I need Money! 35 Quick Ways to make Money Fast | Australia 2021 Update

I need money!

Does this thought ever cross your mind?

Like millions of Australians, it no doubt does regularly. It may surprise you to find out that there are many solutions to this problem right at your fingertips.

“About 7% of all working Australians are finding jobs through the ‘gig economy’, signing up to more than 100 digital platforms to make a living.” [SBS News]

Let us guide you on how to get money fast with our list of 35 quick ways to make money.

Is it possible to earn money fast online?

Yes, it is very possible. The internet is your ultimate money maker. It is fast and easy to get online and get started.

There are also many ways to get money fast offline, although most of them, like selling items, can be better achieved with some help from your computer.

How Fast is Fast?

Some of the following suggestions to make money online fast can make you money immediately. The majority can make you money within a week or two.

For some of these suggestions, you will need a PayPal account. To ensure you are paid promptly, sign up for one now if you don’t have one already.

How to make quick money – 35 ways!

Ready to learn how to make easy money? Pick one of the options below and you will be money making in no time…

Or start right now by signing up with paid survey companies Toluna, PureProfile or Swagbucks.

1. Sign up to Homescan Consumer Panel

If you want to earn money both fast and in the easiest way possible, you should definitely consider signing up to Cashback Australian Beauty Research.

This site makes earning money super simple.  After signing up for Cashback Research, you have the opportunity to get gift cards just for scanning the bar codes on beauty products you have already purchased.

Join Cashback Research today.

2. Sign up to IRI Shopper Panel

Similar to Cashback Research, you can also earn money from scanning your shopping with the IRI Shopper Panel.

This site makes earning money super simple as long as you are happy with gift vouchers and items like iPads!

You can currently get a $20 gift voucher on top of any earnings from using the scanner for signing up and staying a member for six weeks.

It’s free to join and IRI Shopper Panel also has regular prize draws.

Join IRI Shopper Panel today.

3. Do Paid Surveys

Paid surveys are a quick way to make money. Get started now on Toluna. They sometimes offer bonus points just for signing up.

Swagbucks is another quick and easy alternative and will give you a $5 bonus for signing up now.

Pureprofile and Octopus Group are other great survey sites.

We recommend signing up for them all as they all have different offers and it’s the combination of using all of them and completing all surveys offered that can lead to some good money.

Check out our full guide with many more survey options.

4. Win free stuff

You may be surprised to learn that some sites will give you free stuff just for being signed up! This is usually done by the way of Sweepstakes and contests. While it’s not quite cash, often times there are gift cards on offer which are the next best alternative, as well as gadgets and other cool stuff you can win.

You can get started by signing up for the Supermarket Voucher Sweepstakes.   Check out the full guide here for more sites.

5. Get paid just to watch videos or just browse the internet

You can actually get paid just for watching short videos or browse the internet.

Nielson will pay you in points which can be redeemed for gift cards or PayPal Cash just for watching short video clips. It couldn’t be easier.

Click here to get started now.

6. Reverb Musical Instrument Side Hustle

The Reverb online marketplace makes it easy for anyone to sell unused musical instruments they no longer need. Individuals, collectors, music stores, even rock stars buy and sell musical instruments through the online platform and keep coming back because of the great user experience.

At any given time, the site has a wide variety of listings ranging from acoustic, electric, and bass guitars to synthesizers, pro audio gear, drums, orchestra instruments, DJ equipment, music-making software, accessories and more.

This is great business if you can find a hardly used low cost instrument at a local garage sale you can sell for more or you have some old instruments from high school or college just lying around.

A few of the things I really like about Reverb.com is that they let you list your gear for free and a portion of each sale on Reverb goes to Reverb Gives, which provides youth music programs all over the world with the instruments they need to make music.

7. Visit a Pawnshop

Pawning an item basically means selling your item to a pawn shop temporarily with the option to recover your item once you have paid back the amount they gave you plus any interest, fees and charges. Often pawnshops will also just buy your items outright or give you a cash loan without securing it with an item.

If you want to just sell your item, selling it at a pawnshops can be a very easy way to make money fast. However, be warned that you will usually get less money than selling it yourself to a private buyer using a method discussed above. The fees and interest rate charges on any loan can also be quite high so this should really be a last resort if you really require the money fast.

8. Join Rewards Sites

Opinion World offers members opportunities to earn points for doing simple everyday things such as online shopping, clicking on links and doing quick surveys. You can also earn points by referring friends and by playing games.

