How To Make $40 A Day – 9 Legit Ideas That Pay You Daily
Maybe you're trying to figure out how to make $40 a day to hit a long-term financial goal, or to cover a monthly expense like your rent.
Or, maybe you need $40 now and are looking for some of the best methods to make $40 fast so you can cover a quick purchase.
Whatever the case, you have plenty of options on the table.
Between methods of making money online and various side hustle ideas, there are so many ways to make 40 dollars a day, so don't fret!
Let's jump into the money-making ideas to help you reach your income goal!
The Best Ways To Make $40 A Day
Making $40 a day equates to around $1,200 in extra income per month, which is nearly an extra $15,000 per year!
This is a significant amount of money that you can use to pay your rent, pay off debt, or even invest to grow your wealth.
So, let's dive into how to make $40 a day fast and simple so you can start increasing your monthly income.
1. Gig Jobs
If you want to make $40 fast, turning to various gig apps is definitely your best bet.
Millions of Americans and people around the world participate in the gig economy to make extra cash on the side.
The gig economy is fast, flexible, and you can usually earn more than minimum wage for your effort.
Some effective gigs to make $40 a day include:
- Delivering food for DoorDash
- Being a rideshare driver for Uber or Lyft
- Delivering groceries as an Instacart Shopper
- Completing odd jobs in your town with apps like TaskRabbit
- Becoming a handyman for Handy Pro
- Completing odd jobs for cash on marketplaces like Craigslist
- Getting paid to deliver packages with companies like Amazon Flex
The advantage of using gig apps to make $40 fast is that you can get to work quickly; once you apply for a few gig apps and get approved, you can hustle in your spare time and probably make $40 in two to three hours of work.
Extra Reading – How Much Can You Make A Week With DoorDash?
2. Start A Blog
If you want to make $40 quickly, starting a blog isn't the best idea since this online business takes time to nurture and grow.
But if you want to make $40 every day in pure, passive income, making money with a blog is for you.
The beautiful part about blogging is that you have so many monetization options, including:
- Affiliate marketing
- Running display ads on your blog
- Selling your own products or services
- Sponsored posts
Personally, I make money with my blog through affiliate marketing and running Mediavine ads.
These days, I earn anywhere from $4,000 to $5,500 in display advertisements alone every month, which works out to around $150 per day.
It took a while to grow to $40 a day, but after three years of blogging, I've managed to grow this blog into a full-time income source!
And the growth has been crazy; my blog made $22,000 in 2020, but it earned $92,000 in 2021!
So, I truly believe blogging is a side hustle with one of the highest earning potential, and earning $40 a day from your blog is a great goal to work towards.
And, starting a blog doesn't have to be expensive either.
In fact, you can get started with SiteGround, the same host I used to grow WebMonkey to 50,000+ monthly visitors, for less than the cost of buying lunch once a month!
Start a money-making blog with SiteGround today!
3. Create Passive Income Sources
Speaking of earning passive income with something like a blog, why not use passive income to make $40 a day?
There are plenty of ways to earn money on autopilot, so if you don't have a lot of time for a side job, this could be the right path to making $40 a day.
Some popular examples of passive income streams you can create include:
- Investing in dividend paying stocks and funds with an online brokerage like M1.
- Investing in real estate with a company like Fundrise.
- Renting out things for money, like a spare room on Airbnb or your car on platforms like Getaround.
- Renting out extra storage space on platforms like Neighbor.
- Selling your internet bandwidth for extra income
Renting out things you own is probably the fastest way to make $40 a day, especially if you're renting out a room on Airbnb, which can easily fetch $40 to $100+ a night depending on the city you're in.
But, if you currently have some idle cash and want to work on growing more passive income, you can try investing with companies like Fundrise to get the ball rolling.
Disclaimer: This is an endorsement in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links. All opinions are my own.
4. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is how I make most of my income, and I mention this side hustle in our post on making $50 a day.
Honestly, I think writing is one of the best ways to make $40 fast just because of how much opportunity there is out there.
Between writing for content mills, other blogs, or various publications, there's a ton of work to be had as a freelance writer.
Now, back in school, writing was one of my college side hustles I used to make some extra beermoney every month.
At the time, I was writing content mill type gigs and only earning around $0.05 per word.
These days, I earn anywhere from $0.10 to $0.25 per word for my writing, which isn't even on the high-end since I know writers who charge $0.50 to $1 per word!
Anyway, the point is that you can make $40 a day or much, much more just by writing a single article for a client if the rate is right!
So, my advice is to look on freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr, and to also pitch bloggers for your writing services directly.
Writing has a very high earning ceiling, and for making a quick $40, it's also an excellent option.
5. YouTube
Like blogging, I wouldn't start a YouTub channel if you need $40 now.
But, if you want to grow an online business that has an incredibly high earning ceiling, making money on YouTube is for you.
Now, I started a YouTube channel in early 2020, and since then, the channel has grown pretty well with publishing a few videos per month.
And right now, I earn around $40 per day on YouTube, so I know this method is legit and possible.
But, what's crazy about YouTube is truly how passive it can be.
The main video that makes money for my channel is over a year old and has over 500,000 views, but the views keep going up and so does the ad revenue!
So, if you're wondering how to make $40 in a day and have a desire to create content and put yourself out there, I definitely think starting a YouTube channel is worth considering.
Extra Reading – How To Get 1,000 YouTube Subscribers.
6. Use Get-Paid-To Websites
Get-paid-to websites, or GPT sites, are basically sites that pay you for completing short tasks like surveys or downloading new apps.
