Author Topic: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!  (Read 508869 times)

missj

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #300 on: August 16, 2014, 12:25:27 PM »
Poker. Both live and online. (not video poker which is just like the state lottery).

If you are skilled an disciplined it is no riskier than being in the stock market.   You don't have to beat the house, you just have to beat the other players.

Pros: I love it and would probably do it even if I only broke even long term.  It satisfies my academic thirst as well complimenting my strategic and competitive drive.

Cons: There is a steep learning curve and high variance so it can take thousands of hands to show a profit.  Winnings are taxed at 40% unless you are a professional gambler (in that case they are taxed as ordinary income).

Wile E. Coyote

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #301 on: August 25, 2014, 06:26:02 PM »
Poker. Both live and online. (not video poker which is just like the state lottery).

If you are skilled an disciplined it is no riskier than being in the stock market.   You don't have to beat the house, you just have to beat the other players.

Pros: I love it and would probably do it even if I only broke even long term.  It satisfies my academic thirst as well complimenting my strategic and competitive drive.

Cons: There is a steep learning curve and high variance so it can take thousands of hands to show a profit.  Winnings are taxed at 40% unless you are a professional gambler (in that case they are taxed as ordinary income).

What country are you in?  That is not the way the US taxes gambling winnings.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419.html



JGB

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #302 on: August 26, 2014, 01:23:47 PM »
Poker. Both live and online. (not video poker which is just like the state lottery).

If you are skilled an disciplined it is no riskier than being in the stock market.   You don't have to beat the house, you just have to beat the other players.

Pros: I love it and would probably do it even if I only broke even long term.  It satisfies my academic thirst as well complimenting my strategic and competitive drive.

Cons: There is a steep learning curve and high variance so it can take thousands of hands to show a profit.  Winnings are taxed at 40% unless you are a professional gambler (in that case they are taxed as ordinary income).

What country are you in?  That is not the way the US taxes gambling winnings.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419.html

Common misconception that the amount withheld (in this case by the casino) is actually the amount that you are paying in taxes. Rarely is that actually the truth.

Peacefulwarrior

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #303 on: August 27, 2014, 01:39:20 AM »
I'm have been a test-person in some psychological studies. They pay around $350 each for a combined 7-8 hours of "work". It's mainly just answering a lot of questions and doing some computer tests. etc.

Peacefulwarrior

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #304 on: August 27, 2014, 05:45:48 AM »
Another option I'm currently pursuing is becoming a sperm donor (through a clinic). If I go 2 times a week and deliver a load it will pay a little over $500 usd a month, which is around half my rent. It's tax free where I live, will pay half of my rent and will not take more than 15 minutes each time. Pretty sweet deal.

Yankuba

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #305 on: September 01, 2014, 05:11:07 PM »
I used to participate in focus groups. The best pay was $100 for three hours after work.

expatartist

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #306 on: September 01, 2014, 07:17:46 PM »
Chatting with stressed-out engineers ['teaching English'] at a major German car company in China for $35-40/hour. It's not work, it's socializing.
At several nights/week, this now pays 100% of my general daily and holiday travel expenses.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2014, 08:08:59 PM by expatartist »

Scandium

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #307 on: September 02, 2014, 09:08:27 AM »
I do photography on the side and shoot family/couples. I charge $250 for a session and make quite a bit more on prints. It makes a decent side income and its something I love doing. My day job is a software engineer.

At one point I ran a pet photography business. It was starting to do really well, bringing in at least few hundred to a thousand dollars each week. I closed it down before we moved overseas but it's probably something I could start up again. Day job is Aerospace Engineer.
You actually made money doing photography? I do some hobby-grade DSLR photography and have toyed with the idea of trying to sell some prints (at fairs etc), or trying to do it more seriously in retirement. But it seems difficult to pointless. Theres always somebody who's doing it better or cheaper. And since people have no appreciation of image quality most people are ok with phone shots of their kids/dogs these days, probably soon weddings as well.

Who would pay you? I ran into a pet photography lady at Petco one time, didn't seem like she was making a lot..

In general this is a problem I have thinking of a side business; there's bound to be someone doing it better or cheaper, or people can do it themselves. So why bother? How do you get people to pay you?
« Last Edit: September 02, 2014, 09:23:26 AM by Scandium »

Public Hermit

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #308 on: September 02, 2014, 10:22:22 AM »
I work evenings/weekends at a supermarket deli. On average, I bring in an extra $700-800 a month.