When you signup they will start out with an e-mail welcoming you to OpinionWorld and you will begin receiving e-mail invitations to take surveys. The e-mails will contain all the information you need to take part. Once you complete the survey, you’ll have the opportunity to earn points which can later be redeemed for Flexi egift cards or PayPal which is a fast and safe way to redeem your points for cash!

Flexi eGift Card is an electronic gift card that lets you choose where you’d like to shop! It works the same a physical gift card and includes shops such as: WISH, Myer, SuperCheap, Woolworth’s, Domino’s Pizza, App Store & iTunes, Caltex Woolworths, Rebel and much more!

Surveys aren’t the only way to earn points. You can also sign up for:

• Product testing – Spend time with products before they hit market.
• Advert reviews – Watch videos and help improve the quality of ads.
• Real world missions – Find local opportunities in your area.

In addition to offering some fun options for earning some cash, every month, Opinion World donates $10,000 to the American Red Cross in honor of the time you take to share your views.

Click here to sign up now.

You can earn rewards from other sites too, particularly sweepstakes. Sign up to Supermarket Voucher Sweepstakes to see what it’s all about!

9. Cut back your Costs

Another easy way to make money is to cut back your costs. Look around your house and at your budget, what extras do you have that you don’t use or don’t really need? Think about things like Foxtel, a home phone, whether your mobile phone plan could be lowered, whether you really need to buy coffee at Starbucks or if you can getaround on a bike sometimes instead of using a car. There is just about always something you could cut back. Try putting the credit cards away and using just a fixed budget amount of cash each week. The ease of credit card use is a downfall for many people that leads to burdensome high interest rate debt.

10. Complete Quick Jobs Online

Just as you need to make money fast, there are businesses that need work completed fast.

You can find opportunities for jobs that will take under 4 hours to complete at Speedlancer. It is not always easy to secure a position as they can be quite competitive, but the pay is generally good at up to $150 AUD per project.

11. Unused Gift Cards Reseller

Have you ever received a gift card that you know you will never use? Most people have more than a few gift cards sitting around going to waste. Time to turn those gift cards into a revenue stream.

Giftcardxchange.com.au offers buyers and sellers a secure and safe way to sell or buy unwanted gift cards. In most cases you will receive 80% of the face value as long as there is at least 6 months left on the card with a value of $30 or more.

Once they have agreed to buyback and have received your card, funds are transferred to your financial institution through EFT. The whole process usually takes 5-7 days.

Gift cards are then resold on the exact same site at a discount to the value available on the card. This is a great business idea where everyone wins.

12. Join a Focus Group

One of the quick ways to make money is to contact a market research company and join a focus group. Focus groups run regularly and it is not usually hard to find one that will be run in the next week or two if you live in a big city. These usually pay about $60-100 for an hour and a half and you are given cash on the night. The downside is that you are usually only allowed to do one every 6 months or so. They are usually at a set venue but they will sometimes come to your home or allow you to do it over the phone. We recommend Research Recruiters as a place to start. You can also search various social media platforms such as Facebook to research and join.

13. Rent out a Spare Room with Airbnb

If you have a spare room, one of the easy ways to make money is to get a house mate. If you don’t want the commitment of a house mate, it is very easy to rent out a spare room or even your couch on a short term basis using services such as Airbnb. You can set the price, the rules and what dates your spare real estate is available.

14. Compete on 99 Designs

If you are a graphic designer looking for new clients, you can quickly get to work by competing for projects on 99 Designs. Basically, you can read what projects are available and enter the ones that appeal to you. If the person who created the job picks your design then you get paid. This can be a good way to create a portfolio of work if you do not have one.

15. Babysit

If you like young children, why not become a babysitter to earn extra cash. Thanks to the internet, there are many ways you can advertise your services. Find a Babysitter lets you bid on listed jobs or create a profile to connect with parents looking for babysitting services. They’ve been a trusted childcare business platform since 2005, which will help your small business get clients once you create your profile on their site.

It’s important to create a great profile so that it presents yourself in the best possible light. You want families to spot you for the right reasons. Keep it brief and relevant – just write a few sentences covering your previous child care related experience and qualifications. You can also go low tech and advertise in local shopping centres, schools and child care centres.

16. Sell Crafts

If you are good at sewing and crafts and wondering how to make money quickly, start selling your crafts, sewing and handmade jewellery. There are many good ways to do this from getting a stall at the local market to selling via Facebook or Etsy. It is quick and easy to set up online accounts and you can be selling your goods immediately. Read more in our guide to earning money online.

