The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Entrepreneurship => Topic started by: auzzman on July 26, 2013, 10:34:33 AM
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At one time I was a journeyman plumber, so I still bring in some extra $ with that, but I'm interested in other side jobs, or creative gigs that any of you take advantage of.
Let's here em'
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This is certainly unique, but I make handmade 18th and 19th century hats and bonnets for reenactors, museums, even an opera company once! Obviously the market is small and you have to have considerable sewing skills, but it brings in some decent $. $400/month for July, though that is higher than usual.
I've been thrilled with my ability to turn a craft/hobby into meaningful income! And there are plenty of quilters, seamstresses, etc who have little side hustles on Etsy.
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Refereeing sports. I make $40-$60 per game doing teenage soccer. You can be as casual as a game here and there or as intense as a tournament with 6-8 games per day for 3 days over a holiday weekend. Getting qualified is a matter of completing a weekend course. They're always begging for more refs.
Must have a thick skin and enjoy running about in the park! I tell everyone I can about this side gig because making 45 bucks watching 14 year old girls (they rarely foul each other) have fun outside on a sunny afternoon is like stealing money.
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
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I work at an auto parts store on the weekends. It started off as a summer job in college. I worked full time during the summers and part time during the semesters. I just continued working there even after I graduated. I enjoy it, it puts extra money in my pocket, and I get a really big discount on parts, which I've used countless times and has saved me thousands of dollars.
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This is certainly unique, but I make handmade 18th and 19th century hats and bonnets for reenactors, museums, even an opera company once! Obviously the market is small and you have to have considerable sewing skills, but it brings in some decent $. $400/month for July, though that is higher than usual.
I've been thrilled with my ability to turn a craft/hobby into meaningful income! And there are plenty of quilters, seamstresses, etc who have little side hustles on Etsy.
I'm curious - have you figured out your essential hourly wage from this/how do you price your pieces?
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i'm a full time physician so not a whole lot of extra time but...
i opened a mechanic shop and had my mechanic friend (who became my partner) run it for a while...
made some money but i reinvested a lot of it too...
it was good because he pretty much ran it and i did all the book keeping, financing etc...
i was on fiverr.com for a while and it wasn't too bad but needed a lot of my time and make $10-30 per month...
i started buying some car parts on craigslist and car forums for cheap and would sell them on ebay...
again time consuming...
i did this more when i was in med school...
in college i went around computer shops and asked them for the parts they didn't need (old hard drives etc)...
and would get all the info, make a nice posting and sell on ebay....
that actually was really good money....
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This is certainly unique, but I make handmade 18th and 19th century hats and bonnets for reenactors, museums, even an opera company once! Obviously the market is small and you have to have considerable sewing skills, but it brings in some decent $. $400/month for July, though that is higher than usual.
I've been thrilled with my ability to turn a craft/hobby into meaningful income! And there are plenty of quilters, seamstresses, etc who have little side hustles on Etsy.
I'm curious - have you figured out your essential hourly wage from this/how do you price your pieces?
My hourly wage is laughable- I tend to make about $5/hr on my labor, but it is improving. That said, I do this while I am sitting in front of the TV, so it is time that would otherwise be wasted. Also, I just really enjoy doing it, so it doesn't seem like work for me!
For my pricing, I looked at what was out in the marketplace that was similar (admittedly it is a small marketplace) and used that as a guide. I'll add more for a more elaborate design or expensive materials or if it has some feature that increases the labor. I could probably charge more, but I feel like I am getting a fair amount.
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Waitressing.
I'm glad I have this skill to fall back on in case I get laid off. But I plan on quitting when I pay off my loans and then hopefully I'll find something different - like making things - to bring in some extra cash.
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This is certainly unique, but I make handmade 18th and 19th century hats and bonnets for reenactors, museums, even an opera company once! Obviously the market is small and you have to have considerable sewing skills, but it brings in some decent $. $400/month for July, though that is higher than usual.
I've been thrilled with my ability to turn a craft/hobby into meaningful income! And there are plenty of quilters, seamstresses, etc who have little side hustles on Etsy.
I'm curious - have you figured out your essential hourly wage from this/how do you price your pieces?
My hourly wage is laughable- I tend to make about $5/hr on my labor, but it is improving. That said, I do this while I am sitting in front of the TV, so it is time that would otherwise be wasted. Also, I just really enjoy doing it, so it doesn't seem like work for me!
For my pricing, I looked at what was out in the marketplace that was similar (admittedly it is a small marketplace) and used that as a guide. I'll add more for a more elaborate design or expensive materials or if it has some feature that increases the labor. I could probably charge more, but I feel like I am getting a fair amount.
IMO: If you have a hobby you enjoy and someone pays for your raw materials and you come out at $0 an hour: you come out ahead.
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This is certainly unique, but I make handmade 18th and 19th century hats and bonnets for reenactors, museums, even an opera company once! Obviously the market is small and you have to have considerable sewing skills, but it brings in some decent $. $400/month for July, though that is higher than usual.
I've been thrilled with my ability to turn a craft/hobby into meaningful income! And there are plenty of quilters, seamstresses, etc who have little side hustles on Etsy.
I'm curious - have you figured out your essential hourly wage from this/how do you price your pieces?
My hourly wage is laughable- I tend to make about $5/hr on my labor, but it is improving. That said, I do this while I am sitting in front of the TV, so it is time that would otherwise be wasted. Also, I just really enjoy doing it, so it doesn't seem like work for me!
For my pricing, I looked at what was out in the marketplace that was similar (admittedly it is a small marketplace) and used that as a guide. I'll add more for a more elaborate design or expensive materials or if it has some feature that increases the labor. I could probably charge more, but I feel like I am getting a fair amount.
IMO: If you have a hobby you enjoy and someone pays for your raw materials and you come out at $0 an hour: you come out ahead.
My feelings exactly! I would do this for free, so the money is like a super bonus!
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Flipping items. Anything from cars, to car parts, to unique antiques. It's a lot of fun finding a deal and turning a profit. For example I found a really cool typewriter at Goodwill for $3. Looked it up and found it to be collectable after I bought it. Sold it on CL for $120.
Anything vintage is a great investment.
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I'm a web developer by trade and did some on the side consulting for about a year before I got burnt out. Wasn't a fan of 60-65 hour work weeks and my friends harassing me for never being available on the weekends. It's not like I NEEDED the extra money.
Since then I've been building and redesigning/updating websites for small businesses in the area, mostly for people I know. I typically do any side projects during the winter - I hate being stuck inside in the summer. After all, we only get 2-3 months of nice weather here in MN!
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
Do you know the rough word count of your E-Book? I want to write something, but I keep thinking it will be too short!
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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.
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I was working a side job at a gym, low pay, but got paid to exercise! I will probably go back to it a few nights a week when I move back to the area (hopefully soon).
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
Do you know the rough word count of your E-Book? I want to write something, but I keep thinking it will be too short!
i can't remember exactly, but i think it's between 15-20,000 words. it's 10 chapters long, and each chapter is 1500-2000 words. comes out to 45 pages as assessed by the kindle store.
i priced it low -- $2.99 -- figuring that it will be at least as entertaining and useful as a cup of coffee.
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I flip vintage collectibles (mainly clothing, housewares, decor, some books) in various venues, mostly online. I've been doing it on and off for 12 years. I only do about $1000/year now - but when I started out, I had a low-paying entry-level job in my field, and the extra cash covered most of my grad school tuition. But it was a lot of work and I probably didn't crack $10/hour - I had more time than money back then. Nowadays I only do it if I happen to run across something and I think I can make at least $50 without much effort. Those opportunities are pretty scarce in the niche markets I know well. If I wanted to ramp up my side gig I'd plan to expand into other niche antiques/collectibles areas.
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I used to make money playing online Poker, but soon after I quit I believe it became illegal. Ended up being 8-10 dollars an hour profit, but it wasn't good for my mood.
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I work in law enforcement/forensics but will be teaching a night class at the local university this fall for an extra $5000/semester. If it works out, I will try to pick up another class for the spring or summer - or maybe do one online.
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I run an ebay store that earns me about $1000 profit/month & that is after I pay someone else to most of the work. So, all in all a pretty good side gig that I could ramp up with more free time.
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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.
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I work in law enforcement/forensics but will be teaching a night class at the local university this fall for an extra $5000/semester. If it works out, I will try to pick up another class for the spring or summer - or maybe do one online.
I have been thinking about teaching part-time in the evenings, too.
Problem is I think $5000/semester is a lot more than I would get... :)
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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.
WOW! Where do you live that you get that much demand?
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I sell books on Amazon. I buy them at the Goodwill for $1 or $2, then list them and send 'em off when they sell. The best one I found was a book on internal combustion mechanics that I bought for $2 and sold for $125.
The husband is the one who really rakes it in with the side gigs. He plays drums in a local swing band and makes at least $60 per show. However, if he could convince himself that he's good enough at the bagpipes, he could hire himself out as a bagpiper for weddings and funerals for $250 a pop. (He's a perfectionist, though, and is never pleased with how he plays.)
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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.
WOW! Where do you live that you get that much demand?
I live in Chicago. Hotels are so expensive here; there's a lot of demand for affordable temporary housing. :)
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i walk a dog. 10 bucks an hour 3 hours a week. best part is i walk the dog with my dog on a walk i was going to do already
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My husband and I have day jobs that are often freelanced, so we can do very similar work as contractors when we want extra cash. Freelance editing and freelance graphic design.
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After fixing my dryer myself, and reading people doing it full time, I thought about doing it on weekends but I don't have a truck/space to store it (excuses I know...)
But for about a $10-100 parts and about 30 minutes to take apart and clean, you can resell them for about $100-200 fairly easy on craigslist in my area. And pick up free "broken" ones on craigslist as well.
Another thing is doing a tuneup on cars (spark plugs and wires only) and charge $100 for it. I know someone that does this on the weekends, takes a $30 kit for both plugs and wires, and 15 minutes to change out. He does the rest of the auto mechanic work (switch out timing belt/water pump, etc) but I don't have the tools, hours for something that takes 4-5 hours to do. The spark plugs/wires I can do though :). I just have to advertize myself for it but I don't really put much effort into it. Maybe 1-2 cars a month? I get decent responses because I offer to drive to their house and do it in their driveway (something other people don't seem to do and I don't see any reason not to, I'm getting 3-4x the parts price so I can afford gas/bike).
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I have just fallen into a side gig every Christmas. I'm a good shopper, and I recognize a deal when I see one. I have usually financed my family's Christmas by selling deals I find on ebay or local classifieds. Last year, I bought Sorel boots at a Columbia factory outlet store- I bought every pair between a size 6 and 11. They cost me $16/pr with discounts, and I sold them all on eBay for $60/pr. They retailed for $120, so it was a win/win. A couple years ago, it was XBOX's. I found a deal that included gift cards, then rolled the gift cards into the next XBOX purchase. In years past, I've also bought and sold Wii's and American Girl dolls. I never intend to do it. It's just something I'm trying to find a deal on. Then I start doing the math and somehow I get sucked back into it.
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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.
WOW! Where do you live that you get that much demand?
I live in Chicago. Hotels are so expensive here; there's a lot of demand for affordable temporary housing. :)
Big thumbs up, what a great idea. Has me thinking about getting a second inexpensive condo....
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I'm a sysadmin, so I do IT work on the side for individuals and very small businesses, At $50 an hour I'm pretty happy, and I know I could make and charge more if I were to really push it, but I am a very busy person already so I usually let the work find me. If I were young and single and didn't want to work for "the man"??? There is good money here, certainly qualifies for one of those 50K+ jobs without a degree that MMM recently posted about. If I were out of work I am confident I could fall back on this.
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I play casino poker.
I am now dedicating my free time to learning how to play better to bring my hourly win rate up.
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I do a couple wedding dj gigs a year, mostly for friends or friends of friends. I've got a basic sound system and a laptop full of hits (most of them ripped from library cds), and that's all it takes to get started. Every time I do one I upgrade my gear a little bit with the proceeds.
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I have a teaching license, so I was able to get a very part time teaching job at night. I teach adult immigrants how to read English. It's about five hours a week, and I take home an extra $500 a month. It's super easy and fun! Definitely a fun side gig.
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I dont have a side gig but really want one. In the past i sold coupons on ebay....woulg get them out of recycling dumpsters and make around 300 per month. Also did online poker which cleared at least a few hundred on average but it has become too saturated. Lots of ideas, i just have to focus and make one of these work:
Resell sports jerseys....buy from china, sell on craigs. Likely $30 profit per item
Poker in casinos
Dog walker
Do taxes or books on the side (im an accountant)
House sitting
Pet boarding
House cleaning although people are reluctant to hire males
Driving instructor
Get an actual part time job
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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.
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This is more passive income -- but I rent our 1/2 my two car garage to a contractor to store his tools. It's $100/month - and he's been renting it for over 5 years... So it's worked out well for me.
I've considered learning how to do calligraphy (I've wanted to learn just for fun anyway) and then offer to invitations, etc... but haven't started that yet - has anyone else done this or know anything about it as a side gig?
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Buying extra tickets for concerts that I am confident that will sell out. We don't actively pursue this, but we easily make a few hundred a month doing that. Probably could make $2k a month if we put effort into it.
The last few years I have helped start up some businesses with friends and acquaintances. Usually that is a six figure side gig. I have kept the stock and make about $30k a year in semi passive income for a few hours a month for board meeting, meetings with bankers, etc.
Managing the balance sheet, by refinancing debt to low interest rates, buying rentals, managing investments adds up to tens of thousands. The refinance of the mortgage over 10 years saved like $50k in interest.
Keeping eyes and ears open for good deals. It is mostly just simple math and the initiative to do it.
A friend buys up land with timber. He typically is dealing with uneducated people who need money fast and have no clue of the value of the timber. He can buy the land for $40k cash, thin the land and get $50k in timber and then subdivide the land. This is not his full time job, he just started doing it as a side project.
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I have down a lot of side gigs in my life. Currently I have a few people that I dog sit for. I either watch the dogs at my house or stay at their house when they are away, if they want me to take care of other things while they are away. It's pretty easy money, and I usually bring in about an additional 200.00 a year. It's not a huge amount, but something I enjoy.
I also played baseball in college, and was giving private baseball lessons. I had all my own equipment, from batting tees, to catchers equipment, hundreds of balls etc. At one time I was giving lessons to three different kids making an extra 150.00 or so a week. It was fun, but then I got nervous about a kid getting injured, and getting sued. I stopped as my clients got older.
When I was a teenager, I used to mow lawns. I had about 4 in my neighborhood. Most of my current neighbors pay about 100.00 for professional lawn services. I have been thinking about getting back into lawn care again, and charging 75. LOL
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Since I buy a decent amount of art from local artists, I've been spending a ton on professional framing. I just signed up for a lesson ($50, including equipment) so I can learn to mat and frame myself. Assuming I pick it up reasonably well, I'm thinking it will be a decent side hustle. I don't imagine it will bring in big bucks, but I think it will make something. I've been struggling to come up with a side gig that I can do for many years and scale up and down as needed, so I'm pretty pleased about this. Fingers crossed...
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Although due to time I don't do much of it now but...
IT support/setup/installs for small business or personal. Generally charge about $45/hr. I stopped doing this due to time and not wanting to work on IT during weekends.
Tennis Coaching, although I'm not certified yet... playing at the club I get strangers approach me and ask me to teach lessons to their kids... I do and charge about $25/hr (could be more but heck, i'm having fun too!). I'll be certified once I'm FI.
Also not for all and probably frowned upon by this crowed, I play online and live poker. It takes a lot of emotional control, bit of mathematics, bit of deductive reasoning and a lot of gamble :)... but generally the more skilled player wins long term. Been playing for about 8yrs now, majority of our current rental condo down payment was by a tournament win, about 25k.
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Also not for all and probably frowned upon by this crowed, I play online and live poker. It takes a lot of emotional control, bit of mathematics, bit of deductive reasoning and a lot of gamble :)... but generally the more skilled player wins long term. Been playing for about 8yrs now, majority of our current rental condo down payment was by a tournament win, about 25k.
I think you're the 3rd person on this thread to mention online poker! So maybe it isn't so frowned upon. Certainly surprised me, though!
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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.
This is brilliant.
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Great to see everyone's response.
My wife decided to submit her picture to be an "extra" at TV commercials and TV shows. Perfect for opportunities during days off and you do have the option to either accept or not the opportunities she is offered.
- If selected, averages approx $75- $250/day (typically 5-8 hours) at one point there was one for $800/day (depending on client budget)
- No skills needed other than wait for you to be called on and be a background for a commercial.
- They usually feed you on the set.
We've used this as extra incoming which 80% goes straight to savings.
*This did require a 1 time fee to be in the agency database. The wife got that fee back on her first gig.
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Also not for all and probably frowned upon by this crowed, I play online and live poker. It takes a lot of emotional control, bit of mathematics, bit of deductive reasoning and a lot of gamble :)... but generally the more skilled player wins long term. Been playing for about 8yrs now, majority of our current rental condo down payment was by a tournament win, about 25k.
I think you're the 3rd person on this thread to mention online poker! So maybe it isn't so frowned upon. Certainly surprised me, though!
Just FYI: opportunities to make money playing online poker in the USA are very limited. You can play on ultimatepoker if you are in Nevada, and that's just about it. If you live outside the US, you have vast options, but post Black Friday (that's what we call the day the feds shut down internet poker in the US) the fields have gotten significantly tougher.
As far as casino poker, I'd recommend building your bankroll up as quickly as possible to get out of 1/2 NLHE - the rake is too high and eats up your profit. 2/5 and up is probably best.
In my opinion, poker is the most fun I've ever had making money! If you can do it - more power to you!
I currently make my living as a gaming consultant and poker tournament player :-)
Cheers!
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1. I coach kids' gymnastics a few evenings a week. It's fun and a lot of the time I work out afterwards.
2. I buy stuff (usually niche things I'm very familiar with) at the thrift store and re-sell it on ebay for quite a bit more than I paid
3. I play bagpipes at weddings/funerals/events. maryofdoom, I may have actually met your husband if you're in the Southwest PA area, that's where I am, too!
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Also not for all and probably frowned upon by this crowed, I play online and live poker. It takes a lot of emotional control, bit of mathematics, bit of deductive reasoning and a lot of gamble :)... but generally the more skilled player wins long term. Been playing for about 8yrs now, majority of our current rental condo down payment was by a tournament win, about 25k.
I think you're the 3rd person on this thread to mention online poker! So maybe it isn't so frowned upon. Certainly surprised me, though!
Just FYI: opportunities to make money playing online poker in the USA are very limited. You can play on ultimatepoker if you are in Nevada, and that's just about it. If you live outside the US, you have vast options, but post Black Friday (that's what we call the day the feds shut down internet poker in the US) the fields have gotten significantly tougher.
As far as casino poker, I'd recommend building your bankroll up as quickly as possible to get out of 1/2 NLHE - the rake is too high and eats up your profit. 2/5 and up is probably best.
In my opinion, poker is the most fun I've ever had making money! If you can do it - more power to you!
I currently make my living as a gaming consultant and poker tournament player :-)
Cheers!
It sucks, we don't have much 2/5+ here, it's all either 1/2 or 1/3. But the 1/2 has a $300 max buyin so you are a little deeper.
I'm working on my game now. I have not had a very good year. I took $10K out of my bankroll when I bought a house, leaving me with $5K left. I finally realized I was playing to not lose instead of playing to win. I was a pretty weak-tight player to begin with who was a little profitable.
Good thing, is now I have recognized that and have been reading advanced texts and have been starting to play a more aggressive game. Too early to tell, yet. Hoping this will bring my win rate up. Increasing my bluffing and stealing and just trying to play the players better instead of playing the cards.
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I buy and sell antiques and widgets for a healthy profit (About 750 in the last month) Currently I am preparing to start a side business of handyman services and/or computer repair for some additional income. Shooting for 35/hour with a 2 hour minimum
The person with cash in their pocket can always make a deal.
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I sell books on Amazon. I buy them at the Goodwill for $1 or $2, then list them and send 'em off when they sell. The best one I found was a book on internal combustion mechanics that I bought for $2 and sold for $125.
This sounds interesting, and dare I say it, pretty easy (as long as you've got storage space, have patience, and can organize your books easily and efficiently). How much do you make in a normal month?
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
Do you know the rough word count of your E-Book? I want to write something, but I keep thinking it will be too short!
i can't remember exactly, but i think it's between 15-20,000 words. it's 10 chapters long, and each chapter is 1500-2000 words. comes out to 45 pages as assessed by the kindle store.
i priced it low -- $2.99 -- figuring that it will be at least as entertaining and useful as a cup of coffee.
Interesting...my master's thesis is about 15,000 words... I wonder if it has a future as an ebook? How did you market it, if at all?
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I sell books on Amazon. I buy them at the Goodwill for $1 or $2, then list them and send 'em off when they sell. The best one I found was a book on internal combustion mechanics that I bought for $2 and sold for $125.
This sounds interesting, and dare I say it, pretty easy (as long as you've got storage space, have patience, and can organize your books easily and efficiently). How much do you make in a normal month?
It is honestly the easiest thing. I have a designated bookshelf that I use to store the books until they sell, though you could use almost any kind of anything that works for you. I don't bother sorting them by author or title; what I do is catalog them on my own spreadsheet that includes title, author, and ISBN. Since I only have around 50 books up for sale at any one time, I don't usually sort them out and just double-check the title and author when I pull books that have sold.
As far as the monthly income is concerned, I don't really have a reliable figure to cite. Amazon pays out every two weeks, depending on when you start your account: I started mine on a Thursday, so I get paid every other Thursday. The least I've made with one of these payments was $5.27 on June 13, 2013, which was due to not listing many books, a week on vacation with the store closed, and slow summer sales; the most I've made was $803.46 on March 8, 2012, which was due to the fact that I bought 1,500 books from a liquidation auction and flipped most of them quickly. (It wasn't really worth it, in the end.) Tomorrow I will make $267.74, though $145.44 of that is books I'm selling on behalf of my EGA chapter that belonged to a member who passed away earlier this year. I volunteered to sell the valuable books on Amazon to achieve a greater profit for the chapter than if the books were sold at a rummage sale. (We'll probably use the money to hire a fancy, nationally-recognized teacher to come teach us something interesting.)
