9 Ways to Make an Extra $1,000 This Summer

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Want to boost your bottom line this summer? Pick up one of these gigs to put $1,000 or more in your pocket before the season is over.

See also: 9 Dumb Ways You're Going to Waste Money This Summer

1. Take Tests Online

If you fancy chilling inside in the A/C instead of baking under the beautiful sun, consider taking online tests to help build up your bank account. As a tester, you're paid $10 for each 20-minute test you complete. A test involves browsing and providing feedback on a website that is selected for you. Your feedback on the websites design and usability is recorded and at the end of the test you are asked to answer four simple questions. Earning $10 per test, you could easily work early mornings or late evenings for two to three hours (three to six tests) per day. At that rate, you would reach $1,000 in less than 20 days. Hold steady and you're looking at easily making $2,000 to $3,000 this summer.

2. Become an Event Staffer in Your Area

When I was in college, I worked at the local minor league baseball stadium during home games, and with my working wage plus tips, I pulled in a couple thousand dollars over the course of the regular season. If sports aren't your thing (although that aspect shouldn't matter since money is your real thing), poke around for other event-staffing gigs, like working concessions at concerts, cleanup crews for stadium and field events, and security if you look like you could hurt somebody.

3. Register for a Camp Counselor Position

I was a camp counselor during the summer for nearly a decade — before the very sight of children gave me debilitating migraines — and I always pulled in good cash, plus free food and lodging. At the very low end of it, I made about $300 per week at a five-day sleepaway camp (of which there were three per summer) up to about $3,000 for an eight-week session. It's not hard work (it can actually be a lot of fun!), and you'll make lifelong friends and memories — once those little buggers go to sleep, of course.

4. Share Your Knowledge as an Online Tutor

Think you're a smarty pants? Trade your wisdom for cold, hard cash as a tutor.

"While you may need a teaching certificate for elementary, high school, and college subjects, many sites that help international students learn English as a second language do not require a degree or certificate," says Angie Nelson of TheWorkAtHomeWife.com.

The number of hours you work will be according to your schedule and how much demand there is, but you can expect to earn at least $10 an hour at most places, if not more.

5. Turn Your Car Into a Taxi or Delivery Service

Lyft and Uber are so passe.

If you want to participate in the turn-your-personal-vehicle-into-a-cash-cow economy — but don't want to drive drunk people around all day — look into becoming a freelance delivery person.

"The gig economy is the hot trend this summer, but not everyone likes the idea of being someone else's personal chauffeur through Lyft or Uber," says business expert Mike Catania. "Good news — there are other gig-based jobs out there: Postmates pays their errand-based drivers $12/hour plus tips, and residents around San Francisco, New York, Chicago, or L.A. can be a courier for Shyp, where you can expect to make around $16/hr."

Just log 70 to 90 hours of road time with these services to reach your $1,000 goal.

6. Pick Up Odd Jobs on Craigslist

Don't forget about good ol' Craigslist to make some quick bucks. When I was in college, I used to help elderly folks in their gardens, among other odd jobs here and there. Even today, Craigslist is still an excellent resource for picking up side work. If you dedicated an entire summer to picking up gigs, there's no doubt that you'll reach your $1,000 goal.

7. Rent Out Extra Space in Your Home

I feel like I talk about this nonstop, but if you really want to juice up your summer earnings, rent out the extra space you have in your home. Could be a spare bedroom, or just your couch — if you live in an area to which people travel, somebody will rent the space if your accommodations are nice enough. I've been doing this for about eight years now, and I've made hundreds of thousands of dollars. Surely you can pull off $1,000 in a summer. At $50 a night — which is incredibly reasonable for a small bedroom — you'll only need to book 20 nights, and it's easy work with the help of sites like Airbnb, HomeAway, and Roomorama.

8. Watch Other People's Pets

I started watching other people's pets last spring using sites like DogVacay and Rover, and it's a fun and easy way to make $1,000 this summer if you keep your prices below the nearest competition but still competitive.

If you want to add a little philanthropy to your efforts, check out the pet-sitting website called Sitting for a Cause. The site connects pet owners with pet care professionals, then facilitates bookings and payments through the site. It charges a 10% commission fee, which is 5% to 10% lower than DogVacay and Rover, and donates 50% of its profits to animal related causes. Depending on the services you choose to offer, you can earn anywhere from $20 to $100 per client per day.

9. Rent Out Your Clothing

Have the kind of style that other people would pay for, ladies? Rent out your clothes.

Garment Exchange is the first community driven peer-to peer marketplace that allows women nationwide to rent their clothing for money. The site facilitates wardrobe sharing by providing all of the packaging and insurance, and handles the communication. It provides clothing owners 80% commission of the rental. Most women rent their items for 20% of the current retail rate.

On average, women have over 250 articles of clothing in their closet, which could mean serious income potential on items you wear less frequently.

Do you have other bright ideas on how to make $1,000 this summer? Let me know in the comments below.

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