with kids, start asking them if they want to have a night out! If you love animals, pet sitting can be a great way to earn some extra money and hang out with some furry friends.

Nobody wants bad things to happen to their homes — from pipe leaks to burglaries. House sitting avoids this and also can be combined with pet sitting. It can be a lucrative gig if you have time on your hands.

It takes several hours, but it can be done easily in college and requires no real experience. You can team up with an experienced cleaning company or look to run your own business. Most catering companies have little work during the week, but need a large staff on the weekends. This works well for college students who are just looking to earn an extra few dollars.

Typically this will involve setting up software, checking for virus, and more. You can offer to help your landlord in college, or connect with friends or neighbors that might need help. Companies like College Pro House Painters have been connecting college students to the house painting business, while also giving them an exposure to entrepreneurship.

This can be a great way to earn some extra money during the summer. There are services that do this for people, but if you post on Craigslist and charge a reasonable price, you're likely to find success.

Many retailers need staff on nights and weekends, and that works well for most college students. Plus, retail earns a steady paycheck.

You'll usually work nights, but you have the potential to earn great tips if you do a good job. If you're interested in a particular field of study, partner with your professor and see if he has a job for you. Apply for the temp agency, and they'll likely connect you with a business that just needs short-term work. If you're a pro at any class in college, simply offer to help others that aren't. You can post a sign outside the lecture hall, or even use a Facebook group for the class as many classes are going digital.

You can easily find clients and charge a decent rate to boost your income. There are many ways to get into modeling, but typically you sign up with an agency and they will pay you several hundred dollars per day for a shoot. A new way to break into the business is to use sites like Instagram to showcase your work and allow others to see you portfolio.

Well, you can sign up to be a mystery shopper and get paid for doing just that. Trendsource is one of the largest market research companies in the United States, and they are always looking for people to become field agents a.

For example, you could join Starving Students and help people move in your area. Even if you don't want to do this every week, there are lots of odd-job gigs to simply help people clear fields, cut down trees, or do one-off projects.

Pool Service — If you know a thing or two about pools, you could also offer to help people with their pools. You can clean them and take care of the chemicals as needed. This can be a commitment, but during the busy summer months, you can help a real pro out. Shovel Snow — During the winter, if you live in an area that snows, you could offer to shovel snow for your friends and neighbors. This is hard work, but you could charge a nice fee for each house.

Maybe you need to just ask for a raise. This is a simple way to boost your income, and too many people don't negotiate their salaries. Start Your Own Tanning Business — Spray tanning is huge business, and if you own a spray tanning kit, you could do this on your own terms.

Maybe you could prep your sorority house before a party, or sell the service to others in your dorm. You could even advertise and do small jobs here and then. If you live in a dorm or apartment building, you could offer to start a laundry service for all your friends and neighbors.

Instead of them having to make their own trip to the laundromat, you could combine their trip with yours, and charge them a small fee for it. Considering you do laundry each week, this could be a great recurring revenue stream. It takes a special talent to break out a show on a street corner, bus, or subway. If you do this several days per week, it could be lucrative. Many companies hire this in-house, but there are also firms that hire telemarking professionals to man phones as well especially around election time.

If you don't mind being on the phone for several hours and getting hung up on often, this is a good job for college students. These people are hired by marketing companies and do these jobs on the weekend. Typically the supplies are mailed to your house and you're told where and when to show up. You can find these jobs on almost every job board. Contrary to popular belief, they aren't pushing politics because they care.

It's a great feeling. And people are willing to pay to have their cars washed and waxed. If you have a passion for cars and detailing comes natural to you, consider charing others to do it for them. While many internships start over the summer, some companies offer extended internship programs, where you can stay on as an intern during the school year. A lot of people simply need accountability and a little instruction to get going to get fit, and a personal trainer can help with this.

And that's just the beginning. If you get a following, you could turn your passion for fitness into something big like Steve Kamb did with Nerd Fitness. You can DJ on weekends and work for parties and events. It does require a little investment to get a mixer and some speakers, but after that, you can profit. If so, then party planning could be right up your alley.

You can get paid to plan an event. This can be hard for a college student to do, but I've seen several pull it off — think of Van Wilder and planning college parties.

You can help people update their rooms and get paid a fee for it. This can range from getting the groceries to transporting them to the doctor. If you're willing to build amazing connections and have some time to spare, consider helping out senior citizens. You might have seen these bike taxis or pedi-cabs in touristy areas of big cities. To drive one, just contact the local company and be willing to put in a workout on weekends. Sometimes you'll be asked to stand on a certain corner, and other times you could have to walk through various streets and areas.

The goal is to raise awareness through your silly getup — and you'll get paid for it. The goal, of course, is to turn your investments into a passive income stream that will pay you for the rest of your life.

It doesn't take much to get started. Each month, they'll pay you back principal and interest. You can snowball this initial investment into many investments because you get your principal back as well each month. Check out Lending Club to get started. This is how you build residual income. How much more money could you make each month if you advertised your business? What if you hired an assistant to handle some tasks so you could focus on others?

Reinvesting in your business is a smart move to make more money in college and beyond. But new regulations and the Internet have changed that, with the invention of crowd funded real estate platforms. Check out platforms like RealtyShares and FundRise to see different ways that you can get started investing in real estate.

If you're looking for more ways to make money fast, check out this article. Earn More Money Tagged With: Earn More Money , Make Extra Money , Make Money In College , Side Gigs , Side Hustles , side jobs. Robert Farrington is the founder and editor of The College Investor , a personal finance site dedicated to young adult and college student finances. You can learn more about him here. Your email address will not be published. I consider comments to be as important as the original article, as they add to the dialogue and improve the community.

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