I average about $200 of income per month and somewhere between $50 and $80 in expenses - after all, I do have to buy the books from somewhere. I pick them up mostly at Goodwill, and if I see something else there that I like, I throw it in my bag, so I count that as an expense, too. Plus if there are books I want to read, they go in the bag as well. I have an extensive personal library as a result.
Doing this could be a real job-job if I got more serious about it, but right now it's just a casual thing for me. It is enjoyable, though, and when a book sells for $50 or more, it's quite pleasant.
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
Do you know the rough word count of your E-Book? I want to write something, but I keep thinking it will be too short!
i can't remember exactly, but i think it's between 15-20,000 words. it's 10 chapters long, and each chapter is 1500-2000 words. comes out to 45 pages as assessed by the kindle store.
i priced it low -- $2.99 -- figuring that it will be at least as entertaining and useful as a cup of coffee.
Interesting...my master's thesis is about 15,000 words... I wonder if it has a future as an ebook? How did you market it, if at all?
i marketed it in 2 major ways:
1) starting an associated blog (be less crazy), and
2) partnering with a big website who published the intro (the hairpin)
without #2 i would have sold almost no copies. really, you have to get your work in front of a bigger audience.
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I used to help a guy hang Christmas lights in the richer parts of town (know as yuppieville by us port folks). Got paid between $100-$500 a house depending on the house and how many lights. I have moved back to rural America now so this is no lo her an option. From my perspective people in rural areas a way less wussified and less likely to outsource something like this.
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Sorry stupid iPhone auto correct. It's supposed to be poor folks not port folks
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
Do you know the rough word count of your E-Book? I want to write something, but I keep thinking it will be too short!
i can't remember exactly, but i think it's between 15-20,000 words. it's 10 chapters long, and each chapter is 1500-2000 words. comes out to 45 pages as assessed by the kindle store.
i priced it low -- $2.99 -- figuring that it will be at least as entertaining and useful as a cup of coffee.
Interesting...my master's thesis is about 15,000 words... I wonder if it has a future as an ebook? How did you market it, if at all?
i marketed it in 2 major ways:
1) starting an associated blog (be less crazy), and
2) partnering with a big website who published the intro (the hairpin)
without #2 i would have sold almost no copies. really, you have to get your work in front of a bigger audience.
Very cool. How were you able to get the larger website on board?
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I sell books on Amazon. I buy them at the Goodwill for $1 or $2, then list them and send 'em off when they sell. The best one I found was a book on internal combustion mechanics that I bought for $2 and sold for $125.
This sounds interesting, and dare I say it, pretty easy (as long as you've got storage space, have patience, and can organize your books easily and efficiently). How much do you make in a normal month?
It is honestly the easiest thing. I have a designated bookshelf that I use to store the books until they sell, though you could use almost any kind of anything that works for you. I don't bother sorting them by author or title; what I do is catalog them on my own spreadsheet that includes title, author, and ISBN. Since I only have around 50 books up for sale at any one time, I don't usually sort them out and just double-check the title and author when I pull books that have sold.
As far as the monthly income is concerned, I don't really have a reliable figure to cite. Amazon pays out every two weeks, depending on when you start your account: I started mine on a Thursday, so I get paid every other Thursday. The least I've made with one of these payments was $5.27 on June 13, 2013, which was due to not listing many books, a week on vacation with the store closed, and slow summer sales; the most I've made was $803.46 on March 8, 2012, which was due to the fact that I bought 1,500 books from a liquidation auction and flipped most of them quickly. (It wasn't really worth it, in the end.) Tomorrow I will make $267.74, though $145.44 of that is books I'm selling on behalf of my EGA chapter that belonged to a member who passed away earlier this year. I volunteered to sell the valuable books on Amazon to achieve a greater profit for the chapter than if the books were sold at a rummage sale. (We'll probably use the money to hire a fancy, nationally-recognized teacher to come teach us something interesting.)
I average about $200 of income per month and somewhere between $50 and $80 in expenses - after all, I do have to buy the books from somewhere. I pick them up mostly at Goodwill, and if I see something else there that I like, I throw it in my bag, so I count that as an expense, too. Plus if there are books I want to read, they go in the bag as well. I have an extensive personal library as a result.
Doing this could be a real job-job if I got more serious about it, but right now it's just a casual thing for me. It is enjoyable, though, and when a book sells for $50 or more, it's quite pleasant.
My wife and I go thrift shopping a decent amount, I could see myself doing this.
What criteria do you have for the books you pick up at Goodwill?
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
Do you know the rough word count of your E-Book? I want to write something, but I keep thinking it will be too short!
i can't remember exactly, but i think it's between 15-20,000 words. it's 10 chapters long, and each chapter is 1500-2000 words. comes out to 45 pages as assessed by the kindle store.
i priced it low -- $2.99 -- figuring that it will be at least as entertaining and useful as a cup of coffee.
Interesting...my master's thesis is about 15,000 words... I wonder if it has a future as an ebook? How did you market it, if at all?
i marketed it in 2 major ways:
1) starting an associated blog (be less crazy), and
2) partnering with a big website who published the intro (the hairpin)
without #2 i would have sold almost no copies. really, you have to get your work in front of a bigger audience.
Very cool. How were you able to get the larger website on board?
i wrote awesome articles for them for almost a year first. some were anonymous and all were written for free. it was an organic thing -- i stumbled upon this site and i fell in love with it, and wanted to be a part of it. the rest followed from there. :)
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I have a little "side hustle" selling stuff I find in thrift stores on Ebay. I make anywhere between $1,000 - $1,500 a month - and that's not working too hard. I've been doing it for 10 years, so I've gotten better at knowing what will sell. But it's amazing to me that I can pay $2-$3 for something and it will sell for $50 or more! Easiest money I've EVER made! Husband calls it my Ebay Empire!!! (we are early retirees, by the way, and don't really need the money. Husband said it's the only hobby I've ever had that didn't cost him money!).
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@SJS -
I'd like to hear more about your eBay/thrift store hustle. This is actually something I've been thinking about for my boyfriend; he's a real clotheshorse and has a knack for picking up incredible deals at the thrift store. He used to have a lot of money and shopped in high-end stores; now he's broke and finds the same $300 slacks he used to buy, at the thrift store for 7 bucks. I've been thinking he could probably pick up some good money on the side reselling things.
Can you tell me what items work best in your opinion? Any recommendations about how to display things, women's vs men's items (or non-clothing items?), popular sizes, items to avoid, etc? How much time does it take you per month?
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My wife and I go thrift shopping a decent amount, I could see myself doing this.
What criteria do you have for the books you pick up at Goodwill?
I have a little computer that I bought, along with a barcode scanner. I also subscribe to the ASellerTool software service, which collects all the data from Amazon and dumps it to your device. You set triggers inside the software for the combinations of selling price and sales rank that you want to use.
Let's say I come across a brand-new copy of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall at the Goodwill, as I did last week. I zap it to see what it sells for. Looks like a brand-new copy of Wolf Hall, in hardcover, sells for $10.00 and its sales rank is 26,600. If it costs me $2 to buy it, the software will apply the triggers I set and tell me to buy the book.
It's sort of an art, and I ignore the triggers sometimes, because I get sentimental about books, but if you follow them strictly, you will always make money.
Books that sell well for me usually include non-fiction trade paperbacks, religious books, books on obscure academic subjects, and prize-winning fiction (like Wolf Hall, for example). Books that don't sell include mystery, thrillers, mass-market paperbacks, romance, and other stuff that you'd usually find at, say, an airport bookstore. Textbooks can be hit or miss.
I'd love to hear more about SJS's thrift store hustle, too. Especially since I go to the Goodwill so much.
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My wife and I go thrift shopping a decent amount, I could see myself doing this.
What criteria do you have for the books you pick up at Goodwill?
I have a little computer that I bought, along with a barcode scanner. I also subscribe to the ASellerTool software service, which collects all the data from Amazon and dumps it to your device. You set triggers inside the software for the combinations of selling price and sales rank that you want to use.
On the book-selling thread, you could also sell them to used book stores. The Bookscouter app scans the barcode and gives you a list of all the online buyback sites' offers for that book. Your margin will be lower than selling them yourself, but your turnaround will be quicker.
I find that library used book sales are also a great source for cheap books.
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My wife and I go thrift shopping a decent amount, I could see myself doing this.
What criteria do you have for the books you pick up at Goodwill?
I have a little computer that I bought, along with a barcode scanner. I also subscribe to the ASellerTool software service, which collects all the data from Amazon and dumps it to your device. You set triggers inside the software for the combinations of selling price and sales rank that you want to use.
On the book-selling thread, you could also sell them to used book stores. The Bookscouter app scans the barcode and gives you a list of all the online buyback sites' offers for that book. Your margin will be lower than selling them yourself, but your turnaround will be quicker.
I find that library used book sales are also a great source for cheap books.
Thanks for the tip on that app! I just downloaded it (its free, btw). I might have to give this a try!
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I'm a taskrabbit, so the gigs vary. I Help at events, housecleaning, helping people pack and unpack for a move, etc.. I charge $10 an hour and can make $200 a month working only on the weekends. www.taskrabbit.com, plus, there are sites like guru.com, elance.com, and odesk.com
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I do mystery shopping - don't be fooled by all the scams, it is a real thing that real people make money at, but NOT $90 an hour or whatever the ads say. You can make money at it but at best you're looking at $10 or $15 per hour. I do a lot of restaurant shops so we get our meals out reimbursed.
Because I am under 30 I also do a lot of alcohol compliance shops - basically I go in someplace and buy some alcohol and see if they ID me. When I was unemployed I shopped every BP in the city for $8 per visit in a single day. I also shop Whole Foods and once in a while Trader Joe's. But mostly I do restaurants. Shops that don't require you to buy anything are usually not very well paid - maybe $4-6 apiece - since everybody wants those. But if you're going anyway, you can pick up a little money.
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On the book-selling thread, you could also sell them to used book stores. The Bookscouter app scans the barcode and gives you a list of all the online buyback sites' offers for that book. Your margin will be lower than selling them yourself, but your turnaround will be quicker.
I find that library used book sales are also a great source for cheap books.
You're right! That is a good idea. I often take loads of books that I have read up to Half-Price Books, which is sort of good, because they take everything, but also kind of sucks, because I usually leave there with more books.
I've only sold stuff on Amazon, assuming that the other book buyback sites aren't worth the time it would take me to use them, but this tactic may be a good choice for others.
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I used to sell tickets on the side and am thinking about getting back into it. It was for a different business purpose than simply scalping, but it ended up bitter sweet. I couldn't prove my hypothesis so the business kinda sank, but I ended up making a couple hundred a month in the process plus some decent credit card rebates from all the churn.
I think I churned about $50k in tickets lol.
As a hobby I flip phones and tablets on ebay but the market is pretty tight so I'm usually happy to break even feeding my dark consumerism based interest. I don't seek out low priced electronics, but I do seek out ones I want to try and attempt to add enough value on the resale to make up the ebay fees. ex: My SO wants to try an HTC One, so i'll probably buy one on ebay used for around $450, let her play with it for a month or two, then mod it and try to get 500 out of it to cover the fees.
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My wife and I go thrift shopping a decent amount, I could see myself doing this.
What criteria do you have for the books you pick up at Goodwill?
I have a little computer that I bought, along with a barcode scanner. I also subscribe to the ASellerTool software service, which collects all the data from Amazon and dumps it to your device. You set triggers inside the software for the combinations of selling price and sales rank that you want to use.
Let's say I come across a brand-new copy of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall at the Goodwill, as I did last week. I zap it to see what it sells for. Looks like a brand-new copy of Wolf Hall, in hardcover, sells for $10.00 and its sales rank is 26,600. If it costs me $2 to buy it, the software will apply the triggers I set and tell me to buy the book.
It's sort of an art, and I ignore the triggers sometimes, because I get sentimental about books, but if you follow them strictly, you will always make money.
Books that sell well for me usually include non-fiction trade paperbacks, religious books, books on obscure academic subjects, and prize-winning fiction (like Wolf Hall, for example). Books that don't sell include mystery, thrillers, mass-market paperbacks, romance, and other stuff that you'd usually find at, say, an airport bookstore. Textbooks can be hit or miss.
I'd love to hear more about SJS's thrift store hustle, too. Especially since I go to the Goodwill so much.
So this software, a laptop, and a barcode scanner? Seems like a pretty low startup cost.
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maryofdoom: I'm totally impressed with your side biz! I have sold a few books here and there on eBay, never considered opening an amazon store. I DO always check amazon to see what books are selling for and too often its .99 + shipping. Edit: 1 penny + 3.99 shipping. Is this just avoidance of having to pay for disposal?
My Question is, is the $4 I see that it costs to ship most books real? I haven't sold a book in awhile and I don't know what the best method is. I don't think I'm going to be at goodwill but definitely want to get rid of books in my house.
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I have done some hemming for friends (especially when we were all pregnant - us shorties would have to buy regular maternity jeans). I have also made some baby blankets - contracted to do them.
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Previously:
- playing piano at a restaurant (paid by the hour, plus free food)
- recipe development, writing and photography (did that for awhile, was paid per recipe + cost of ingredients - stopped because the company I worked for was a hassle to deal with)
- freelance writing (paid per piece, was hired by a social media agency to do that briefly for a temporary project)
Currently/Ongoing:
- my blog is bringing in $50/month at the moment - not much, but nice to have because I would be blogging anyway regardless
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My wife and I go thrift shopping a decent amount, I could see myself doing this.
What criteria do you have for the books you pick up at Goodwill?
I have a little computer that I bought, along with a barcode scanner. I also subscribe to the ASellerTool software service, which collects all the data from Amazon and dumps it to your device. You set triggers inside the software for the combinations of selling price and sales rank that you want to use.
Let's say I come across a brand-new copy of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall at the Goodwill, as I did last week. I zap it to see what it sells for. Looks like a brand-new copy of Wolf Hall, in hardcover, sells for $10.00 and its sales rank is 26,600. If it costs me $2 to buy it, the software will apply the triggers I set and tell me to buy the book.
It's sort of an art, and I ignore the triggers sometimes, because I get sentimental about books, but if you follow them strictly, you will always make money.
Books that sell well for me usually include non-fiction trade paperbacks, religious books, books on obscure academic subjects, and prize-winning fiction (like Wolf Hall, for example). Books that don't sell include mystery, thrillers, mass-market paperbacks, romance, and other stuff that you'd usually find at, say, an airport bookstore. Textbooks can be hit or miss.
I'd love to hear more about SJS's thrift store hustle, too. Especially since I go to the Goodwill so much.
So this software, a laptop, and a barcode scanner? Seems like a pretty low startup cost.
I don't think you need a barcode scanner. I believe you can do it with a smartphone (if you have one).
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@Dizzean: Startup costs for this book-selling endeavor break down like this:
- Portable computer that holds the data: $75 on eBay
- Software subscription: $30/month (the software is free but they charge you for access to the data, which is a non-trivial thing)
- Barcode scanner: $100 on eBay. You can use a smartphone for this part, but since I am trying to limit my data usage, and also because the reception inside my local Goodwill is crap, I use the external scanner. It is also possible to type the ISBN numbers in by hand, but that is a pain.
- Computer at home with printer: $200 (you print the postage out at home and just drop stuff at the post office)
- Office supplies: $100 or so every six months (paper, tape, padded envelopes from ValueMailers.com)
- If you sell more than 40 books per month, it's worth it to subscribe to Amazon's Pro Seller service. Normally it costs $0.99 in fixed fees when a book sells, but the Pro Seller service is $40 and doesn't charge those fees. I did Pro Seller for a while, and if you can turn enough books through it, it's not a bad choice.
The key is really to print out the postage at home and just drop the books at your post office; ain't nobody got time to wait in post office lines every single day.
As you can see, you need to make more than $30 in income per month (or $70 if you're going with Pro Seller) to make it really profitable. This also doesn't consider how much you're paying for your books in the first place.
To give some raw numbers (because obviously I have data from the past three years that I've been doing this), I have $12,695.56 in income and $8,811.86 in expenses. As you can see, it's not a sole source of income, but it's not too shabby.
@theSchmett: People who sell books on Amazon use automatic re-pricing algorithms to make sure they always have the lowest price on the books they sell, and as a result, these algorithms drive the prices lower and lower until books are selling for a penny plus shipping. If you get the books cheap enough, you can still make money on penny books, just not very much.
It costs $2.60 to send a single pound of printed material via Media Mail.
If you have books at your house you want to get rid of, and you don't have the little barcode scanner or a desire to get one, here is how I would deal with them:
- Make a spreadsheet list of all of your books: title, author, ISBN, and condition (which doesn't have to be in-depth, you can just say "New," "Very Good" (clearly used but still nice, like you'd find in a used bookstore), and "Acceptable" (a beat-up college textbook, a book with water or sun damage, but something you could still read).
- In your copious amounts of spare time, type the books' ISBN numbers into Amazon. Put their sales ranks on your spreadsheet. The sales rank is about halfway down the page: if you do a Ctrl+F and type in Page Rank, you'll find it very easily.
- While you're on the book's page, note the lowest sales price for a used copy (or a new copy, if that's what you have). Put it on your spreadsheet.
- Use my approximate time-to-sale formula (presented below) to figure out which books you'd like to list.
- List your books. Write funny descriptions if you want them to sell faster. (One time I got a heavily annotated copy of Homer's Odyssey that had hilarious annotations in it, obviously written by someone who just didn't understand the book. I wrote, "This book has been heavily annotated by a person named Hunter. Poor, dim Hunter. He or she was baffled by the subtlety of Homer's prose, repeatedly writing things like, 'WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?' and 'I DON'T UNDERSTAND.' This copy will make you feel bad for Hunter as you learn more about Odysseus." IT SOLD IN FIVE HOURS.)
- If your research shows that you have lots of books with high sales ranks, or books that would sell for a penny, pack them into bags and go to your local Half-Price Books bookstore. They will give you cash money for any printed material. Not a ton of cash money, but cash money just the same.
Approximate time to sale:
- 1 through 10,000: Less than a day
- 10,000 through 50,000: A week
- 50,000 through 100,000: A few weeks to a month
- 100,000 through 1 million: Several months
- 1 million and up: Anywhere from a month to a year
I think that's quite enough to bore you with for now. Let me know if you have more questions!
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ain't nobody got time to wait in post office lines every single day.
So the post office to you is like Bronchitis to Sweet Brown?
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I do surveys and focus groups.
I've been thinking about doing detailing on the weekends but I really don't enjoy it.
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Mary of Doom you are my hero.
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I also have a pretty niche side gig: I design knitting patterns and sell them through my blog/publish them in knitting magazines. The pay is pretty variable (and low) but I've been bringing in a few thousand dollars a year for the past few years now. Basically, it's been a good way to turn a hobby (and potential money sink, yarn is expensive!) into a cost neutral/cash flow positive sideline. I'm not going to quit my day job to take it up full-time any day soon though!
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I've hussled $$ on the side, well, forever. One great job I had was to clean a small office once a week for $125/mo. It was less than an hour on either saturday or sunday. I cleaned 1 bathroom, the coffee station and vacuumed the place. I got the job via word of mouth. I needed the money to pay for my horse habit. Its really the horse habit that has always led me to better and better side gigs.
I framed art for years, then once I got my grown up job I would work for this same company during the holidays. Its a great skill to have and I do own some equipment, a chop saw and mat cutter. There's a local art supply store that has the professional equipment I can use for larger pieces.
I used to sell computers. I would build them and deliver them, set them up and give the buyer a 2 hour walk through. often this led to more time at $30/hour easy money and I enjoyed helping folks learn to use a PC. Today I could see someone be a "consultant" to help folks go buy a PC, like a PC personal shopper.
As I phased away from building computers, I started consulting with small businesses for $75/hour. I knew quicken, quickbooks, excel, mysql, and would happily learn and teach them any software they were struggling with. I even worked as an IT consultant for a sporting goods store and they had a ginormous ski sale once a year I would help prep for. I think I did that gig for 3 years or so. It got to be too much as I had moved to IT for my day job.
Now I have 3 side gigs that have blossomed into really lucrative ventures.
1. the old computer business is now a web building, hosting maintenance gig, I do this as little as possible since its my day job now as well. I can only handle so much web (been doing web work for 16 years now)
2. I created hundreds of designs and put them on cafepress, invested the earnings in my own equipment and now make the same designs at home. I have a set of travel sized equipment and go to horseshows and make the items there, as well as compete with my horse (sold him last year). I also make high end custom jewelry to sell at the shows. I make about $1500/weekend. I work solo. sometimes my horse friends will hang out with me and if they really help I pay them in food, product or $$. I could make alot more if I did get formal help. I could work on the custom orders during the day while someone sold. But I like it just the way it is.
3. I have built or signed up on many websites with the above products I make. The best seller for me is ebay. I bring in alot during the holidays. Im usually exhausted by Christmas. I always take Christmas week off and veg.
Side lined: I have written an e-book, but never did figure out a good security model so it sits on the side lines. I had a special promo for a keychain, they submit their serial number and their detailed info, that was to feed my database of buyers for the next book. Oh well... Im busy enough already. This could be revisited at a later date. Perhaps when I am FI and need something to fill my time.
Finally my DH has become a property investor. Though not as a side gig. He is working on replacing his income and this will become our core FI income in another 2 years per my calculations. He has a PM do the tenant work on the rentals, he does all maintenance he wants, and lets them do whatever isn't up his alley. He hasn't done a flip yet, though his first task was to rehab our place that we have lived in for 12 years, its now awesome! If the value of our place hits a certain amount, we will flip it, if not we will enjoy it. We won't work on a flip until our core rental income hits a certain threshhold. He helps me with all of my side gigs and I help him, its a win-win!
I love the Amazon book selling idea. I even think thrift shopping/reselling on ebay I could expand upon. I do that for horse show shirts already...hmmm always new ideas to try out!