Sometimes I do online surveys and Amazon Mechanical Turk. If I am ambitious enough, I can bring in an additional $100 a month.

nawhite

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #309 on: September 02, 2014, 11:14:17 AM »
I do photography on the side and shoot family/couples. I charge $250 for a session and make quite a bit more on prints. It makes a decent side income and its something I love doing. My day job is a software engineer.

At one point I ran a pet photography business. It was starting to do really well, bringing in at least few hundred to a thousand dollars each week. I closed it down before we moved overseas but it's probably something I could start up again. Day job is Aerospace Engineer.
You actually made money doing photography? I do some hobby-grade DSLR photography and have toyed with the idea of trying to sell some prints (at fairs etc), or trying to do it more seriously in retirement. But it seems difficult to pointless. Theres always somebody who's doing it better or cheaper. And since people have no appreciation of image quality most people are ok with phone shots of their kids/dogs these days, probably soon weddings as well.

Who would pay you? I ran into a pet photography lady at Petco one time, didn't seem like she was making a lot..

In general this is a problem I have thinking of a side business; there's bound to be someone doing it better or cheaper, or people can do it themselves. So why bother? How do you get people to pay you?

Another blogger I read runs a business which allows teachers to create randomized bingo cards for their classrooms with custom word lists (so a teacher teaching a lesson on geography could enter the word list "island, mountain, isthmus, lake, sea..." and the program would pop out 30 5x5 grids of bingo cards to give to the students.

This is a problem which is solved by open source software and really not that difficult to do by hand so has some of the same problems you list. He wrote a blog post about how to compete here: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/03/07/how-to-successfully-compete-with-open-source-software/

It primarily applies to software businesses but a lot of the points carry over to other businesses. It's a great blog in general for "micro-preneurs"

Mother Fussbudget

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #310 on: September 02, 2014, 11:39:11 AM »
I play in a SKA / rockin' brass band for a local sports team.  I pull in around $250/month + $300 annually in gear (jerseys, tickets, etc) + attend all home games better than FREE (i.e. paid minimum wage).  Membership is tryout based, tryouts in January.  It's a SWEET GIG.

Bob W

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #311 on: September 02, 2014, 11:56:00 AM »
This is a great forum topic.  Thanks to all for sharing.   You know an extra several hundred dollars a month can add up significantly in the long run.  I can see many of you forgoing your day jobs and living entirely off your investments and side gigs at some point.  Keep on Rocking!

Punchingat50

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #312 on: September 02, 2014, 12:31:56 PM »
Kickstarter. If you're good at coding, then start a video game project. If you're good with your hands or CAD, then make a widget. You wouldn't believe how much money people spend on widgets.

kickstarter.com

Scandium

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #313 on: September 02, 2014, 01:24:22 PM »
I do photography on the side and shoot family/couples. I charge $250 for a session and make quite a bit more on prints. It makes a decent side income and its something I love doing. My day job is a software engineer.

At one point I ran a pet photography business. It was starting to do really well, bringing in at least few hundred to a thousand dollars each week. I closed it down before we moved overseas but it's probably something I could start up again. Day job is Aerospace Engineer.
You actually made money doing photography? I do some hobby-grade DSLR photography and have toyed with the idea of trying to sell some prints (at fairs etc), or trying to do it more seriously in retirement. But it seems difficult to pointless. Theres always somebody who's doing it better or cheaper. And since people have no appreciation of image quality most people are ok with phone shots of their kids/dogs these days, probably soon weddings as well.

Who would pay you? I ran into a pet photography lady at Petco one time, didn't seem like she was making a lot..

In general this is a problem I have thinking of a side business; there's bound to be someone doing it better or cheaper, or people can do it themselves. So why bother? How do you get people to pay you?

Another blogger I read runs a business which allows teachers to create randomized bingo cards for their classrooms with custom word lists (so a teacher teaching a lesson on geography could enter the word list "island, mountain, isthmus, lake, sea..." and the program would pop out 30 5x5 grids of bingo cards to give to the students.

