How Can I Make $100 A Day?

By: Stacy Garrels | July 16, 2020

Updated February 24th, 2022

There are plenty of ways to make extra money – online or with other side gigs. It just takes a little bit of effort upfront to decide what sort of hustle appeals to you. Whether it’s baby-sitting or day-trading, if you don’t enjoy the activity you won’t stick with it and you won’t make money.

As a working mom who always has a sideline (or two) going, here are some different ideas on how to make money.

Most side gigs aren’t going to pay you $100 a day every day, but earning $100 in one single day is definitely an achievable goal.

>>>> Related: Find out how you can make $500 fast using Swagbucks. You won’t want to miss these step-by-step tips to nabbing 500 bucks.

How to Make $100 Online

If you have limited spare time or an irregular schedule, or you’re just not looking for regular brick and mortar part-time work, an online side gig is the way to go.

There are a number of different ways to make money online:

Social Media

While the gold standard dream might be to be an Instagram influencer with millions of followers and lucrative deals with your favorite brands, that’s pretty unlikely. Unless your last name is Hilton or Kardashian, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to get there.

There are more realistic ways that you can use social media to make money online.

One example is to share great products and services that you find with your friends and followers. Make sure you’re sharing your honest opinion. Everyone has a referral brand these days, and make sure to share your link. While texting or emailing your friends and family might not have been successful in the past, in this scenario, I’m talking about writing helpful, well-thought out reviews in long-form content. Posting the review on a blog site like WordPress (free and easy to use) that you can link to is a great way to do this.

Blogging

Blogging is definitely still a “thing”. In fact, blogging is a war proven way to make money.

Many successful bloggers or Influencers have multiple ways to connect to their audience: Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google (search engine optimization), Facebook, and more.

While blogging will take time to build up a following, you can give your efforts a jumpstart. Writing helpful reviews that answer unanswered questions commonly Googled is a great way to drive eyeballs to your blog, and you can share these reviews across multiple social media sites.

Reach out to other bloggers you know and ask them to promote your site. Ask them to tell their readers about it and link to it. You don’t have to “cold-call” a bunch of strangers. Reach out to people in your networks: softball league, church group, and mommy groups are just a few ideas.

After you have a couple of reviews up, you can write to brands and let them know you’d like to review their product or service and ask them if they’ll send you a free sample. The more your relationships and online presence grow, the more companies will be wanting to seek you out and pay for advertising deals and partnerships with affiliate programs.

Freelancer Work Like Freelance Writing

Freelance work, like freelance writing, data entry, transcription, or virtual assistant work, are all great gigs that offer a solid way to earn money online. Upwork, Fiverr, and FlexJobs are great places to look for this type of work.

Data entry, transcription, and virtual assistant work tends to pay an hourly wage, and can range widely depending on your background and experience. Typical, realistic rates tend to be around $10-$13 per hour though.

While freelance writing tends to pay more per hour, the catch is it’s for short-term projects where you are paid per assignment. With freelance writing, for example, the project may pay $150. While you could complete it in a few hours, earning you $50 an hour, you’re not going to always have 40 hours of work per week. When starting out, there are many weeks you won’t have gigs and you’ll need to offer lower rates to build experience. After you get a few dollars in, you’ll find more work and it will get easier.

Doing Market Research on Survey Sites

Yes, you can make money by participating in online research studies and complete online surveys.

Survey sites like InboxDollars, MyPoints, and Survey Junkie are a great way to earn extra cash for providing brands with your honest opinion and feedback. Which is pretty great when you think about it because your buddy is not going to pay you for telling him, “Dude, your haircut sucks.”

Generally there is a signup bonus to get started (for example InboxDollars gives you a $5 cash bonus) and there are initial profile surveys you’ll need to complete so you can get matched to the right survey opportunities.

I’ve personally earned a couple thousand dollars doing online surveys, periodically, over the past 5 years. I definitely don’t qualify for all of them (there are pre-screeners to see if you’re a good fit and I’ve been rejected from plenty), but for the ones I do complete, the payout is worth it. Most surveys pay $0.50 to $5.00, but I’ve completed many that pay only a dime and some that pay more than $5.00. It all adds up!

Also these online surveys can lead to related ways to make even more money. For example, at the end of some surveys you may be asked if you’d like to be contacted regarding other similar surveys or focus groups. At the end of one survey, I was even offered $200 to go in for a half a day and try out different coffee makers.

Best Ways for Students to Make $100

Students, there are plenty of flexible and student-friendly ways for you to make extra money.

Online Business Ideas for College Students

Amazon Trade-In

The Amazon Trade-In program is a great way to earn extra cash. Trade in old Kindles, e-Readers, tablets, cell phones, headsets, gaming devices, and more in exchange for Amazon gift cards. There are no shipping fees. If you submit an item that is not accepted, it will be returned to you for free.

Sell Online: Flip Clothes and Thrift Store Finds

This is much easier than listing items on Facebook Marketplace. And you can offer to list items of your friends and other college students in exchange for a cut of their earnings. A lot of students just get plain overwhelmed with exams and papers and busy campus life. Believe it or not, there are students who throw away old laptops and smartphones because they are done with them and don’t want to put in the energy or effort to re-sell or donate.

