How to Make $100 a Day on the Side for 100 Days: Real Life Results

Making an extra $100 a day through side hustles might seem out of reach for many people. So how did one side hustler earn over $10,000 in just 100 days?

Jaclyn “Jackie” Mitchell (@jaclynmitchell) set out to save for a down payment on a house by breaking a big goal into bite-sized daily targets.

By earning $100 every day over 100 days, she ended up netting a total of $10,972.

How’d she do it while working a full-time job?

By relentlessly testing quick-hitting remote side hustles, working in public to hold herself accountable, and opening herself up to unexpected income from building an audience.

Tune in to Episode 594 of The Side Hustle Show to learn:

how to break down big goals into small, daily actions
how to leverage communities for advice and accountability.
how to look for passive income opportunities
how consistency compounds over time

Jackie’s Backstory

Jackie is no stranger to the side hustle game. She started strategically earning extra cash in college through sites like Swagbucks. At the time, she’d cash out earnings from promotional offers and simple activities to treat her boyfriend (now husband) to occasional nicer dinners.

While rewarding, those early side gig days didn’t push Jackie to fully commit to making side income a daily habit.

Fast forward to when Jackie and her husband were gearing up to buy their first home. They found themselves facing a $10,000 savings goal for their down payment fund.

Rather than find that big number daunting, Jackie broke it down into smaller goals. She sized her target to $100 per day, with the intent to hustle for 100 days straight. Even better, she decided to document the entire journey on her TikTok account.

The $100 a Day Challenge

When Jackie shared about her challenge on TikTok, she gained 50,000 likes overnight on the first video. Clear interest from the community upped the stakes—now she was committed not only to herself but to any followers seeking inspiration or proof that side hustling can stack up.

@jaclynmitchelll

the way I calculated wrong and didnt realize I hadn’t actually hit $100 until this morning when I did the voiceover 💀 guess I have a $6 worth of make-up work today! #budgeting #savingmoney #challenge

♬ original sound – jackie mitchell

Throughout the 100 days, Jackie provided ongoing transparency into what she was trying, how much she was making, little successes along the way, and occasional frustrations as well.

The motivation was part personal goal tracking, part public accountability, and part helpful education for anyone motivated enough to take notes.

Top Revenue Streams

Of all Jackie tested, a few key side hustles emerged as consistent contributors in making that $100 a day threshold doable:

Swagbucks

This popular rewards site ended up being one of Jackie’s go-to daily drivers thanks to their lucrative game testing offers. For hitting certain levels or milestones within mobile games, Swagbucks pays out handsomely.

One game may reward just $5 for an introductory level, but reaching the top tier could pay $160 or more! Jackie mentions a $218 payout for one game, which is not too shabby at all.

She notes a subreddit called r/SwagBucks as an invaluable resource here. The Swagbucks subreddit often features detailed guides on the best strategies to hit those top reward levels without spending real money on in-app purchases.

This allows earning decent chunks pretty easily. Jackie says she can just set the games to auto-roll and grind up levels while binge watching Netflix!

Prolific

Next up is Prolific, her favorite survey site because of its boosted hourly pay rates. Prolific pays participants to take part in research studies.

Studies range from quick 5-10 minute surveys to more in-depth questionnaires taking around 30 minutes. Thanks to their academic nature, hourly rates are higher than many survey sites.

In Jackie’s experience, she averaged $10–$30 a day on Prolific when there were open studies matching her demographics. The sign-up process involves a waitlist, however, as researchers want balanced pools of participants.

Check out our full Prolific review to learn more.

Focus Groups

In contrast to consistent money from surveys, focus groups represent infrequent but high-value side income. Groups discussing products, brands, etc. pay out $100 to $250 for just 1–2 hours of your opinions.

The limitation here is qualifying for relevant paid focus groups as they arise.

Sites like FocusGroup.com allow you to join not just online surveys but also through personal discussions, web chats, video diaries, product tests, telephone conversations, and more.

Check out our full FocusGroup.com review for more.

Over time, Jackie confirms building a nice bank of focus group checks every couple months. It’s so easy once you land a qualifying group!

My other top paid research picks:

User Interviews – Make $50-150/hr providing feedback on upcoming products. Full review here.
Respondent – More of a tech and industry professional focus, but I’ve earned almost $400 here. Full Respondent review.
Rare Patient Voice – Patients and caregivers can support medical research and earn $100+ per hour.

Data Annotation

If you’re willing to put in some serious hours, DataAnnotation offers pay ranging from $15 – $25 per hour. This involves training AI systems in various ways like editing, content flagging, grammar checks, and more.

It’s admittedly grueling work, but can be a good way to make money online for beginners.

Additional similar sites in this space include Remotasks and TaskVerse. Both await Jackie’s further testing in future side hustling adventures!