This is a problem which is solved by open source software and really not that difficult to do by hand so has some of the same problems you list. He wrote a blog post about how to compete here: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/03/07/how-to-successfully-compete-with-open-source-software/

It primarily applies to software businesses but a lot of the points carry over to other businesses. It's a great blog in general for "micro-preneurs"

I guess it's because I'm an extreme cheapskate. I will research something and figure out how to do it myself, or if that's not possible find the cheapest alternative (usually involving spreadsheets and weeks of planning..). The idea of paying for the first thing that shows up without any research (!) is an abhorrent thought. I can't imagine who would do that, and therefore can't put myself in the mind of my customers.

So I think about selling photographs at the local fair, but I would never, ever spend money on such a photograph myself so it seems pointless. Props to the people who have made the gigs work, it sounds difficult.

Write Thyme

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #314 on: September 02, 2014, 02:04:12 PM »
I sell jewelry on Etsy. I run apps on android phones for "free" money. I use a few different rewards websites for gift money and to pay for Netflix.

MsRichLife

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #315 on: September 02, 2014, 05:01:30 PM »

You actually made money doing photography? I do some hobby-grade DSLR photography and have toyed with the idea of trying to sell some prints (at fairs etc), or trying to do it more seriously in retirement. But it seems difficult to pointless. Theres always somebody who's doing it better or cheaper. And since people have no appreciation of image quality most people are ok with phone shots of their kids/dogs these days, probably soon weddings as well.

Who would pay you? I ran into a pet photography lady at Petco one time, didn't seem like she was making a lot..

In general this is a problem I have thinking of a side business; there's bound to be someone doing it better or cheaper, or people can do it themselves. So why bother? How do you get people to pay you?

Find a niche, and do it better than the next person. I wouldn't bother selling prints at fairs etc, but I've entered a few photography competitions and have won a bit of money and overseas holidays. Mostly I found in my city Pet Photography worked really well.

We have a city full of public servants with high disposable income (usually dual). After a while I realised that my niche market was professional women (35-60) without children who had pets.

I started off cheap, just to build my portfolio and to get my images out there. After a while word of mouth spread and I had a regular supply of new customers and slowly increased my prices to pretty decent levels. I started selling 'packages' because the perceived value to the client was higher and I got more money per customer. I slowly worked out what this niche market appreciated from the experience and added canvas prints, photo books etc etc.

After a while, a few of my customers got married, so I photographed their weddings. Then they had children, so I started on kids photography. I really just took the business where the work led me and where I enjoyed what I was doing and it all seemed rather effortless. I guess that's what they mean by following your bliss.

Anyway, I closed down the business to move overseas, but it might be something I do as a side-gig after retirement. At the moment I'm considering putting together a photobook of my images from India. It's something I've always wanted to do, and they are truly my favourite images to date.

ScienceRules

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #316 on: September 03, 2014, 05:18:58 PM »
I dog sit with rover and I make jewelry and fleece hats with cat ears that sell great at craft bazaars. I only go to 2 or 3 a year, but I probably make a couple hundred a year. Not much, but I love making them and I go to the bazaars with my grandma and aunt so it's a fun family affair.

follicular

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #317 on: September 03, 2014, 07:48:40 PM »
I heard there is a market for nude models. Clearly this option relies on the existence of an artistic community, art museums/schools, budding artist studios, etc. I don't know about remuneration but heard that it used to average around $10/hour (maybe more now) some years ago. The work is probably easy but you should expect to stand in freeze mode for long periods of time, with not much break time, and not be too self-conscious.

Lis

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #318 on: September 04, 2014, 11:09:40 AM »
I heard there is a market for nude models. Clearly this option relies on the existence of an artistic community, art museums/schools, budding artist studios, etc. I don't know about remuneration but heard that it used to average around $10/hour (maybe more now) some years ago. The work is probably easy but you should expect to stand in freeze mode for long periods of time, with not much break time, and not be too self-conscious.

My college had a very large (and good) art program, and nude models were paid anywhere from $18-$22 an hour. I never took an art class, but many of my friends were majors. They usually had about 6 a semester and hours varied depending on how many classes they signed up for... anywhere from 3-4 hrs a week to 10-12. If you're comfortable with nudity and live by a good art school, this is a decent option.

NinetyFour

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #319 on: September 04, 2014, 09:28:09 PM »
If you're comfortable with nudity and live by a good art school, this is a decent option.