Similarly, arbitrage is another great online business opportunity. By arbitrage, I mean just re-selling something for more than you bought it for.

There are plenty of times where you’ll see something that’s a killer deal in a thrift store (or a department store or supermarket), but have to pass because it’s not your size. (Or you know you have no use for a designer floor-length taffeta ball gown that’s only $8 when it sells for $2,000 brand new.)

Scoop up (buy) these finds and re-sell them online at a mark-up. Sites like Mercari, Poshmark, LetGo, or Kidizen are a great place to set up “shop” online.

Take some time to look at the listings that sell well, meaning they sell quickly and for a high price. If you find an item that’s a steal, there’s no profit to be made flipping it if there’s no high-demand.

I look for items that sell well and that I am knowledgeable in. Right now, it’s high-end kids clothes. On a given day, I can consistently sell 1-3 items and make $10-$20 in profit.

Online Side Hustles for College Students

Teach English

Online side hustles are another great way to earn extra cash. This can include teaching English, watching videos, offering online courses or lessons, proofreading papers, or evaluating search engine results for Google.

If you want to teach English, you’ll generally need to be a native speaker. While a bachelor’s degree is preferred, for undergrads there are many gigs there non-degree friendly — especially if you know a foreign language or are pursuing a degree in education.

Some companies to check out are VIPKID, English Hunt, Preply, Tutlo, Open English, or Cambly. Pay rates vary, but are generally $15-$20+ an hour or more.

Survey and Rewards Sites

Lesser known side hustles to check out include online market research (taking surveys on sites like InboxDollars), getting paid to watch videos (usually it’s a few cents per video but can add up over time), or if you love taking and sharing video footage, consider a YouTube channel.

If you’re already posting and sharing videos for free, why not broaden your audience and earn some extra cash?

Forbes estimates that YouTubers can make around $5 for every 1,000 views (or $5,000 for 1 million views). In addition to earning for your content views (with ads in the mix), YouTubers can also earn for affiliate program links and getting sponsorships.

Offline Side Hustles for College Students

There are some great “offline” side hustles to check out to, where you interact with people in real life to make extra money.

Get Paid to Spy on Your Neighbors (aka Deliver Food)

If you’re 21 or older, consider driving for Uber or Lyft. 19-year-olds (with driving experience) are eligible to drive for UberEats. And with a bicycle or scooter, 18-year-olds can deliver for UberEats. Plus you get set your own hours to earn money. With most of these services, you can cash out up to 5 times per day.

Even if you’re feeling on the fence about driving for UberEats, you could sign up and make a delivery just to get the juicy signup bonus. There’s a Minnesota woman who signed up, delivered one bag of noodles, and made a $200 signup bonus for UberEats.

Similarly, you can deliver food with PostMates or DoorDash if you are 18 years or older and both of these companies will accept 18-year-old car drivers.

Cash in on Your Spare Room

And another very student option to consider is taking on a roommate. If you’ve got a spare bedroom, you’re sitting on several thousand dollars in extra cash every year. Airbnb might be a good option to check out if you’re willing to part with your privacy some of the time, but not all of the time, for a little extra income.

Best Way for Stay At Home Parents to Make $100

Stay-at-home parents, rejoice! I promise you there are plenty of ways to earn extra cash at home, many from your smartphone making it that much easier for you to multi-task.

Blogging for Stay-At-Home Parents

While you’ll want a full-size keyboard instead of your touchscreen phone, blogging can be a great way to connect with a lot of people and make extra money. There are plenty of parenting bloggers who write about their experiences raising kids. Parents look to other parents for insight and advice; it’s comforting to know they are not alone in their struggles.

Some parents blog about parenting kids with special needs, or parenting abroad, or parenting kids in the spotlight (i.e. the preacher’s kids). And some blog about other topics of interest, and their kids may or may not get worked in.

But as one mommy blogger I know put it, “I get paid to complain about my kids driving me nuts, and to help people in the same boat.”

Reaching out within your existing network and writing reviews is a great way to start building up your own blog.

Rewards Sites

Rewards sites, or consumer deal sites, are another great way to earn. Sites like Swagbucks, MyPoints, or InboxDollars reward consumers for activities that they do every day. Get paid to answer polls, take surveys, play games, or shop online with cash back shopping.

Payout can vary quite a bit for different activities. With shopping, for example, reward sites will have deals with stores looking for more traffic. When you visit a store’s website through a MyPoints (or other rewards site) link, you can earn a cash back rebate for every dollar you spend.

Cash back amounts can vary from 1% to 20% or more. It’s important not to spend money to make money. But if you were going to make a household or vehicle related purchase anyway, you may as well get cash back for that purchase.

With Swagbucks, for example, you can earn cash back for doing your regular online shopping at retailers like Best Buy, Target, Amazon, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Advance Auto Parts, Macy’s, Kohl’s, and hundreds of other stores.