Check out our full Remotasks review to learn more.

Other Income Streams

Part of what makes Jackie’s story so compelling were the unexpected income streams unlocked along the way.

The beauty of documenting this entire challenge publicly became evident in the third income stream that emerged organically—her growing audience itself.

TikTok Creator Fund

As her TikTok following grew, she qualified for the platform’s Creator Fund, which pays users a small amount per view and traffic. Her daily recap videos provided helpful accountability… plus consistent ad revenue.

Brand Sponsorships

Brand sponsorships also started trickling in to have Jackie showcase or test products for fixed fees or free products. Dedicated review videos or subtle integrated mentions in her regular content let her easily earn a few hundred dollars.

User Generated Content

By having authentic creators like Jackie demonstrate real-life use of products, audiences find reviews more relatable than company marketing. Depending on factors like audience size, UGC posts can command $100 or more each.

Reselling Clothes

Beyond digital streams, Jackie cites reselling clothes as her effortless seasonal hustle. Listing items you already own on websites like Poshmark or Depop turns stagnant closet clutter into cash without upfront costs.

It takes more sourcing and time investments to make serious reselling money, though.

Jackie cautions that the incremental costs around inventory, shipping, and more make scaling selling activities tricky. Without expertise, reselling works better as a side supplement than primary hustle.

Amazon Storefront

Jackie created an Amazon associates storefront to earn affiliate commissions on a handful of recommended products. As her audience clicked through to buy items like her favorite heated blanket, this turned into a small passive income stream.

Other Hustles Tested

Jackie tried her hand successfully at quite a few other ideas you may have also seen online and wondered about:

Amazon Mechanical Turk – Amazon’s marketplace for quick online tasks pays very little.
Cash back apps – Fetch and Ibotta pay you to scan your grocery receipts, but won’t add up to much.
Instacart – Delivering groceries to others helps…if you can swipe orders lightning fast in a crowded market. Too much luck-based competition. Here’s our full Instacart shopper review to learn more.

A Day in the Life

At first, Jackie estimated needing 5+ hours per day to earn her $100 while juggling her regular full-time job. This included both active hustling time plus an hour or more editing footage and tracking challenge metrics.

But as certain earning channels became more automated, that number dropped to 2–3 hours a day toward the end. Passive income like TikTok ad share and sponsored content gave her breathing room.

When asked if she managed to get any sleep, Jackie laughs but confirms she remained committed to rest and sanity as well! Her background working multiple demanding jobs during college prepared her for this hustling sprint.

Through unwavering determination, leveraging pockets of time on lunch breaks or evenings to chip away at that $100 became almost second nature no matter how tired from a long day’s work.

Achieving Big Goals Through Small Steps

By pushing herself to stack $100 incremental wins day-by-day, Jackie proved large goals become reachable through small, consistent actions. Publicly posting the process also kept her accountable while attracting brand opportunities.

But most importantly, the transparency resonated hugely with her audience. Followers connected with seeing someone work through building earnings from square one without filters. They became invested in the human element by living the ups and downs with her.

What’s Next for Jackie?

Upon completing her initial challenge, Jackie gained many more TikTok followers as well as credibility via demonstrated proof. Rather than ramp up claims more and more, she’s chosen a more balanced path.

@jaclynmitchelll

snow calls for naps, I don’t make the rules! #budgeting #savingmoney #challenge #oneyearofextraincome

♬ original sound – jackie mitchell

Ongoing in the year ahead, Jackie makes sure to post regular updates on her income streams—both larger sums now from indirect sources as well as nitty-gritty daily workhorse side hustles requiring active hours invested.

Viewers can follow along day-by-day on TikTok as she’s committed to earn and document consistently.

By spotlighting various methods, answering follower questions, and reporting out earnings, Jackie leads by the same example that’s built such a strong foundation. She continues focusing on the core audience that related to her circumstances just recently.

If along the way partnerships or speaking opportunities stem from such a rapport, so be it. But Jackie strives to remain cautiously grounded against the trapping of many who perhaps misrepresented side hustle concepts through assuming an air of having “figured it all out.”

Follow Jackie on TikTok

In just 100 days, Jackie earned $10,972 through grit and determination. She offers inspiration that’s possible for regular folks without huge projects or followings already.

By being radically transparent about side hustles that work (and those lacking), she builds trust with viewers who can take away tangible ideas.

Now in her second year of documentation centered on earnings, Jackie continues balanced leadership. Join her ongoing journey by following @jaclynmitchell on TikTok.

The openness and care for her community that captivated huge early attention remain—perhaps the most important driver sustaining consistent growth beyond viral peaks alone.

Jackie’s #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation

“Do your taxes.”

Looking for More Side Hustle Help?

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