Passive Income: 7 Ways To Make an Extra $1,000 a Month (2024)

Making money on the side is easy, but making over $1,000 per month in passive income might not be.

While passive income is something many strive for, it actually takes a bit of up-front work to make it happen. Contrary to what some TikTok influencers might tell you, passive income is not instant, and it typically requires an investment of time or money.

But, making $1,000 as a side hustle is not only possible, it can be done through investing, online marketing or by renting out things you own. You might even be able to get started in the next week by taking advantage of some of the tips below.

Here are seven ways — some simple, some complicated — to earn $1,000 (or more) per month in passive income. And more ideas here.

Buy US Treasuries

Interest rates keep rising, and while this is crushing the stock market, U.S. Treasuries are now paying attractive yields on short-term investments. Treasury bills (T-bills) are short-term debt instruments that are paying out over 5% APY, giving you a guaranteed rate of return that is backed by the U.S. government.

To make $1,000 per month on T-bills, you would need to invest $240,000 at a 5% rate. This is a solid return — and probably one of the safest investments available today. But do you have $240,000 sitting around?

Rent Out Your Yard

If you have a decent-sized property, you can rent out your yard for extra cash.

Sites like Neighbor.com allow you to rent out space for people to park extra vehicles, boats, RVs and other items on your property. If you have enough space, you can earn an extra $1,000 per month off this passive activity.

This extends to more than just your yard. If you have a shop or garage, a covered parking space or any property that you’re willing to let people store stuff in, you can rent it out as well.

Rent Out Your Car

With the rising cost of car ownership, what if you can make some extra money on your vehicle while you’re not using it?

Sites such as Turo offer an “AirBnB for cars” experience where customers can rent your car, and the company offers insurance protection and a simple-to-use online platform to handle the details.

If you own a desirable car (like a Tesla), you can charge a premium — a few weekend rentals could easily earn you $1,000 or more per month. Turo does charge a lot in fees; but, if you’re not using the car anyway, you might as well bring in some extra cash with it.

Rental Real Estate

Rental real estate is one of the oldest (and best) passive investments around, and you can make decent money if you do it right.

Buying a rental home does require up-front work; but, if you can find a great deal, improve the property and find a quality management company, it can be mostly hands-off and earn you $1,000 (or more) each month.

While you still are responsible for the mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs on the property, you can raise rents along with the market and eventually get to $1,000 in monthly profit. If you buy a multi-family property, you might be able to make even more.

Publish an E-Book

Do you have a passion for something but don’t know how to convey that passion to the world? Consider writing an e-book.

You can make passive income online once you have published your e-book. While Amazon is the most popular e-book platform, there are several others. A digital book avoids the hassles of printing and shipping and gives users instant access to your content.

Some might argue this is not passive income: “Writing a book is a lot of work!”

Yes, it is, but once the book is written and published, you can earn money while you sleep. With a good marketing plan, you could eclipse $1,000 per month in passive income.

Become an Affiliate

Have you ever referred someone to an app that gives both of you a bonus? This makes you an affiliate marketer.

Affiliate sales help you earn passive income from recommending products or services to others, and you earn a commission for generating those leads. While sending affiliate links to your family and friends might earn you a few bucks, you can earn a lot more if you have a larger audience.

Creating a website, YouTube channel or social media following can give you more people to refer to, and many affiliate marketers earn at least $1,000 per month.

While the up-front work is very active, it becomes passive once you have an automated referral system in place.

Sell an Online Course

If you have expertise in a particular topic, creating an online course can be a good way to begin earning passive income online. There are several steps to creating a successful course:

1. Research the topic you want to teach. Are people searching for it?
2. Create an outline of the topics and lessons you want to cover.
3. Record your lesson videos.
4. Prepare any downloadable PDFs or worksheets you want to include.
5. Upload all content to a learning platform (such as Teachable).
6. Create a sales page and begin selling your course.

Again, while this is a great way to eventually earn passive income, there is a lot of initial work required. But once you have the course in place, you can start getting leads from online social media platforms and advertising, and you can generate automated systems to get customers while you sleep.

Online courses can easily eclipse $1,000 per month, with some course creators boasting a monthly income of $10,000 or even $100,000.

Bottom Line

Passive income typically requires an up-front investment of money or time. But once you’ve put in the work, you can sit back and watch the Benjamins roll in. Building up enough passive income to earn $1,000 or more per month can be life-changing.

But don’t expect to magically earn $1,000 per month by doing nothing. You have to put in the work now so you can start earning passive income later.

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