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My wife found a niche in the market where we live. She is a stay at home mom and in talking with friends/neighbors, she noticed how many of them needed help watching their kids before the school bus came in the morning and after school as well. The YMCA before and after school care in our town isn't the greatest and is quite expensive so.......
We have 8 kids that come to the house between 7-830am (bus comes at 830am) and 6 kids that get off the bus at our house and stay from 330-5pm. She charges a little over half of what the YMCA charges, feeds them a good breakfast in the morning and a snack after school. She makes just over $400/week and works 3 hours a day. $400 for 15 hours of work per week is a pretty decent wage!
I admire my wife for finding a niche in the market and capitalizing on it - that $1600/month sure helps the cause!
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A friend and I take a few thousand cuttings from my lavender hedge and plant them out in potting bags. We usually do this in March/April ( autumn down under) and sell them as young plants in Sept/Oct for $2 each. We just stick them in a car trailer outside his house with an honesty box and after a few sunny week-ends when the gardners are out and about we have ourselves a few thousand dollars. Good fun, small amount of capital and relatively no stress.
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I am self-employed and only work about 20 hours/week. I get easily bored with all of my free time, so in order to keep myself busy I picked up a side gig at a local retail store. I go in and count the deposits every day. About an hour a day. Days off whenever I want them, and an extra $300-350 every month.
And I like it! :)
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I do a little swing trading mostly by selling overpriced weekly options. This is probably similar to poker...taking advantage of other players who do not know math.
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I am genuinely the best cook I know, so I pick up an occasional catering gig. It's physically demanding to handle food for a large group, so I don't really want to count on this for long-term income.
I LOVE wrapping presents, so I am considering copying the Christmas present wrapping idea.
I have considered doing after school care as a retirement job. Since I'm a certified teacher, I'd be a shoe-in for getting kids off the bus, feeding them a snack and supervising homework. But I dont know that I want to be tied down 180 afternoons a year. One of the things I look forward to after retirement is the freedom to travel off-season. Teachers can't do that.
Has anyone worked at a Renaissance Faire or similar? It doesn't pay all that well, but it's only weekends for 6-8 weeks. Might be fun work . . . I mean, we go every couple years, and pay for the privilege.
My husband and I are searching for our part-time after-retirement work, and all we know for sure is that we don't want anything that ties us down too much, and we don't want to do anything that is too similar to what we do now. The money doesn't have to be outstanding. We have no mortgage, and my pension will pay the basic bills. We just want a little income to allow for travel and fun without dipping into our savings too soon.
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So after thinking about side gigs for awhile, I think I might have finally found something. I started selling a product I can get from China for less than $3 per item shipped to my house. I sell it for $7, but most people buy 6 at a time, so it makes about $20 to $25 profit per transaction. The product is in fact a knock off and I'm sure people know that, but the quality is good and I'm sure they are of the mindset that they'd rather spend the $7 each than $20+ on the real thing. My goal is to make a few thousand bucks per year and use that $ on vacations, fancy dinners out. Stuff we wouldn't spend the $ on otherwise.
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So after thinking about side gigs for awhile, I think I might have finally found something. I started selling a product I can get from China for less than $3 per item shipped to my house. I sell it for $7, but most people buy 6 at a time, so it makes about $20 to $25 profit per transaction. The product is in fact a knock off and I'm sure people know that, but the quality is good and I'm sure they are of the mindset that they'd rather spend the $7 each than $20+ on the real thing. My goal is to make a few thousand bucks per year and use that $ on vacations, fancy dinners out. Stuff we wouldn't spend the $ on otherwise.
Selling knock offs can get you in serious legal hot water. There are ethical considerations as well, but even if you don't care about that, the legal issues should give you pause.
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So after thinking about side gigs for awhile, I think I might have finally found something. I started selling a product I can get from China for less than $3 per item shipped to my house. I sell it for $7, but most people buy 6 at a time, so it makes about $20 to $25 profit per transaction. The product is in fact a knock off and I'm sure people know that, but the quality is good and I'm sure they are of the mindset that they'd rather spend the $7 each than $20+ on the real thing. My goal is to make a few thousand bucks per year and use that $ on vacations, fancy dinners out. Stuff we wouldn't spend the $ on otherwise.
Selling knock offs can get you in serious legal hot water. There are ethical considerations as well, but even if you don't care about that, the legal issues should give you pause.
And the fact that eBay will remove your listings. Selling drugs would be a very lucrative side job as well, but principles are worth more than retiring a little early...
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Selling knockoffs is unethical.
What you should do is start a hedge fund and bilk people out of millions, then have a golden parachute when the fund goes belly up.
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Selling knockoffs is unethical.
What you should do is start a hedge fund and bilk people out of millions, then have a golden parachute when the fund goes belly up.
Lol
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I'm noticing that the trend has been people have a side gig reselling items that they are able to find cheap. The skill there being understanding the market, finding under valued items and being organized. The other most common set seems to be producing something non physical - webpage design, coding, editing.
It seems like relatively few of us are producing a physical product. I was considering trying to build fancy dog houses because I like building things and have all of the tools needed. At the same time, it seems like a side hustle works best when it doesn't take up too much time and can be done remotely.
I also notice that the side hustles people mentioned tended to start cheap or make use of tools and skills the person already has. No need to drop a thousand bucks to get started. It's nice to see the MMM crew demonstrating some side hustle ideas that I read about.
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/08/07/the-company-mans-guide-to-starting-a-side-hustle-part-ii-think-big-act-small/
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I'm noticing that the trend has been people have a side gig reselling items that they are able to find cheap. The skill there being understanding the market, finding under valued items and being organized. The other most common set seems to be producing something non physical - webpage design, coding, editing.
It seems like relatively few of us are producing a physical product. I was considering trying to build fancy dog houses because I like building things and have all of the tools needed. At the same time, it seems like a side hustle works best when it doesn't take up too much time and can be done remotely.
I also notice that the side hustles people mentioned tended to start cheap or make use of tools and skills the person already has. No need to drop a thousand bucks to get started. It's nice to see the MMM crew demonstrating some side hustle ideas that I read about.
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/08/07/the-company-mans-guide-to-starting-a-side-hustle-part-ii-think-big-act-small/
I like that link. Very very similar to "The $100 startup", which is a book I quiet enjoyed and found useful.
I don't know if your observation about selling cheap and producing soft (as in information) products (ebooks, web pages) is universal, or simply a case of the sort of people who flip products, write ebooks, and create web pages are more likely to spend time on the internet (and thus more likely to post here) than people who spend their time in the wood working shop.
I have one existing side hustle (Teaching and guiding mountain bike riding - and since I run the company, it is a side hustle, not a part time gig working for someone else). It's neither a hard product nor an information good. I'm curious how many music teachers, language and math tutors, and the like are on here too.
I am starting a second side hustle, this time selling photographic prints. That is much closer to the wood working you talk about, and the link you provided is a great reminder of where to focus my efforts (I already have a carefully targetting business plan, but being reminded to stay targetted is important).
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I'm not really sure if it counts as a "side hustle" since I mostly do it for fun, but I get paid about $1000/year to play my instrument. It could be a lot more if I gathered a few friends into a group and we rented ourselves out for weddings (am considering that, actually, but really enjoy my free time....), but what I do now is fun. Just a few community musicals/operas per year. I'm bummed this year, though, because the fall show for one of the groups I play for opens 4 days after my baby's due date, so it won't really work out this time.
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I have one existing side hustle (Teaching and guiding mountain bike riding - and since I run the company, it is a side hustle, not a part time gig working for someone else). It's neither a hard product nor an information good. I'm curious how many music teachers, language and math tutors, and the like are on here too.
My husband provides instruction in a recreational activity. It started off as a side business, but has grown to full-time. Fortunately, he loves what he does, since he probably averages well over 40 hours/week working.
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I don't do this personally but I have a really good friend that breeds and trains hunting dogs. He spends quite a bit of time doing it but hunting/outdoors is also his passion. I've considered this myself however I don't have the patients for the training part of it. He also breeds English bull dogs
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This is a great thread. My side gig has never been aimed at profitability - it's basically just a way of allowing my hobby (woodworking) to pay for itself. I use a lot of hand tools, mostly vintage, and when I spot a deal I'll buy it, fix it up, and sell it on eBay. I've gotten inexpensive vintage tools from a variety of sources - estate sales, tool exchanges on woodworking forums, and occasionally antique stores (but antique stores usually have their tools massively overpriced).
I usually aim for tools that need a little TLC to be put back into use. I'll buy some tools for my own use, and then try to sell the rest to cover my costs, so I essentially get the tools that I keep for free. Unfortunately, this process ignores the time that I invest in buying, fixing up, taking pictures, writing descriptions, and packaging the tools. I've recently started slowing down as I've begun to place more value on my time, and I've even started selling some of the tools that I planned to keep for my own use, but didn't really need. So I figure I've turned a small profit in the last few years, but at the cost of a buttload of my spare time. On the other hand, I've gained a valuable skill (hand tool restoration). I've also made most of the furniture in my house, rather than buying it, which has definitely saved a lot of money.
I'm trying to think of a side hustle that doesn't require so much time marketing and packaging, because these are the parts that I hate the most. I could probably turn a profit of a couple hundred a month or more, if I focused on making profits instead of filling out my tool chest. But then I think about listing so much more crap on eBay, and I realize I would get burned out on that pretty quickly. This thread has given me a lot of good ideas.
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I'm not really sure if it counts as a "side hustle" since I mostly do it for fun, but I get paid about $1000/year to play my instrument. It could be a lot more if I gathered a few friends into a group and we rented ourselves out for weddings (am considering that, actually, but really enjoy my free time....), but what I do now is fun. Just a few community musicals/operas per year. I'm bummed this year, though, because the fall show for one of the groups I play for opens 4 days after my baby's due date, so it won't really work out this time.
Where are you located? What do you play? I'm looking for pro level string players to join me to play wedding gigs again here in the Denver area.
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I'm a sysadmin, so I do IT work on the side for individuals and very small businesses, At $50 an hour I'm pretty happy, and I know I could make and charge more if I were to really push it, but I am a very busy person already so I usually let the work find me. If I were young and single and didn't want to work for "the man"??? There is good money here, certainly qualifies for one of those 50K+ jobs without a degree that MMM recently posted about. If I were out of work I am confident I could fall back on this.
I do the same type of work and also think Sys Admin qualifies as a $50k w/out degree.
But, how did you get started on the side? Did u advertise somewhere? How much time do u put into it and do u only do after hours/weekends? I've always wondered if businesses would be willing to do work after hours or on the weekends.
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I'm not really sure if it counts as a "side hustle" since I mostly do it for fun, but I get paid about $1000/year to play my instrument. It could be a lot more if I gathered a few friends into a group and we rented ourselves out for weddings (am considering that, actually, but really enjoy my free time....), but what I do now is fun. Just a few community musicals/operas per year. I'm bummed this year, though, because the fall show for one of the groups I play for opens 4 days after my baby's due date, so it won't really work out this time.
Me too. I play with a couple orchestras about once a month. It's a nice way to get paid for something I love, plus it's a break from the day job.
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My side gig is teaching yoga (3 classes/week). It's wonderful as I get to share something that I'm passionate about and get paid for it at the same time. As an added bonus, teaching the classes ensures that I get some yoga in myself each week.
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I'm a sysadmin, so I do IT work on the side for individuals and very small businesses, At $50 an hour I'm pretty happy, and I know I could make and charge more if I were to really push it, but I am a very busy person already so I usually let the work find me. If I were young and single and didn't want to work for "the man"??? There is good money here, certainly qualifies for one of those 50K+ jobs without a degree that MMM recently posted about. If I were out of work I am confident I could fall back on this.
I do the same type of work and also think Sys Admin qualifies as a $50k w/out degree.
But, how did you get started on the side? Did u advertise somewhere? How much time do u put into it and do u only do after hours/weekends? I've always wondered if businesses would be willing to do work after hours or on the weekends.
First thing I did was develop my own website and had quality business cards printed. The best way I found business was through work. I work in legal and know fellow sysadmins at other law firms. When they got approached by attorneys at their firms about home computer problems they would reference them to me. I also advertised in my local neighborhood association newsletter and picked up business there as well. I got some business from the country club I used to belong to. Etc. Etc. I'm an extrovert. Put yourself out there and work will find you.
I thought about doing this full time at one point, but I would need to charge closer to $75 an hour and hustle my butt off finding steady gigs to make the same amount I make at my firm (since I would have to travel a lot to my jobs). Not worth the hassle to me since I like my day job, but great to know I could go there if I had to. If I were doing this full time I would advertise by direct mail into high end neighborhoods and work those contacts I already have. Doctors, lawyers, bankers and the like want professional service to come to them, treat them well, and just fix the damn problems. They do NOT want to go to Geek Squad and pay a similar amount and deal with that hassle. And they never dicker on price (I hate doing work for secretaries generally, because I know I am usually dealing with someone who wants a $20 fix for a $100 problem). There is a market taking care of well-heeled clients. I just like my day job too much to go chase it.
Making your own money is a lot of fun.
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My side hustle won't be for everyone, but it's been great fun for me with much less risk than other jobs in the sex industry: I'm a webcam model! This means that people can tip me during public webcam shows or pay for private shows. I also sell erotic videos and photos online.
This side hustle is much more accessible to and lucrative for women, but men are able to do this kind of work as well. And the good news is that you don't have to be a "traditionally beautiful" person to arouse others--there are so many tastes and interests out there :)
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I used to sell tickets on the side and am thinking about getting back into it. It was for a different business purpose than simply scalping, but it ended up bitter sweet. I couldn't prove my hypothesis so the business kinda sank, but I ended up making a couple hundred a month in the process plus some decent credit card rebates from all the churn.
I think I churned about $50k in tickets lol.
As a hobby I flip phones and tablets on ebay but the market is pretty tight so I'm usually happy to break even feeding my dark consumerism based interest. I don't seek out low priced electronics, but I do seek out ones I want to try and attempt to add enough value on the resale to make up the ebay fees. ex: My SO wants to try an HTC One, so i'll probably buy one on ebay used for around $450, let her play with it for a month or two, then mod it and try to get 500 out of it to cover the fees.
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Did the 50k/year in ticket moving also let you end up with some really nice credit card rewards?
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Thanks for the info Hybrid. It sounds a lot like what I did when I began with A+ type work. Throwing something up in a HOA newsletter or even the local paper sounds like a great idea.
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I have 3 side jobs:
1. Seasonal Police Dispatcher (April - October)
2. Per Diem Fire Dispatcher (On call Only)
3. Per Diem Parent Educator (Drug Education and Intervention Presentations)
Between all 3, I usually bring in about an additional $7K a year
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I'm not really sure if it counts as a "side hustle" since I mostly do it for fun, but I get paid about $1000/year to play my instrument. It could be a lot more if I gathered a few friends into a group and we rented ourselves out for weddings (am considering that, actually, but really enjoy my free time....), but what I do now is fun. Just a few community musicals/operas per year. I'm bummed this year, though, because the fall show for one of the groups I play for opens 4 days after my baby's due date, so it won't really work out this time.
Where are you located? What do you play? I'm looking for pro level string players to join me to play wedding gigs again here in the Denver area.
Sorry for the delay in reply, worldstrad! I'm located in Alaska, so just a bit too far away to be of use to you. :) Good luck finding quality musicians! One recommendation: if you know any school music/band/orchestra teachers, ask them. They have summers (mostly) free for weddings and are often really happy to not only have the extra money but also to keep up with their own skills. I know quite a few in my area now and when one of them knows about a job and needs specific instruments or needs extra people they'll often contact people directly or put out a plea on Facebook. It works out really well for everyone.
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I write tests for a company that administers tests to high-school students. I also review textbooks for publishers. I got both of these gigs by being contacted directly by the companies. The textbook reviews pay around $700 and the testing work varies according to exactly what is required (writing multiple-choice questions, writing essay questions, reviewing other writers, etc.), but I'd say it pays around $20 an hour. It requires being very, very precise and detail-oriented, though. However, clearly not everyone who does it is precise and detail-oriented, as I know from reviewing other people's tests. Oh, I should add that I also judge literary contests. I got this great gig by being referred by friends in the business.
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I'm not really sure if it counts as a "side hustle" since I mostly do it for fun, but I get paid about $1000/year to play my instrument. It could be a lot more if I gathered a few friends into a group and we rented ourselves out for weddings (am considering that, actually, but really enjoy my free time....), but what I do now is fun. Just a few community musicals/operas per year. I'm bummed this year, though, because the fall show for one of the groups I play for opens 4 days after my baby's due date, so it won't really work out this time.
Where are you located? What do you play? I'm looking for pro level string players to join me to play wedding gigs again here in the Denver area.
Sorry for the delay in reply, worldstrad! I'm located in Alaska, so just a bit too far away to be of use to you. :) Good luck finding quality musicians! One recommendation: if you know any school music/band/orchestra teachers, ask them. They have summers (mostly) free for weddings and are often really happy to not only have the extra money but also to keep up with their own skills. I know quite a few in my area now and when one of them knows about a job and needs specific instruments or needs extra people they'll often contact people directly or put out a plea on Facebook. It works out really well for everyone.
Well, my main gig is music/orchestra teacher. There aren't that many string players in those jobs, but I actually did just meet one the other day who I think may be a good start.
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This has been so interesting to read, In the past my DH and I have had a lot of side hustles, wedding DJ, wedding band, babysitting, house sitting, reselling stuff on ebay that I found at garage sales or thrift stores, selling Norwex, and now Wildtree.
My dad was a referee for a little more than 10 years for Basketball, he was in high demand, even my high school friends liked him a lot :)
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I started a green building company with two friends of mine. They are the brawn AND the brains, to be honest. I provide the business management and finance skills. We're not doing to badly, and my duties don't interfere with my day job.
I also find myself giving a lot of tax and finance advice to small business owners. Occasionally that leads to nice presents, but I don't charge for it. Partly because I like it, partly because I don't want the liability headaches that come with a formal engagement. It's something I probably will pursue more actively when I retire.
So, basically I spend my free time nerding it up. That's my side hustle.
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I write tests for a company that administers tests to high-school students. I also review textbooks for publishers. I got both of these gigs by being contacted directly by the companies. The textbook reviews pay around $700 and the testing work varies according to exactly what is required (writing multiple-choice questions, writing essay questions, reviewing other writers, etc.), but I'd say it pays around $20 an hour. It requires being very, very precise and detail-oriented, though. However, clearly not everyone who does it is precise and detail-oriented, as I know from reviewing other people's tests. Oh, I should add that I also judge literary contests. I got this great gig by being referred by friends in the business.
Argyle- Do they look for teachers or writers or both (or neither?) for textbook reviews and test writing? Both my husband and I are teachers, and he's a writer as well so I was wondering if this is something we could get into. Any advice on how to find these kinds of jobs? Thanks in advance.
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Freckles, they look for teachers. Sometimes the jobs are posted on the websites of the companies. So you might look for jobs on the College Board site. Or I guess you could just call them up.
For college and some high-school teachers, there are also intensive week-long stints grading exams like the SAT. You have to travel to where they do the grading -- sometimes the Midwest, but sometimes Florida -- but they pay airfare, meals, hotel, etc. I have a friend who used to do this. As I remember, the salary is around $2000 for a week in June. She said it's hard work but there's a nice sense of camaraderie. I can't find the link right now but it's somewhere on their website.
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I am very slowly working on building a portfolio to start doing custom pet portraits. No money yet, still just making samples. But I like drawing/painting (and I'm good at it), I like pets, and it's the kind of yuppie handmade thing people love to give as gifts. People are too difficult to draw accurately, but I might work up to that point eventually. For me it's also easier to online than in person, because pictures don't squirm around.
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Through college, and occasionally now, I work(ed) as a "brand ambassador" or "promotional spokesperson" (which sounds more exclusive than it is, because they're just looking for normal people). They're the people who demo/sample items in stores, and it generally pays $15-$25/hour depending on the client. It's super flexible once you get on the lists because you can sign up according to your schedule for openings (mostly weekends), and they pay out in 6-8 weeks (you're an independent contractor though, so you'll pay taxes later on it if you make enough).
I think I found the first few jobs in the "gigs" section on Craig's List, but I've worked for - http://www.encorenationwide.com/
- http://login.gcmarketingservices.com/frontend/register.php
- http://www.bigorangeproductions.com/talent.html
and can vouch that they're legitimate companies and actually pay you.
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So far I've managed to get a couple of decent paying side gigs through Elance, mostly blog post writing (on subjects related to my career) and writing software training manuals (which seems to be a skill I possess).
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Has anyone used their vegetable garden as a source of extra income? In previous years we built a hydroponic garden that grew really fantastic tomatoes and peppers. It required little space, minimal water and almost no effort. I’m thinking about maybe starting that back up and looking into selling the extra produce. I’m also thinking about possibly going the aquaponics route and raising/selling Tilapia in addition to vegetable produce. I’m not sure how much money it could bring in, but gardening is something I would be doing anyway to help feed my family, so I’m thinking that if I increase the scale of it a little I could make some income selling the extras.
I don’t really want to put in the time to manage a stand at the farmer's market in order to sell the produce, but I’d be interested in possibly selling the produce to someone who already has a stand at a market, or maybe selling directly to local restaurants. I don’t know how one goes about establishing those relationships, though. Anybody have experience doing this sort of thing for a side gig? I saw the previous poster’s side gig selling lavender cuttings in New Zealand for a few thousand a year - that sounds pretty appealing!
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Guys, not trying to push my agenda too much, but I give this speech at least once a week for work, so why not turn it to our mustachian friends?
If you're on the artist side (photographer, videomaker, designer, illustrator, musician, voice artist, etc), you can very well make some extra bucks a month by selling work with royalty-free licenses through stock banks. I once read at our forums that for photos, after you get from 300 to 500 images on your portfolio, you're making about a dollar per month in average per image (that's $500 just there). Some people eventually make it their full time gig, withdrowing pretty good incomes, but if you're a weekend photographer and can sign the release of your own kids, or have friends who don't mind participating, it's pretty good. Even better if your hobby is drawing or building 3D models, or playing music, making crazy sounds, etc. If anyone wants better explanation about how this works, I can give it anytime. Plus, I don't get any extra comission from this. :)
Regarding the garden, I know a few people who sell their produce through Facebook, or simply word of mouth (when it's not a lot). They either delivery for a price, or allow people a determined day for pickup (this works better for word-of-mouth, since you know everyone).