Or perhaps, an indecent one?  ;-)

lysistrata

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #320 on: September 29, 2014, 07:13:35 PM »
I've already posted about my side gigs (freelance writing, publishing novels through KDP, marriage celebrant, teaching writing classes) but I thought I'd contribute some other ideas I've seen friends and acquaintences take on recently:

- one friend has design skills and sells premade book covers to self-publishing authors.
- another friend makes a decent amount each month (+$800) selling erotica short stories through Amazon. This sounds like fun so I'm working on publishing some erotica shorts myself.
- another friend who is an experienced actor produces audio books through ACX. They have both a paid upfront and a revenue-share program. He did revenue share to get his name out there, and is no mostly taking on upfront payments in the thousands. He invested a bit in a decent microphone and some DIY soundproofing, but he's now making a tidy profit.
- and I know a girl who does nude modeling and burlesque dancing and has a blast with both.
- Another girl I know works 1 day a week running a mobile nail salon. And ANOTHER lass does hair and makeup for weddings.

Just a few more ideas.

tracylayton

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #321 on: September 29, 2014, 07:25:43 PM »
I do secret shopping. In September, I earned $100 in shopper fees and about $100 in free food reimbursement. The shopper fees are taxable...the food reimbursement is not.

VirginiaBob

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #322 on: September 29, 2014, 08:34:16 PM »
Male stripping for bachelorette parties.  $600-800 per gig.   Thanks to the fancy body I have due to my Mustachian lifestyle.

sugarsnap

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #323 on: September 29, 2014, 08:56:33 PM »
I've made digital sewing patterns to sell on etsy,

I do thrift store/ebay sales as well, mostly clothes and mid century furniture.

Stage hand at the local theater is a fun one too. The pay isn't great but it's interesting and I usually get to catch a good party of the show from the side stage.

cavewoman

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #324 on: September 30, 2014, 06:42:10 PM »
Great thread for this forum.  I'm definitely interested in getting into side-gigs I can do remotely if we start travelling.

In college I made all my money from side-gigs, up to 4 or 5 at a time.  Mostly I did nannying.  My niche was experience with kids with special needs, so most of my families had kids with Autism.  I actually really miss doing that and I'm looking forward to settling somewhere new and seeing if I can't get back into it.  Another family had me doing a morning shift to get the kids up, fed, and ready for school, since both parents were teachers and had early starts.  Those contacts led to house-sitting and dog walking for friends of friends.

I've also done a lot of part-time pizza waitressing and delivery.

Reading this makes me want to get out of the office and back into cobbling together a few different things!  I don't know if it's rose-colored hindsight but I feel like I was happier then :)

farmstache

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #325 on: October 06, 2014, 12:38:21 PM »
Another option I'm currently pursuing is becoming a sperm donor (through a clinic). If I go 2 times a week and deliver a load it will pay a little over $500 usd a month, which is around half my rent. It's tax free where I live, will pay half of my rent and will not take more than 15 minutes each time. Pretty sweet deal.

Just be careful not to end up in the situation of that doctor who calculated he had something like 500 children alive in the same town/region he lived in. He had donated once a week for years. Not really a problem for him, but he had to do the math and warn his own kids about dating possible half-siblings. :)

geek101

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #326 on: October 06, 2014, 03:52:11 PM »
My best side gig is donating plasma! You can donate twice a week and donations take an hour all told for the average person. The base rate is usually $20 for the first donation, $30 for the second, but there is usually an incentive every month where 8 donations will get you to $250 per month or higher.

I'm not a fan of needles but it's such an easy process, I've gotten over that fear quickly.  You basically spend 40 min sitting in a chair as the machine does its thing. You can literally make $25/hour twice a week to sit in a chair and read/relax.

If there's a location in your city, I highly recommend it. It's about the easiest money you could make. I started in college and I'll be continuing for a long time; $250/month isn't a lot of cash flow but it adds up! Even if you do it for 5 years in your 20's and throw it into a Roth IRA (the money you receive is tax free), that's a (conservative) extra 100k at 'traditional' retirement age on 60.

Find a center near you!

http://www.donatingplasma.org/donation/find-a-donor-center

Peach Fuzz

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #327 on: October 11, 2014, 05:41:51 PM »
I make about $1000 every holiday season by offering gift-wrapping service.

