What is your muse or side hustle?

[wealthviahealth]

Most of you who have read the four hour work week are familiar with the idea of having a "muse"-
a source of side income that is generally automatic or requires little effort to sustain.

I am also interested in hearing about peoples side hustles outside of their normal salary/income.

[warfreak2]

I make music. It rarely brings any money in, but it's what I do for fun anyway.

[skunkfunk]

I play music in swing bands, salsa band, churches; that kind of thing. Some months it makes a lot of money, and other months it doesn't make any money.

[jhartt3]

I buy and resell tickets. Pretty little effort for the reward. Usually 30% roi in 2months or less

[arebelspy]

Real estate.

[FuckRx]

relayrides with 3 cars.
probably make about 300-400/mo.
my cost/overhead is maybe 50.
I don't know if it's worth continuing though, we'll see.

[lysistrata]

I marry people, do a bit of freelance writing, teach writing classes, and am slowly trying to build a passive income selling my novels and little guides as ebooks on Amazon and other platforms.

[PMG]

I make stuff.  I do a lot of sewing and design, but I also build and refurbish furniture and "stuff".  Most of the time it is for personal use, gift giving, or just an outlet to keep me sane.  I use a lot of found and recycled objects.  This year for Christmas my brothers got hand bound leather journals.  Last year for Christmas they got quilts. 

Along the way I get random commissions, and sell extra pieces.  I more than cover my expenses each year. 

When I quit my current job and have more time on my hands I hope to be able to make it even more lucrative, though I want to keep it as a side gig.  I'd rather spend my time making than selling. 

[bikebum]

Nothing right now, but I used to play tenor sax and some other instruments in a band, and tutor math and physics. I should get one, or both, of those going again.

[CarDude]

I teach folks about car safety.

[bikebum]

I teach folks about car safety.

We need more guys like you! Too many people drive like morons.

[YK-Phil]

Nobody from work is reading this, so I can admit here that I do have a 4-hour workweek at my regular day job. On weekends and sometimes right after I am released from my daily cell, I work as a residential support worker for people who have a developmental disability. Basically, my side gig involves getting paid doing what I would normally do, such as taking my clients shopping, to the coffee shop, ride around by car, or just hanging out at the group home watching TV (I don't have a TV so everything is new to me...) or having dinner with them. My favorite shift is the sleep shift, up one hour from 10 to 11 pm, sleep from 11 pm to about 7 am, get everybody up, have breakfast and a quick shower, and out of the house to their daily occupation, then I'm off to start my other job.

[Cwadda]

Playing music. Currently music director at a church working 1 day per week. For someone in college that's significant because it's enough to put me through school. Really enjoy it and see myself continuing it and/or doing it in retirement age.

[expatartist]

I market and manage my holiday rental online, which brings in a few thousand per year for occasional stress but mostly fun. That income goes to taxes, maintenance and renovations for the property, local agency fees, 'charitable lending' (Kiva etc), my travel insurance, and an occasional plane ticket or three.

Also on the side I teach English to corporate clients twice/week or so which brings in ~$35/hour tax-free. The clients are really interesting people, it's like socializing and getting paid for it ;)

[Ian]

Writing. Definitely muse, but right now more of a hobby that brings in some money than a true side hustle.

[dragonwalker]

I do mystery shopping. Get some side income and often food as well.

[payitoff]

I market and manage my holiday rental online, which brings in a few thousand per year for occasional stress but mostly fun. That income goes to taxes, maintenance and renovations for the property, local agency fees, 'charitable lending' (Kiva etc), my travel insurance, and an occasional plane ticket or three.

Also on the side I teach English to corporate clients twice/week or so which brings in ~$35/hour tax-free. The clients are really interesting people, it's like socializing and getting paid for it ;)

i'm interested to know more about Kiva, do you get tax breaks in doing this?

[arebelspy]

i'm interested to know more about Kiva, do you get tax breaks in doing this?

There's been lots of Kiva discussion on the forums.  Here is some:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/let's-talk-charities-(afghani-brick-kilns-and-us)/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/off-topic/kiva-lending-how-much-is-the-donation-really/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/mmm-and-kiva/

[payitoff]

i'm interested to know more about Kiva, do you get tax breaks in doing this?

