4 Interesting Ways To Make Side Income Including Sleeping and Selling Your Poop

There are many different ways to make a side income out there. You can make money at a part-time job, a full-time job, online, offline, and any other way that you are able to. Side income can come in handy, and sometimes you may want to branch out and try something different. Maybe you need a significant amount…

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: May 25, 2023

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Check out this list of interesting ways to make money! #makemoney #makingmoneyThere are many different ways to make a side income out there. You can make money at a part-time job, a full-time job, online, offline, and any other way that you are able to.

Side income can come in handy, and sometimes you may want to branch out and try something different.

Maybe you need a significant amount of side income to pay off a large unexpected expense or maybe you are just looking for a more interesting way to make money.

Whatever your reason may be, there is something out there for you to do.

If you’re interested in reading about the ways I’ve made extra money, read 10 Things I’ve Done To Make Extra Money. Also, don’t forget that even if you don’t have a blog, you can still make money through your social media accounts such as Twitter and Instagram!

Below are four interesting side income ideas:

 

1. Sleep for extra money.

The first of the four side income ideas I will discuss today is the NASA sleep study.

Getting paid to sleep sounds interesting, right? Well for some it can pay fairly well, to the tune of $18,000. All you have to do is lay in a bed for 70 days.

NASA is doing this research in order to find out more about how space affects astronauts. From their website they state:

Head-down bed rest helps researchers study people on earth in a way that causes some of the changes the body goes through while traveling in space without gravity… Watching you will help scientists learn how an astronaut’s body will change in weightlessness during space flight in the future.

You will be in the bed at all times, even to shower or use the bathroom. I think this would be a very difficult study to do as I would probably go crazy not seeing sunlight or walking for that many days, but it does pay well.

If you’re accepted into this study, you will receive $1,200 per week for your time.

 

2. Sell your poop for side income.

Being honest here, this side income idea is probably the reason most of you clicked over to this blog post.

Yes, you can actually make money selling your poop.

According to The Washington Post, you can make up to $13,000 a year by selling your poop to the company OpenBiome. OpenBiome needs it because it is “administered to patients who are very sick with infections of a bacteria called C. difficile.”

The company is willing to pay so much for these donations as finding a worthy donor is quite difficult. They need extremely healthy people, with only around 4% of people who have applied actually passing all of their tests.

So, what does the company pay?

They pay $40 for each sample you give. You receive a $50 weekly bonus on top of that if you donate five days each week. The average donor donates around three to four times a week.

Related content: How To Make $180,000+ A Year Selling Your Poop

 

3. Rent yourself out to others (as a friend).

I recently heard about the website Rentafriend.com and knew I had to include it in this side income ideas post.

This website allows you to get hired to be someone’s friend. They might bring you to a party, as a wedding guest, to go out to dinner with, to the gym (so they can have a workout buddy), and so on.

The website specifically says that it is platonic friendships only and is not an escort agency, so I’m assuming everyone on this website is strictly paying for friendships.

I did a simple search on their website to see who is listed on the website and I actually came across a Facebook friend of mine.

On Rentafriend.com, they state that some work full-time and make over $2,000 a week as a rental friend, whereas some work part-time and earn between $300 to $500 a weekend.

 

4. Rent your car out – probably one of the easier side income ideas in this post.

There are many car sharing websites out there, such as RelayRides, if you just do a simple Google search. With these car sharing websites, you can usually rent out your car hourly, daily, weekly, or even monthly.

You most likely do you use your car at all hours of the day, so some people try to make extra money by renting out their car for when they aren’t using it.

You do need to be careful with this. Make sure your car insurance company will allow you to do this. You also have to realize that you might see some damage with your car as strangers will be driving it.

Depending on the car that you are renting and the duration of each rental, you may be able to make anywhere from $10 to over $100 for each time your car is rented out.

How far would you go to make side income? What side income ideas would you never do?


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Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

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  1. With that much income, I’d probably start selling my own poo tomorrow! Honestly, the income from sleeping is really good but I don’t think I can last three days by just lying in bed. I can’t.

    1. Yeah, I think my body would really start hurting if I couldn’t move for that long!

  2. Wow, the first 2 are particularly weird! I don’t fancy my chances on the bed study, I suspect the effect on your muscles and mind would take a long time afterwards to correct.

    1. Yes, that’s exactly why I wouldn’t want to do it.

  3. probably I would have some problems with ideas number 1 for the other interestings!!!

  4. I’ve got some practice at that lying in bed for long periods of time thing thanks to severe pain flares and even I would have a hard time going 70 days straight! even with twitter and other internet to keep you company, I bet most of us would be stir crazy after a week. I do wonder, though, do they change the sheets regularly? And how big is the bed? 🙂

    1. Yes, I think 70 days would be very hard to do!

  5. you can sell your poop? interesting

  6. Hah! Who knew? I don’t think I could do the sleep study–that’s far too much time being stationary. I definitely can’t hold still for that long!

  7. hmmmm, if only I lived closer to Massachusetts! LOL.

  8. Now that’s just crazy! Interesting, but crazy;-)

  9. Amy

    Wow – these are interesting. I’ll keep them in mind for if we ever REALLY need money. 🙂

    1. Haha good idea 🙂

  10. Emily @ Simple Cheap Mom

    70 days strapped to a bed. That’s some serious study, no wonder it pays so well!

