17 Best Ways To Make Money Without A Car
When you research new side hustle ideas, one of the most popular categories you find are driving apps that pay.
These sorts of gig apps are an excellent way to make money. However, they require having a car. And given how expensive vehicles and gas are these days, this isn't something everyone has access to.
Thankfully, there are still plenty of legit ways to make money without a car that you can use to make extra money.
I've personally been making money without a car or from my laptop for years. So, don't think that not having a vehicle means you're out of luck.
How To Make Money Without A Car
Some of the side hustles that don't require a car I'm going to cover involve making money online. In contrast, other ideas are side jobs you can do without a car by providing services to people in your city.
Think about the type of work that interests you and what your skills are. Then, you're ready to make money without a car and boost your monthly income.
1. Food Bike Courier
One of the best ways to make money with no car is to become a food delivery courier on your bike.
This might surprise a lot of people. But the top food delivery apps all pay bike couriers to deliver food to their customers in medium and large cities.
In fact, one of my good friends Grant made money with his bike by delivering for DoorDash and Uber Eats back in college.
Gig apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats can easily pay $15 to $20+ per hour, even without a car. And you get to keep 100% of any tips you make which can really make a difference.
Plus, being a bike courier means you're getting paid to workout. And you don't have to worry about expensive gas, car repairs, and wear-and-tear.
These apps also pay weekly and let you work whenever you want. Ultimately, being a bike courier is one of the most flexible side hustles without a car, and the exercise is great!
2. Paid Survey Websites
Another popular way to make money without a car is to use get-paid-to websites that pay you for completing short online tasks.
I've personally been using these sorts of sites for years. And since my time in college, I've probably earned a few thousand bucks from them, all without needing a car or even leaving my house.
Several leading sites you can use to make money include:
- Branded Surveys: My favorite paid survey site that lets you earn PayPal money and gift cards.
- Swagbucks: This rewards site pays you to answer surveys, download apps, shop online, and watch ads.
- Kashkick: Another survey platform that lets you cash out via PayPal.
- Survey Junkie: Lets you share your opinion and cash out at only $5.
- PrizeRebel: Another leading survey platform with dozens of gift cards and PayPal prizes.
- InboxDollars: This U.S. survey site has numerous ways to earn and a 5 dollar sign up bonus.
I also made a YouTube video that covers more of these sites if you're interested.
Personally, I think these platforms are a good way to earn money online for beginners. And they're an obvious side job you can do without a car.
Just note that you're probably earning a few dollars at most with any survey site. But for some quick money, they're a reliable option.
3. Online Freelancer
Like survey sites, another side hustle without a car that you can consider is online freelancing.
Personally, online freelancing is how I earn most of my income. And a few years ago, I actually quit my day job, started making money with freelance writing, and moved all the way to Colombia for a while.
Since then, freelance writing and selling my skills online has let me travel the world and grow my income. And I've never needed a car to make money for the last few years.
Now, freelance writing is just my approach to making money without a car. But plenty of other fields are viable too.
Some of the most popular freelancing gigs you can consider include:
- Accounting and bookkeeping
- Graphic designer
- Digital marketing
- Email marketing specialist
- Proofreading and editing gigs
- Outbound marketing expert
- SEO expert
- Social media manager
- Website designer
- Virtual assistant
- Voice over artist
For me, turning to my own network to find job leads was how I initially got started. But you can also try some beginner Upwork jobs or freelancing on Fiverr to find your first gigs.
4. Deliver Flyers For Money
One classic way to earn money without a car is to deliver flyers and newspapers door-to-door in your neighborhood.
This is a great way to get paid to walk, and it's also never been easier to get started thanks to the gig economy
For example, with apps like Oppizi, you can become a Brand Ambassador for different clients and get paid to deliver flyers in your city. And you earn $23 per hour in the United States.
Oppizi is available in 10 countries and 70 cities, and it lets you sign up at just 16 in many countries, so it's a teen-friendly hustle as well.
I also like that Oppizi lets you choose the days and shifts you work, so it's flexible. And again, you're just getting paid to deliver flyers around you, so it's a pretty simple gig. Oppizi is also a side hustle that pays weekly, so you're not waiting forever to get your money.
5. Dog Walking & Sitting Gigs
Do you enjoy spending time with dogs? If so, another great way to earn money without a car is to offer dog walking and sitting gigs to people in your neighborhood.
A friend of mine did this during college. She was able to earn a few hundred dollars at a time just for looking after people's dogs when they went away on vacation.
And thanks to money-making apps like Rover, you don't have to start your own dog walking business from scratch.
With Rover, you can create a pet-sitter profile and list the services you offer and the types of animals you work with. Rover also lets you set your rates and schedule, so it's quite flexible.
