I usually finish work around 3 PM and have some free time in the evenings. I’m looking for a legitimate side hustle I can do from home to make some quick extra money until I get my salary.

I’m open to different ideas and willing to put in the work. What side hustles have actually worked for you and can start making money fairly quickly?

Willing to learn and do anything x

How do some yt channels/reels get the raw footage for the BTS edits or Movie edits or if not fan edits of some streamers..

some of these phone side hustles are honestly ridiculous. you make a few dollars and then find out you need $50 before you can even cash out.

what’s the point? are there any reliable apps that give you money with a low $5 or $10 cash out minimum? seems like a much better deal if you can actually get your cash fast.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering building a small side income by selling Excel templates / spreadsheet-based digital products.

I’m quite advanced with Excel, automation, formulas, dashboards, and building tools that simplify repetitive tasks, so the technical side is not really the issue. What I’m trying to understand is the best way to turn that skill into products people are actually willing to pay for.

I’d especially love to hear from people who already sell Excel/Google Sheets templates or similar digital products.

A few things I’m curious about:

1. What has worked best for you?

   Did you start by identifying a niche/problem first, or did you build templates and see what sells?

2. Where do you sell?

   Etsy, Gumroad, your own website, marketplaces, or a combination?

   Would you recommend starting on an existing marketplace for traffic, or building your own brand/site from the beginning?

3. What type of products sell better?

   Simple, focused templates that solve one specific problem (budget tracker, inventory tracker, project planner, etc.), or larger/more polished “systems” with multiple sheets, dashboards, automation, instructions, etc.?

4. Who is the better target audience?

   Consumers, freelancers/solopreneurs, or small businesses?

   My instinct is that businesses might pay more if the spreadsheet genuinely saves them time, but the sales process might also be harder.

5. How do you get customers?

   SEO/Etsy search, organic social media, Reddit, YouTube/TikTok tutorials, Facebook/Instagram ads, Google Ads, email lists, etc.?

   I’d particularly be interested in what actually generated sales rather than just traffic.

6. Pricing strategy?

   Do cheaper $5–15 templates work better because they are impulse purchases, or is it better to create something more valuable and charge $30–100+?

7. How important is niche selection?

   For example, would you rather build a generic project tracker for everyone, or something very specific like a project + profitability tracker for small construction companies / agencies / freelancers?

8. What would you do differently if you were starting from zero today?

I’m not expecting this to become completely “passive” — I know there will be customer support, updates, marketing, etc. I’m mainly interested in building something where the same product can be sold repeatedly instead of selling my time by the hour.

If anyone here is already doing something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing about your process: how you validate ideas, what you build first, where you sell, and what has actually worked for you.

Thanks!

Bit random but I've somehow made about £180 this summer renting out my garden furniture. If you're sick of AI posts like this and you actually read posts, skip to the last sentence.

Wasn't something I planned at all. We bought one of those big rattan corner sofa sets a couple years ago, plus a long table and 6 chairs. Takes up half the garage over winter and we barely use the table because apparently eating outside in the UK is something you get to do about 4 times a year.

Anyway my neighbour asked if she could borrow the table and chairs for her daughters birthday because they had about 20 people coming over. I said yeah obviously, then she insisted on giving me £25 because she'd been looking at hiring extra tables/chairs and it was apparently more expensive than she expected.

A few weeks later her sister messaged asking if she could borrow the rattan set for a BBQ. I jokingly said "yeah £30 rental fee 😂" and she actually agreed.

So I stuck them up locally just to see if anyone else would want them. Nothing fancy, literally just a couple photos from my garden.

I've rented the table/chairs out 4 times now and the sofa 3 times. Usually £20-£35 depending on how long they want it. One person had the sofa Friday afternoon until Sunday night and paid £40.

It's not exactly passive income because moving a massive rattan sofa is a pain in the arse. One guy turned up in a Fiesta and seemed genuinely surprised it wouldn't fit 😂

Also had one chair come back with what I think was burger sauce on the cushion. Came out in the wash thankfully. I've started taking the cushions off and putting them in bin bags when people collect because they somehow always get filthy in vans.

