33+ Killer Ways to Make Extra Money Before Christmas
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If you need to make extra money before Christmas, there’s only a few months to go. Hard to believe, I know. The average family spent over $950 on Christmas gifts in 2017, according to the National Retail Federation. If you don’t budget for those expenses, the money has to come from somewhere. This is why making extra cash before Christmas is so important. You don’t want to finance the holidays on a credit card because that’s just plain foolish.
Don’t think you have the skills to make extra money? Please don’t give into that belief! Anyone can make extra cash, even without technical skills or knowledge. For instance, if you can wrap a gift or do yard work, you can make extra money before the holidays.
Don’t stop with the holidays, though. Use the holidays as an opportunity to make earning extra money a mindset. Find a goal you want to accomplish and use that new stream of income to attack it.
Whether it’s paying off debt, putting away more money for retirement, saving extra spending money or something else, they all require extra money to accomplish.
Killer Ways to Make Extra Money Before Christmas
Here are some of the best ways to make extra money before Christmas to help pad your budget:
1. Personal shopping. If you love shopping, it’s possible to turn that passion into a moneymaker by Christmas shopping for those who don’t. Advertise for free on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or use word of mouth to offer your services.
You can charge by the hour or by trip, and this can be a great way to make extra money before Christmas.
Would you rather work for a company to shop for others? Instacart Shopper lets you shop for groceries for people – either solely in the store or by delivering groceries. Shoppers can make up to $20 per hour with Instacart Shopper.
An option like Instacart Shopper is a great way to make extra money all year by shopping for others. You can check out our guide on how to become an Instacart Shopper to learn how to maximize earnings.
2. Take surveys. We’ve said it before. You’re not going to get rich quick taking surveys, but it can help you pad your budget. Fortunately, there are many survey sites out there that allow you to make extra money in your free time. Whether you’re watching TV or waiting at the doctor’s office, you can take surveys to earn a little extra cash.
Here are some of the highest paid survey sites to make money in your spare time:
Survey Junkie: This is our favorite survey site since they pay you cash straight to PayPal or let you redeem rewards for Amazon gift cards.
Pinecone Research: This site pays $3 per survey and you can choose between PayPal, Amazon or restaurant gift cards for your payment. They also pay to do product testing. Many ask, ‘is Pinecone Research safe?’ Read our review to see how the platform works and how to increase earnings.
InboxDollars: Earn money for taking surveys or making purchases online. You can also get paid to watch videos on InboxDollars. Get $5 just for signing up.
InboxPays: Looking for a way to get paid to play games online? Not only can you do that with InboxPays, you can also earn money taking surveys or printing off coupons.
If you want opportunities beyond surveys it’s best to consider get-paid-to (GPT) sites that pay you to perform various activities online. Read our guide on the best Swagbucks alternatives for good options to consider.
3. Deliver meals. Meal delivery is a big business, especially during the holidays when people are busy shopping or taking care of other errands. You can make good money before Christmas delivering meals with Uber Eats or DoorDash.
Fortunately, delivering meals doesn’t have the same requirements as driving for Lyft. If the weather permits, you can deliver meals via scooter, motorcycle, or even a bike. Like driving for Lyft, you can set your own schedule with Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Check out our guide on how to get paid for driving your car for requirements to deliver meals and how to increase your earnings.
4. Be a Designated Driver. Nothing can ruin a holiday more than a ticket or DUI. Since many companies hire designated drivers for people attending parties or going out for a night on the town, this is a great time to make extra money as designated driver.
You can also drive for Lyft and make good money while doing it. You can drive as little or as much as you want, and is the perfect side hustle for those with free time on their hands and a newer car.
Lyft is currently offering a $1,000 earnings guarantee in your first 30 days. You just need 125 rides in the first 30 days to reach the guarantee.
Check out our guide on how to make money driving for Lyft to learn how you can increase your earning potential.
5. Be in a focus group. Many companies prefer to get market research directly from consumers. You can check Craigslist, call local colleges, or use VIP Voice to take part in focus groups.
