16 Side Hustles to Increase Your Residual Income in 2024

It can be deceptive to look at your income to determine your financial health without taking your expenses into account. Someone who is making less than you may very well be in a better financial position than you if your expenses exceed theirs by a considerable margin.

So, if you are trying to get ahead in life and looking for ways to make more money, maybe you need to start thinking in terms of growing your residual income/disposable income rather than just increasing your income.

For long-term growth, making more money is not enough, you also need to ensure that your expenses do not increase with your increased cash flow as well. But it is easier said than done, considering how great the temptation can be to immediately raise your standard of living when you start earning more.

In this article, we have listed 16 amazing residual income ideas to help you add to your income. However, unless you can manage your spending, don’t expect to see any real growth in your bank account.

What is Residual Income?

In the context of personal finance, residual income is the amount of money you have left over after meeting all your expenses each month. The simple way to find out your residual income is to add up all your bills in a month and subtract the sum from your monthly income.

Residual income is also called disposable income, and is taken as a parameter of your creditworthiness by financial institutions and other potential creditors.

Why is Residual Income Important?

The concept of residual income can be very helpful in getting an accurate assessment of how you are doing financially, and you can use it to frame better financial goals for yourself. And as already mentioned, it also serves as a reliable metric for financial institutions to judge your financial standing when you approach them for loans.

Residual Income Formula

Still wondering how do I calculate my residual income? Just remember this simple formula:

Residual Income vs. Passive Income?

Residual income is sometimes confused with passive income, and the terms are often used interchangeably, however, they are two different things.

While your residual income is the money you have left over to spend after meeting your basic expenses, passive income refers to the money you keep earning without active involvement.

A source of passive income doesn’t require you to work to keep earning money, though it generally takes a great deal of effort to set up. It is a one-time investment, the rewards of which you keep reaping all your life. For example, earning royalties on a book, movie, or piece of music, as opposed to working as an accountant or doctor.

Top 16 Residual Income Ideas to Make Money Online

1. Consider Making Financial Investments

Making smart financial investments is a great way to generate passive income and make your money work for you. They allow you to literally make money while you sleep.

There is a wide range of financial investments you can choose from, including bonds, mutual funds, stock market investments, and cryptocurrencies. These accumulate interest over time, and with some patience, they can be a great source of extra income.

Bonds and mutual funds are among the options with the lowest risk, but they also have the lowest returns. Be careful and make sure you understand how it works and all the risks involved before making an investment.

2. Freelancing Online

For most skilled professionals, freelancing online makes the most sense to increase their residual income. It is essentially over time that you choose yourself.

On online platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer.com, you get project-based work, can set your own prices, and get to pick your own clients. You can also use your freelance projects to enhance your professional portfolio.

The best part about freelancing is that you get to hone your professional skills and improve your career prospects for the future.

3. Selling Photos Online

Smartphones have made photography really popular, and if you can take good photos, you can turn them into a source of extra income by selling them online on platforms like Shutterstock and Getty Images.

To be successful on these platforms, you can either target a specific niche in your portfolio or have a diverse catalog that includes work from different niches. Popular niches for selling photos online include the natural world, portraits, urban landscapes, pets, and art.

You can also use your photo-friendly social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to promote your online photo stores.

4. Headhunting with Synkdup

The staff is one of the most valuable assets of any business, and companies are willing to spend big amounts on hiring the right employees. Recruitment is a booming industry, and you can significantly increase your residual income by joining a recruitment marketing program like the Synkdup Headhunter Program.

As a headhunter, you are provided web links to job vacancies across America, which you share on your social media platforms, and you get a commission of $25 on every applicant who applies for a job through you.

With a decent social media following, you can easily add up to $500 to your residual income every month.

5. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is an innovative way to sell online that allows you to sell stuff without holding inventory. It is a great way to earn more for anyone with good social media marketing sense who doesn’t have the resources to buy and/or store stock.

You need to tie up with a wholesaler for the product you want to sell. You take attractive photos of his/her products and post them on your social media accounts to market them to your social network. And when someone places an order, you forward the order to the wholesaler (aka, drop shipper), who delivers the product to the customer.

6. Affiliate Marketing

If you have a good number of followers on social media and your social persona aligns with a marketable niche such as beauty and makeup, fitness, pet products, and so on, you should consider joining an affiliate marketing program to raise your residual income.

As an affiliate marketer, you promote the products or services of another business on your social media accounts in exchange for a commission. The commission may be a fixed amount or a percentage of the sale.

Popular programs for affiliate marketing include Amazon Affiliates, ClickBank, Awin, and Rakuten Advertising.

7. Live Stream your Video Gaming

If you are an avid video gamer and are particularly good at a game, you can create an additional revenue stream by live streaming your playtime. You would also need to have the skills to entertain your viewers with entertaining commentary.

Here in the U.S., Twitch is one of your best options for live streaming your playtime. Popular games on the platform include Fortnite, League of Legends, Minecraft, and Valorant.

