9 realistic ways to make an extra $1000 a month from home

What difference would it make to you to make an extra $1000 a month? It might take some of the stress away from your current financial situation. You could pay down your debt. Maybe just start saving towards that dream holiday?

So how do you really make an extra $1000 a month? And can you make that money working from home? I’m here to show you that you can.

If you’re already sure you know how to make extra money and just want to get started, why not take a look at my Side Hustle Planner.

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click and buy, I may receive a small commission (at zero cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my full disclosure policy for details.

Can I make an extra $1000 a month without being in an office?

You might be starting with the same limiting beliefs that I was. My dad worked for the same company for his entire working life.  So when I was younger, I thought that’s what you did.  Get a job, work your way up through the company, retire at 65 with a pension, a watch, and a thank you card. 

Working from home, and earning money online running my own business, was never part of my plan. Perhaps it has never been part of yours.  But recently, I started to realize that going to an office every day isn’t the only way to make it through my working life. There are lots of ways you can take that first step to earning money from home, and soon you can be earning $1000 a month or even more!

Lots of people will still follow the traditional route, but more and more people are wanting to live life according to their own terms. I know I want to be able to spend more time with my husband.  And to go for a walk on the beach or on the trails every single day.  And to live away from the city (with its high cost of living) in a bigger but cheaper house, with a garden, where I can grow my own vegetables.

Perhaps you are looking for the same as me (although tbh I think it’s weird you want to spend more time with my husband).  Or maybe you want the freedom and flexibility to create your own schedule, make your own hours, and not face any limits when it comes to income and opportunity for advancement. Or to be location independent (when the current situation we are facing is under control) and work from anywhere in the world. 

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that earning money working from home in so many careers is absolutely possible. Here are some realistic ways to make a living without having to step foot inside a stuffy old office.  

Work from home as a Virtual Assistant

The first way to make a good living while working from home is to become a Virtual Assistant or VA. It’s definitely possible to make at least an extra $1000 a month if you have the time to work at this. Running your own business is hard, and there are so many things to do, like bookkeeping, content creation, social media updates, answering emails, preparing reports, and taking calls.  There are entrepreneurs and online business owners everywhere who need help with these administrative daily tasks. 

Becoming a virtual assistant has low start-up costs.  You also don’t need lots of experience; you just have to know what you are good at and decide what type of services you want to offer. There are several freelance sites like Upwork and Fiverr where you can list your services, or you can create your own website along with a social media presence. Break down your financial goal. If you want to make $1000 extra a month, then you just need 10 projects at $100 each.

Creating a website can take a little more time, and does have some (small) costs associated with it.  But by having your own site, you have a place to show the services you offer along with rates and testimonials and reviews from happy clients. 

It takes some work and determination to network and create a client base, especially at first, but being a VA will give you the freedom to create your own schedule and live life on your terms.  

Make an extra $1000 a month designing websites

You see how you are reading about this working from home trend?  And thinking about setting up your own business so that you can work from home?  Well, lots of other people just like you are taking their lives and businesses online too – and they need websites. 

Not everyone is experienced enough to create a website, so they need help. That’s where you come in. But the first step is…. knowing how to design a website. If you’ve already got the skills, then get networking to build your client base through your own blog and website. A simple website design can be sold for around $2000, so if you can master this skill you will be quickly earning at least an extra $1000 a month. 

If you’ve never designed a website before, don’t worry. There are plenty of online courses where you can learn the skills necessary to get you on the right path.  I listened to a podcast recently about a guy who built his website design business from scratch, with no website building experience.  The first couple of websites he built were for friends for very low rates.  This gave him experience (doing a course is not the same as actually building a site in the real world), it gave him a portfolio to show to potential customers, and it gave him his first business reviews.

Along with web design, there are plenty of other services you can offer to increase your income as well, such as logo design. There will always be up and coming bloggers and businesses popping up all over the place, and building and launching the website is a massive hurdle for many of them.  This makes web design a great area to work if you want to make a good income from home.

Make money in affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money, provided you are authentic.  Affiliate marketing is simply promoting the products of other people or businesses and earning a commission from each sale. You find products that you like and support and attract potential customers through your blog, social media posts, YouTube videos, and more. If you have one of these already set up, make sure you are tracking everything you need for the coming year with my 2021 Side Hustle Planner.

