10 Easy Ways to Make Money This Summer

When you think about it — who wouldn’t enjoy having some extra cash stashed aside for all the amazing summer (travel) plans? However, not everyone had the chance to earn that extra buck throughout the year because there are always things to pay, bills to foot, debts to return, etc. Do not despair! With summer on its brink, it’s still not too late to start thinking about earning some money during summer for the summer — as long as you play your cards right and act on your choices properly and in time.

To help you out, we’ve put together a list of the 10 best solutions that could help you buy that plane ticket to Barcelona, or wherever it is that you’re planning to go.

Without further ado, here are our preferred suggestions:

1. Tutor – If you like keeping your mind active, you should definitely explore the option of tutoring; while summer may not be the ideal time to try and get kids to sit through hours of extra education, there are still those who are failing certain subjects and need help to get back on their feet. Additionally, you can also browse through local community colleges and see if they’re hiring tutors.

Related Resources:

• How to Start a Tutoring Business

2. Lifeguard – Being a lifeguard is a responsible but also fun job. In circumstances when nobody’s drowning and everything’s fine, what you get to do is spend the whole day at the beach, tanning, bathing, and enjoying the array of hot men and women walking by. Lifeguards can make at least $10 per hour if they’re CPR certified.

3. House flipping – If the market is good and you feel like you have what it takes, consider making your money for the summer by flipping houses. This is a real estate investment made with the sole purpose of reselling that same property for a profit. Profit is generated through renovations and capital improvements and/or the price appreciation that occurs as a result of a hot housing market. If you were to focus on flipping beach houses, you could make a mean turnover.

4. House sitting – If you’re looking for a straightforward and simple gig (you are on vacation too, after all), this is the perfect time to find someone to house sit for, which should be an easy task with all the people going away for the summer. House sitting would involve checking on the house to see if everything is intact, picking up the owners’ mail, feeding their animals, watering the plants, etc. A few house sitting gigs during the summer could turn into a hefty side income.

5. Drive an ice cream truck – If you don’t mind listening to the same incessant song all day long, do it! You can actually make nice money driving an ice cream truck.

Related Resources:

• How to Start a Food Truck Business
• Profitable Food Business Ideas

6. Be a caddie – While golfing is an expensive hobby to like, being a caddie is quite the opposite — it’s an easy way to earn $50 to $100 for a few hours of walking around with a bag.

7. Walk dogs – Simple! If you’re a dog person and you have a way with the furry critters, walking dogs can be your summer thing. This can be a great way to make some extra cash, and it can even be pleasurable.

8. Yard Work – When it comes to summer money making, this one’s a real staple! It usually pays around at least $20-25 per yard mowed, and, if you’re doing work in more than just a few houses, you can earn some serious money. Apart from cutting grass, you can also offer services like seeding lawns with grass seed, weed pulling, gardening, raking leaves, and a variety of other tasks. You can even clean pools for an extra buck! 

9. Washing Cars – Totally common and yet an incredibly simple way to make extra money during the hot season. You can do it yourself or with a few friends (and then split the money between yourselves, of course). This one is fun, effortless, and pretty great — hey, you’d be spending half of the hot summer days drenched in cool water you’re using for car washing!

10. Embrace freelance writing/part-time jobs – If you feel like you’re talented enough to jump in and save the day with your writing, go for it! Many bloggers out there pay pretty good money for guest posts. They also give reasonable deadlines, so you wouldn’t have to push yourself too hard. Who knows, you might even turn this freelance writing into a career!

Related Resources:

• How to Start a Business
• 9 Steps to Having a Successful Blog

As for part-time jobs in cafes and food joints, they can be pretty intense, but the money is good. Maybe you’ll manage just fine. Think about it!

We certainly hope our suggestions made a difference and that you’ve already started brainstorming a plan! Good luck!

Nate M. Vickery is a business consultant from Sydney, Australia. His fields of expertise are company management and efficient work environment through latest technology trends, as well as internet marketing. He is also an editor-in-chief at bizzmarkblog.com.