9 Easy Ways You Can Build Passive Income Streams

It’s everybody’s dream to earn passive income. I mean, who wouldn’t want to lie on the beach and make money without actually having to do anything?

Unfortunately, that isn’t a reality for most. Unless you win the lottery or come into a large inheritance, you will probably need to work for the majority of your life.

Still, there are plenty of ways you can make money even when you aren’t working. Some of these strategies can help you make a good amount of money, whereas others might just help cover some basic bills. Who knows, if you work hard, you might even be able to retire ahead of schedule.

Here are 10 ways you can build passive income streams.

Rent out a room

For the last four years, I have been renting out a room from a family member. Every month I pay $475. That covers the cost of my room, my share of the utilities, etc.

For me, it’s a steal of a deal. I get a roof over my head and a warm room for $475 per month. It’s also a good deal for my family member. They are making an extra $475 per month from renting out a room they wouldn’t be using otherwise.

If you have a spare room in your house or apartment, consider it an asset and set up a passive income stream. Rent it out to a friend or consider putting it up on apps such as Vrbo or Airbnb. You can rent it out for a few days at a time, or you can rent it out for a few years. It’s entirely up to you.

Rent out your driveway

Yes, you can rent out a spot in your driveway just like you can rent out a room in your house. If you live in the city and have a driveway that can fit one or more cars, put up a spot in your driveway on a site like Neighbor.com or Spacer.com. With both of these websites, you can make anywhere between $50 to $200 per month.

The best part about renting out a spot in your driveway is that it requires absolutely ZERO additional work. Once you place the spot on Neighbor.com and/or Spacer.com, you don’t need to do anything else but sit back and let the passive income roll in.

Rent out your storage space

Another thing you can rent out is an extra storage unit you aren’t currently using, a spot in your garage, a corner in your laundry room, or a storage shed in your backyard.

Sites such as Neighbor.com, ShareMySpace.com, and StoreAtMyHouse.com allow you to post your storage space and choose the price you want to rent it out for.

You can make anywhere between $300 to $3,000 per year depending on the size of the area you are renting out, but this can be a great way to generate some passive income. You aren’t having to do anything and you are consistently making money.

Rent out your car

At this point, there isn’t much left for you to rent out, but one other thing you could do is rent out your car on sites such as Turo.com. If you aren’t using your car for a few days or extended periods of time, consider renting it out to others in your area. With this, you can make anywhere between $60 to $200 per day just for letting somebody else drive your car around.

If you don’t like the idea of letting strangers drive your car, you can also consider advertising your car. You can display ads on sites such as Carvertise.com, Wrapify.com, StickerRide.com, and ReferralCars.com.

Try affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is probably the easiest thing you can do to make money. Don’t expect to make a lot of money with affiliate marketing, but you can make a few extra dollars here and there.

Affiliate marketing is a simple concept. Essentially, you get a commission just for referring others to a product or a website. If the individual you refer ends up buying a product or service from the website you referred them to, you will make a commission.

Personally, I put links to Amazon in the descriptions of my YouTube videos and in some of my Medium articles. If a viewer clicks on the link and buys any product on Amazon within 24 hours, I make a commission of the total sale.

Create online courses

If you have a unique skillset (which we all have), consider creating an online course and teaching others the skill.

You can teach courses on websites such as Skillshare and Udemy. I created two courses back in 2020 and am still making passive income from them to this day. There are several others out there who are making a full-time living just from creating courses.

The amount you make is going to depend on how many viewers watch your videos and how long they watch them.

Design T-shirts

If you like art and graphic design, consider creating designs and selling the design on sites such as RedBubble, Spreadshirt, or CafePress. A lot of these are print-on-demand sites, meaning you don’t have to order a box of shirts and hope to sell them all. You just need to upload the design, and if others like them, they can buy the design and put it on a shirt or other products such as coffee mugs or hats.

This is strictly passive, so once you create a design and upload it, you don’t have to worry about anything else. You can just move on to your next design and let the money roll in.

Babysit animals

This can be a great source of passive income for people who like pets and don’t really leave their homes too often. But if you are an animal person, consider petsitting for others. You are basically getting paid to watch TV and let the animal out when they have to go to the bathroom.

There are a ton of websites you can offer your services on such as Fetch!, Petsit.com, and Rover. You can also take to Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. All you have to do is tell others you are interested in watching your pets and then let the money come to you.

Create YouTube videos

In order to make money on YouTube, you are going to need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time. It’s not as hard as it might seem, but it’s also not easy. Even if your videos aren’t the greatest, you will have a lot of fun making them.

I started creating YouTube videos about two years ago. I have made over 100 videos so far and have 700 subscribers. Obviously, there are others out there who find success a lot quicker than I do, but I’m also not in it just for the money. It would be nice to make money from YouTube, but having fun is more valuable to me.