17. Tutoring

Tutoring is a great way to make some extra money quickly especially if you are good at subjects such as math or science. You can even teach English as a foreign language online tutoring easily. If you do know a second language, make yourself available for people to practise conversation with you via Skype or Zoom.

There are many sites where you can advertise as a tutor and you can also place ads in the neighborhood or school newsletters. I’ve seen great success by just sending an e-mail to local teachers and digital marketing the services directly to schools.

18. Cash Out Reward Points

If you need money right now, log into all your reward accounts, such as Fly Buys, credit card rewards, frequent fliers, etc and see if you can get any vouchers. They do not usually give you cash, but if you can get a supermarket voucher, you can use it to buy your groceries and use your grocery money as extra money. Read more about this way of making money here.

19. Sell Unwanted Items

Perhaps the easiest way to make money is to sell items from around your home that you no longer need. It usually doesn’t take too long to find some possibilities. There are a large number of ways you can go about selling your unwanted items. You can have a garage sale, use Gumtree or Craigslist. My current favourite is to advertise on social media using Facebook. Facebook groups can be a very quick way to make money. Simply search for a buy/sell/swap Facebook group in your area, join and list your items to create an electronic garage sale.

For extra cash, you could consider doing the next point while the items are listed to sell.

20. Do Odd Jobs on Craigslist

There are plenty of odd jobs that you can do for people for money such as painting, fixing a cupboard door or helping someone pack or move. You do not necessarily need any skills. Think creatively and you will come up with something you can do. There are lots of places you can advertise your services online, but Craigslist is my go to place when I’m searching for help with a project. You should also think about who your potential customers are and the best way to reach them. For example, you could advertise at a seniors club for a specific service you know seniors would be interested in or reach a wider audience at the community centre. Odd jobs are usually paid by cash straight after you do the job so it is another way to get paid quickly and put money directly in your bank account!

21. Master Matched Betting

You may be wondering how to make quick money with betting without taking a huge gamble, but that’s only if you haven’t heard of matched betting. In this form of betting, you basically make two bets, one for some event to happen (such as horse 3 to win) and one against the event happening (horse 3 does not come first). You make the bet at such odds that no matter which event occurs (whether horse 3 wins or not), that you end up with more money than you spent betting in the first place. This means that you are guaranteed to win.

22. Become a Mystery Shopper

For some people, this would no doubt be a dream come true – being paid to shop! You can register at mystery shopping sites such as this one. As a mystery shopper, you can choose which assignments suit you. You will be told exactly what you need to do. After the visit, you will need to fill in a detailed online report.

23. Become a Mechanical Turk

This Amazon site will pay you to do “Human Intelligence Tasks” called HiTs. There are a large variety of tasks from transcribing to translating, writing out search terms to answering finance questions. The work is generally poorly paid but it is one of the quickest ways to get started earning money online. You are paid into your Amazon account as soon as the work is approved. However, there have been reports that it’s difficult for Australian workers to be approved to use the site.

24. Become a Micro Worker

One of the fast ways to make money is to use this site to complete small jobs for money. It is similar to Mechanical Turk in both the jobs offered and the fact that the pay is very low. However, the jobs that are specifically for Australians do pay a bit better. In fact, some jobs just involve liking a Facebook post or tweeting something and pay up to US$1 which is not bad for a few minutes effort. Once you have done at least US$9 worth of work, you can have the money transferred into your PayPal account. I was able to make $20 in about the first 30 minutes after joining this site, although then I had exhausted the best paying jobs for that moment.

25. Start Freelancing Online

There are many sites such as Freelancer where you can earn money basically immediately. There are many different jobs on here that require a large range of skill sets. You do not need to have a profession to start making money this way. If you can write decent native English then writing is an option or you can become someone’s virtual assistant, do data entry or internet research. There are also programming jobs, accounting jobs, graphic design jobs… The list goes on and on.

26. Become a Medical Research Volunteer

There are many medical research companies which will pay you to become a volunteer. A quick Google search will reveal many options. It can be worth applying to a few so that you can hopefully find an opportunity that suits you perfectly. Recently, a local clinic in my area was offering $300 for people with migraine headaches to participate in medical trials. Hospitals and clinics are always looking for participants, and you can find local medical studies easily by searching online.

27. Deliver Catalogues

There are lots of paid opportunities to deliver catalogues by searching on job websites or Gumtree. This is a great way to get out and about and get some fresh air which making some extra cash.

28. Participate in a Research Study at a University

Universities are constantly looking for people with extra time to participate in their research studies. Often, participants will get paid. The best way to find opportunities is to talk to your local university or check out this page on Gumtree.

