Working on the weekend is something lots of people avoid at all costs, but it can be a great way to make extra money in your spare time. The best weekend jobs make it possible to supplement your 9-5 income, put more money towards paying off debt, or save more for retirement.
This list includes weekend jobs for professionals, students, parents, and more. Some of these ideas are jobs that could eventually out-earn your 9-5income, and others are low commitment jobs that can help pad your budget.
What are the best weekend jobs? Here are 19 ways to make money on the weekends
Quick Links
- 1. Food delivery driver
- Postmates
- DoorDash
- Instacart
- UberEats
- 2. Run Facebook ads
- 3. Blogger
- 4. Virtual assistant
- 5. Retail sales
- 6. Amazon FBA
- 7. Flip things for sale
- 8. Become a tasker
- 9. Bookkeeper
- 10. Freelance writer
- 11. Customer service rep
- 12. Event setup
- 13. Front desk receptionist
- 14. Petsitter
- 15. Sports referee
- 16. Lawn maintenance
- 17. Deliver pizza
- 18. Tutor
- 19. Take online surveys
- Are weekend jobs worth it?
- How can I make extra money on the weekends? The final word
1. Food delivery driver
Working as a food delivery driver is one of the best weekend jobs because it’s incredibly in-demand right now, and there are more than a dozen different companies you can deliver for.
Couriers average $15-$20. There are standard driver requirements for each app, including:
- 18 years or older, 21 in some markets
- Reliable car and insurance
- Smartphone
- Bank account to get paid
- Pass a background check
The entire process, from application to when you can start driving, takes a little less than 2 weeks. Below is a quick overview of the most popular and widely accessible delivery companies.
Postmates
This is the “anywhere, anytime, anything” courier service. You can find yourself delivering anything from fast food, essential items from the drug store, gourmet take out, or even PlayStations (surprisingly serious about that last one).
Postmates couriers do not need to schedule their hours in advance – you can log into the app and drive whenever you have spare time.
DoorDash
Dashers – what DoorDash calls its drivers – deliver takeout food and essential items. You must schedule your hours in advance with DoorDash. And one thing drivers like about DoorDash is that they offer several incentives that can boost your pay, like bonus pay for delivering during busy times.
Instacart
Instacart is a grocery delivery service that hires both full service and in-store shoppers. Full-service shoppers shop for items and deliver them. In-store shoppers just do the shopping, but they are considered part-time employees and are limited to 29 hours a week or less.
Full-service shoppers are considered independent contractors and can work as much as they want. So if you have time during the week too, you can also deliver for Instacart.
UberEats
UberEats drivers deliver take out food from local and chain restaurants. One of the reasons some drivers really like UberEats is because you can have someone else in the car with you while delivering food, which isn’t the case with all food delivery services.
2. Run Facebook ads
I quit my job as a high school band teacher to run this site full time, but it took a little time before my site was earning enough to support my wife and me. So, I started running Facebook ads for local businesses to supplement my income.
The first client I landed was the jeweler who made my wife’s engagement ring. One client turned into another, then another, and pretty soon I was making more running Facebook ads than I did as a teacher.
After I had a client’s ad system set up, it took me about 2-3 hours a week to maintain each client’s ad set. In terms of time commitment, that’s perfect for a weekend job
You can realistically expect to make $1,000-$2,000/month running Facebook ads for small business owners.
Now more than ever, small business owners need to find new ways to reach customers, and Facebook gives them an affordable and effective alternative to traditional advertising.
If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Facebook Side Hustle Course. The course teaches three key things:
- How to use Facebook’s ad system
- How to find clients who need your services
- How to get those clients to say “yes” and hire you on
3. Blogger
Blogging is by far one of the most fun weekend jobs on this list because you can make money writing about things you enjoy. You can blog about cooking, fitness, dogs, whatever interests you.
When I was still working as a high school band teacher, underpaid and frustrated with my career choice, coming home and building my blog was one of the best parts of my week. I genuinely enjoyed (and still do!) helping people better their financial lives.
I remember sitting down at the kitchen table with a beer in my hand and writing out blog posts or researching how to monetize my blog. It took time to grow my site, but I’m now regularly earning $50,000+ a month from my blog.
I want to be clear: blogging is a slooowwww game overall. It can literally take months to earn your first income, but it’s something you can do in your spare time.
If you are interested in getting started, I highly recommend starting a WordPress blog on Bluehost. For as little as $2.95/month – less than a cup of coffee – you can build your site.
