Are you looking for ways to earn money for this holiday season? Get a few Christmas side hustles!
A topic that comes up often in the #debtfreecommunity is the question of earning money. When you’re paying off debt with gazelle intensity, you have probably tightened your budget and have been throwing all extra cash at debt. So the question comes up: how can you earn extra money for Christmas quickly?
Enter: Christmas side hustles
It’s a very busy time of the year so take advantage of it. Time is a hot commodity and if you have some, you can charge for it. Lots of people are too busy to do x, y, and z so free yourself up and watch the cash flow in.
- Related: How to Save Money for Christmas
These Christmas side hustles do not require an advance degree or specialized training. The biggest requirement is time and a willing attitude.
10 Christmas Side Hustles
- Bake
- Cook
- Personal Shopper
- Serve
- Clean
- Gift Wrap
- Mother’s Helper
- Food Delivery
- Decorate
- Odd Tasks
The two most popular season specific side hustles are wrapping Christmas presents and baking goods. Keep reading to see how you can turn these into side hustles!
Bake
What’s better this season than fresh baked goods or homemade fudge? Is this your passion or talent?
Some may be looking for baked goods they can bring to an office party. Others may be looking for a beautiful spread they can show off while hosting.
If it’s for a hosted dinner party, offer to come help set up the dessert table. Go the extra mile and create signs. Discuss any potential food allergies ahead of time. Write out a list of all ingredients used and give it to the host.
Here are tips on how to price your baked goods.
Gift Wrap
Gift wrapping can be an enjoyable part of gift giving but maybe not when you’re pressed for time.
Do you have the time and eye to make beautifully wrapped gifts? My personal favorite is brown paper packages tied up with string. You can’t go wrong with a classic.
Get creative and add stenciling or greenery. Butcher/kraft paper + twine are your best friends this season.
For gift wrapping, big retailers charge an average of $3.99-$5.99+ per item.
Cook
If you prefer cooking over baking, offer your services as a personal chef. Nothing says fancy dinner party like this Christmas side hustle: having a private chef prepare a 3+ course meal.
You don’t necessarily have to be at a person’s house to earn money cooking. You could prepare a meal such as a Christmas ham, smoked turkey or side dishes ahead of time and then bring it over.
The average cost of a private chef for a dinner party is $45/person or $30-$40/hour.
Personal Shopper
Do you have a knack for picking out special gifts that people love? Turn that gift into one that gives you some extra cash this season. People seek out personal shoppers for a variety of reasons: they’re too busy to shop, they can’t quite come up with that perfect gift idea or shopping is stressful – especially on Black Friday.
As a personal shopper, it would be your job to briefly sit down with the gift givers to research and learn about the intended recipients: what are their likes/dislikes/needs/wants/current stage of life, etc. Then you create recommendations based on your research, and go find gifts for them.
The goal is to take as much stress off the gift givers – that’s what they’re paying you for! And you could make anywhere from $25-$200/hour. If the client likes shopping but is struggling with ideas, you could generate a personalized gift guide for each member on their list.
Here’s a new article where this woman charges $75/hour for personal shopping.
Serve
The holidays are a time for fancy dinner parties. What makes them even fancier? Having a personal server in one’s own home. Grab a white button down, black pants, a black tie, and offer your services.
You can show up early and help prep. Read up on serving etiquette. Serve from the guest’s left using your left hand and pick up from the right using your right hand.
The going rate for in home wait staff is $25-$30/hour.
Clean
“There’ll be parties for hosting..” ‘Tis the season for getting together. Hosting requires a lot of work and a lot of prep from meal planning to cleaning.
People are more than happy to offload some of the hosting responsibilities like cleaning so offer your services.
The average cost of house cleaning is $25-$50/hour.
Mother’s Helper
There are so many tasks to complete this season, it’s a wonder how anyone has the time and energy to do them all. Now add kids.
Kids take up time and energy (not saying it’s not worth it), but these precious commodities are in high demand this season. If you have both, offer your services as an extra set of hands and turn it into a Christmas side hustle.
As a mother’s helper, you would entertain the kids while she gets stuff done (errands, Christmas shopping, cleaning), or help take care of the to-do list. An extra set of hands go a long way.
The average rate for a mother’s helper is $13.75/hour.
Food Delivery
Grab a part time job delivering food during this busy time of year. You can stop by the local pizza place to fill out an application or you can work on your own schedule.
Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats, GrubHub, and InstaCart are all apps you can sign up with and deliver food whenever it works for you. A user orders food through these apps and you pick it up + deliver it to them. DoorDash and Uber Eats are primarily fast food or take out. InstaCart is for grocery delivery – you would be a personal shopper doing the grocery shopping.
If you’re already out and about, take an extra hour or two, turn on the apps, and make some money.
DoorDash pays an average of $10-$25/hour with a guaranteed minimum of $10/hour.
Decorate
Do you have an eye for decoration? Put it to good use and deck the halls.
Possible clientele could include elderly couples that may not be able to climb a ladder or swing a hammer like they used to.
Decoration duties could include: hanging Christmas lights, decorating mantle and mailbox, setting up the tree, shoveling snow, or taking down the decorations.
Odd Tasks
TaskRabbit, Thumbtack, Home Advisor, and Angie’s List are all websites that connect those needing tasks with skilled workers. That could be you.
Are you considered a handyman or handywoman? Can you lift furniture upstairs or assemble a desk? Who knew “assembles IKEA furniture” would actually come in handy for your resume?!
Let’s Recap. Christmas side hustles that make money:
- Bake
- Cook
- Personal Shopper
- Serve
- Clean
- Gift Wrap
- Mother’s Helper
- Food Delivery
- Decorate
- Odd Tasks
More Ways to Save
Are you pressed for time and not able to actively participate in ways to earn money? Then the solution is to cut back on your current expenses to save. Because a penny saved is a penny earned. Here are ways to cut spending and save:
- 18 Ways to Stay Warm Without Turning up the Heat
- Check Your Subscriptions | Money Saving Challenge
- 4 Money Saving Challenges you can Start Today
- Stop Buying Coffee | Money Saving Challenge
- Save Money by Reducing Your Water Usage
Don’t stop when the holidays are over! Even though most of the side hustles are Christmas specific, you can adapt them for other seasons. Use these side hustles to springboard for a New Year’s Resolution: get finances in order.
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Now it’s your turn: what Christmas side hustles do you do? Let me know in the comments below!