VIP Voice, generally known for surveys, also partners with companies to perform focus groups. These more involved focus groups typically pay at least $100!
6. Use a rewards credit card. I know I mentioned not financing Christmas on a credit card. But it might be a good idea, especially if you plan to pay them off the next month. Why not take advantage of end-of-year offers and deals?
For instance, many credit cards have rotating categories that allow you to get extra rewards back, or you can sign up for a new rewards credit card to get some free travel out of your normal Christmas shopping.
7. Become a Virtual Assistant. A virtual assistant (VA) is actually one of the best ways to make extra money year-round. VAs help people with tasks from social media and email management to data entry to scheduling meetings and invoicing clients. They can even perform online research and blog management, If a task needs to be completed, a VA can get it done.
Beginner VAs can earn anywhere from $15 – $20 per hour while experienced ones can earn $30 or more per hour.
My friend Kayla started out as a part-time VA and now runs her freelance VA business full-time. She earns over $10,000 per month working from home as a VA. This means that being a VA has the potential to be one of the best high paying jobs for anyone wanting to work from home.
If you’re interested in starting your own freelance VA business, sign up for her course to learn how you can start earning money as a VA.
8. Rent out your car. Did you know you can make money on the side by renting your car? If you don’t use your car much and are comfortable renting it out, this is a great option to make money before Christmas.
You can rent your car through Turo as long as it has less than 130,000 miles and less than 12 years old. Turo handles all the administration of renting your car and they provide insurance equal to the cash value of the car.
You will need to provide the license plate number, make, model, year, and a photo of the car to list it for rental. You also want to check with your insurance provider to verify they will cover damages in the event of an accident.
9. Get paid to shop. Why not get a little money back for Christmas shopping you’re already doing? You can use the Ibotta app to earn cash back on all your shopping. Ibotta began as a grocery rebate app, letting you earn cash back on groceries.
However, you can now use Ibotta at over 350 retailers to earn cash back on your shopping. You get $10 when you sign up and can start cashing out once you hit the $20 threshold.
10. Make more money shopping. Ebates is another option to use for online shopping during the holidays. The beauty of Ebates is that you can earn cash back, like on other sites, but you can also apply other discounts.
So you can save money and make a little extra at the same time! You even get a $10 sign on bonus when you open an account.
11. Proofread. Do you have a degree in English or have an eye for grammar? You can use those skills to make money proofreading content to ensure it’s grammatically correct and reads well, and you can often make $20 or more per hour.
Our friend Caitlin Pyle provides a free webinar, Proofread Anywhere, that teaches you how to land general proofreading and transcript proofreading jobs you can do from the comfort of your home (or anywhere else you choose).
12. Teach. Teaching is a great way to make extra money. If you have a Bachelor’s degree, or are in your final year of college, you can teach students overseas with VIPKid.
It’s all done online and from the comfort of your home. Not only that, they also provide all the lessons plans and course materials you need and you can earn up to $22 per hour. All you need to teach is a computer with a webcam.
Another perk with VIPKid is that you get to set your own hours. They focus on teaching younger students, ages 4 through 12, and you never have more than four students in one class.
VIPKid isn’t the only opportunity to teach from home. Below are two other companies that pay to teach English:
Gogokid: Gogokid lets you teach one child per session. Gogokid does require you to have at least a Bachelor’s degree to teach students. The best part of Gogokid is they offer a $300 bonus to start!
EF Education First: EF Education First is the largest foreign language company in the world. Like the other opportunities, you get to make your own schedule. You also get to teach either students or adults with EF Education First.
Check out our guide on how to teach English online from home if you’re interested in this opportunity.
13. Get paid to lose weight. Do you want to lose weight, but lack the motivation to start. If you’re like me, making money can be a great motivator. And yes, you can even make money losing weight.
HealthyWage is a service that lets you bet against yourself to hit a specific weight loss goal. Here’s how the service works.
You go to HealthyWage and enter how much you want to lose, it has to be at least ten percent of your body weight, and the amount of time you want. You also enter how much you want to bet.
