How To Make $500 a Week From Home

Do you want to learn how to make $500 a week from home?

You might think it’s impossible to make $500 a week from home, but there are more ways to reach that goal than you think.

Whether you’re looking for a side hustle or a way to make extra money from home, this list of jobs can eventually replace your full-time income job while also growing your skills.

Best Ways To Make $500 a Week From Home

In this article, I’m sharing:

A list of ways to make $500 a week from home
How many hours you need to work to make $500
If you can make $500 a week without a degree
If you have to pay taxes on the money you make from home

Enjoy!

1. Sell printables on Etsy

Are you looking for a creative side hustle? Designing and selling printables on Etsy can be a fun way to sell valuable resources to people while not having to manage any inventory.

Printables are products people can download and print from home, so you don’t have to worry about keeping up inventory, shipping, or storing physical products. Even better, the customer can print the download as many times as they want, making it a no-brainer for them to buy.

You might be thinking, what kind of printables can I make and sell? What printables are people buying? Here are a few:

Budget printables
Habit trackers
Wall art
Invitations
Party games
Meal planners

Just to name a few.

I also recommend signing up for the Earn Money Selling Printables free training. You’ll learn printable ideas, how to get started on Etsy, and how to actually make sales.

Free Training: Earn Money Selling Printables

Do you want to make money selling printables online? This free training will give you great ideas on what you can sell, how to get started, the costs, and how to make sales.

2. Start a blog

Starting a blog is another fun way to share your knowledge, experiences, and interests with an audience.

Over ten years ago, I started a fitness blog that evolved into a side hustle blog and then more of a craft blog. This experience also led me to realize you don’t necessarily need to stick with what you started with. The key thing is just getting started. Your blog can grow and change with you. What starts as a hobby can turn into real-life extra income or even a full-time business.

Here’s a list of ways I make money on my blog:

Affiliate marketing – This is when you recommend products or services, and you earn a commission if someone buys through your link. You can learn more at Affiliate Marketing Tips For Bloggers – Free eBook.
Display ads – Once you start getting traffic to your blog, you can earn money by displaying ads.
Sponsored content – Brands pay you to write posts reviewing their products or services.
Digital products – A big way many bloggers make money is by creating books, courses, planners, or printables and selling them to their audience.

Here are some articles you may want to read:

Here's a Facebook post that made Making Sense of Cents $34.92. — *Here’s an example of one Facebook post that made Making Sense of Cents $34.92.*

3. Post content on Facebook

Did you know you can make money by posting content on Facebook? And that content doesn’t even need you to be showing your face or making videos!

You can post funny memes, personal experiences, helpful tips and tutorials, and anything people are interested in.

Once your audience grows and you get more likes and follows, you can make money through Facebook’s creator program (Facebook pays people to post so that they can keep users on Facebook scrolling longer!), selling your own products, and more. Facebook is such a surprisingly useful place to make money without a large following.

4. Help small businesses as a bookkeeper

If you’re someone who is organized, comfortable with numbers, and likes supporting small businesses, working as a small business bookkeeper might be for you.

Small business bookkeepers are in charge of helping businesses stay on top of income and expenses, reconciling accounts, sending invoices, and filing documents properly during tax season.

What’s great about working as a bookkeeper is you don’t need to constantly look for jobs. All you need is a few clients who pay you monthly, and then you have a recurring business model.

You don’t need a finance degree or years of experience, and many people start with basic bookkeeping training (if this job sounds interesting to you, you can take this free bookkeeping training on how to become a bookkeeper for free by clicking here) and learn as they go. There’s demand from small businesses of all types.

Bookkeeper Launch Course

This free training will teach you what you need to know to become a virtual bookkeeper and make money from home.

5. Sell print on demand

Sort of similar to selling printables on Etsy, selling print-on-demand items doesn’t require you to store any inventory in your house.

You only create designs for products placed on mugs, T-shirts, stickers, tote bags, and more without having to print anything yourself. Instead, you upload your designs on a platform that does all of the heavy lifting for you. When someone places an order, the product is printed and shipped for you, and you earn the difference between the production and selling price.

You don’t even need to be a professional designer, but you do need to design things that people want right now. Simple, clever designs do well, or things that appeal to a specific audience.

I recommend signing up for the How to Make Money with Print-On-Demand free workshop. In this workshop, you’ll learn how one person made $500,000 in two years selling gifts, the best types of products to sell to maximize your earnings, and how to start this side hustle on Etsy.

Make Money With Print-On-Demand Free Workshop

Want to learn how to make money selling print-on-demand products on Etsy? Check out this free workshop and learn how Emily made $500,000 in just two years.

6. Become a virtual assistant

I’ve been working as a virtual assistant for a long time, and it’s been one of my favorite jobs. I’m actually a virtual assistant for this blog that you are reading right now!

I love keeping small businesses organized and getting things done. If you’re the same, working as a virtual assistant might be up your alley.

Tasks may include:

Email management
Customer service
Social media management
Copy writing
Researching information

And more.

