10 Ways to Make Money and Get Paid During the Holiday Season

The holidays are quickly approaching. This can make some people excited but it also poses a financial burden on those who may not have enough money on hand to cover holiday expenses.

The average family spends $1,000 during the holidays on various different purchases like gifts, parties, decorations, trips, and donating. While this should be a time to celebrate and enjoy making memories with loved ones, it often leaves many people feeling strapped for cash.

While you can't go back in the past to set aside more money earlier, you can always focus on earning more so you don't go into debt this holiday season,

Here are 10 ways to make money during the holidays so you can cashflow all your expenses.

1. Apply For a Custome Service Job

There are tons of people shopping during this time of year. This means the volume of people needing customer service will increase. The great thing about customer service work is that you can often do it online from home these days.

Plus, you'll find a range of opportunities including seasonal, part-time, and full-time work so you can seize the opportunity that best meets your needs. For leads on work from home customer service jobs, click here.

2. Take Surveys and Apply For Focus Groups

This is also one of the best times of the year for companies to perform market research on consumers. To make extra money for the holiday season, you can take surveys online or sign up for focus groups and panel studies.

Taking online surveys is a flexible way to make money without a ton of effort and the earnings you make can supplement your income. Most survey sites payout rewards in cash or gift cards so you can take advantage of the e-gift card options for your holiday shopping.

Focus groups are also a great way to get paid for your opinion and most pay pretty well ranging anywhere from $50 – $250 for an hour of your time. My favorite site to find local opportunities is FocusGroup.com but you can find more options here.

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3. Drive For Uber or Lyft

Driving for Uber or Lyft can be a very profitable way to make extra money during the holiday season when you're on a time crunch. You can set your own hours and get paid weekly for convenience. Most active drivers earn $20 – $25 per hour which can add up if you drive for a few hours a couple of nights per week. Go here to signup as a Uber driver.

4. Deliver Groceries

Deliver people's holiday meal ingredients with services like Instacart that allow you to make money fast. Instacart shoppers get paid weekly and set their own schedules so you can make as little or as much as you want.

To maximize your earnings, you'll want to work peak days when most people need their shopping done which is likely on weekends. You can probably make a killing doing last-minute shopping errands for people around the holidays.

This post shares other ways to make money by delivering groceries.

5. Test Websites

Testing websites is something fun you can do in the comfort of your own home. So long as you have a computer with a built-in mic and webcam, you can make money using sites like UserTesting and UserFeel.

Both sites supply you with websites to look at and provide your honest feedback in a review format. You'll get paid $10 per 20-minute test review which can allow you to earn up to $30 per hour of your time.

6. Sell Items Online

While people are in the mood to spend for the holidays, you can cash in on that demand by selling some of your gently used items online. Take advantage of Amazon and eBay along with other platforms like Offer Up and the Facebook Marketplace.

Most people are looking for deals around the holidays and may not be opposed to buying your used items so long as they still work and are in good condition.

You May Also Like: How To Sell Your Handmade Crafts and Art Without Breaking a Sweat 

7. Host a Parents' Night Out

The holiday season can be crazy busy. As parents rush around to finish up their shopping or attend events, you can offer to babysit by hosting a parents' night out event.

My son's school does this often and they charge anywhere from $15 – $25 per child. I think this is a bit much but it all depends on what activities you'll have. If you'll be providing a meal and renting out special equipment or games, this price may be justifiable.

But, you can also keep it simple and affordable by charging parents $10 per child and maybe offering a slight discount for siblings. You can bring out board games you already own, rent a movie from the library, and make cheap snacks like popcorn and cookies.

Be sure to keep a time limit on your event. If you get around 10 kids, you can easily make $100 in just an hour or two.

8. Hang Christmas Lights or Shovel Snow

Know anyone who needs help hanging their holiday lights? Perhaps you could offer your services for an hourly rate to help hang out lights throughout the community. My town hosts a holiday light show and decorates the downtown area with lights as well.

You can also make some decent income shoveling snow. I hear that some parts of the country have already had their first snow.

9. Search the Web

If you're online all the time anyway, it makes sense to make some extra money searching the web online. You can do this easily by signing up for rewards sites like Swagbucks or Inbox Dollars.

You can also apply to become a search engine evaluator and work from home. In this role, you'll be helping to make sure Google is pulling up helpful results for other people's searches. You learn more about who's hiring work from home search engine evaluators here.

10. Direct Sales

If you love a particular product, see if there's a direct sales company that will allow you to promote it. As an independent consultant, you can get free products for yourself or to give to someone as a holiday gift.

Plus, you can make extra money by marketing the products to other people. This can be a fun way to make lots of money if you're good at networking.

Summary

If you fear you might be low on cash this holiday season, don't get too discouraged. There are plenty of ways to start making money ASAP so you can cover all your holiday expenses without having to use a credit card or take out a loan.

Consider one of these 10 ideas then get started today!