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Guys, not trying to push my agenda too much, but I give this speech at least once a week for work, so why not turn it to our mustachian friends?
If you're on the artist side (photographer, videomaker, designer, illustrator, musician, voice artist, etc), you can very well make some extra bucks a month by selling work with royalty-free licenses through stock banks. I once read at our forums that for photos, after you get from 300 to 500 images on your portfolio, you're making about a dollar per month in average per image (that's $500 just there). Some people eventually make it their full time gig, withdrowing pretty good incomes, but if you're a weekend photographer and can sign the release of your own kids, or have friends who don't mind participating, it's pretty good. Even better if your hobby is drawing or building 3D models, or playing music, making crazy sounds, etc. If anyone wants better explanation about how this works, I can give it anytime. Plus, I don't get any extra comission from this. :)
Regarding the garden, I know a few people who sell their produce through Facebook, or simply word of mouth (when it's not a lot). They either delivery for a price, or allow people a determined day for pickup (this works better for word-of-mouth, since you know everyone).
This sounds fantastic. Do you have a company you recommend for selling music?
On a related note, made an easy $250 this weekend djing a Halloween party that was so much fun I would have done it for free.
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I also used to do market research. Companies would pay to test out products, watch commercials etc. Two memorable ones, Coors Light paid me to sample a new type of beer they were considering. Another one, a company walked us through a mock trial about their product. I'm guessing there was a potential court case, and they wanted to gauge public opinion? I would make any where from 35-100 and up depending on the time required. Now I moved too far away to make it worth while. But it was always fun.
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I cook lunch every Friday during the growing season for the crew on my friend's organic farm in trade for all the produce I could ever want. I cater the farm party, too, in exchange for pork she raises. Mmmm.... DH just got a very part-time gig at a local microbrewery for free beer and some spending money.
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This sounds fantastic. Do you have a company you recommend for selling music?
On a related note, made an easy $250 this weekend djing a Halloween party that was so much fun I would have done it for free.
Well, I haven't really looked deeply into music, at least not deep enough to study the competition to advise you the best place to work with. I think first of all you could go here (http://www.istockphoto.com/audio), give it a look, read the articles, do some searches related to the kind of thing you do, look up keywords, and then visit the forums (http://www.istockphoto.com/forums.php). People there are very receptive and quick to give advice. They can easily give you tips on how to work with our audio bank, or to point you to external forums that might open up new possibilities.
The thing with royalty-free stuff is that you can be very authoral and creative, but you're not selling your music for yourself, your fans, etc. You're selling it to become someone's tool. You'll see it in Youtube video tutorials, website backgrounds (eeek), advertising (some people are experts in making jingles that the client just need to add a set amount of words to), maybe in an online game, or a corporate presentation. I think mostly YouTube, Vimeo and TV ads, though. :) Oh, yes, sometimes radio podcasts as well. :)
What we usually say to musicians is: if you have a studio hour hired, you can use 55 minutes to record your songs and then 5 minutes to record a short track or two to sell RF. It could even be just the sounds of the band dismounting after recording, some people laughing, or a short generic conversation. (I get lots of stares of the "but each single minute is sooo precious!" kind) - Most people just use they own devices at home, though.
Edit: Oh, yes, and I recommend audio because there's still so little content available for customers, in all of the stock market. If you're really interested I could see if I can find the contact of someone working in the audio section to ask more pointed questions about what's selling well, trends and tips.
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I work as a resume writer (through a resume writing company) at $150 a pop (takes me about 3 hours), so I generally make about $500-$1000 a month extra by doing that one to two evenings a week.
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Although I don't do it anymore, at one time I sold vintage clothes on Ebay and made decent money. First got into this by getting a few whole racks of clothes for free from a garage sell. The lady told me I could have them if I took them all. Found out quick that a lot of people are into vintage clothing, especially old hats.
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Playing in a band!
I play in a cover band around town, about every 2 months. We get paid about 80-100$ each depending on the venue, and how many people are in the band that night. Usually we practice about 8 total hours before a gig, and the gig usually takes about 8 hours of time.
$80/16 = 5$ / hr
Not a lot, but it's usually tax free cash, and it's also a my hobby! Not to mention you sometimes get a free meal from the bar + free drinks!
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I have transcribed interviews for social worker researchers (they even provided the transcription machine).
I have tutored college students in elementary statistics.
And I have scored math teacher certification tests. (I've done history tests, but didn't feel qualified enough, and I've done social science tests but the scores were so low that it was just too depressing.)
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I am a writer for a tech company in my day job. But as for side hustles, I do lots of things!
I am a wedding celebrant. I am paid about $300 per wedding to marry couples all sexual orientations in my country. It is pretty much the best job ever. I end up doing a lot of friend and family weddings for free. - $2000-3000 a year.
I do some freelance writing as well, for a few select clients. I run a blog (not a writing blog) where I get some money in exchange for advertising and such. I'm just starting to work on self-pubbing some novels and business ebooks I've written, and I hope to see this becoming more of a revenue stream in the future. Maybe $10k a year.
I also teach writing classes at the local community college, which is SO MUCH FUN. I would probably do this even if I didn't get paid. $2000 a year, probably more next year.
And together with a friend, I run an ecommerce store selling socks. Socks in all colours of the rainbow. That's not a huge earner yet, but is definitely on the rise. Mostly I just enjoy the challenge of starting things and seeing where they end up. Maybe $500 a year right now?
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My side hustle won't be for everyone, but it's been great fun for me with much less risk than other jobs in the sex industry: I'm a webcam model! This means that people can tip me during public webcam shows or pay for private shows. I also sell erotic videos and photos online.
This side hustle is much more accessible to and lucrative for women, but men are able to do this kind of work as well. And the good news is that you don't have to be a "traditionally beautiful" person to arouse others--there are so many tastes and interests out there :)
I have to ask, since I have been seeing a lot of new about this kind of thing lately. Is this a safe thing to be doing? Are you not worried about future employment etc? What about knowing that those images and videos are 'out there'?
Recently there has been a lot of news about hackers and people online blackmailing young girls into doing sexual favors because they managed to get a naked picture of them and threaten to post it online.
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Hi folks -
Long time lurker, first time poster. I officiate high school sporting events, particularly swimming/diving, but will be branching into track/field this spring as well. It pays about 35/hr, and reimburses .55/mile to drive to the event. I clear around $1100-1200/year just doing the two swimming seasons. I highly recommend - most meets last about 2 hours, so it's easy money that pays more per hour than what I make at my real job.
I also coach master's swimming at our local YMCA - the pay sucks, but I get a free membership out of the deal, which to me is totally worth it. This brings in about $500-600/year, with unmeasured happiness in being social while exercising.
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I tutor and charge roughly $75 - $125 per hour, depending on the subject. I teach about four to six hours a week and earn about $1600 per month. I actually make more money per hour teaching than I do at my "real" job. But I love my real job, so teaching will always be a side gig for me.
If you live in a relatively metropolitan area with lots of schools, it is unbelievably easy to find tutoring jobs. So many worried parents are way too concerned that their little Jacob or Sophia is not performing to the best of his or her abilities. Most of the time I am vastly overqualified - I would estimate that 75% of my teaching gigs were glorified babysitting jobs. Case in point, a few weeks ago, I was asked to tutor a six year old in reading and writing. As she was already attending an after school program for the very same subjects, I candidly told the parents that I wasn't sure if my services were really needed. Turns out that they wanted to pay me to sit with their child and read to her. $60 an hour to *read* to a six year old. Uh, no thanks.
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I tutor and charge roughly $75 - $125 per hour, depending on the subject. I teach about four to six hours a week and earn about $1600 per month. I actually make more money per hour teaching than I do at my "real" job. But I love my real job, so teaching will always be a side gig for me.
If you live in a relatively metropolitan area with lots of schools, it is unbelievably easy to find tutoring jobs. So many worried parents are way too concerned that their little Jacob or Sophia is not performing to the best of his or her abilities. Most of the time I am vastly overqualified - I would estimate that 75% of my teaching gigs were glorified babysitting jobs. Case in point, a few weeks ago, I was asked to tutor a six year old in reading and writing. As she was already attending an after school program for the very same subjects, I candidly told the parents that I wasn't sure if my services were really needed. Turns out that they wanted to pay me to sit with their child and read to her. $60 an hour to *read* to a six year old. Uh, no thanks.
Mustachejd - I find this very intriguing. What topics are you tutoring? What age level of kids?
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I have done translation and transcription in the past but have recently found a more lucrative side gig. Anyone with an ESL or TESOL background can become an at-home language assessor. The company sends you recordings of ESL students and you rate them. I make about 40$/h 10hours per week. Very happy I found this!
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KC, that sounds fab . . . are you willing to share details? I am a licensed ESL teacher.
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I can send you the details, Fidgiegirl.
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Ooh, ooh! Me too, KC, pretty please? Both my husband and I are licensed ESL teachers as well. And therefore, need more money. Hahaha.
And hi, fellow teachers! :)
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This is a side gig that's helped when I've gotten fewer hours or have been in between jobs.
I sell cell phone accessories on eBay and occasionally on Craigslist. My parents got me into this, as they sell high-end appliances and home goods via eBay and Amazon. I used to sell on Amazon, but it's harder for me to turn a profit and a higher percentage of my selling price goes to them in the form of fees. Plus, I have to stay on top of competitors' prices and adjust accordingly. Selling on eBay covers my student loan payments and those little emergencies that come up. Once I start working 40+ hours a week at the job I just got, I'm going to scale back or put it on hiatus. It's good to fall back on and I enjoy profiting from other people's consumerism. I wish I could do this as a business full-time, but with eBay's constant rule changes, fee increases, and their courting of large retailers and large-scale Chinese sellers*, it's increasingly harder for small and medium sellers to survive.
*Thanks to ePacket, a partnership between eBay, USPS, and China Post, it's often cheaper for Chinese sellers to ship to the US than it is for US sellers to ship within the US. But that is another topic altogether.
I also do market research studies. I often have to lie to get into them since we don't have cable and I don't consume any of the stuff they're getting consumer input about, with the exception of allergy medication, but the money is pretty good when I can get an interview or onto a panel. Hell, I have no problem pretending to like Velveeta Shells and Cheese if you're paying me $200.
I've also wanted to start selling things like bottle lamps and bottle incense burners via Etsy, but I'm a wuss and am afraid that it won't go anywhere. It's crazy and I know I need to get over it.
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I have a background in software development, product management, marketing and corporate M&A. I do some combination those things at my day job...
Several years ago I stared buying/selling/building web sites and web applications. I outsource what I am not good at to mostly overseas designers and programmers.
The first year two years I lost a few $/year. Year 3 I made about $40k. Year 4, this year I set up an S-corp and I should net around $100k.
Now, if I can only figure out how to keep that pattern going...
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I have a background in software development, product management, marketing and corporate M&A. I do some combination those things at my day job...
Several years ago I stared buying/selling/building web sites and web applications. I outsource what I am not good at to mostly overseas designers and programmers.
The first year two years I lost a few $/year. Year 3 I made about $40k. Year 4, this year I set up an S-corp and I should net around $100k.
Now, if I can only figure out how to keep that pattern going...
Way to leverage your skills captainiron! I am not in your field, but I find it very inspiring that you were able to leverage your on-the-job skills for your side hustle. How did you first get started with your side gig? Was the scaling up just a natural process or something you were very intentional about?
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kkbmustang: Could you send my PM to Mom to 5? Apparently, I did not set up my profile so that it automatically saves my outgoing messages. Oops! Or, you could just post it on this thread.
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I do woodworking projects for extra money. For instance, I'm currently working on a project for some friends that will net me about $750-800 after buying materials. This will be about a week's worth of work. The extra money typically goes towards buying new tools, though. For instance, I will likely buy a nice bandsaw and probably a scrollsaw, but the bandsaws are typically $400+ used for the size I need. It also goes to pay for expensive wood for my personal projects. Between making some side money off of building things and scouring craigslist, I can get normally expensive Walnut (which my entire main floor of the house's furniture will all be made out of) for little to no out of pocket costs.
Keep in mind, that this is typically a lot of hours spent in the shop, however. So, the hourly cost usually isn't super nice, but it's a hobby that I enjoy doing and I'm making some money off of it so I don't mind too much.
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First post here!
I have a side gig, I buy and sell stuff on Ebay/Craigslist. ANYONE can have a nice little part time business with a little effort.
All I do is look for things that I can buy and resell for 50-100% profit to make it worthwhile. My hobby/passion is BMW's and I look for certain used car parts that I know sell on Ebay/Craigslist. I may buy a part for $50, hold it for a month or two, sell it for $100.
I also look for deals. For example, a few years back I was at a Sony Outlet store and saw these pretty cool looking PC's on close out. Looked them up on Ebay, saw them selling for $750 and I could buy them for $300. Made $6K one summer just selling these.
Last year I was at home depot looking to buy some LED lights. Found that I could buy them $20 each and same lights on Ebay were selling for $40 each. I ended up selling like $12K worth of these lights, it was crazy!
To me, this is a very safe ROI. Having quite a bit of disposable income helps for sure. The beauty of Ebay/Paypal, they only report income and ask for your SS if you meet 200 sales transactions and $20K sales in the same calendar year.
Before MMM, all my profits were simply spent. Starting last month, this income too will be going to savings!
P.S> My career.....I'm in sales ;)
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I write articles on Seeking Alpha. I'm too lazy for it to be a really lucrative side hustle (I made about $600 on about 15 articles over 9 months) but I sometimes get a good investment out of it, so it's indirectly brought me several thousand :) One of my new years resolutions is to write 50 articles there this year - they're a few hours each so it should be do-able. If you're a decent writer and can analyse a financial statement you can make 1c per pageview.
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I am an iOS/Android developer in my day job, so recently I have started developing some of my own ideas as well. I released the first of my own apps about 6 weeks ago and so far I've made about $350 ($500 before Apple took their cut) with no marketing at all. Not fantastic, but it was a fun project and it will also hopefully be a good thing to show to potential future employers. Plus it looks like sales are accelerating a bit lately.
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I've just starting making and selling soap (Fight Club reference intended). Haven't made much yet, but it's low overhead and fun.
Also, KC, could you send me the link , too? Thanks!
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Amyable, KC was nice enough to send me the company's information, but they only offered jobs to Canadian citizens. I tried to find a similar company that employs Statesers but have been unsuccessful so far. If I ever find something, I'll let you know!
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It's not really a side job, but I found a way to make more money on the side at my full time job.
I'm an admin at a consulting company for financial services firms. Occasionally we are hired for a large scale project where anywhere from 4 to 7 consultants will work on one project in which they produce one final, cohesive written report to the client (and sometimes the government). Now while these consultants are all GREAT and what they do, they're not always great at writing about what they do.
That's where I come in. I have a talent for writing and editing, and after proving myself quite useful for this task a number of times, my company decided to start writing me into the projects to get the client to pay for the time I spent cleaning up the documents.
So while I get my normal hourly rate, when one of these projects comes along, I make more than double for any hours I spend working on it.
So the take away: freelance editing if it's your skill. I should really look into this outside of work...
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This is a really inspiring thread. I am already self-employed and so slotting in some time to do a new thing should be relatively easy. It's just getting up the confidence to try something outside my usual work. Tutoring or teaching has always appealed to me, especially to adults. It's something I really need to get out of my system even if only to find out it's not for me. I did an introductory course in adult education but was put off from going further because I'd have had to basically get a degree to earn less than I earn now in my profession.
My ideas so far have been basic maths and English (especially to parents worried about helping their kids with homework) budgeting and financial education, basic PC and Internet skills, Excel and knitting. It's something that I could do for free to get experience and work on my planning and materials and then offer it out for money. I have the desire to teach *something* so it would be shame if I never tried it.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
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I just started an "ebay business" thrifting clothes from Goodwill, Salvation Army and flipping them on ebay. Just started so nothing has sold, but start up is low so risk is low. Numbers look good if I stay with it.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
What field are you in? I have a number of friends who teach humanities and get $3k per course.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
How do you get into this?.. I am a professional engineer about to retire with 30 years experience. Thinking I should be able to teach something at the local University.
Frank
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I live on a main road so there is lots of traffic going past. I got a small sign made up offering advertising space on my fence. Currently I have two signs up bringing in $400/mth and after putting the sign up all I do is invoice once a month so the hourly rate is pretty healthy.
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Sweet, flowrider!!
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I live on a main road so there is lots of traffic going past. I got a small sign made up offering advertising space on my fence. Currently I have two signs up bringing in $400/mth and after putting the sign up all I do is invoice once a month so the hourly rate is pretty healthy.
That is a great idea, way to use what you have.
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Tax question for those with side gigs - how do you state this extra income? Do you consider it a business or hobby income? If I remember correctly, 'hobby income' gets taxed pretty heavy.
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This is a really inspiring thread. I am already self-employed and so slotting in some time to do a new thing should be relatively easy. It's just getting up the confidence to try something outside my usual work. Tutoring or teaching has always appealed to me, especially to adults. It's something I really need to get out of my system even if only to find out it's not for me. I did an introductory course in adult education but was put off from going further because I'd have had to basically get a degree to earn less than I earn now in my profession.
My ideas so far have been basic maths and English (especially to parents worried about helping their kids with homework) budgeting and financial education, basic PC and Internet skills, Excel and knitting. It's something that I could do for free to get experience and work on my planning and materials and then offer it out for money. I have the desire to teach *something* so it would be shame if I never tried it.
I tutored a college student for the math component of a licensing exam, that was very nice pocket money. I also teach a computer science class as an adjunct (not very much pay, but it's a great experience) and I only needed a Master's for that, nothing actually teaching-related. I also tutor for an adult education class (but that's for free, and very enjoyable). The same adult education system has community classes that the instructor gets pair for, in whatever - computers, gardening, home brew, cooking, etc., in which courses might be 1 night (a single 2 hour cooking class) or a 15 week program (2 hours in one night a week for a language or something) that I haven't taught for myself but will probably try in the next year. See if your community has something similar.
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@Maigahane - thanks for the reply!
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I sell vegetables at the local farmers market. I am also adding eggs and pastured meat this year. Some of our produce and eggs is sold to coworkers. I also sell tea that I import and blend at the local farmers market.
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If you're good at standardized exams, test prep teaching is great. I did that on the side for 7 years, and I plan to go back when the kiddos are older. I had to score at least 90th percentile on a diagnostic version of any exam I taught (SAT, LSAT, GMAT, and GRE). Paid prep time, $20+/hour for teaching - the teaching rate goes up as you accumulate high reviews from your students. I'd sign up per course, which would be anywhere from 8-13 sessions, 1-3 evenings a week, so no long-term commitments. Tutoring was super-flexible. If I had no extra time, I just didn't take any classes. When I wasn't working otherwise, I picked up over 20 hours a week.
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Hi Frankh, I have a friend who coordinates the adjuncts at the university where I'm going to teach. Keep in mind this school is in NYC, where they pay a lot more than other areas.
But, on a whim, I just emailed the head of a department at Rutgers, to ask if they need adjuncts, and she emailed me back within a day to set up an interview. They have offered me an adjunct gig, but I can only take on one at a time.
So I would just send a couple of emails with resume attached. Do you have a master's or PhD? I think you need at least some advanced education.
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I was looking out of my home office window this morning, watching a new house being built across the street when this van pulls up with a vehicle wrap that says "The Glove Lady." All of the construction workers come over and most of them walk away with a pair or two of gloves. Don't know if it's a side gig or not but seems like a pretty flexible, cash only business. I thought it was a clever way to make a few bucks, driving home the point that people need things and you can make money by providing them.
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Selling on ebay: get items for free then sell. Not a lot of profit competing with chinese, but its something. The numbers help my ebay feedback for the times I do have big ticket items. My friend works a computer place and they throw away thousands of new cables. He collects the cables, I sell them.
2. Vending machines. Part time since the machines only need to be checked every other week. Machines can be bought cheap used, then we find a place to put them. Sometimes you get lucky and find free machines. When someone goes out of business they often leave the machine. My uncle works at a place where they've been sending letters for months for the owner to come get a snack machine. Legally its now theirs, but they don't want or need it - so its mine.
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I like the vending machine business :)
Just finished another writing assignment on Elance. Still a highly irregular extra income, but it's better than nothing!
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If you're good at standardized exams, test prep teaching is great. I did that on the side for 7 years, and I plan to go back when the kiddos are older. I had to score at least 90th percentile on a diagnostic version of any exam I taught (SAT, LSAT, GMAT, and GRE). Paid prep time, $20+/hour for teaching - the teaching rate goes up as you accumulate high reviews from your students. I'd sign up per course, which would be anywhere from 8-13 sessions, 1-3 evenings a week, so no long-term commitments. Tutoring was super-flexible. If I had no extra time, I just didn't take any classes. When I wasn't working otherwise, I picked up over 20 hours a week.
This sounds really interesting. Could you tell me if you did this through Princeton Review, Kaplan, or some other similar provider?
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I sell books on Amazon. I buy them at the Goodwill for $1 or $2, then list them and send 'em off when they sell. The best one I found was a book on internal combustion mechanics that I bought for $2 and sold for $125.
This sounds interesting, and dare I say it, pretty easy (as long as you've got storage space, have patience, and can organize your books easily and efficiently). How much do you make in a normal month?
It is honestly the easiest thing. I have a designated bookshelf that I use to store the books until they sell, though you could use almost any kind of anything that works for you. I don't bother sorting them by author or title; what I do is catalog them on my own spreadsheet that includes title, author, and ISBN. Since I only have around 50 books up for sale at any one time, I don't usually sort them out and just double-check the title and author when I pull books that have sold.
