How to Make $500 Fast: 25 Ways You Can Start Today

Want to know how to get $500 fast? These money-making options can help you come up with $500 in a week or even less.

If you combine the tasks, you may even be able to earn even more money. Check out the list and see which ideas will help you earn cash as soon as possible.

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25 Ways to Make $500 Fast

Whether you want to grow your emergency fund, save money, or pay for a big purchase, here is a comprehensive list of ways to make $500 fast.

1. Take Care Of Pets

Do you like pets? Check out Rover, where you can get paid to take on a variety of pet care gigs. Some people might hire you to walk their dogs. Others might hire you to pet sit while they’re away on business or pleasure trips.

Or they might hire you to drop in and check on their pets once or twice a day. You can also find gigs to care for pets in your home. Payment is usually made within a couple of days after completing the job. Clients often give tips for excellent service, making it easy to earn extra money.

2. Find Babysitting Or Nannying Gigs

Would you rather care for kids than for pets? Care.com functions similarly to how Rover.com does. You create a profile that shares a bit about yourself and your experience as a caregiver. You choose the days and hours you are available and what you charge for your services.

For instance, you could offer occasional babysitting or part-time or full-time nanny jobs. You can work days, nights, weekends, or above.

Clients see your profile on the Care.com site and call you to discuss having you care for their children. This is an excellent resource for babysitting or nannying gigs to get $500 fast.

3. Care For The Elderly

There is a massive need for people to care for the elderly. You might be hired to sit and visit with an elderly person. You might also be hired to provide light care for an elderly person. If you enjoy older people and are responsible and caring, you might like doing gigs in this arena.

See sites such as Caregivers.com to find a job caring for the elderly. Each job that involves caring for the elderly is different, so it’s essential to get the details about the job when someone wants to hire you. You might be hired for long-term jobs or shorter jobs. You get to choose when you’re available and which jobs you prefer.

4. Tutor Students

Tutoring is another option for making $500 fast. There are several companies that hire online tutors in a variety of subjects. You can work teaching English as a second language to students. Or tutor in basic subjects like math, reading, and grammar.

You can choose the age of the student you want to tutor, whether that includes young children, older children, or adults. Many companies allow you to choose the hours you work. You get paid after the job is done or every week, depending on your work schedule.

Note: Different tutoring companies have different experience qualifications for tutors they hire.

5. Take Surveys

Survey Junkie is a company that is 10 million members strong. Each day, their members can receive points by taking online surveys.

Those points are transferred into cash to your PayPal account or gift cards from popular stores such as Amazon and Target. The option to earn cash rewards makes Survey Junkie a great platform. Now, you’ll have to do a lot of paid online surveys and other activities to make $500 fast, but this could be a great option if you’re on your phone a lot anyway.

6. Search The Internet

Swagbucks has paid out over $400 million in rewards to its members. Members earn points by searching the Internet, completing surveys, watching videos, and playing games.

This is one of the best platforms for making money by playing games. It’s also one of the top survey sites. Swagbucks also gives members points for online shopping purchases. After you’ve earned a certain number of points, Swagbucks will pay you in the form of gift cards.

You can get gift cards to your favorite store or restaurant, or they’ll deposit cash into your PayPal account, which means you can earn cash rewards with this platform.

Related article: 6 Ways to Make Money Searching the Internet

7. Watch Videos

Are you interested in making money online by watching videos? InboxDollars is an Inc. 5000 company that pays millions of its members real cash.

You can get paid to watch ads about products or services. Or you might watch an advertisement for a preview of an upcoming release of a movie or TV show. The company has paid out over $50 million so far and is one of the sites for making money.

Related article: 15 Ways to Get Paid to Watch Videos

8. Gigwalk

Signing up to be a Gigwalk member is another way to use your phone to earn cash fast. This company works differently from the others we’ve talked about. Gigwalk helps companies ensure their advertising attracts clients by using ” gig walkers.”

As a gig walker, you might be asked to take a picture of a product display stand at a local store or a menu at a restaurant. You might also be asked to verify the layout and number of floors or take pictures of stairwells in a building.

Some gigs include counting the number of products situated on a product display. Gigs through Gigwalk pay anywhere from $3 to $100.

9. TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit can be a great place to find jobs you love at your chosen rate. Yes, you heard that right. You can make money and set your own rate, allowing you to make $500 fast.

Here is a list of some of the task opportunities you’ll have as a tasker:

General handyman jobs
Furniture assembly
Moving and packing
Mounting and installation
Yard work
Home improvement

A client might also hire a TaskRabbit tasker to make a delivery or help them prepare their home for a social gathering.

