How To Make $5,000 A Month (10+ Realistic Ideas!)
So, you're wondering how to make $5,000 dollars a month and want some ideas to get started.
Earning 5K a month equals $60,000 in a year! This is a serious amount of money, and it's enough to live a very comfortable life in many countries.
In this post, I'm covering some legit side hustles, business ideas, and career moves you can use to make this amount of money.
Many of these ideas are personal ones I've tried and verified as well, and there's a mix of online and in-person ideas to suit your preferences.
How To Make 5K A Month
Table of Contents
1. Online Freelancing
Out of all the ways to make $5k a month, online freelancing is my favorite idea. This is because I've reached this milestone with my freelance writing career and know dozens of other people who make $5,000 or more per month online.
The part I love the most about selling your skills online as a freelancer is that you have control over your schedule. You also have the potential to make way more money than many day jobs.
For example, I started working at a digital marketing agency out of college with a starting salary of about $45,000. After a year and a half, I was tired of working in an office. So I ditched my job, moved to Colombia, and went all-in on writing.
About a year later, I was making over $5,000 a month from freelance writing and was way happier than at my day job.
My YouTube video explains exactly how to find freelance writing gigs, but this is just one example of how freelancing can change your life in a short period of time. And there are so many other industries you can freelance in like:
- Accounting
- Graphic design
- Digital marketing
- Proofreading and editing
- Social media management
- Search engine optimization (I did this as well)
- Online tutoring
- Paid advertising
- Web design
- Video editing
- Virtual assistant work
Pretty much all of these fields have the potential to make $5,000 dollars a month or more depending on your clients. As for how to get started, you can find jobs on remote job websites or look for easy Upwork jobs to build your portfolio.
Getting started can take a few months. But you can slowly increase your rates as you land new clients and improve your skills.
2. Gig Economy Jobs
If you're really willing to hustle, another idea to earn $5k a month is to make money with various gig economy jobs.
The best part about the gig economy is that you get to work on your own schedule. This flexibility is ideal since you can hustle around your day job to reach your income goal.
Some of the most popular gig jobs and apps you can use to make extra money include:
- Steady: Find various gig apps and part-time jobs with the free Steady app.
- DoorDash: The leading food delivery app that lets you deliver via bike, car, or scooter.
- Amazon Flex: Another popular driving gig that pays $18 to $25 per hour.
- Instacart: The leading grocery delivery service where you get paid to shop for people's groceries.
- Uber Eats: Another popular food delivery job where you can hustle on your own schedule.
- Shipt: Another way to get paid to deliver groceries.
- Walmart Spark: One more gig that pays you to deliver packages.
And again, you can make serious money if you put in the hours. In the YouTube video above, YouTuber Sabbi Lyon explains how he made $8,000 in just one month by delivering for Uber Eats.
This takes a lot of hours, but the money is there if you want to work for it!
Start making money with Uber Eats!
3. Make Money Blogging
Blogging isn't a route to fast money. But it's one of the most realistic ways to make a significant amount of money per month because the income potential is basically limitless.
For example, I started blogging in 2018 when I started WebMonkey. In my first year, I only made $1,700.
However, fast forward a few years, and I made $92,000 blogging in 2021. This is more than $5,000 per month, and these days, the blog average $15,000 to $20,000 a month!
In fact, in 2022, WebMonkey made $272,000, which just goes to show how this online side hustle can scale past $5,000 a month.
One of my recent YouTube videos covers exactly how I make money blogging, so you can give it a watch if you're curious.
It took a few years of work, learning SEO, and a whole lot of content. But you can grow a blog in any niche and monetize it with strategies like:
- Display ads with a company like Mediavine or Monumetric
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Selling your own products or courses
Again, this isn't a route to fast money. But blogging is one of the lowest-cost side hustle that you can start, and the income ceiling is incredibly high.
4. Rent Out Assets
If you like the idea of earning passive income, one idea to make $5,000 per month is to rent out things for money.