With reward sites, you’ll earn cash (like on InboxDollars) or points or perks (like with MyPoints) for completing different activities. When you’re ready to cash out, you choose from a PayPal deposit, gift cards to popular retailers, or in many cases, a paper check in the mail.

With just a few hours a week, in your spare time or while watching TV, you can earn an extra $100 or more a month.

Create Online Courses and How-To Videos

You can earn good money for creating an online course, tutorial, or how to video. You don’t need to be an expert at teaching online. You just need to have a skill that you can clearly and patiently explain.

People search for everything, even the simplest of tasks. For many of these queries (i.e. how to tie your shoes), they know how to do it. They may need help breaking it down and explaining it to a kid. And many people prefer videos over blogs and articles.

Some parent-oriented videos you could create include:

How to tie your shoes
How to put on your snowsuit
How to put a pillow in a pillowcase
How to check for monsters in the closet
How to hide veggies in a food dish
How to set up a timeout corner
Fun ways for kids to interact with Alexa

Market your “online course” by just putting it on YouTube. You can create a YouTube channel in just a few minutes. Share the links with friends and family. Post detailed descriptions of the video so that people can find it in Google Search.

As you create more videos and get more viewers and followers, you can add ads (on your page or in-video) and eventually get affiliate deals where brands want to work with you.

Freelance Gigs for Stay-At-Home Parents

There are a number of freelance gigs that work great for stay-at-home parents. Some you might find cringe-worthy, but these gigs are all tailored to parents and they provide a service to help people.

Donate Breast Milk

I’ve seen some listings on eBay that have made me shudder, from women with an “oversupply” in the freezer. If you want to do it the reputable way, helping premature babies, there are reliable ways you can get paid to donate breast milk.

Rent Out Your Baby Furniture

If you have old, extra, or unused baby furniture that is in safe and usable condition, earn money by renting it out to traveling families using Baby Quip. You can get paid to rent toys, books, cribs, mattresses, strollers, and more.

Get Paid for Doing Kiddie Carpool

Get paid for carpooling other people’s kids with kid rideshare apps. There is some rigorous screening, but you’re helping other busy parents, saving the environment, and earning extra income. Carpool kids to and from school, karate class, piano lessons, and more.

Rent Out Your House

You can rent out your house on Airbnb when you know you’ll be out of town. If the idea of strangers in your space creeps you out, probably not a good option.

But you can clear away photos and valuables, and build a cleaning fee into the price so that a housekeeper comes in after to make things sparkle and make up the beds with fresh linen.

And after all, if you’re a house set up for kids it’s likely another family with kids who will want to rent it. And you can be picky about your guests and only rent to people who have long-standing, good history as renters. Depending on where you live, this could be an extra $300 to $500+ for a week. And you get to come back to a professionally cleaned home!

Sell Your Kids Outgrown Clothing and Toys

Re-sell your kids’ old clothes and toys on apps like Kidizen and Mercari. I relist many of my daughter’s outgrown items, and I’ll buy clothing at fire-sale prices at kids thrift stores and sell them for a hefty mark-up on line. I take a picture of the item on the phone. The buyer pays the shipping, the site provides me with a postage label, and then I hand the package (or padded envelope) off to our mailman Steve. Pretty slick.

How To Make $100 A Day Without Investing

It is possible to make $100 a day without investing money or spending money. Some business ideas to generate extra income might include:

Side Gigs and Hustles

Think activities like babysitting, food delivery, and freelance work. If you need $100 in a day, a babysitting gig might be the way to go. With babysitting gigs, you typically get paid in cash at the end of your shift.

Passive Income Activities

These are activities like earning extra income from referral programs (getting paid a portion of your referrals’ earnings) or ad revenue from people visiting your blog or your YouTube channel. If you have a sizable blog or YouTube following, this could be thousands of dollars a year. Passive income can pay off big, but it will take several months or more to lay the framework.

Hustling in Extra Cash on Rewards Sites

If you had several hours to devote, it could be possible to earn $100 or 10,000 SB in a day on a rewards site like Swagbucks. Here’s a breakdown of what that could look like:

Sign up and claim a $10 sign up bonus.
Complete your daily goal and install the Swagbutton (a browser extension): 100 SB
Complete all free offers in Swagbucks Discover. (This can include signing up for newsletters or text alerts, or installing apps.): 5,000 SB
Refer 2 friends who sign up for Swagbucks and install the Swagbutton: 800 SB
Sign up for Swagbucks (arcade games) and play: 30 SB
Redeem Swag codes (on social media pages): 100 SB
Swagbucks Live Daily Trivia: 300 SB
Upload your grocery receipt(s): 1,500 SB
Answer survey profile questions: 50 SB
Complete 10+ surveys: 1,100 SB

But keep in mind that availability of free offers, surveys, or any earning activities can vary from day to day. Also, even if $100 is earned in 1 day, the cashout process may take a couple days or more.

Final Thoughts on How Can I Make $100 a Day

These are just a few creative ways to make $100. Whether you’re looking to quickly build a dash or just looking for some inspiration, these ideas outlined should help get you started. And if you’re looking for other ways to make money from home, check out these 6 ideas to make over $500.