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How To Make $500 Dollars Fast – 22 Realistic Ways!

Do you really want to make some quick bucks?

Whether you have some unpaid bills to pay want to go on a vacation or need money for emergencies, a few hundred dollars of extra cash will have our back when we need the money most.

On a good note, with the help of the Internet, you can simply spend a few hours and literally make real cash online these days.

Gone are the days when a lot of scammers used to scam people in the name of jobs. Nowadays, people become so smart and monetizing their skills and knowledge to encash their free time using the Internet.

So, if you are looking for legitimate ways to make real cash, you are in the right place.

In this article, we are listing realistically possible ways (along with some proofs) to make $500 dollars fast in a week or less.

So, let’s check out the ideas and pick the right ones that fit your skills and choices.

Lastly, to make $500 fast, I suggest you work on a combination of tasks. This helps you make $500 faster, and you may even be able to earn more than $500 dollars.

Disclaimer:  This article contains affiliate links. We may receive a small commission when you make a purchase (No extra cost to you). Please read our Affiliate Disclosure for more information.

 

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Inbox Dollars: Get paid to watch videos. One already made $75 within a week. $10 signup bonus.

 

Proven Ways To Make $500 Fast

 

1. Deliver Food With DoorDash

Do you have a vehicle and driver’s license? Do you like to drive? If yes, this job is for you!

Delivering food in your local area is one of the best opportunities to make quick money these days.

Websites like DoorDash allow people to register for food delivery services. You can sign up for free on their website. Once you are accepted, you can start picking up the orders and delivering food every day!

As a delivery executive, your earnings depend on the number of orders you deliver, the distance traveled, and the duration of the time for the complete order.

On average, DoorDash delivery executives make around $25+ per hour on normal days and even more on peak days. In addition to this, you can earn tips to compensate for your goal of reaching $500.

a screenshot image of doordash earnings

a screenshot image of doordash earnings | Source: Reddit

With DoorDash, you can earn $500 in just two or three days as most of the delivery drivers make $1000 or above every week delivering food.

You can boost your DoorDash earnings by following some smart DoorDash hacks that most people are not aware of. Join DoorDash today and start making quick bucks.

 

2. Take Online Surveys

The most interesting as well as productive way to get paid to do nothing is by picking out paid online surveys. This seems to be a bummer for most of you, but let me assure you that these are seriously intriguing and easily rewarding.

I also spend my free time sharing my opinions through these surveys, and I’ll never miss adding them to any list of fun jobs to earn money. The simple reason is that they take less time and are flexible in nature.

Swagbucks earnings

My earnings from the Swagbucks referral program

Furthermore, you can also win instant signup bonuses, and your easy 5-10 minutes can get you $1-$10/survey.

Here is the list of online surveys to try:

  • Freecash: Sign up and get around $2.5 – $250 as a signup bonus. Get paid to play games, watch videos, and more.
  • Branded Surveys: Win an instant signup bonus of $5. Here survey earnings range between $0.5-$5/survey and take 5-10 minutes.
  • SurveyJunkie: Earn 150 signup bonus points and ace earnings up to $50 per survey.
  • InboxDollars: With a takeaway of a $5 instant signup bonus, InboxDollars helps you earn up to $20 per survey.
  • Toluna Influencers: Get 500 points as a signup bonus along with the chance to fill out surveys and sponsored polls. Also, earn 500 points for each referral.
  • Swagbucks: Recieve a $10 signup bonus, 10% referral commission, up to $35 per survey, and 20% cashback on online shopping. Learn more ways to earn from Swagbucks here.
  • Kashkick: Get a $1 instant signup bonus and up to $20 for each successful survey fill out.

As said ‘surveys are not mere online tools, it’s a part of the brand experience’. For this very reason, brands spend lots of bucks for your opinion.

So I recommend not to miss any of the legitimate surveys you find to turn into an added income stream.

Read: 25 High Paying Cash App Surveys To Make Money

 

3. Get Paid To Watch Videos & Play Games

Most of us likely spend our free time watching videos or playing games; we think they are of no use except for recreation. If you are the one who thinks this way, take your word back.

Yes! There are a few companies that pay millions of users for doing these tasks through their app/website.