Now, this isn't my favorite way to make $40 a day since I think for many people, it will be tough to earn this much from a couple of paid survey sites.
But for some people (and if you get a bit lucky and leverage some sign up bonuses), you might be able to scrape $40, or at least reach that after a few days.
Some popular GPT sites and apps people often use include:
- Prolific – With an hourly rate of around $6.50, Prolific is widely regarded as one of the best GPT sites around.
- Branded Surveys – This survey site lets you earn free PayPal money and gift cards for sharing your opinion!
- Pinecone Research – Earn $3 per survey you complete for this paid research panel.
- Survey Junkie – Answer surveys in your spare time and cash out with PayPal cash or gift cards.
- MyPoints (Free $10 Bonus) – Get paid for answering surveys, downloading new apps, and shopping online with MyPoints.
Again, it might be tricky to make $40 a day with pure survey sites, but between various sign up bonuses, cash-back offers, and bouncing around to find the best offers, it's definitely possible.
7. Pick Up Overtime Shifts
If you're wondering how to make $40 in a day, the simple answer might be to pick up an overtime shift if that's something your workplace offers.
I have a friend who works at a brewery, and he gets paid time-and-a-half for overtime work, so he can easily clear $40 in just an hour or so of overtime work.
Granted, this is a grind, and not every workplace offers extra pay for overtime.
But, the simple fact is putting more hours in at work or even picking up a second job is a viable solution to make an extra $40.
8. Sell Stuff To Make $40
Another straightforward way to make $40 now is to just sell things you own but don't use to make some quick cash.
And, you really have a lot of options for how you go about this.
A lot of people stick with selling on Facebook Marketplace or marketplaces like eBay to get rid of their extra stuff.
But, depending on what you're selling, different marketplaces might suit your needs better than others.
For example, if you're selling Pokemon cards or Yugioh cards, there are tons of online sites that will buy your cards for a fair price.
Similarly, if you're selling apparel, websites like Poshmark or apps like Mercari are incredibly popular for clothing sellers.
Of course, you can always go with a classic garage sale or selling stuff to a friend if you want to make $40 fast and keep things simple.
But, the point is, selling things you own is one of the fastest ways to make some extra cash, and you can likely make over $40 depending on how much you sell and the quality.
9. Use Micro Task Websites
One final idea to make 40 dollars a day is to use different microtask websites that pay you with cash for completing short online tasks.
This is similar to using survey sites, except the type of tasks you complete vary. For example, microtask might ask you to help with data entry, image annotation, social media moderation, or other tasks that require human assistance.
Some leading micro task sites and apps you can use include:
- Clickworker: One of the most popular options that pays you with PayPal cash.
- FocusGroup.com: A U.S. based focus group that pays you for sharing your opinion and taking part in online focus groups.
- UserTesting: A website-testing platform that pays you for completing website quality assurance tests.
- Amazon MTurk: This platform by Amazon lets you earn cash and free Amazon gift cards for completing short tasks.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, and you can explore other microtask sites like Appen, or even apps like Premise, that pay you for completing a variety of tasks.
You won't quit your day job with these sorts of sites. However, it's a realistic way for earning $40 a day and from the comfort of your own home.
Extra Reading – The Best Jobs You Can Do From Your Phone.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you're still wondering how to make $40 a day or what the best job is depending on your skills and age, this list of answers to common questions people have will help out.
1. Can I Make $40 In An Hour?
If you earn $40 an hour and work 40 hours a week, that job pays you $83,200 per year.
So, you can definitely make $40 an hour if you get a high-paying job where that's just your salary.
Alternatively, you can likely make $40 an hour or more by selling your skills online as a freelancer.
I know many freelance writers who earn hundreds of dollars for completing articles, or web designers who charge thousands for building custom websites.
All of these people make more than $40 per hour, so it's definitely possible as you gain experience in your field!
Extra Reading – 20+ Jobs That Pay $10,000 A Month.
2. What's The Best Way To Make $40 Fast?
In my opinion, the best way to make $40 fast is to sell something you own for extra money.
And, if you can't sell something you own, the next fastest route is probably to just pick up some overtime at work.
If that fails or if your workplace doesn't offer that opportunity, I think gig economy apps like working for DoorDash or Uber Eats is your next best bet to make $40 quickly.
3. How Can I Make $40 Fast As A Kid?
As a kid, you're often restricted from certain money-making opportunities because of your age.
For example, you can't sign up for DoorDash or Instacart if you're under 18, and a lot of gig work is off the table.
So, how can kids make $40 a day without worrying about age restrictions?
Well, one option would be to complete odd tasks for people in your neighborhood; think snow removal, lawn care, or other manual labor jobs.
My friends and I made money shoveling driveways growing up in good ol' Canada, so there's plenty of opportunities out there.
You can also try different passive income ideas for students, like starting your own blog.
If you're still looking for ideas, I also recommend watching my video on the best summer jobs for teens so you can find some ways to make extra cash as a kid!
There are tons of different job ideas in the video, and you don't have to worry about not being 18, so you can start making money today!
Extra Reading – The Best Under The Table Jobs.
Final Thoughts
I hope this list of methods to make $40 a day helps you reach your new income goal as quickly as possible!
Honestly, I think setting specific income goals is important to folding yourself accountable, and it doesn't matter if it's $40 or $4,000, tracking your progress ensures you stay on track.
I also want to stress that working on saving more money every month can also help you reach your financial goals faster, so don't be afraid to play a little bit of defence as well as working on making $40 a day.
Best of luck in your side hustling! Catch you guys in the next one.
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