15 Instant money side hustle ideas for 2022
In this article we’ll look at ways of making money quickly. Whether it’s for paying some unplanned bills or as a permanent side hustle. Most of the ideas have minimal requirements and pay out within several days.
1 . Online garage sale on Facebook Marketplace
Requirements:
Smartphone
Facebook account
One of the easiest and fastest ways to make some quick bucks. All you have to do is go through your closets, the garage and attic to find things you can sell on Facebook Marketplace. Take photos of the items, upload them to the Facebook marketplace, add a description and price and publish it. This way you can make some money and declutter your basement or the garage at the same time.
(+) Pros:
Fast and easy to do from home
Free (no signup or transaction fees)
(-) Cons:
May take some time to sell the items depending on the price you are asking and the current demand
Selling not guaranteed
2. Instacart personal shopper
Requirements for Canada:
18+ years
Ability to lift up to 40lbs (18kg)
Regular access to a reliable car
A smartphone capable of running the Instacart Shopper app.
Pass a background check.
Also fairly easy to start is the instacart personal shopper sidehustle. You need to create an account on https://shoppers.instacart.ca, download the Instacart Shopper app, sign in, pass the background check and then you can start making money by shopping for others. You can either work as a full service shopper or as an in-store shopper, where you aren’t required to make deliveries to the customers. It pays an average of $780 CAD per week, depending on how many hours you work and if you are working as a full service shopper or an in store shopper.
(+) Pros:
Easy to start
Free to sign up
You can work on your own schedule
(-) Cons:
Background check can take up to 7 days
Receiving the Instacart Shopper card can take an additional 5-7 days
May have to deal with difficult customers
3. Rent out your car on a peer to peer platform
Requirements: A car and a smartphone.
In North America, there are currently six peer to peer platforms where you can list your car for others to rent: Eligocars, Getaround, Turo, HyreCar, RideAlike and Rent your Ride.
However, the only one out of these six with an extensive network in Canada, the U.S. and Europe is Turo. The principle of each platform is the same: you download the app, apply as host, upload photos of your car and then people can rent your car on an hourly or daily basis. Each of the six companies has a slightly different business model. Check our two part article on how to become a Turo host (part 1 / part 2).
(+) Pros:
Easy to participate, no sign up fees
Can produce income quickly
Reduces the amount of time your car might otherwise sit idle
(-) Cons:
Requires a fair amount of work to manage bookings as well as clean, maintain, service and repair the vehicle
Difficult to plan since bookings can come in any time
Seasonal fluctuations
4. Doordash driver
Requirements:
18+ years old
Valid driver’s license
Clean driving record
Have access to a vehicle – car, van, truck or even a scooter or bicycle
Insurance policy
Android phone or iPhone for the DoorDash partner app
Completed orientation or submit a request for an activation kit
Doordash is a meal delivery service where you can pick up food orders from local restaurants and deliver them to customers. As you can see in the requirements, you need to have a clean record in order to become a doordash driver and you need your own car for the purposes of making deliveries.
Doordash will hire you as an independant contractor, which means you have to take care of your equipment (car, tools…), set aside money for income tax, healthcare and social security. Once you sign up and pass the background check you will get an activation kit which includes the food delivery bag and a debit card to pay for the food. The average hourly payment is $21 CAD, but there is no guarantee on deliveries, so there might be days where you have no income.
(+) Pros:
Work your own hours
Get paid weekly
(-) Cons:
You are responsible for all of your own equipment
Deliveries not guaranteed
No compensation for gas or waiting times
5. Skipthedishes driver
Requirements:
Reliable vehicle
Valid driver’s license
Vehicle insurance and registration
Pass a background check
A smartphone, data plan, phone charger
Thermal bag(s)
In order to deliver meals with Skipthedishes, you need to meet some requirements including passing a background check (which you will have to pay for - costs $20 CAD) and purchasing a thermal bag ($60 CAD). The process however is the same as with Doordash. Once you pass the background check and you have a thermal bag, you are ready to make deliveries. The average hourly payment is $21 CAD and you are hired as an independent contractor, which means you have to put money aside for any and all personal expenses (income tax, healthcare, social security, repairs on the car etc.)
