What are the best side hustles for firefighters?

Given their unique schedule, just about every firefighter I’ve met has had at least one side hustle!

In this post, I’ll share my top side hustles for firefighters based on:

My 15+ years of side hustle experience
Conversations with real firefighters
Schedule flexibility and earning power

According to Career Explorer, firefighters earn an average of $78,000 a year — but have lots of downtime to pursue other money-making ventures. Here are my top picks. 

Ready? Let’s do it!

1. Hotshot Crew Firefighting

Any fireman will tell you, the fastest way to make more money is to pick up extra shifts. Demand is highest during wildfire season.

Of course, this is super dangerous work, but for many firefighters, the pay makes it worthwhile. “Hotshot” crew members receive hazard pay and overtime on top of their regular wages.

However, it may be difficult to get time off from your regular duties to join a hotshot crew.

2. Resell Furniture Returns

Reselling furniture returns is a unique low-risk side hustle.

How it works is you join Sharetown as a local “reverse logistics” rep. Sharetown partners with direct-to-consumer mattress and furniture brands to handle their return requests.

When customers decide they don’t want to keep the item, you’ll get dispatched to go pick it up. After that, you’ll:

clean it up
photograph it
list it for resale on sites like Facebook Marketplace

The Sharetown reps I’ve connected with target $150-250 per flip — and, importantly — you don’t have to pay Sharetown for the inventory until the item sells.

Check out my full Sharetown review to learn more.

3. Handyperson Service

If you’re handy and like to fix things, why not start a handyman business?

This may be a stereotypical blue collar business idea, but if you already have the tools needed for projects around the house, your start-up costs will be quite low.

Using apps such as TaskRabbit, Thumbtack, and NextDoor can help connect you will people in your area who need work done.

An app such as TaskRabbit, allows you to set your own rates plus take payment through the app, which will make getting paid easy.

4. Construction

Another common firefighter side hustle is to work construction when you’re off duty. This is physical, manual labor, and might involve:

framing houses
drywall
carpentry
installing cabinets or appliances
tile setting
and more

Typical hourly rates range from $20-40/hr, depending on your location and experience.

5. Real Estate Investing

Real estate investing is one of the oldest and most popular side hustles in the books … but houses are expensive!

Thankfully, new platforms like Arrived make it easy to invest in income-generating properties—with as little as $100.

The company pools money to buy rental properties, manages them, and then distributes the cash flow every month.

I also liked Austin Miller’s creative approach to building his rental portfolio, which was up to 17 properties worth $1.2 million when we spoke.

The kicker? They were all acquired “free”—without any of his own money.

6. Window Washing

Window-washing is another great low-cost side hustle.

Window cleaning can be done on your own timeline and can be done on both residential and commercial properties.

There are a couple of different ways you can charge: by pane, by the window, or by the hour. When I spoke with Johnny Robinson, co-founder of Orange Window Cleaning, he described flat-rate pricing of $15.75 per window.

For most providers, the hourly rate works out to be in the $40-$75 dollar range.

7. Fitness Coaching

As a firefighter, your physical fitness could literally be the difference between life and death. Since you know how to keep your body strong, others may pay for you to train them.

Side Hustle Nation has seen several examples of entrepreneurs building fitness businesses online, including:

Carey Adam, who created a running training program for moms
April Whitney, who created an online strength-training program for petite women 

8. Firefighter Career Coaching

Could you put your expertise to use helping others get started or advance their firefighting careers?

For example, Chief Dave Robertson started Fire Edge, an online career coaching service for current and aspiring firefighters.

His rates start at $100 an hour, and offers:

Resume and cover letter reviews
Interview prep and coaching
Mock interviews

9. Knife Sharpening

Firefighter Shane McKerchie started Shears by Shane, a shear-sharpening service as his side hustle. He specializes in beauty shears, grooming tools, and knives — all done in his spare time.

Similarly, Side Hustle Show guest Matt Rowell reported earning $30-$60 per hour with his knife sharpening business.

He taught himself how to do it, gathered the tools, and started getting clients.

10. Moving Service

Starting a moving business is a great way to help others, move your body, and get paid. Whether you want to help with big moves or small moves, if you’ve got a truck, you could be in business.

