Make a $1,000 Fast – Income-Generating Ideas
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Whether we are behind on bills or have an upcoming trip to splurge on, we all have times when we need to make $1,000 fast. You might have savings, or are trying to establish some, but you don’t want to dip into it quite yet. Whatever your motivation, we’re here to help. Getting $1,000 in your wallet pronto can make the difference between barely getting by, to finally having a bit of breathing room.
The good news is that when you need extra cash, you don’t have to rely on only one source of extra income. Instead, there are several methods you can use simultaneously to help you achieve your goal sooner. For example, you might be able to make money online, put in upfront work to earn a passive income, take on short-term jobs, or host a few garage sales all within a few months.
But you can also look at your current spending too. You can trim your budget by cutting out wasteful spending on subscriptions, eating out, or other areas, plus bring in extra income. Let’s look a little closer at how you can earn extra money fast and get a thousand bucks in your bank account.
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Top ways to make $1,000 fast
Take online surveys
If you prefer to earn money fast in your spare time by completing more “mindless” tasks while sitting at the doctor’s office or binge-watching Outlander for the tenth time, then taking online surveys is a fun option. Most popular sites work by giving you points for participating in market research and answering questions. Some of our favorite online survey options include:
Earn Real Money Fast by Filling Out Surveys!
- Sign up for FREE & complete your profile
- Earn points for taking surveys
- Redeem your points for cash or gift cards
- $55k+ Paid to Survey Junkie members daily
- Complete 3+ surveys a day, earn up to $100/mo.
- Swagbucks. Not only does Swagbucks offer surveys, but you can also earn points by watching videos or playing video games. When you hit a certain threshold of points you can cash out by choosing gift cards or a PayPal deposit.
- InboxDollars. With InboxDollars you can make money online by completing questionnaires, watching videos, and providing consumer insights. Plus it typically offers a sign-up bonus to help you reach your cash-out milestones more quickly.
- Survey Junkie. Another popular site for taking surveys is Survey Junkie. Like the others, you earn points and eventually can cash out with gift cards (including Amazon) or through PayPal.
It’s worth mentioning taking online surveys will likely not be the fastest way for you to earn $1,000. These types of apps or websites are useful when you’d rather earn a few bucks from your smartphone instead of scrolling the internet. You might not earn as much as you can with other options, but it can supplement your earnings.
Earn Real Money Fast by Filling Out Surveys!
- Sign up for FREE & complete your profile
- Earn points for taking surveys
- Redeem your points for cash or gift cards
- $55k+ Paid to Survey Junkie members daily
- Complete 3+ surveys a day, earn up to $100/mo.
Sell your things
By far, one of the easiest ways to make money fast is to sell stuff online or in person. There are now more options to unload and turn a profit than ever before. Websites like eBay are options, but so are more “local'' sites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and Decluttr.
The key to online listings is to upload quality photos and detailed descriptions. Take time to research fair pricing, and remember, your stuff may not sell for quite the amount of money as what you think it’s worth.
If you don’t want to bother with online listings, you can host an old-fashioned garage sale or set up a booth at a local shop. Plus you can get the word out by using social media to promote your items.
Earn Real Money Fast by Filling Out Surveys!
- Sign up for FREE & complete your profile
- Earn points for taking surveys
- Redeem your points for cash or gift cards
- $55k+ Paid to Survey Junkie members daily
- Complete 3+ surveys a day, earn up to $100/mo.
Do freelance work
Freelancing is one of the best ways to not only tap into the gig economy and create a side hustle, but you can make money relatively quickly by doing so. Freelancing is basically getting paid to complete a designated project or task that other businesses or individuals don’t have the time or capability to work on. You can run this as an online business and your skills could be valuable for someone else who needs specialty work completed. Freelancers can earn money for a variety of skills, including:
- Bookkeeping
- Copywriting
- Content writing, like blogging or articles
- Editing
- Graphic design
- Photography
- Proofreading
- Programmer
- Social media management
- Virtual assistant
- Voiceover work
- Web developer
With sites like Upwork and Fiverr, you can quickly create a profile, load samples (or create them), and start booking assignments. Or you can advertise your services on your own social media accounts or on LinkedIn.
Earn Real Money Fast by Filling Out Surveys!
- Sign up for FREE & complete your profile
- Earn points for taking surveys
- Redeem your points for cash or gift cards
- $55k+ Paid to Survey Junkie members daily
- Complete 3+ surveys a day, earn up to $100/mo.
Use cash back apps
Keeping with the theme of ways to earn money without using a ton of effort is to install cash back apps. These are apps where you earn cash back or gift cards on items you’re likely purchasing anyways.