*Related: Looking for other choices to earn spare cash? Check out our top ways to make free money online any can do.*
Their calculator determines how much you can win, which is up to $10,000. You have weekly weigh-ins, where you enter your weight lost for the week, as well as support others on your team. Once you hit your goal, you can claim your earnings.
Head over to HealthyWage now to see how much you could win.
14. Housesit. Do you know people who travel during the holidays? A warm body is just about all this side hustle takes.
You can advertise your services on Facebook Marketplace, use word of mouth, or set up a profile on Housesitter.com to start getting clients.
15. Rent a second property. Are you planning on traveling during the holidays? Do you have a second property? If so, you can make money renting your property through Airbnb.
To increase your chances of renting your property, make sure to take great pictures and specify exactly what’s included in the rental. Although there’s administration and cleaning fees, renting through Airbnb can develop into a solid year-round passive income opportunity.
16. Babysit. This is the most common method for making extra money. And thanks to all the parties and events during the holidays, there is ample opportunity to make money before Christmas.
You can advertise your services on Sitter.com, allowing parents to check your references and do a background check so they’re comfortable using you.
17. Run errands. If you have spare time and don’t mind performing mundane tasks for friends or co-workers, you can be a lifesaver to them and make extra money doing it.
This is also another opportunity to drive for Lyft since you can make money driving people around town as they run errands.
18. Go mystery shopping. Retailers use mystery shopping to help them improve products, services, and overall customer service. You may buy a meal on one shop, or buy a grocery item in another. The retailer pays you for the mystery shop and often reimburses you for the given item.
Jobs2Shop is a service that helps you find local mystery shopping opportunities. Each opportunity typically has you do a number of tasks from taking pictures of an item to doing price checks.
You can expect to make up to $85 with each shop! You can also make money by taking surveys or playing games on the Jobs2Shop site.
19. Pet sit. You probably have neighbors traveling this time of year, many of whom have pets. Care.com lets you connect with people in your area who need a pet sitter while they’re away from home.
20. Open a brokerage account. If you have an old 401(k) you need to rollover or you’ve put off investing in the stock market, it’s worth noting that many brokerages offer year-end promotions to get new clients. You can use those promotions to your advantage and invest the extra cash.
You can start investing with someone like Wealthsimple with no minimum balance. Wealthsimple even offers up to $100 cash back when you open a new account.
21. Cash in old gift cards. Do you have gift cards sitting around from last year? Why not sell them to CardPool and turn that plastic into cash?
22. Get rid of your crap. How much unused stuff do you have lying around the house? Instead of keeping the clutter, sell it through Decluttr.
Decluttr buys old electronic devices, games, DVDs, and more and is a great way to sell old electronics for cash. To get started, go to the Decluttr site and type in the bar code from your products. They’ll then tell you how much they’ll pay and send you a packing slip to mail your items.
Within 24 hours of receiving your products, they pay you via direct deposit of PayPal. If you’d rather not ship items, do an internet search for ‘salvage yard near me‘ to find local places that buy electronics and metals.
23. Retail arbitrage. Do you have an eye for a good deal? If so, you can sell items for a profit by using Amazon FBA – Fulfillment by Amazon. There is a lot of money to be had as a reseller on Amazon.
This does take time to build up, but it can be a great way to start a small business. Check out the free training courses by The Selling Family to get started.
If you’d rather not sell products on Amazon, you can always sell gently used clothes and items on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
24. Be Santa. Do you have a beard and enjoy being around kids? If so, this is a great way to make extra money before Christmas. My dad did this for years and earned nice money doing it.
Enjoy quick and easy access to your money, which is FDIC insured up to $250K. Start saving today with as little as $100 per month!
25. Hang Christmas lights. People go all out here in Omaha, hiring professional companies to decorate their yards. Although I’d never spend money on that, many people enjoy it. If you love setting up Christmas lights, this can be a great way to make a little extra money.
26. Start writing. While writing does take talent, all you really need is a voice. There is a lot of opportunity online as many companies have content needs ranging from blog posts to speeches. If you have experience in a certain topic area, or have excellent research skills, you can turn this into money.
