13 Quick Ways To Make Extra Money In Rockford, IL [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: February 22nd, 2024

13 Quick Ways To Make Extra Money In Rockford, IL [2024]

Looking to make easy money or start a business in Rockford, Illinois?

Rockford, Illinois is a bustling city with a thriving economy and plenty of job opportunities. However, many residents are still looking for ways to increase their income and achieve their financial goals. With the cost of living on the rise, it's not surprising that many people are searching for quick and easy ways to make extra money.

Statistics show that side hustles are becoming increasingly popular in Rockford and across the United States. In fact, more than 44 million Americans have at least one side hustle, and many are earning substantial amounts of money from their efforts.

In this blog, we aim to provide Rockford residents with a comprehensive guide to the best ways to make extra money with 13 side hustle ideas and ways to make money in Rockford, Illinois.

Here they are:

1. Deliver Packages With Amazon Flex

Whether it's delivering food or your packages, Amazon's been expanding its businesses, and you can help them do it while you earn some extra cash.

Amazon Flex has partnered with part-time drivers as service providers to help with on-time delivery services. You can participate in this initiative and earn a good income yourself. If you find out that you really enjoy doing this, then maybe you can even start your own logistics & delivery company in the future.

Earning Potential: Earn anywhere between $18 to $20

Requirements: Minimum age has to be 21 years old, will need a social security number, have to go through a background check, have a valid driver's license and a four-wheeler (preferably a pickup truck or van), and a smartphone.

Benefit: Earn some money, deliver some packages, and decide your schedule!

How To Get Started: You can apply for being an Amazon flex driver here.

2. Work As A Retail Associate

A retail associate or sales representative helps customers with their shopping, answers their queries, and assists in day-to-day store operations. As a retail associate, you will play an important role in maintaining a good customer relationship and contribute to the store's overall success.

Earning Potential: Up to $25/hour

Requirements: You will need to have excellent communication skills, professionalism, good knowledge about the products, basic math skills, problem-solving mentally, and customer handling ability, and a lot of patience.

Investment needed: $0 investment needed

How To Get Started: Search for retail job listings on platforms like Indeed and directly apply from there.

3. Become A Part Time Barista

If you love the smell of coffee and want to be surrounded by the smell of it then the barista job is for you. You can work as a barista in your local coffee shop in your free time and earn a side income. Your job will be to make coffee or coffee-based beverages and serve them to the customers.

Earning Potential: Up to $16/hour

Requirements: Be at least 18 years of age, have the flexibility to work multiple shifts, good communication skills & basic math skills. It will work as a bonus if you can show any previous experience of working as a waiter/waitress or barista, also having knowledge of how to handle brewing equipment will be an extra plus.

Investment needed: $0 starting cost to work as a barista if you want to start as a fresher. Otherwise, if you want to take a professional barista training it can cost you anything between $120 - $$2,600.

How To Get Started: You can search for barista job listing on popular job portals like Indeed.

4. Become A Cashier

A cashier maintains knowledge of weekly ad items, gives customers direction on product location throughout the store, is familiar with events and seminars going on or coming up, and maintains excellent communication with the front end manager and head cashier at all times.

Earning Potential: Up to $2.5k/month

Requirements: Be at least 18 years of age and have a high school diploma or equivalent, and 1-2 years of recent cashiering experience. Have and show an outgoing and friendly behavior, a positive attitude, and the ability to interact with our customers.

Investment needed: No investment needed!

How To Get Started: You can log into simplyhired.com and start your journey as a cashier here.

5. CDL Truck Driver

A CDL (Commercial Driver's License) truck driver is responsible for operating and driving a commercial truck, typically over long distances, to transport goods and materials. The job duties will include inspecting and maintaining the vehicle, loading and unloading cargo, keeping accurate records of deliveries, communicating with dispatchers, performing basic vehicle maintenance, and adhering to hours of service regulations among others.

Inspecting and maintaining the vehicle

Becoming a CDL truck driver is one of the most lucrative ways to make extra cash in Rockford. Not just because of the flexible schedule, but the revenue you generate!

Earning Potential: You can make $28.52/hour on an average

Requirements: To become a CDL truck driver, individuals typically need a high school diploma or equivalent and must pass a written test and a road test to obtain a CDL. Employers may also require a minimum number of years of experience and a clean driving record.

Investment needed: $0 investment needed

How To Get Started: Apply to be a truck driver find here.

6. Get A Part Time Bartending Gig

If you live in in Rockford and your surrounding neighborhood is filled with bars and pubs, you can work as a part-time bartender and make some extra cash.

If you enjoy socializing and a fast-paced environment, bartending can be extremely lucrative and a fun way to meet new people.

Earning Potential: Bartenders make $14/hour on average.

Requirements: You'll need to meet the minimum age of your state to serve alcohol, a high school diploma & training or certificate in this field can get you ahead of others. You might have to be flexible about working night shifts and working on weekends. Having a positive & engaging personality along with good communication skills can work as a bonus.