8. Rent Out Personal Property

If you have got a spare space, whether residential (like a room in your house) or commercial (like a garage in your yard), you can rent it out to individuals or small businesses. It is one of the simplest ways to increase your residual income every month.

If you live in an area that frequently sees visitors, you can make use of online platforms like Airbnb and VBRO.COM to find short-term tenants for your spare room.

Some online platforms, like StoreAtMyHouse and Peerspace, are dedicated to storage spaces, and you should consider them if you have got a basement or garage you are not using.

You can also rent out your car very conveniently by listing it on Turo, a popular car-sharing platform.

9. Sell Handmade Products

A lot of people prefer handmade products for home decor and presents because of the "human touch" they offer. If you have a passion for making handmade products like pottery, jewelry, woodwork, embroidery, paper mache, and so on, you can make a good side income from selling your work on different platforms online.

Etsy is one of the most well-known platforms for artisans looking to sell their handcrafted goods online. Setting up your shop on Etsy is a very simple process, you just sign up and click the ‘Sell on Etsy’’ button to get started. You can promote your store on Facebook and Instagram for free or use Etsy’s Promoted Listings tool if you have got the money.

10. Selling Unwanted Belongings

You have probably got some stuff at home that you no longer have a use for but that is still in good shape, or stuff you bought but never used, like clothes and shoes. It may be anything from electrical appliances to furniture to books.

You can sell these things online as a one-time thing and use the money from the sale to contribute to a more regular stream of passive income.

Popular online platforms you can use to sell your unwanted stuff include eBay, Craigslist, Mercari, and Depop. Depop and Mercari are among the best platforms for selling clothing and homeware, respectively.

11. Author an eBook

If you are into writing and can write and edit well, you should consider publishing eBooks on online platforms. It can be a great way to make money online, especially if you can write non-fiction books that provide valuable information and insights to readers.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Draft2Digital, and Smashwords are some of the most well-known platforms for selling eBooks. They make getting published extremely easy and are a godsend for aspiring writers.

These platforms make getting published extremely easy, and you just need to write non-fiction books that provide valuable information to readers. These platforms take a small cut of your book sales, but for the convenience they provide, it is well worth it.

You can also write an eBook and sell it on your own website. You would not have to share the profit with a publishing platform, but you would have to put a considerable amount of time and effort into promoting your work.

12. Take Translation Gigs Online

Most people don’t realize it, but knowing two different languages really well is a very monetizable skill. There are all kinds of translation gigs available online, from translating documents to acting as an interpreter in online discussions between two people.

You can easily find such gigs on dedicated online platforms like Pro Translating and Translators Base, as well as on more general freelancing platforms like Upwork.

If you have an academic degree in a language, it is a big plus point, but you still need to take language proficiency tests before you can start getting translation work on most platforms.

13. Start a YouTube Channel

If you are into making videos and can engage viewers, you should consider starting a YouTube channel to increase your income. True, it takes time for a YouTube channel to grow, but if you keep posting content consistently, you can reap great rewards as your following grows.

Based on your interests, talents, and areas of expertise, you can make practically any type of videos, from comedy sketches to tutorials. Some popular niches on the platform include tech, gaming, beauty and wellness, travel, and product reviews.

You can use a lot of different methods to make money off of your YouTube channel, like brand sponsorships, ad revenue, selling merchandise, and fan funding. To learn in detail about these methods, read our article, How to Make Money on YouTube.

14. Test Use Websites

Among the vast number of opportunities the Internet offers to make money remotely, test-using websites and applications is a particularly striking one. It involves using a website/app in the development phase to identify places of improvement.

After you use the app/website, you are required to provide written feedback on the user experience. Your feedback helps developers make the website/app more user-friendly by making relevant adjustments.

Tests last about 5-20 minutes, and you can earn anywhere between $4 and $10 per test. UserTesting and Userlytics are among the most trusted websites to get testing gigs.

15. Create a Course and Sell it Online

If you are an expert on a subject or are particularly knowledgeable about it, you can consolidate your knowledge in a comprehensive way to create a course and sell the course online on e-learning platforms like Udemy and Skillshare. If it is a subject that a lot of people want to learn about, your course can prove to be a great source of passive income. And since you are essentially teaching others, it can be really rewarding as well.

To get an idea of student preferences, check out popular online courses in your niche and their reviews before you begin creating your own course. And once your course is ready, remember to promote it on your social media.

16. Drive for a Food Delivery Service

Online food delivery apps like GrubHub, UberEats, and DoorDash are really popular among the side hustle community and occupy a prominent place in the gig economy today.

Working for one of these companies can significantly supplement your residual income by allowing you to monetize your free time. Once you get the hang of it, you can even make deliveries available on multiple apps simultaneously to maximize your earnings.

DoorDash is probably your best option to get started with online food delivery apps. It is really simple to use, and you can make up to $25 an hour making deliveries during peak rush hours like lunch and dinner. Read How to Make $500 a Week with DoorDash for tips to maximize your earning potential.