Whether you want to pay off debt quicker, save more, or just enjoy a better lifestyle, earning extra money is never a bad idea. Thankfully, Singapore has a wide variety of options to choose from to earn additional income every month.
Here are just 26 ideas to inspire you:
If learning new languages is your hobby, why not earn some cash out of it? Websites like Upwork and translators town offer freelance translation jobs that are time-bound and pretty lucrative.
The payment per assignment can range from S$20 to S$1,500. Because of the nature of the job, you can take up assignments as and when you have spare time or on weekends. Taking Mandarin in school wasn’t a bad idea after all!
This is an example of an online translation job posted on Upwork:
If you are creative and have spare time over the weekends, it is a great idea to sell items on Etsy. You can sell loads of stuff ranging from accessories, craft supplies, bags, collectibles, art or poetry on it. Selling on the platform isn’t expensive (they charge only 3.5% commission), is easy, and the opportunities are endless. So, open your Etsy shop right away!
If your maternal instincts are high and spending time with kids sounds like a great activity, this is the perfect option for you. You don’t need to get into any full-time or part-time commitment to babysit. If you have friends or family with kids in Singapore, let them know you are open to babysitting their kids for short durations over the weekends. Every parent, once in a while, looks forward to having a quiet dinner or an afternoon watching a movie. That’s where you come in. Since these are your friends or relatives, you can work out a price that is reasonable for both parties.
If you prefer to find work through an agency, try out findanany.sg or NannySOS. Agencies generally charge S$25 per hour for such ad hoc babysitting sessions.
Do you prefer pets to babies and kids? Then pet sitting, dog walking or pet boarding may be an idea. This is the dream job for those of us that melt every time a cute pup comes our way.
Become a pet sitter for people who are going on a vacation or travelling for work. While pet sitting, you could cuddle the furry animals, play with them, clean up, and talk them for a walk. Prices range from S$10-S$45 per hour.
There are also jobs where you only have to take the dog for a walk, earning you about S$15 per walk.
For home boarding, you would charge pet owners by the day, and usually, that involves taking the dog out for a few walks each day, and the pet will stay with you for the night. Prices for boarding tends to start from S$30 per night.
To begin, you could go the informal way of taking care of the pets of your family or friends while they are away or register yourself at companies like Pet Buddies, PetBacker or Pawshake. This kind of a job works better for those with a work-from-home kind of setup.
If you think you know Singapore in and out, here is your chance to use that knowledge and lay your hands on some extra dough. Show a unique side of Singapore to tourists and use platforms such as Airbnb to host it. You can design and submit an experience or multiple ones over a couple of days and if those over at Airbnb like it, they will publish it. Once published, it will be booked by people visiting Singapore from around the world. The price and group size will be decided by you.
Sounds exciting? It is. Along with earning money, you will also get a chance to meet diverse people and show them your favourite part of Singapore.
Yes, such a profession exists. With the increasing pressure to look perfect on social media along with making perfect memories, people want fabulous photos of their vacation. So, if people photography is your passion and you think you know the most photogenic spots in Singapore, become a holiday photographer! Register yourself on websites like Frame A Trip or SweetEscape and start earning some cash.
This one is a teddy bear’s picnic. It does not require any commitment or major skills and is the ideal option to get some free coupons or cash. Whenever you are free, take up online surveys and in return, receive points which you can use to buy gift cards or vouchers. A few examples of these websites are AIP Online Surveys, Your Voice, and Toluna. After all, who doesn’t love being paid to give an opinion!
We might have moved on away from our pens and pencils on the back of technology but nothing feels as good as the written word yet. A hand-written invite, a thank-you note, or even a restaurant menu has a special feel to it. If you have an interest in calligraphy or other lettering styles, why not use it to earn extra money? Polish your skills by taking up workshops and start an amazing part-time career you love. A good place to begin would be the modern calligraphy workshop for beginners listed on theworkroom.sg.
If you (or your mother or even grandmother) make amazing noodles, pies, or brownies and want the world to get a taste of it, make it happen! Set up an online shop or spread the word and start making money out of it.
And don’t worry, there are no licensing issues as long as you sell your food to individuals. Just make sure you maintain high cleanliness standards. You could also participate in global platforms such as meal sharing where you invite travellers for meals at your home. You could also share your yummy home cooked food with fellow Singaporeans on platforms such as Share Food.
If flexibility is your forte and yoga your interest, why not teach it to others? Health consciousness is no longer just a fad and you can leverage on this growing interest. Conduct weekend programmes so that this does not interfere with your regular job.
If interested, you could take up a certification course from institutes like The Yoga Mandala or Vyasa Yoga.
Loads of companies in Singapore are willing to pay you in cash or kind if you refer relevant people to them. For example, inviting people to Airbnb can earn you and the people you invite travel credit to use for a new reservation. You and your friend will be awarded bonuses after a successful reference on ShopBack. All you need to do is know what your friends want and refer them to appropriate websites.
Referrals can earn you taxi discounts, coupons and extra cash (if you get your friend a job in your company), so keep an eye out for referrals schemes when you try out a new service or register on a new app.
If you think you have the flair for the written word, you have a chance to make money from it. You can become a freelance writer for a website, magazine, newswire, or ad agency – the opportunities are aplenty.
These can be long or short-term commitments so decide what suits you depending on the timings of your full-time job. Make sure you do some market research and decide an ideal per word/per hour or per project rate based on your education and experience.
Don’t be too picky initially, build a versatile portfolio, and you will go a long way. Expect to earn S$0.20-S$0.40 cents/word when you start off and check out websites like freelancer.com.
