8 Realistic Ways To Make $20,000 Fast (2024)

So, you're wondering how to make $20,000 fast and need some ideas to get started.

Making this sort of money in a short period of time isn't an easy task. After all, $20k is a massive amount of money!

However, if you're in a financial pinch or are looking to grow your savings, you're in luck. There are actually numerous ways to make 20,000 dollars fast that you can turn to if you need quick money.

So in this post, I'm covering some online and offline ideas to make $20,000 fast to help you reach your financial goals.

How To Make $20k Fast

One quick note on expectations before jumping into ways to make $20k quickly.

When I say “fast” it's really important to have realistic expectations. Some side hustles or online money-making ideas can earn $20,000. But exactly how fast you make this money depends on the time you invest, your skills, and some luck.

So, set a goal and timeline for earning $20,000 fast, but also make sure you have realistic expectations and know this process will likely take a few months for many people.

1. Online Freelancing

One realistic way you can get $20k fast is to sell your skills online as a freelancer.

I also have a personal story to share here which is how I know this idea works.

When I graduated college, I started working full-time at an online advertising agency. But I also got into freelance writing and paid ads consulting on the side after work.

Between these two hustles, I was able to make an extra $3,000 per month some months by really grinding, which is definitely a significant increase in income.

And eventually, I quit my job, moved down to Colombia, and went full-time with freelance writing and blogging.

The point is, freelancing can be very lucrative and pay a high hourly rate depending on your industry. And writing is justoneexample of how you can make money freelancing.

Other popular freelancing industries include:

Accounting and bookkeeping
Coding
Consulting
Editing and proofreading
Graphic design
SEO
Social media marketing
Digital marketing
Social media marketing
Website design
Video editing
Voice over artist
Virtual assistant work

Freelancing on the side while holding down your main job is my recommendation for getting started. Plus, many freelance gigs can easily pay $25 to $50+ per hour depending on your client and skill level.

As for finding work, you can use remote job websites, your own network, or even start with easy jobs on Upwork to build up your portfolio.

In terms of making $20,000 dollars fast, it can still take several months of freelancing to make this sort of money.

However, a few stable clients who pay well can net this amount within a couple of months, and I even know some freelancers who make more than this per month.

2. Job Hop

Another idea to earn $20,000 fast is to job hop.

This is actually a more common strategy than you'd expect as well. According to a Gallup poll, six in ten millennials are open to new job opportunities, and 21% of millennials have switched jobs within the last year.

The fact is, job hopping is one of the best ways to quickly increase your salary and build wealth.

3. Affiliate Marketing

If you know how to build an online presence, making money with affiliate marketing is another realistic way to make $20k quickly.

Personally, I earn about $10,000 per month from various affiliate marketing programs I'm a part of. And there have been months where I've made $50,000 or more between affiliate deals, sponsorships, and selling ads.

Most of this comes from my WebMonkey income, but I also make money on YouTube through affiliate marketing as well.

My YouTube video breaks down how I make money blogging and the steps I took to get here. And what's great about affiliate marketing is that your income potential is basically endless.

Plus, you can turn affiliate marketing into a passive income stream if you promote programs that pay you recurring monthly fees for recruiting new users.

Anyway, at WebMonkey, I promote various gig apps like DoorDash and Instacart or investing ideasto make money. And by signing up new users every month for these companies, I can reliably make extra money.

In fact, some lucky days have even made $1,000 a day just through affiliate income!

Granted, making 20k fast with affiliate marketing requires all the upfront work to build your online audience.

But this is why I think passive side hustles like blogging and YouTube make sense to starttodayso you have access to these income streams in the future.

4. Delivery Gigs

Speaking of gig apps, another method to earn $20,000 dollars fast is to work for various food delivery gigs.

Now again, this is where it's important to have some realistic expectations. After all, no delivery gig can make $20k in a few weeks since you typically earn about $10 to $20 per hour in most markets.

That said, you can always stack various delivery apps with other income streams, using the side hustle stack method to reach your income goals.

Some of my favorite delivery gigs include:

Uber Eats: One of the most popular food delivery gigs in the entire world.
Instacart: This gig pays you to shop for groceries and then deliver them.
DoorDash: Another flexible gig like Uber Eats that lets you deliver with your bike, car, or scooter.
Amazon Flex: This driving gig pays $18 to $25 per hour to deliver packages and groceries.
Walmart Spark: Another way to make money delivering packages and everyday essentials.
Shipt: A grocery delivery gig in the United States that pays a minimum of $16 per hour.

Again, this isn't going to make $20,000 in a month, but jobs like Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats are very straightforward ways to increase your monthly income.

Start making money with Uber EatsandInstacart!

5. Borrow The Money

If you're still wondering how to make $20k fast, you can always resort to borrowing the money.

There are also several options you can take here.

For starters, people often turn to family and friends to borrow. However, you need to decide if this is something you're comfortable with since $20k is a lot of money.

