10 Unique Side Hustles to Make Extra Money in 2022

It’s no secret there are numerous benefits to various side hustles. Not only do they allow you to make extra money in your free time, but they also let you explore your hobbies or skills, meet new people, and discover new passions. Of course, a lot depends on the type of work you decide to tackle: the more unique side hustles you pick, the less competition you have, and the more space you have to experiment with your capabilities.

In this article, we’re going to explore 10 unique side hustles that can help you make some extra cash, supplement your primary income, and ensure a higher level of financial stability!

Side hustles you’ll need a little money to start

Carpet/Mattress cleaning

While this side hustle does require some initial investment, it’s not that massive – and you’re going to be reaping the benefits for quite a while!

A lot of people appreciate the feeling of a professionally cleaned carpet, but since it’s not something they’d do on a regular basis, they’re not willing to purchase a professional cleaning device. This means you could easily splash a few hundred bucks on a good carpet cleaner once and keep charging for the service for years to come!

The price of cleaning the carpets in one room typically goes for $50–90 – which means the device will pay for itself with the first few homes you clean. Moreover, you can find devices that also allow you to clean mattresses and soft furniture like sofas or armchairs, resulting in ever more extra cash in your pocket!

Tailoring clothing items

One of the top tips Tan France, the fashion and style expert from Netflix’s show Queer Eye, always shares is getting your clothes tailored. “The key to looking refined and sophisticated on a budget is choosing the right clothing and having it tailored to perfection,” he says.

The thing is, a lot of people believe personal tailoring services are very pricey. But they don’t have to be! If you can use a sewing machine and offer adjustments at a competitive price, this can be a great way for you to make money on the side.

This is definitely one of the more unique side hustles, which means you won’t probably have a ton of competition. Advertise your services on social media, spread the word through your friends and family, and you’ll have a row of clients asking you to hem their pants, shorten their sleeves ($10–15), or adjust coat shoulders (up to $60!) in no time!

Car advertisements

If you have a car and drive around the city a lot, you could make some passive income by letting companies advertise on it. You can either put a certain sticker or a billboard on, or you can wrap the entire car in a special vinyl film with advertising material on it. Not only is this one of the more unique side hustles, but it’s also completely effortless and easy to combine with other income sources.

The amount of money you can make this way depends on your location, the type of car you drive (a bigger car equals more surface for advertising), and how much you drive (the more miles you score around town, the more people can potentially see the ad). Generally, you can expect to score $100 or more per month (or around £50–100 if you’re in the UK).

Unique side hustles that require zero investment

Becoming a secret shopper

You’ve certainly heard about secret shoppers; they come to a shop, restaurant, or hotel, use its services, keep every smallest detail in mind, and later give an in-depth report on the customer service provided. It’s a popular way for companies to evaluate their staff’s real performance: since employees always try harder when bosses are around, it’s much easier to send in someone who seems like any regular client and receives regular treatment.

According to Indeed, the average rate for a secret shopper is over $20 per hour – moreover, the work isn’t too challenging, and you can easily control your workload. This makes it one of the best side hustle ideas for a student or someone who works full-time!

Pet sitting

While babysitting has been one of the most popular side hustle ideas for decades, pet sitting is a relatively newer thing. Nevertheless, it’s becoming more and more relevant now that pandemic-related travel restrictions are easing and people are getting back to vacationing abroad. Once they leave, they need someone to take care of their pets: feed them, walk their dogs, clean their cats’ litter boxes, and so on.

If you’re an animal lover, it’s one of those unique side hustles that will feel more like a hobby – and let you make money at the same time! The amount you can charge depends on the exact services you offer, but you can generally make the most with 24-hour care.

Proofreading

Some people believe the only ways to earn using their language skills are copywriting and working on translations. However, none of them seems particularly appealing if you have little free time – and on top of that, a certain amount of creativity is a must. Proofreading is one of those unique side hustles that only require you to have perfect language skills and a little bit of time: no creativity, no extra training (e.g., SEO), no thinking outside the box.

Proofreaders are in high demand: their services are required by companies that prepare texts for foreign audiences, students writing their final theses or dissertations, aspiring writers, and thousands of others who need to write texts for any purpose. How much extra money can you make this way, you ask? $2–5 seems to be the average rate for a page – and that’s if you’re working in English. You can charge a lot more with rare languages!

Website testing

Building websites or apps can take ages – which means it's nearly impossible for the developers or other team members to see it in the same way a new user would for the first time. Because of this, testing works best when performed by complete outsiders who have never seen or tried the newly made website or app before.

Testing websites or apps is one of those unique side hustles that a lot of people could technically do but aren’t aware of the opportunity. Basically, all you need is a device with a stable internet connection, and in some cases, a working microphone – and websites like UserTesting will pay you from $5 (short review) to $100 (in-depth interview) per project!

Teaching English

Another way to make money using your language skills is teaching English – and there are many ways to do that. You can tutor students that are having trouble with their English classes, or you can teach foreigners on websites like QKids or English Hunt (learning languages this way seems to be especially popular in Asian countries). If you’re a native speaker who never had issues with English at school, there’s little more you need!

Even if you never imagined yourself as a teacher before, it’s definitely one of the unique side hustles you should really consider. Helping a few students every week can earn you as much as $12–20 per hour – moreover, you can easily control your workload and choose whether you’d prefer to teach individual students or groups.

Blogging

At first, blogging might not sound like one of the most unique side hustles. However, there are numerous ways to monetize it, and a regular blogger definitely isn’t making the most of them all! If you’re simply creating content about the topics you’re interested in and drop an occasional ad here and there, here are a few ideas you might try to maximize your earnings:

• Find websites that focus on similar topics and offer guest posting services! If you choose your sites well and produce good quality content, these unique side hustles can help you with not just extra money but bonus exposure, too.

• If you mention any products or services, you can make money with affiliate marketing. A lot of e-shops and websites offer affiliate programs – join them to get a chance to promote their goods and earn a percentage of every sale you encourage!

• If you can create digital products that are related to your content and the interests of your target audience, you can sell them through your blog. For example, if you write about photography, you could sell unique photo editing presets. If you champion healthy lifestyle – why not offer short e-books on the same topic?

Passive income apps

When we think of unique side hustles, using various apps is rarely on our radar. However, passive income apps are a great way to be productive even when you barely have any free time on your hands. For example, filling out a survey or watching a few ads barely takes a few minutes, which makes it perfect for moments like riding the bus or waiting for appointments. In fact, some of these apps don’t need you spending time on them at all!