This is probably the best option if you're very busy with your job and don't have time to start a new side hustle. You can essentially let your assets make money for you so you're earning on autopilot.
Examples of assets you can rent out to other people include:
- Your home with a platform like Airbnb or VRBO
- Your car with Turo
- Spare storage space with a website like Neighbor
- Camera equipment, drones, tools, and other expensive equipment on a marketplace like Fat Llama
- Your internet bandwidth with apps like Honeygain
Airbnb and VRBO are the most likely options to earn $5,000 a month. But you can use multiple rental ideas to boost your income to help you reach this goal.
5. Launch An Etsy Shop
If you're still wondering how to make $5,000 a month, you could try launching a business on Etsy.
What's amazing about Etsy is that it's free to create a shop, and you only pay $0.20 per item you list on your shop. This makes it an incredibly low-risk way to test an online business idea.
And you can also sell so many different things on Etsy, ranging from craft goods you make yourself to completely digital products, like printables or stickers.
Digital downloads are awesome because your profit margin is incredibly high. And you can grow your shop to some serious numbers as you'll see with the shop below.
As you can see, this Etsy shop named WorthyGal has over 6,000 sales! It specializes in selling digital stickers and other printables, which is basically a 100% profit margin.
You can also explore Etsy print on demand if you want to sell physical merchandise like mugs or apparel but don't want to manufacture and ship products yourself.
My post on how to earn passive income on Etsy also explores some business models you can try out if you're curious.
6. Retail Arbitrage
What if you could get paid to shop and potentially make 5k a month in the process?
Well, with retail arbitrage, this sort of income is possible. I know this because I interviewed a couple making $40,000+ a month from their Amazon retail arbitrage business.
The idea of retail arbitrage is to purchase popular merchandise from clearance aisles in stores like Walmart or Kohl's and to then resell it online for profit.
People often buy products in categories like apparel, books, electronics, home goods, and toys since these sorts of products sell quickly online.
Amazon FBA is one of the most popular selling platforms. This is because with Amazon FBA, Amazon handles all the shipping and fulfillment, so you can focus on sourcing inventory instead of shipping.
But there are plenty of other popular selling apps and websites like:
- Facebook Marketplace: One of the best ways to sell stuff for cash to local buyers.
- Mercari: A popular selling app that lets you sell almost anything.
- OfferUp: An app like Facebook Marketplace that's a great alternative for local selling.
- Poshmark: One of the best ways to sell clothing, handbags, shoes and accessories online.
- Worthy: My favorite way to sell watches, jewelry, diamonds, and wedding rings online for cash.
My YouTube video shares some of my favorite local selling apps and online marketplaces you can use if this side hustle interests you.
It can take time to build up your inventory for your retail arbitrage business, and you also need some upfront capital.
But this online business idea has the potential to make $5,000 a month, which is why it had to make our list!
7. Proofreading & Editing
If you have a high-level of attention to detail, another option you can explore is to start your own proofreading and editing business.
From my blogging and freelance writing network, I know many full-time editors and proofreaders who make this sort of income. And if you can land a job as head editor for a large site, you can easily make $5k or more per month.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic, editors earn $61,370 per year on average, which works out pretty close to $5,000 a month:
It can take time to grow your client roster, but starting your own blog or freelance writing are great ways to start growing your connections and landing gigs.
8. Job Hop
Another solution to make $5,000 a month is to job hop to a higher-paying job.
This sounds obvious, but it's very easy to stay in the same position and to stop looking for new opportunities if you're comfortable.
However, a report from ADP shows that job hoppers average a 9.7% salary increase on average, which can be a massive lift to your income and wealth building efforts.
And if you can job hop to a new position with more responsibilities or to get a promotion, you're also doing wonders for your skill development and career.
You can check out our post on the best jobs that pay $5,000 a month for some job ideas that have this sort of income potential.
9. Make Money On YouTube
Like blogging, another online business idea with the potential to make 5k a month is YouTube.
I also want to share another personal example here.