As an affiliate marketer, you need to convince buyers of the value the product holds, and what it has done for you. Don’t be scammy!  It is so obvious when people are promoting everything they can think of just to earn a commission.  You will lose trust quickly if you do this.  Do not promote things you haven’t tried just to earn a few dollars. Instead, look for products that you already use, like, and support and start spreading the word about them. 

If you look around on my website, you will see from time to time I have promoted a product, tool, or service that I love!  I don’t have loads of promoted items as I believe in only showing my audience the things I have used and seen real benefits from.  Where I have promoted something, generally (but not always), this is making income through affiliate marketing.  I also promote things that I love where there is no affiliate program, and why?  Because my biggest goal is to help my audience.  If I have the opportunity to earn a commission when doing that, it’s great!  But if there is a product, tool, or service that I like and I think will help them, I will promote it whether or not it pays a commission.  And that is a great way to build trust.

Affiliate marketing takes a little while to get momentum.  Approaching it with a strategy and some consistent effort, it is possible to turn this into a “make money while you sleep” type job. 

Where do you find products for affiliate marketing?  Look around at items or services you already use, then see if there is an affiliate marketing program that they offer. It can be anything from clothing, makeup, online courses, books you’ve read, etc. Some big stores, such as Amazon, also run affiliate marketing programs, so you can promote a variety of products through being an Amazon affiliate.

When it comes to affiliate marketing, the options truly are limitless.  It’s a great way to get started earning income from home. You can soon be earning an extra $1000 a month, and it can even be scaled to a full-time income with a little more time and effort.

Earn money in transcription

Do you have a high typing speed and are accurate in your typing?  If so, working in transcription is a great option for making money at home.  You will also need to have a good grasp of grammar and punctuation. 

To work as a transcriptionist, you listen to recorded audio files and convert them into text. These audio files can be anything from interviews to work meetings to YouTube videos to church sermons, so you get a variety of work without getting bored. Even if you have little to no experience, you can still get started pretty quickly in this field. 

There are several companies that hire beginner transcriptionists such as rev.com (sign up here) and transcribeme.com (sign up here).  They will require you to take a short test before accepting your application. 

If you are really passionate about this, you can also start your own transcription company.  Whilst you will earn more as you’re not working for a company, it may take a little more time to become established with a big client base unless you have a huge network already. 

Either way, transcription is a great route to earn money at home if your attention to detail is on point and you want the benefits of a flexible schedule.

Sell on Etsy and make $1000 a month or more from your couch

Imagine earning money at home by selling your own products and designs.  If you’re creative then selling on Etsy might be a perfect way to earn money from your couch. 

Etsy is an online marketplace where you can sell unique items – anything from jewelry to t-shirts to stickers to birthday or wedding invitations. Planners and journals, and printable pages for all types of planner, journal or binder is also big business on Etsy.  

Setting up your account is simple, and you can get started quickly. As soon as you have a few things to list you can start sharing your link to family, friends, and anyone in your network.  You don’t necessarily have to have a website or a blog outside of Etsy, but it could help to direct traffic to your shop if you post consistently and continue to make people aware of what you’ve got to offer.  

Selling on Etsy is cost-effective and is a good place for people getting started in selling online products as there are no monthly fees.  You pay a listing fee, and then you pay a commission on each product you sell, but the fees are relatively low so they won’t take too much from your profits. 

The only downside for a new seller is that there is a lot of competition so getting started might be slow at first. Some sellers start out by selling all of their items at really low prices, as this helps to get sales, and more importantly, to get reviews.  Even if you don’t want to start at very low prices, you can use social media and your website to promote your shop and get more eyes on your products.  Either way, with some hard work and determination, you can set yourself apart from the crowd and gain loyal buyers who will return time and again.  

Start and monetize a YouTube Channel

Lots of people who are working to make money online ignore YouTube.  But if you’ve got a message to shout out to the world, YouTube is a great way to do so. The best part? You can actually make a pretty significant income vlogging about your life and your interests. 