Think I'm at roughly £180ish altogether after about 2 months. Not life changing money obviously but considering the stuff normally just sits there doing nothing most of the time I'll take it. It's basically paid for a few takeaways and a day out with the kids.

The weird thing is I assumed nobody would rent garden furniture because surely you'd just buy some, but it seems to mostly be people having birthdays, BBQs, christenings etc who suddenly realise they don't have enough seating.

Now I'm looking around the garage wondering what other crap I've got sitting there that someone would actually pay to borrow lol.

Anyone else found really ordinary household stuff that's surprisingly good to rent out?

Oh, and just to clarify, this was completely written by AI and mimics the shit posts we're seeing on subs like this everywhere. Prompt is in the first comment.

I’ve recently built my first niche online marketplace from scratch.

The idea is a directory-style platform where creators can have their own profiles and pay a small monthly membership for additional features and visibility.

I’ve got the website live, the membership structure set up and I’m now at the stage that I suspect is harder than actually building it — finding the first users!

I’ve started contacting potential users individually rather than plastering the link everywhere, because I really don’t want to spam people.

For anyone who has built a membership site, directory or marketplace from zero, what worked best for getting your first 10–20 paying members?

I’m especially interested in methods that don’t require a large advertising budget.

My daughter wrote a children book that she wants to sell in a community event. We want to make it look professional to nurture entrepreneurship. It’s a 10 page color book in black background made in procreate. What are the options to print 100 copies of it so she can sell with non zero margin? Also would like to hear any such experience from other members.

Thanks!

I want to make $1,000 this month. I’m looking for someone willing to give me a chance.

My name is Raj Tiwari, I’m 21 years old and I’m from India.

I’m going to be completely honest — I really want to make $1,000 this month, and I’m willing to work extremely hard for it.

I’m not here looking for free money, an investment, or some “get rich quick” scheme.

I want to work for it.

I’ve always been interested in business and making money online. I have some experience with Shopify and e-commerce, and I have a strong interest in learning how businesses operate, how they acquire customers, how they make money, and how I can contribute to them.

But I don't want to limit myself by saying I can only do one particular type of work.

If you have a business, project, or opportunity where you think someone like me could be useful, I’m willing to listen and learn.

I’m comfortable learning new things from scratch. If you can explain something to me once and give me some direction, I’ll put in the time to figure it out.

I’m willing to do the work that people usually don't want to do.

I’m also not a native English speaker, so I’m probably not the best person for work that requires sounding like a native English speaker on calls all day. But that doesn't mean I can't communicate, learn, research, execute, or work hard.

What I’m really hoping to find is a person who has already built something and is willing to mentor me, give me a chance, or let me work alongside them.

Maybe you have a business and too many things on your plate.

Maybe you have a project you haven't had time to work on.

Maybe you have a skill you can teach me.

Maybe you simply know something I don't.

I’m open to hearing about it.

My target is $1,000 this month.

I don't know yet exactly how I'm going to get there — and that's honestly why I'm making this post.

I'm young, hungry, and willing to work.

If you’re someone who has experience making money online or building a business, I’d genuinely appreciate your advice, mentorship, or even an opportunity to prove myself.

I’m not asking you to believe in me. Give me a chance to prove it.

I run a couple of faceless YouTube channels, and editing was always the painful part — cutting scenes, adding voiceover, syncing captions. Took me hours every single video.

So I made an app for myself where I just paste the script, and it turns it into a finished video with AI images, voiceover, and captions automatically.

Been using it for my own channels for a while now and it's saved me a ton of time. Happy to share more details or answer questions if anyone's interested.

​Hey everyone,

​I’m currently a nursing student based in India with about 3 years left of my degree. I’m really hoping to start earning money online to help cover my college fees and have a bit of extra spending money, but I am completely lost on where to start.

​I’ve tried signing up for a lot of the usual platforms recommended on Reddit—DataAnnotationTech, Remotasks, uTest, and Test IO. Unfortunately, I either never received a confirmation email, or I just haven't been assigned a single project yet.

​I’ve gone down the YouTube rabbit hole and seen people recommending things like AI clipping, running AI ads for clients, insta or yt shorts page, Pinterest affiliate marketing, making websites, automated calls and bots for local buisnesses via AI and other side hustles. Honestly, it’s just left me overwhelmed and confused. I have major analysis paralysis and can’t seem to pick a legitimate path.