(+) Pros:
Work on you own schedule
Weekly payment
(-) Cons:
You are responsible for all of your own equipment
Deliveries are not guaranteed
No compensation for gas or waiting times
https://couriers.skipthedishes.com/application
6. Uber driver
Requirements:
21+ years of age
Be in possession of a valid provincial driver’s licence
Use an eligible vehicle
Proof of work eligibility
Proof of vehicle registration
Proof of vehicle insurance
A driver profile photo background screening
A smartphone with a data plan
The sharing economy is booming and so are the rideshare platforms. With platforms like Uber, Lyft, Via and Juno, taxi companies have serious competition. All the customer needs is an app, to sign up, enter the credit card information and is good to go. No phone calls and waiting for cabs - there is always an Uber driver in the vicinity to pick you up. If you want to become an Uber driver, however, you need to jump through some hoops. In Canada you need to be 21+ years old (with Uber eats you may be able to deliver with 19), pass a background check, which could take up to 10 days (every province has their own requirements for eligible vehicles and driver experience). The hourly payment varies between $15-29 CAD depending on where you drive. Uber drivers in British Columbia make the most on average with upwards of $60’000 CAD a year.
https://www.uber.com/ca/en/
7. Put Ads on your Car
Requirements:
18+ years
Clean driving record
Newer car model (2008 or newer)
Drive in certain areas or a min. distance depending on the company or campaign
Put a sticker on your car and make some money driving around. It can’t get much easier than that! There are a couple of companies offering this. All you have to do is download an app, apply to a program and get matched up with suitable campaigns. If you accept a campaign, you get your self install wrap or a custom install wrap put on your car and can start making money by driving your car around. Campaigns can last from several days to several weeks. Payments can range from 300-1200 USD per campaign or 200 - 500 per month depending on the company and the mileage. Make sure you check the requirements of each company.
Here are 4 companies for car ads:
https://www.nickelytics.com/drive/
https://wrapify.com/drive/
https://carvertise.com/drivers/
https://stickerride.com/ads/drivers
(+) Pros:
Get paid while you drive
Free to sign up/apply for campaigns
You can pick which campaign(s) you want to accept
(-) Cons:
Some campaigns require you to drive a certain mileage
Early termination fees may apply
Newer car model required
8. Swagbucks - Watch videos and/or take surveys
Requirements:
13+ years
A computer with internet connection and/or smartphone
On the Swagbucks website, you can earn cash, points or gift cards watching videos, taking surveys, searching the web and discovering deals. You can sign up for free, select your favourite online activity and start earning some extra cash, gift cards or points.
(+) Pros:
Free signup
Fast and easy - you can start making money in less than 5 minutes
(-) Cons:
Small rewards for sometimes time consuming tasks
9. Slicethepie - Review music, fashion, mobile phone accessories
Requirements:
Computer/tablet with internet connection
After you sign up you can choose between audio branding, music, fashion and mobile. Then you review the topic selected by writing your review and offering some ratings, submit it and get a small cash reward. The payment is based on the quality of your review. The more detailed, constructive and varied it is, the more you get paid. Once your earnings exceed $10, you can request a payout to your Paypal account (in US dollar).
(+) Pros:
Fast and easy to sign up
No fees
(-) Cons:
Rewards are very small for the amount of work required
10. Amazon mechanical turk - Do micro task online
Requirements:
18+ years
Amazon account
Computer
The Amazon mturk platform has existed since 2005 and is an online platform for micro tasks. There are requesters and workers. To make money, you have to apply as a worker. US citizens are preferred but anyone can apply. If you do not get approved right away you get placed on a waiting list. Once approved, you will receive so called HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) which you can either accept or decline. The HITs are created by the requesters (companies or universities who pay you to complete a task once it is approved). The average payment ranges from $2-8 per hour. Payouts can be requested daily to a virtual U.S. bank account (US citizen only) or as Amazon gift cards.
(+) Pros:
Free to sign up
Fast payout, no minimum balance
You can choose the work (HIT) you want to do
You can work anytime, from anywhere
(-) Cons:
Payments per task are small
Not many options to increase the paycheck
Submitted work can be rejected by the requester
11. Clickworker - Do micro tasks online
Requirements:
18+ years
Computer or smartphone/tablet with internet connection
Clickworker is an online platform for micro tasks established in 2005 and based out of Germany. Categories of work range from text creation, copy editing, categorization, research, app testing, photo capturing to audio- and video recording. The payment can be weekly or bi-weekly with Paypal or SEPA. The average payment per hour is $9.
(+) Pros :
Flexible hours
Free signup
Open to residents of any country
(-) Cons:
Available jobs are limited
Payout only weekly or bi weekly
12. Listverse - Write a list of 10 original things and get 100 bucks
Requirements:
Write a funny/original top 10 list
Paypal account.