From there, pet owners in your area can pay you to look after their pets. And earning $15 to $25 per hour or per pet visit is pretty standard.
You might need public transportation if you're offering at-home pet visits and dog sitting. But you can also skip using a car or transportation if you just work in your local neighborhood.
6. Start A Blog
If you enjoy working from home, then starting a blog is another excellent side gig without a car that you can try.
Blogging is also near and dear to my heart since I've been doing it for over five years. And since I started, WebMonkey has turned into a full-on business and helped me transform my life.
For example, my blog only earned $1,700 in its first year. But in 2022, WebMonkey made $272,000 between Mediavine ads and affiliate marketing.
My YouTube video shares exactly how my blog makes money and the strategies I used to scale it. But the income potential is truly what I love about this side hustle that doesn't require a car.
These days, my blog makes $1,000 a day or more between these income streams. And a lot of it is basically autopilot income since posts from years ago still generate revenue.
Now, the reason I think blogging is a great way to get money without a car is because anyone can start one.
All you need is an Internet connection, a blogging niche, and the willingness to work. That's how I started, and 5+ years later, here we are!
Yes, blogging is competitive. But if you learn basic search engine optimization and provide value to people, there's no reason why your blog can't turn into a profitable income stream.
And you don't have to spend a fortune to start. Companies like SiteGround offer affordable domain names and WordPress hosting, and blogs are immensely scalable without spending money.
7. Play Games For Cash
Another side hustle that doesn't require a car is to use apps that pay you to play games.
That's right: it's actually possible to get paid to play video games if you use various gaming reward apps. This lets you turn an existing gaming hobby into cash and prizes.
Several leading game apps that pay include:
- Cash Giraffe: My favorite Android app with a low $0.20 cash out minimum.
- Money Well: Another way to get PayPal cash and gift cards while playing mobile games.
- Mistplay: The leading gaming rewards app for Android that lets you earn free gift cards.
- Rewarded Play: A popular app like Mistplay that also lets you get gift cards.
- JustPlay: This gaming app pays you with free PayPal money and gift cards.
- AppStation: Another leading Android gaming app with cash and gift card rewards.
I've used all of these cash gaming apps in the past, and they're a fun side hustle you can do from home without a car. And my YouTube video above covers some other paid gaming opportunities as well.
Just note that these apps won't pay a lot. They're a fun job you can do from your phone, but they only pay a few bucks per hour at most.
Also note that most gaming apps are Android money apps. If you have an iPhone, you should check out my post on the best iOS games that pay instead for some ideas.
8. Become A Walking Tour Guide
If you're still wondering how to make money with no car, you can always consider becoming a local tour guide.
This is especially true if you live in a popular city with lots of sightseeing. Just take a look at this New York walking tour I found on Airbnb as an example.
This tour costs $61 per person, and the host Scott has over 272 reviews, so he's made at least $16,500 from this gig.
And you can do this type of thing in any touristy city if you know your history. Personally, I think this is one of the best gig jobs without a car you can start, and you can even hire someone to do the tours for you if you scale.
9. Etsy Seller
Do you have a knack for creating and designing things? If so, one way to make money without a car is to begin selling on Etsy.
Etsy is a massive online marketplace with millions of sellers. And you can use it to sell products you create without spending monthly fees on an online store.
I also like selling on Etsy because it's beginner-friendly. In fact, back in college, I started a Printify Etsy shop where I sold meme mugs and other merchandise to people.
The shop wasn't a huge success. But it was a fun experiment, and I enjoy print on demand on Etsy since you don't have to worry about manufacturing and shipping the products you sell.
Of course, you can also manufacture and sell your own goods on Etsy. I know a few people who do this successfully, selling everything from unique apparel to home decor.
It takes time to get traffic to your store and to find your first customers. But in my opinion, ecommerce is an awesome side job without a car anyone can start these days.
10. Rent Out Things You Own
Another idea to earn money without having a car is to rent out things you own for money.
And, thanks to the gig economy, there's plenty of platforms that let you do this. Some of my favorite ideas include renting:
- A spare room with platforms like Airbnb
- Extra storage space with Neighbor
- A parking spot with SpotHero
- Baby clothing, supplies, and toys with BabyQuip
These are just a few examples of small rental hustles you can start. And I love the parking space idea since if you don't have a car, there's a chance you can make money with an unused parking space right now!
11. Online Tutoring
If you enjoy working with kids, one of the best ways to make money without a car is to become an online tutor.
Plenty of parents are willing to pay tutors to help their children excel. So, if you're an expert in a particular subject, online tutoring is a pretty natural online job to try out.
Hourly pay for tutoring is also quite high. For example, platforms like BookNook pay U.S. tutors $15 to $22 per hour to teach subjects like English and Math to kids.