As far as the monthly income is concerned, I don't really have a reliable figure to cite. Amazon pays out every two weeks, depending on when you start your account: I started mine on a Thursday, so I get paid every other Thursday. The least I've made with one of these payments was $5.27 on June 13, 2013, which was due to not listing many books, a week on vacation with the store closed, and slow summer sales; the most I've made was $803.46 on March 8, 2012, which was due to the fact that I bought 1,500 books from a liquidation auction and flipped most of them quickly. (It wasn't really worth it, in the end.) Tomorrow I will make $267.74, though $145.44 of that is books I'm selling on behalf of my EGA chapter that belonged to a member who passed away earlier this year. I volunteered to sell the valuable books on Amazon to achieve a greater profit for the chapter than if the books were sold at a rummage sale. (We'll probably use the money to hire a fancy, nationally-recognized teacher to come teach us something interesting.)
I average about $200 of income per month and somewhere between $50 and $80 in expenses - after all, I do have to buy the books from somewhere. I pick them up mostly at Goodwill, and if I see something else there that I like, I throw it in my bag, so I count that as an expense, too. Plus if there are books I want to read, they go in the bag as well. I have an extensive personal library as a result.
Doing this could be a real job-job if I got more serious about it, but right now it's just a casual thing for me. It is enjoyable, V, and when a book sells for $50 or more, it's quite pleasant.
I do know a guy who does this full time. Very interesting...
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@k-vette -
I'm curious to know more about your vending machine sideline. I just saw an ad in my area, someone selling their vending machine business, 60 machines all placed in our area, supposedly $70k net/year, for sale for $65k.
Seems cheap, and I'm guessing either the machines are old or badly placed. But I have a friend who used to work a very lucrative vending machine business with his girlfriend, and has lots of experience on the sales/placement side of things. On looking up statistics on professional sites, I saw that 18% of vending machine businesses make over $1 million a year! Considering that many vendors would be part-time side-line types dragging down the statistics, I was impressed that a truly professional full-time operator might make real money if they knew what they were doing.
It was just an idle though on my part, thinking about my kids in their young 20's and whether such a business opportunity might be right for one of them.
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Certainly a viable business. The advantages to vending machines are the low startup costs, and its a cash business. To start you could find a basic soda machine for around $250, stock it with $200 in product, and make your money back in a few months. (Or in 1 month at a good location) A teenager could do it. Location is everything. Summer time and sodas is where the money is.
I started because I always wanted my own business and it was cheap to start. We only have 5 machines placed so far. However when we got started we met 2 people doing this. 1 guy we bought a machine from had over 300 in operation. He had two full time guys stocking machines and had a service call 1 to 2 times per week. It was clear he was doing well. Another guy we saw at sams club while buying product. He had the same things in his cart, so my wife asked if he had vending machines. He also gave us some helpful tips. He didn't say how many machines, but he did it part time in addition to his regular job and did say that he made about $4,000/mo.
Location location. We have more snack machines, but sodas are easier to maintain since you don't have to worry as much about shelf life.
Easiest way to start is put a machine where you currently work. If the place has less than 15 employees don't bother. (Unless it has high traffic of cuatomers that come through) More than that I think is worthwhile. You can see the machine every day and stock when needed without an extra trip anywhere.
I buy almost all the product at sams club for snacks. They sell items specifically for vending.
If you're wondering what the location cost - $0. No one charges me to place the machines. In fact one company sees it as a perk and subsidizes 50% of the cost. I artificially lower the price so they buy more, and the company pays the other half.
It seems to be a transient business. Machines and locations for sale the time.
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Thanks for the input!
I was thinking that $65k was a pretty small price to pay to "buy" a job that pays you $70k/year. And that it might be a good investment for one of my kids, who are working low-wage jobs right now. If I financed it and they really could make the stated income, they could pay me back over two years while still making a living wage, and then they'd be set with a pretty good income (and the possibility of more if they grew the business).
Interesting that you don't have to pay to place your machines - I'd read that 10-40% was often the case. And yes, my friend who used to do this, says you really want 50 employees or more, or lots of foot traffic.
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Army Reservist ~ $500 for two days of work = roughly $7,500 per year
Rental property = $800/mo (Technically I don't see the cash since it pays a mortgage but it is equity) = roughly $9,500 per year
I am considering another rental property or two, with a goal of $100,000 per year income before I turn 30. My regular full-time job pays $60,000 per year.
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Thanks for the input!
I was thinking that $65k was a pretty small price to pay to "buy" a job that pays you $70k/year. And that it might be a good investment for one of my kids, who are working low-wage jobs right now. If I financed it and they really could make the stated income, they could pay me back over two years while still making a living wage, and then they'd be set with a pretty good income (and the possibility of more if they grew the business).
Interesting that you don't have to pay to place your machines - I'd read that 10-40% was often the case. And yes, my friend who used to do this, says you really want 50 employees or more, or lots of foot traffic.
If it does make what they quoted, that's a decent roi. One thing I forgot to mention. For anyone looking at it for part time work - place machines where you can access them off of your normal work hours. I work mon-fri, so I try to place machines that I can stock on saturday. Makes it much easier. I go about 2 weeks between stocking most machines.
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This is one you won't come across often:
I used to work in this public library that got loads of donated books, CDs, DVDs, games, magazines... you name it. The library would periodically have used item sales, but the incoming donations vs. the output from people buying items/the library cataloging them/etc was totally unbalanced. They got way more than they knew how to deal with. There'd be boxes and boxes of things that they'd just offer up to whoever wanted them. I used to take boxes of books and other things, run the items through Amazon to see if they'd be worth listing and all the other stuff got carted to Half Price Books and sold off. I bought a car with the income from that stuff.
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My side gig : Poker
Poker can be controversial with many people, but I take it serious and earn an average of $16/hr over a few hundred hours sample at $1/$2 blinds no limit holdem. I am currently transitioning back to online poker and hoping to surpass that hourly rate.
Poker has afforded me the luxury of saving almost all my primary income.
I am interested in the vending machines side gig. I think it might be something I can do with my extra capital and create another income stream.
I am definitely interested in hearing more about vending machines :) and if anyone has poker questions feel free to ask!
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My side gig is delivering newspapers! 4 hours per day/ 7 days a week....$1000 a month. It's a great way to make extra cash while I'm in school.
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I've had lots of different side gigs over the years. Tutoring has always been a good one for me (although I'm not doing it now) because there's always a demand for Maths teachers. I supported myself all through university tutoring and at various times since it's provided a nice little bit of cash.
I was also really into AirBnB for a while. I was living in Tokyo and found that people would pay 3000 yen (roughly $30) a night to sleep on the floor of my little apartment. Funded a nice summer trip to Alaska that way. Now I'm in Bulgaria it's not worth the hassle, demand is low and there's already a lot of very cheap accommodation options.
I've also worked as a cleaner, a research assistant (for a guy studying parrots) and done one off events for Japanese schools where I was basically paid to turn up and speak English.
Currently my only side gig is working for a big international education outfit. Twice a year I do marking for them. It's not great pay (it's per piece so it's hard to estimate on an hourly basis - a really crappy piece of work might need 5 minutes to mark, something more detailed and of good quality could take me half an hour to understand) but it's excellent professional development (I'm a teacher). And as I've moved up the food chain there are occasionally other benefits - in a couple of months they're flying me to Cardiff (Wales) for some meetings, it conveniently backs on to my own Easter break so I'll be getting free flights for my Easter holiday.
I love the buying/reselling idea from second hand shops. I LOVE second hand and thrift shops. Unfortunately I've found the postal system here to be way too unreliable for me to even consider it now but maybe in a future country (I change every few years).
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We rent out our extra room in NYC on Airbnb - brings in anywhere from $2,000-$4,000/month, before taxes, but still pretty sweet :) I would say I spend about 2-4 hours a week communicating with guests and cleaning the room - less if it's a longer stay. Minor annoyance because rarely do guests know how long it takes to get into Manhattan from the airport, so we do sometimes end up waiting around for hours for them to show up, despite trying to coordinate this beforehand. But worth it nonetheless and we have met some really awesome people from all over the world.
I also co-lecture classes at the university I work at for $5,000/semester.
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I babysit and do some online marketing for a friend. I've been babysitting since I was about 12 years old. Although I don't always know when my next babysitting job will be, I usually have at least one per month. That's at least an extra $30.00. I know a lot of guys feel uncomfortable with babysitting so I always tell male friends that they could try petsitting if they're uncomfortable with babysitting. Sittercity.com has gotten me a couple of clients.
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I teach a class on skillshare.com
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kkbmustang: Could you send my PM to Mom to 5? Apparently, I did not set up my profile so that it automatically saves my outgoing messages. Oops! Or, you could just post it on this thread.
Sorry, just now saw this. Here you go:
Hello there,
To answer your questions:
Most of the time, I tutor standardized tests (SAT, LSAT, MCAT, GRE, and GMAT), high school entrance exams, and most middle school and high school subjects. That being said, my current jobs involve college admissions counseling and assisting a middle school student with her science fair project. I never really targeted a specific age range - I just take students where I can get them.
If you have contacts at private schools, that is fantastic for marketing purposes. Although I advertise via craigslist, wyzant.com, and private school bulletin boards, the majority of my clients come from referrals. Every time I start a new market (I've moved five times since I started teaching as a side business), it's been the same. I get one success story fairly early on, and then suddenly I am completely flush with clients.
Case in point: I just moved a few months ago, and managed to score a new client using wyzant.com within a few days of my move. My client's mother wanted me to prepare her son for the SAT *every* day, which was only a few weeks away. Although I initially balked at the idea of teaching every day, including weekends, I knew that it would only be for a short period of time and since I was starting my tutoring business from scratch all over again, who knew when my next client would appear? As luck would have it, my student's score went up well over 300 points in less than a month. The mother was so proud of her son's success and sang my praises to all her friends.
So now I have a consistent client base - at least, for the next year or so. Since I have a full time job, I can only take two or three students at a time before I get antsy about all the extra work that I am doing. While I love making additional income, the whole point of my taking a government attorney position (yes, you are right, I am a lawyer) was so that I would have an excellent work life balance, and on days that I teach, I'm essentially working from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. While that is fine for a couple of days a week, I find doing it every day extremely unpleasant. If I wanted to work those hours, I would still be at my law firm and making a lot more money!
Anyway, I hope my response helps.
Good luck,
MJD
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Professional sports statistician. Brings in about 4-5k per year, some of it cash payments.
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This is one you won't come across often:
I used to work in this public library that got loads of donated books, CDs, DVDs, games, magazines... you name it. The library would periodically have used item sales, but the incoming donations vs. the output from people buying items/the library cataloging them/etc was totally unbalanced. They got way more than they knew how to deal with. There'd be boxes and boxes of things that they'd just offer up to whoever wanted them. I used to take boxes of books and other things, run the items through Amazon to see if they'd be worth listing and all the other stuff got carted to Half Price Books and sold off. I bought a car with the income from that stuff.
A lot of libraries (I work in one) have now discovered Better World Books and are directly selling their own surplus items/withdrawn items. For us, a few things get put on our "sale" shelf but everything else gets shipped directly to BWB. And thankfully, we've made over $10,000 doing that. (The shipping is free.)
Professional sports statistician. Brings in about 4-5k per year, some of it cash payments.
Please, PLEASE tell me how you got into this? My younger brother is amazing with sports and does the statistics on his own, for fun. And he's better than the professionals at ESPN. I've seen him nail what the point spread of a football game would be, and when he's "off", it's by no more than 10 points (and he's almost always right about who will win). The family's been telling him for years to go after a job in this field but he's not a self-starter and not particularly ambitious. Also, I think he's a bit scared to go after something that means so much to him. So if I could point him in the right direction, he might actually do it.
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Certainly a viable business. The advantages to vending machines are the low startup costs, and its a cash business. To start you could find a basic soda machine for around $250, stock it with $200 in product, and make your money back in a few months. (Or in 1 month at a good location) A teenager could do it. Location is everything. Summer time and sodas is where the money is.
I started because I always wanted my own business and it was cheap to start. We only have 5 machines placed so far. However when we got started we met 2 people doing this. 1 guy we bought a machine from had over 300 in operation. He had two full time guys stocking machines and had a service call 1 to 2 times per week. It was clear he was doing well. Another guy we saw at sams club while buying product. He had the same things in his cart, so my wife asked if he had vending machines. He also gave us some helpful tips. He didn't say how many machines, but he did it part time in addition to his regular job and did say that he made about $4,000/mo.
Location location. We have more snack machines, but sodas are easier to maintain since you don't have to worry as much about shelf life.
Easiest way to start is put a machine where you currently work. If the place has less than 15 employees don't bother. (Unless it has high traffic of cuatomers that come through) More than that I think is worthwhile. You can see the machine every day and stock when needed without an extra trip anywhere.
I buy almost all the product at sams club for snacks. They sell items specifically for vending.
If you're wondering what the location cost - $0. No one charges me to place the machines. In fact one company sees it as a perk and subsidizes 50% of the cost. I artificially lower the price so they buy more, and the company pays the other half.
It seems to be a transient business. Machines and locations for sale the time.
The cheapest soda machine I could find was $850 + shipping for used ones. Where are you finding a $250 one?
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PE engineers who want to part time teach besides the university, don't overlook your local community college. I suppose CPAs and CFPs could do this as well
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Did you try Craig's list for the vending machine?
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Did you try Craig's list for the vending machine?
Yep, and the cheapest there is $1200, no negotiating.
I live near a big city, so it looks like this is a common side gig
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I do solavei. I set up a website and blog about the great cell phone service they provide. cost nothing to join except for the cell phone service you have to have thru them which can be as low as 39 bucks a month and you make 5 bucks/month on every person who signs up and stays signed up. there is a MLM system with it too... but my wife and i have no cell phone bills and i make a few extra bucks each month.
So...it's a pyramid scheme?
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After reading through this thread a ways back, the fiancee and I started having fun hitting the nearby Goodwill & Salvation Army stores. I use my phone to find media that can be resold for a profit and she looks for knicknacks and furniture she can repaint. In the few weeks we've been doing this, I've made about $15 profit with the potential for $150 or so if everything I have up sells. She hasn't actually sold anything yet, but has a much higher profit potential given how cheap we've found the things she's working on vs. what they should sell for painted up nicely. She found a really nice solid wood end table at a nearby ReStore that was 50% off and cost $1.59 including taxes! She could do nothing at all to that piece and turn around and sell it for 20x that easily.
We hit a yard sale on Saturday- and walked away from it with more stuff pulled for free (with their approval) from their construction debris dumpster than we bought from the sale itself. :P
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I teach piano private and group lessons. I make about $1000/month doing that! Not a bad way to make some money considering it has no start up costs (I've owned the piano for years)
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This winter I've been working in a ski rental shop at the foot of a ski resort. It is my "fun job"!
It also keeps me from entertaining myself with donuts and cookies on my days off. Which, in turn, keeps me from needing a new wardrobe in the next size up.
(Free rentals and ski pass, too -- not bad.)
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This winter I've been working in a ski rental shop at the foot of a ski resort. It is my "fun job"!
It also keeps me from entertaining myself with donuts and cookies on my days off. Which, in turn, keeps me from needing a new wardrobe in the next size up.
(Free rentals and ski pass, too -- not bad.)
I would work for free just for the rentals and pass.
That stuff is expensive!
Now I know when I retire I need to work part time over there so I can ski!
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Can you teach? The best way to come up with a side hustle, is to think of something you know how to do that others would like to. Impostor Syndrome prevents many from getting into teaching before they're masters, but you really just have to know what you know, and that has to be more than the other person (and not even always, if you can distinguish coaching improvement from teaching anew). Almost all my income is side-hustling, thanks to a passion for learning/teaching.
I play guitar, so I teach guitar
I am a massage therapist who runs a business, so I teach business at the area massage school
I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so I teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
If I'd been a better student I'd tutor. If I could dance, I'd advertise lessons on CL. Most one-on-one teaching/tutoring can fetch $40/hr, at least. Everyone knows something better than most other people. It's probably marketable!
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Teach a university course online each semester. The pay can really vary from $3000-8000/semester depending on the university. Also have my own consulting business that I don't spend more then 10 hours/week on.
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I do Leapforce at Home. The pay is just OK but you can do it in your jammies, so it's a good gig if, like me, you are not particularly entrepreneurial and/or you have other things going on. (Advantages and disadvantages: http://frugalparagon.com/2014/02/05/why-the-frugal-paragon-loves-leapforce-at-home/)
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I do Leapforce at Home. The pay is just OK but you can do it in your jammies, so it's a good gig if, like me, you are not particularly entrepreneurial and/or you have other things going on. (Advantages and disadvantages: http://frugalparagon.com/2014/02/05/why-the-frugal-paragon-loves-leapforce-at-home/)
Hi frugalparagon--
What exactly do you do for Leapforce at Home? Look at websites and generate relevant search keywords or something like that?
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Also have my own consulting business that I don't spend more then 10 hours/week on.
May I ask in what field you're a consultant? Just curious.
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Hi frugalparagon--
What exactly do you do for Leapforce at Home? Look at websites and generate relevant search keywords or something like that?
I'm not frugalparagon, but I just tested for Leapforce, passed the first 2 sections and am waiting to here back about the 3rd. I think there are rules about discussing exactly what one does working for Leapforce, but it's along the lines of what you're guessing. If you're interested, you can sign up with them to get the guidelines (140 page book that explains it all in great detail) and take the tests. Then, you can always decide whether or not to continue.
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I do Leapforce at Home. The pay is just OK but you can do it in your jammies, so it's a good gig if, like me, you are not particularly entrepreneurial and/or you have other things going on. (Advantages and disadvantages: http://frugalparagon.com/2014/02/05/why-the-frugal-paragon-loves-leapforce-at-home/)
Hi frugalparagon--
What exactly do you do for Leapforce at Home? Look at websites and generate relevant search keywords or something like that?
Yep, there's a nondisclosure agreement, but the test will give you a better idea what's involved. There are actually a lot of different kinds of tasks
Emilyngh, congrats on passing the first two parts of the test! Good luck. Everyone remember to use my link in the blog post if you want to sign up, because then I get a bonus :-).
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BASD, the field is worker's compensation.
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Hi frugalparagon--
What exactly do you do for Leapforce at Home? Look at websites and generate relevant search keywords or something like that?
I'm not frugalparagon, but I just tested for Leapforce, passed the first 2 sections and am waiting to here back about the 3rd. I think there are rules about discussing exactly what one does working for Leapforce, but it's along the lines of what you're guessing. If you're interested, you can sign up with them to get the guidelines (140 page book that explains it all in great detail) and take the tests. Then, you can always decide whether or not to continue.
Thanks, Emily!
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I spread the word about auto safety. You'd be amazed how many fewer deaths we'd have each year if people simply didn't drink or speed (20,000+).
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BASD, the field is worker's compensation.
What is BASD?
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I spread the word about auto safety. You'd be amazed how many fewer deaths we'd have each year if people simply didn't drink or speed (20,000+).
Do you simply earn money doing that (awesome and rewarding work) through the blog? Or do you do real life events too?
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BASD, the field is worker's compensation.
What is BASD?
It's me :) She was responding to a question of mine.
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Here's a cool thing. I live in NJ, but my side gig as an adjunct professor is in NYC. I had 529 plans for my kids through Fidelity, through the Rhode Island plan (NJ doesn't have a 529 plan that lets you invest $ before state income tax, so we just choose plans from other states and live without the tax benefit).
BUT, this year I wanted to open Vanguard 529s, since I have other investments there. I discovered that, if I chose the New York state plan, I can deduct state income tax on any $ earned in New York and invested in the 529s. Since I am putting more than my total salary earned in New York into the 529s, that means that all the money I earn from my side gig is now free of state income tax. Depending on my tax rate, I will save at least $400, possibly more, on this. :)
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I have been looking to build a Pygmy Coho Kayak. The kits go for $1,000 and finished go for $2,800+
http://www.pygmyboats.com/boat-kits.html
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/boa/4385493347.html
This guy is making $30/hour working with wood and making beautiful kayaks. From what I can tell, these kits are amazing. You don't have to have woodworking experience, but I am sure you would be much faster and efficient if you know what you are doing.
If you want to learn about kayaks or boat building you can make a profit while learning.
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Mystery shop. It's not a lot of money, but everything helps. I've also been able to pick up free (or close to free) restaurant meals, oil changes, pizza delivery, items from gas stations (milk and snacks I would never buy otherwise), car washes, jewelry. It's not a scam, but usually is more work than people think it is and you have to be observant. It is second nature now for me to get names, look around to see how clean/dirty, etc!
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I've just landed a gig writing technical articles for a web development site, between $150 - $250 per article. I have the potential to earn an extra £1-2k a year. Not vast amounts of money but not chump change either.
I'm well chuffed I didn't think I was going to be accepted!
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I coached a high school team for about $50/hour for a little bit
Recently pushed out an iPhone game which has made a little off ad revenue, but nothing significant
Planning on starting the blog route. I just bought the domain and hosted the wordpress site last night. Time to write some meaningful articles!
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Used to play poker, now I play slots and blackjack. Make pretty good, play maybe an hour or two a day until I hit my stop limit.
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I rent the basement flat for $1516 p/m. It needs time for selecting the tenants, keeping track of their payments, emergency repairs, doing property inspections and doing the tax at year end. But all up it's a great side gig! And I get a real kick out of giving people a nice home.
Sell stuff on Trade Me too.
Also, have just discovered I'm a great proof reader, so could probably do this on the side too (perhaps when I'm not working full time!)
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I rent the basement flat for $1516 p/m. It needs time for selecting the tenants, keeping track of their payments, emergency repairs, doing property inspections and doing the tax at year end. But all up it's a great side gig! And I get a real kick out of giving people a nice home.
Sell stuff on Trade Me too.
Also, have just discovered I'm a great proof reader, so could probably do this on the side too (perhaps when I'm not working full time!)
I have thought about selling my home and buying one with a rentable basement. I could basically FIRE if I did that as basement suites go for $1200+ in this neck of the woods. How do you find sharing the backyard/garage with someone else?
As far as side gigs, my girlfriend seems to have found an awesome one. She just started selling something on Etsy. Don't want to say specifics as someone might take the idea. Costs about $20 to make and sells for $80. Has already sold 7 of them in about a week!. Hopefully the trend continues for her.
