9 Relatively Easy Ways Teachers Can Earn Extra Income

With the cost of living seemingly rising all the time, many people are looking for ways to increase their income.

And if you’re a teacher, then you’re in luck — the nature of your work means that there are plenty of ways to supplement your income without adding considerable workload to your already busy schedule. In this post, we’ll run through a bunch of easy — well, relatively easy — ways you can enhance your income and give yourself some additional disposable cash to play with. 

Write a Book For Other Teachers

If you’re an experienced teacher, then you’ll have a lot of words of wisdom that you can share with younger teachers. So why not share them? Writing a short ebook is easier than you might think, and you should find that you’re able to complete it within a few weeks. Once it’s ready, you can publish it on Amazon and keep 70% of the sales. While you won’t get rich this way (though you never know what it’ll lead to!), it might be enough to generate a few hundred pounds in passive income each month — and that’s pretty good for a project that can be completed quickly and makes use of your existing knowledge.

Put Together a Specialist Course

Another way to put your expert knowledge to good use — and make more money — is to put together an online learning course. As with writing an eBook, creating an online course can take as little as a few weeks, yet can provide years’ worth of monthly passive income. Indeed, once you know how teacher specialists teach online, you’ll likely find that you can create a bunch of different courses, each one of which will provide its own revenue stream. Plus, aside from being a good source of extra cash, this approach can also function as a passion project, too — unlike within the traditional education system, developing an online course gives you the freedom to create your own course content. 

Earn Money During the Summer

You might like having all that time off during the summer months, but there might be a better way to spend your time if you’re looking to boost your bank balance. There are dozens of paid gigs that teachers can do during the summer holidays, with some of them related to teaching and others in a different field completely. You could teach in a summer school, for instance, or design educational content for online education companies. Other options include working at a camp, or even working in a seasonal job — it might sound strange to jet off to a tourist destination solely with the intention of working, but it can be a great way to not only make more money, but also have some fun. 

Sell Your Teaching Materials

If you’ve got a never-ending list of teaching materials, then you might be sitting on a treasure trove. While many teachers put together their own teaching materials, others simply don’t have the time — or inclination — to create their own. By making your teaching materials available for purchase online, you might just find that you can make a sizable passive income. This approach won’t just help to boost your bank balance, but can also simply make spending all those hours creating your lessons more manageable. This way, you’re getting much more than just an hour’s lesson from your efforts; you’ll be making money and ensuring that as many students as possible benefit from your work. 

Start a Blog

It’s best to start a blog because of passion, but it can also serve as a way to increase your income. Once you’ve built up an audience, you’ll benefit from advertisers, paid sponsorships, and more. Plus, it can open up a whole range of other opportunities, too.

It’s best to ensure that your blog is as niche as possible. For example, rather than being a general teaching blog, you might focus on teaching a particular grade or subject. Mixing personal anecdotes with words of wisdom should make your blog appealing to other teachers. 

Teach English

You already speak English and have a knack for teaching, so why not put the two together and boost your income? It’s easier to begin teaching English than you might think, and though you won’t make the same hourly rate as you do during regular teaching, you also won’t have to deal with marking and the other drawbacks of school teaching. Plus, you get to set your own schedule, so you can simply fit it around your other responsibilities, and you can teach your lessons exclusively online. Even teaching English for 15 – 20 hours a month can bring in enough cash for a few luxuries. 

Look at Translation

Know a second language? Then picking up a few translation gigs can help put more money in your pocket. Teachers tend to make great translators since they have an eye for detail, know how to organise themselves, and are used to sitting at a desk reading other people’s work. If you’re interested in translating on a part-time basis, then we’d recommend making your services available on sites such as Fiverr and Upwork, taking a few low-paying jobs to get your rating up, and then increasing your rates and waiting for work to come in. 

Pet-Sitting and Walking

Teachers work long hours, but those hours tend to be different from the usual standard working hours. If you have free time during the day or typically arrive home earlier than most people, then you could consider pet-sitting and dog walking. You’ll likely be eager to go for a walk anyway, so this is a good way to force yourself outdoors while also getting paid for it. 

Private Tutoring

Finally, there’s the tried and tested way for teachers to boost their income — private tutoring. Making your services available can be a game-changer for your income and your career. You’ll be improving your teaching skills while also enhancing your bank balance. Depending on your subject and experience, earning between £30 to £80 an hour is achievable.

This is a collaborative post.