10 Side Hustles for Couples to Do Together

If you and your partner both love kids or animals, childcare and pet care are great side hustles you can do together (or by taking turns, depending on who’s at home on a given evening or weekend).

Where to find work

To find babysitting jobs, you can look on the sites UrbanSitter or Care.com. You’ll need to undergo a background check as part of your application, and you should also be CPR and first-aid certified.

To find pet care gigs, you can check out dog-walking apps and pet-sitting apps like these:

• Rover
• Wag!
• PetBacker

How much you can earn

These jobs have decent profit potential. According to a study by UrbanSitter, the average hourly rate for babysitting in the US is $22.68 for one child or $25.37 for two children. The equivalent rate for pet care is a bit lower, at $21.45 per hour.

Many people who enjoy cooking fantasize about starting their own restaurant or cafe. However, that’s a complicated and expensive project, and one that usually requires more than two people.

A much easier alternative is to open a catering business or a food truck. At its heart, catering is very simple—you and your loved one just whip up great meals in your kitchen at home and then deliver them to your customers. Running a food truck is much the same, except it will take you out of the house (and involve more day-to-day interaction with customers).

Although you can do both of these hustles alone, it’ll be easier (and more fun) with two people. You’ll be able to share the costs of the equipment you need to buy, as well as of any permits and regulations you need to get (anything involving food and beverages will require these).

Bear in mind that, although a food truck or a catering business might look like a very small-scale undertaking, you’ll still need to do research to find out what gaps exist in the market in your area.

What you can earn

Caterers often earn an average of around $22 per hour. Food trucks can be extremely variable; in the beginning, you might shoot for around $1,000 per month, but if you’re very successful, you can eventually rake in tens of thousands of dollars per month.

If you and your partner often get compliments on how lovely your home or garden looks, consider putting your skills to use with these side hustles:

• Cleaning: This could mean general housekeeping or something more specialized, like deep cleaning or move-out cleaning. If you opt for the latter, you’ll probably need to buy or rent professional equipment, such as a steam cleaner.
• Landscaping: This includes planting flowers, maintaining lawns, trimming and pruning hedges, maintaining or installing hardscapes (e.g., patios, pathways, walls), and pretty much anything involving gardens or other outdoor spaces.
• Home improvement: Painting and decorating, carpentry, plumbing, or any other DIY skills you and your partner can offer.

Where to find work

If you want to offer these services, you can list them for free on Yelp or Craigslist. There are also specialist websites where you can list your services, such as Thumbtack or Angi.

Alternatively, you can advertise in your local community by distributing flyers and business cards.

How much you can earn

Cleaning, landscaping, and home improvement all pay quite well. Thumbtack estimates the national average cost of house cleaning to be $40–$50 per hour, paid to each cleaner (the exact rate will depend on the location and size of the home, as well as the type of cleaning required).

As far as home improvement and handyman rates go, Thumbtack gives estimates of $40–$50 per hour on the low end and $125–$139 on the high end. The estimates for landscaping services fall within the range of $50–$96.

There’s a good chance you follow at least a few professional content creators yourself, so you already know it’s possible to write blog posts or create videos and make money. It isn’t easy—you’ll be competing with millions of other would-be influencers—but if you have something to say, it’s possible to stand out from the crowd.

There are many different types of online content you can create, including:

• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videos
• E-books
• Online courses

Types of content creation that are suitable for couples

As a couple, starting a podcast could be a great option. Podcasts with two presenters are usually more interesting than those hosted by just one person, and it’s easier to bounce ideas off someone else than to deliver a monologue. You probably have natural chemistry with your partner, too, which will make your show more engaging.

Videos are also good for couples, for the same reasons. You can make videos for YouTube or other platforms like:

• TikTok
• Vimeo
• Facebook
• Dailymotion

You’ll need equipment for this, such as a decent video camera and lighting equipment, as well as a microphone. You can start out with just a smartphone, but the quality won’t be professional.

Once you’ve created your content, you’ll need to monetize it. Look into the various ways to make money from blogging, many of which also work for video and audio content.

How much you can earn

Your earning potential in this space boils down to how successful you are at garnering followers. Don’t expect to make much at all when you’re just starting out. If you’re able to make $100 per month in your first year and $1,000 per month by the end of your second year, you’re doing very well.

This is a great side hustle to get into with your partner or spouse. You can use it as a way to declutter your home by selling your second-hand items and make some money in the process.

There are also many products you can make in your own kitchen or living room and then sell. This is a great option if you and your partner share a passion like baking, woodworking, or sewing. Alternatively, one of you can work the creative side and the other can handle the business side of things.