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Used to play poker, now I play slots and blackjack. Make pretty good, play maybe an hour or two a day until I hit my stop limit.
How do you make money on slots? I thought that was mathematically impossible.
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Used to play poker, now I play slots and blackjack. Make pretty good, play maybe an hour or two a day until I hit my stop limit.
How do you make money on slots? I thought that was mathematically impossible.
He could be doing this online - plenty of online casinos offer bonuses for depositing money that you can make money off of if you don't do anything stupid.
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I too did the poker thing for a while. Made mid-high 5-figures playing online during grad school, then did a bunch of coaching and stuff along with it. It was a ton of fun, I just don't have the inclination to do all the work/analysis anymore.
I did a whole bunch of credit card bonuses and the like last year, although the loss of vanilla reloads at CVS has made that a bit more difficult.
I don't really have a side hustle at the moment, which actually feels a bit strange. Time to find a new one!
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I have 50+ ebooks on Amazon and Smashwords - Apple, Kobo, B&N etc
The great thing about it is, once the books are published you don't have to do anything, except go to the bank to cash cheques
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I too did the poker thing for a while. Made mid-high 5-figures playing online during grad school, then did a bunch of coaching and stuff along with it. It was a ton of fun, I just don't have the inclination to do all the work/analysis anymore.
I did a whole bunch of credit card bonuses and the like last year, although the loss of vanilla reloads at CVS has made that a bit more difficult.
I don't really have a side hustle at the moment, which actually feels a bit strange. Time to find a new one!
Just out of curiosity, would you play online? If so, where? I was under the impression online gambling was illegal in the U.S. How long did it take you to become consistently profitable? I used to play a decent amount of poker and am interested in picking it back up if it meant additional cash flow and shorter time to FIRE...
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I have 50+ ebooks on Amazon and Smashwords - Apple, Kobo, B&N etc
The great thing about it is, once the books are published you don't have to do anything, except go to the bank to cash cheques
Wow, 50+ ebooks, that's prolific! What genres and how long did it take you to write them? Also, you say you don't have to do anything after they're published, but surely you do some marketing to get them noticed? I'd love to hear more about this.
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I had a side gig when you could purchase everyday use household products and toiletries for free by using a variety of coupons at the drug chains. The best days for getting the freebies are behind us, but back in the day I strategically "bought" and stored a lot of everyday use products and now shop for those products from our cabinets and closets (that would otherwise be empty) instead of having to spend money on those products at the store.
I guess it's not something that ever brought any money in, but it has prevented some money from going out.
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My DH just left a minute ago for his side gig -- playing bagpipes at weddings and funerals. $300 a performance.
I do editing and writing for businesses that I used to do full-time PR for. Now it's just proposals, marketing pieces, etc., in my free time. Brings in a couple of hundred per month.
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I too did the poker thing for a while. Made mid-high 5-figures playing online during grad school, then did a bunch of coaching and stuff along with it. It was a ton of fun, I just don't have the inclination to do all the work/analysis anymore.
I did a whole bunch of credit card bonuses and the like last year, although the loss of vanilla reloads at CVS has made that a bit more difficult.
I don't really have a side hustle at the moment, which actually feels a bit strange. Time to find a new one!
Just out of curiosity, would you play online? If so, where? I was under the impression online gambling was illegal in the U.S. How long did it take you to become consistently profitable? I used to play a decent amount of poker and am interested in picking it back up if it meant additional cash flow and shorter time to FIRE...
I too used to play alot online when the bonuses were pretty licrative. Could easily make 500 a month just on poker bonuses with about 1 hour of work each day. Sites figured out pretty quick though that the bonuswhores hit and run. Online ooker is too hard to beat now imo as everyones read the same books
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As a side job, I am an MC/event announcer for ocean events... like, sup races, ocean challenges, surf contests, ect. Once, randomly, I even got to do color commentary at the Home Depot Velodrome at the US National Championships where the cyclists competed for spots on the US Olympic Team. They even got their Olympic jerseys that night. It was AMAZING!!!!! I earn anywhere from $250-500 per event. :)
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I had a small etsy shop for the stuff I sew - baby blankets, neckties for little boys, superhero capes - but found that the hourly rate made it not worth my while, considering the fact that making the first cape is fun, but making ten for a birthday party is tedious.
Now I teach a couple of parent-and-tot music classes every week. Startup costs were minimal (bought some good-quality small percussion instruments) and there's virtually no prep time since I can lead a singalong in my sleep :) That brings in at least $65 for a 45 minute class (plus maybe 35 minutes of travel, so still a very decent hourly wage.) I've recently begun doing children's birthday parties. Around here parents will gladly spend all kinds of money on parties for the munchkins, so I make $100 for an hour's worth of songs and games.
This summer I'll be running a camp-type program for toddlers. I'm doing it mostly because I have a child that age and there aren't any programs that are appropriate, but also so that I'll make some money doing a lot of things I'd be doing with my own kid anyway: playing outside, singing songs, reading books, doing crafts. Also, most of the kids who are signed up live in the neighbourhood, so we'll be making new friends whom my kid can play with for the next 8 - 10 years. It should bring in about $2400 in profit for six weeks (only running two days a week.) That pays for day camp for my other two.
Have been thinking about an ebook, or maybe a Fiverr gig, but I don't have time at the moment. Maybe when my youngest is in school full-time I'll get started on that.
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I have 50+ ebooks on Amazon and Smashwords - Apple, Kobo, B&N etc
The great thing about it is, once the books are published you don't have to do anything, except go to the bank to cash cheques
Wow, 50+ ebooks, that's prolific! What genres and how long did it take you to write them? Also, you say you don't have to do anything after they're published, but surely you do some marketing to get them noticed? I'd love to hear more about this.
3 different pen names
genres - childrens picture books, recipe books, self help, some fiction and 'other'
I have been at it since July 2011
The most I do for marketing is adding them to my signature at a writing forum and add them to goodreads
Basically I publish and forget.
A lot of my earlier stuff are priced at $0.99 which gives a $0.35 payout (minus tax). Now I try to only publish books worth $2.99 which pays a $2 payout
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3 different pen names
genres - childrens picture books, recipe books, self help, some fiction and 'other'
I have been at it since July 2011
The most I do for marketing is adding them to my signature at a writing forum and add them to goodreads
Basically I publish and forget.
A lot of my earlier stuff are priced at $0.99 which gives a $0.35 payout (minus tax). Now I try to only publish books worth $2.99 which pays a $2 payout
Thanks for that - it's good to know that you can still make money without having to become some kind of monster publicity machine. :)
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We are probably going to write some smartphone apps during retirement. I don't know if it will bring any significant income but will be something to do. My wife has about 25 years in the industry and is a whiz at C# and about every other language (even Fortran and Cobol). I am a good idea man :-)
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I too did the poker thing for a while. Made mid-high 5-figures playing online during grad school, then did a bunch of coaching and stuff along with it. It was a ton of fun, I just don't have the inclination to do all the work/analysis anymore.
I did a whole bunch of credit card bonuses and the like last year, although the loss of vanilla reloads at CVS has made that a bit more difficult.
I don't really have a side hustle at the moment, which actually feels a bit strange. Time to find a new one!
Just out of curiosity, would you play online? If so, where? I was under the impression online gambling was illegal in the U.S. How long did it take you to become consistently profitable? I used to play a decent amount of poker and am interested in picking it back up if it meant additional cash flow and shorter time to FIRE...
If you live in one of the states that has sanctioned US poker, I'd play at one of those sites. I don't know anything about game selection, but at least your money's safe - that's priority #1 online. Bovada would be the only other option I'd consider. Outside of that I wouldn't bother with any other sites, as the risk of ruin - and by ruin I mean you never getting your money - is way too high.
As far as online gambling being illegal, the legal burden is more on the side of payment processors than it is players. I'd have exactly zero concern of going to jail or anything like that if I played on Bovada.
I learned at least three poker variants in my career - limit holdem, no-limit holdem, pot limit omaha - and each took a few months to become profitable. That said, I learned and won a fair amount of my money at LHE and NLHE in a completely different universe than the current online poker landscape. Nowadays the average level of knowledge is so much higher than it was in 2004-7. If you put the best high-stakes players in the world from 2004's online games into even a small-stakes online game in 2014, the 2004 guys would get annihilated. Some games are farther behind the knowledge curve - several of the 8-game variants chief among them - but LHE/NLHE and increasingly PLO are just tough everywhere. As edges get smaller, the "long run" gets longer, and you need more hands to ride out the variance train. To me, the idea of being better than my opponents and having a reasonable shot at losing money for a full year or more just isn't appealing anymore.
Overall I'd say while there's still plenty of money to be made in poker, it takes serious commitment to put yourself into a position to win much of that money.
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Dog sitter (stay over) for a very wealthy couple. They had two dogs, one of whom was diabetic. Fri-Sun typically made between $500-650. For week or longer stays I'd pull in 1200+. Aggregate answering that one craigslist ad probably made in the neighborhood of $7500-10,000 over 5 years.
Built small niche websites and resell them for profit or at auction. Typically the cost involved is my time + $50 for an off-the-shelf theme I hack up; maybe a custom logo for $200-400 if I'm feeling fancy. I resell the site / domain/ logo/ social media accounts as a whole package for $2000+. Timeline depends on the niche but typical flips are 3-6 months. Longest I've had was 4 years. Aggregate have probably made $20000-30000 on this in the last 4 years.
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I do after-hours computer repair. Brings in about $10,000 a year, workload fluctuates from nothing at all for a month or two to sometimes 10 hours a week. Day job brings in $32k salary so it's nice to have the extra stream of income. Eventually I'll quit the day job (after having a career of only 7 years) and keep the computer work, it's super fun and pays for virtually all of my expenses.
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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.
This is brilliant.
Agreed! I love that idea! I love wrapping packages. I hate all of the crap that is exchanged at Xmas, but boy do I love making pretty packages. But I don't live in a area where people buy craploads of things. Our neighbors/ friends keep DH employed fixing their houses, but they don't have children (that where gifts tend to pile up) and I can't see that they would keep me busy with this biz.
And frankly, many of our friends/neighbors are gay men and they probably would do a better job than me at wrapping presents. They have high standards for that sort of thing.
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I'm an electronic technician by trade, thanks to the US Navy. Been mulling the idea of doing cell/tablet repairs for the days I'm off. Start up cost seem reasonable - about $40 in tools and consumables that I don't have on hand and I could charge about $25 - 35 an hour for my services. Anyone else do this sort of work? What's your experience been like?
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Just started teaching a class one night a week in a Masters program at a University a few blocks from my office. I'm thinking this may be a fun way to make a little side money after FIRE.
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I do woodworking projects for extra money. For instance, I'm currently working on a project for some friends that will net me about $750-800 after buying materials. This will be about a week's worth of work. The extra money typically goes towards buying new tools, though. For instance, I will likely buy a nice bandsaw and probably a scrollsaw, but the bandsaws are typically $400+ used for the size I need. It also goes to pay for expensive wood for my personal projects. Between making some side money off of building things and scouring craigslist, I can get normally expensive Walnut (which my entire main floor of the house's furniture will all be made out of) for little to no out of pocket costs.
Keep in mind, that this is typically a lot of hours spent in the shop, however. So, the hourly cost usually isn't super nice, but it's a hobby that I enjoy doing and I'm making some money off of it so I don't mind too much.
What kind of places offer materials through craigslist? Are you dismantling pieces from other people? Or are you finding wholesalers?
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I spread the word about auto safety. You'd be amazed how many fewer deaths we'd have each year if people simply didn't drink or speed (20,000+).
Don't forget the DAMN CELL PHONES behind the wheel!! Gawd almighty, I can't stand it................texting and driving, yakking and driving - and because they have a cell phone in one hand, they can't use their damn blinkers! I swear to my husband this will probably be how I die - as the result of some inconsiderate, selfish, person who just HAS to use their cell phone while driving.
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My side gig : Poker
Poker can be controversial with many people, but I take it serious and earn an average of $16/hr over a few hundred hours sample at $1/$2 blinds no limit holdem. I am currently transitioning back to online poker and hoping to surpass that hourly rate.
Poker has afforded me the luxury of saving almost all my primary income.
I am interested in the vending machines side gig. I think it might be something I can do with my extra capital and create another income stream.
I am definitely interested in hearing more about vending machines :) and if anyone has poker questions feel free to ask!
mbn to not live in the u.s. :-p...unless u are on carbon? I got decent enough to make 15k/year part-time right before black friday...f'ing facist government.
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I spread the word about auto safety. You'd be amazed how many fewer deaths we'd have each year if people simply didn't drink or speed (20,000+).
Don't forget the DAMN CELL PHONES behind the wheel!! Gawd almighty, I can't stand it................texting and driving, yakking and driving - and because they have a cell phone in one hand, they can't use their damn blinkers! I swear to my husband this will probably be how I die - as the result of some inconsiderate, selfish, person who just HAS to use their cell phone while driving.
This is illegal in the Netherlands. The fine is 200 euros or something.
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I coached a high school team for about $50/hour for a little bit
Recently pushed out an iPhone game which has made a little off ad revenue, but nothing significant
Planning on starting the blog route. I just bought the domain and hosted the wordpress site last night. Time to write some meaningful articles!
What high school team pays you $50/hour? You would be higher paid than any other teacher right?
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I'm make online videos.
due to adsense terms of service I can't say how much I make, but it's about half of my monthly spending.
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Here also - fine of $225 plus costs = $280. But people do it. Hands-free is OK, although you are still distracted, but a radio or talking with a passenger is also distracting. Yesterday I saw a woman driving with her cell phone tucked in her hijab, so she was technically "hands-free".
Don't forget the DAMN CELL PHONES behind the wheel!! Gawd almighty, I can't stand it................texting and driving, yakking and driving - and because they have a cell phone in one hand, they can't use their damn blinkers! I swear to my husband this will probably be how I die - as the result of some inconsiderate, selfish, person who just HAS to use their cell phone while driving.
This is illegal in the Netherlands. The fine is 200 euros or something.
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I spread the word about auto safety. You'd be amazed how many fewer deaths we'd have each year if people simply didn't drink or speed (20,000+).
Don't forget the DAMN CELL PHONES behind the wheel!! Gawd almighty, I can't stand it................texting and driving, yakking and driving - and because they have a cell phone in one hand, they can't use their damn blinkers! I swear to my husband this will probably be how I die - as the result of some inconsiderate, selfish, person who just HAS to use their cell phone while driving.
Yes, that's a growing problem, unfortunately. I'm looking at a couple of these cases right now...drivers texting or Facebooking while on the road just before veering into oncoming traffic.
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First of all, thanks to whoever mentioned Leapforce at Home. I just started looking into it, and it seems legit. How many times have I seen people looking for work from home using the computer? 99.999% of these opportunities are scams. I will look into this one. I seem to meet every qualification they have and I am a very good test taker.... we shall see.
Secondly, if you live in a state that encourages film/TV, like North Carolina or Georgia, whenever I get the chance I work as an extra on TV shows and movies. It pays minimum wage (overtime after 8 hours and very often days are long) but it is lots of fun and often very interesting. I consider it a "hobby", but last year I made a total of around $2500 on 30 days of work. You don't have to be an actor - these roles are nonspeaking. You just have to be what they are looking for, which varies so tremendously they eventually can use almost anyone.
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I gave private snowboard lessons when I was in grad school. This was technically illegal because I was not an employee of the resort. I would charge $80 for a 3.5 hour lesson. It would cost me $35 in gas to get to the mountains and back. However, those were days that I was going to snowboard either way. I would split the day in half and offer to give a 1/2 day lesson in the morning or afternoon. Then I would snowboard on my own or with a friend for the other half day. I would do about 6 lessons a year which was enough to cover my season pass.
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I consult on the side offering risk management services i.e. advise on insurance, liability issues. I make about $500 a month and don't seem to spend that much time on it, just a few emails, phone calls and reviewing documents once in a while (normally on a Sunday evening with a glass of wine!) I don't count the money in my budget so it goes straight to my mortgage. I love a good side gig!
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I just started working again as a whitewater kayak instructor. I get about $50/3 hour pool session and $120 for a full day class. More importantly though, it gives me pro deals on gear (usually like 20% off wholesale prices) and allows me to deduct my gear purchases as business expenses which combine to make most gear about 60-70% off full retail for me.
Those benefits combined with the income makes teaching pay for all of my whitewater hobby.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
I'm really envious. My adjuncting gig is only $6800 per semester to teach two courses. Damn.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
I'm really envious. My adjuncting gig is only $6800 per semester to teach two courses. Damn.
My full-time rate is around 6K per class. I know, my salary sucks. I will be leaving soon for more pay.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
I'm really envious. My adjuncting gig is only $6800 per semester to teach two courses. Damn.
My full-time rate is around 6K per class. I know, my salary sucks. I will be leaving soon for more pay.
I made $2,200 per class adjuncting. Mmhm. Go English!
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I'm slowly maturing a side-gig of doing programming on the side. cFIREsim, a glorified giant web form, is all fun and good for the FI crowd... but I'm trying to learn how to make an online game! I really just want to make an online game like risk, with newer programming languages (javascript/canvas). It's slow going, as I'm not a programmer by trade... just by hobby.
Hopefully one day programming will bring in actual money :)
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I spread the word about auto safety. You'd be amazed how many fewer deaths we'd have each year if people simply didn't drink or speed (20,000+).
Don't forget the DAMN CELL PHONES behind the wheel!! Gawd almighty, I can't stand it................texting and driving, yakking and driving - and because they have a cell phone in one hand, they can't use their damn blinkers! I swear to my husband this will probably be how I die - as the result of some inconsiderate, selfish, person who just HAS to use their cell phone while driving.
Yes, that's a growing problem, unfortunately. I'm looking at a couple of these cases right now...drivers texting or Facebooking while on the road just before veering into oncoming traffic.
I am terrified, I mean REALLY terrified to drive a 2-lane road (one lane going each direction) for this very reason - too many people coming at me do not have BOTH hands on the wheel and are NOT focusing and watching where they are going - and the chances of them coming left of center and killing me is increasing every day.
Seriously, isn't this a no-brainer, folks? I will never understand this. PUT THE DAMN PHONES AWAY IN THE CAR! To me, it's like every time you have your hands on that cell phone while behind the wheel, you are "knocking on death's door!" And some day, that door is going to OPEN!"
And if you are caught doing this with children in the car, I think you should have your ass hauled off to jail for child endangering, because it's not the children who are stupid idiots, it's their parents!!! And talk about setting a horrible example for our children!!! Parents these days are HORRIBLE HORRIBLE examples for future drivers.
Gawd almighty, can you tell this subject raises my blood pressure??? Would be interested to hear what you find in your case studies, CarSafetyGuy. I pray something is done to bring this outrageous behavior to a stop sooner rather than later - so many lives could be saved.
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I'm slowly maturing a side-gig of doing programming on the side. cFIREsim, a glorified giant web form, is all fun and good for the FI crowd... but I'm trying to learn how to make an online game! I really just want to make an online game like risk, with newer programming languages (javascript/canvas). It's slow going, as I'm not a programmer by trade... just by hobby.
Hopefully one day programming will bring in actual money :)
Were you in engineering or math in school? I'd love to learn how to program but it seems so daunting coming from a totally different field. How did you get started?
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
I'm really envious. My adjuncting gig is only $6800 per semester to teach two courses. Damn.
My full-time rate is around 6K per class. I know, my salary sucks. I will be leaving soon for more pay.
I made $2,200 per class adjuncting. Mmhm. Go English!
Where did you find the jobs? I did it as part-time work (when unemployed in my traditional field) for 1.5 years, but it was in person during the workday. I'd like to find an online gig I could do at home or at least an evening one.
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I'm slowly maturing a side-gig of doing programming on the side. cFIREsim, a glorified giant web form, is all fun and good for the FI crowd... but I'm trying to learn how to make an online game! I really just want to make an online game like risk, with newer programming languages (javascript/canvas). It's slow going, as I'm not a programmer by trade... just by hobby.
Hopefully one day programming will bring in actual money :)
Were you in engineering or math in school? I'd love to learn how to program but it seems so daunting coming from a totally different field. How did you get started?
I have a B.S. in Information Technology, which is about as generic as they come, and only required 1 "programming" class. Though, I did deal with a lot of database work that requires psuedo-programming skills.
Honestly, I don't think a lot of the basic stuff is THAT daunting. There are plenty of ways to get started, it just depends on what exactly you want to do. Codeacademy has some good stuff on HTML and Javascript, if you want to make webpage stuff. "Learn Python the hard way" is a great starter guide for Python, which is more of a scripting language (and despite the name it's not that hard, it's just thorough).
One of the best things to do is to learn just enough to get started... then build something. Building something is a great outlet for learning it.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
I'm really envious. My adjuncting gig is only $6800 per semester to teach two courses. Damn.
My full-time rate is around 6K per class. I know, my salary sucks. I will be leaving soon for more pay.
I made $2,200 per class adjuncting. Mmhm. Go English!
Where did you find the jobs? I did it as part-time work (when unemployed in my traditional field) for 1.5 years, but it was in person during the workday. I'd like to find an online gig I could do at home or at least an evening one.
Well, that was my full-time job! So... ya.
I also did online "coaching" (grading, answering emails, facilitating discussions in the forums) for online courses, but I got that gig because I was employed by the university already. It was about knowing the right person in my department. No clue how you'd pick up that kind of thing without connections. But online coaching paid even less than adjuncting. I think it was $24 per student for 8-week courses. That's right--$3 per student per week. Totally not worth the time that went into grading and responding to emails!
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Where did you find the jobs? I did it as part-time work (when unemployed in my traditional field) for 1.5 years, but it was in person during the workday. I'd like to find an online gig I could do at home or at least an evening one.
Mine fell into my lap. My boss taught it last year and decided to coach his daughter's soccer team this year instead. It is an evening course one night a week for the summer near my office, so it works out well.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
I'm really envious. My adjuncting gig is only $6800 per semester to teach two courses. Damn.
My full-time rate is around 6K per class. I know, my salary sucks. I will be leaving soon for more pay.