They provide their own papers, decorations & consumables (tape), I show up with my toolbox (good scissors etc) and do everything they have in 1 trip. I charge $3.50 per gift big or small and prefer to make only one trip to wrap everything (I work at their house).

When I started I had a classified ad, now I have enough referrals/regulars to stay as busy as I would like to be during the season. Average job is about 4-5 hours and 30-40 gifts.

I find a perverse satisfaction in making money from other people's consumerism LOL.

I love this. I may have to do this one this year. Thank you for such a wonderful idea!

Pooper scooper service also seems like another good side hustle. Low cost and surprisingly high service charge when I googled around. I had no idea people would pay so much to have their furry friends' waste picked up.

Elyse

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #328 on: October 28, 2014, 07:40:34 AM »
My best side gig is donating plasma! You can donate twice a week and donations take an hour all told for the average person. The base rate is usually $20 for the first donation, $30 for the second, but there is usually an incentive every month where 8 donations will get you to $250 per month or higher.

I'm not a fan of needles but it's such an easy process, I've gotten over that fear quickly.  You basically spend 40 min sitting in a chair as the machine does its thing. You can literally make $25/hour twice a week to sit in a chair and read/relax.

If there's a location in your city, I highly recommend it. It's about the easiest money you could make. I started in college and I'll be continuing for a long time; $250/month isn't a lot of cash flow but it adds up! Even if you do it for 5 years in your 20's and throw it into a Roth IRA (the money you receive is tax free), that's a (conservative) extra 100k at 'traditional' retirement age on 60.

Find a center near you!

http://www.donatingplasma.org/donation/find-a-donor-center

At the very least, $250 a month would pay for my groceries!

jka468

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #329 on: October 28, 2014, 09:24:14 AM »
Live poker in a casino (as online is now banned in most states in the US, inlcuding the state I am in). I've been playing all my life, made good money with online poker during college and it's a fun hobby for me anyways. Over a fairly decent timeframe I've made around 1k/month (I play about 30-40hrs a month), and that doesn't include certain bonuses, promos and comps that I receive. The plan is to eventually move up to higher limit games, and if I can beat those my hourly rate should see a big bump.

As another poster put it, in order to play you have to be able to deal with variance, have a fairly high risk tolerance and be able to deal with a number of low-lifes who frequent casinos, but you also get to use strategy/math/competition to your advantage and you can meet a lot of interesting people as well.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2014, 09:27:42 AM by jka468 »

carozy

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #330 on: October 28, 2014, 10:20:16 AM »
I have a two side gigs.  They're pretty low-earning, but better than nothing.

- hubpages ~ I've written 70 or so articles and earn about $50 every 4-6 months on average.  What's nice about this is that now I do absolutely nothing, just wait for the next $50 payout.  And I enjoyed writing the articles.

- face studies ~ I get paid $40 to wear face moisturizer/gel/oil for a month to test it out.  Feels pretty much like free money.  Seems these studies happen pretty regularly so I keep joining up.  (You're only allowed to do one study at a time.)

- survey studies/interviews ~ I don't do these very often but in the past I earned $100-$175 for answering questions.  Now I don't seem to qualify since I'm not the usual consumer and don't spend a lot on groceries/electronics, what-have-you.

I'd like to get into publishing ebook stories.  Still learning craft and the whole ebook publishing process.

OSUBearCub

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #331 on: November 17, 2014, 03:13:01 PM »
Another option I'm currently pursuing is becoming a sperm donor (through a clinic). If I go 2 times a week and deliver a load it will pay a little over $500 usd a month, which is around half my rent. It's tax free where I live, will pay half of my rent and will not take more than 15 minutes each time. Pretty sweet deal.

I looked into this in college and the restrictions on recreational activities were really rough.  Any activity outside the collection process drops the total volume and sperm count.

backyardfeast

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #332 on: November 17, 2014, 09:58:53 PM »
I went to an interesting workshop this weekend that made me think about possible side gigs.  I haven't read through all 7 pages here, so forgive me if this has come up before.

For years I have been wanting to learn how to forage for edible mushrooms!  But most people who run seminars around here are chefs who make a fancy day of it for $100+ per person.  Ouch!  And many people learn through a friend, but I don't know anyone with the skills.  So I was finally able to take a workshop run by a biologist for $45.  I went for it.