There are numerous ones on the market now and you can earn cash back on a variety of products too. Ibotta is a great example of an app where you earn by submitting receipts from popular stores, including grocery stores, Target, Walmart, and CVS to name a few. There are also apps like Rakuten where you earn from online purchases at popular retailers too for clothes, shoes, and whatever else you can think of to spend money on.
To maximize your earning potential, choose apps that align with your lifestyle, such as online shopping, gas purchases, or grocery shopping. You may not earn money as fast as you’d like, but these are items you would spend money on anyway.
Related: How to Make $10,000 Fast
Rent out your room or residence
You may be interested in earning money with real estate but you’re unsure how to invest to get started. Fortunately, you can use an asset you already have — your own home or condo. Airbnb is one of the most well-known ways you can earn income off your residence.
Getting started is straightforward and includes downloading the AirBnB app and loading your property listing. Photography is a key element of your listing, so be sure to stage your place and take high-quality photos. You can even book a photographer through Airbnb if you like.
Think of all the ways you can market your place, including with the timing of certain events in your city, including festivals, concerts, restaurant week, or golf tournaments. Remember, if you don’t want to rent out your entire space, you can offer an extra room or garage apartment only.
Other rental options besides AirBnB include VRBO and Flipkey. But no matter which one you choose, you may be able to generate serious income sooner versus later by leveraging your own place.
Earn Real Money Fast by Filling Out Surveys!
- Sign up for FREE & complete your profile
- Earn points for taking surveys
- Redeem your points for cash or gift cards
- $55k+ Paid to Survey Junkie members daily
- Complete 3+ surveys a day, earn up to $100/mo.
Get a service-based job
If you’re the type of person who enjoys doing instead of waiting, then a service-based gig may be your smartest choice. Today’s gig economy means there are plenty of ways to make money completing tasks, from food delivery to babysitting. These service-based tasks rely on temporary workers to fulfill immediate needs. If you’re willing to work, you can make serious money. What tasks can you make money off of?
- Food and grocery delivery. Apps like GrubHub, UberEats, DoorDash, Postmates, Instacart, Shipt rely on drivers to fulfill and deliver orders for food and groceries.
- Handyman. If you like to complete projects around the house then sites like TaskRabbit can get you paid for your skills.
- Babysitting. People always need reliable, dependable care and you can find work through Care.com or other sites like it.
- Pet sitting. Apps like Rover help you find work with animals, such as dog walking.
- Tutoring. Online jobs are easier to book through sites like VIPKid, where they need tutors from all over the world to teach kids and adults in different time zones.
Earn Real Money Fast by Filling Out Surveys!
- Sign up for FREE & complete your profile
- Earn points for taking surveys
- Redeem your points for cash or gift cards
- $55k+ Paid to Survey Junkie members daily
- Complete 3+ surveys a day, earn up to $100/mo.
Blogging
A short online search and you’ll find thousands of blog posts promoting ways to earn thousands of dollars within a few months by starting your own blog and website. While success with blogging is possible, it may not be the fastest way to earn money. It’s true, you can set up your own site complete with a few blog posts within a day. But some blogs take months, even years before they earn their first dime.
Blogging doesn’t require much of an upfront investment either, like real estate or investing in the stock market, but it does require some fees like website hosting.
The sites that earn the quickest typically use an affiliate marketing strategy. This means you place a link on your website or blog for another company. If someone purchases an item with that company through your link (your link contains a unique code that is tracked back to your site) then you earn a commission.
Affiliate marketing is a great example of passive income, where you put in work upfront and reap the rewards later. However, for this to be truly successful, your blog and website need to generate lots of clicks and with an engaged audience, which typically takes time to develop.
The bottom line
If you want — or need — to make $1,000 fast, then you have options. And isn’t life better the more choices you have? But before you decide how you want to make your money, it’s important to be realistic about both your time commitment and timeline. The list above provides plenty of ideas for generating money, but some may be more time-consuming than you need. If you need the cash right away, you may have to consider taking out a personal loan.
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Writer
Sara Coleman is a former corporate gal turned creative entrepreneur. She began writing professionally several years ago and now contributes to multiple websites, blogs, and magazines. She’s also an avid reader and can’t resist a great historical fiction novel. Sara holds a BA in journalism from the University of Georgia and can be found supporting her Bulldogs every chance she has. She resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her wonderfully supportive husband and three children. When she’s not ushering her kids to sports and dance lessons, she can be found creating content for her own website, TheProperPen.com.
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