I made $2,200 per class adjuncting. Mmhm. Go English!
Where did you find the jobs? I did it as part-time work (when unemployed in my traditional field) for 1.5 years, but it was in person during the workday. I'd like to find an online gig I could do at home or at least an evening one.
Well, that was my full-time job! So... ya.
I also did online "coaching" (grading, answering emails, facilitating discussions in the forums) for online courses, but I got that gig because I was employed by the university already. It was about knowing the right person in my department. No clue how you'd pick up that kind of thing without connections. But online coaching paid even less than adjuncting. I think it was $24 per student for 8-week courses. That's right--$3 per student per week. Totally not worth the time that went into grading and responding to emails!
At the time it was my only job as well - it was just that I was earning so little, I still collected some unemployment money as well. Adjunt is better for a side gig, where you already have benefits, etc., than a full-time/only job.
ETA: But yeah, pay is super low. Maybe I should try drumming up business drafting simple wills instead. Although beyond my friends, who wish to pay (or at least, my only offer to date) in an expensive wine bottle or two, I'm not sure where I'd find business.
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Teaching a university course two nights per week - $10K per semester.
I'm really envious. My adjuncting gig is only $6800 per semester to teach two courses. Damn.
My full-time rate is around 6K per class. I know, my salary sucks. I will be leaving soon for more pay.
I made $2,200 per class adjuncting. Mmhm. Go English!
Where did you find the jobs? I did it as part-time work (when unemployed in my traditional field) for 1.5 years, but it was in person during the workday. I'd like to find an online gig I could do at home or at least an evening one.
Mine is in person and during the work day. As such, it isn't really a side-gig so much as one of two part time jobs with which I cobble together a living.
But there are lots of online Universities cropping up. The pay isn't great, but I've heard okay things about Ashford University.
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My side gig for the past few months has been doing Young Living Essential Oils. Yes, MLM, but not a pyramid. I don't buy product, keep stock, etc. I love and use the oils myself and several friends/family have also decided to do the same. Nothing "get rich quick" but a few hundred dollars a month (in money, not products) is awesome. The friend I bought from to start is doing about 4-5k/mo, which I don't expect to ever do, but some people do.
Have done a little mystery shopping but obviously doesn't bring in much. Oil change + $15 a while ago. Paid dinner out and valet parking. Not bad for the benefits if you need/like them.
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I'm slowly maturing a side-gig of doing programming on the side. cFIREsim, a glorified giant web form, is all fun and good for the FI crowd... but I'm trying to learn how to make an online game! I really just want to make an online game like risk, with newer programming languages (javascript/canvas). It's slow going, as I'm not a programmer by trade... just by hobby.
Hopefully one day programming will bring in actual money :)
Were you in engineering or math in school? I'd love to learn how to program but it seems so daunting coming from a totally different field. How did you get started?
My view on programming is that most of it isn't so much mathematical, its more a thought process. There is a lot of logic in there, but not terribly difficult maths. I took classes in grade 12, and did an IT degree so I can't comment precisely on getting started however, the way I would suggest tackling it is perhaps to purchase a text book that goes through the fundamentals of some programming language (such as the one bo_knows suggests. This should give you the basics of what an array is, what loops are, and if/else statements.
Otherwise maybe there are some local basic courses in programming?
I would then think of some small-medium sized project that you want to do and try to program it. In the process of taking on creating this program you will hopefully learn a lot more about programming. If you vaguely know what you want to do, you then can search for it on google (or your preferred search engine).
For example, in python you want to connect to a Postgres database type in to your search engine "python connect to postgres database" there is usually some useful results.
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I illustrate (and also write, but it rides the coat-tails of illustration, financially). Currently most of the income goes on business expenses, but for the last three years that has included international travel to a conference which is also my holiday for a year. So I don't have to budget for travel from my main income.
I used to translate as well, which was decent money for short translations, but increasingly required too much time and risk. I was not keeping up my education, professional indemnity insurance would be more than the income, the main category of translations was possibly a conflict of interest with the new day job, and the deadlines usually interfered with illustration deadlines. So I stopped.
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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.
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I picked up a second contract doing similar work to what I already do, but where the luster has worn off my main job, this new one is fresh and I am highly respected in it. It makes me feel good to do it (because I'm appreciated) and is about another 10-20 hours per week on top of the 40-60 hours I work at my main job. It's also helping me justify some of the upgrades I want to do around the house (install fancy closet, get someone else to paint my house, etc).
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I play in a somewhat lucrative music outfit most weekends. We do things "by the books" so all expenses get written off on taxes at the end of the year. The hourly rate still sucks, but it's a fun hobby that at worst breaks even and usually puts a few bucks in the kitty.
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As a side gig, I've made about $5,000 the last 12 months on Elance, doing mostly researching, data mining, and other pretty easy tasks. Most of the work on that site goes to people making $2-3 bucks an hour in the Mid East, but the key for me was putting a bunch of work in the beginning towards finding 1-2 good clients that are willing to pay more for higher quality work.
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As a side gig, I've made about $5,000 the last 12 months on Elance, doing mostly researching, data mining, and other pretty easy tasks. Most of the work on that site goes to people making $2-3 bucks an hour in the Mid East, but the key for me was putting a bunch of work in the beginning towards finding 1-2 good clients that are willing to pay more for higher quality work.
Could you tell us a bit more on this? Which jobs/clients to look for, which ones to avoid?
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Thanks for the discussion on Leapforce. I passed all three tests and started my work. Looks to be a pretty good way to earn a little more cash for my photography hobby!
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I'm an UberX driver. I didn't sign up to do it because of the money, but more cause I wanted to check it out. It was fun the few times I've done it, but I live about 45 minutes north of Denver, and I have to drive to Denver in order to be busy and make any money. Almost not worth it unless I did it all day. One thing I like about being a driver is you can drive whenever you want as as often as you want. So if something were to happen and I lost my job, it would at least be a good way to keep an income while looking for a new job. Otherwise it would be a great way to make extra money in the event that we had to use up our emergency fund. Because you need a newer car in order to become a driver, its probably not for most people on this forum.
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I play poker online. It is not nearly as lucrative as it was 5+ years ago but I have made a consistent healthy profit every year since 2005. The problem was I used to blow it all on stuff :)
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I used to have an etsy store but now I don't. I wish I had time for a side job right now but etsy just wasn't as lucrative as I wanted it to be for the amount of time I put into it...
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Tagged
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I deliver a local newspaper for 1 hour twice a week. I won't get rich with this job ($45 a month). But I basically get paid to take a long walk in my neighborhood. I love it.
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I've just started teaching kids' martial arts classes. I'm getting paid to exercise. It's great!
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Since 2007, I have run a subscription-based website at http://www.Grinderschool.com (http://www.Grinderschool.com) which provides strategy for beating low stakes online poker through daily videos. By the time all of our instructors are paid, the site doesn't make a ton of money, but it is enough to have helped weather since hard times and add a few percentage points to our savings rate when times are good.
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Teaching music lessons
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During the holiday season, i work with a friend who hangs christmas lights for people at their homes. Mostly larger homes, for people with the money or that and most likely afraid of the high roofs. Very light work and enjoyable.
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This is an awesome thread! I've gotten a lot of great ideas from it. Thanks!!
I have a few gigs on Fiverr. Right now I'm netting a bit over $50 a month from it... I'm 'guaranteed' $48 every three weeks from my regular clients (assuming they continue with my work - I haven't had any complaints yet!), and I hope to pull in a handful of one timer gigs. Assuming I get no new gigs next month, I think I'll be pulling in $70 or so in August. This is for work I do in minutes during my lunch break or while I enjoy my morning cup of coffee (when I am otherwise not a functional human being). It takes a little while to get settled and you have to be a bit flexible, but if you find a good niche type job at something you're already good at, it can be worth it.
I'm trying to figure out a way to sell my homemade fudge without putting so much extra work into it. If anyone has made some extra money selling some homemade cooked/baked goods, I'd love for any advice your willing to give!
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This is an awesome thread! I've gotten a lot of great ideas from it. Thanks!!
I have a few gigs on Fiverr. Right now I'm netting a bit over $50 a month from it... I'm 'guaranteed' $48 every three weeks from my regular clients (assuming they continue with my work - I haven't had any complaints yet!), and I hope to pull in a handful of one timer gigs. Assuming I get no new gigs next month, I think I'll be pulling in $70 or so in August. This is for work I do in minutes during my lunch break or while I enjoy my morning cup of coffee (when I am otherwise not a functional human being). It takes a little while to get settled and you have to be a bit flexible, but if you find a good niche type job at something you're already good at, it can be worth it.
I'm trying to figure out a way to sell my homemade fudge without putting so much extra work into it. If anyone has made some extra money selling some homemade cooked/baked goods, I'd love for any advice your willing to give!
Sell your fudge on etsy! It probably wont do well in the summer months lol but winter when its cold I am sure it would be easy to ship. Lots of people sell baked goods on there. Mostly, cupcakes and cookies so your fudge might have a niche market! Good luck!
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This is an awesome thread! I've gotten a lot of great ideas from it. Thanks!!
I have a few gigs on Fiverr. Right now I'm netting a bit over $50 a month from it... I'm 'guaranteed' $48 every three weeks from my regular clients (assuming they continue with my work - I haven't had any complaints yet!), and I hope to pull in a handful of one timer gigs. Assuming I get no new gigs next month, I think I'll be pulling in $70 or so in August. This is for work I do in minutes during my lunch break or while I enjoy my morning cup of coffee (when I am otherwise not a functional human being). It takes a little while to get settled and you have to be a bit flexible, but if you find a good niche type job at something you're already good at, it can be worth it.
I'm trying to figure out a way to sell my homemade fudge without putting so much extra work into it. If anyone has made some extra money selling some homemade cooked/baked goods, I'd love for any advice your willing to give!
I'm new to fiverr. What sort of things can you do to make money? Thanks
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P938LVR - I've actually looked at etsy! There's quite a bit of fudge up there already. I'm also not 100% sure how it would ship. Something I need to test soon.
As far as what makes money on Fiverr... I personally create and manage Pinterest accounts for people with different types of businesses. I get a lot of one time gigs from smaller shops like etsy owners and I currently manage the accounts for four different online businesses. This came from the idea that I spend far too much time on Pinterest anyway (that site really can get addicting), so I might as well get paid for it. It took a while to get to where I am now, but business as been steadily increasing. Find something that you like doing (because it can get tiring quickly) and something unique. You can ship things too (and charge for shipping), so if you make little knick knacks you wanna sell for cheap you can!
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This is an awesome thread! I've gotten a lot of great ideas from it. Thanks!!
I have a few gigs on Fiverr. Right now I'm netting a bit over $50 a month from it... I'm 'guaranteed' $48 every three weeks from my regular clients (assuming they continue with my work - I haven't had any complaints yet!), and I hope to pull in a handful of one timer gigs. Assuming I get no new gigs next month, I think I'll be pulling in $70 or so in August. This is for work I do in minutes during my lunch break or while I enjoy my morning cup of coffee (when I am otherwise not a functional human being). It takes a little while to get settled and you have to be a bit flexible, but if you find a good niche type job at something you're already good at, it can be worth it.
I'm trying to figure out a way to sell my homemade fudge without putting so much extra work into it. If anyone has made some extra money selling some homemade cooked/baked goods, I'd love for any advice your willing to give!
Check into Farmer's Markets and Art/Craft shows in your area. My kids (and the dh too) LOVE to buy fudge from a guy who is at our FM every Saturday since I only make fudge at Christmas time. You could also look into contracting with specialty boutiques in your area to carry prepackaged boxes of your product.
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I'm doing clinical studies.
Selling my body for money, and helping other people (and perhaps myself too).
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If you like to write, textbroker.com pays by the word for content. Can make a couple of cents a word or $15-$20 or so an hour from home if you are a fast thinker and writer.
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Last year I started teaching at a homeschool coop, one hour a week. I dont net much money, but I save hundreds of dollars because my kids get reduced or free classes all day.
I used to teach classes on cloth diapering. There were a couple of places I did them at, a couple times a year.
I also babysit sometimes, for money or as a swap.
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I have a vending machine that nets about 150 or so per month. Bought the machine through craigslist (950.00) and installed it in our office building, which has no other source of junk food. I broke even pretty quickly and spend about a half hour per week refilling it, 2 hours per month shopping. There's a school in the building so I put stuff like calculators and pencils in there too. I try not to profit from the school supplies, though. This is pretty easy money and it helps to pay for my restaraunt habits
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I'm new to fiverr. What sort of things can you do to make money? Thanks
I rec'd a great anime drawing of myself from fiverr. Used it as my Avatar for a long time.
If you're an artist...
@Lis - great idea. Pinterest is really addicting. Lol. I might give fiverr a try w my SM skills. I actually wasnt sure people still used fiverr anymore. But lately I have heard it reaurfacing in the media again.
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I'm trying to figure out a way to sell my homemade fudge without putting so much extra work into it. If anyone has made some extra money selling some homemade cooked/baked goods, I'd love for any advice your willing to give!
I sold homemade cheesecakes when I was in college. I walked into mom and pop diners with a cake and told them I'd like to supply their cheesecakes. Response was always no. So I told them that THIS cheesecake was a gift, that they could do whatever they wanted with it and that people would be willing to spend 3.50-4.50 on a small slice. (Long time ago).
Then I said I'd be back the next day to pick up my dish. The next day, I'd usually get the business AND the business owner usually paid me for the first cake too even though it was a gift. I never had the right facilities for any kind of volume, so the hours were too long due to cooking limitations. Not sure I actually made much money on that, but I was able to sell as much as I was capable of producing.
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I've been freelance editing since I left my full-time job a year ago. Some has been with my old company, some with another company that contracts with some big publishers. I got the latter job because I found their help wanted ad on indeed.com, applied, and took their editing test. Everything is done electronically, communications are by email, payment goes directly to my bank account. Between that and giving private music lessons plus a few performing gigs here and there, I'm earning a bit over $1,000 a month.
I could be doing more editing if I wanted to, but I'm limiting it to 20 hours per week or less because I don't want to spend that much time on it. The teaching is more lucrative per hour than editing, plus I enjoy it a lot more, but I haven't tried very hard to find more students.
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I run a You Tube channel. It is relatively new but starting to make money and hopefully it will keep growing.
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I'm trying to figure out a way to sell my homemade fudge without putting so much extra work into it. If anyone has made some extra money selling some homemade cooked/baked goods, I'd love for any advice your willing to give!
I sold homemade cheesecakes when I was in college. I walked into mom and pop diners with a cake and told them I'd like to supply their cheesecakes. Response was always no. So I told them that THIS cheesecake was a gift, that they could do whatever they wanted with it and that people would be willing to spend 3.50-4.50 on a small slice. (Long time ago).
Then I said I'd be back the next day to pick up my dish. The next day, I'd usually get the business AND the business owner usually paid me for the first cake too even though it was a gift. I never had the right facilities for any kind of volume, so the hours were too long due to cooking limitations. Not sure I actually made much money on that, but I was able to sell as much as I was capable of producing.
The main thing that scares me with this is health regulations.
There are so many concerning food, how do you navigate that?
I make kick-ass dessert breads and other baked goods. But all the regulations about the kitchen having to be outside your residence, "properly" stored ingredients, etc seem so strict. And costly if you get it wrong.
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I'm trying to figure out a way to sell my homemade fudge without putting so much extra work into it. If anyone has made some extra money selling some homemade cooked/baked goods, I'd love for any advice your willing to give!
I sold homemade cheesecakes when I was in college. I walked into mom and pop diners with a cake and told them I'd like to supply their cheesecakes. Response was always no. So I told them that THIS cheesecake was a gift, that they could do whatever they wanted with it and that people would be willing to spend 3.50-4.50 on a small slice. (Long time ago).
Then I said I'd be back the next day to pick up my dish. The next day, I'd usually get the business AND the business owner usually paid me for the first cake too even though it was a gift. I never had the right facilities for any kind of volume, so the hours were too long due to cooking limitations. Not sure I actually made much money on that, but I was able to sell as much as I was capable of producing.
One of the things I need to do is get over my fear of talking to people. I hate it when people try to sell me things, and I hated selling things at my old job (was not part of the job description). BUT that's just something I need to get past if I want to sell my stuff. Which I do :)
And Elyse, I know, it can be a bit of a nightmare. In my state, fudge is one of the foods that you are allowed to make in your personal kitchen, but still, I worry abut the liability. I recently inquired about renting a stand in a local shopping mall, and they would require me to have all sorts of insurance, seek town approval for food items, etc.
I was thinking about posting on Craigslist, but that makes me nervous too.
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If you like to write, textbroker.com pays by the word for content. Can make a couple of cents a word or $15-$20 or so an hour from home if you are a fast thinker and writer.
Anyone do this? Perusing the website and it seems worth a shot. Can get my brain juices flowing and make a few bucks.
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Two side gigs, although I'm not doing either right now.
1) Tutoring. High school/college level math/science and test prep. If you have high standardized test scores, you can make extremely good hourly rates doing test prep tutoring. I was making $45/hr working for a high-end test-prep company; the parents were paying the company $95/hr. I was working with a couple of students per week and having them meet me right by my office when I'd normally be finishing up work, so there was no extra commute (which can really cut into your hourly rate when you're biking or driving somewhere for a one-hour session). I've definitely considered building up a client base and doing this independently 5-10 hours a week as a post-retirement income stream.
2) AirBNB--renting out our apartment when we we're out of town. We paid for a good chunk of the costs of a trip to Japan by planning the trip to coincide with a major tourist event in our city and renting out the apartment while we were gone.
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I run a You Tube channel. It is relatively new but starting to make money and hopefully it will keep growing.
I'd like to know more about this. Before my kid was born, I was doing youtube, though purely as a hobby (I was playing videogames anyway, might as well do it to an audience). It's *really* hard to break through to where you can actually make any real money, so I'm really curious what you do.
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I have the best side job ever and am retired from the best real job ever. Was with the FDNY for over 20 years. Now I'm a union stagehand. As we speak I am sitting on the side of the stage as Jackson brown entertains the crowd. Next up is john forgerty. This job rocks!
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If you like to write, textbroker.com pays by the word for content. Can make a couple of cents a word or $15-$20 or so an hour from home if you are a fast thinker and writer.
Anyone do this? Perusing the website and it seems worth a shot. Can get my brain juices flowing and make a few bucks.
I'm curious too. I think I'm about to sign up -- it seems pretty legit, but hard to see what the writing assignments are like without registering.
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I have several side gig ideas when I FIRE. Each one individually is small, but combined together may nicely supplement my stash.
1. Become a host for my neighborhood's CSA. Basically sit around for 3 hours one weeknight while people come to pick up their share and I get free produce.
2. Work at my friend's kayak rental company and lead excursions ($50/trip).
3. Lead other kayak trips around the bay at new upcoming rental places.
4. Work at the science museum part-time. Might be able to get health benefits.
5. Lead ski trips. Free ski trip.
6. Math tutoring.
7. Develop artistic skills. At some point in the very far future, find some little niche and travel to art festivals around the country selling the art. Doubles as a travel activity.
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If you like to write, textbroker.com pays by the word for content. Can make a couple of cents a word or $15-$20 or so an hour from home if you are a fast thinker and writer.
Anyone do this? Perusing the website and it seems worth a shot. Can get my brain juices flowing and make a few bucks.
I'm curious too. I think I'm about to sign up -- it seems pretty legit, but hard to see what the writing assignments are like without registering.
I used to write for textbroker. The writing in easy but it doesn't pay enough to be worth my time really. I felt like I spend so much time researching some things that I got bored of writing the articles. There are several different levels of writing that you can do and you have to submit a writing sample in order for them to rate you.
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I spread the word about auto safety. You'd be amazed how many fewer deaths we'd have each year if people simply didn't drink or speed (20,000+).
Don't forget the DAMN CELL PHONES behind the wheel!! Gawd almighty, I can't stand it................texting and driving, yakking and driving - and because they have a cell phone in one hand, they can't use their damn blinkers! I swear to my husband this will probably be how I die - as the result of some inconsiderate, selfish, person who just HAS to use their cell phone while driving.
Yes, that's a growing problem, unfortunately. I'm looking at a couple of these cases right now...drivers texting or Facebooking while on the road just before veering into oncoming traffic.
I am terrified, I mean REALLY terrified to drive a 2-lane road (one lane going each direction) for this very reason - too many people coming at me do not have BOTH hands on the wheel and are NOT focusing and watching where they are going - and the chances of them coming left of center and killing me is increasing every day.
Seriously, isn't this a no-brainer, folks? I will never understand this. PUT THE DAMN PHONES AWAY IN THE CAR! To me, it's like every time you have your hands on that cell phone while behind the wheel, you are "knocking on death's door!" And some day, that door is going to OPEN!"
And if you are caught doing this with children in the car, I think you should have your ass hauled off to jail for child endangering, because it's not the children who are stupid idiots, it's their parents!!! And talk about setting a horrible example for our children!!! Parents these days are HORRIBLE HORRIBLE examples for future drivers.
Gawd almighty, can you tell this subject raises my blood pressure??? Would be interested to hear what you find in your case studies, CarSafetyGuy. I pray something is done to bring this outrageous behavior to a stop sooner rather than later - so many lives could be saved.
I understand your stress, and unfortunately, we don't have the willpower to make many changes in this arena yet. People just don't take auto safety seriously in this country, all the way from the individual to the societal and governmental levels.
Back to the thread topic, still working on blogging (our children insist on going to college for some odd reason). Earnings have gone up significantly in the last couple of months, but still got a ways to go.
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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.
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I have a vending machine that nets about 150 or so per month. Bought the machine through craigslist (950.00) and installed it in our office building, which has no other source of junk food. I broke even pretty quickly and spend about a half hour per week refilling it, 2 hours per month shopping. There's a school in the building so I put stuff like calculators and pencils in there too. I try not to profit from the school supplies, though. This is pretty easy money and it helps to pay for my restaraunt habits
Genius. Did you need permits? How about the blessing from the building management, was it difficult to get?