The pay for freelance writers can range from $20 for a blog post to hundreds of dollars. Once you gain some clients, this can be a great way to make an income. Check out our guide on legit work-from-home jobs to learn more about this opportunity to make extra money.
27. Get a part-time job. Although this isn’t my favorite way to make extra money for Christmas, I have done it. Since retailers ramp up hiring before the holidays to handle increased traffic, it’s easy to find seasonal work to make money on the weekends prior to the holidays.
Just make sure you’re not spending all your earnings on discounted store products.
28. Sell something on Etsy. Are you crafty? If you are, you can turn that skill into cash. Although it can take time to set up a store and attract buyers, if you know what you’re doing, this can be a nice way to make extra cash before the holidays.
29. Save your change. Do you only use cash? Save all of your change during the season to pad your savings account. Take it up a notch and save $1 and $5 bills too.
30. Wrap presents. Do you like to wrap presents? Many people don’t, and since retailers charge $5+ per gift, if you undercut them you can make some decent money, especially if you’re quick at wrapping.
31. Bake. The holidays are all about baked goodies. If you can bake some mean cookies or other food, turn your time into cash. This can work for office parties, in-home Christmas parties, and more.
32. Work holiday parties. If you live in a bigger city, there are likely large holiday parties being thrown and if you have serving, bartending, or valet skills, you can make some nice cash.
33. Shovel snow. Do you live in an area that gets lots of snow? Similar to leaves, people see snow as an inconvenience. So why not use that and turn the snow into cash? There are kids in our neighborhood who charge $25 or more per yard to shovel snow.
You can make that kind of extra money, too. All it takes is a few clients to start.
34. Clean homes. If there’s one thing to remember about holiday parties, it’s that they’re often in people’s homes. And while house cleaners are expensive, people are willing to pay for them. If you know how to sweep and spray some Windex, this can be a great way to make extra cash before Christmas.
35. Sell a bodily fluid. Not the most pleasant, I know, but the holidays are a high need time for things like blood and plasma. You can help out someone in need plus make extra money!
This list only scratches the surface of ways to make extra money before Christmas. However, the goal of this list is to get you started on some activities and encourage you to use that momentum to make extra money all year.
What are some of your favorite ways to make extra money for Christmas? How much do you spend on Christmas shopping? How do you respond to people who say they can’t make extra money?
John is the founder of Frugal Rules, a dad, husband and veteran of the financial services industry whose writing has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, Yahoo Finance and more.
Passionate about helping people learn from his mistakes, John shares financial tools and tips to help you enjoy the freedom that comes from living frugally. One of his favorite tools is Personal Capital , which he used to plan for retirement and keep track of his finances in less than 15 minutes each month.
Another one of John's passions is helping people save $80 per month by axing their expensive cable subscriptions and replacing them with more affordable ones, like Hulu with Live TV.
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34 Comments
These are all great lists John! I’m planning to sell my pre-loved “used” clothes to have extra money for this coming holiday season.
Thanks Clarisse! That’s an awesome idea, we’ve done that ourselves in the past.
where’s the best place to sell pre owned clothing…especially kids clothes, without paying too much for shipping? thx
Poshmark is a good option Karen. They actually send a prepaid shipping label to send the clothes back to them.
These are great tips and more importantly it reminds us that it’s time to start planning for the holidays. Christmas is never an emergency!
Excellent point Natalie! I used to view it that way – the kicker is we know it’s going to come every year and thus NOT an emergency.
I do so much Christmas shopping on Amazon, I need to look into TopCashBack. Thanks for the tip!
Not a problem at all Kalie – might as well make something back from your shopping there. 🙂
“Sell bodily fluids.”
My brother in law paid for my sister’s engagement ring by donating plasma. Around this time every year he says that fall makes him think about the start of the new year and selling his blood for diamonds.
Wow! I did it to help pay off debt, but awesome he did it for such a reason – not to mention seeing the tangible result of it.