That’s really amazing, right? If you are interested in getting started, then you should definitely sign up for websites like Freecash and InboxDollars.

One more interesting thing is that with Freecash, you can earn from $2.5 to $250 real cash as a signup bonus. Apart from playing games, you can also get paid for surveys, app downloads, testing, etc.

Similar Websites/Apps That Pay You for Watching Videos and Playing Games:

  • InboxDollars (Earn up to $20 per survey. 10+ ways to earn. – $10 Instant Joining Bonus)
  • Swagbucks (Get paid to watch videos and shop online. $10 Joining Bonus)
  • KashKick (Earn real cash and gift cards to play games and watch videos)

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

Along with the signup bonuses, these platforms occasionally pay $50 – $100 per task based on its complexity.

Well, you cannot always depend on these but you can sign up once and grab their amazing free bonuses. Even getting $100 with little effort could help you reach $500 quickly.

 

4. Start A Money Making Blog

There are numerous ways to make $500 fast. But out of the list, blogging can be the most lucrative one.

Before knowing that, have you ever heard of blogging? Mostly yes, but not to every detail, right? Before explaining it, I must share one interesting thing about blogging.

How much extra money do you want to make every month? $1,000 $10,000 or $100,000? All these figures are easily attainable with blogging. You just need to work on it until you get your figure.

One day affiliate income

One Day Affiliate Income from my blog

If you see the above picture, I made around $875 in just one day from affiliate marketing. I’ve had many $1000 days with blogging.

So, if you can make $500 fast on your blog for once, you will make $500 or more every month. However, you need to have decent writing and managing skills in order to excel in this field.

If you are here with no idea about blogging, know that blogging is nothing but writing and sharing useful informative content on your website to gain genuine readers.

So the main thing you must develop is your knowledge for creating genuine and engaging content. Blogging doesn’t need high investments; you can launch your new blog with less than a $50 investment.

Let’s see the main requirements for blogging:

  1. First of all, you must choose your topic (like food, health, finance, travel, and more).
  2. Choose a name and register your domain address (ex: www.dreamshala.com)
  3. Buy a hosting service (Bluehost offers at $2.95/mo + FREE Domain address).
  4. Install WordPress and a nice theme.
  5. Start to publish articles and start promotions.

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

Can I start a blog now and make $500 fast? Absolutely yes! For all who are looking forward to starting a blog, you are on the right track; go ahead! I made a decent $7147 this September through blogging.

Mediavine Ad income

Daily Ad Revenue from Mediavine

All it takes is your patience and perseverance to see earnings from blogging. But once you observe earning, there is no stopping you from there, not just $500; any figure can be easily chased.

 

5. Online Proofreading Jobs That Make $500 Fast

If you good at finding mistakes and errors while reading someone else’s content? Then you can easily grab this opportunity to make $500 very fast.

Proofreading is one of the most flexible jobs to fill up your wallet with some extra cash every month. It is just nothing but reading content and finding mistakes. You can also offer editing services to fix the mistakes in the content.

As an expert proofreader, you can make anything between $25-$35+ per hour from online proofreading jobs and beginners get paid around $15 – $20 an hour.

You can offer your services on platforms like Freelancer and Upwork. Not only these two platforms but there are also a lot of websites that only hire online proofreaders and editors.

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

On average, proofreaders earn $25-$50 per working hour, so you can earn $500 in just a few days or in less than a week.

How To Get Started?

If you choose this way to make $500 fast, I recommend you attend this FREE Proofreading Workshop by Caitlin Pyle to gain the required knowledge.

Caitlin is a veteran proofreader who has made $43,000 in her first year as a part-time proofreader and now making six figures every month.

Her students are currently working part-time and full-time as proofreaders and earning thousands. You can check the success stories here. Try giving a shot at this free webinar on proofreading make complete use of it.

Related – 17 Legit Entry-Level Proofreading Jobs For Beginners

 

6. Turn Audio Files Into Text

So, how good your typing skills are? Can you type fast without hurting your accuracy? If yes, then this job is for you.

There are plenty of transcription jobs available on the Internet for you.

All you need to get started is a personal computer, a nice headset, and an active internet connection. On average, a transcriptionist makes $25 to $30 per hour.

