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Looking for some seasonal side hustles to help buffer your bank account in time for the holidays?
You are not alone.
The end of the year is the MOST EXPENSIVE time of year.
Aside from loading up on presents for gift giving, there are holiday parties, events, travel, and other expenses that make October through January 1st, a pricey time of year.
I’m gonna shed some light on 10 seasonal side hustles to help you grow your Christmas cash.
What you will love about these money making opportunities is that you can stop doing them when the holidays are over OR you can keep doing them all year long to help with:
- Growing savings
- Buffering your retirement account
- Grow a college savings account
- Save for travel and vacation
- Enjoy a more fruitful lifestyle month after month
Benefits of a Fat Savings Account
There all all kinds of perks to building a fat savings account.
First and foremost, peace of mind.
Because when the unexpected happens (and it will), you won’t have to worry because you’ll have savings set aside.
Take a look at some of these life changes and big expenses my family came across just over the past year:
- We moved 3 hours away
- My husband had 4 root canals done (this procedure is hella expensive)
- We had 2 car repairs and a total loss
There’s probably more than this that happened.
An eventful year to say the least.
And stuff like this happens to families, on the regular.
House repairs, car repairs, an accident, a medical expense..it’ll hit you one of these days and having money tucked away in savings will help give you peace of mind during this stressful time.
Next, you will have money available for stuff.
So if your tablet or laptop stops working, you can replace it with ease.
If you kids need braces, you pay for it.
Even smaller things like school pictures, school field trips, family travel and more that will be easy with money in savings.
How to Buffer Your Retirement Account Like a Boss
Build your retirement account by saving on autopilot.
Set up direct deposit to go to your retirement and enjoy a hands-off approach to managing your retirement account.
And, you can grow that account faster with more money, which can come from a side hustle!
Growing Your College Savings Account for Peace of Mind
Your kids wanna go to college.
College is EXPENSIVE.
You really need to start saving when they are a baby.
Isn’t that crazy?!?
If you get a later start, that is totally ok too but more money means more possibility for savings, which includes building that college savings account so you can rest easy that your child will have the funding they need to go to college and build their life.
Travel Worry-Free and Stress-Free With Plenty of Cash Tucked Away
I remember experiencing a trip where I DID NOT have enough money for that vacation and let me tell you, that was tough.
Truth be told, deep down I knew I shouldn’t go on the trip.
But, it was something that was planned for a year, I saved for, and due to a last minute huge expense a few weeks before, I had to drain my travel savings account to fund that emergency.
I had barely enough to still make my trip and I wanted to make it work so badly so I did.
But, I gotta tell you, on that vacation, I thought about money 24/7.
I actually skipped a few meals and didn’t do as much sightseeing, tours, and more.
This is not a feeling you want to have.
Having extra money to grow your travel fund, travel with no stress and no worry is an awesome feeling and side hustling will get you there!
Be a Boss and Live More Fruitfully Throughout the Year
Lastly, more money means more time to live like a boss.
You have your savings in order and you have extra cash to live the life:
- Date nights
- Festivals, concerts, and other entertainment
- Shopping
- Eating out
- Monthly subscriptions like gym membership, etc.
10 Seasonal Side Hustles to Grow Your Christmas Cash
1. Host Storage Space in Your House
You’re probably like, huh?
This is kinda like AirBNB hosting but you are not hosting people, you are hosting stuff.
You sign up to Neighbor and can store boxes, clothes, a car, and other goods in a spare bedroom, attic, garage, etc.
Use my referral link to get $50 when you sign up.
This is an awesome passive income opportunity that means no work for you, in exchange for up to $15,000 per year!
2. Get Paid to Take Online Surveys
Share your opinion and get paid for it.
You can do this with quick surveys or longer panels.
Surveys are fast and panels pay more. You pick or do both!
Here are some of my favorite survey companies I recommend:
3. Drive for Postmates
As a Postmates driver, you will be paid to deliver stuff, including restaurant takeout food, small goods from your local pharmacy, alcohol, and more.
I recently used Postmates to fulfill my sweets craving and got 3 slices of pie from this pie bakery a few miles away. It was heavenly, if you’re wondering.
A really cool opportunity to work casually from the comfort of your car.
Learn more about becoming a Postmates driver.
4. Deliver Groceries with Instacart
Become an Instacart worker.