Investment needed: $0 starting cost if you have prior experience working as a bartender. Otherwise, a 40-hour bartending program can cost anywhere between $200 - $800.

How To Get Started: You can drop off your CV at your local pubs or bars or, you can apply for bartending jobs on job searching platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn.

7. Get A Part Time Job As A Waiter / Waitress

As a restaurant server in Rockford, you will need to attend to customers, make suggestions as per their liking, wait tables, handle queries, deliver checks & receive payments.

Earning Potential: Servers make $13.95/hour (on average) + tips

Requirements: If you can show any previous waiting or restaurant serving experience you'll get a preference. Other than that you'll need to have patience, be good at customer service, have a pleasant personality, pay attention to customer safety & cleanliness, and be reliable & responsible. Having a high school diploma is also helpful for your resume.

Investment needed: $0 investment needed to get started as a restaurant server.

How To Get Started: Reach out to people in your circle and ask them whether they know someone in the restaurant business. Or apply for restaurant server jobs on Indeed.

8. Become A Part-time Caregiver

Taking care of old and ailing people and providing them with all the required assistance can be a good source of income to have on the side. If you have a few hours to spare and want to do something meaningful and grow your income, then working as a caregiver can be fulfilling. As a caregiver, you will take care of your client's personal care(bathing, dressing, exercise, etc.), cooking, cleaning, and housekeeping duties.

Earning Potential: Up to $15/hour

Requirements: You’ll need to have great knowledge of first aid, emergency response and (CPR), cooking, housekeeping & time management skills, be attentive & compassionate and practice immense patience. You'll get an extra advantage if you can show any earlier experience working as a caregiver.

Investment needed: $0 investment is required to start a career as a caregiver.

How To Get Started: Famous job portals like SimplyHired & Indeed have several caregiver jobs listed on their site. You can visit their pages and apply from there directly.

9. Work As A Retail Associate

Earning Potential: Up to $25/hour

Investment needed: $0 investment needed

How To Get Started: Search for retail job listings on platforms like Indeed and directly apply from there.

10. Become A Lawn Specialist

As a Lawn specialist or lawn care specialist in Rockford, your job will be to cut the grass, apply pesticides and fertilizers, seed the lawns, trim the hedges and trees, and offer maintenance advice. You can work for lawn care firms or for yourself and offer your services to private residences, government and corporate facilities, and hospitals.

A career in this field needs you to be punctual, sincere about your job, and build a good relationship between you and your employer.

Earning Potential: Earn around $16.00 per hour

Requirements: You will need to have a high school diploma or an equivalent certificate. It may be beneficial to have a degree in horticulture, landscaping, or a related profession. Additionally, prior experience in lawn care & maintenance and familiarity with lawn care equipment & tools can help you get better pay.

Investment needed: $0 starting cost if you have the mentioned skills and a few basic tools to get you started.

How To Get Started: There are many platforms that offer you the opportunity to find yourself with a satisfying and rewarding career in this field by making a decent amount of money like snagajob.

11. Become A Warehouse Associate

If you don’t enjoy doing desk jobs, like interacting with people, and want to work in the logistics or related sector, then working as a warehouse associate could be your calling. You can do this as a part-time or a full-time job and earn a living.

Earning Potential: Up to $21/hour

Requirements: You’ll require at least a high school diploma, have to be physically fit & hardworking, have good time management & interpersonal skills, inventory control & documentation skills, be organized & have an eye for detail, and most importantly, the ability to work with a team.

Investment needed: Don’t need to invest any amount to start working as a warehouse associate.

How To Get Started: Search for warehouse associate jobs on ZipRecruiter and Indeed.

12. Become A Subway Sandwich Artist

A Subway Sandwich Artist is a customer service role at a Subway restaurant. In this position, you would be responsible for preparing and making sandwiches, handling food and ingredients, and ensuring customer satisfaction.

The job may also include cash handling, cleaning, and other duties as required by the store. You can apply for the job by visiting a Subway store in Rockford or by searching for open positions on the Subway website.

Earning Potential: Up to $1.5/month

Requirements: No previous experience is required. Ability to understand and implement written and verbal instruction. Must be able to work any area of the restaurant when needed and to operate a computerized Point of Sale system/cash register.

Investment needed: No investment needed!

How To Get Started: Download the Indeed app and start your journey as a subway sandwich artist here.

13. Beauty Advisor

Do you LOVE all things beauty?! Do you enjoy meeting new people, building relationships, and have experience in customer service? If you answered yes to all these questions, then this is the right opportunity for you! 

Generating in-store events and creating a strong presence in-store for your respective brand is the key to being successful in this role!

Earning Potential: Hourly pay is approximately $10.38

Requirements: To become a beauty advisor, you must earn a high school diploma or an educational equivalent like the GED. If possible, consider taking part in a joint high school and vocational school cosmetology program to build skills and knowledge about the beauty industry.

Investment needed: Full cosmetology programs will likely cost between$6,500 and $10,000.

How To Get Started: There are many platforms that offer you the opportunity to make a decent amount of money in this field, from jooble.

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Pat Walls