What lots of people don’t realize is that YouTube is a search engine.  We are just over 8 months into the year, and according to the folks at Internet Live Stats, there have been just under 1.7 trillion Google searches performed so far this year.  There have also been just OVER 1.7 trillion YouTube videos watched this year.  Not all of those will have been from people searching on YouTube, but plenty of them will have been.  Google also shows YouTube results high up in pretty much every search that you do.  So if you can carve out a niche on YouTube, you could be making good money from the comfort of your home.   

Starting a YouTube channel is simple, but it’s very unlikely to be an overnight success. You have to work your way up to a certain number of views and subscribers before you can start making some real money through ads, merchandise, paid partnerships, and more.

The best way to gain a following is to niche down to a topic that is super-specific. For example, vlogging about your life as a mom may gain you a following but it will be slow going, just because mommy vloggers are a dime a dozen. You really have to stand out to be seen.

However, if you start vlogging about your life as a mom while effectively homeschooling 4 kids, your audience will not only be more specific, but there will be people actively searching for what you’ve got to say.  If your content is useful, you’ll also find people willing to share it, and your audience will grow.  This is when you will really see the benefits of making money from YouTube!

If you’re just getting started on YouTube, be sure to check out the Side Hustle Planner to get all of your content planning and tracking in one place.

Earn extra income from home through online tutoring

If you enjoy teaching and want to make an impact while also making money working from home, online tutoring is the thing for you. Not only is this one of the most flexible jobs you can have, but it can also be extremely profitable as well. 

There are so many opportunities to make money from home teaching and tutoring students and adults in a variety of subjects. You may end up helping someone overseas learn English as a second language or prepping a student for an upcoming SAT test. There are several companies out there to help you get started. One thing to keep in mind is that many of these jobs require previous experience and/or a bachelor’s degree. 

Two popular sites where you can apply to work as an online tutor are VIPKid and Tutor. You can start here or go a different route and check out a job site such as Flexjobs. Flexjobs will post current tutoring positions available as well as the necessary qualifications. This is a great way to make a huge impact on someone’s life – no classroom required.

Create and sell online courses

Online course creation has become a huge business over the last few years and it’s only going to get bigger. According to Research and Markets, the online education market will grow to almost $320 billion by 2025. 

In the current job market, people need to find ways to stand out.  As people are spending more time at home, they are also using the time to learn new skills and try new things.  This need for information and learning is a great opportunity for you to share your own knowledge and get paid to do it. 

You don’t have to be an expert to start creating your own course today. You simply need to know more than most people on a particular topic or two. For instance, maybe you are really good at watercolor painting. Maybe you know the best way to bake sourdough bread. Perhaps you have great tips for growing your own vegetables. You might not realize it, but people will pay for this information if it is clear and well set out.

Don’t be put off if there are people out there already teaching what you know.  A quick search on Amazon will show you that for any given search term, there are many successful authors.  If you put together your course in your own voice, and with the information you know that works, you have as much chance as anyone else of making money from your knowledge.

Sell Your Clutter

This may be the most common go-to option to make money at home. Take a look around your house and see what is taking up space. Do you really use that old rowing machine in the basement? What about all the clothing you haven’t worn in 6 months, or the things that don’t fit you anymore?  Do you have old sports equipment, like tennis rackets or hockey gear, that’s collecting dust in the guest bedroom? 

Be honest with yourself about the things you truly need and rid yourself of the rest. You’ll feel a whole lot lighter when you declutter your space of unnecessary items and only keep what’s truly important to you. 

You can sell on lots of different sites – Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist work well for items that need to be picked up locally.  You can also use eBay if you are happy to organize shipping. Either way, you’ll be cleaning the house and making some extra cash in your pocket. Selling your unused items can get quite addictive, so get started today and see how much money you can make! 

There are so many ways you can make money from home, not just those above.  Try not to think of it as a get rich quick way of earning money. Many of these work at home options take time, effort, and dedication to get the most benefit, but then anything worth having takes a little work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably trying to sell you something that doesn’t work.  Keep working at your plans consistently and over time you’ll be able to ditch your day job, create your own schedule, and have the freedom and flexibility that most people only dream of.  

If you need help in budgeting out your income earned at home (or at work), check out my article on how to make a budget and stick to it.

Have you made money from home doing any of the above, or something different?  Drop a note in the comments and add your ideas to this list.

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