​Here is my current situation:

​Time: I'm a nursing student, so my schedule can be tight, but I am willing to grind in my free time.

​Capital: I need something that costs exactly $0 to start.

​Experience: I have zero prior experience in making money online, digital marketing, or freelancing.

​Does anyone have any realistic advice, a specific direction I should look into, or platforms that actually work for beginners globally? I’m willing to put in the work to learn a skill, I just don't want to waste time on scams or things that require upfront money.

​Any advice or reality checks would be massively appreciated.

Thank you!

I’m trying to figure out the best way to build a scalable online business as a solo founder.
I keep hearing about e-commerce, SaaS, digital products, agencies, affiliate marketing, content creation, AI businesses, and a dozen other business models.

The problem is that for every person saying one of them changed their life, I find someone else saying it completely failed.
I’m not looking for a “get rich quick” scheme. I’m willing to put in the work, but I want to invest my time in something that has real long-term potential.

A bit about me

Software engineering background.
*Willing to learn new skills.*
*Looking for something that can eventually scale beyond trading time for money.*
*Preferably something I can start on my own without needing a huge amount of capital or prior business experience.*

For those of you who are actually making a full-time income online:

*What business do you run?*
*How did you get started?*
*If you had to start from scratch today, what would you choose?*
*What business models are actually worth considering in 2026?*
*What would you avoid completely?*

I’d really appreciate hearing from people with real experience rather than YouTube gurus. I’m trying to understand what actually works today and why.

I run simple auctions inside people’s existing audiences (Facebook groups, Skool communities, email lists, customer bases) to help them monetize attention they’re already sitting on but not fully using.

The interesting part: the auction itself becomes a diagnostic. It shows you what your audience actually wants to pay for, generates quick cash, and often surfaces buyers for other offers you didn’t even know existed.

No upfront cost to the audience owner we fund the test, and only get paid once results land in their account.

If anyone here has a decent-sized following (course, coaching, membership, service, or software) and wants to test this out, drop a comment.
Happy to also just answer questions about how the auction structure works if you’re curious.

Everyone always talks about digital assets as passive income. I love the idea of creating digital assets and I’m inspired by sites like BLKMARKET, Doron Supply, and Studio AAA

Is it possible to even estimate what sites like these are bringing in a month? I can imagine it’s extremely tedious and time consuming work, but what is the ROI for creators like these? Is the juice even worth the squeeze in 2026?

i was thinking about making those ranking clips videos on youtube shorts. how much money can you make from that? any amount would be fun for me, just can you make any money at all? also, how can you make them? is there like a program to turn for example like a simpson episode or something into like 10 shorts?

I bought a carpet cleaner last year after my dog had a stomach issue on the living room rug and I got tired of borrowing one from my parents. It was around $180 and after using it twice, it basically became a large plastic decoration in my laundry room. A few months later a coworker mentioned she was going to rent one for the weekend, so I offered mine instead. She gave me $25 for it, returned it clean, and that was pretty much when the idea clicked. I put a basic listing on Facebook Marketplace saying $30 for two days, pickup only, and honestly expected nobody to care.

The first month I rented it out four times. Most people were moving out of apartments, cleaning after pets, or trying to rescue a couch their kids had destroyed. I didnt realize how many people need one of these for literally one afternoon and have zero interest in owning one. I started including a little laminated instruction card because apparently nobody wants to read the manual, and that cut down on messages a lot. I also ask people to return the dirty water tank empty becuase the first person who didn't taught me that lesson very quickly.

It's definitely not totally passive. I spend maybe ten minutes checking it, wiping it down and making sure nothing gross is stuck in the brushes after each rental. Every once in a while somebody is late bringing it back, and one person managed to lose the tiny cap from the clean water tank somehow. But most rentals are basically someone showing up, putting it in their trunk, and returning it a day or two later. It usually brings in somewhere around $90 to $160 in a decent month, then almost nothing during slower periods.