Bonus: Some clients give taskers tips when completing the job, meaning you can get $500 fast.

10. Pick Up A Food Delivery Gig

Companies, such as DoorDash, always hire delivery drivers to bring meals to customers. When you work for one of these companies, you’ll deliver grocery store orders, restaurant meals, or take-out food such as coffee.

You get paid weekly, and many drivers earn tips on the spot for providing excellent service. And depending on where you live, you can use a car, bike, or other modes of transportation.

Check out this article on the best delivery apps to work for for more information on this method of making $500 quickly.

11. Simply Hired

Simply Hired is a jobs website that might be able to get you cash fast. When I searched our city on the site, I found a temporary job as a dishwasher that started immediately and paid daily.

By working for just a few days, you could make $500 and then be done, or you could keep working and earning extra money if you like the job opportunities.

Simply Hired advertises full-time jobs, part-time jobs, permanent jobs, temporary jobs, and more.

12. Craigslist Gigs

Craigslist has a search box on its homepage below the “jobs” section called “gigs”. Gigs are jobs generally completed and paid within a day or a few days.

In Craigslist’s gigs section, you’ll find various short-term, quick-paying jobs, such as domestic jobs where you help someone clean their house or pack for moving.

When I searched the Craigslist gigs section for my area, I found a variety of opportunities, including:

Social media management
Online coding
Photography jobs
House cleaners
Pet sitters

And more. Craigslist will probably have gigs advertised almost any time you want to work.

13. Ask Around to Neighbors, Friends, and Family

Another easy way to earn $500 fast is to send an email, text, or Facebook post asking friends, family, and neighbors if there are any jobs they might want you to do for them.

Some examples might be:

Cleaning and organizing a garage or a room in their house
Mowing their lawn and other small landscaping tasks
Washing and vacuuming their car
Babysitting their kids or pets
Washing their windows
Helping them pack for a move or rearrange their house
Bringing a load of trash to the local landfill for them

Explain in the email that you need to earn a few hundred dollars quickly, and give them ideas of jobs you are willing to do for quick cash.

14. Search Job Sites for Jobs

Many employers have job positions open that need to be filled immediately and pay cash quickly. One example is that of a server at a restaurant.

As a server in a restaurant that needs you to start immediately, it may take a week or two before you’re paid your hourly wage. However, you can begin earning tips the first day you work if you do your job well.

Other options that usually hire quickly and can get you cash immediately are working as a pizza or restaurant delivery driver. Indeed and Craigslist are two sites that you can search to find jobs that are hiring immediately.

15. Find Online Jobs

Another way to make hundreds of dollars quickly is to find online jobs. Sites like Upwork and Fiverr feature jobs you can generally do from home and complete reasonably quickly.

Although you can find longer-term jobs on Upwork, you can also find freelancing gigs like graphic design, website maintenance, and writing jobs. Fiverr features the same types of jobs.

Smaller companies primarily use these sites that need short-term tasks completed and pay as soon as the work is complete. By short-term, I mean jobs that may take a few hours, a day, a few days, weeks, or months.

16. Recycle Stuff

Another way to earn cash quickly is to recycle items—either your own or those of friends, family, and neighbors who want to get rid of them.

Depending on which state you live in, there are several options for recycling. You can collect aluminum cans, scrap metal, or old appliances.

You might also be able to sell old electronics or glass bottles and jars. Depending on what you recycle and how much you bring in, you could earn several hundred dollars in just a few days.

17. Amazon Trade-In Program

The Amazon Trade-In program allows customers to receive Amazon gift cards in exchange for hundreds of thousands of eligible items, including Kindles, books, electronics, DVDs, and more.

The process is easy and convenient. You’ll receive an immediate offer and free shipping. Amazon emails you a prepaid shipping label, so shipping your items to them will cost you nothing.

If you sell it to them, they’ll pay you in Amazon gift cards within two days of analyzing your stuff. Qualified customers who send in a video game, console, or accessory can be paid immediately by selecting Amazon’s Instant Payment option.

18. Decluttr

Decluttr could be a good way to make money if you have a lot of CDs, DVDs, books, or video games lying around that you no longer use. The company even buys Lego building block sets. It’s a great option to help you sell stuff.

Decluttr is the easiest way to sell your unwanted tech stuff online. You enter the ISBN of the product you want to sell, and Decluttr gives you an immediate offer.

