Time is money and wasting both can hurt your finances. While the amount of money you can earn is limitless, there are only 24 hours in a day. So, for the generation stuck between baby boomers retiring in style and the crippling weight of student loan debt, millennials already working 40 hours or more per week may not love the idea of starting a side hustle.
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However, there are a few great side gigs that millennials can explore to make some extra money without overloading their schedule. This way, you can destress a bit as you save for retirement rather than double down on credit card debt.
“Millennials don’t need side gigs that feel like second jobs,” described Patrice Williams-Lindo, the CEO of Career Nomad. “They need revenue streams that monetize what they already do for free — whether it’s translating office jargon, ghostwriting their boss’s brilliance, or curating screenshot receipts that tell stories online.”
GOBankingRates spoke to Williams-Lindo and some other career experts to learn more about four side gigs that will boost millennials’ income, even if they’re too busy for another job.
Newsletter Publishing on Substack
- Earning Potential: $200 to $2,000+/month with digital products or subscriptions
Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, remember all the waves of tech and trending social media. This generation used to post on Blogspot or Myspace, but Substack is now the place to share your thoughts with the world and earn some money at the same time. According to Carrie Loranger, creator of The 9-To-Thrive Newsletter, it is flexible, requires no meetings and the returns are compounded.
“You don’t need a big audience or fancy setup,” described Loranger, adding that this is best for anyone with useful insight to share, whether it’s gardening, crypto or niche news roundups. “Write about something you know. You can start with just one post a week and build from there.”
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Workplace Translator
- Earning Potential: $75-$200/hour or $500+ per project
Anyone worried about artificial intelligence doing a perfect full-time job of communicating in a workspace should rest easy knowing that humans will still be needed to sift through the complex and nuanced language of business and corporations. That role is a workplace translator, and it comes with a pretty decent monthly income.
In Williams-Lindo’s professional opinion, this side gig is ideal for a millennial who is a former editor, note taker or Slack interpreter because it’s the side gig where you “[t]urn corporate jargon into human language for internal comms and HR teams.”
Mini-Masterclasses
- Earning Potential: $37-$100 per sale
Also known as a micro-course, Loranger explained that all you need to do is teach a subject that you are an expert on in about 30 to 60 minutes, record it, and sell it multiple times on platforms such as Coursera or Gumroad.
“I created a video and guide on how to create a logo in 20 minutes using two free tools. People starting out on Substack love it because this is one thing they really struggle with,” shared Loranger, who noted this works great for busy professionals who want to share expertise but don’t have time to build a full course.
AI Prompt Stylist
- Earning Potential: $27-$297 per digital pack or $99/month custom tiers
Williams-Lindo described this job as selling “curated ChatGPT prompt packs to job seekers, speakers, or creators,” making it the perfect fit for any “AI-curious Millennial who’s already hacking their life with tech.”
“These are not just side gigs,” Williams-Lindo concluded. “They’re mini-enterprises of genius born from years of managing up, curating culture, and translating chaos into clarity. The key is not finding more time-it’s repackaging your natural skill set into paid proof of brilliance.”
Final Take To GO: Millennials and the New Side Jobs
The long-term financial goals for millennials seem to keep having the goal posts moved. If you can’t afford the interest rates on your credit card, let alone save up to buy a house, then bringing in more income streams is paramount. By picking up a low-stress side gig, you can increase that millennial spending power and decrease your worry about being able to pay your monthly bills.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 4 Side Gigs That Will Boost Overstressed Millennials’ Income