There's been lots of Kiva discussion on the forums.  Here is some:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/let's-talk-charities-(afghani-brick-kilns-and-us)/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/off-topic/kiva-lending-how-much-is-the-donation-really/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/mmm-and-kiva/

perfect. thanks

[NeverWasACornflakeGirl]

I marry people, do a bit of freelance writing, teach writing classes, and am slowly trying to build a passive income selling my novels and little guides as ebooks on Amazon and other platforms.

Wouldn't divorcing them cut into your ROI?  ;-)

[Insanity]

I marry people, do a bit of freelance writing, teach writing classes, and am slowly trying to build a passive income selling my novels and little guides as ebooks on Amazon and other platforms.

Wouldn't divorcing them cut into your ROI?  ;-)

Damn it, you beat me to it.

[AtlStash]

I teach folks about car safety.

We need more guys like you! Too many people drive like morons.

Or maybe he is the reason...:)

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I do Leapforce at Home. Not really a muse, since it pays by the minute, but a decent side hustle for someone who has lifestyle limitations (eg, children) and needs something they can do on the couch. (http://frugalparagon.com/2014/02/05/why-the-frugal-paragon-loves-leapforce-at-home/)

[gobius]

Don't really have a side hustle or muse.  In college I refereed wrestling, which made decent money per hour (I once made $300 for a 20-hour weekend and usually made $20-25/hr for Saturday morning tournaments).  Work is mostly in the winter unless you find a way to do freestyle in the spring/summer.  You don't make a ton of money since there are only so many tournaments/meets, but since I love the sport it was a lot of fun.  Most work is on Saturdays or Tuesday/Thursday evenings and once you've refereed a few places they ask you to come back again.

My job requires me to put in some nights/weekends so I've kind of used that as an excuse to not get back into it.

[nottoolatetostart]

I do Leapforce at Home. Not really a muse, since it pays by the minute, but a decent side hustle for someone who has lifestyle limitations (eg, children) and needs something they can do on the couch. (http://frugalparagon.com/2014/02/05/why-the-frugal-paragon-loves-leapforce-at-home/)

FP - I read your article. Thanks for posting that. So, what do you do? Any special training?

[CarDude]

I teach folks about car safety.

We need more guys like you! Too many people drive like morons.

Ha, thank you. And yes, too many folks don't realize how important it is to continue to focus on driving safely once they've got the green light from the DMV.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I do Leapforce at Home. Not really a muse, since it pays by the minute, but a decent side hustle for someone who has lifestyle limitations (eg, children) and needs something they can do on the couch. (http://frugalparagon.com/2014/02/05/why-the-frugal-paragon-loves-leapforce-at-home/)

FP - I read your article. Thanks for posting that. So, what do you do? Any special training?

You're welcome! To answer your question, they provide training materials. There's a lot to read up front and you don't get paid for the training, but I obviously found it to be worthwhile once I got into it. There is a two-part test to get hired, first a theoretical test and then a practical one. The test is not timed (assuming the process has not changed), so you can go back to the guidelines and look things up. It's important to take your time and look up the answers carefully! You can PM me if you have any other specific questions.

[expatartist]

i'm interested to know more about Kiva, do you get tax breaks in doing this?

There's been lots of Kiva discussion on the forums.  Here is some:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/let's-talk-charities-(afghani-brick-kilns-and-us)/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/off-topic/kiva-lending-how-much-is-the-donation-really/
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/mmm-and-kiva/

Thanks for that, arebelspy.

Having lived in a couple places where microlending can make a real difference in peoples' lives, I'm comfortable loaning to projects which meet the following criteria:
* I'm familiar with the culture and how money is treated within it
* Generally loan to women or collectives, not to women who get the loan for their husband's business
* It's for producing high quality art/craft projects (my industry)

Interest rates are astronomical, but microlending is an expensive endeavor for anyone financing -- there's little financial infrastructure in these economies, and getting $ in and out is an expensive pain (this is also true where I live now!). For many, these loans are the only option for financing after family resources have been exhausted. And charitable giving, while worthy, encourages dependence on foreign aid (and I've seen too many NGO staff drinking away their salaries and driving SUV's to be happy giving to most orgs). So selective microlending is a choice I'm comfortable with.

/threadhijack

[lysistrata]

I marry people, do a bit of freelance writing, teach writing classes, and am slowly trying to build a passive income selling my novels and little guides as ebooks on Amazon and other platforms.

Wouldn't divorcing them cut into your ROI?  ;-)

I see what you did there :).

[spoonman]

My side hustle is being a dividend growth investor.  When I leave work, I think I will supplement that with other forms of passive income, perhaps blogging.