Saving and earning extra money is always a good financial habit that everyone should practice.
However, it is especially best for college students since they have a natural treasure of untapped potential, the latest knowledge, sharp skill set, and fresh views that the world needs right now.
This explains why so many companies are offering more and more jobs to students.
College students leverage their natural talents in any task they undertake to help companies stay ahead in the world.
Just like how some of the world’s most successful companies, like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google, started with ideas of college students.
Apart from the potential that college students have to offer the world, it is becoming a necessity for college students to earn extra money.
Why Do College Students Need To Start Making Extra Money Now?
According to a study, an average college student graduates with $30,000 in debt.
The past year saw a massive hike in the outstanding student loan debt to $1.41 trillion, and the future isn’t looking too bright either.
Apart from the student loan debt, the world’s general economy is also raising inflation and interest rates.
To survive, you need to make yourself financially secure as fast as possible.
You can only plan a safe future ahead for yourself and your family with your financial freedom.
How Can You Start?
To start, you need to pay for your living, education, and entertainment expenses and settle all your debts.
On top of that, you need to ensure that you don’t run out of money.
Getting out of student loan debt early is the key to having a secure future, and we are talking about all of the debt, not just the interest.
For that to happen, you need to have more than one source of income.
As mentioned before, college is the best time for you to start your career, build on your skills, and secure more than one way of income.
That is why, in this article, you will find many ideas, depending on your expertise and interest, to make extra money without disturbing your studies.
The best part about this list is that you can implement more than one idea that catches your attention simultaneously.
1. Earn Money Online
Number one on our list is making money online for the following reasons:
- Flexible schedules
- Minimum to zero investment
- Fast returns
- It is generally skill-oriented more than qualification-oriented
Apart from these reasons, the digital world is the natural playing field for all Gen Zers and Generation Alpha.
No one knows the online world like these generations.
With your fast speed and adaptability in the online world, you can earn more than what you initially started out to make.
As you well enough know, when it comes to earning online, the options are limitless.
Here, we have motioned some of the highest and surest paying ways to earn an income.
Virtual Assistant
Being a virtual assistant, you can work on a wide range of skills that you have, like, proofreading, email managing, office management, web designing, marketing consultant, or you can work on the skills that the client is willing to pay for.
Freelance
When you decide to become a freelancer, you are signing up for a more specialized work format. Depending on your forte, you can register on any of the general platforms available or on a more skill-driven platform. Companies like Contena are also available to help you maximize your income potential if you are serious about this gig.
Launch an Online Course
If you have been complimented time and again on your teaching skills, then you should seriously consider launching an online course. Think of it as tutoring but on a digital platform. If you aren’t ready to do your own thing, VIPKID can help you make some money by teaching kids in China how to speak English.
Website Hack Reporter
There are companies willing to pay people who test out websites and report any hacks they are able to find. If you are good at programming, this can be a good way to earn while practicing your coding.
2. Get a Work-Study, Part-Time, or Temp Job
Taking a more traditional turn, you can apply for the government-offered work-study plan.
This will lend you a job at a dorm’s front desk or a job working in the administration department of a student union building.
Although more jobs are offered in such a program, almost all of them are of the same level, on-campus jobs as the ones mentioned earlier.
Along with a way to earn, you will also get proper time for your studies and homework.
The downside to this is that you need to qualify for the work-study program first.
You can also go on your own way and look into corporations and local employment agencies offering part-time or temporary jobs.
You will most likely find a place ready to provide you with an administrative to customer service job.
Make sure to check the pay and benefits package of the company you are considering to work with.
Of all the perks this particular way of money has to offer, the best one is using the experience you get from these official jobs to advance your future and career.
Here, we have listed down all the fields, fortes, and areas of interest in which you can get a temp, part-time job.
- Modeling
- TV Or Movie Extra
- Delivering Food
- Working In Retail
- Working at a Temp Agency
- Apply To Be a Research Or Teacher Assistant/ Work For Professor
- Working As a Bartender Or Server
- Become a DJ
- Weekend Catering
- Do Telemarketing
- Become a Translator
- Find Programming Bugs
3. Doing Tasks or Running Errands
With your energy and stamina, you will find many people willing to pay you in return for your help in their work.
In the new day and age, the tasks and errands you can do in exchange for money are not limited to physical form.
There are plenty of digital platforms and marketplaces, like TaskRabbit and Postmates, offering opportunities for college students to register their skills on their sites.