When you send your items in, Decluttr processes them and then sends payment within just a day or two. Decluttr can pay you in several ways: via PayPal, via direct deposit to your checking or savings account, or they can mail you an actual check.

19. eBay

eBay is probably one of the most popular sites for selling stuff as its reach is far – you can sell to people worldwide. When selling things on eBay, listing them at competitive prices is essential. You can do this by checking the prices of items listed on eBay that are similar to what you want to sell.

If you price your item just below what the others are asking, it will probably sell quickly. Remember, as you price your item, consider shipping and add any shipping costs to your price if you’re promising free shipping.

Remember to write a great description and take good pictures of the items you sell on eBay. Most eBay buyers pay via PayPal, which means fast payment. You can search your home and garage for items to sell on eBay or pick up quality free stuff from Craigslist.

20. Craigslist

When you want to make money by decluttering, Craigslist is another great venue for selling your stuff.

Although your reach isn’t as far (you’ll probably only be selling to local people), you can potentially sell items on the same day you list them. We recently listed a car on Craigslist that sold on the same day, and we got a great price, too.

If you find some great items in the “free” section, you could resell them to make 500 fast. Listing your “for sale” items on other sites would also be a good idea. Several sites, like Craigslist, also allow you to list items to sell without charging a selling fee.

21. Consignment Shop

When it comes to making money, consignment shops can be a great way to make fast cash if you have a lot of clothes or household items that you can do without. Note that the fastest sellers in consignment shops are generally name-brand items in excellent condition.

When you list items with consignment stores, the store employees price the item. When it is sold, the store owner splits the earnings with the seller according to predetermined terms.

Consignment stores can effectively sell higher-quality items because you don’t have to worry about shipping, and customers are coming into the consignment store.

22. Pawn Shops

Neighborhood pawn shops sell items for people too, but in a different way. A pawn shop will generally give you a “pay now” price and resell your item later for a profit.

When you bring your items to a pawn shop, they’ll determine a selling price and pay you immediately in most situations. Note that the prices you get will be lower than what you can sell them for directly.

As with consignment shops, pawn shops will have a contract you need to sign. Be sure to read all the terms of the contract carefully.

23. Garage Sale

Hosting a garage sale can be a lot of work, but it can also help you earn $500 quickly. At our last garage sale, we sold all our baby items, as our youngest child had grown out of the baby stage and entered toddlerhood. We raked in over $750 at that sale.

If you choose to make extra money by having a garage sale, consider the following tips for selling your stuff quickly:

Advertise your sale with signs in your neighborhood
Advertise on sites such as Craigslist or other alternatives
Choose to sell items that are in good shape
Stuff that’s not in good shape can be put in a “free” box
Price your stuff competitively – Ten percent of the retail price is a good guideline
Be willing to bargain with shoppers
Have your items clearly priced
Organize items neatly on tables to make for easy shopping

Also, have your sale on or near a weekend: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays are the best days for sales.

24. Facebook Marketplace

Selling things on Facebook Marketplace is popular for making extra money online. This is especially true if you’re selling baby, kids’, or higher-end items in great shape.

The fantastic thing about selling on Facebook is that it’s easy: you post a message sharing what you’re selling and how much you want. Depending on the value of what you want to sell or how many items you have to sell, you could make $500 quickly.

Hint: For baby and kids’ clothes, I’d suggest selling them in bundles by naming how many of each item you have (i.e., pants, shirts, onesies) and putting a group price for taking the whole bag or box. This can help you make more money.

25. Bookscouter

Bookscouter could be an excellent way for you to make cash fast if you are a recent college graduate and have a lot of textbooks to sell. Bookscouter’s website claims to help you get the best price for your textbook. Here’s how it works.

You enter the ISBN for your textbook (usually found on the back of the book) into the Bookscouter system. Bookscouter searches its database for price offers from booksellers around the world. The site then populates a list of sellers, from which you can accept or reject their offer to buy.

After you accept their offer to buy, they send you a prepaid label you can use for shipping, and you send in your books. Within 1-2 days of receiving and checking your order, the bookseller will pay you via PayPal.

How to Get $500 Fast – Summary

One of the best ways to improve your financial situation is to find ways to increase your income. Luckily, there’s never any shortage of ways to make $500 fast. You simply have to know where to look.

Whether you want to save money, pay down debt, or cover an emergency expense, you can get $500 fast if you’re willing to do the work.

By checking this list and determining which ways of earning cash are most conducive to your lifestyle, you can quickly earn the money you need.

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