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Looking for ways to make money for Christmas?
It’ll come as no surprise to anyone that Q4 is an expensive time of year.
There are lots of holidays—Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Understandably you might be feeling a little overwhelmed by how to pay for all these gifts!
According to Investopedia, the average American was expected to spend $942 on holiday gifts in 2019, up from $885 in 2018!
So if you’re starting to worry about how you can afford Christmas, keep reading to learn ways to save $1,000 for the holidays!
Table of Contents
1. Sell Your Stuff
There’s not much time left until the end of the year, so speed is of the utmost importance when it comes to earning an extra $1,000 for Christmas.
One of the quickest ways to make money quickly is to sell your unwanted items.
Wondering “What can I sell to make money for Christmas?” Unless you’re an extreme minimalist, I bet you could find 100 things in your house that you don’t use! It could be anything from clothes, books, electronics, garden equipment, toys, etc.
There are lots of ways you can make money selling your stuff. You could list items on Facebook Marketplace or sell them on eBay or Craigslist. Consignment stores are also an option, but they may be a bit more difficult this year due to the current circumstances.
Not sure how to get started? This free video series will teach you how to make your first $100 in 7 days from selling your stuff.
2. Freelancing
Freelancing is an amazing way to make extra money quickly. You can use your existing skills to help other people and bring in some extra cash.
Freelance Writing
Do you love to write? Freelance writing can be a lucrative way to make money from home.
Freelance writers get paid to write blog posts, articles, white papers, e-books, etc. As a beginner, you can expect to make about $100 per blog post.
Want to learn more about freelance writing? Check out this free mini course that will help you get paid to write online!
Related Content: How to Make Money Writing as a Freelance Writer
Proofreading
Always been a stickler for grammar and punctuation? Why not make money from home by proofreading other people’s writing?
So many people are self-publishing their books these days. Not to mention the number of blogs that are popping up each and every day.
Anyone who publishes content needs a proofreader. According to the Editorial Freelancers Association, proofreaders can make upward of $30 per hour!
Want to learn how to start a proofreading business and earn money from reading? Check out this free proofreading workshop!
Related Content:
How to Become a Proofreader with No Experience
21+ Websites That Offer legit Freelance Proofreading Jobs
Virtual Assistant
Are you a super organized person? If you’ve ever worked in an office before, chances are you’ve already got a lot of the skills you need to be a virtual assistant (VA).
A VA performs secretarial or executive assistant work for business owners remotely.
Not sure what services you could offer as a VA? Jumpstart your VA business with these tips!
Related Content: How to Become a Virtual Assistant and Earn up to $60K
You can find freelance clients on Fiverr or Upwork, or join some Facebook groups and start engaging with potential clients there.
Making money through freelancing doesn’t have to be just for Christmas; it could be the start of a new side hustle or a full-time career!
If you’re looking for more ways to make money from home, check out this epic list of 33 home-based business ideas!
3. Amazon FBA
Another way to make money from selling stuff is through Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon). This is called retail arbitrage. You buy items for a cheap price and sell them for a higher price on Amazon.
After you purchase the items, you send them to Amazon, and it will look after storage, packaging, and delivery.
Learning how to find the best items and understanding how to navigate Amazon FBA can be tricky, so it might be worth taking part in this Amazon Bootcamp to learn proper strategies for making money on Amazon.
4. Trade in Stuff for Amazon Credit
Do you tend to buy a lot of your Christmas gifts on Amazon?
If you trade in your unwanted items, you can get Amazon credit that you can put toward gifts for others!
This is also a great way to upgrade your used electronics, as you can often get a discount code to purchase a newer model in addition to the Amazon credit.
5. Babysit
Love kids? The holidays are the perfect time to offer your babysitting services as lots of people have parties and events to go to.
Well, there may not be as many parties this year, but people might want to attend their Zoom parties in peace, so you can entertain their kids while they do so! 😉
According to UrbanSitter, the average hourly rate for a babysitter in the United States is $16.75 for one child and $19.26 for two children. Not bad!
6. Pet Sit
Prefer animals to kids? You could pet sit instead!
When people go away on vacation or for work, they need someone to take care of their pets. Some people are wary of leaving their pet in a kennel or cattery in case they get sick or don’t get along with the other animals. They prefer to have someone they trust to take care of their beloved pet.
You could offer to look after their pet in your home or in their home and house sit as well.
To find clients, you could put up flyers in your building or on your local noticeboard, or you could join TrustedHousesitters to find pet- and house-sitting opportunities.
7. Walk Dogs
Another way to make money from your love of animals is to get paid to walk dogs.
Who wouldn’t want to get paid to play with dogs every day!
To get started, you could advertise in your local area or join Rover to find dog walking clients. According to Rover, you could earn up to $1,000 per month!