    If I thought I was in the top 4% of healthy people, I’d be shipping my sh.. well you know, off today!

  11. OMG Michelle- these are awful! I think I’ll stick with my day job!

  12. I had read about the NASA sleep study and that’s a pretty huge amount! 🙂 Renting your car is a great side income too, I know someone who already bought another car because she made a good income from renting her own car.

    1. Wow that’s interesting about your friend! I have never heard of someone buying a car just for that.

  13. Ree Klein

    You are CRAZY if you think I’m doing #1 or #2 (no pun intended!)!!!!

    But, your post illustrates that there are a bazillion ways to earn money. These days anyone who cries that there are no opportunities or it’s too hard to get a job is just plain lazy. Hey, maybe those are the people who should sign up for the sleep study!

    Cheers,
    Ree

    1. I agree! There are PLENTY of things for people to do out there.

  14. Stephanie

    Selling poop. You always find the weird stuff! Man, I’ve been a wedding date for a lot of my friends, who knew I should have been charging? I was just in it for the free dinner.

    1. Haha when I read about selling poop I knew I had to create a post about this 🙂

    2. Ana

      Geez, most of the weddings I’m invited to don’t have ” plus guest”, only if you’re married.

  15. Mrs PoP @ Planting Our Pennies

    So weird. I’m strangely fascinated by what it means to have healthy poop!

  16. Michelle L

    My mouth is dropping with these ideas Michelle. Speechless.

  17. Rust

    Wow. And that’s about all I got. 🙂

    Interesting post!

  18. What have I been doing with my life, sleeping like a normal person and flushing away money? Got to be honest, I couldn’t do either of those options. I like the car renting idea though. I might be feel guilty getting paid to be nice to someone and go places with them. Interesting concept, though…

    1. Haha I love your comment Michelle!

  19. Interesting read. As painful as laying in a bed for 70 days or as odd and uncomfortable it could be to sell my own excrement for some extra cash sounds. I think the idea of renting my car would be too much to bear. But nevertheless these are some great ideas. Good work on thinking outside the box!

    Thanks again.

    Rick Laming @Getrichbrothers.com

  20. Currently looking for a house in MA. But seriously #2 is one of craziest ways to make money. People literally are paying for sh…. lol.

    1. Haha well technically #2 has been saving lives. I had no idea!

  21. Haha I love that movie!

  22. Holy Canoli! This is quite the interesting list. Not sure I would want to do any of them but it goes to show, there’s something for everyone;0)

  23. I have no words! HA. This is hilarious. Made funnier that it’s true.

    1. Haha Natalie. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂

  24. Barrie

    Well, I must say these are some interesting ways to make money. Who knew?! 🙂

    1. Haha thanks for reading 🙂

  25. nicole dziedzic

    Okay I could do the sleeping one for sure, I mean who on here couldn’t need more sleep and get paid to do it, but the poop one sounds a little strange, I wouldn’t be able to do that one, I will just stick to the old way of selling my unused items online or yard sales.

    1. Haha I agree Nicole 🙂

  26. Mrs. Maroon

    Entirely too bizarre for me. I must not be cut out for a side hustle…

    1. Haha there are more boring side hustles out there 🙂

  27. Squirrelers

    Goes to show that if people are desperate enough, there are ways to make legitimate side income! Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing. A few of these, well, all I can say is “who knew?”

  28. Pamela Gurganus

    Oh my! These are some very interesting ways to make some extra money!

  29. Haha yes, very catchy 🙂

  30. From the headline I was thinking selling your own waste was going to be the wildest part of this post.. but for some reason I think it’s even crazier that someone would literally pay to rent a friend. Wacky! I guess there truly is something for everyone out there.. 🙂

    1. Haha yes being a rental friends sounds… Interesting.

  31. Wow, that poop thing is freaky. And I wonder how well the rent a friends do? With so many online communities, I feel like you could get real friends on Meetup, etc.

    1. Yeah I’m not sure how the rent a friends things works. I would love to hear from someone who makes a full-time income from that website one day.

  32. I just saw a thing on t.v. about how Japanese people are so lonely that they are renting friends to do things with. It doesn’t surprise me that we have the same issue in the U.S. 🙁

    1. I remember seeing that too!

  33. Laurie

    When I read that you can sell your own poop for side income, I told my hon about it and laughed.

    It’s also gross too. Ewww!!

    Now I wish you didn’t mention it.

  34. This is a great list, but there is no way I am loaning out my car to strangers. I just wouldn’t trust them with it!

  35. Hmmm… you’ve got me thinking Michelle. I wonder if there are similarly wacky ways of side hustling in Australia. Definitely requires some research!

    I wonder what one would put on the customs declaration for poop? Would Aussie poop cut the mustard? Or, do we eat too much Vegemite?

    Interesting stuff for sure!

  36. Jessica

    Am I the only one who was excited about the sleep study? As a single Mom, I couldn’t do that to my son…but the idea that I could have sleep? I walk around sleep deprived and work 40 hours a week to make just over what the weekly amount is, in a month. Single Mom, work full time, full time online student. This 70 days sounds like an AMAZING vacation. Probably just me though. lol

  37. I love the idea of rent yourself as a friend. Weird, but it sounds like it will work, given that there are tons of people without any real friends.

  38. Robyn Ferris

    Living in rural Tenn. & herniated disc I could sure use any way to make extra cash. Please email me anything I could participate in. Thank you for in for sharing the information you find.