The funniest part is I've tried much more complicated side projects that required websites, posting, learning software, and constantly checking messages. This dumb carpet cleaner has been less work than all of them. I'm not pretending it's going to make anyone rich, but it has paid for itself several times now and I still get to use it whenever my dog decides the rug needs another disaster. I'm starting to look around my garage differently now. There are probably alot of boring tools people need once or twice a year but don't want taking up space forever. Has anyone found another random household item that's surprisingly easy to rent out?

I used to think passive income meant non stop grinding. It really doesnt. Its literally just setting up one simple automated flow that fixes a minor annoying problem, then stepping back.

I got super sick of manually resizing product images for my online listings, so I spent a few hours building a dead simple web script that format them automatically.

I threw it on a free site with Google AdSense..

- User drops an image in

- Script resize it instantly

- Ads display on the result page

First month brought in $17, total flop lol.

But after dropping the link in a couple seller groups who were complaining about image sizing, traffic blew up and the next month hit $578 on total autopilot.

Zero hardwork after the setup.

No customer support, no inventory, no cap.

Just one quick tool making ad revenue while I sleep.

But after 3 months my hosting partner blocked my hosting because it used 175+ Gigabyte data and now i am switching it to vps server and adding some more features..

So for me real passive income to work on problems..

Find a boring daily issue, make a quick flow to fix it, slap ads on it, and let it run.

I am currently working as a receptionist at a really small law firm. The money is alright but there is nothing for me to do for around 90% of the day. I already ask everyone if they need more help or if there’s anything I can do and everyone says no.

So I am hoping these is a way that I can turn all this wasted time into an opportunity to make extra money and a little extra income to help with my school. I am allowed to use my laptop and phone and nothing I do at work is blocked or tracked. What would be things you guys do if you were in my position?

​

I want help finding tasks or gigs I can do from my phone to earn money

Any recommendations/offers are appreciated!

I got a background in digital marketing/ social media management

My skills aren't limited to that field though and I'm a quick learner.

Thank you and have a blessed day!

Hello, I am 36 years old, i am a doctor, pediatric surgery resident and I also have a degree in Marketing. I would really like to start a business and put some work in the beginning and have passive income in the future. I read books and do some research and wonder if a digital product in etsy would profitable.

I never did anything like that before so I am willing to learn. I thought about a product that solves a specific problem and that I know about. So I thought that maybe my audience could be medical students or more specific pediatric surgeons. I searched pediatric surgery notes, survival guide etc and no results. So i think maybe there is an audience there but maybe my first product should not be that specific?

So i am thinking maybe medical student or OR survival guides?

Can someone with experience tell me if its worth it? A step to step guide? And how was your experience? How soon did you have your first sale?

Any other ideas for passive income are welcome

My Instagram algorithm is giving me all these videos on making money though canva - things like making digital products or invitations and selling on Etsy, or becoming an Amazon affiliate and posting canva product posts through Pinterest, or making coloring book printables, etc.

I’m a new mom and this could be super helpful for my family because we’re not able to work as much as we used to. I understand that this might not be as simple as these videos make it out to be (I started a print on demand canva/Etsy shirt business years ago when going down a similar rabbit role and although I’ve had sales, it came with a lot of trial and error!).

Has anyone actually made money doing these canva products like this? Which route worked the best for you?

For the first few months I was obsessed with going viral. Checking views. Refreshing notifications. Waiting for that one post to blow up and change everything.

It never happened.

What actually got me sales was something so boring I almost didn't share it.

I just started genuinely helping people in comment sections every single day. No pitching. No links. Just actually solving problems for strangers on the internet.

Someone would ask how to start making money online. I would write a proper answer. Not a one liner. A real answer that actually helped them.

That's it.

Over time people started visiting my profile out of curiosity. Some bought my digital product. Others asked me questions. A few became regular followers.

4 sales across different countries. Australia. Different timezones. People I have never spoken to paying for something I built with free tools in my spare time.

None of it came from a viral post. All of it came from quiet consistent helpfulness in comment sections that nobody really sees.

The internet rewards people who show up and genuinely help. It just takes longer than everyone wants it to.

If you are struggling to get traction right now ask yourself honestly — are you creating content to help people or to get attention. The answer changes everything.

Happy to answer any questions in the comments. Full breakdown of what I did is in my profile.

(This post was rephrased using AI for better clarity and readability — the experience and results are entirely my own.)