5 free side hustles that won’t cost you an initial investment

Editor’s note: This is an opinion post and does not represent legal financial advice.

Side hustles are a great way to add an extra income stream to your monthly earnings. Whether you are trying to pay off debt or just want to start saving, free side hustles can help you make enough. However, with most side gigs you have to have an initial investment, which can be a little discouraging. Below are 5 free side hustles that require no money from you and will help you start earning as quickly as you start.

1. Drive Uber, 4 hours a day

If you have a car, great, you can get started right away. But if you don’t have a car, you can get a low-interest auto loan to get a car and then pay off that loan with the money you make with Uber. Once you are done paying off the loan, you have the extra money and the car, which you can use to make more money.

Find top auto loan finances here.

2. Get an apartment for rent

If you have no investments, but you want to start saving, here’s another one of free side hustles you can try with zero upfront money. Get an apartment on mortgage and rent it out to pay off that mortgage. If you have a good credit score and an overall stable, if not healthy, financial situation, there’s a good chance that your mortgage lender will approve renting out the apartment. Once you have paid off the apartment, you can keep renting it out to make more money.

Similar to renting out an apartment, you can rent out office space and pay off its mortgage with the rent. Here again, you will need to have a good credit rating or a stable financial situation that can garner the trust of mortgage lenders.

Read our mortgage guide before you start to seek lenders.

3. Freelance

https://www.upwork.com/Freelance is something you can do from anywhere. All you need is a good internet connection, a computer, and a comfortable space to work from. Freelance jobs include everything from content writing to managing accounts. While freelancing does not require any initial investment, you still have to put in some time and effort into establishing your reputation as a reliable freelancer. You can create accounts on sites like Upwork and Freelancer, and build profile over time to gain a strong reputation that would attract clients.

4. Rent out anything and everything

Do you have exercise equipment that you don’t use all the time? Or perhaps some gardening tools only get used once a week. If so, this equipment can make good money for you. You can rent out anything that is of value to others. Apps like Turo (for car rental), Spot hero (for a parking spot), neighbor (for your storage space), Spinlister (for outdoor gear), BabyQuip (for baby gear), Stylelend (for your closet), KitSplit (for camera gear), and Fat Llama (for miscellaneous stuff).

5. Start selling your time

You can lend your time to people looking for baby or pet sitting services. There are several apps you can use to find a reliable pet sitting gigs. Check out apps like Rover (US), Host a Pet (Canada), WAG (US), PetBacker, Fetch, PetSitter, Sittercity, and Care. Find a detailed description of these apps here.

To find babysitting gigs, try urban sitter, AuPair, Helpr, enannysource, Seekingsitters, Sitter Pro, Babysits and bambino. Find a detailed description of these apps here.

You can also sell your time by teaching. Job search engines like simply hired, flex jobs, teach away, and indeed can help you find high-end paying jobs for online teaching. In addition, the chronicle of Higher education has a huge database for education jobs. For more teaching jobs, you can try Inside Higher Ed and Higher Ed.

Discover more teaching jobs at:

The bottom line

Free side hustles can help you make around a thousand bucks every month, so do not take it lightly. Every cent makes a difference in savings. If you are working towards paying off your debt, these side hustles can offer a guaranteed income without any initial investment.