July 19, 2023
Editor
Kari is a writer for SideHustles.com. She previously managed a website in the privacy and digital compliance industry and earned money on the side by working as a pet sitter for 7 years.
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Testing WebsitesAs if having a full-time job wasn’t exhausting enough, the rising cost of living in many areas is forcing people to take up extra lines of work to pad their incomes.
Fortunately, if you’re smart and strategic about it, it’s possible to generate cash on the side without lifting a finger. If you want to make a little extra money but are trying not to overexert yourself, check out these 21 easy side hustles that pay you to do nothing.
If you have spare space or items that you’re not using, there are people who will pay to rent them from you. With these side hustles, you can sit back, let people use your things, and rake in cash while doing essentially no work:
If you have a car, chances are you aren’t driving it 24 or even 12 hours a day. Instead of letting the tires deflate in your driveway, rent out your car on an app like Turo or Getaround so others can take your car for a spin for a few hours—and you can make money without doing a thing.
Do you have a guitar collecting dust in the corner? Maybe a camera tripod? Even just a set of tools? You can rent out all of these items—and many others—on equipment-sharing apps. If something can be of use to someone else (especially for hobbies, housework, or repairs), you can make extra money by loaning it to them for just a couple of hours or days.
Turn your spare room, garage, shed, basement, or even closet into someone’s private storage by renting out your extra space. All you have to do is let the renter/storer into your house or yard, then let their stuff sit around while you collect a monthly fee.
Another way to rent out your spare space (that doesn’t require giving up a spare room or owning a vacation home) is to list your yard as a private dog park. On apps like Sniffspot, you can open your green space up to one pet owner at a time during periods you set. You can do this remotely, with no need to interact with the owner or animal—just accept requests and get paid.
If you have extra green space to spare, consider renting it out to aspiring farmers through apps like YardYum and Shared Earth.
Look around your home and find anything useful that you can afford to part with for a while. Chances are high that you can rent it out to make money. For example, along with the tools and equipment we mentioned already, you can rent out baby gear, sporting goods, clothes and jewelry, and much more.
It’s also possible to let people use your phone, computer, or internet connection and get paid for doing it. This isn’t the same as renting—you don’t have to physically turn over your devices to them. With these side hustles, you can just sit back and let the money roll in.
Give companies insight into your everyday browsing habits by sharing your phone or computer data. It will likely be tracked through software provided by the platform and then used for market and consumer research.
This obviously isn’t the ideal side hustle if your main priority is protecting your privacy, but it takes no effort whatsoever—you can keep browsing as you normally do.
Similar to sharing your data, if you’re willing to give others access to your device, you can share your signal and get paid to do nothing but have your phone on.
If you’re like many people, you enjoy sharing your thoughts and ideas. In fact, you probably already do it for free.
It turns out that there are companies that will pay real money for your feedback. Make your voice heard with one of these low-effort side jobs:
Did you know you can get paid to take surveys? All you have to do is share your thoughts and feelings and you’ll make money right from your phone or computer. This is something that you can fit into any gap in your day (idle moments on public transit are ideal for this).
Be aware that, while this is one of the easiest ways to make a buck online, it’s no way to get rich. Taking surveys for money pays very little—and sometimes it only pays in gift cards and merchandise instead of actual cash.
Just like taking surveys, you can watch ads for money in exchange for sharing your thoughts about the products or services advertised.
Once again, the upside is that this side hustle requires almost zero effort. The downside is that it only pays pennies and sometimes doesn’t even pay cash, just gift cards.
If you like the idea of sharing your opinions for money, website and app testing is a step up from watching ads and taking surveys. It’s a bit more work, so it’s a stretch to call it “doing nothing,” but you don’t need to acquire any special skills or even leave your computer.
As a tester, you’ll use a website or download an app and perform certain activities on the platform, then share your thoughts on the experience. Just like that, you have a few extra bucks in your wallet.
Make easy money and enjoy free samples with a minimal-effort product testing job. As a product tester, you’ll be sent new or updated products from different companies. You’ll use each product, then provide your feedback on it. Easy, right?
While there are in-person product testing gigs, focus on companies that send samples to your home or offer online-only testing to expend the least energy possible.
When people go on vacation, they often need someone to check in on their homes for them. In many cases, you won’t actually have to do anything—it’ll be enough to poke your head in, confirm that the place is still standing, and leave. Try out either of these side hustles:
What could be easier than sitting around a house all day and getting paid for it? Become a house sitter to make money doing nothing (except maybe watering a plant or two and bringing in the mail).
If you stay overnight, things get even more attractive. Not only can you get paid for doing effectively nothing, you can actually get paid for sleeping.
You can find house-sitting gigs through friends and family or by using websites and apps. If you have travel aspirations, you can also use house-sitting platforms like Trusted Housesitters to find free homestays in exchange for house-sitting services.
House-sitting gigs may be the ultimate way to get paid for doing nothing, but they can be hard to come by. If you’re willing to settle for doing very little, consider becoming a pet sitter. While your duties will include feeding, walking, and cleaning up after the pet, the rest of your time on the job can be spent however you’d like.
Many pet-sitting jobs require you to stay a few days at a time, in which case you’ll be paid for hours of your time spent lounging around with an animal nearby.
There’s a good chance you have at least a few things you wouldn’t mind auctioning off (both tangibles and intangibles). These side hustles don’t require you to do any work to sell your things; just get rid of stuff you already have on hand and let the money come in.
You don’t need to go out on shoots or run around a wedding with your camera to get paid for photography. In fact, if (like many people) you already take pictures sometimes with your phone, you might not need to do anything at all.
If you have high-quality or unique pictures that you’ve taken on your phone or camera, you can probably find a buyer online by selling them on photo-sharing platforms or stock photo sites. Stock photos don’t generally earn that much money, but every little bit counts.
Take your old duds and turn them into cash. You’ll barely need to move for this side hustle; just collect garments and accessories you no longer want, take some pictures, then post them on a clothing marketplace app.
If you’re not ready to part with your clothes but you like the idea of selling old goods right from your phone, consider selling your obsolete devices instead. If you have an old phone, computer, gaming console, or pretty much any other gadget, you can turn a quick and easy profit.
Here’s a no-effort side hustle for teachers: sell your lesson plans online. If you’ve already designed coursework, a whole curriculum, or even just one-off lesson plans, keep making money off your efforts by selling classroom resources to other educators.
You can sell through platforms like Teachers Pay Teachers, or independently on sites like Etsy.
If none of the ideas above sound good (or if they’re not enough and you need something more), don’t give up. You can still make money with these side hustles, which capitalize on things you might already be doing anyway:
Investing is the number one way that people make money by doing nothing, but it can be intimidating to those without backgrounds in finance.
Luckily, there are low-stakes investing options, like using the Acorns app. The app rounds up each of your purchases to the nearest dollar, then invests the extra change. Other investing apps offer low investment thresholds or even free stocks.
This one does require you to get up off the couch, but otherwise, you won’t need to do anything but simply walk. Use one of the many apps that pay you to walk and get cash or rewards for taking your daily stroll.
Take advantage of cashback apps to make money right from your phone while buying your everyday necessities. With these apps, you can cash in on deals and coupons or upload photos of your recent receipts to get cash rewards.
Hear us out on this one—driving for a rideshare service like Uber or Lyft (or making deliveries through apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats) is definitely not doing “nothing.” But at the same time, your job will essentially be to drive around, which is something that you might find fun and relaxing anyway.
If you’re serious about making extra cash but want to limit your efforts, these are great options. And if your goal is to interact with as few people as possible, you can opt for a package delivery service like Amazon Flex.
