7 Side Hustles to Make Extra Money For The Holidays

With the Holidays right around the corner, everyone is already running to the stores, stressed about gift-giving. This tedious task comes every year, leaving your wallets feeling emptier than ever! We all know gift-giving isn’t the true point of the Holidays, but it’s hard to avoid the want to give everyone the best gift you can! With the tightening of wallets due to inflation and the current state of the world, we don’t blame you for wanting to give awesome gifts, donate money where you can and cook an incredible meal for those important people you surround yourself with. Here are a few ways to make quick cash for the Holiday season. 

Babysitting

If you live in a suburban area or a city, there are likely lots of families with busy schedules looking for some help around the holiday season. Babysitting is one of the best ways to make quick cash because it’s, well, cash! And who doesn’t love getting to play with some cute kids for a while (especially when you get to leave at the end of the night!). We recommend joining some local neighborhood Facebook pages or care.com and checking out what jobs are available. With babysitting, it can be easy to work around your own schedule, the flexibility is awesome, and you’ll walk away with some new connections that might continue past the Holidays and beyond. 

Retail 

Not the most glamorous job, but if you’ve ever wanted a discount at a certain store, now is your time to go grab it. Retail stores always look for help around the Holiday season due to the influx of customers shopping. While folding clothes might not be the glamorous side hustle, the stores will be happy the help, and if you choose to work on holidays, you will even get special pay. We’d suggest starting at your favorite retailer and seeing if they are hiring before branching out. There should be tons of listings on indeed.com and other hiring sites that can make you a quick buck for the holidays. 

Holidays Events/Pop-up Bars 

With the winter comes the influx of holiday events and pop-up bars looking for seasonal help. If you live in a big city or college town, there tend to be many places looking for hired help from mid-November until after the new year. Check out applications for holiday markets, pop-up events, Santa Claus meet and greets, and more. And if you’re of age and have some bartending skills (or maybe none at all!) check out if there are any holiday bars needing extra hands serving or bartending. The options are limitless! 

Doordash or Grocery Delivery 

An easy job that doesn’t take much time to search or apply for is delivering for DoorDash or a grocery delivery app like Shipt or Instacart. You can sign up to deliver for many apps, including DoorDash, UberEats, PostMates, GrubHub, and more. Especially if you go to school in a bigger town with lots of places to eat, these apps will be your best friend. The ultimate job for a college student is during the holidays because you only do it when you have time! And you can decide at the drop of a hat if you want to deliver food or groceries that day or not. Do some research because, according to thecollegepost.com – “ it doesn’t stop there! People also pay to have things, such as documents, groceries, and clothes, conveniently delivered to them”. 

Drive for Uber or Lyft 

Similar to delivering food and groceries, driving for Uber or Lyft can be incredibly lucrative during the holidays. It might take some sacrifice to drive on busy days (Friday and Saturday nights), but if you are saving up for gifts for loved ones, giving up a few weekends and weeknights a year to stack some cash in your account could be worth it. Especially if your campus is far from the local bars, people out drinking all night will appreciate the ride home, especially in the winter! All you need is a car, and you’re ready to go. 

Pet Sitting and Walking

If you’re comfortable around animals, especially if you like them, dog walking and pet sitting could be the perfect side hustle. College students love to learn about their emotional support animals, and plenty of students have puppies and kitties in their homes. But what happens when people are in a class? Or when professors have to teach their classes? Or especially, what if they are gone for holiday events? You can sign up for a few websites like Rover.com, Wag, or Fetch. Check them out and see if it lines up with your schedule.