29. Make some Money with Apps on your Phone

If you want to know another way of how to make easy money, check out phone apps that pay you. Similar to paid surveys, you can also use smart phone apps which will pay you money for small tasks. The money is low but this is a way to use time constructively when you are waiting in a queue, on the train, etc. There are several money-making apps including Swagbucks and Google Opinion Rewards (for android phones).

30. Refer People to your Favourite Goods and Services

Many online shops and services will pay you a referral fee if you get someone else to sign up. In fact, some of the sites mentioned on this page do such as Microworkers or many of the survey sites, like Octopus Group. Keep a look out for this referral or affiliate program option. Many banks and insurers offer it too. If you already like the service, why not tell your friends about it? This can be an easy way to make money plus help out your friends.

31. Deliver with Deliveroo or Uber Eats

Food delivery is not a new concept. In the past restaurants would hire full-time or part-time employees strictly to deliver food. The gig economy has disrupted this model with a slight alteration of the rideshare model letting you deliver food instead of people! The main difference being you don’t have passengers in your car.

Technology allows you to receive a delivery opportunity directly on your phone app. You’ll see what it is and what the pay would be, and can choose to accept the job or reject it. If you accept it, then you drive to the restaurant, pick up the food, drive to the customer to drop off the food. That’s it! This is an easy way for you to make extra cash.

For Aussie drivers, Deliveroo and Uber Eats has opportunities for most areas. You can also try DoorDash where jobs are currently for Melbourne Australia only. More cities will be rolled out soon.

32. Amazon Flex Driver

Amazon Flex delivery partners earn cash by picking up packages from one of their Amazon facilities or businesses. Flex pays in blocks of time and they let you know ahead of time what a block will pay, so you can decide if it’s worth while for your personal finance situation. Right now, my app shows a four hour block available for a minimum of $108 payment. If I decide to do deliveries during this block of time, I am guaranteed $108, even if my block ends early.

Amazon provides an app that gives you the quickest delivery route to follow and deliver the packages. As a delivery partner, you’re in and out of your vehicle, so it is a gig for those that don’t mind being active on their feet. In addition the nature of the job does require you to pass a background check and have car insurance.

I like Amazon Flex because you can set the times when you want to work. You can plan your schedule by reserving blocks in advance or picking them the same day, based on your needs or the payscale you require. Pay is direct deposit twice a week, so you are never waiting for your cash.

33. Rent out your Items

A more novel way to make money from your unused items is to become a part of the sharing economy and rent them out. This way you can keep ownership of your property while having someone else pay you for them – sometimes many times over!

Look around and make an inventory of items you don’t need right now (eg power tools, furniture, baby equipment) but will need again in future and then head over to the Hire Things web site.

Hire Things has turned this business idea into an online business model offering easy online transactions at hirethings.com.au – List your items with your desired rental price point and then wait for them to be hired.

If you don’t use your car every day,  Car Next Door is a great way to  share your unused car or van which can help you offset its costs and generate income.

34. Passive Income House Sitting for Free Rent

House sitters perform agreed tasks for home owners that travel frequently or will be gone for a long period of time. This may include house cleaning, garden and lawn maintenance, pet sitting, dog walking, house security and the occasional odd job.

The types of jobs vary, so if pet sitting is not your thing, don’t worry, just pick a job that is more you. All tasks will be discussed and agreed to prior to acceptance of the house sitting position.

Opportunities can be found in local newspapers, Craigslist and a few online platforms such as TrustedHousesitters.com and MindAHome.com that offer a centralized place to create a profile as well as take on listed jobs.

Pay is negotiable between you and the real estate owner, however, in most cases it’s a straight swap where house sitters care for the house and pets in exchange for free accommodation. If you use an online platform, the only cost is a membership which works out to $5 – $10 per month. At the end of the day you get to keep your money in your bank account and live rent free – Netflix and chill!

35. Sell Photos with Shutterstock or Fiverr

Do you like taking fabulous photos? Then this option could be good for you. Many sites will buy your photos, usually offering a commission on every sale. They do need to be of a very high quality. Start by checking out Shutterstock. They have a great free guide to get you started. You can also do this through Fiverr.  It’s totally up to you. You can work as much as you want. Many sellers work on Fiverr full time and some keep their 9-5 job while using Fiverr to make extra money. The great part is once you complete a buyer’s order, the money is transferred to your account. No need to chase clients for payments and wait 60 or 90 days for a check.

Check out our other useful guides to get you started or help you on your journey to making more money online or get started finding work from home jobs or check out some other ways to make extra money.

How do you earn money online?

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