23 Side Hustles You Never Considered That Make More Than Your 9 to 5

Looking to make some extra cash? While your 9 to 5 job might offer benefits or stability, there are some side hustles that, surprisingly, can net you quite a bit of money. You probably haven’t realized how lucrative some of these could be!

Have you ever wanted to make a lot of money from a side hustle and quit your 9 to 5? You may know about the typical side hustles, but I bet you never even heard of these lucrative side hustles!

Side Hustles That Make More Than a 9 to 5

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These people all shared which side hustles they started that make more than their 9 to 5. Their side hustles have become a more lucrative and fulfilling source of income than their full-time jobs. These entrepreneurs have found a way to turn their passions, hobbies, or skills into successful businesses that generate more money than their traditional jobs.

Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Sculpt Miniatures

Dungeons and Dragons scene made with miniatures.
Image Credit: Adventures with Jerry/Shutterstock.

One person wrote that they sculpt miniatures. He wrote, “I sculpt miniatures for 3D printing, RPG, DnD etc. I make roughly triple what I was doing at a previous ”real” entry job.”

How cool!

Making Swords

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“Making swords, it started as a hobby – like let’s see where we can take it. It is now a company with 15 guys employed, 1500+ swords a year. Best job ever,” said one person.

I was not expecting that answer! What a cool side hustle!

Online Teaching

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“I’m a teacher and make half my monthly salary doing an extra 3 hours of online teaching a week,” wrote one person.

Another expounded, “My cousin does it online. Just private English tutor, advertising through word of mouth and ESL study forums. She was a teacher, then a SAHM. She does maybe 10 hours over 2-3 days a week while her kids are in school, but for a different time zone. Sometimes she gets a higher level student doing exam prep or foreign student preparing to study in her country. According to her she’s making more than she was in a classroom.”

Art Commissions

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bezikus via DepositPhotos.com.

“I used to do art commissions on the side (usually in-between studio contract work), most of which were from furries or folk who wanted art commissions for their OC’s. It was usually single or double-character commissions, it paid handsomely (I would get anywhere between $250-$3000 per commission), and most of the customers that I had were calm and polite, usually providing reference material for the characters they had and what they wanted,” someone said.

Wedding DJ

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Someone had a nice side hustle, “I started a wedding DJ business and found people were willing to pay a premium for a non-cheesy DJ who makes it about them. Even though I only worked Friday-Sat-Sundays due to weddings mostly being held on these days, I was making 2x my 9-5 job.”

Cleaning House

woman leaning on kitchen counter and holding washing sponge
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Cleaning houses makes pretty good money. It’s surprising how much people will pay you to just come in once a week and do a little cleaning,” someone said.

Another person shared some more info on this side hustle; “My dad told me once of an acquaintance’s wife who started a cleaning business. Not by hour but charged for the task. Floors swept and mopped was $xx dishes done and benches wiped $xx carpets vacuumed $xx bathroom cleaned $xx toilet $xx. It worked brilliantly esp for young busy working men. Having set prices for set tasks was easier for them to get their heads around than 3-4 hours cleaning. She did very very well out of it.”

Storm Cleanup

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If you live in the right area and aren’t afraid to invest in some big-ticket items than this is a great idea.

Someone wrote, “Not an easy job, but cutting down trees and storm cleanup. I do it 3 days a week and can easily clear 2-4k in those 3 days.”

Fix Computers

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“Early in my career, I fixed PCs for people on the side, and it doubled my income. 99% of PC issues are something very simple. Since I worked desktop support anyway at the time and my boss was completely chill, I’d just do it alongside my regular duties,” someone shared.

Expanding on your day job is a perfect way to make even more money than you already do.

Lawn Care

children standing on their heads in the grass
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“Lawn care,” someone said, “I Started part-time. About 4 years in I was taking home 2-3x what I was from my state job. I went full time, and now I’m up to 200k/year and growing every year with a general manager running the company.”

Someone shared how their nephew worked their way up to business owner doing this, “My nephew did this a while back, has a landscaping company now. I asked when the last time he held a shovel, and he had to think for a while. Dude works in lawn care and does zero mowing anymore.”

Cosplay Replicas

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“Custom cosplay replicas. It turned from side hustle to my full-time job,” someone wrote.

Turning a hobby into a good job is the dream!

Social Media Consultant

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Social media marketing consulting. Turns out telling people how to post actually paid more than me posting for my 9-5,” someone said.

Telling someone what to do makes more money than actually doing it!

Flipping Broken Electronics

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I love this idea because it reduces waste.