Feeling intimidated by the technical aspects of starting a blog? I teamed up with Bluehost to offer a completely free installation and setup package called Launch That Blog. My team takes care of the tech stuff so you can start blogging faster.
Start your blog with Launch That Blog
4. Virtual assistant
Like many other business owners, I rely on the help of a virtual assistant to help me with the jobs I don’t necessarily need to do, like inbox management, bookkeeping, and spreadsheets. Okay, some of these turn out better if they’re not done by me.
Virtual assistants are a huge help to business owners of all kinds, and it’s an extremely flexible side hustle or weekend job.
Depending on the business and the owner’s needs, virtual assistants handle things like:
- Project management
- Preparing reports
- Scheduling blog posts
- Content creation
- Bookkeeping
- Simple digital marketing tasks
- Event management
- Cleaning up email inboxes
- Responding to emails
- Social media management
- Responding to emails
- Pinterest management
Learn how to start your own virtual assistant business in the comprehensive course: 30 Days or Less to VA Success.
5. Retail sales
This is a more traditional type of weekend job, but it’s not something you should overlook, especially as there is a growing list of companies that offer benefits for part-time work.
Places like Starbucks, Costco, Trader Joe’s, and REI give part-time workers benefits like tuition reimbursement, health benefits, and even paid parental leave. These kinds of benefits are worth factoring in when looking at your part-time pay.
6. Amazon FBA
FBA stands for Fulfillment by Amazon, and Amazon FBA is when third-party sellers list and sell things on Amazon. Amazon processes the payments, stores and ships the merchandise, and manages the customer service.
Here’s what you’re responsible for when you sell on Amazon FBA:
- Sourcing products to sell
- Creating your listings
- Packaging and shipping your items to one of Amazon’s warehouses
Some of the categories that sell well on Amazon include baby stuff, clothes, electronics, and books. Actually, a couple of years ago one of my readers started an Amazon FBA business on the weekends selling books. They’ve since grown their business to selling new items across all categories, and they expect to do over $1 million in sales this year.
7. Flip things for sale
If you like spending your weekends’ shopping yard sales and flea markets, one of the best weekend jobs for you might be flipping things.
The idea behind this gig is that you can find really good deals when you shop around at flea markets and garage sales, and with a good eye, you can pick up things for cheap and sell them later for a profit.
Melissa and Jason of Flea Market Flipper have been doing this for several years, and last year they netted $133,000 in sales working just 20-25 hours a week. You can learn more in their free flipping workshop.
Learn the art of flea market flipping
8. Become a tasker
TaskRabbit is an online platform where you create a profile and list services for things like contactless deliveries, cleaning, organizing, basic home repair, laundry, even assembling IKEA furniture.
You pick your own hours so you can work on the weekend, and you get to set your rates. Here’s an idea of how much some Taskers charge for their services:
There is a $25 charge to list your services on TaskRabbit, but you keep 100% of your rates.
9. Bookkeeper
Bookkeepers help business owners record daily financial transactions, pay bills, collect payments, update financial records, manage payroll, etc. It’s not the same as accounting, which makes it something you can do without specialized training or previous experience.
You’ll need solid math skills and to be organized to work as a bookkeeper. But this is a great weekend job if you’re looking for remote, online work.
10. Freelance writer
The vast majority of the content you read online is written by freelance writers. That’s everything from web copy, emails, blog posts, sales pages, and more. Many freelance writers don’t have a degree in English or journalism, just a knack for writing well.
One of my staff writers, Ariel, built her freelance writing job working on the weekends and evenings, and she went from writing as a side hustle to making it her full-time job. She explains how to start in How to Become a Freelance Writer: The Ultimate Guide for 2020.
11. Customer service rep
When I was researching good weekend jobs, I saw several openings for customer service representatives who could work the evenings and weekends. You might field questions, help process returns, and offer general support.
Most part-time customer service jobs pay in the range of $15-$20/hour, and these jobs don’t always require previous experience. I recommend checking out FlexJobs if you’re interested in finding a weekend job in customer service.
12. Event setup
For every big event – like a wedding, concert, fair, etc. – extra hands are needed for setting up and take down afterward. You might be moving tables, tents, chairs, and there’s a lot of heavy lifting.
These are typically one-off weekend jobs, and you can usually find them listed on Craigslist under the gigs section. Or, you can contact popular venues for big events and see how they hire for event setup staff.
