In today’s post, I will be exposing 10 new Ways to Make Money in 2021! (you can do these as a student, no special requirements!)
You guys loved my post with 15+creative ways to make money as a student, so I thought I would write another one with more ideas, for 2021.
This isn’t just going to be a list of those job ideas, but I will explain them and give you some ideas on how to get started.
If you have any questions about any of the side hustles and ideas, please ask me any time per comment, contact form or email. I will answer every question!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase via my link I may get a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend things I use and love, but for any questions, refer to my full disclosure here.
The ideas are not really organized, so just keep scrolling and read my tips to the job/side hustle that caught your interest. Let’s get started!
1. Start a Youtube Channel
Ever thought about doing Youtube videos yourself?
You can make videos about pretty much anything, just choose something that you’re genuinely interested in.
I do Youtube myself, (here it is), and even if my views or subscribers never really went crazy, I still make some hundreds with it. Cool, right?
So if you can be dedicated, consistent, and relevant with your channel, it’s a really good way to make money in 2020 as a student!
How to do it: Set up your account, pick a good name (I know that’s easier said than done, but take your time with it. Also, don’t submit your URL name yet. If you do, you can’t change it if you decide to change your account name!
After that, you will need to produce good and relevant videos, use tags and relevant keywords in the description, and consistently upload new videos.
As soon as you’ve reached 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours watch time within the last 12 months, you can apply for Google Adsense. If you aren’t 18 yet, you can easily add a guardian’s information and still get paid until you turn 18, after which you can just change the information to your own.
If you’d like me to write a separate and more detailed post about how you can make money with Youtube, let me know in the comments.
How much you can make: That really depends on the audience, video length, relevancy, and views on your video.
Approximately, you can earn between $1-$5 per 1,000 views. Some videos will be higher, some lower.
2. Dog Sitting/ Walking
Walking or taking care of pets is another great way to make some money.
The difference between walking and sitting is the length and depth of the job.
Walking usually means to pick up the dog and walk with him for a certain amount of time.
Pet sitting, on the other hand, is usually when the owner drops him off for a certain time, whether that is a day or a week, and you take care of the dog/cat for that time. That can just be walking him 3 times a day, or playing and spending more time. Depending on what you agreed to with the owner, you will get paid more or less.
Where to look for it: There are either websites where you can create a profile and offer your services, or you can send out personal “invitations/offers” to people you know.
How much you earn: around $5-10 an hour, or if it’s daily, around $20-30 a day
3. Start an Etsy Shop
If you haven’t heard of Etsy yet, it is an online shop like Amazon, where individual sellers, or bigger businesses, can sell what they make.
That ranges from self-made jewelry to customizable gifts and digital downloads. You can find anything there, with the plus that it can usually be customized and you support small businesses, which I love.
So why not become a small business too?
If you aren’t ready for your own online store or shop, but still want to make some money selling what you make, Etsy is a good option!
They handle the payment and your shop is shown in search results when someone looks for a product you offer.
How much money you can make from it really depends on what you’re selling and how popular it is, but this post can maybe help you to get started.
4. Online Surveys
I know I talk about this way of making money in my other post too, but it’s just one of my favorites that I don’t want you to miss.
Online surveys are such a good way for busy students to get some money in, even if it’s not thousands of dollars.
I personally have a pretty good experience and long history with surveys. I started at the age of around 14 and still have my accounts and make money from them. By now, I don’t really make money from answering the surveys themselves, but I’ll get to that in a second.
How it works:
You sign up for a survey site and get points for surveys you take, which you can then redeem into gift cards or cash (mostly through PayPal, but some do transfers too)
Honestly, there are so many sketchy sites where they pay like 10 cents for a 20-minute survey and you never get paid because the minimum payout is like $50. But luckily I filtered all those and ended up having 3 amazing platforms where you can make money in 2020 as a student easily!
Swagbucks.com: My favorite international survey page and cashback site! Besides answering surveys, you can also watch videos and download apps for points, or shop on regular online shops through their website and get cashback! It’s super easy, and a perfect side hustle for busy students. You can sign up here!
YouGov: Another survey page I used a lot is YouGov. YouGov is only available in specific countries, but the US, UK, and Germany are part of their list. You can check that right here.
Entscheiderclub: Now, this is unfortunately limited to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, but this site has been my very favorite. They pay well, between $0.50-$10 per survey, and $1 for each person you recommend it to! I loved sending it to all my friends and we made some money altogether! So if you live in one of those 3 countries, you can sign up here for Switzerland, here for Germany, and here for Austria.