“Getting tossed broken electronics, repairing and selling it. Now it’s not great money, but as a teenager, it’s a pretty sweet gig. Work from home, get to decide my own hours, be my own boss, it sure is better than McDonald’s, and it’s good for the environment too,” one person shared.

Content Writing

Happy african american girl near mother working on laptop at home
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Love writing? Brands and people will pay you a lot of money to write for them!

“A year ago, I stumbled into content writing. It looked like a scam, but my love for researching and writing made me try out. I don’t regret trying this. Some months I get more than I get out of my normal job. Some months are lower, but I love every bit of my side hustle,” someone shared.

Sew Stuffed Animals

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“I sew stuffed animals, quilts, and sometimes children’s clothing. I use to work in a nearby hospital working with Covid patients and Covid samples. I can make my old paycheck in a day if I spend the entire day working,” someone wrote.

What a cute idea!

Door Dash

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Door Dash is a good idea, but did you know you could make a lot of money? That’s what one person wrote!

“Well, this may be hard to believe, but the amount of money I could make working for Door Dash COULD BE more than what I make at my job that has been a 30+ year career,” they said.

Door Dash

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FreeProd via DepositPhotos.com.

I started doing Door Dash a couple months ago for extra money because my days are free and I’m bored. To say I’m shocked by the money I make as a part-time gig job is an understatement. If I work just 2 hours a day delivering food to 3-4 people an hour, Monday – Friday, my rent is covered for the month. I’m living basically rent-free just delivering pizza and burgers. It’s very easy work.”

Tune Cars and Sell Them

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Love tinkering with cars? These guys turned it into a side hustle!

“My and my mates tune cars and sell them. A lot of people don’t go buy the “build, not bought” thing. So people come to us either with a car, or we buy one for them. Built it to their specific taste. And it works out well. We’ve been doing it for 2 years and we’ve worked on a lot of cars. But not enough to make it our full time job. Our revenue in 2022 was about 25% more than my yearly salary. But it’s gaining more speed by the month,” they said.

Waiting Tables

couple tipping waitress
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via DepositPhotos.com.

Someone wrote, “Waiting tables and making tips is the only job worth doing. I have my master’s degree but left my “well paying” 9 to 5 in order to make $300 to $600 a night, 25 hours a week waiting tables. I’ll never go back.”

Car Maintenance

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Someone wrote, “Car maintenance. Usually, simple things like changing brakes, oil change, replacing bulbs, installing stereos and speakers. It’s expensive to gather the tools, but my dad worked on vehicles a lot, so I had plenty to borrow from. Once I made enough, I would slowly replace what I needed and give my dad his tools back. After making some lists and descriptions, I can get most projects done within an hour, depending on the condition of the rest of the car. ”

What a great idea!

Sell Stuff Online

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“I started selling books on Amazon from my dorm room junior year of university. Got enough money to get a public storage unit, later, a small shared warehouse. 5 years later and we have our own warehouse, around 20 full time employees and do lots of volume of a variety of products, purchasing in wholesale. No longer selling books but it’s what got everything off the ground. Now it’s everyday household items, garden supplies, and pesticides, depending what season of the year it is,” this entrepreneur shared.

What a good idea!

Destroying Houses

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Wait.. hear what they have to say!

“Demolishing interiors of houses that are about to be flipped. Sounds silly, but it makes pretty good money on the side,” they said.

What an interesting idea! I wonder how you get into that line of work.

Hanging Christmas Lights

Orange birthday cupcake with sparkler
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There are people who hate hanging Christmas lights or aren’t able to do it for a variety of reasons. This guy does it for them!

He said, “Seasonal work, hanging Christmas lights, Can make enough scratch to comfortably take 2 months off before getting back to a 9-5 until the season restarts.”

Bartending

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“I tended bar every once in a while on the side. Got paid under the table ($8.50/hr +tips),” someone wrote, but… “I would often walk out with hundreds of dollars, not counting my hourly. I also got to eat and drink for free, within reason. Best side hustle ever.”

Draw Anime

blonde woman artist paints a colorful picture
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bezikus via DepositPhotos.com.

“I drew {anime} in my years of college. It started out as a joke between me and my gaming friends, where we would make out gamertags our “mains” then add ‘{anime}’ at the end for the lulz, but then one of them said I should start doing commissions. I drew them up all on the PC, without a drawing tablet and on Paint.net nonetheless, but there is a market. I made about 5k in a year of work. I considered myself a mediocre artist but there was a market, and still is,” someone said.

There is a market for everything!

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This post originally appeared on A Dime Saved.

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Hi! I am a millennial mom with a passion for personal finance. I have always been “into” personal finance but got inspired to start my blog after a period of extended unemployment. That experience really changed the way I viewed my relationship with money and the importance of accessible personal finance education.