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

Transcription is a job of efficiency; one needs to be precise and clear in his work to avail of credits. As a beginner in the transcription field, you can make anything around $15-$25 per working hour; this can progress along with experience and efficiency.

To gain these skills, you need to pick experts’ advice; Janet is one of the popular transcription experts who earns around $30000-$55000+ per month by just working a few hours a month.

Now, luckily she started offering a Free 7-Day Mini Transcription Course for all aspirants. After learning those skills, you can easily make around $25-$30 per working hour.

 

7. Get Paid To Teach English Online Through VIPKid

Teaching English online is another one of the finest ways to make money using your language skills. This job requires a college degree in any field if you belong to an English-speaking country.

If not, then you need a degree in English to teach people. Some companies may ask you for previous working experience as a teacher, but this shouldn’t be a disappointing thing because there are companies for beginners too.

On average, you can earn up to $24/hour as an English teacher online. VIPKid and MagicEars are the two best companies that offer the best hourly pay rates and performance bonuses for teachers.

Also, there are several companies to teach English online if you don’t match the requirements of the above two companies.

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

At an average rate of $20 an hour, you’ll have to teach for 25 hours to reach your goal of making $500.

 

8. Become A Bookkeeper

Every entity or individual needs accounting. To maintain or balance your budget sheets, accounting is an important aspect, and so is the demand for bookkeepers.

No matter how well technology and accounting software emerge, there is always a special scope left for bookkeepers.

All you need to do here is to keep a record of all the financial transactions including sales, purchases, payments, debt repayments, etc.

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

When you choose to work as a freelance bookkeeper, you can make anything around $25 -$50+ per hour. On average pay rates, It takes less than a week to reach the $500 mark working part-time.

To ace this field, you can refer to this free course on Bookkeeping by Ben Robinson for more tricks relative to this field.

Recommended – 13 Bookkeeping Jobs That Pay $60 Per Hour.

 

9. Use Your Writing Skills To Make $500 Fast

As the number of websites growing day by day, the demand for freelance writers also increasing.

Did you know that every blogger hires at least two freelance writers in his/her blogging career?

Over the last 6 years, I’ve hired many beginner and established writers. As per my knowledge, new writers charge $50 – $100 per 1000-word article whereas senior writers can charge from $300 to $1000+ based on their niche and experience.

The main benefit of this side hustle is that you can fix your rates based on your skill levels.

There are several websites that hire freelance writers and also bloggers, small companies, and brands are the main clients for freelance writers. You can reach out to them if you want to work with them as a freelancer.

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

It hardly takes a week to earn $500 as a freelance writer. As a beginner, you need to work hard to meet your client’s expectations. The better you give, the more you earn.

 

10. Get Paid To Test Websites & Mobile Apps

Do you think you need to be a techie to be a tester? Actually, you don’t need to be. You just have to browse your client’s website and share your experience, suggestions, etc.

User Interface is one of the main concerns for any website online. It is so hard to sell products or interact with customers through a website that is badly designed.

That’s why many website owners pay testers to test and review their websites before they launch them.

To become a website tester, first of all, you need to sign up for a website that hires website testers. Websites like UserTesting and Userlytics hire website testers and pay $10 per test.

After signing up, they will ask for a sample review test; once you pass the test, you can start testing websites to make money. Each test takes up to 20 minutes, and If they accept your review, then you will receive $10 within a week through PayPal.

How Long Does It Take To Make $500?

As a website tester, you can make up to $30 per hour as a website tester. One can make 100 bucks by working less than 3 hours a day which makes this one of the fastest ways to make $500 fast.

Sometimes earning depends on the number of websites you test. This can range from $10-$25 per website.

 

11. Rent A Spare Room or House

Have a vacant room in your home? If yes, you can rent it out to make a passive income every month.

Websites like Airbnb, Roomster, and Spareroom allow you to list your home or spare rooms on their website.

Interested people will contact you through the website, or they may visit your home directly. These companies will verify guests before sending them to your home. You don’t need to worry about allowing strangers into your home.

You can easily make $100-$150+ a day by renting out your room using the above-mentioned websites.

 

12. Rent Your Car To Make $500 Fast

Do you have your own car? Are you not driving it daily? Then you can make some decent bucks every day by renting your car to others.