Do you have a stash of things in your wardrobe, bomb shelter or study room that you have not used in the past 6-12 months? Consider selling them to someone else instead! In your free time, look around in your house and take stock of the items you don’t use, clothes you don’t wear, music instruments you don’t play, and baby stuff you don’t need. Sell them on websites like Carousell (also an app) or Gumtree. Decluttering can be good for your wellbeing too!
If you cannot boast enough of your videography skills, take the chance to make money from it. Apart from shooting weddings and birthday parties for friends, you could also be a part of something unique like 90 seconds – a cloud video production platform. Anyone who needs a video can put up a request and you can take up the assignment if it suits you. Everything is managed online and is quite systematic and lucrative.
If creativity is your strength and graphics your interest, you can become a freelance designer. New business requirements come up daily, which means new job opportunities for designers come up every day. Whether you choose to design a logo, build a website, design an infographic, you get to keep your creative juices flowing while making money. It is a job that allows you to work at home or remotely on a beach if you wish. Put your portfolio up on sites like Fiverr for a start.
If you love technology and know the internals of your phone better than your wardrobe’s, it is time you start cashing in on that knowledge. Becoming a consumer technology reviewer is a huge career opportunity, has flexible working hours, and pays well. You could try working for global brands such as CNET or local ones like Tech In Asia. Or if you’re feeling enterprising enough, start your own YouTube channel or blog.
Udemy, an online learning marketplace, is the perfect place to share your knowledge and earn while you do so. If you have been in the marketing field for long or have immense knowledge of baking, you could design a course and teach people through Udemy. You can use this platform not only to impart knowledge but also to expand your own. If you already have your own website and idea for an online training programme, you can use teachable to create and sell online courses easily.
Did your parents make you play the piano when you were young? Did you pass all the exams but now you’re not sure what to do with your piano skills? Here is the perfect job for you. Start a weekend music class or teach students post your work hours during the week.
Music teachers can earn around S$200 for a class with about 5-6 students. Check out websites like Advent Music for teaching opportunities. Better yet, run your own ads on Facebook to attract students, and you won’t have to share your revenue with anyone.
If you have a three-bedroom flat and you stay alone, it only makes sense to let it out to a long-term tenant. This way, you will not only earn money but also have company. Read up on the regulations around short-term renting though, it’s not legal to be renting out your HDB apartment on platforms like HomeAway and Airbnb in Singapore.
If you have a car and want to turn it into a cash cow, try this. You could become a Grab driver and earn in those extra hours every day. You could also get a rental car from Grab. The process to become a driver is lengthy but if you are committed, it will be worth it.
If you drive for 3 hours every night, Monday to Friday, Grab estimates that you’ll be able to make close to S$400 in a week.
Find out your revenue estimation using Grab’s revenue calculator.
For those looking for lower commitment, there is GrabHitch – a social carpooling service. It enables regular drivers to give fellow commuters a lift, meet new people, and lower the costs of owning a car.
Publishing a book may sound like a feat, and it is, but not in this case. You could write a 20-40 page ebook and sell it on Amazon. If you keep the price of the book anywhere between US$2.99 and US$9.99, your book qualifies for a 70% royalty. That’s pretty awesome actually!
Try to select topics which are rare and interesting so that your book does not have too much competition. If your book gets rave reviews, it will prove to be a long-lasting passive income for you.
If you have pockets of time over the week or weekends, utilise it to earn extra money by joining a groceries delivery platform like honestbee. This gives you an opportunity to earn up to S$22.20 per hour. All you need to qualify is to be above 18 years and have a smartphone.
Shopper Bee: Get paid up to S$11 an hour for shopping at a supermarket near you. No car needed!
Delivery Bee: For people with time + a vehicle, earn up to S$22.20 an hour for delivering groceries. You get paid a fixed rate and bonus based on the number of deliveries you make.
This works perfectly for people who would like flexible work hours, love shopping in supermarkets, and live near one of the designated honestbee hubs.
If you own a car and dread the costs for season parking, petrol, ERP, maintenance and so on, fret not. You can start using your car to generate a good passive income that will cover some of your costs. Register yourself on Movo or Spruik and get an option to choose an ad you want on your car. They will apply removable vinyl stickers, which will be part of an advertiser’s marketing campaign, and you will get paid. You can earn up to S$300 a month through this.
If you are among the lucky ones who travel abroad frequently (could be for work or leisure), here is a chance to earn some extra dough. Register yourself on websites like Airfrov, which connect shoppers to travellers.
So, if someone is craving macaroons from Paris and you are travelling there next week, you could pick it up for them and earn extra income from it. However, make sure you don’t bring items that are banned in Singapore and be mindful of our GST rules.
Being paid for giving your feedback. Sounds like a dream, right? If you join a focus group, it could come true. The idea is to assemble a bunch of people to give feedback on and discuss a product before it is launched. Check out job sites like Trovit and stand a chance to earn around S$35 – S$50 for two hours.
What is dropshipping? It’s basically a way of selling products online without actually holding any inventory.
If you are a dropshipping, customers buy a product from your online store, and that product is sourced and shipped directly to the customer from a third party. You don’t have to worry about handling the product or buying stock in advance.
You earn money finding a great product on a wholesale marketplace like AliExpress, placing it on your store, and adding a markup to it. Of course, you’ll need some web designing and marketing skills to be able to set up your online store and marketing your products.
You can make anything from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands a month. Companies such as Shopify and Oberlo make dropshipping possible and relatively fuss-free for thousands of customers around the world.
Nothing is now stopping you from making more money, right?
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This article first appeared on BankBazaar.sg, a leading online marketplace in Singapore that helps consumers compare and apply for financial products such as credit cards and loans.