You can either deliver groceries OR be an in-store shopper where you will be paid to fulfill grocery orders.
Learn more about working for Instacart here.
5. Become a Freelancer
Start working on a freelance basis, which is great for part-time work.
Just do what you do in your day job, on the side in a freelance capacity.
If you have other skills, you can monetize to work freelance, too.
Some ideas to get you started:
- Graphic design
- Logo design
- Social media marketing
- Web design
- Web development
- Copywriting
Places to Find Freelance Work:
6. Virtual Assistant
Help an individual, professional or business by working as a personal assistant virtually.
Your tasks doing this will vary based on the client. You can do anything from answering phones to scheduling meetings, arranging catering, notetaking, attending conferences virtually, and more.
Find jobs for a VA in online job banks like Upwork or places like Indeed or LinkedIn.
7. Sell Extra Stuff Around the House
This is kind of like flea market flipping except you aren’t sourcing goods from a flea market, you are sourcing from your own home.
I do this like twice a year, though I don’t sell every time. I mostly just clear out extra stuff for organization purposes. I want a clean, clutter-free space.
And once you have your pile of goods you’re ready to throw out, instead of throwing away, sell it!
Sell to consignment stores, online consignment stores like ThredUp, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, and more.
8. Take Up Dropshipping
Dropshipping means you source goods from one place, and ship to the customer, without having your hands on that item.
For example, you find a designer sweater on Ebay for $20 and you resell on Facebook Marketplace for $40, making a $20 profit. You order the Ebay item to ship directly to the Facebook Marketplace customer so you don’t have to do the fulfillment, packing, packaging and mailing yourself.
Make sense?
I used to do this and made up to five figures per month!
I started a small dropship store earlier this year (now sold) and made $1,000 in the first 10 days!
You can open a Shopify store to get you started (though a store is not necessarily needed, if you sell on marketplaces). Shopify has affordable monthly plans and will give a professional appearance to your business. I have had at least half a dozen different stores on Shopify. I absolutely love them.
There is money in this and if you are wanting to learn more about it, head to YouTube and there are a ton of channels that teach dropshipping.
9. Affiliate Marketing
Refer your friends and family to products and make a commission on the sale.
For example, if you refer your favorite blender and earn $20 per sale, as your commission and you sell 3 of them this month, you just made $60!
You can do affiliate marketing with or without a website.
Without a website, the best way to refer is through social media, by sharing on your Facebook page, for example, or creating a Pinterest pin about the offer.
There are a ton of ways to do this.
My third venture (my first and second were a fail) helped me finally nail this down and I made over $800 in my third month!
10. Start a Blog
Blogging is an adventure and it can take a while to start earning consistent income so you will want to start this now, a few months before the holiday season, to have enough growing time to make some real money to fuel the holiday season.
First Step: Brainstorm a blog name and pick your niche
Your blog name can be your first and last name. It can be a cute play on words like Abby’s Just A Girl and Her Blog. Make your blog name anything you’d like. The name doesn’t have that big of an impact on the success of your blog, believe me.
Second Step: Get Hosting
Having a self-hosted blog is a must. Hosting costs a few bucks a month so it is an investment but it will take your site to a whole new level. It makes it professional looking, helps you get more traffic and make more money.
Siteground is an excellent hosting company. I recently switched to them and I love how fast they make my site. I got a free SSL certificate and I’m getting ready to switch all my blogs (this one included to them).
Third Step: Add WordPress
WordPress is the platform to run your blog. It’s super easy to add through Siteground. Then, apply your theme and start adding content.
If you are doing a baking blog, you will start adding your cupcake recipes, for example.
If you are doing a business blog, you will start writing inspiring business articles.
If you are doing a mom blog, you will start writing and sharing your best breastfeeding tips or mom hacks.
Get the picture.
You make money through ads and affiliate marketing, among other methods.
So, when you are writing your content, make sure you have ads in your posts and affiliate links in your writing.
Join these affiliate networks
Join this ad network to start: Google Adsense
Then, once you hit 25,000 monthly sessions for your website traffic, go to Mediavine and watch your traffic income grow my LEAPS AND BOUNDS!
And, There You Go!
10 seasonal side hustles for your viewing pleasure!
What do you think?
Are these right up your alley? I would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts below and what you plan on doing for extra cash this holiday season.