Similarly, some people go through their bank or other lenders like cash advance apps to get extra capital.

Finally, lending companies like Zippyloanlet you borrow between $100 and $15,000, and you can get the money as soon as one business day.

Whatever path you choose, you always need to read fine print, know what loan you're taking on, and think carefully about the entire process.

But if you need $20,000 now, borrowing the money could be an effective solution.

6. Rent Out Assets For Passive Income

Another idea to earn $20,000 dollars fast is to rent out stuff you own for profit.

You'd actually be amazed at how many things you can rent out to other people thanks to the sharing economy.

Here are just a few ideas to get started:

Renting out your home or a spare room as an Airbnb host
Renting out your car with Turo or your truck with Fetch
Renting out an RV with RVShare
Renting out spare storage space with Neighbor
Renting out cameras or other electronics on Fat Llama
Expensive tools

If you live in a large city, renting out some of your assets several times per month could mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars in extra income per month.

And the best part is, a lot of this is autopilot cash once you learn how the business model works and how to manage renters effectively.

If you spread this over the course of a year, it can help you reach your goal of a quick $20,000 that much faster.

7. Sell Assets You Own

Another straightforward method to get $20,000 dollars fast is to sell off stuff you own.

Granted, you're going to need alotof stuff if you're making this sort of money, but it's probably one of the fastest ways to achieve this goal.

And the good news is there are tons of online and in-person marketplaces you can use to sell stuff with:

eBay: One of the best global marketplaces for selling just about anything.
Depop: A resale marketplace that's perfect for clothing and thrifted finds.
Worthy: One of my favorite places to sell watches, diamonds, jewelry, wedding rings, and more valuable pieces.
Mercari: An incredibly popular selling app that's very beginner-friendly.
Poshmark: One of the best platforms for selling clothing, accessories, shoes, and jewelry.
The Facebook Marketplace: A great way to sell stuff you own for in-person, cash sales.

I also made a video covering a few of my favorite local selling sites and online marketplaces that I've used over the years to get quick cash.

As for what you can sell to earn $20k fast, you have plenty of options. Categories like apparel, electronics, toys, and video games typically sell very quickly.

But you can also get creative! Maybe you have some rare Pokemon cards for sale, or want to sell old sports cards or your Beanie Baby collection.

Or, perhaps you have a lot of gold and silver in your come, or something else of value.

Whatever the case, liquidating your assets is a viable way to raise quick cash.

And, you can also consider pawning stuff for money instead if you want to leverage your assets to borrow money rather than selling them off completely.

8. Start An Ecommerce Business

One final idea for making $20,000 fast is to launch your own ecommerce business.

Again, like affiliate marketing with blogging or YouTube, this sort of business takes time to build.

However, the potential to make a lot of money in a short amount of time with ecommerce is tough to match.

For example, one of my friends runs a handcrafted pottery Shopify store.

When she has an exclusive product drop where people can buy her limited supply of pottery, her inventory sells out rapidly and she can make thousands of dollars in a single day.

This is just one example of a more “exclusive” feeling ecommerce business model that can earn a lot of money quickly. And my video above shares even more online business ideas you can try.

And the world really has so many opportunities, even if you're a beginner.

For example, if you have a witty idea, you can always try Etsy print on demand selling or selling your designs on websites like Redbubble.

One semi-viral idea in the print on demand world can make a ton of money, and people do this all time time by making money with memes or other trendy fashion ideas.

8 Realistic Ways To Make $20,000 Fast (6)

Again, you need a pretty creative idea to stand out from the crowd. However, if you want to launch your own business and turn it into an income source, I think ecommerce has a ton of potential.

Extra Reading – How To Make $1,000 In 24 Hours.

Tips For Making $20,000 Fast

Now that you know how to earn $20,000 dollars fast, here are a few tips you can follow to make the process slightly easier!

Set Micro Goals: Earning $20k fast is hard. But figuring out how to make $400 fast, or some smaller amount, is much more manageable.
Try Several Ideas: Sometimes, an income stream can only accomplish so much before you hit an earning ceiling. So don't be afraid to try various driving gigs, online business ideas, and investing methods to work up to this income goal.
Avoid Burning Out: Making $20k fast isn't easy, so ensure you're getting enough sleep and pacing yourself so you don't burn out a month or two into your progress.

Extra Reading – The Best Jobs That Pay $5,000 Per Month.

Final Thoughts

I hope our guide on how to make $20k fast helps you accomplish this ambitious income goal.

Just remember: setting small goals is your friend here since this is how people can accomplish much larger goals.

It doesn't matter if you make an extra $300 with some gig like Uber Eatsor start a money-making blog; test out ways to make more money and slowly chip away at your goal.

Best of luck!

Looking for even more money-making ideas? Checkout:

How To Turn $10,000 Into $100,000.
The 10 Best Ways To Make $500 A Day.
The Best Jobs That Pay $100 An Hour.