This is just one example. There are tons of other online tutoring jobs for various subjects. And some platforms even pay you to do homework or sell notes to students so you're not limited to tutoring.
12. Use Reward Apps
One creative idea for making money with no car is to use various reward apps that pay you to shop.
If you do most of your household's shopping, this is an excellent way to save some extra money each month. And I've been using these sorts of apps ever since school to help reduce costs.
Several reward apps I use and enjoy include:
- Rakuten: This cash back extension lets you earn cash back at thousands of partner retailers when shopping online.
- Pogo: Pays you with small amounts of PayPal money whenever you shop with a linked card.
- Fetch Rewards: This grocery rewards app pays you with free gift cards for scanning barcodes and receipts.
- Drop: Another popular rewards app that I've used for 2+ years and cashed out numerous times.
While this side gig without a car doesn't pay much, you can probably make $5 to $20 per month without much effort.
And you can sometimes stack credit card rewards or in-store loyalty programs to push your savings even further.
13. Do Local Cash Gigs
Back in high school, my friends and I made money during winter by shoveling people's driveways in summer. One of my friends also made money in summer by window washing and lawn aeration.
The point is that there's so many ways to make money with local cash gigs. And you don't need a car to complete a lot of them.
For example, some cash gigs you can offer without having a car include:
- Babysitting and in-home child care
- Cleaning
- Snow shoveling
- House sitting
- Landscaping (you can apply to join a crew and use the company truck)
You might have to take public transportation to get to some of these gigs. But you can probably make a few hundred bucks in a weekend of grinding if you find enough clients.
14. Make Money On YouTube
If you're feeling creative, another one of my favorite side hustles without a car you can consider is making money with YouTube.
This is also something I've been doing since starting my channel in 2020. It's now grown to 18,000+ subscribers and makes $50 a day or so in advertisement revenue.
I like this side hustle because you can do it completely from home. And if you have a modern smartphone, you don't need to spend any money to start.
I invested in a beginner Sony camera and USB microphone. But again, people start successful YouTube channels without spending anything.
And once your channel is monetized, it's an awesome passive income source since you get paid whenever people see ads on your videos.
15. Sell Stuff For Money
Do you have a lot of stuff laying around your house that you don't need? If the answer is yes, then one idea to get money without a car is to sell that stuff for cash.
My family has done this in the past with garage sales. On a sunny weekend, we made a few hundred dollars and did some much-needed Spring cleaning.
You can do this too. Alternatively, you can sell stuff using popular local selling sites and online apps like:
- Mercari: A popular selling app where you can post almost anything for sale.
- Facebook Marketplace: An excellent way to sell stuff like furniture, clothing, sneakers, appliances, and more to people in your city.
- Pawn Shops: An option for getting quick cash for valuables like jewelry, watches, electronics, and precious metals.
- OfferUp: This popular app like Facebook Marketplace is also useful for local selling.
My YouTube video on the best selling apps also provides some ideas for how you can start a flipping side hustle or get rid of your unused items.
16. Create Passive Income Streams
Another idea to make money with no car you can try out involves creating different passive income streams for yourself.
This is also something I've been working on the last few years. Ultimately, the goal is to get paid to do nothing, earning passive income every day from multiple different assets.
Several passive income ideas I'm currently using or want to test out include:
- Investing in dividend stocks
- Using passive income apps on my phone
- Creating niche blogs that make money with affiliate marketing
- Selling internet bandwidth with apps like Honeygain
- Investing in real estate using crowdfunding platforms like Arrived (U.S. only)
Even if it takes a long time, building up passive income is a worthy goal in my opinion. And in the long-run, even a small starting investment can grow substantially thanks to time and compound interest.
17. Start A Local Business
One final way to make money without a car you can try is to start some sort of local business.
Many of my friends do this by creating products, marketing them on Instagram, and then selling them via mail to customers. For example, one girl I know sells her baked goods and also homemade candles.
You can do the same thing and start your own at-home bakery business. Or maybe you know how to make nice wedding gifts, or gifts for some other niche.
Whatever the case, I'd suggest stacking this idea with selling on Etsy if you go down the at-home business route. But you definitely don't need a car for this idea to work.
Starting an online business can also work, like selling on your own Shopify store or another ecommerce platform.
My YouTube video covers some lucrative online side hustles that don't require a car if you want to watch it for some inspiration!
Extra Reading – The Best Ways To Make $5,000 A Month.
Final Thoughts
These days, there are so many ways to make money in the gig economy. But since many require driving, it's easy to think you need a car to find success.
In reality, there are tons of gig jobs without a car that you can explore. And if you prefer staying home, there are plenty of ways to make money with a laptop or phone as well.
Hopefully, at least one of the ideas I covered in this post works out for you.
Thanks for reading, and happy hustling!
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