Going to school and working a full-time job can be impossible. Instead, most students choose to work part-time jobs with the notion that they’ll make a lot less money. But, college students need funds to pay for books, housing, food, and other expenses.

Want to supplement your income but don’t have the time to work? The good news is that there are all sorts of ways to make passive money, which means you don’t have to dedicate hours of your time and energy to make a few bucks.

Continue reading to learn how to make money fast with one of these ideas. By making passive money, you dot have to cut into study time, socializing, or sleeping!

1. Make YouTube Videos

Video content is the way of the world. If you’re like most college students, you use YouTube for streaming music videos, learning new makeup techniques, watching lectures, and even for studying. As a student, you likely have a certain subject that you’re very knowledgeable or passionate about. Maybe you love playing guitar and want to teach others, or maybe you have a lot to say about politics.

You can earn money by posting videos on YouTube with embedded Google AdSense ads. Each time a viewer clicks on an ad in your video, you’ll earn money.

But, with more than 300 hours of video content being uploaded to YouTubeevery minute, your videos need to stand out from the crowd. Get creative and find ways to add a unique twist to your content. You’ll also need to market and share your videos to up your views.

Remember, the more views you get, the greater chance you have of making some serious passive cash.

2. Make Money Shopping

As impossible as it sounds, there are many ways you can actually make money by shopping for items that you need. As a college student, you’re likely always shopping for dorm accessories, school supplies, and other must-haves. Wouldn’t it be nice to make money off of your purchases?

There are many ways you can make money as a consumer. One of the most common options is to use a cashback website like Ebates or Mr. Rebates. By making your purchases using one of these websites, you’ll receive cash back based on a set percentage. For example, you may be able to earn 6% cash back by shopping at Under Armour and 10% cash back for orders placed through Target.

3. Use a Rewards Heavy Credit Card

Just as you can earn money by using a cashback website, you can also make money by making purchases with a cash back credit card. Many credit card companies offer a cash-back rewards program. Some offer cash back on gas and food while others give cash back when purchasing at certain retailers.

Cash-back rewards can range from 1% to 5% on the total purchase amount. While this isn’t a huge amount of earnings, cash back is money in your pocket!

When making purchases with a credit card, it pays to be smart. Never make purchases that you can’t afford to pay off within a billing cycle. Carrying a balance on a credit card can impact your credit score and leave you in a financial bind.

4. Try Affiliate Marketing

Do you already have an active website or blog that gets steady traffic? If so, you can sign up as an affiliate. With affiliate marketing, you make money by promoting a company’s product or services. Depending on the company, you may be paid a flat fee or earn a percentage of the completed sale.

You can find affiliate offers on ClickBank, or you can contact some of your favorite vendors directly. To succeed in the affiliate marketing world, only promote products and services that are relevant to your website. If you run a beauty blog, you don’t want to promote automotive products.

The key is to promote items that your website visitors are most likely to be interested in purchasing.

5. Give Index Funds a Try

Many people assume that you have to have thousands of dollars to invest before you can ever make money in the stock market. However, even a few hundred dollars invested properly can net you a large amount of passive income.

With index funds, you can invest money in a variety of markets. Many people invest into a fund based on the S&P 500 Index, which puts your money into the general market. This is a much easier method of investing as you don’t have to worry about knowing when to buy or sell. You also don’t have to spend time rebalancing your portfolio. All of this is handled by the fund.

Aside from the general market, you can also choose index funds for any market sector. You’ll find index funds for banking, agriculture, precious metals, energy, pharmaceuticals, and many others.

Conclusion

As a student, it can be hard to find the time and energy to make money in traditional ways. But, the good news is that there are plenty of different ways you can make passive money. Use the methods above to put more money back into your bank account.