13 Ideas To Make Passive Income From Home
Whether you want extra cash to help you hit a savings goal or would like to work less, passive income is a great way to help you reach financial freedom.
In a nutshell, passive income streams are ways of making money that require minimal or no effort from you.
The types of passive income we’re going to talk about include:
- Returns on investments
- Utilising your assets – such as your car or a spare room – to make extra cash
- Passive online businesses – such as an online store selling digital products or advertising revenue on a blog
To be totally upfront before we get to the passive income streams, all of these do require some work to get them going. And some may also require a little patience.
However several require minimal effort on your part, and in the case of saving wisely that can simply require formulating a plan and setting aside regular money to build your wealth on autopilot.
Let’s get to the passive income ideas!
Passive income ideas that need a little investment
1. Invest and save
It’s an annoying and slightly unfair fact of life that it’s much easier for the rich to get richer than it is for those of lower means to get rich.
That’s largely due to income generating assets such as high yield savings accounts and investments.
Once you have a big pile of money there are a number of things you can do with it to make it grow. Some people can live off the income their own wealth generates comfortably and still have money leftover.
However that’s not to say investing and saving is just for the rich, of course. We should all be doing something to set money aside and save more so we can make our money work harder for us and to plan for the future.
This sort of wealth building can be done in a number of ways, and finding the right one for you may well require the advice of a professional financial adviser.
Some income generating assets include:
Stocks and shares
Investing in stocks and shares may feel a lot more complicated than it actually is.
With dividend stocks you buy a slice of a company by purchasing shares and then you get dividends – or regular payments.
On the other hand stocks without dividends will see you potentially make money if the value of the stock goes up, but you won’t get the regular payments you would with a dividend stock.
With any investment your money could increase or you could lose it over time, you should always go into any investment with your eyes wide open to that risk.
High yield savings accounts
There’s a bit more choice around these days in terms of savings accounts with a healthier interest rate.
The type of savings accounts that’s right for you really depends on things such as whether you need easy access or are prepared to lock the money away without immediate access.
And different people also may prefer to use one of the recognisable high street banks over the newer online banks. It’s really up to you, but it’s wise to shop around.
Bonds
Bonds are issued by governments and corporations when they want to raise money.
When you buy the bond, you are giving the issuer a loan.
Your income from this will be fixed.
2. Investment property
Although the tax breaks aren’t as generous as they used to be for people owning a second property, it can still bring in some easy extra cash if you rent it out.
My parents own an investment property which has occasionally caused them some headaches with maintenance issues, but these days it brings in rent money without them having to do anything.
I think it’s important to go into property investment with a good eye for what will get you a good return – don’t shop for a house or flat you yourself would live in, look for what’s going to attract renters and grow in value.
Then it’s important to look after your investment with regular maintenance so if you ever do come to sell you see a decent return.
3. Start a vending machine biz
I love this as a creative and interesting way to make money. People are always going to need food, snacks and drinks on the go, and other convenience items.
So many public buildings have vending machines, it’s a huge business, and someone has to profit from that, so why not you!
Starting a vending machine business would require an investment up front in the equipment on your part.
And of course you’ll need to be ensuring the machines are stocked and service.
However sales are made without you needing to man a till! Find out more about starting a vending machine business.
4. Start a blog
A blog contains informative, entertaining and useful content on a specific subject. While there are some successful blogs that cover a broad range of topics, most will focus on a particular niche.
A blog can bring in passive income once you have built up an audience – either one that is loyal and returns to your site again and again or an audience that finds you through search engines. Or both!
Once a blog has established authority on a topic and that crucial audience, it can then be monetised with ads (through a network like Mediavine or Ezoic), affiliate marketing or product sales.
Successful blog niches may fall under broad topics such as health and fitness, recipes and personal development and self-care, but they often narrow down further than that.
Successful niches include:
- Grow your own veg
- Succulents
- Baking bread
- Cooking for babies
- Running
- Digital nomad lifestyle
- Slow travel
- Cruises
- Retro gaming
Once your blog is up and running, with an established audience coming in from Google or social media, it can continue to bring in cash even when you have no time to work on it.