How to make money with surveys:
So, I have just mentioned that I don’t actively do surveys anymore (even though I did and made some money with that too), but still, get money from it. You’re probably asking: how? Well here is the tea.
If you have a YouTube channel, a Website or just a lot of friends, you also get points for referrals! I once had a video (in German though) about making money go pretty viral, and I still get sign-ups, even though the video is 2 years old!
Referring people to products or services you already use, is also called Affiliate Marketing, and is great if you have lots of people that trust your recommendations.
Earning money from others signing up somewhere or purchasing something through your referral is an amazing way to make a pretty decent amount of money every month, passively.
Here are some other programs that offer those referrals:
- ShareASale (they have many shops within their program that you can promote on your social media or your friends)
- Awin (another program like ShareASale)
- Booking.com
- Amazon
5. Apply for Scholarships
This is probably nothing you expect to see on a post where it’s about making money. But scholarships are amazing ways to help fund your school, implied that you’re a student.
There are tons of scholarships out there, including crazy ones that seem ridiculous.
But think about it. The small amount (or even big amount)scholarships that speak to a small portion of students because they have a special requirement have pretty good chances!
Here is a list of websites that offer lots of scholarships (including crazy ones):
6. Uber or Lyft
Got a license, a car, and some free time between classes?
You could work as an occasional (or regular) uber or lyft driver!
You just need to get verified so you’re trustworthy, and can start making money!
I haven’t tested this out personally (just got my license and have no car), but it can’t be too hard. Let us know in the comments if you have some experience!
7. Rent out a Room (or things)
Sites like Airbnb let you rent out your free rooms and make money with it! So if you got a free room (NOT your dorm- if you’re a student) it’s a good way to make some passive income.
Besides renting out your room, you can also rent out other things you own, such as a car, mixer, furniture, whatever it is that people just need for a short time!
Where to look for it: Sign up on Airbnb or on craigslist
How much you can make: Since all of the renting prices are up to you, I can’t really tell you how much you will make from it, but there are people making around $1,000 a month just with this side hustle!
8. Translate Documents
You speak another language and wanna make use of it? You could translate documents, movies, videos, or anything you get asked for.
I do occasional translating work at my parents’ company, and if you are close to fluent it’s really not as hard, considering you have access to Google Translate:D.
Where to look for it: There are several websites where you can sign up, list your skills, and find people that want to hire you!
How much you can earn: Sometimes you get paid per project, and some companies pay per hour. If it’s an hourly job, you will probably earn between $10-$25/ hour. Projects can vary of course.
9. Test Websites
Being a website tester means that you will be giving feedback on websites and apps online, by recording your screen and voice.
Where to look for it: The website TryMyUi connects you to companies and people who need feedback on their sites or apps, after filling out your profile and sending a test audit. You can reject or accept offers as you like.
How much you can earn: The pay is $10 per test, which lasts 20 minutes. That’s pretty good I think, but keep in mind that there probably won’t be enough open jobs to cover the length of a normal workday.
10. Manage Social Media Accounts
A social media manager manages social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest (even though it isn’t actually a social media).
The job consists of creating, planning, and marketing content for the accounts.
Where to look for it: You can use the same websites as in #9 for this job too! For example Flexjobs, a website that allows you to either look for offered jobs or offer your services. You pay a small monthly fee to use the site, but if you really do, it is so worth that.
All the sites I mention in #9 offer all kinds of freelancing jobs.
There are so many social media manager positions open out there, if one isn’t enough, you can work for multiple clients, considering you’re organized enough.
Check out these 10 organization hacks for freelancers
How much you can earn: Depending on your experience and how good you are in what you do, you can earn between $15 and $40 per hour as a social media manager, the average being about $25 per hour.
You will earn more money if you not only manage social media accounts but actually contribute to its growth and lead to more sales or traffic of your employer.
It’s also good if your own account has good results or you have a test account to show them your work on.
Managing social media accounts is a really good way to make money in 2021 and I enjoy doing it:)
Bonus: Create a Blog that Makes Money
Yeah, I know this post is called 10 ways to make money in 2021, but here is a bonus!
I know that “blogging” is being mentioned way too often in posts like this since it isn’t anything you can just sign up for and start making money right away. But I really do love it as a way to make money, especially for students.
So here are my tips on it:
Starting an own business at a young age has so many advantages, I can’t even list them all (oops, I got a post where I did! haha).
You can also sign up for my FREE 5-day email course to learn more about how to grow your blog and make money with it!
Whatever you are passionate about, you can write about it and tell the world! But let’s get into how to monetize it.
how it works- the quick intro
First, you can earn money by placing ads on your site. The more traffic you get, the more money you earn.
Another way is with affiliate links. By promoting other people’s products and services, you can get a small compensation for recommending it, just like I link products in my posts to recommend something!
Some are unpaid, some I get compensation for. But that is what keeps the blog running, so thank you for that.
But let’s get back to your business. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to monetize your blog because you just talk about things you love and pass them on to your audience while making money.
Of course, it isn’t as easy as just dropping affiliate links into your posts. You will need to figure out strategies on what works best for you. If you’re ready to learn from someone who does that for a living, I can recommend you to look into the course from Michelle!
Learn here how Michelle went from $0 in affiliate income to over $50,000 per month!
Another way to make money as a student with a blog is to do sponsored posts. You either get to try something for free and give a review to it, or you get paid to mention it/write a complete post about it on your blog.
For the company, that’s niched marketing if your blog is focused on a topic and has a receiving and trusting audience. Win-win!
To get my guide on how to get started, click here!

These were my 10 Ways to Make Money in 2021, even as a Student!
I hope I could give you some creative ideas to reach your financial goals in 2021!
If you need some advice on starting a business or have any questions, feel free to contact me. I am here to grow together with you!
RELATED POSTS:
- 12 Websites that pay over $20/hr to Students
- 15 Ways to Make Money as a Student
- How to Start a Profitable Blog as a Student
Until soon,

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