I realized when we were there that this is a really sweet side hustle.  There were 20 of us or so there, so $900 worth of fees.  It was valuable information at a decent price point, and her sessions are popular.  She had done some prep and was professional, but it wouldn't have been a lot of time or effort on her part.  I went to a Sunday session, but the Saturday one was full, and she runs probably 3 weekends in season; I'd guess 6-8 per year.  So do the math--you could be up to $10 000 pretty quickly for just a few weekends work a year!

I guess what I realized was that this kind of workshop model could work for a lot of different topics, depending on your area of expertise.  Bike repair and maintenance?  Raising chickens for beginners? (that's mine! :) ) Budgeting and Money Management for Dummies?  The possibilities are endless...this woman has a facebook page and an email list, and then uses paypal for registration and pre-payment, so no worries about people who don't show up.  My mind was blown...

Knapptyme

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #333 on: November 17, 2014, 10:37:18 PM »
As a teacher, there are the obvious opportunities to tutor after hours for $30-60/hour. I prefer, however, to teach chess after school, which I started doing while still in college with a great company in southern California that paid $30/hour.

Currently, I get $10/hour/kid with an average of 8 kids per class and only once a week. I used to coach soccer, but the money/time is definitely in chess. While I'm not involved in it, I also think reffing sports is a great gig. I know someone else mentioned it.

I dabble in Craigslist mostly with recycled/upcycled trash. I recently sold a set of patio furniture that was being thrown out for $60. Maybe an hour's worth of work to pick up, clean up, and post pictures, maybe. My college roommate and I did this very same thing but almost exclusively with couches. We made an extra $1000 or more in a September when all the freshmen moved into their dorm rooms and needed a couch.

I also pay myself in DIY repairs and maintenance.

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #334 on: November 19, 2014, 07:59:20 PM »
Well I've generally always had a side fast food/cooking job of some kind.  Maybe $50 for 8 hours or so it nice cuz it guaranteed and I dont mind cooking and whatnot.  Donated plasma quite a few times in the past $20-25 a time.  Also had a youtube channel going for awhile but due to some odd people I've shut it down but definitely want to start doing that again!  Also did landscaping on the side before that I'm thinking about making a permanant side gig out of.

civil

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #335 on: November 20, 2014, 06:12:34 PM »
Met a guy over the weekend who buys fresh caught fish at the Carolina coast and delivers it to restaurants and locals here in the mountains of Virginia. Its a lot of driving, of course, but it seems to be working out for him. He does one trip a week, so it could work as a side gig. For him I think it's more his main thing, but he also works a few days a week pouring beer at a local brewery.

Is that the guy that serves Charlottesville? The fish truck guy was our main source of seafood there! We had order sheets at various places around town (Public Works dept was one) where you wrote down what you wanted each week. It was magical.

Le0

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #336 on: November 25, 2014, 07:58:53 AM »
I just got a side hustle developing the social media for a business. They were a business I really liked and I noticed that they had almost no interaction on facebook and twitter. I sent an email, followed by a more detailed email about myself and my resume.

He liked me, and offered $500 a month for the first 3 months.

I basically get to develop their social media strategy which is something I love doing! So far its perfect and could turn into a full time gig "Remotely"!!!

ladyinred

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #337 on: December 11, 2014, 09:21:17 AM »
Like the male stripper and the nude art models who posted before, I'm selling what I already have. My side hustle is adult webcam model on one of the larger amateur sites. DH and I do it together. We just started a few months ago and have only been broadcasting 4-6 times a month for 30 min to three hours at a time, but we're consistently pulling in $200 a month.

Neither of us have perfect bodies but we've discovered viewers appreciate enthusiasm just as much as great looks. Its an activity we are doing anyways and enjoy, user requests keep it interesting for us, and there is a thrill added when you're being watched.

Imustacheyouaquestion

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #338 on: December 11, 2014, 09:53:57 AM »
Credit card churning. I don't do this very actively or intensely, but I spend a few hours per month researching bonuses for new cards and quarterly rotating rewards and such. Then I make a laminated card for my wallet with what card to use for which rewards (AmEx preferred for gas, $5 back bonus for a $30+ purchase at Shell before 12/31, etc etc). I don't really log my hours doing this, but it definitely pays hundreds of dollars per hour, when you count the travel rewards and such.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2016, 07:56:41 PM by Imustacheyouaquestion »

Cookie78

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #339 on: December 11, 2014, 10:05:36 AM »
Great ideas!

