No BS ways to make money in college with side hustles
As someone who has read quite a few “how to make money in college” blog posts, something I’ve noticed is that a lot of them aren’t written by college students. A lot of these posts are written by finance bloggers who aren’t sharing their own experience of making money in college. So, some of the tips they share aren’t always the most helpful.
So, I wanted to share a few things that I’ve tried throughout college myself that have helped me get money when I needed it. Hopefully these tips will help you too!
Sell your clothes
If you’re in a pinch and need money fast, your best bet would probably be to try to sell clothes you no longer want at a shop like Platos Closet. However, they’re picky with what they take, and they won’t give you very much money for what they do take. If you’re able to wait a bit for the money to come in, you can opt to sell your clothes on an app like Depop, Poshmark, or even Facebook Marketplace and you can make more money that way.
I’ve been selling on my depop since August and have made 30 sales and around $400! If you’re willing to put the effort into it, it can definitely pay off.
Start a website
One way I’ve made passive income throughout college is through my website (which you’re on right now!) The cool thing about making income from your website is once you have your content out there, you really don’t have to do anything to make money from your posts. The income I get from my website is from affiliate marketing and ads, mostly on posts I wrote years ago. I’ve also had a lot of free stuff sent to me throughout college as well because of my blog, which is always a plus!
Disclaimer on this one though, it typically takes a while to get website views to the point that you’re making money. I’ve had my website for 4 years now and have only made a few hundred dollars from it. That being said, in this day and age it is definitely possible to grow quickly. So many bloggers/ influencers get really big really fast, especially because of apps like tik tok.
If you’re interested, I have some more posts on why you should start a blog in college and also how to start one!
Freelance
Another one of the ways I’ve made money in college is through freelancing. I do freelance web design, but in this day and age you can make money from a lot of different skills you already have, especially if you’re tech savvy.
The way I got my foot in the door with web design was by designing this website (ryality.com, the one you’re currently on)! Once people saw I had designed my own website, some businesses (mostly family friends) started contacting me to design theirs. So I’ve been able to do that even with very little experience! (sidenote: just another reason to start your own website! It can get you all kinds of unexpected opportunities) Of all of my “side hustles” I’ve made the most money throughout college from doing web design.
So, if you have a skill that you think people would pay money for, try freelancing! A pretty popular freelancing website I use to look for freelancing opportunities is Upwork, so if you’re interested, that would be a good place to start browsing opportunities!
Drive for Postmates, Uber, Doordash, etc
A lot of college students turn to driving for these companies when in need of extra cash, and I myself have been one of those students. A couple summers ago I did food delivery through Postmates and made some money that way. I wasn’t the biggest fan of it just because I had to sit and wait for a long time between orders because of the area I lived in, but if you live in a busy area and enjoy driving around, this could be a good option for you! I think the best part about this one is that there is really no commitment, so you can just do it whenever you feel like it.
Start a small business
Something I’ve seen a lot of college students doing during the pandemic is starting small businesses. I’ve been very heavily considering starting an Etsy for art myself but haven’t quite decided yet. If you have a hobby or a passion or literally just something you think you could sell, this might be a good option for you! I’ve seen a lot of people do crafty things like crochet projects, candles, jewelry, etc. Etsy and Depop are good options for platforms to do this on!
Being financially stable in college is really hard, so I hope these tips help you make a little extra money.
That’s all I have for this post! If you’d like to hear more from me, don’t forget to hit the button below to be notified when I post. 🙂 Until next time!