Anyone can make extra money like you said and I really hate it when people limit themselves by saying they can’t
Exactly Stefanie! I hear excuses all the time. I used to be guilty of that myself, but there are just too many options to making extra income out there.
I don’t want to think about holidays yet, but it is that time. Having a plan in place is really the only way to avoid overspending.
Nor do I but crazy how close it is.
Those are all great tips. I plan on implementing a few of them before Christmas myself.
Very cool Jason!
I think if you’re selling your bodily fluid to have extra money for Christmas, then you need to sit down with people you are buying for an explain why maybe this Christmas there might be less or no presents. 🙂 Actually, in general, I think less is more. Granted I don’t have kids and I wouldn’t to rob them of the joy of Christmas, but I do think families tend to go overboard. I’m very fortunate I don’t have a demanding family who insist on gift giving. I think all (but the bodily fluids one) are great, but I’m just playing devil’s advocate and say that sometimes that takes away time…and sometimes time is more precious than gifts.
Oh, completely agreed Tonya. If I was selling plasma in order to buy gifts then it’d be high time to communicate the lack of presents. We typically don’t buy a whole lot for our kids – we usually hold back at least 75-80% of what we budget for them and put in their 529s as the grandparents get them more than enough as we see far too many go overboard. That being said, there are still ways to make extra income before the holidays that can be used for things/needs other than gifts. 🙂
Love this! I think EVERYONE can make extra money and making extra money for the holidays so that you don’t go into debt is a great idea.
Could not agree more Michelle! There are so many options out there that virtually anyone can make something off of.
These are some great suggestions, John. People always complain that they don’t have enough money but a little ingenuity and willingness to work some extra hours can make all the difference.
Thanks Shannon! Completely agreed, if you have the willingness to put in the time and are creative you can find many ways to earn more money.
Ha! This is an awesome list John! My hubby always ramps up his side hustling of tutoring around this time with the specific goal of paying for the holidays. I laughed when I saw give fluids, though, because I actually donated plasma when I was in college for money. If I actually had the time to sit there for it again, I would look into it. 🙂
That’s awesome he does that Shannon – great way to monetize something he does for his day job anyway. 🙂
Lol, I did the same exact thing – well to help pay off debt. I’d do it again if I had to.
Okay, I love cash back shopping as much as the next gal, but I don’t think you can count the cash back as making extra money, can you? Maybe that’s just me.
Fair point Abigail. As someone who does almost all of their holiday shopping on Amazon I would qualify it that way. That has the potential to make 8.5% back on your shopping there. Sure, it’s not a ton of money, but I’ll take the extra. 🙂
I’m sorry, but the amount of money some people spend on Christmas is just sickening to me. There is just no need for it. It’s frustrating to hear people always complain how they don’t have any money but then at Christmas, they spend ridiculous amounts. They get so caught up in trying to give their kids everything society says they NEED, plus think they need to give a gift to every person they come in contact with in their life. They end up stressed out and further in debt which is not what the holidays should be about.
Sorry for the rant, but love the list of ideas! Wish more people would do these things!
No apologies at all Danell! I completely agree with you. I see it as well and just don’t see the point. I know it’s easy to give into that temptation to buy for kids, but it’s just not worth it in the long run nor is that what the holidays are about.
Personally speaking, we take 75% or more of what we budget for our kids each year for the holidays and put it in their 529 accounts. They don’t notice what we spend, they still have something and the money gets put to much better use. Plus, with three sets of grandparents they already get too much as it is – it gets to be too overwhelming for the kids and a nightmare for us if we just buy them stuff without thought.
I started digit service right after reading this. Thanks for sharing this!
Awesome, glad to hear it Mary!
Hi John!
I do craft fairs starting in October to make Christmas money. I like all the information you shared, thank you!
Awesome, Gay! Sounds like a great idea to make some additional income this time of year.
Great post John, especially selling a bodily fluid, didn’t realize there was a market for that. That said it’s a win win, the recipient likely needs the fluid and you the money, so what better Christmas gift!
Thanks, Jim! Yep, there’s a market for pretty much anything. 😉