I sell custom chainmail jewelry, though currently only just for friends who approach me. I've probably sold $500 worth in the last year without making any effort.

I should make more effort to advertise. Or sell some of the pieces I have already made.

Hummer

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #340 on: December 11, 2014, 12:29:32 PM »
I rent out my basement apartment on Airbnb. It requires maybe 20 hours of work per month (cleaning, communicating with guests, etc.). It brings in about 1,800 per month in income, some of which is used to cover elevated utility costs, paper product costs, etc. Still a pretty profitable side gig, and we've also met a lot of cool people too.

Could you expand on this some more. I have a basement suite that I rent out in BC, Canada for $800 month. This is about the going rate in my area. But I'm wondering if I should try something like you are doing. Furnish it and rent by the day, week or month.

What is Airbnb?

I assume you have it fully furnished, basically like a hotel/motel room?... You provide cutlery, towels, etc... What kind of services do you offer? Do you clean it like hotel staff would every day? Do you do their laundry?

lielec11

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #341 on: December 11, 2014, 12:36:28 PM »
As an electrical engineer in the construction industry I am fairly adept at CAD, at least 2D stuff anyway..

Recently I have began searching Craigslist for side gigs designing electrical systems or simply drafting. No luck with stay-at-home designing yet, but I have hooked up with a small firm drafting their markups. I just got a check for two jobs totally $1400. Maybe took me 14 total hours.. on the high side. I keep emailing them for more as it is very lucrative for me to sit on my couch at night doing this with music/TV on :-)

MsRichLife

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #342 on: December 11, 2014, 02:18:57 PM »
I rent out my basement apartment on Airbnb. It requires maybe 20 hours of work per month (cleaning, communicating with guests, etc.). It brings in about 1,800 per month in income, some of which is used to cover elevated utility costs, paper product costs, etc. Still a pretty profitable side gig, and we've also met a lot of cool people too.

Could you expand on this some more. I have a basement suite that I rent out in BC, Canada for $800 month. This is about the going rate in my area. But I'm wondering if I should try something like you are doing. Furnish it and rent by the day, week or month.

What is Airbnb?

I assume you have it fully furnished, basically like a hotel/motel room?... You provide cutlery, towels, etc... What kind of services do you offer? Do you clean it like hotel staff would every day? Do you do their laundry?

Check out this blog for a great overview of the authors AirBnB experiment.

http://affordanything.com/2014/05/27/the-airbnb-experiment-how-much-did-i-make/

Chranstronaut

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #343 on: December 11, 2014, 02:23:10 PM »
I've been singing with a coworker the last 6 months, just messing around with some cover songs and going to open mics.  Today we got a dollar from someone passing by while we rehearsed at lunch.  Accidental busking! :D

Cookie78

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #344 on: December 11, 2014, 02:56:36 PM »
I rent out my basement apartment on Airbnb. It requires maybe 20 hours of work per month (cleaning, communicating with guests, etc.). It brings in about 1,800 per month in income, some of which is used to cover elevated utility costs, paper product costs, etc. Still a pretty profitable side gig, and we've also met a lot of cool people too.

Could you expand on this some more. I have a basement suite that I rent out in BC, Canada for $800 month. This is about the going rate in my area. But I'm wondering if I should try something like you are doing. Furnish it and rent by the day, week or month.

What is Airbnb?

I assume you have it fully furnished, basically like a hotel/motel room?... You provide cutlery, towels, etc... What kind of services do you offer? Do you clean it like hotel staff would every day? Do you do their laundry?

Check out this blog for a great overview of the authors AirBnB experiment.

http://affordanything.com/2014/05/27/the-airbnb-experiment-how-much-did-i-make/

Thanks for the link. I've been seriously considering this after my current tenants leave (hopefully not for a long time, they're great). The location independence thing would be hard to give up, but it might be worth it for a couple years.

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #345 on: December 11, 2014, 06:22:08 PM »
Paula updated the experiment again:
http://affordanything.com/2014/11/04/the-airbnb-experiment-42-guests-1-police-visit-and-19000/

It's booked through December, but she's quitting the experiment after that.

It makes good money, but is way too much work.  It pays about $50/hr., so it's a good side gig.  But it's not a good passive investment.

And management for short term rentals costs so much that it wouldn't be profitable to rent it that way.