Did you know that platforms like Turo, ZoomCar, and Hyrecar will pay up to $12,000 per year for renting one car? That’s almost $1000 per month and $30 per day.

So on average, you can make up to $50 – $100 per day renting your car to local people. What are you still waiting for? Grab your key and reach a dealer to rent your car.

 

13. Install Nielsen Panel & MobileXpression Apps

Do you want to make money doing nothing at all? Then you should try these two passive income apps.

Nielsen Panel and MobileXpression are both similar apps that have been a trusted global research leader for decades. These apps track the activity of users on smartphones and tablets to understand the individual’s usage of the Internet.

Nielsen App pays you $60 per year for keeping its app installed on your device. Also, Nielsen company gives away $10,000 worth of prizes every month and you’ll be an active participant as long as you keep the app on your phone.

On the other side, MobileXpression also pays you $5 a month (i.e. another $60 a year) for keeping this app on your phone. And, you’ll get a $5 Amazon gift card as a signup bonus after a week of installing this app for the first time.

So, keeping both apps installed on your phone helps you make $120 a year together along with chances to win big monthly prizes.

Note: Don’t worry about your personal and sensitive information when you keep these apps on your phone. These apps never track such information. They have been doing this for decades and there were no complaints of any type of data misuse.

 

14. Drive People To Make $500 Fast

Ever heard about Uber or Lyft? Whenever we go out, we always use these apps to book a cab right?

If you are searching for a side hustle to make some extra money, then these cab booking platforms are offering a nice opportunity with amazing bonuses.

Weekends and holidays are the best times to make more money through this side hustle. And these platforms also offer amazing bonuses to drivers.

Lyft is offering a $300 bonus for new drivers if they complete 100 rides in the first 30 days. Uber is offering a $1000 bonus for drivers who complete 150 rides successfully in the first 60 days.

 

15. Take Local Dogs For Walking

Do you love dogs?

You can make up to $1000+ per month if you have a habit of walking every day. Just take a dog with you while going on a walk, That’s it.

Rover.com is the platform that hires dog sitters. If you like to take care of dogs or take them for a walk, then you can sign up at this site.

dog walking

The work involves feeding the dogs, caressing them, looking after them, walking, and keeping them as comfortable as possible. Register to learn more about terms and conditions.

As this job completely rests in personal interest one can choose this as part-time. One can pick 2 to 4 dogs per week to take care of and can make anything around $300 – $500+ per month working a few hours a day.

If you can manage you can pick multiple dogs at a time to earn more in a short time.

 

16. Use the Acorns App To Make $500 Fast

Acorns offers a micro-investing app that helps people save and invest for their future. Over 3 million Americans use Acorns to help set aside a little from their everyday purchases.

If you are one who is looking to start investing in small amounts while taking no risks, this app can be the best source. We all have smartphones; all we need to do is install the Acorns application on the phone and link your card or account to it.

You can choose the recurring amount to be deducted monthly. Once your account gets approval, Acorns auto-deducts the chosen amount from your linked account and invests it automatically.

By using Acorns found, you can earn additional benefits whenever you use Acorns linked credit/debit card. Disney pays $5, Airbnb pays up to 1.8% of the total booking, Levi pays 5% of the bill, etc.

 

17. Take Photos and Sell Them Online

Do you have a DSLR camera or a smartphone with a nice rear camera? And do you like to take pictures of beautiful places and movements?

Who would like to miss the chance when you can make up to $100 per photo? Yes, Shutterstock and iStock Photos are the best platforms that pay well for your photos.

You can also sell your photos to bloggers, online business owners, and social media marketers. These people will need new pictures every day!

Some of these platforms will pay you based on the number of downloads. So, you’ll go on getting paid repeatedly as long as your photos get sales and downloads.

Check – 20 Best Platforms To Sell Your Pictures Online.

 

18. Sell Old Stuff Using Craiglist

Do you have any useless old stuff at your home? Why not sell it to make quick bucks? Yes, you can sell your old stuff on Craigslist to make some extra money.