On the website Listverse.com, you can find all kinds of lists - from the top 10 on how to hide a body to the top 10 deadliest exoplanets. All you have to do is write an entertaining top 10 list, submit it and if it gets approved it will get published on the website and you will receive 100 bucks into your Paypal account.
(+) Pros:
List gets published online
(-) Cons:
Not easy to create a unique/funny list that is not already on the website
Submissions accepted only from the US, UK, NZ, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and South Africa
13. Mystery shopper
Requirements:
18+ years
Computer or smartphone with internet connection
Trustworthy
Write detailed reports
As a mystery shopper, you visit grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, gas stations etc. to assess their products and services. Here are the top three companies where you can apply to become a mystery shopper:
https://premierservice.ca/
https://www.shoppersconfidential.com/shoppers
https://www.wecheckservice.com/become-a-shopper
There are more companies out there that are looking for mystery or secret shoppers, but there are also a lot of fake offers around who ask for a signup fee or such, so beware! One way of making sure that the offer and the company are legit is to check if they are members of the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association) and/or the Retail Council Canada, WBE Canada, and Restaurants Canada.
(+) Pros:
Flexible hours
You get paid for things you might enjoy doing anyways
(-) Cons:
Gigs not guaranteed
Lots of paperwork/detailed reports
You might not get paid if you make a mistake
14. Test websites or apps
There are a couple of online platforms where you can make money testing websites, apps, prototypes and more. From giving feedback to testing user experience to finding bugs.
Usertesting pays 4 USD for a 5 min. test, 10 USD for a 20 min. test and between 30 and 120 USD for live interviews. After the signup, you have to do an example recording and complete your profile before you will receive matching opportunities.
https://www.usertesting.com/get-paid-to-test
Userlytics pays between $5 and 90 for website and mobile app tests. You will need a newer Mac (OSX 10.12+) or PC (Windows 7+) with a microphone and for some tests also a webcam or a newer smartphone (either an iPhone with iOS 12 or higher or an Android Phone with version 8 or higher)
https://www.userlytics.com/tester/signup
TryMyUi pays $10 for every test which takes approx. 20min. https://www.trymyui.com/worker/signup
UTest is a crowdtesting platform who pays twice a month for completed tests, surveys or approved bugs found. The payments depends on the test.
https://www.utest.com/signup/personal
Test.io pays up to $50 for every issue you discover or you can get paid for rating apps. After signing up and getting approved, you get invitations for tests (according to your profile and the devices you have for performing the tests), around 5 every day.
https://test.io/become-a-tester
Userfeel pays $10 for every 10-20 min. test. You will need a Mac or PC (Windows 7 or newer) and a microphone.
https://app.userfeel.com/register/tester
Testingtime pays up to 50£ for a 30-90 min. test/interview which can be websites, physical merchandise, apps, gadgets or food products. The tests can be in person, by video call or as a survey. After you sign up and are approved, you get invited for suitable tests.
https://www.testingtime.com/en/become-a-paid-testuser/
Userbrain pays $5 for every 5-20 min. website test. After signup, recording a qualification test and being approved, you will get invitations for suitable tests. You will need the userbrain recorder for Google chrome or the Userbrain recorder app for iOS.
https://tester.userbrain.com/
Betatesting pays an average $15 for testing new websites, apps and hardware. After signup and approval, you get up to 5 invitations for tests per month.
https://betatesting.com/beta-testers
Testbirds pays between 1 and 50 € depending on the test completed and its complexity. For finding a simple bug you might earn 1 € and for a usability test up to 50 €. After signup and performing a simple entry test you earn 5 € on your account. Once your earnings exceed 6 €, you are eligible to withdraw.
https://nest.testbirds.com/home/tester
(+) Pros:
Work on your own schedule
Can be done from anywhere with a stable internet connection
Rewarding to test and help solve issues
Paid per task; good control over time
(-) Cons:
Tests/income not guaranteed
Limited income
15. Babysitter
As a babysitter you can make an average of 20 CAD per hour. If you work 5 hours every week you can make an extra 500 CAD every month.
Here are some websites where you can find work as a babysitter in Canada:
https://www.sitly.ca/babysitter-nanny
(+) Pros:
You get paid to play with kids
(-) Cons
Might include late working hours
A lot of responsibility
We hope this article has given you some inspiration and maybe an idea for your next side hustle. If you are interested in generating passive income check out our article on passive income.