It was an awesome series by her, big props for going through it all and reporting the numbers.

It's exactly what I'd have expected.  I get paid $50-100/hr. to manage my properties.  But it's a side gig.  Not a passive investment.  Passing off to a property manager is much more passive, but then you need a longer term rental, because short term management is too expensive.

Someone in the accumulation phase willing to "hustle"?  Go for it.  Someone wanting to FIRE (especially if they want to travel at all).. maybe not as much.  :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #346 on: December 11, 2014, 06:30:15 PM »
I don't know if I could consider this a "side gig", since I don't have a "front and centre gig".  Unless you count parenting.

But I have started making some money through photography.  I was just doing some little gigs here and there on the odd weekend for friends of friends, and then under duress got roped into doing a wedding this summer.  I loved it, and I have five more booked for next year.

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #347 on: December 11, 2014, 07:59:53 PM »
When I lived in Alaska the no sales tax meant I could buy a hardcover at Costco, read it, and sell it at Amazon for about $5-10 more than I paid for it...fun, in a way versus paperbacks.

I do pet sitting. I do liquor gigs because they're fun and pay at least $30 an hour ("try this cabernet"). Housesitting.

I did a lot of ebay and might get back into it...yard sales were my primary source of material. Bought an antique train set for $20 and sold it for over $200 a few years back. Planning on downsizing all my clutter on craigslist.

Just starting out on cafepress. Well...I threw a store up and nothing happened so about to get serious about some cafepress stuff.

Plan on doing some ebooks as well.


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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #348 on: December 11, 2014, 09:17:26 PM »
As a teacher, there are the obvious opportunities to tutor after hours for $30-60/hour. I prefer, however, to teach chess after school, which I started doing while still in college with a great company in southern California that paid $30/hour.

Currently, I get $10/hour/kid with an average of 8 kids per class and only once a week. I used to coach soccer, but the money/time is definitely in chess. While I'm not involved in it, I also think reffing sports is a great gig. I know someone else mentioned it.

I dabble in Craigslist mostly with recycled/upcycled trash. I recently sold a set of patio furniture that was being thrown out for $60. Maybe an hour's worth of work to pick up, clean up, and post pictures, maybe. My college roommate and I did this very same thing but almost exclusively with couches. We made an extra $1000 or more in a September when all the freshmen moved into their dorm rooms and needed a couch.

I also pay myself in DIY repairs and maintenance.

I made $60/hour tutoring this past summer.

I limited myself to five "clients" per day two days per week for six weeks.

I guess my time is more valuable than even $60/hour - especially during summer. I did like being able to call the shots, set my hours (for the most part), choose the families/children I wanted to work with, and even had someone on my "waiting" list which I found quite amusing.

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #349 on: December 12, 2014, 09:58:08 AM »
What a great topic--combed through for ideas for husband as I'm about to go on half-paid maternity leave (9 weeks paid, 9 weeks unpaid) and we will need some extra income for sure to help fill the gaps.

Some things I have done/do for extra income on the side (did a lot more before I had a kid four years ago, now I barely have time, especially with baby 2 coming in less than two months):

  • freelance graphic design, political cartooning & illustration: before I had a kid and quit doing this, I made about $10,000/year extra doing this on the side of a full-time job... but it was a LOT of work and energy.
  • selling used items/books/clothes on eBay and Amazon, as mentioned by others -- I only do this sporadically, but it's amazing how some old sewing book I once got for $1 used can sell for $100 (not the norm, but it has happened). I never go to post office, I just print the media mail labels at home and the packages all get picked up. I never throw away or donate anything when decluttering without checking to see if it might sell on either site.
  • Blogging. I blog sporadically about sewing/knitting and allergy-free cooking for fun, and I still have my old cartooning blog up. I barely have time to post more than 1-3 posts per month on any of these, but I have Google Adsense and Blogher ads on the blogs, and I have Viglink set up to make money from affiliate links. (i.e. if I am talking about a sewing project and I mention a sewing tool I used, and someone clicks through to Amazon or wherever and buys that tool or anything else, I get a commission--this is disclosed with clear language on the blog, too). Not much income but it is quite passive, and brings in anywhere from $25-$75 a month even when I'm too busy to blog. And I periodically get $6 commissions from YNAB for the referral link I have on my blog resources page.