You don’t need to be a pro or expert from the start because what really matters is that you care and are willing to learn. There is a ton of flexibility and income in the virtual assistance space. Businesses are constantly looking for people to handle smaller tasks or tasks they don’t want to do or don’t have time for.

I’ve had the most luck finding jobs on Upwork. When I first started on Upwork, I set my rates in the lower range so I could get some quick jobs and get reviews on my profile. That made a big difference in a sea of contractors who were looking for the same jobs as I was. Once I landed more jobs and got good reviews, I increased my rates. I also made sure to go above and beyond in these jobs so I’d get the best review possible.

Recommended reading: How To Find Virtual Assistant Jobs as a Beginner

7. Buy and sell items online

One of the quickest ways to make money is buying items for less than what you sell them for.

You can even start with items you have around the house that are not being used anymore, like clothing, toys, electronics, home decor, or furniture. Then, you can sell on platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, eBay, and other online resell platforms.

It helps to start small to get the hang of things. Once you start building some profit, you can buy bigger ticket items to get an even bigger profit. What begins as trying to clean out your home can turn into an actual business that makes you money.

8. Pet sit from home

I loooooved pet sitting and worked on Rover as a dog walker and pet sitter for a while. It is seriously one of the chillest, most enjoyable jobs I’ve ever had.

Instead of traveling to someone else’s house, you can pet sit from home and make money doing whatever you were already doing, but with an animal with you. You can opt to watch animals for a few hours, overnight, or a few days while someone is on vacation. You can find clients through word-of-mouth, by posting flyers on bulletin boards, community Facebook groups, or pet sitting platforms like Rover.

While we’re out of town, we pay our pet sitter about $100 a night, so just five days would be $500. My sister’s nephew also just did a pet sitting job where he watched a neighbor’s pets for 21 days, and he was paid $2,100!

If you have skills or experience working with animals, you can charge even more, especially if you’re willing to train the dogs while you pet sit or manage medications. Make sure to check local rules on pet sitting, or your HOA if you have one, as there might be rules against this.

9. Bake and sell dog treats

Do you like baking? Do you love dogs?

Bake and sell dog treats!

Homemade dog treats can be sold from your house, through social media, or locally at farmers markets or local pet stores. You can start with easy recipes and even take custom orders for birthdays and holidays. You can even package them in cute custom packaging that makes you stand out.

One of the great things about this business is you can start as small as you want to. You can test a few batches with your own pets or your family’s/friends’ animals and see what the dogs like the most.

How To Start a Dog Treat Business From Your Kitchen

This free workshop will teach you how to start your own dog treat bakery business.

10. Provide childcare from home

If you enjoy working with kids and are looking for a way to make money from home, providing childcare is one way to do it.

Parents are always looking for reliable childcare while they work or do errands. You could offer care for as short as a few hours, before or after school, or full days when the kids are still young. You could start with just taking care of one child, going up to two children, and increasing from there if you want to.

You have the flexibility to create a schedule that works for you, while also staying at home and not having to deal with commuting to and from a job. Before getting started with this business idea, check local childcare laws and regulations to make sure you can do something like this from your home.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are answers to common questions about how to make $500 a week from home.

How long does it take to make $500 a week?

The answer depends on how much you earn per hour and the type of work you’re doing. Let’s break down how many hours you’d have to work to make $500 a week:

$15/hour: 33.3 hours a week
$20/hour: 25 hours a week
$25/hour: 20 hours a week
$30/hour: 16.7 hours a week
$40/hour: 12.5 hours a week

As you can see, you don’t need to work 50+ hours a week to make $500. As long as you can find a job that pays between $25 and $50 an hour, you could reach $500 in just 10-20 hours a week (this is easier with freelancing gigs, as you may be able to earn a higher rate).

Is it realistic to make $500 a week from home?

Yes, as I mentioned above, you’d most likely need to work between 10-33 hours a week in order to make $500. You may not make $30 an hour immediately once you start a side hustle. It can take time to find clients, build your skills, and create your portfolio. With consistency and continuing education, making $500 a week or $2,000 a month can be achievable at home.

Can I make $500 a week from home without a degree?

Yep, you can make $500 a week from home without a college degree. Many work-from-home jobs focus on your skills, experience, and ability to get the job done. There are so many ways to learn a new skill online, either through internships, volunteer work, or YouTube videos. There are plenty of ways to learn new skills without going to college. You may also find it easier to combine 2 side hustles instead of relying on one to make $500 a week.

How can a stay-at-home parent make $500 a week?

You can make $500 a week from home even as a busy stay-at-home parent. The best side hustle option for you will depend on your skills and time. The more schedule-flexible options include virtual assisting, pet sitting, online customer service, selling crafts or printables, and taking on freelance work.

Do I have to pay taxes on the money I make from home?

Yes, if you’re working from home in the United States, your income is taxable and must be reported to the IRS. If you’re working for an employer, taxes are usually withheld from your paycheck. But if you’re freelancing or running a side hustle, you’re typically an independent contractor, which means you’ll need to report that income yourself and potentially pay income tax or self-employment tax. So, remember to set aside money so that you have enough to pay your taxes. It’s a smart idea to check current IRS rules and speak with a tax professional.