8. Sell Handmade Items
Are you a crafty person? It’s a pity to keep all your creations hidden away in your home when they could bring joy to other people!
The best way to make money from your handmade creations is to set up a store on Etsy. You can sell jewelry, pottery, art, photography, handmade clothes, etc. You can also sell vintage items or craft supplies!
It’s super easy to set up a store. I used to have two Etsy stores and made $200–$300 per month on top of my day job.
Note: It costs $0.20 to list an item on Etsy and it takes a certain percentage when you make a sale.
If you want to serve a more local market, you could make Christmas hampers to sell, bake Christmas goodies, or make wreaths.
9. Get Paid to Drive
Do you love to drive and have a few hours to spare? With Uber and Lyft, you could drive people where they need to go and make money on the side.
You can choose your own hours and only turn on the app when you’re available to work. You also get to keep all the tips you make.
This driver made $19 per hour as a driver for Uber and Lyft!
10. Deliver Food
Food delivery is a popular side hustle at any time of year.
There are lots of takeout delivery companies that hire people to deliver food including Uber Eats, DoorDash, Postmates, and Grubhub.
Delivering food is another flexible side hustle because you can choose your own hours. However, you’ll get more orders during peak meal times, so it’s best to work during those hours.
11. Deliver Groceries
People are so busy around the holiday season that weekly household chores often have to take a back seat. One thing that can’t take a back seat though is the grocery shopping! But they can pay some to do this for them.
Through the Instacart app, you can get paid to shop for and deliver groceries to people. It’s a flexible side hustle because you can choose your own hours.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a car! You can also just shop for people and they can collect it themselves. In this case, you would work specific shifts at one particular store.
12. Deliver Packages
There’s no better time of year than the holiday season to get a side hustle delivering packages!
In 2019, USPS was gearing up to deliver 28 million packages PER DAY between December 16 and December 21! That’s a lot of packages! #ThankYouCaptainObvious
You can get in on this action and earn money delivering packages. USPS and other local postal services take on extra staff at this time of year.
13. Get a Seasonal Job
The holiday season is a great time to pick up a job in retail. Most stores hire additional staff at this time of year because everyone is going shopping more.
It will require some sacrifice on your part because you will likely have to work evenings and weekends, but these contracts typically last 8 to 12 weeks, so it’s only a short-term sacrifice.
You will typically get paid minimum wage for these jobs, but you might get a store discount, which will come in handy for buying gifts.
14. Become a Mystery Shopper
Getting paid to shop or eat out? Sounds like a dream job, right?
Lots of companies quality check their customer service by sending mystery shoppers into shops to purchase the item. Usually, you will be required to ask the shop assistant a few questions.
You won’t make a lot of money with mystery shopping, but you can definitely earn an extra $100 or $200 per month for completing a few easy tasks.
One legitimate company that hires mystery shoppers is BestMark.
15. Get Paid to Shop Online
One of the best ways to put some money back into your pocket is through buying things you were already going to buy through cash back websites instead of going to the store.
When you want to purchase something online, go to the Rakuten website and search for the store you want. If you click through to the store through Rakuten, the store pays Rakuten a commission that it shares with you.
You can get anywhere from 1% to 10% or more in cash back on your purchase. Better in your pocket than theirs!
You can often get a sign-up bonus for signing up with Rakuten as well.
16. Become a Handyman
Lots of people like to get jobs they’ve been putting off fixed just before Christmas as they’re usually entertaining more.
If you’re good with your hands and don’t mind manual labor, you could offer to do handyman tasks like fixing door handles, repairing loose tiles, fixing leaky faucets, doing yard work, etc.
You can put up flyers in your building, on your local noticeboard, or in your local area Facebook group. You can also find jobs on Craigslist.
Word of mouth is huge in this niche, so if you do a good job, people will recommend you to their neighbors and friends.
17. Teach English Online
Teaching English online is a very popular way to earn money online, especially with stay-at-home moms. As your clients tend to be Chinese children, your work hours tend to be early in the morning while your own children are asleep.
The great thing about teaching English online is that you can do it from home. No wandering out into the cold weather!
There are lots of different companies that hire online tutors. VIPKid is one of the most popular, and you can earn from $14 to $22 per hour with it.
Make Money for Christmas Conclusion
There you have it! Where there is a will, there’s a way. You don’t have to worry about not being able to afford Christmas gifts or going into debt to buy them. You can make extra money for Christmas if you try any of the above ideas. And some of them could be the start of a new career!
I hope you have a wonderful and stress-free holiday season!
Need Christmas gift ideas? These are the best gifts for people who work from home!
And if you’re looking for funny work-from-home gifts, check out these awesome ideas!