This post may contain affiliate links. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more info.
Ahhh Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year🎄
But while Christmas is a time for cheer, love, relaxation and gathering with friends and family, for many it’s a time of dread.
Especially if you find yourself asking questions like:
— How will I afford Christmas gifts?
— How will I pay for this vacation?
— How can I host Christmas Day without breaking the bank?
Take comfort in the fact that you are certainly not alone!
Did you know…
Americans spend on average $998 on Christmas gifts and holiday items?
It’s no wonder that the thought of forking out for these extra things at holiday time can leave us in total despair!
That’s what inspired me to put this useful list together to ease some of that money stress and get you earning some extra cash at this busy time of year.
With a little planning ahead, you can start earning extra cash to help relieve some of the financial strain during the busy Christmas period.
The best thing about these side hustles are that they can be done in your spare time and from home.
So if you’re ready to start earning and learning how to afford Christmas this year, keep reading!
1. Take a Survey!
Taking surveys over time are one of the easiest ways to build up a decent amount of cash and gift cards. Which can then go towards presents for your family and friends.
Companies really value open and honest opinions and will reward well to get that feedback from people like yourself.
So if you want an easy and legitimate way to earn spare cash in the months leading up to Christmas, complete as many surveys as you can in your spare time.
I recommend reading my post on ten of the best survey sites you can sign up with today and start earning.
The more you sign up with, the more cash and gift cards you will earn.
Want to start earning straight away? I highly recommend signing up with Survey Junkie for free so you can start earning rewards quickly to spend in time for Christmas.
2. Dog lover? Earn Extra Cash while Playing with Pooches
One of my absolute personal favorites is Rover, a pet sitting and dog walking service that allows you to become a “pet parent”.
Rover has been around for 10 years and they have services in the US, Canada, UK and Europe.
You can choose sitting jobs to suit your schedule, set your own prices and pet preferences.
Boarding services will earn you the most money so even better if you are able to take a pet overnight.
So if you love dogs and think you could become a pet sitter, then you can sign up here and earn up to $1,000 a month!
3. Clean Up For Christmas Cash!
Don’t wait until after Christmas has finished, why not clear out the things you no longer use to make way for the Christmas haul?
As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
Clean out your unwanted items in exchange for holiday cash. Plus, it’s a good feeling knowing you’re getting rid of clutter!
There are some great online marketplaces and apps that I’ve used to help sell my unwanted items. You might be surprised at the earning potential, and they are super easy to use too.
So if you’re ready to sell up and cash in, I’ll share my favorite sites to help you along below:
- Gazelle – This is an online platform for buying and selling used electronics like smartphones, tablets etc. So if you have any old electronic devices you want to get rid of, you can sell them here.
- eBay – You can sell just about anything in your house here. It’s easy to use and as you’re probably aware, eBay has millions of viewers ready to buy. eBay does take a small percentage of your sale, however it is still worth selling your used items here.
- OfferUp – This will become your new favorite app when looking to sell things free of charge and with ease! All you need to do is take pictures of your items to sell, upload to the app, write a brief description, choose whether you want to sell locally or post it. That’s really it!
- thredUP – An online consignment and thrift store with a clever selling concept. Basically they send you a bag, you fill it up with your clothes for selling and send it off to them in a prepaid bag. thredUP then contacts you with the amount of money they will pay you. Simples!
4. Do Some Freelancing
Another way you can learn how to afford Christmas is by doing freelancing.
Freelancing today has more opportunities than it ever did, for both writers and designers.
With many businesses needing to free up their busy schedule, they look to outsource time consuming work.
These include things like content writing, web and logo design, pinterest pins and so much more.
Some great platforms to get you started are listed below:
5. Test Websites for Money!
No experience needed, get paid to test out websites to help brands build better products and experiences for people around the world.
It’s a fun way to earn a little extra cash and all you need is a reliable internet connection.
A couple of the best sites for user testing are:
- User Testing – by signing up with this site you can get $10 via PayPal for every 20 minute video you complete. They will pay you to visit and use websites and apps. You just need to install their testing software and you’re ready to go!
- Userbrain – with Userbrain, you get paid to speak your thoughts while going through a set of tasks. You can earn $5 per test via PayPal.
6. Sell Your Photos Online
If you’re anything like me you have thousands of photos on your smartphone. I personally love taking photos and don’t think I’m too bad at it!
So if you love taking photos and have a smartphone, you can sell your photos to companies like Shutterstock.
They will need to be of high quality, and luckily cameras on smartphones have that ability to capture great shots.
Every time your photo or video is sold on Shutterstock you earn 30% of the sale price. So it’s definitely worth checking that out!
7. Earn Christmas Cash With Your Car!
Helping people get around during the busy holiday season is a great opportunity to earn some serious cash.
From airport pickups to parties to shopping trips, it’s an incredibly busy time of year. And people need drivers to get them to and from their destinations.
People also need food delivered for various holiday events and I’ve searched for and found the best companies to sign up with so you can start earning cash for the holidays:
8. Type and Earn
Are you fast at typing with a high accuracy rate? Then you could get paid to type with TranscribeAnywhere.
I have personally worked as a legal transcriptionist and really enjoyed it for some extra cash. You can easily do this from home, listening to audio files and then typing them up into a document.
To find out more about becoming a transcriber, you can check out our post here and scroll down to item number 3.
9. Cash in with Amazon
Did you know you can trade in your old items like phones, books, gaming devices etc. and Amazon will give you gift cards for them?
Yep! So if you have any old items like these lying around you can trade them in with Amazon’s Trade-In Program and use the gift cards to spend on your family and friends for Christmas. Pretty neat!
Learn more about Amazon’s Trade-In Program here.
10. Get Cash Back For Your Holiday Spending
Since spending money at Christmas time is pretty much a given, why not earn back some of that cash back at the same time?
If you’re not already taking advantage of these cash back companies below, you’re leaving money on the table!
You can get some seriously good deals with the following companies when you shop through them:
- Fetch Rewards – A brilliant cash back app on your groceries where you can earn points without any restrictions!
- Rakuten – A popular favorite for cash back and coupon deals. Many of my friends have earned a few hundred dollars simply by doing what they do best: shopping online! And if you prefer to shop in-store, you can connect your debit cards to Rakuten and still reap the rewards.
- Receipt Hog – This is as simple as “snap, earn, oink” according to Receipt Hog 😉 The way it works is you upload your receipts for cash! Take a snap of your receipt, upload it to their app, earn rewards and redeem. Perfect for the holiday season!
Final Words
There certainly are a lot of different ways you can earn cash and rewards when you’re learning about how to afford Christmas.
The above ways will definitely earn some cash on the side to help out with holiday spending. I’ve listed the ones I think are the best and fastest, but also high paying and fun!
If you combined all of the above ways to make some cash, then hopefully the Christmas period is a little less stressful. And a bit easier on the credit cards!
Let me know if these helped in the comments section below, I’d love to hear all about how any of these ideas have helped you!
Related posts:
— 16 Ways To Make $300 Fast When You Need it Now
— 10 Best Money Making Apps For Fast Cash in 2022
Liked this post? Be sure to share it and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving ideas!