Where to sell your items

You can take advantage of:

• Garage sales: Selling your unwanted items on your own property means you won’t have to pay any fees or commissions. However, you’ll need to work to publicize the event (e.g., by putting up flyers).
• Flea market: If you set up a stall or booth at a flea market, you’ll probably have more potential buyers viewing your wares, and you won’t need to promote the event yourself. However, you’ll usually have to pay to rent the space.
• Farmer’s markets: If you or your partner are handy in the kitchen, you can sell all types of foods at farmer’s markets—baked goods, pickles, preserves, or mulled wine, for example. You can also sometimes sell other items like flowers, candles, pottery, or natural homemade bath and body products. As with flea markets, you’ll have to pay a fee for the space you use.
• Craft fairs: If you and your partner have artsy-craftsy inclinations, you can sell candles, body products, or other luxury items. You can also try selling handmade jewelry, knitted or crocheted clothes, or artwork.
• Consignment shops: These are shops that will sell your items on your behalf and then take a commission on the money you make. This is obviously a lot less time-consuming than setting up your own garage sale or standing at a market stall all day, so it’s a great option if you and your partner want a passive side hustle, although your earning potential will be lower.

Online marketplaces

If you’d prefer to run your hustle without leaving your house, you can also use online marketplaces and selling apps. There are dozens of these, many of which you’ve probably already heard of. The big names include:

• eBay
• Craigslist
• Facebook Marketplace
• Etsy
• Amazon
• thredUP (for clothes)

Alternatively, you can set up your own website. Doing this means no one will take a cut of your profits, although you’ll have to do a lot more work to list your items and manage the payments you receive from your customers.

How much you can earn

When it comes to making and selling products, the sky’s the limit. Your earning potential entirely depends on how many items you’re able to sell (and how you price them). To get an idea of what prices you should set, search for other stores selling your chosen type of product and ensure that what you charge is comparable.

Flipping products means buying them at a low price and selling them for more to make a profit. You can find products at garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores, or on sites like Craigslist.

Popular items for flipping include:

• Clothing
• Furniture
• Electronics
• Vintage or antique items
• Collectibles, memorabilia, and limited edition items
• Books
• Musical instruments
• Sports equipment

If the item you’re flipping is battered or worn out, you’ll need to restore or repair it so that it’s more appealing to buyers and worth more money.

Where to sell your refurbished items

You can flip items on all of the same marketplaces listed in the previous section. In many cases, you can use the same platform (e.g., Amazon) both to buy and sell items.

How much you can earn

As with selling your own DIY goods, your earning potential will be determined by what you sell and how much you sell. As a very rough average, people who flip clothes can expect to earn around $100 per month from it, but it’s very possible to earn more if you’re motivated and spend time on it every day.

If you can’t think of anything you want to sell, you might be able to think of something you’re willing to rent. You can do this with both unused possessions and space.

Renting out your possessions

Here are a few things you can monetize:

• Your vehicle: If you and your partner have two sets of wheels and you find that you don’t often need both of them, there are several platforms where you can rent out one of them when you aren’t using it. Try Turo for cars, RVshare for RVs or campers, or Fetch for trucks.
• Your bike: Rent your bike out on Spinlister (which will also let you rent out surfboards or snowboards).
• Film and video production equipment: If you’re a photographer, you can rent out your cameras, lenses, lighting, and other equipment on ShareGrid.
• Baby equipment: Babyquip is a site where you can rent out all types of baby equipment, such as strollers, cribs, car seats, and toys. If you and your spouse have a child who’s aged out of their baby gear, this is a great way to put it to use.
• Just about anything else: Fat Llama and Loanables are two sites that will allow you to rent out a large variety of items.

Renting out your spare space

If, like many couples, you have unused rooms (or other space in your home, e.g., in your backyard) that’s just sitting around gathering dust, you can let other people pay to use it. Look into:

• Offering storage services: If you have a spare room or a shed, you can rent it out as storage through sites like Neighbor or Store at My House.
• Airbnb: Airbnb is a very popular platform that you can use to rent out part of your house. It’s very flexible—whether you just want to rent your home for a few days while you’re on vacation or to recruit a housemate on a longer-term basis, you can do it on Airbnb.
• Renting out your parking space or driveway: If you have an unused garage, off-street parking space, or driveway, there are websites that will let you rent it on a monthly, weekly, or even hourly basis. Try SpotHero or, again, Neighbor.
• Renting your home as an office space: This option won’t be viable for all couples; it depends on your local laws and, if you’re renters, on whether your lease agreement allows subletting. However, if you’re allowed to lease out part of your home as an office, you can advertise it through platforms like LiquidSpace and Breather.

How much you can earn

As you’d expect, your rental earnings will depend on exactly what you’re renting. Renting your car will often net you around $20–$25 per day, and renting out a room via Airbnb can easily net you an extra $500–$1,000 per month—potentially more, depending on your property and your area.

We’ve already mentioned Airbnb, which isn’t just about renting your spare room anymore. They’ve expanded so that you can offer other types of services to tourists through Airbnb Experiences—either virtually or in person.