Using an app like Dolly or Bellhops, you can advertise your business and connect with people who need help with moving.

If you own a truck, you can earn up to $30 an hour. 

11. Build a Helpful Website

Write content on a topic you care about and build an audience in your niche. As you build out your library of helpful articles, you’ll pick up more traffic and revenue.

For example, Chris Petrie, a firefighter in the Phoenix, AZ area, runs a personal finance site called MoneyPeach.

Chris earns money from affiliate partnerships, ad revenue, and his own products and services.

Here are some inspiring examples from The Side Hustle Show archives:

Andrew earns 6-figures a year curating gift ideas
Scott earns 6-figures a year from his bird-watching website
Jodi earns $5k+ per month from her part-time blog for girl scout troop leaders
Katie earns $6k a month from her gray hair blog

Want to start a website of your own? Check out my free 6-part video course on how to start your own site.

12. Product Licensing

One of the best side hustles I’ve come across is becoming a modern-day inventor.

With product licensing, you sell your product ideas to large companies, who in turn pay you royalties for every sale they make from that idea. You don’t have to pay for manufacturing or marketing — and can take advantage of the huge distribution of existing brands.

For example, Nate Dallas earned $300,000 from Mattel after licensing them an idea for a Pictionary spin-off!

13. Pressure Washing

Firefighters are no strangers to spraying water around, which makes pressure washing a great side hustle to earn some extra cash.

Rates may range from $100-250 or more per house, which is pretty cool considering a high quality pressure washer may only cost $400.

This is one where you can breakeven and start turning a profit pretty quickly.

14. Freelance Writing

Freelance writing can be a great way to make money between shifts — or even during downtime at the station.

With millions of websites all competing for attention, freelance writing is a service that’s definitely in demand. (Even in the age of AI!)

Typical rates range from $50-250 per article, which you can research and write in your spare time.

Georgia Austin even turned her writing side hustle into a full-blown agency!

Here’s a great free resource to get started: 9 Ways to Make Money as a Writer

15. Delivery Gigs

Starting a delivery side hustle is easy and straightforward. In most cases, you’ll just need to:

Have reliable transportation (car, bike, electric scooter, etc.)
Be 18 or older
Complete a background check

Your earning power is typically in the $14-25 per hour range, and you can set your own schedule.

Here are a few delivery apps to consider:

Instacart – Pick up and deliver groceries around town. Check out our full Instacart shopper review for more.
DoorDash – Deliver takeout orders. For more, check out our full DoorDash review.
Uber Eats – Deliver takeout meals like my friend Jason, who reported earning $25-30 an hour.

The Best Firefighter Side Hustles: Your Turn

Of course, the best firefighter side hustle depends on your goals, interests, and the time you have to dedicate to it.

Most firefighters I connected with enjoyed their work and the camaraderie of their department. Plus, with a healthy pension and relatively early retirement on the table, most weren’t looking to quit their job.

Instead, they were looking for a side hustle that was fulfilling and profitable to do during their down time. 

Did any of these ideas stand out to you?

Looking for More Side Hustle Help?

Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.

What are the best side hustles for writers?

The good news is writing is a great, in-demand skill to make money from. Yes, even in the age of Chat GPT, there are lots of writing side hustles that can earn you money in your spare time.

I compiled this list based on:

My own 15+ years of experience as a writer
Interviews with dozens of other side hustling and professional writers
The potential earning power for each option

Ready? Let’s do it!

1. Build a Helpful Website

If you enjoy writing, building an informative website is the first side hustle I’d consider. I wouldn’t call it “blogging,” but more creating content that answers people’s questions.

I’ve done this several times, including with this site and another project that earned over $500,000 over its lifetime. Websites make money in several different ways, but most commonly through:

advertising
affiliate partnerships
selling your own products and services

One trend that’s been successful recently is what I’ll call “the modern comparison shopping site.” This model involves creating in-depth content comparing and contrasting two or more products in your niche.

For example, Fin vs. Fin does this really well with direct-to-consumer brands. Similarly, Tami Smith employed the same strategy with fitness equipment.

Next Step: If you’re ready to get started, my free 6-part video course will walk you through how to set up your site for less than you might think.