Blogging is a bit like a spinning plate. Once you have it up in the air it can do well on its own, but you do need to give it a twist every now and then to keep it going.
You can read more about how to start a blog here.
5. Become a YouTuber
Starting a successful YouTube channel is a similar endeavour to starting a money-making blog.
You’ll need to build up a bank of videos and grow an audience in order to monetise the channel.
I have had a YouTube channel for over four years now. It makes me around £100 to £150 a month and I make roughly four videos a week.
However last year I made only a handful of videos and still earned £90 a month, so I would argue now that I have some evergreen video content on there it is earning me money passively.
I think it’s hard to make YouTube into a huge money-maker as the platform is so flooded with creators but if you have some great ideas for videos then it’s well worth a try.
Passive income ideas that are cheap to start
What if you have no capital to get you started with a passive income stream? These are some cheap ways to make money. They require time and in some cases money – such as with Etsy for listing fees – however the costs are very low.
6. Make and sell printables
There’s a huge demand for digital printable products online and with marketplaces such as Etsy you have access to a large global audience.
Printable products may include:
- Planners
- Checklists
- Workout plans
- Schedules
- Teaching resources such as worksheets
- Chore charts
- Reward charts
You can make printables in software such as PhotoShop or Canva.
I’ve had some success with selling my own printables – it’s very easy to put together products and then list them on Etsy. Read more about making digital products to sell on Etsy here.
This is a great passive income idea to get started with when you have little or no money.
7. Launch a print on demand biz
A print on demand business involves creating designs that are then made for you by a third party and shipped to your customers.
Many people use Etsy to sell their print on demand products.
Print on demand products include:
- T-shirts
- Sweaters
- Mugs
- Tea towels
- Kids clothes
- Shopping bags
- Gym bags
- Hoodies
- Baby onesies
- Journals
You can create designs for print on demand products for free on software such as Canva. If you’re an illustrator then you could create truly unique designs.
Once you’ve added whatever slogans and fonts you want then you can use your designs on print on demand products through companies such as Printify, Redbubble and Zazzle.
When your products are ready you can connect your print on demand selection of products to an Etsy shopfront so you have a wider audience to sell to.
From here you can then start to make a passive income from selling these items.
8. Create and sell an online course
If you’re already an online creator or someone with an audience then creating a course is a fantastic way to make some extra passive money.
Once the course has been created you can sit back and let students take it at their own leisure.
There are a variety of hosting platforms where you can upload your course, such as Kajabi and Teachable.
9. Sell stock photos
If you’ve got an eye for photography then selling stock photos is a perfect way to make passive income.
There are many online stock photo websites that will buy or share your images for sale to users such as bloggers and online business owners.
The type of photography that sells in this way is really varied, from images posed by models to pictures of places or particular things.
10. Write and sell ebooks
Talented writers are now able to get their books out into the world thanks to new platforms that let them self-publish such as Amazon.
Whether you would love to write the next big fiction romance hit, or can write an amazing helpful book on a particular topic, there’s a huge market for books online!
11. Rent out your spare room
Renting out a room in your house is a great way of making extra money without any effort required on your part.
Plus your tenants can also help out with the household bills as well as pay you rent.
12. Rent out your stuff
There’s a huge market out there for renting all kinds of equipment and items.
Stuff you can rent out includes gardening tools, DIY kit, your car, fashion (particularly designer and high end fashion) and kitchen gadgets and serveware.
13. Shop and earn
One of the lowest maintenance ways to earn extra cash is to make sure you are using cashback sites and apps whenever you shop.
There are now so many options for getting cashback – and earning store loyalty points – that you are basically leaving money on the table if you do not use them.
I recommend TopCashback, Airtime Rewards and JamDoughnut, but there are plenty of cashback sites and apps to choose from!
Final thoughts
I hope you’ve found these ideas for making extra income without much effort!
If you’re looking to bring in more money you may also like these ways to earn an extra £1000 a month and these side hustles.