You can host:

• Traditional guided tours of your city or a nearby area
• Other types of tours (e.g., wildlife tours or food and drink tours)
• A sport or outdoor activity (e.g., extreme sports, watersports, or horseback riding)
• A class or workshop (e.g., language lessons, dance, or cooking)
• A wellness experience (e.g., yoga or meditation)
• Presentations, performances, trips, or other experiences

There are so many options to choose from that almost anything goes. If it gives travelers a way to experience the highlights of your local area, culture, or people, there’ll probably be a market for it.

This is a great side hustle to do with a partner. If you pick something that you both genuinely enjoy and find fun, that will be apparent to your customers, which will translate into great reviews and more business in the future. Corralling large groups of people (e.g., on tours) is also much easier when there are two of you.

How much you can earn

You can set your own rates on Airbnb Experiences. To attract business, you may have to start out by setting these relatively low until you manage to garner your first few positive reviews. Note that Airbnb will take a 20% cut of your profits as a commission.

Note: Unfortunately, as of May 2023, Airbnb isn’t accepting applications for new hosts for this program. We contacted them and they told us that they expect to provide more information on when the program will reopen within several months.

You might not think of investing as a side hustle—after all, it’s something you do with the money you already have, not a way to earn money from scratch. That said, it’s one of the best ways to build wealth with your partner, as long as you’re smart about how you go about it and communicate proactively.

Investing vs. trading

Before you dip into the world of investing, it’s important to understand the distinction between these two concepts.

• Investing: This refers to buying assets (such as shares of a company) and holding them for years at a time. If you follow a sensible strategy, this is a great way to grow your wealth in the long term, but it’s not a get-rich-quick strategy.
• Trading: This consists of buying and selling assets in the short term in the hopes of making a fast profit. Trading feels more like a “hustle” (whereas investing usually just feels like saving money). Trading has the potential for higher returns, but it’s also much riskier—in fact, in some ways, it’s a lot like gambling.

Be sure to discuss the strategy you want to pursue with your partner. The last thing any relationship needs is a dispute over money because you weren’t on the same page about an investment decision.

What you and your partner can invest in

Here are some of the joint investments you can consider:

• The stock market: As you probably know, you can buy shares in companies on the stock market (as well as funds that bundle together shares in many companies). To do this, you’ll need an account with a brokerage, such as E*TRADE, Robinhood, or Charles Schwab.
• Bonds: Bonds are “debt securities” that pay back the money you invested in them (and then some) over time. The bond market tends to be less volatile than the stock market, although it also usually has lower returns. To get started, look into how to buy bonds.
• Real estate: If you have enough cash lying around, you can buy an investment property (and potentially rent it out). If that’s out of reach, you can also get exposure to the real estate market through real estate investment trusts (REITs), which let you invest in property without directly owning and managing it yourself.
• Cryptocurrency: This is an increasingly popular way to invest, and it’s very easy to do through various online platforms (e.g., Coinbase and Binance). However, crypto is a risky investment, and many experts consider it to essentially be a form of gambling, regardless of whether you’re trading it or investing in it for the long term.

Getting into investing (of any type) is a big decision. Again, talk about this extensively with your partner before taking the leap, and do plenty of research so that you both know what you’re doing.

How much you can earn

Historically, the stock market has delivered returns of about 10% per year, which is the benchmark that other investments are measured against. Be aware that this is just an average; in any given year, your returns could be much higher or lower. In some years, they might be negative, so never invest any money that you can’t afford to lose.

There are dozens of types of businesses you can start with your partner, but we’ve chosen a few more that can be done without any specialized skills or knowledge:

• Virtual assistant services: As a virtual assistant, you’ll do various admin tasks for a person or business, such as answering emails, scheduling appointments, organizing files, and dealing with bookkeeping. These tasks are fairly easy to share and don’t require much complicated  IT knowledge (and of course, if you’re working remotely, you and your partner can operate from the comfort of your own home).
• Social media marketing: Social media agencies can help businesses promote their products, engage with customers, and boost sales. If you and your partner spend a lot of time on Facebook, Instagram, or other social platforms, consider this side hustle as a way to monetize your social media skills.
• Event planning: This is a great side hustle if you and your partner like working with people, although it can be a bit competitive. An event planner works with clients to help coordinate and budget various types of events like weddings, corporate events, parties, and more.
• Property management: This can include finding tenants, screening them, collecting rent, dealing with maintenance and repairs, and handling legal problems like evictions. This is another great side hustle for people who like customer-facing roles.
• Entertainment services: This is a very diverse array of side hustles that can include playing music or DJing, face painting, magic, catering, or leading games and other activities. However, you’ll need to do more traveling than with the other ideas we’ve mentioned in this list. You’ll also need to supply any necessary equipment (sound systems, lighting, etc).

How much you can earn

When you start a business, how much you can earn is determined by how much effort you sink into it. There are other factors, of course, including a certain amount of luck, but if you and your partner put in the time, this is the type of side hustle that can eventually become your main hustle, leaving you working for no one except yourselves.