You can sell things like: 

  1. Furniture
  2. Clothes
  3. Jewelry
  4. Shoes
  5. Smartphones and Game Consoles
  6. Electronics
  7. DIY Crafts
  8. Books, etc

Selling your old stuff not only makes you money, but this will also make your home free and clean. How much you make from selling depends on what are the things you pick to sell.

Things like working electronics, mint condition furniture, usable electronics, etc can fetch you more money than being idle at home. Sign up for Craiglist today.

 

19. Sell eBooks And Courses To Make $500 Fast

When you are good at something, start teaching people who are willing to learn the same thing. There are many ways you can teach people online such as creating courses and eBooks.

Just choose the topic you want to teach, create a great product (either eBook or Course), and start promoting it everywhere.

Selling a course or eBook means you are teaching or guiding people to master one subject that you already did.

A popular course or eBook will bring you unlimited passive income and bring some popularity to the creator of the course, thus further helping to sell more products.

You can fix your rates and to boost sales, you can welcome affiliates to sell your products for commissions. A good course or eBook could bring $500 in just a few hours of launching.

 

20. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is one of the most lucrative and smart ways to make money online. This business alone can make you $500 fast.

Let’s see how to get success with that!

Dropshipping means you buy products for low prices and sell them for profit on your online store. You don’t need to worry about the shipping process. The product owner will deliver the products to your customers.

The business model is simple. You buy trending and saleable items from global vendors like Alibaba, or eBay and then sell them for a profit on Amazon or at your own eCommerce store.

a image that explains how dropshipping business works

Dropshipping Explained With Images. Image Sources: Amazon.com and Alibaba.com

As you can see in the above screenshot you can buy a bulk pack of the latest iPhone 15 Pro clear TPU case for just $0.38 a piece from Alibaba and then flip it on Amazon for as high as $24.95. Even if it costs $5 for each piece for importing, packaging, shipping, and all, you still get a $20 profit per piece.

And you’ll need to sell just 25 cases to make $500 in profit with dropshipping.

 

21. Make $500 Fast by Selling T-Shirts Online

Do you possess good design skills?

If you can make attractive and eye-catching designs by following the latest trends, then this would be a profitable side business for you.

Selling T-shirts online is easier than you think these days. You work on the designing part and submit it to platforms like Teespring or any other one.

If you get any orders, they will print it and deliver it to the customer. You will get paid a share of the profit. That’s how you can make $500 fast even without investing a dollar in it.

The more designs you publish and promote, the more sales and profits you’ll receive from the platform.

On average, even if you make $10 on a single t-shirt sale, you’ll have to get 50 sales overall to make $500 from this side hustle.

 

22. Sell Used DVDs And CDs On Decluttr

DVDs and CDs once ruled the entire world with their presence, Technology changed, and online platforms took their place. But what can we do with those used DVDs and CDs?

Don’t worry we have a solution for you, Decluttr is one of the popular websites for reselling providing you the opportunity to sell your old items in return for cash.

You will only get the actual price of your old DVDs and vintage CDs if you can find the real savant of those items. But, it isn’t easy to find those people without knowing the right way to search.

You can make a fair deal with the buyer if you keep your old items in mint condition. Eaglesaver and FYE are the alternative companies you can consider for selling your old DVDs and CDs.

 

Conclusion

These are the 21 smart and proven ways to make $500 dollars fast. You can even earn more than $500 dollars working every day, week, or month with any of these methods.

Pick the right side hustle and start hustling. Some ideas can pay $500 in just a few days while others can take up to a week or two. So, it’s up to you to what to go with.

Whatever the path you choose, make sure you give your 100% and your efforts will be paid back. Good luck with making $500 bucks.

Bob Fayia Tengbeh

Monday 2nd of November 2020

Hey Raghunadh Sastry, awesome article. It’s been a while that I actually read an article about blogging to the end. I never really thought about “strategic commenting”, but it sounds like it’s worths it. I’ve been wondering if you have heard of the Secret Email System? This Secret Email System allows you to build a sustainable and profitable long term business that gives you freedom, fun, and adventure. Just click on my name: Bob Fayia Tengbeh at the top of this comment, and it will take you to the page.

Janelle Jones

Wednesday 27th of February 2019

Great article!

Siva Mahesh

Wednesday 27th of February 2019

Thank You Janelle.