When a potential customer wants help in getting things done, they can request your assistance, and when the work is done, the platform releases the payment for that work.
With a few minor changes to this standard procedure, you can find a lot of platforms like these online.
You can find local platforms and services focusing on a specialized skill set.
Here we have mentioned some tasks and errands you can do to earn extra money.
- Become a Brand Ambassador
- Edit And Proof Read Your Peer’s Papers
- Apply To Be a Resident Advisor
- Become a Campus Tour Guide
- Tutoring
- Consult For Business
- Become a Product Demonstrator
- Gardening
- Cleaning Houses
- Baby, Pet, Or House Sitting
- Make Use Of Your Trade Skills (Become a Handy Man, Computer Repair, Paint Houses)
- Pool Service
- Snow Shoveling
- Become a Street Performer
- Become a Voice-Over Artist
- Start Earning With Survey Sites
- Drive a Car or Bike For Taxi Service Like Uber, Lyft
- Do Car Washing
- Become a Personal Trainer
- Help Senior Citizens
4. Entrepreneurship
If you are a person who doesn’t like following orders blindly, then chances are you are an entrepreneur at heart.
While it is true that to be an entrepreneur, you need to invest first and expect a return much later.
However, it is also true that being an entrepreneur is extremely rewarding.
Not only are you your own boss, but you are also rewarded in economic terms very handsomely for it.
However, your income is directly dependent on your own drive to make your business a success.
This way of earning an extra income is on this list and recommended to college students for the golden position they are in.
They are in the very middle of all their potential employees, vendors, and investors.
To top it off, they are so well tuned in their consumers’ psychology and buying behavior that they can predict the changing landscape of the world way before it happens.
The following list contains business ideas with high inventory turnover since they offer a much quicker ROI or belong to a booming industry with staggering revenue generation.
- Start a 3-D Printing Business
- Start a Blog Or Website
- Begin Event Planning Or Management Business
- Create Connected Schooling Apps
- Become a YouTuber
- Design and Sell T-Shirts And Merchandizes To The Latest Trends
- Start a Moving Service
- Become a Driver
- Tutor Other Students
- Run Social Media Marketing
- Start a Tanning Business
- Start a Nail And Makeup Business
- Launch a Laundry Service
5. Renting Your Stuff
Another way to make extra money is by renting out your stuff to people who may need it.
We realize as a college student, you must be thinking that you don’t have much stuff to rent out, but that’s not true.
Take an inventory of all the items that you own and that others need and ask you for them from time to time.
The items that top these lists are your renting items.
Another good way to find your rentable items is to go online to the rental marketplace and services and look at the available things in high demand on their site.
If you are thinking of posting or registering for rental service sites, then make sure to check the fine print of the deal.
You might be surprised that most platforms like Rentalcover offer insurance protection.
Most commonly, people rent out the following:
- Rent Out a Room In Your Home
- You Can Also Put Your Room On Airbnb
- Rent Out Your Car
- LeasiYour Garage Or Driveway
- Rent Your Clothes
6. Build a Passive Income
We know most college students don’t think enough, if at all, about this way of earning money, even though it is the most rewarding one in the long run.
If you have heard of passive income before, chances are you already know about the initial investment you would have to put in and the nourishment you would have to give your investment.
What you might not have known or misunderstood is:
- The income generated from these investments grows and builds with time
- The investments are self-managed, and you don’t need to put much effort into them.
- You can start an investment with as little as $20.
- You can start investing at any age.
- Start investing even without prior experience with investment advisors like robo-advisor, Ally, and Wealthfront.
This step is the one that will help you the most in finally nailing down your financial freedom.
If you follow this set, you can very well end up with a solid retirement plan and a means to fulfill all your dreams.
Following are the investments you can start right away.
- Start Investing In Metal, i.e., gold and silver
- Peer To Peer Lending
- Reinvest In Your Business
- Invest In Paper Assets
- Get Started In Real Estate
Bottom Line
You have the list; all you have to do now is:
- Follow one or more than one idea from the above-mentioned list
- Secure a means of earning extra money
- Develop good financial habits to complement your efforts
We know it’s a lot easier saying it than actually doing it.
However, we have said it before, and we’ll repeat it:
College students are in a perfect position to start earning extra money for themselves.
The whole corporate world knows it, which is why they offer special jobs for students.
The faster, smarter, and more you earn, the faster you reach financial freedom. There’s no excuse left for you not to start making your dream come true.