I started my YouTube channel in 2020. It took about 6 months to reach 1,000 subscribers and to get monetized. These days, the channel has over 20,000 subscribers and makes $50 a day or so in advertisement revenue.
This is still quite far away from a $5k a month goal, but the channel has been slowly growing month over month for the most part as I put out more videos.
Making money with YouTube takes a long time. But if you're feeling creative, business ideas like blogging or YouTube are definitely worth putting the time into if you ask me.
10. Work A Second Job & Overtime
Another simple idea you can try is to pick up a second job or to work as much overtime as possible.
Choosing a second job depends on your schedule, of course. And not every company offers overtime pay.
But if you can try either option, you can really accelerate your income. For example, my friend works at a brewery, and a single weekend of overtime can easily make him $1,000 or more in just two days.
You can also use same-day pay job apps like Instawork and Wonolo to help you in your job search.
11. Start An Online Business
Like blogging and YouTube, starting an online business is another viable way to make 5k a month.
This is something I've been experimenting with for years at this point. And there are so many online business ideas with this sort of income potential, including:
- Amazon KDP publishing
- Consulting
- Dropshipping or drop-servicing
- Online coaching
- Launching a Shopify store
- Selling eBooks and courses (this is something I'm doing now)
- Selling stock photography and videos
- Social media management
- Video repurposing and editing
I made a YouTube video that covers even more online business ideas you can test out. And if you get a few clients under your belt or some traction with these ideas, earning $5,000 a month is possible.
12. Real Estate Investing
While this idea does require some start-up capital, investing for income is another way to start making more money each month.
However, you don't have to be a millionaire to diversify your income. In fact, it's never been easier to invest in income-generating real estate thanks to the rise of new crowdfunding platforms.
Several beginner-friendly ways to invest in real estate include:
- Arrived: Invest in income-generating rental units starting with only $100!
- Fundrise: Another beginner-friendly platform with a $10 investing minimum.
- Landa: Buy shares of rental properties starting with only $5!
- RealtyMogul: Access commercial real estate deals starting at around $5,000.
Of course, you can explore other investing strategies, like dividend stocks, ETFs, or even fixed-income investments like bonds or savings accounts.
The point is that you can make your money work for you. And with enough cash, earning $5,000 a month or more is certainly possible.
Note: This is a Fundrise endorsement and we receive compensation when you sign up with the provided link.
13. Get A Commission-Based Sales Job
One final idea to make $5,000 a month is to get a job where you can earn commission.
My first advertising job out of school had this arrangement, and I could earn roughly 10% of the profit I made for the company in a month as a discretionary bonus.
During really great times, there were months I made $7,000 to $8,000 or more thanks to bonuses.
Commission can really boost someone's income in a short amount of time, and this is why sales jobs are some of the highest paying jobs out there.
Just make sure you're happy with the base salary as well or are okay with risking lower pay for a higher commission rate.
Advice For Making $5,000 A Month
Now that you know how to make 5,000 dollars a month, here are some tips you can think about when chasing the goal to increase your chances for success:
- Set Smaller Goals: Reaching $5k a month might seem daunting, so don't be afraid to break things into smaller goals, like making $100 a day first and then scaling your income.
- Pace Yourself: Getting rest is important to avoid burning out, so make sure you pace yourself amidst all this hustling.
- Try Several Ideas: Test out several hustles so you find what you enjoy and which ones pay the most. This could mean delivering for Uber Eats or Instacart, renting out assets, and blogging. Pick ideas that match your skills and interest and put in the work!
I also made a video that shares how I created multiple income streams for myself that now surpass $5,000 a month. You can use these strategies to build your own side hustle stack as well.
Extra Reading – The Best Ways To Double Your Money Fast.
Final Thoughts
I hope our guide on how to make $5,000 a month gives you some ideas for how you can increase your income.
As one final tip, don't forget the power of saving more money as well. Earning extra cash is great, but cutting back on spending can also help you reach your goals faster.
Best of luck!
Looking for even more ways to make money? Checkout:
