18 Passive Income Ideas To Earn $1,000+ Each Month

Are you looking for passive income ideas so that you can start making more money? Learning how to make passive income streams can significantly change your life by helping you earn more money and diversifying your income. Building passive income is something that I’ve been working on for the past several years. See, I want…

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: April 1, 2024

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

Are you looking for passive income ideas so that you can start making more money? Learning how to make passive income streams can significantly change your life by helping you earn more money and diversifying your income.

Building passive income is something that I’ve been working on for the past several years. See, I want to continue to bring in an income while being able to focus on other goals of mine, like doing more hiking or biking (which will most likely never generate income). I also want to diversify my income so that I’m not too reliant on one source.

For me, finding passive income strategies is great because I can focus more on life instead of business, and I can do it while continuing to earn a great income.

Unfortunately, many people think that passive income simply isn’t real, that it must be luck and not work, that you’re a trust fund kid, or something else.

But, that’s not true at all! All of the passive income ideas in this article are real ways to make money.

Now, that doesn’t mean that earning passive income takes literally no effort (it’s not a get rich quick scheme) – there’s probably going to be some effort to get the passive income stream started, and perhaps some effort to maintain it for years to come. 

It can take time or money to start on most passive income ideas, but that investment is worth it.

If you want to learn how to start earning passive income, below are different passive income-related questions you may have. We will discuss what passive income is, the positives of earning passive income, smart passive income ideas, best passive income ideas for students, and the hard work that goes along with it.

Related content:

18 Best Passive Income Ideas

 

What is passive income? Is it possible for the average person?

To start off, we should probably answer the question “What is passive income?”

Passive income is when you are able to make an income that doesn’t require a ton of work to maintain. 

You, of course, need to do something in the beginning to start earning the income. That work can be either a time or financial investment. But, after most of the leg work is done, income continually comes in without much effort from you. 

There might be a little maintenance here and there after you set it up, but overall the passive income stream should continue to operate on its own.

Some passive income sources may take a little bit more of your time than others. They are not all the exact same and will have differences.

Side note: I highly recommend that you check out Personal Capital if you are interested in gaining control of your financial situation. Personal Capital allows you to aggregate your financial accounts so that you can easily see your financial situation. You can connect accounts such as your mortgage, bank accounts, credit card accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, and more, and it is FREE.

 

What are the positives of learning how to make passive income?

Passive income is great and can make life much more stress free. Some of the positives of earning passive income include:

  • You can make money with little work to maintain it. This is a huge positive of passive income! Who wouldn’t want to find an income source that doesn’t take much work or time to earn?
  • You can diversify your income. You want to diversify your income because one source of income may not last forever, and you may be able to lessen your risk by having multiple income streams.
  • You can do what you love while still making money. This will help you to always have money for your bills and other necessities. Perhaps you want to spend more time pursuing something that brings you happiness but may not bring you much money. If that’s the case, then earning passive income can allow you to not worry about how you will pay your bills.
  • You can retire and feel a little more comfortable knowing that you’re still bringing money in. With passive income opportunities, you may even be able to bring in enough passive income to cover your monthly expenses. You may even be able to earn enough passive income to cover your monthly expenses plus even save money as well.
  • You can start a family, and earning passive income can help you devote more time to your family since you may be able to work less because you will be earning passive income.
  • You can travel extensively and enjoy wherever you are exploring. Passive income can support you while you travel.

Plus much more. There are many great reasons to earn passive income.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons for why you may want to find passive income ideas.

 

cash on green background for passive income ideas

Why should I have more than one source of income?

Do you ever feel too reliant on one source of income?

Maybe you are afraid that one day you will lose your job or that something will happen to your main source of income.

The beauty of starting one of these passive income ideas is that it allows you to diversify your income. This means you won’t have to worry as much about one of your income streams having a bad month or completely disappearing – you’ll be earning income in other ways and be prepared.

By diversifying your income with multiple income streams, you will have a backup plan, you may be able to retire easier and earlier, and so on.

Plus, you’ll be able to make money while not actually having to dedicate a ton of time to it. This means that you will have more time to do others things in life, such as spend time with your family or travel.

 

What are the best passive income ideas? How can I generate passive income?

Having a passive income stream sounds great, right?

You are now probably wondering exactly how to make passive income? Some passive income streams may require more set up than others, and some are riskier than others. Some are great beginner passive income streams too, whereas others you may want to learn as much as you can before you begin.

Each of the ways below have their positives and negatives so definitely do your research.

In this article, I’ll be outlining the different types of passive income ideas to make money such as:

  1. Affiliate marketing
  2. Rental real estate
  3. Rent out a room in your home
  4. Dividends
  5. Build a blog
  6. Write a book
  7. Start an online store
  8. Create an online course
  9. Shop at cash back websites
  10. Earn credit card rewards
  11. Sell your photography
  12. Sell digital products
  13. High yield savings accounts
  14. Pay off your debt
  15. Rent out your garage
  16. Rent out your RV
  17. Rent out your car
  18. Share your internet

As you can see, there are many ways to make passive income. The list goes on and on from here as well, as there are many other ways to make passive income.

 

Affiliate marketing for passive income streams

Out of all of these passive income ideas, this one is my absolute favorite.

That’s because I regularly earn around $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing alone and it is a great passive income online.

Now, it’s not always the most passive. But, I am able to earn income while I’m on vacation, when I have no internet, when I am sleeping, and so on.

Earning affiliate income is something that I’m extremely grateful for, especially lately. We have been so busy and I haven’t spent as much time on the business as I would normally like. Having this passive income source allows me to keep earning when I don’t have as much time for my business.

See, even though I am spending less time on the business, I am still earning a great income each month and this allows me to focus on a better work-life balance.

As you can tell, I’m a very big fan of affiliate income. It’s something that I enjoy due to how passive it can be. It makes full-time traveling much more enjoyable when I know I can bring in an income while having fun seeing new areas.

But what is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when you try to earn money by placing an affiliate link on your website, social media account, etc. and have people purchase a product through your link. 

An affiliate is a person or business who promotes a product or service offered by other businesses, and you become an affiliate when you promote an affiliate product. And as an affiliate, you are given a special link that tells the company that a customer came from your site.

An example would be Amazon book sales, where you link to a specific book on your website and try to get people to purchase the book through your affiliate link. Amazon and other companies want quality affiliates under their belt because they want all the help they can get to promote the products and services they are selling.

If you get someone to sign up through your affiliate link, the company rewards you for promoting their product.

This is what is known as a conversion, and it’s when a person completes a specific action designated by the affiliate program. It may be when someone enters their email address on a company’s website, when they make a purchase, fill out a form, or some other action through your affiliate link.

You can share an affiliate link with your audience in many different ways, such as:

  • By adding an affiliate link to your blog (you can do this by inserting a link within a blog post, page, email, etc.)
  • Promoting it on social media
  • Sharing it in a podcast or webinar
  • And more!

I recommend checking out my online course for bloggers, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. In this very informative course, I share the exact strategy and tips I use to earn over $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing. If you’re a blogger, then you need this course.

If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, I recommend getting the free guide 10 Easy Tips To Increase Your Affiliate Income. With this time-saving cheat sheet, you’ll learn how to make affiliate income from your blog. These tips will help you to rapidly improve your results and increase your blogging income in no time.

How can I make $1000 a month in passive income?

 

Rental real estate and rental properties, such as Airbnb

I don’t have rental real estate, but this is one of the passive income ideas that we have been thinking about lately. This is a long-term passive income stream that can allow you to earn passive income for years!

Earning rental income each month would increase our cash flow. It would likely be a steady stream of income we earn every month. Plus, we may even be able to earn significantly more for the property when we sell it years later.

But, not everyone considers rental real estate passive because your rental property might not always be rented out, and it takes work to maintain the property.

However, if the rental property is in good shape and you have good renters, then there may be little work that needs to be done in order to continually bring in an income. This does become even more passive if you outsource the property management duties and home maintenance tasks.

Here are two great interviews I did with two people who are active in rental real estate:

In these interviews, you’ll learn:

  • How they each got into real estate investing.
  • How they were able to afford so many rental units.
  • What they look for in a rental unit.
  • The types of real estate property they invest in.
  • How much time and money it takes to invest.
  • How they manage rentals that aren’t in the same part of the country.
  • Their worst renters.
  • The sacrifices they had to make to make this all possible.

Rental real estate can be a great source of passive income, but there are definitely things to learn and know before you start. The interviews above will help get you off to the right start.

 

Rent out a room in your home for passive income ideas

While you may not want to buy rental real estate properties, there are other passive income ideas with little money that are similar.

And, that is by renting out a room in your home. If you have a spare room, this can be a great way to make extra money each month.

We had several roommates when we lived in a house, so I am very familiar with this source of passive income.

While renting a room in your house most likely will not make you rich, it may earn you a good amount of side income. I know of a few people who rent out many rooms in their home and have been able to pay off their home completely due to this.

And while this is a little less passive than having a roommate, renting out a room in your house (or your entire house) on Airbnb is another similar idea.

There is a little more work involved in making sure the room is always clean and ready to stay in. But, if you live in a touristy area, this can be a great way to earn some side income that feels pretty passive.

I recommend reading A Complete Guide To Renting A Room For Extra Money.

 

Dividends from your investment portfolio

This is one of the best passive income ideas that many take part in. It does take some money to start, but this is something you can work on even if you don’t have much money to start.

A dividend is a distribution of a company’s profits to its eligible shareholders. Your dividends may be cash, stock, or even warrants to buy stock.

The amount of a dividend is determined by a company’s board of directors, and they are given as a way to reward those who have stock in their company.

By investing in dividend paying stocks, you may be able to earn a sizable passive income with very little work needed to be done. Dividends can be great passive income investments.

So, how do dividends work?

If you own shares of a dividend-paying stock, then a dividend is paid per share of that stock. This means that if you have 10 shares in Company XYZ, and they pay $5 in cash dividends each year, then you will get $50 in dividends that year. While dividends can be paid on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis, they are most commonly paid out quarterly – so 4 times a year. In the example above, the $5 in cash dividends the company pays each year will most likely be distributed as $1.25 per quarter for each share of stock.

It is important to know that not all companies have dividend-paying stocks.

Larger companies that have been around for a long time are usually the ones that pay dividends. But, even though a company has paid a dividend in the past, it does not mean that the same company will always pay a dividend.

Some dividend-paying stocks include Ford, Apple, Coca-Cola, Target, and McDonald’s. Even an index fund in the stock market can pay a dividend, so it’s best to look around or contact a financial advisor to learn more.

If you want to make $500 a month in dividends, there’s not an exact amount you need to invest in dividend stocks. This is because different companies pay different dividend amounts. However, to make $500 a month in dividends, you most likely will need to invest over $200,000 in dividend-paying stocks. This is because the current average on dividend-paying stocks is usually a little less than 2%, and some companies may pay more or less than this amount.

You can learn more at How I Became A Successful Dividend Growth Investor and How To Start Investing For Beginners With Little Money.

Related: What Are Dividends & How Do They Work? A Beginner’s Guide

 

Build a blog

Even though it isn’t extremely passive, especially in the beginning, this is one of my favorite passive income ideas. But, it is a lot of hard work and can take up pretty much all of your time when you are first starting.

However, as discussed above, there are ways to make your blogging income more passive (like earning affiliate income with affiliate links), so that you can have more freedom.

Learning how to start a successful blog is no easy feat. If it were easy, then everyone would be doing it!

That being said, one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life is learning how to start a blog. I think this can be a great option to earn semi-passive income and extra cash.

Blogging completely changed my life, and it’s funny to think that I literally had no idea what blogs were until I started one in 2011.

So, even if you have no clue how to start a successful blog, you can do it! And, I’m about to tell you how.

Here’s How To Start A Successful Blog In 10 Steps.

I also have a free How To Start a Blog Course. With this free email course, I will show you exactly how to create a blog easily, from the technical side (it’s easy – trust me!) all the way to earning your first income and attracting followers.

Here’s a quick outline of what you will learn:

  • Day 1: Reasons you should start a blog.
  • Day 2: How to determine what to blog about.
  • Day 3: How to create your blog. In this lesson, you will learn how to start a blog on WordPress. My tutorial makes it very easy to start a blog.
  • Day 4: How to make money blogging.
  • Day 5: My tips for earning passive income streams from blogging.
  • Day 6: How to grow your traffic and followers.
  • Day 7: Miscellaneous blogging tips that will help you be successful.

Blogging can be a passive income source because you can create a blog post and earn money from it years later, such as through affiliate marketing or display advertising. You don’t need to show up every single day in order to make money through your blog – instead, you can make money throughout the day, make money while you are sleeping, and so on, due to work that you have completed in the past.

 

Write a book 

While writing a book is definitely not easy, it may become passive income after you’re done with the writing and have finished launching your book. But, this is one of the passive income ideas that takes very little work to continue bringing in income for months and years later.

Writing a book can be great passive income because you only need to write the book once, and then you have the possibility to earn income from that same book for years later. You may have to do some promotional work to keep readers interested in your book, but it can be quite passive over the years because the writing portion of this form of income has been completed.

For example, I interviewed my friend Alyssa to learn how to make passive income by writing a book. 

Alyssa self-published her first book and has sold more than 13,000 copies.

She is now earns over $200 a day from her book – $6,500 in one month alone!

Alyssa is the author of the best-selling book A Beginner’s Guide to Living in an RV, a book about how anyone can start traveling full time in an RV.

She is also the creator of From Blog To Book, a course that will help you write, launch, and market your first book. I’ve already signed up for the course, and the expertise she shares is absolutely amazing. Some of the modules in her course include:

  • Mapping Out Your Book Content
  • Strategies for Writing Your Next 30,000 Words
  • Where to Publish Your Book
  • Tutorial: Getting Your Book on Amazon
  • Design Your Book Cover
  • Set Pricing for Your Book
  • Create Your Marketing Plan

You can check out her super informative course by clicking here.

Another really great interview I did with someone about earning passive income from book sales is How to Make Money Self-Publishing Short Romance Novels on Amazon.

 

How can I generate passive income?

Start an online store and make passive income online

Yes, you can start your own online store, and you don’t need to have tons of experience or a lot of money to do so. Many people start with no background, which means that if this is one of the passive income ideas you are interested in, then you should definitely read on.

Having an online store can be passive if you do certain things to make it more passive, this may include hiring/outsourcing certain tasks out, dropshipping items, and more.

I had the chance to interview the creator of E-commerce and Prosper, who explains exactly how to start an online store and make extra income.

Jenn is a corporate mom turned e-commerce store owner and blogger.

She started her online business a little over three years ago, and since then, she has developed and grown three successful online e-commerce stores earning an average of $19,000 per month.

She is super successful despite only spending around 5-10 hours per week on her e-commerce business.

Her course E-commerce and Prosper teaches you exactly how to start an online store. She reveals her successful rinse and repeat formula to students in her course. It’s the same formula she uses to earn an average of $19,000 per month. In her course you will learn:

  • How to start an online store.
  • Winning e-commerce success tools.
  • How to turbocharge your e-commerce success.
  • How to start making money in THREE days.

Learn more about this at How Jenn Makes Over $10,000 A Month With Her Online Store In Less Than 10 Hours Per Week.

 

Create an online course

Creating a course is not the easiest of these passive income ideas, but it can be a great way to earn an income around the clock. Most of the work is done in the very beginning, and then there is some maintenance along the way to keep the course updated, help students, and so on.

I created Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, my first online course, in July of 2016. After just a couple of years, I have earned over $1,000,000 from it.

This was without any webinars, Facebook Lives, any guest posts, a “launch” period, or anything else. It’s an evergreen course that has mainly spread through word of mouth.

Most people are completely shocked to hear this, because when most people think about running a course, they think of an intense sales period with a huge team and lots of live videos.

However, my course has pretty much just been me, no big promotions or videos.

This doesn’t mean that creating my first course came easy to me.

Creating an online course is a lot of work, no matter how you do it, and I decided to create my courses on my own terms. I want to be comfortable with how I develop and run my courses and make sure they fit with the rest of my business plan.

Don’t get me wrong, videos and a big launch period can be great for others, but for me, I wanted something a little simpler and something that reflects who I am.

I was very nervous when creating Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. It was the first product that I’ve ever sold, and like all online course creators, I was afraid that no one would want it.

Learn more at How I’ve Made Over $1,000,000 From My First Course Without a Big Launch.

Shop at cashback websites

This is not one of the passive income ideas that is going to earn you a lot of extra income, but it’s an easy way to earn a little money back while shopping how you normally would online.

Cashback websites like Rakuten give you a percentage back of every purchase you make when you shop through one of their partner stores. The money you earn is passive because you aren’t doing any extra work to shop like you normally would.

Here are some examples of stores and the percentage of your purchase you can earn back:

  • Walgreens 6% 
  • Amazon 5% 
  • Macy’s 6% 
  • Gap 8%
  • Kohl’s 3%

Those are just a few, and these stores and the cashback amount changes from time to time. There are even stores who offer in-store cashback or a dollar amount back on certain purchases.

Learn more at Use Rakuten (Ebates) For Free Cash Back And Get A Free $10 Cash Back.

Use credit card rewards to earn passive income

This one might seem a little different, but I still think it can be passive income as you may earn income from using credit cards just like how you usually do, as long as you normally use credit cards responsibly.

Travel rewards credit cards are extremely popular right now. I’ve been interested in and using them for a few years, and it seems like everyone going on a vacation is talking about them these days.

Credit card rewards can be passive income because if you are already spending on credit cards like you normally would, then you can earn credit card rewards without any additional work. For example, one of my credit cards gives me 2% cash back on all purchases, and I don’t have to do anything in order to earn that. It’s pretty much just free money that I don’t have to put any work towards.

Note: Please head to Best Rewards Credit Cards to see the best rewards credit cards.

I absolutely love travel rewards cards. In fact, I’ve gone on many extremely affordable vacations due to travel rewards credit cards. I’ve also received lots of free cash back, they’ve allowed me super cheap first class flights, and more.

Actually, a couple of years ago Wes went on a 3,000 mile sailing trip in Europe, and when he was done, I was able to use travel rewards to book a last minute flight back to Arizona (where I was with the RV). He was able to sit in business class on a 12.5 hour flight (from London to Los Angeles, I believe) and it cost less than $100 after points. It would have cost even less if I booked it more than just a few days ahead of time. After a month on a boat sharing a bed with another crew member, we wanted to get him a roomier/comfier seat, and our travel rewards credit cards made it super affordable!

The credit card companies aren’t just giving away points and cash back because they are nice, so I’m sure you’re wondering what the catch is. 

This is how they work – credit card companies offer these great bonuses and rewards because they are hoping that you’ll become a loyal customer. They know that having more customers means they’ll be able to make more money, which they make in various ways, such as:

  • Interest charges
  • Taking a percentage of each transaction when you use your credit card at a store
  • Annual fees
  • And more

So, credit card travel rewards aren’t a scam or a myth. They are part of how credit companies gain new customers, earn more money, and are only a reward if you use your cards responsibly (always paying your balance every month!).

I wrote a whole blog post on this subject here – Are Travel Rewards Credit Cards a Scam?

passive income ideas with little money

Sell your photography and earn royalties

Selling stock photos can be a great passive income opportunity.

With stock photography, you simply would be uploading photos that you have taken to a platform such as DepositPhotos. Then, you would receive a commission whenever someone buys one of your stock photos.

Stock photos are used for all sorts of reasons by websites, companies, blogs, and more. Businesses need stock photos because they are not usually in the business of taking photos of everything that they need. Instead, they can use stock photos to make their content, website, or business more visually appealing.

I use stock photos within my blog posts and I know many, many others who do as well. The photos throughout this article are all stock photos, so you can see how useful they are to bloggers.

Stock photography may include pictures of:

  • Travel, landscapes, scenery, the outdoors
  • Business settings, such as of laptops, offices, someone working, money
  • Family members, such as of parents, children, and so on
  • Household items, such as living areas, kitchens
  • Animals, such as household pets or wildlife
  • Cars, boats, etc.
  • Sports, such as professional events or just fun games

And so much more. If you browse on a website like DepositPhotos, you will see how many different options there are. Plus, there are many different styles of stock photography too.

Recommended reading: How I Made Over $1,000,000 in Photography Without Being a Pro.

Sell online printables or other digital products

Digital products, such as printables, can be a great way to make money passively.

Making printables on Etsy can be a great idea because you just need to create one digital file per product, which you can then sell an unlimited number of times. This is what makes it a great passive income opportunity, plus, you can make printables without anything other than just your laptop/computer and internet connection.

Printables are digital products that customers can download and print at home. Some examples of printables may include:

  • grocery shopping checklists
  • gift tags
  • candy bar wrappers
  • printable quotes for wall art
  • patterns
  • planners
  • coloring sheets
  • stickers

You can sign up for this free ebook that helps you figure out where to start when it comes to selling printables on Etsy.

You can also learn more at How I Make Money Selling Printables On Etsy.

Another digital product you can make may include Canva templates. You can learn more at  How I Make $2,000+ Monthly Selling Canva Templates. Canva templates are similar to printables in that you only have to make a template once and then you can sell it many, many times.

High yield savings accounts

This is probably the easiest of these passive income ideas to get into, yet so many people skip having a high-yield savings account!

High yield accounts are a great way to grow your savings, but most people have their money in accounts with low rates. Unfortunately, that means many of you are losing out on some easy cash!

If you’re like most people, you probably don’t even know what interest rate you’re getting on your checking and savings accounts. You were probably told the percentage when you opened your account, but that could have been years ago.

If you’re looking for a free checking account, as well as a higher than average interest rate on your savings account, look no further!

With Betterment Everyday, you can start earning 0.30% with a balance as low as $0.01.

That’s all great news for the average person who doesn’t have a really high account balance – a high yield savings account like this is really valuable for everyone.

How does that compare to the national average savings rate? It’s a very sad 0.09%. That is a HUGE difference from what Betterment Everyday is offering. If you are only getting 0.09%, then you are losing out on easy, passive money.

Savings accounts at brick and mortar banks are known for having really low interest rates. That’s because they have a much higher overhead – paying for the building, paying the tellers, etc. Betterment Everyday is an online option, which means they have lower costs, then passing the savings on to you. 

Over a 10 year period, that same savings balance with a 0.30% balance would earn you an additional $300, whereas a savings account with an interest rate of only 0.09% would earn you a mere $90.

Your money is just as safe in a Betterment Everyday account as it is with a brick and mortar bank. You’re just earning more interest, which is something that everyone wanting to learn how to be rich can take advantage of.

Betterment is just a great place to save your cash and earn high interest on it, whether that’s your first $500 toward a rainy day fund, your $2,500 tax refund, your savings in general, a down payment for your next house purchase, or money you’re saving for your next vacation. It’s money you’re earning with no risk, and that’s a great feeling!

To get started and open a Betterment Everyday account:

  1. Signing up is super easy. Simply click here and sign up.

See, super easy!

Read more at How To Earn Over 20x The National Savings Rate.

Another passive income idea similar to this is putting money into certificates of deposit.

Pay off your debt

I know this doesn’t sound like the rest of the passive income ideas on this list, but the truth is that your debt is costing you money. With student loans, credit card debt, and/or a mortgage, you may be spending thousands of dollars a month on your debt.

But the part that’s really costing you is the interest, and the longer you have your debt, the more you pay in interest.

Wiping out your debt relieves some financial stress and can feel like you are earning a raise. You then have more money to put towards other things on this list, like purchasing rental properties or dividend earning stocks. 

Now, I know that debt is something that many people have, and I know that it is something that is very difficult to get out of. And, debt can be useful – you can use it to buy a house or get through college. But, that doesn’t mean you have to live with debt forever. 

Focusing on paying off high interest rate debt first, like credit cards, is one of the best ways to start. After you eliminate that debt, you’ll have more to put towards paying off other types of debt.

Related articles:

Rent out your garage

Yes, you can rent out your garage, and this can be an easy source of passive income.

If you have a garage that you do not use and are looking for side hustles, or that you could clear out easily, then this can be an easy source of income for something that you already have.

You can do rent out your garage through a platform called Neighbor. Neighbor is basically the Airbnb of storage space.

You can use the Neighbor website to list your unused garage space for rent and make up to $15,000 per year by doing so.

On this website, you can rent out your:

  • Garage
  • Driveway
  • Basement
  • Closet

You are able to set your own rental rates and decide who you want to rent to as well.

You can sign up for Neighbor for free here.

Rent out your RV

Do you have an RV? Many, many people in the U.S. have RVs that are not being used very often. RVs are great assets for building passive income streams, especially in areas of the country where RVing is popular!

If you have an RV, you can make passive income by renting it out.

You may be able to earn $100-$300 a day, or even more, by renting out your RV through RVShare.

If you have an RV that is just sitting there and not being used, then you may be able to earn an income with it by renting it out to others who are interested in RVing.

RVs are rented for many different reasons such as: someone wanting to go on a vacation, someone wanting to check out a specific RV before they purchase one (they may be interested in your specific RV model), someone visiting an area and needing a place to stay (such as if they are visiting family and hotels are fully booked everywhere), someone wanting to drive an RV to multiple places and stay in campgrounds, and so much more.

RVShare is like Airbnb for RVs, and it is easy to use.

Some of the types of RVs that you can rent on RVShare include:

  • Camper vans and Sprinter vans
  • Travel trailers
  • Fifth Wheels
  • Pop-up RVs
  • Class C Motorhomes
  • Class A Motorhomes
  • Toy haulers

RVshare also securely handles all payments and releases funds to your bank account one business day after the start of each rental.

You can click here to check out RVShare.

Related: Have an RV that you want to rent out? Check out How To Make Extra Money By Renting Out Your RV.

Rent out your car

You can also rent out your car and make passive income.

It’s an affordable alternative to traditional rental car companies for customers, and it’s a good way to make money if you are already working from home and don’t need your car, or if you are a two-car household.

Some people even purchase additional cars to rent out via Turo as well. Of course, this is additional risk so you will want to do your research and make sure that this is the option for you.

Turo is one of a few different places to rent your car out. Turo covers your car with up to a $1,000,000 insurance policy, and you can pick when your car is available and set your rates.

Turo says you can earn an average of $706/month by listing your car on their site. Depending on your car, you may be able to earn more or less.

Share your internet

The Honeygain app pays you to share your internet connection with companies that use it as a tower.

You are paid based on the amount of traffic that goes through your connection, and Honeygain pays $1 for every 10 GB of traffic. Here’s what Honeygain says:

“The app facilitates proxy services to third parties, such as data scientists, Fortune 500, and other trustworthy companies. The Honeygain network is used by researchers from e-commerce, advertising, and web intelligence companies. These companies extract insights from the web using Honeygain to make market research, ad-fraud prevention, brand protection, pricing intelligence, travel fare aggregation, and SEO monitoring services.”

Honeygain is one of the best money making apps because it’s completely passive.

What other ways are there to earn passive income streams?

Other passive income streams include:

  • Royalties
  • REIT
  • Mutual funds
  • Investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
  • CDs (certificate of deposit)
  • Vending machine business
  • Design t-shirts to sell online
  • Peer-to-peer lending, where you act asa lender and lend money to borrowers or small businesses

How can I make $1,000 a month passive income?

The examples of passive income on the list above can help you make $1,000 a month in passive income. You may choose one, a few, or even all of them and earn passive income.

It all depends on what interests you. There are beginner passive income ideas, and more advanced ideas above too.

There are many different platforms and ways to make passive income, such as through stock dividends, a real estate investment trust, writing ebooks, having a tenant and becoming a landlord, renting out cars on Turo, selling stock photos, getting a certificate of deposit, finding advertisers for a YouTube channel, buying and selling domain names, peer-to-peer lending, renting out storage space, and more. The amount you can make will vary from idea to idea.

Some may require work upfront, others may be short term, and some may feel a little more like active income.

Being able to make $1,000 a month in passive income can help you to pay your expenses each month. Plus, if $1,000 is your goal and you meet it, you will see that it is possible for you to make more and continue to increase your monthly passive income.

How can I make passive income with no money?

If you want to learn how to generate passive income with no initial funds, many of the passive income ideas above could be started even if you have no money. This may include:

  • Affiliate marketing
  • High yield savings accounts
  • Rent out a room in your home
  • Blogging
  • Write a book
  • Create an online course
  • Earn credit card rewards
  • Sell digital products online
  • Share your internet

And more!

There are many ways to start making passive income without having to spend money, or not too much money. So, do not let that stop you from passive income opportunities.

This also means that you can get into beginner passive income ideas, even if you have no idea what you are doing. You can learn free information on the internet, take courses, and do research in order to make passive income.

How do I earn passive income ASAP?

Some of the passive income streams on this list will be easier to start than others. If you are looking to earn passive income ASAP, then you may want to look into passive income ideas such as:

  1. Rent out a room in your home
  2. Dividends
  3. Write a book
  4. Start an online store
  5. Create an online course
  6. Shop at cash back websites
  7. Earn credit card rewards
  8. Sell your photography
  9. Sell digital products
  10. High yield savings accounts
  11. Rent out your garage
  12. Rent out your RV
  13. Rent out your car
  14. Share your internet

With some of these passive income ideas, you can literally start today and right now, which is amazing.

What are passive income ideas for young adults?

There are many passive income ideas for young adults. For example, the passive income streams that I have tried include:

  • Renting out a spare room
  • High yield savings accounts
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Dividends
  • Build a blog
  • Shop at cash back websites
  • Earn credit card rewards
  • Sell digital products
  • Pay off your debt

And, that’s not everything you can do! Everything on this passive income ideas list can work for you, no matter your age.

Is it difficult to earn passive income streams? What is the easiest passive income?

As you probably noticed in each of these passive income ideas, starting a passive income stream is not always going to be the easiest. Being able to earn passive income will most likely include a lot of legwork that needs to be done in the very beginning.

Some of these passive income ideas take time, some take money, and some of them are easier than others. If they were all easy, then everyone would be doing all of them!

Passive income opportunities through any of the passive income ideas above may require hard work but it is attainable.

Earning passive income is definitely not a way to get rich quick. In order to build your passive income stream, you may have to sacrifice sleep, work multiple jobs, and more. Passive income streams usually requires a lot of hard work in the beginning, but then simple maintenance afterwards.

If you want it badly enough, though, earning passive income can be well worth it. If you do it right, you may be able to earn an income well into the future so that you can focus more on doing what you love and less on what you’re doing to earn an income.

Are you interested in any of these passive income ideas? Why or why not? 

How To Start A Blog Free Email Course

Want to see how I built a $5,000,000 blog?

In this free course, I show you how to create a blog easily, from the technical side all the way to earning your first income and attracting readers. Join now!

Powered by ConvertKit

Filed under:

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

Like this article?

Join the Conversation

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. I am a 100% firm believer that side hustle passive income is today’s new new of stable employment and entrepreneurial greatness versus working a traditional cushy day job that has a salary cap and corporate growth glass ceilings. passive income is readily available to quietly earned by ambitious side hustlers-affiliate marketers-bloggers across the web 24 hours a day. All they have to do is start a blog or website and get serious about promoting affiliate programs on their blog or site, in addition to creating valuable content for their target audience. The rest in my personal opinion will take care of itself. If a person believes in their side hustle ability, not only will they start earning passive income, but they can also look forward to achieving the future status of side hustle millionaire. 🙂

  2. MR.Prosper

    I truly agree just from what you said in the first 2 lines of your sentence. Middle class Americans no longer get it. Instead of slaving away doing the mundane, people refuse to seek and understand that there is a better way. But as someone who no longer seek to try to save the many, I choose to educate and let those who want to save themselves do so by finding the breadcrumbs of success sitting in front of them everyday.

    The sad reality is the same people who seek to find a better way always do so. On the flip side, those who are content and want a hand out will always face the same reality they so desire until the next time. Eventually the opportunities and handouts become far few than there were to dish out.

    Automation is replacing jobs end of story! Politicians cannot save you. Your church cannot save you. But learning 21st century skills will bless and enrich those who want to learn it for generations.

    1. Passive income is great 🙂

  3. jon snedeker

    What a fantastic article about passive income. I am huge into real estate and rentals, and also have an online course too. This article was really well put together! Thanks for sharing Michelle

  4. There are a lot of great ideas in your post. And I’m doing a few of them. Great to know I am on the right track. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Bill

    Selling online courses is a great way to make money. I’m like you, I don’t want to do webinars FB lives etc. I think the hardest part is you still need the customers/traffic. How much traffic were you getting to your blog when you wrote your course and how did you get that traffic?

    1. I was blogging for about 5 years at that point and already a full-time blogger. My traffic was probably around 300,000 to 500,000 a month?

  6. Dyana

    Honestly, I feel like paying off debt was the best way to increase my income because I had less things to pay for! Creating digital products and affiliate sales are also my faves. There are so many ways people can make passive income nowadays!

  7. Thanks for sharing this, Michelle! I noticed that you recommend Betterment Everyday on this post, but I remember reading about VARO on a different post. Is there one you think is better than the other? My husband and I have been talking about this and I’d like to know what you think is best.

    Thanks in advance!

    1. Hey Jess!

      Betterment has a really great rate going on right now that is very easy to get, versus with VARO you only get the higher rate if you do direct deposit.

      1. Oohhh got it! We’d probably be doing direct deposit anyways, but it’s good to know. Thanks for the quick answer!

  8. niraj

    Hello Michelle,
    I can say that your post has introduced some new ways to earn online, I’m blogging since one year, but I never earned even a dollar from my blog, sometimes I feel that maybe my blog design is worst that leads my blog towards failure. being a blind/visually impaired it’s impossible for me to make any idea about the visual aspects of my blog but I still believe I would earn a good amount, I’m really impressed by your blog. thanks.

  9. I can personally say that ebooks and (smart) blogging can be huge earners when it comes to passive income.

    I have been making money from ebooks I published waaaay back in 2011, which I find absolutely mind-blowing considering we’re in 2019. I am currently also monetizing a successful membership blog (Listiller) which is also pretty passive. Yes, it still involves a lot of work on occasion, but I don’t work actively everyday.

    Other passive income ideas – if you’re willing to put in the effort and consistency – involves growing a social media channel. For example, think of a successful Twitter / Instagram channel with so many followers that companies are willing to pay you for the occasional sponsorship. This, too, would require certain work; but it’s not necessarily active work.

    Anyway, cheers Michelle!

    Elvis Michael

  10. Caleb @ InformationFruit

    Way to hit the nail on the head, Michelle! This is a fantastic read! I’ve always had a passion for real-estate, and I hope to own multiple rental properties someday. I know you don’t have any rental real estate, but would you want to own some ever in the future?

  11. Dividend investing is probably one of my favorite passive income ideas, especially if you have the time to let the dividends reinvest. With enough time you can “snowball” your way to a larger passive income. Blogging + affiliate marketing + digital products is the area I’m working on next. Great ideas here to take closer look at.

  12. Deplao

    Thanks Michelle for this useful post. I read it multiples time and I’m on blogging & affiliate marketing for passive income. It’s harddddddd then I think but still tryinggg 😀

  13. Anthony @ dividendyieldlive.com

    Nice list. Dividends are my personal method of choice. It takes time, research and risk to build a good portfolio but definitely worthy of consideration for anyone planning their financial future.

  14. KOK WONG

    Hi , i m jack
    i m missing about your Day 5: My tips for passive income from blogging.
    can you resend me again ? thanks
    ceo.jackwong@gmail.com

  15. Dividend stocks can be a great form of passive income, though they carry more risk if you need your capital any time soon.

    My wife and I were 2 weeks from launching a print-on-demand store when COVID-19 hit and because of many states being in a stay-at-home order, our printers are closed.

    We’ll get started soon though – excited for passive income!

  16. Maria V

    These are the best passive income ideas. Currently, I’m working on an eBook and next a course is my target.

  17. Barry Williams

    Is cryptocurrency investment an example of passive income?

  18. So many great ways to make passive income!

  19. Patty

    I am really trying to work on my passive income. I spent several days searching for ideas for passive income. I am doing several things on your list, but blogging and affiliate marketing take a lot of time. I have had a successful blog before. I have started using Stash (it’s similar to Acorns) and I am trying to figure out what I am doing with dividend stocks but that is a little overwhelming for me. I have also set up an account with GroundFloor -it’s for real estate investing. You should check it out and see what you think. I haven’t made a ton with it yet, but of all the passive income ideas I am trying this one looks the most promising to me.

  20. passive income is by far today’s new new of building future financial security. It’s a virtual must as an unwritten and unspoken rule in today’s world we live in to have “passive income ideas,” transforming rambling thoughts we have in the back of our minds into fruition through an online business. One thing I love about turning [passive income ideas] into fruition is you don’t have to be 100% picture-perfect with the way you build your side hustle-online business. Some of the most successful bloggers, affiliate marketers and other online marketers executed “creative passive income ideas,” and succeed in starting from the bottom with a small potato-based side hustle into a million-dollar work from home business that generates passive income virtually 24 hours a day seven days a week. I encourage anyone who has a passive income idea to take the leap of faith into be abyss of uncertainty and start an online-based side hustle as an aspiring digital nomad. 🙂

  21. Tisha

    Passive income is a very important thing to have you can take your time and build them one by one, but it is important to have more than one.