The reasons why a third of Americans have at least one side hustle are pretty obvious: Everything—and I mean everything—is more expensive than it used to be. Faced with a choice between downgrading everything from your grocery list to your living situation, most people would prefer to make a little extra money where they can in order to cover the (ever-widening) gap.
Side hustles cost you time and energy, though. Truly passive income is a better option if you can swing it, because money just sort of appears in your bank account while you’re sleeping or playing video games. OK, “passive” income is never quite that passive, but it’s a lot less work than actual work. And one of the most passive ways to earn money is to rent the stuff you already have but don’t use all the time. And you can monetize more of your stuff than you might think.
Monetize your car
A lot of people have no choice but to own a car, and owning a car is expensive as hell: Monthly payments average out at $760 right now. The good news is that you can claw some of that back by monetizing your vehicle:
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Rent it out. You can list your car on a service like Turo and let other people pay you to drive it. You get to choose when it’s available, and insurance and roadside assistance services are included. The average host can make between $500 and $1,000 a month, depending on how desirable your car is.
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Advertise. There are a surprising number of companies that will pay you to let them wrap your car with advertisements. This has the advantage of keeping your car for your use at all times, but keep in mind these companies often prefer newer or more expensive cars and may require you to commit to a certain amount of driving, plus you’ll have a big ugly billboard all over your car. You can usually earn about $100 to $500 per month from these programs.
Rent out your house
Sure, of course you can rent out your house. But if you don’t want roommates and have nowhere else to live, you can still rent out your house for short-term stuff. Companies like Splacer and Peerspace rent properties for short-term events like photoshoots, filming locations, parties and events, or meetings. You can make anywhere from $50 to $250 an hour renting out your home and still be able to sleep in your own bed at night.
Rent your parking space
Parking is everywhere—our entire world is shaped around places to stash your car when you’re not driving—yet there’s never enough, especially in crowded cities. If you have a property with a parking space of some sort, you can rent it out. Companies like Spacer or Curbflip let you list the spot and start earning money pretty easily (anywhere from $200 to $400 a month in most cases). While you should consider the liability that comes with letting someone leave their property on yours, if you have a parking space sitting around unused, this is a no-brainer for extra cash.
Do you have an empty closet, garage, attic, or basement? People will totally pay you to store their stuff in them. Sites like Store at My House or Neighbor let you list your storage spaces. You can earn a few hundred bucks a month this way, and all you have to do is fill up an empty space in your house.
Rent your yard space
Do you have a back yard? Do you spend all your time in it? Probably not. Any time you’re not using your yard, you could be monetizing it in a couple of ways:
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Dog park. You can rent your yard out to dog owners looking for a private dog park situation using Sniffspot. These dog parents want to let their pups go off leash safely, or have pets that don’t get along well with other dogs, making public dog parks problematic, and you can sell them a solution. The average listing is about $15 per hour.
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RV Parking. Folks who own RVs often struggle to find places to park them, so you can list your yard with a company like Hipcamp to make a little money by letting folks park in your yard (assuming it’s large enough for this and has road access). This can range from $30 to $300 per night, depending on what you provide and how the land is being used.
Rent your pool
Got a pool that you spend more time cleaning and staring at than actually using? People love pools—and will be happy to pay you to use yours. An app like Swimply lets you list your pool for rent, with rates ranging from $30 to $45 an hour. Just consider whether you’re comfortable offering the use of a bathroom to swimmers—Swimply doesn’t force you to, but if you don’t, people can only rent your pool for an hour.
Rent out your bike
If you’re like me and you have a decent bicycle that’s been hanging on a wall for what seems like eons, you can rent it out to people, often tourists who want a cheap biking option while they’re in your area. Sites like Spinlister make it pretty easy—you list your bike, they handle everything else (they take nearly 18% of the fee, however). Still, you set your own rates (the site suggests $7 per hour, $20 per day, or $100 for the week) and it’s extra cash in your pocket for letting someone borrow your bike.
Rent your musical instruments
Every minute on this earth, someone thinks today is the day I learn to play the guitar! Or the piano, or the clarinet—you get the idea. And one of the biggest obstacles to actually doing so is acquiring the instrument to practice on. Instruments tend to be pretty pricey and people hesitate to buy something they might fiddle with for a few weeks and then give up on.
If you already made the investment on an instrument, you can rent them out via a site like FriendWithA, charging anywhere from $10 to several hundred dollars per day, depending on the instrument.
Got a shop full of power tools, hand tools, and other equipment? List them on Rent My Equipment. Folks who need your hammer drill but don’t want to buy one, or who don’t live near a Home Depot or other store that rents out tools, will happily pay you to borrow yours for their project. Pricing varies depending on the equipment being rented, of course, but you can rent everything from ladders to track loaders there.
Rent out… yourself?
Sure, you’re not stuff, you’re people. But you can still monetize yourself by becoming someone’s friend. RentAFriend lets people pay you to hang out with them, go to dinner with them, sit and chat with them—all the stuff a friend does. Fees usually start at $10 an hour, but can go higher if you bring something specific to the table, like a hobby or skill that people want you to teach them (or just engage in with them). That’s not a ton of money, but if you’re also doing something fun and (maybe) meeting a potential actual friend that’s not too shabby.