2. Sales Copywriting

Daniel Throssell was an electrical engineer working 12-hour shifts on a remote island off the coast of Australia.

He stumbled upon copywriting as a side hustle, and landed his first jobs on Upwork. “Because I had no experience, I just resolved to out-prepare my competition, and overdeliver on all my jobs,” Daniel explained.

Within a year, he was charging $200 an hour for his work — and left the engineering job behind.

3. Freelance Writing

Another common side hustle for writers is freelance writing. Most freelance writers get paid on a per-word basis, with rates ranging from $0.05-0.35 per word. That adds up to around $50-$350 per 1000-word article.

(This article, for the sake of comparison, is around 2,000 words.)

I sat down with Georgia Austin, who found customers for her content writing service on Fiverr. As demand increased, she raised rates and ultimately hired other writers to help fulfill all the work!

To learn more, check out this free guide from the American Writers and Artists Institute:

4. Tutoring

Writing is such an important skill, and one that many students struggle with. That’s why there’s an opportunity to turn your writing prowess into a tutoring business.

You could focus on English vocabulary, spelling, essay writing, creative writing, or reading comprehension.

And there’s money in this niche too — one Side Hustle Nation reader reported earning $1000 a week with his part-time tutoring business.

Platforms like Wyzant help connect students with tutors. As a tutor, you get set your own rate (typically between $20-60 per hour) and availability.

This side hustle could be a rewarding way to help the up-and-coming generation of engineers.

5. Teaching Online

While one-to-one tutoring can be rewarding and even pretty lucrative, it’s still trading time for money. One side hustle with a little more scale is to teach an online group class through a platform like Outschool.

On The Side Hustle Show, Jade Weatherington shared how she was earning $10,000 a month on the platform, primarily teaching middle school English writing classes.

Who knew all that 5-paragraph essay practice would pay off!

The peer-to-peer education marketplace focuses on students ages 3-18, and has courses on nearly every topic imaginable.

6. Create an Online Course

Since late 2014, I’ve earned over $20,000 on Udemy from a course I created about self-publishing.

With Udemy, you can create a video course in your area of expertise, and put it up for sale on their platform of more than 50 million students.

7. Email Newsletter

I think there’s a cool scaleable side hustle for writers in creating a “niche newsletter.” In this model, you email out your favorite content in a given niche on a daily or weekly basis.

The topic you choose could be based on your writing experience, or any other hobby you’re into. Since you’re probably already consuming content in the niche, it would be a valuable service to curate the best of the best for subscribers.

For example, Danielle Desir-Corbett took her grant-writing expertise and started a newsletter called Grants for Creators. With both free and paid versions, she shares grant opportunities she finds every two weeks.

Once you have people paying attention, you can monetize with affiliate offers, advertising, or your own products and services. This is a side hustle that’s low overhead, relatively simple to manage, and may even have a lucrative exit strategy — the popular daily business newsletter Morning Brew sold for a reported $75 million!

8. Publish a Book

Self-publishing is one of my favorite writing side hustles. It’s earned me over $80,000 over the last decade.

My titles have all been non-fiction so far, but fiction actually sells more as a category. Through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, you can set your own price and earn a 70% author royalty on Kindle books sold between $2.99 and $9.99.

9. Children’s Publishing

Matthew Ralph is a children’s book author from England, who quit his full-time marketing job to focus on his publishing and freelancing business.

His bestselling work to date is Sam the Speedy Sloth. The idea of which came to him while walking through an airport, and by the time his flight landed, the book was almost written!

Matt has since added more books to his portfolio, while freelancing to help other self-publishing authors.

10. Proofreading and Editing Service

If you have an eye for detail, there’s money to be made as a proofreader or editor.

Like I mentioned above, self-publishing is exploding, and all those authors (at least the serious ones) need help editing their work.

For this side hustle, I found my first clients on Fiverr, but ultimately established positive word of mouth referrals in some Facebook Groups and among students of a popular self-publishing course.

I started out charging $100 for every 10,000 words, but slowly inched up rates as I improved. (And as a bonus, I got to read some pretty interesting books!)

According to PayScale.com, proofreaders can make an average of $12-$30/hour.

