8 Easy Ways for Single Moms to Make Money Fast

Last Updated on January 19, 2024 by Lori Pace

Unexpected expenses are challenging to fill in, more likely if you’re a single mom with enough paycheck for bills, needs, and food. Not everyone can quickly save up a big bunch of their paycheck for emergencies. It’s not easy to take out loans or borrow from your retirement fund. Therefore, here are eight realistic ways for Single Moms to earn money fast.

Ways for Single Moms to Make Money Fast
How can single moms make money fast?

Making Use of TaskRabbit

Single Mothers who have extra time after work and have children who don’t need constant supervision can use their time to do extra work from TaskRabbit. This is a way for single moms to earn money by being a tasker that does small tasks for people in their area. These include the following: 

  • Handyman work
  • Moving
  • Cleaning services
  • Errand-runner
  • Personal assistance 

The tasks you do define the money you’ll receive for compensation. The good thing about it is that you’ll be able to see how much the compensation is before you accept the job. You’ll get the money within 24 hours of the task completion. All you need to do is attend a brief orientation before you sign up for the job as the tasker. 

Write Articles Online | Ways for Single Moms to Make Money

Single Moms can apply to write articles online to get extra money. If you’re confident with your writing skills, you can use them at online jobs that pay for writing content. One of the examples is the TextBroker. This website provides web content for companies at a very affordable price. They offer a freelance service that allows you to create this content for a much lower price. TextBroker charges $10 per 500-word article, and you are paid $5 by TextBroker to write it.

What You’ll Need to Apply:

  1. Online application, including your name, address, and other details. 
  2. A writing sample
  3. Government-issued ID (for citizenship confirmation). You can choose to block any personal information you do not want TextBroker seeing.

After your application has been approved, you can start writing! There are many writing jobs available. Some assignments are only 200 words long, while others can be 1000. The longer assignments are more valuable. Assignments are organized by topic. Only one assignment can be worked on at a given time.

Complete Freelance Projects

Single Mothers that aren’t confident with their writing but confident in their other skills can also make use of them. However, they can use other skills to get freelancing gigs at Freelancer.com, a crowdsourcing site that matches freelancers and people looking for projects. The projects range includes the following but is not limited to: 

  • Data entry
  • Graphic design 
  • Writing

How to Sign Up:

No personal information needed. You can choose your skills, add a biography, and upload work samples when you create your profile. You can also upload a profile photo.

What To Expect:

You will likely be competing against a few other bidders. So bid carefully about how much you would like to earn and how long it will take to complete the job.

Every project you take on with Freelancer.com will result in a $5 or 3% service fee. This is important to remember when bidding on lower-priced projects.

Sell Unnecessary or Pre-loved Objects on Craigslist

Single mothers can make profit from their pre-loved items. Children grow and their old clothes won’t fit them anymore and their old toys won’t be as entertaining anymore. These are two of the examples that a single mother can sell online. You can simply handpick items that are still functioning or in good condition, then sell them online for extra money. This is a good way to clean your home off of old things that you and your children don’t need and make money from it. 

You can sell your item in as little as one working day if it is in high demand. Simply choose an item that you’ve used and won’t be using ever again. Remember to use a different email address (not your main one)  to protect your privacy and avoid scam. 

Before Uploading your item, make sure to add a description on why you’re selling the object and any issues it has. Don’t use your number to communicate to possible buyers, only use it once you’ve got a sure buyer. 

Sell Items at Local Garage Sales

Same as the online selling on craigslist, items that you won’t sell online can be sold in local garage sales for quicker profit. Items that you’ve listed online that no one was interested in can be part of the things you’ll sell on these garage sales. 

Most Garage or Yard Sales allow you to participate for a $10 table fee. So, reserve a table in advance to sell items that you have but don’t need. Sell the items that are left when it’s near closing for a lower price so you don’t have to bring them back home.

Working Overtime | Realistic Ways for Single Moms to Make Money

Single Moms of children who don’t need constant supervision and are willing to work overtime can use the additional pay they can get through working more hours. They can find overtime opportunities if they are an hourly worker. Overtime pay is one and half of your hourly wage. Overtime hours can quickly add up to a substantial amount of additional income.

Some jobs require overtime hours to be approved. If this is the situation, inform your manager that you are unable to work beyond your usual time or need to arrive early. To earn extra money, single moms can sign up for shifts that they cannot do otherwise in their job.

There are other ways to earn overtime income.

  • To earn extra hours, help out in other departments
  • Volunteer for other projects
  • Help a co-worker who is busy with some tasks

Sign Up With A Streaming Agency 

Staffing agencies are known for quickly placing people in jobs. To increase your chances of finding a job, I recommend you sign up for more than one agency. You can call the office or visit the location to discuss your resume. A recruiter will inform you if there are any openings that fit your skill set, and will then get in touch with you.

Keep your phone handy! Anytime a job opportunity may arise, it is possible to be contacted immediately. Staffing agencies are not uncommon to receive a last-minute request for workers the same day. You will have more job opportunities if you are more ready to work immediately.

Staffing agencies offer temporary assignments (as short as one day), temporary-to-permanent (temp to perm) jobs, and direct hire jobs.

Complete Online Queries | Ways for Single Moms to Make Money

Single mothers with extra time and energy on their hands can make quick income online by taking surveys online. After creating an account on a survey site, you will be asked to answer surveys based on your demographic qualifications. Some surveys might only accept females over 25 years old to reply, while others may require people 18 and older to listen to the radio.

Websites that claim that you aren’t eligible for surveys should be avoided. These websites may be collecting your personal information without any intention to pay you. Here are two websites that I use to complete paid online surveys. While some survey sites can take time to pay out, the following websites compensate quickly with cash or PayPal gift cards:

If you are a single mom, too exhausted, and without extra time, the US government has extra programs to support single moms. There is also a list of grants that you can consider applying for!

Lori Pace
Lori Pace

Lori Pace is a single mother of three daughters ages 7 and under. As a working mom from home, she balances kids, work and two crazy dogs with humor and love. Follow Lori as she honestly gives tips and advice based on her own experiences as a single mom!