13. Front desk receptionist
Working at the front desk of a gym, fitness center, spa, or hair salon could have some serious perks like discounted or free memberships and services. I know a couple of people who worked in gyms and they got a free membership and gear.
One of the best ways to find these weekend jobs is by contacting places in your area and seeing if they’re hiring.
14. Petsitter
People with pets can’t leave town without finding someone caring and responsible who will take care of their pets while they’re away. Pet sitters either board the cats or dogs in their own house or come to the pet owners’ house to take care of their pets.
Pet sitters make anywhere from $35-$70/day depending on what kind of care the pets need and where you live. For example, a pet sitter in Chicago who has to give a dog medication each day will earn on the higher end of this scale.
One warning – you can end up dog sitting from some really special snowflakes, like this guy below. That’s my dog, Strider. Don’t let that cute mug fool you, he’s a handful.
I highly recommend signing up for Rover if you’re interested in pet sitting or dog walking. It’s free to sign up and create a profile. You set your rates and determine what services you’ll offer.
15. Sports referee
I recently learned how much sports referees make per hour – $25/hour! That’s for club sports, little league, and school sports. Many club sports play on the weekends, and I think this would be a really fun way to make money on the weekends. The only downside might be angry parents yelling at you for making “bad” calls.
You don’t necessarily need to have played the sport you’re reffing, but you’ll obviously need to know all of the rules really well. You can find ref jobs through local community centers or sports clubs.
16. Lawn maintenance
Almost everyone in my neighborhood pays someone to take care of their yard. Nice green lawns are a big deal in Texas, and I’ve even succumbed to paying someone to help me keep my yard weed-free and well-trimmed.
You can make pretty good money on the weekends mowing, weeding, planting, raking, doing edging, aerating, seeding, and more. You can find clients by putting up flyers, knocking on doors, or advertising your services on your own social media page.
17. Deliver pizza
A long-time reader in my M$M Facebook Community recently shared that he was delivering pizzas as a way to make extra money on the weekends. He said it wasn’t uncommon to make an average of $17/hour once tips were factored in.
18. Tutor
When I was still working as a high school teacher, I knew many of my students were seeing tutors on the weekends. Parents paid good money to get their kids help with subjects like math or science and even more money for college test prep tutoring.
This would be a great weekend job for teachers, but honestly, anyone who knows a lot about a subject can work as a tutor. Subject-specific tutors can make anywhere from $30-$60/hour, and ACT and SAT prep tutors can earn upwards of $45-$100/hour.
I recommend Wyzant if you want to work as a tutor. It’s free to create an account, you can set your rates, and Wyzant takes 25% of your tutoring fees.
19. Take online surveys
Taking online surveys isn’t a high-paying weekend job, but it’s a super easy and low commitment way to make money in your spare time.
Survey companies like Survey Junkie pay people to provide them with valuable market research on different products and services. Survey Junkie pays you in points that convert to cash or gift cards. It’s free to sign up, and you’re matched with surveys based on the demographic data you provide when signing up for the site.
You can make around $1-$3/hour taking surveys. I told you it wasn’t high paying. But taking surveys is incredibly mindless, something you can do while chilling out on the sofa watching Netflix.
Are weekend jobs worth it?
Are your finances stretched thin? Do you want to destroy your debt? Are you trying to save for a down payment on a house or invest more for retirement?
In any of those situations, finding a weekend job might be worth it to you. Working in your spare time gives you the ability to earn more. There can be a trade-off because it means less time with your family or friends. But a lot of people still find working on the weekend worth it when they consider their long-term goals.
Be sure to take time off when you need to so you don’t burn yourself out and remember to schedule time with your family and friends so you can still keep up with everyone.
How can I make extra money on the weekends? The final word
The jobs you read through are all really solid options for making extra money. But if you want my top picks, here you go:
- Running Facebook ads for local businesses – pays $1,000-$1,500/month per client
- Delivering food with Postmates or GrubHub – earn $15-$20/hour and you can set your own hours
- Start a blog – blogging isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme, but this is something you can scale in your own time
- Take online surveys with Survey Junkie – an easy way to make extra cash or earn gift cards
These options are all flexible, meaning you can create your own schedule, working on the weekends, in the evenings, or whenever you have spare time. Sure, there’s a trade-off when you work on the weekends, but with these flexible options, it’s easier to make time to relax.