Check out companies like ProofreadingServices.com to apply for a remote part-time or full-time position.

11. Writing Coach

Through her business, Paper Raven Books, Morgan Gist MacDonald helps authors turn their ideas into books they can be proud of. 

The service starts at $10,000 and includes:

narrative arc outlining
accountability check-ins
editing and design
building a launch and marketing plan

Could you start a similar service for first-time authors?

12. Ghostwriting

My friend Joshua Lisec is a freelance writer turned sought-after ghostwriter, specializing in entrepreneurship books. Over the last few years, he’s helped create over 80 titles and built a multi-6-figure ghostwriting business.

When we last spoke, he had a unique way of generating qualified leads through YouTube.

13. Creative Writing Workshops

Jeff DiOrio, a math teacher and high school dean in Illinois started teaching after school chess lessons. Today, EliteChess is a 6-figure side hustle with classes both in-person and online.

I believe there’s an opportunity to create a similar business for students (or adults) to get together and just write. You could provide story prompts, guidance on structure, and constructive feedback.

14. Social Media Management

Another side hustle idea for writers is to manage Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. These are still primarily “writing first” platforms, meaning if you can craft compelling hooks and threads, you can help other business owners grow their following.

For example, Pete Macleod (@petecodes) turned this into a $10k/month business. Creating Twitter and LinkedIn content was something he enjoyed doing anyway, and began offering it as a service to other content creators.

15. Resume and Cover Letter Writing

Mike McRitchie has a unique writing service, specializing in cover letters and LinkedIn profiles for the telecom industry. 

He’s been doing this for years on the side from his day job. Because of his industry expertise, he’s able to command premium rates. 

And since the outcome of a strong resume and cover letter is so strong — a new job — candidates are happy to pay for help in this area.

16. Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping is directly related to writing, but many of the tasks involve writing a report about your experience at the store or restuarant.

Jenn Trinidad reported earning $2,000 a month as a mystery shopper. 

17. Virtual Assistant Service

Virtual assistants generally charge $15-40 an hour to provide remote administrative support to clients. Those tasks might include:

Drafting social media posts
Managing email and scheduling appointments
Creating blog content or email newsletters
Providing customer support

If that sounds like a fun side hustle you can set up shop on your own or jump on board with an established VA company.

To learn more about starting your own virtual assistant company, check out the free video training from my friend Abbey Ashley, who started her VA business on the side.

18. Live Chat Customer Support

FlexJobs is the leading site for work from home jobs. With more than 50 career categories, you’re sure to find options here for your writing experience.

One area that comes to mind is live chat customer support jobs, where skills like compassion, speed, and multitasking are critical.

FlexJobs does charge a nominal monthly fee to access their listings, but you’ll easily earn that back — and then some — with just one job.

Pro Tip: Before you join, use their job search filter to see what part-time positions are currently being advertised for.

When you see something that’s a great fit, you can join the site to apply.

19. Transcription Service

Transcription—turning audio recordings into text—is often a part-time work-from-home position. Many transcribers specialize in a given industry, like medical, legal, or podcast transcriptions.

Several sites, including Rev.com, hire transcribers. If you’re fast, you might be able to earn up to $15 an hour.

To learn more about transcribing work, check out this free 7-day mini course on how to get started.

20. Translation

More and more businesses are realizing the importance of translation. In fact, the employment of interpreters and translators is projected to grow 19% from 2018 to 2028.

That’s pretty surprising in the age of Google Translate, right?

Spanish, French, Arabic and the Asian languages are all in high demand.

However, being a translator isn’t just about translating. It’s about having strong writing skills and an understanding of the niche.

21. Online Surveys

Finally, an old fall back of pretty much every list of ways to make extra money: surveys.

These definitely won’t make you rich, but they are an easy way to for writers to make a little extra money in between projects or during breaks in your day. 

Here are some of Side Hustle Nation’s top picks:

The Best Writing Side Hustles: Your Turn

What do you think is the best side hustle for writers? Of course, which option you choose depends on your unique experience, interests, and goals.

Some writing side hustles (like freelancing) are relatively easy to start earning money quickly. Others, like starting a website, will require a bit more time and education to start to see results.

Looking for More Side Hustle Help?

Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.