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If you like to write, textbroker.com pays by the word for content. Can make a couple of cents a word or $15-$20 or so an hour from home if you are a fast thinker and writer.
I'm a professional writer and editor (meaning: I make my living at it). This makes me die inside a little.
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In order of most to least profitable when summed over the last several years:
churning credit card and checking account bonuses, producing the annual inventory spreadsheet for a company I used to work for, buying/selling items on eBay and Amazon, low-stakes live poker, monitoring detention at my school, officiating weddings.
I dream of a time when the sum of all my side hustles completely pay for our expenses. I'm about an order of magnitude away at this point.
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I have a vending machine that nets about 150 or so per month. Bought the machine through craigslist (950.00) and installed it in our office building, which has no other source of junk food. I broke even pretty quickly and spend about a half hour per week refilling it, 2 hours per month shopping. There's a school in the building so I put stuff like calculators and pencils in there too. I try not to profit from the school supplies, though. This is pretty easy money and it helps to pay for my restaraunt habits
Genius. Did you need permits? How about the blessing from the building management, was it difficult to get?
I needed to get a tax license from the state, for 20.00, but that was it. They don't require much when you own only one machine. The building is an office condo, and I own a unit or two. I asked the board if it was okay with them, and away I went. The building clearly needed a vending machine, and we talked about it for about ten years before I finally did it. I would guess that there's a lot of small or mid size buildings in need of a coke machine or candy machine. If I wasn't so lazy, I think I could probably find one or two of them and increase my income. It really is pretty easy. Even shopping is easy, since I order the stuff online and just pick it up from Sams.
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"Earnings have gone up significantly in the last couple of months, but still got a ways to go."
Hey Carsafetyguy.... What exactly are the earnings on a blog like yours? What is the potential? I like all the info it gives, and you are an excellent writer... But is it worth your effort?
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This is a really interesting thread. I'm prohibited at the moment from working at anything other than my full-time job (as a secretary - have a silly clause in contract, technically even volunteering work wouldn't be allowed and I've had smart comments from a few managers about singing in a choir, too - yes, I'm working at getting out of that company!) but have just sent off my application to do the translator's exam run by the Chamber of Commerce/Industry in October, which I've been studying for over the last year. Technically, as the field is almost entirely unregulated, I could just start working as a translator, but, this being Germany, having the piece of paper saying you're qualified is never a bad idea. Also, with that I can apply to the courts to do official translations, for example, of birth certs etc. and I will be able to join the national association of translators, which in turn will offer advantages like reduced insurance rates. I actually did help out a friend recently who had too much work on and it was really nice to do a few hours work and then see the cash in my hand. Also a good way to build up my confidence as she double-checked it before sending it off to the client. When I find a new job, one of my conditions will be that there is no similar clause in any contract I sign. It's very frustrating to feel like there's nothing you can do to bring in a little extra, even if cutting down on spending does help a lot with finances.
I used to sell Tupperware years ago - was terrible at getting people to agree to hold parties but once I did, I sold quite a lot. All you need is to be very enthusiastic about the product and I love Tupperware so that was never a problem. I basically just did it to finance my Tupperware habit and was very bad at keeping track of money coming in and going out but I did make a bit more than I spent. I might start doing this again in the future but it depends on where I end up. I found out recently that there's a severe lack of Tupper ladies in my state but since I hope to use my next job to also move it will depend on whether my new home is the same or not. At this stage I very nearly have enough Tupperware so other than buying new products for my kit, I'd be more focused on making money.
I just had a look at elance, which a few people mentioned and that looks interesting, too. I really enjoy typing up dictations so transcribing sounds like something I could definitely look into. Would anyone who does that care to share more details?
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The Hub's side hustle is being in the Nat Guard. It has two advantages: First, he does a job similar to the one he does as a civilian so there is some synergy. Second, his boss is legally required to let him do it and give him time for it if needed. The big disadvantage is that if you aren't careful you can find yourself in a war zone. This hasn't happened to him, but did happen to the guy he shared the job with.
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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).
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I used to participate in focus groups. The best pay was $100 for three hours after work.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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"
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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.
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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!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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If you're comfortable with nudity and live by a good art school, this is a decent option.
Or perhaps, an indecent one? ;-)
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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.
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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.
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Male stripping for bachelorette parties. $600-800 per gig. Thanks to the fancy body I have due to my Mustachian lifestyle.
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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.
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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 :)
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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. :)
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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
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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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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.
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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.
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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"!!!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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 :-)
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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/ (http://affordanything.com/2014/05/27/the-airbnb-experiment-how-much-did-i-make/)
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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
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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/ (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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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. :)
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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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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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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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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.
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Got inspired by this topic this morning, what do you think of the ad?
http://spokane.craigslist.org/pas/4802278777.html
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I'm starting a side hustle publishing short stories for e-books online. It's been a week and so far I've made $5 in theoretical royalties (pays out once a month). The self-publishing communities on Reddit.com and SomethingAwful.com have been really friendly and helpful with advice on how to get started.
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I get occasional gigs designing websites. The latest gig paid $950. Although the gigs are not consistent - I try to get at least 1 every month.
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I bring equipment home from work that would've otherwise gone in the dumpster. It takes a some time to disassemble it all, but all the cabinets for my garage and trailers came from it and I can do it in my heated garage. Not only am I averaging ~$20/hr, I don't have to spend money on materials for other projects. Double score.
When friends need car repairs done, I offer to do them. They get cheap labor vs. bringing it to a shop and I make ~$30/hr. It doesn't happen as much anymore since my wife and I bought our own house time suck and there is always a project to be done.
If I find a great deal on something, I'll buy multiples and re-sell on ebay, Amazon, or CL.
When I was laid off during the recession, I drove my old pickup around and scrapped (garbage picked). Didn't make a lot, but it was better than watching TV and sometimes I found stuff to re-sell on CL. I still cherry pick if I see something, but it didn't make sense with fuel prices until lately.
When I worked retail in high school, I'd do spyware removal and home networking on the side for customers who wanted it.
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At our local park - I see a young 20's-ish girl who dresseses up as a clown, fairy, super hero, etc... and works children's birthdays. She charges $150 for 2 hours and she plays games with the kids, gives the birthday kid a present, and completely embodies whoever she is dressing up as -- I think she's brilliant! What an awesome side gig..
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We've been trying out a few in the past few years.
My wife has been making jewellery for four years now, and she does quite well at craft shows. She is also selling in a half dozen stores across the country. We're also one of the few businesses in the area doing Real Estate Photography.
Our newest online effort has been helping new craft businesses get into the business. There are so many unknowns and common questions with very few answers. I'll be launching my first ebook soon (hopefully in the next 30 days). Take a look at the sales page: http://www.daedaluslabyrinth.ca/jewellery-resources/craft-show-survival-guide/ (http://www.daedaluslabyrinth.ca/jewellery-resources/craft-show-survival-guide/)
Andrew
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Word is spreading at work that I work on cars in my off time. My last job pulled $200 profit for about 2 hours of work, and still saved the guy $200+ vs going to a shop. I am very selective with what I do, though - not interested in anything that'll consume an entire weekend or has a high risk of going deeper than expected (i.e. I rejected a pull-and-regasket-motor job last week).
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I worked PT for a local nonprofit for almost four years, doing miscellaneous work in writing, editing, program management, event planning, and volunteer coordination. It was a small office, so I was a jack-of-all-trades. I netted an extra ~$300/month.
I recently quit to focus on getting through school but it was a good gig while it lasted. Plus, I (significantly) expanded my skill set for when I'm job-hunting, and met some awesome people through non-intentional networking!
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Blacksmithing. I earn an hourly rate working at some locations part-time/weekends and also make money selling hand-forged items at a local retail store.
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Blacksmithing seems like a lot of fun. I've been doing some silversmithing and now I look at decorative metalwork on houses and fences and I keep seeing ideas and possibilities.
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In college, I flipped textbooks... it wasn't steady, but I'd go to the quarterly campus lost and found sales (where everything was $1) and drag the most expensive/specific textbooks home with me. I would usually make $30-$80 per book this way by selling them on Amazon. Did this with Craigslist once too - was just browsing, and saw that a guy was moving overseas and just needed to get rid of his books fast. I bought all three boxes for $30, turned around and sold a random book in the pile for $30 - everything I sold from then on was pure profit (don't remember exact #s, but I think I made $200-$300 and kept the rest).
I have a lot of horse experience, so I'm thinking of working this angle. For years I was very much a part of the hunter/jumper competition scene. My next project is braiding for shows. Show season is usually spring-early fall so I just need to get some practice in. Basically, for higher rated competitions horses need to be braided for aesthetic purposes - manes and tails. Prices vary, but starting out I could charge $20-30 per mane or tail and work my way up. I know when I was showing, there were braiders charging $50+ and could not braid fast enough. The upside of this is that it is usually odd hours (extremely early mornings and/or late nights) so it wouldn't really interfere with my day job. And you can do as much or as little as you want. Some family members think doing this would be a waste of my talent (MBA), but I miss being around the horses.
Similarly, the braiding would allow me to network with horse owners, trainers, etc. That could not only help build my real estate business (I'm thinking of specializing in horse properties) but also other opportunities such as being a horse agent, etc. Some of these rich, busy horse people pay people to find them a horse, sell their horse, etc. If you have a good network you can dial into, and good marketing tactics, it shouldn't be difficult. 10% commission on a $20K show horse = $2K. Not bad money.
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In college, I flipped textbooks... it wasn't steady, but I'd go to the quarterly campus lost and found sales (where everything was $1) and drag the most expensive/specific textbooks home with me. I would usually make $30-$80 per book this way by selling them on Amazon. Did this with Craigslist once too - was just browsing, and saw that a guy was moving overseas and just needed to get rid of his books fast. I bought all three boxes for $30, turned around and sold a random book in the pile for $30 - everything I sold from then on was pure profit (don't remember exact #s, but I think I made $200-$300 and kept the rest).
I second the book-selling side business. I've been doing very passive sales since college (mostly my own or my wife's books). It has dual purposes of decluttering our bookshelves and turning assets into realizations. Plus, while not impressive at all in terms of profits, taking an otherwise garbage book (I've found some unwanted freebies from friends/family/others literally in the garbage) and sending it across America for someone to possibly enjoy has good feelings associated with it. Numbers-wise, I've probably made somewhere between $5-8/month on average for the past eight years doing it. I also do this with CD's, movies, and video games.
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I'm living and working in the Czech Republic and I have 1-hour conversational lessons after my normal job.
Each lesson I charge around $13 and I have around 6/7 lessons a week.
I've been doing this since March 2014 and to this day I am still amazed that people will actually pay me just to speak with them - all thanks to me being a native English speaker:-)
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I'm living and working in the Czech Republic and I have 1-hour conversational lessons after my normal job.
Each lesson I charge around $13 and I have around 6/7 lessons a week.
I've been doing this since March 2014 and to this day I am still amazed that people will actually pay me just to speak with them - all thanks to me being a native English speaker:-)
Start calling yourself a therapist, and jack your rate up to $130 and hour! lol.
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I was going to post a new thread but figured this one works just as well. Anyone have experience using sites like odesk and elance? I've recently tried to create a profile and find jobs, but it seems the market is flooded with contractors with extreme low quality/low ball offers. Some of the applicants don't even have the experience necessary for the job at hand, yet 100's apply. If the job posters sees 90% low quality/low ball offers how am I supposed to get them to notice my higher quality services for an average price?
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I was going to post a new thread but figured this one works just as well. Anyone have experience using sites like odesk and elance? I've recently tried to create a profile and find jobs, but it seems the market is flooded with contractors with extreme low quality/low ball offers. Some of the applicants don't even have the experience necessary for the job at hand, yet 100's apply. If the job posters sees 90% low quality/low ball offers how am I supposed to get them to notice my higher quality services for an average price?
Honestly I have done more with those sites on the buying services side of things than the selling services side, but my biggest recommendation is have perfect English. Pay an editor or ask a friend to review your proposals. That will instantly put you in the top half of proposals. Second, have a good profile. Again perfect English, perfect reviews, good descriptions of providing value to customers using tools rather than just lists of programming languages you may or may not know ("saved customer $1 million per year with custom modifications in language XYZ to their CRM platform", "Improved conversions by 10% on a customer's Wordpress blog through funnel optimization and instituting split tests." etc).
Most of my projects were finding the right contractor based on their profile rather than putting up a job so don't discount that avenue for jobs.
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I write and self-publish erotica and romance (e-books). I started it about a year and a half ago thinking it could be a good side gig for when We retire. Now I have a big enough back-catalog that I make four figures a month without really working on it much. So, It's looking like retirement is even closer now, and I'll probably continue to do this/keep it in my back pocket if we feel our retirement investments aren't pulling in as much as we need.
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I tutor for the SAT/ACT exams. $30 an hour! (Probably could be getting closer to $75/hr if I work for myself, as I'm planning to this year, rather than my employer.)
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I was going to post a new thread but figured this one works just as well. Anyone have experience using sites like odesk and elance? I've recently tried to create a profile and find jobs, but it seems the market is flooded with contractors with extreme low quality/low ball offers. Some of the applicants don't even have the experience necessary for the job at hand, yet 100's apply. If the job posters sees 90% low quality/low ball offers how am I supposed to get them to notice my higher quality services for an average price?
Honestly I have done more with those sites on the buying services side of things than the selling services side, but my biggest recommendation is have perfect English. Pay an editor or ask a friend to review your proposals. That will instantly put you in the top half of proposals. Second, have a good profile. Again perfect English, perfect reviews, good descriptions of providing value to customers using tools rather than just lists of programming languages you may or may not know ("saved customer $1 million per year with custom modifications in language XYZ to their CRM platform", "Improved conversions by 10% on a customer's Wordpress blog through funnel optimization and instituting split tests." etc).
Most of my projects were finding the right contractor based on their profile rather than putting up a job so don't discount that avenue for jobs.
Interesting point about the profile, I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the tip. As an American born/raised/educated individual I have no problem writing in perfect English when necessary. Why is that your biggest recommendation though? As a buyer of services, how quickly or slowly do you review each candidate? My concern is that the majority of those listing jobs specifically indicate they're looking for the cheapest labor. How am I supposed to compete with someone charging $9/hr when I normally could charge $25 or more?
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I write and self-publish erotica and romance (e-books). I started it about a year and a half ago thinking it could be a good side gig for when We retire. Now I have a big enough back-catalog that I make four figures a month without really working on it much. So, It's looking like retirement is even closer now, and I'll probably continue to do this/keep it in my back pocket if we feel our retirement investments aren't pulling in as much as we need.
I really like this idea and want to look into it more. I like the idea of upfront work that continues to pay long term without much effort.
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I fool around on Textbroker and just signed up for eLance. I'm also working on a novel that I hope to make an e-book.
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I write and self-publish erotica and romance (e-books). I started it about a year and a half ago thinking it could be a good side gig for when We retire. Now I have a big enough back-catalog that I make four figures a month without really working on it much. So, It's looking like retirement is even closer now, and I'll probably continue to do this/keep it in my back pocket if we feel our retirement investments aren't pulling in as much as we need.
I'd love to hear more about this. Did you start it because you were a fan, or did you just look for a niche? How many titles do you have, what sells best? It seems like writing is the absolute best do it anywhere, anytime kind of job but I can never figure out what to write.
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Interesting point about the profile, I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the tip. As an American born/raised/educated individual I have no problem writing in perfect English when necessary. Why is that your biggest recommendation though? As a buyer of services, how quickly or slowly do you review each candidate? My concern is that the majority of those listing jobs specifically indicate they're looking for the cheapest labor. How am I supposed to compete with someone charging $9/hr when I normally could charge $25 or more?
The short answer is "you don't want to compete for those jobs." They aren't worth it. You may have to suck it up and do work cheap to get some projects under your belt, but be sure to communicate with the client that you are looking for long term relationships. When someone posts saying they are looking for the cheapest labor, they doesn't understand the value of what they are asking for and will make life miserable for the contractor with change requests and bad reviews etc.
Language is my biggest recommendation because it is the easiest filter I can use for "will I enjoy working with this contractor?" If their English is poor, they may be a great contractor, who does what I want cost effectively, but if I haven't worked with them before I don't know that. I also ran into the problem where a contractor wrote their code in a speaking language I did not know (he was from India). So all of the variable names, method names etc. were in a foreign language and I didn't know what did what when I had to refactor stuff 6 months later. That sucked. It's now and explicit part of my listings that work must be done in English.
For the jobs I've posted, I usually review like so: get rid of proposals way above or way below my expected price (if they are bidding too low they either don't know how to value their work or are expecting to make it up later with extra hidden fees. Screw those people). Then ditch any proposals where I didn't understand a part of their proposal (due to English problems or technical communication problems). Last time I did it, that left about 5 proposals. I then went to their profiles and looked for similar work that they had completed. Those 5 proposals would all be under consideration and I decided based on price, previous work, and how willing I was to take a chance for the work ("I need it done right the first time" = spend more to get good experience, "I can personally fix any issues that they screw up I just don't want to take the time to do this myself" = spend less). That's my process and worked pretty well. I probably could have done better a couple times but it was a learning experience.
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Interesting point about the profile, I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the tip. As an American born/raised/educated individual I have no problem writing in perfect English when necessary. Why is that your biggest recommendation though? As a buyer of services, how quickly or slowly do you review each candidate? My concern is that the majority of those listing jobs specifically indicate they're looking for the cheapest labor. How am I supposed to compete with someone charging $9/hr when I normally could charge $25 or more?
The short answer is "you don't want to compete for those jobs." They aren't worth it. You may have to suck it up and do work cheap to get some projects under your belt, but be sure to communicate with the client that you are looking for long term relationships. When someone posts saying they are looking for the cheapest labor, they doesn't understand the value of what they are asking for and will make life miserable for the contractor with change requests and bad reviews etc.
Language is my biggest recommendation because it is the easiest filter I can use for "will I enjoy working with this contractor?" If their English is poor, they may be a great contractor, who does what I want cost effectively, but if I haven't worked with them before I don't know that. I also ran into the problem where a contractor wrote their code in a speaking language I did not know (he was from India). So all of the variable names, method names etc. were in a foreign language and I didn't know what did what when I had to refactor stuff 6 months later. That sucked. It's now and explicit part of my listings that work must be done in English.
For the jobs I've posted, I usually review like so: get rid of proposals way above or way below my expected price (if they are bidding too low they either don't know how to value their work or are expecting to make it up later with extra hidden fees. Screw those people). Then ditch any proposals where I didn't understand a part of their proposal (due to English problems or technical communication problems). Last time I did it, that left about 5 proposals. I then went to their profiles and looked for similar work that they had completed. Those 5 proposals would all be under consideration and I decided based on price, previous work, and how willing I was to take a chance for the work ("I need it done right the first time" = spend more to get good experience, "I can personally fix any issues that they screw up I just don't want to take the time to do this myself" = spend less). That's my process and worked pretty well. I probably could have done better a couple times but it was a learning experience.
Your first paragraph is what I'm battling now. I'm looking to get some jobs under my belt, but I'm not willing to do them for dirt cheap. In some cases, after odesk's cut, and taxes, etc, it's almost like I'm working for free. Again, I'll focus on my profile. I'm going to PM you to continue this discussion without clogging the thread. Thanks.
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I teach at a local college one night per week, and I'm fixing up a spare bedroom to host international students.
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I write and self-publish erotica and romance (e-books). I started it about a year and a half ago thinking it could be a good side gig for when We retire. Now I have a big enough back-catalog that I make four figures a month without really working on it much. So, It's looking like retirement is even closer now, and I'll probably continue to do this/keep it in my back pocket if we feel our retirement investments aren't pulling in as much as we need.
I really like this idea and want to look into it more. I like the idea of upfront work that continues to pay long term without much effort.
It has really paid for me. The learning curve has been completely worth it.
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I write and self-publish erotica and romance (e-books). I started it about a year and a half ago thinking it could be a good side gig for when We retire. Now I have a big enough back-catalog that I make four figures a month without really working on it much. So, It's looking like retirement is even closer now, and I'll probably continue to do this/keep it in my back pocket if we feel our retirement investments aren't pulling in as much as we need.
I'd love to hear more about this. Did you start it because you were a fan, or did you just look for a niche? How many titles do you have, what sells best? It seems like writing is the absolute best do it anywhere, anytime kind of job but I can never figure out what to write.
No, i didn 't read erotica or romance before starting this. I read a Reddit ama at the right time. I was looking for a paid gig that would let me transition to part-time work. Since starting this, We have gone from thinking our retirement was seven years away, to realizing it is 3 1/2 years away. I am more than willing to share info.
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I'm also interested, for myself, but especially for a friend who is a good romance writer but only does self-published paper for friends and family, and not e-books.
Maybe a new thread is in order on this topic?
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Sure, if someone wants to start a new thread on this topic, I'm more than willing to share what I know.
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I'd be interested too.... I've written some but nothing novel length and am looking to move into it.
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I'm living and working in the Czech Republic and I have 1-hour conversational lessons after my normal job.
Each lesson I charge around $13 and I have around 6/7 lessons a week.
I've been doing this since March 2014 and to this day I am still amazed that people will actually pay me just to speak with them - all thanks to me being a native English speaker:-)
I did this as a side job in the Netherlands when I was in grad school! I charged 12E/hour and it was pretty easy, just show up and help people who were trying to learn English. I could only work 10 hrs/week with the terms of my visa but I normally made 50E a week at least for spending money.
If anyone is in school overseas, put up an ad and you will be surprised!
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It's not really a huge amount but I cook lunches for my housemate. He gets a healthy meal for cheaper than buying out and I get a subsidised grocery bill. It works out pretty nicely!
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I didn't seek this out but I kind of fell into nit-picking.
About 2 years ago my boyfriend's niece got lice, and her mom was working a lot, so she paid me $80 to do the comb-through and hand pick out eggs after she did the treatment.
Then recently his other niece (different sister) got it, and her mom said she couldn't see them, and she had heard that I'd done it before. Longer hair meant $100 instead of $80, and it came back (I don't think her dad knew about it, so didn't do the whole house wash/dry bit) so I've done it twice in about 6 weeks.
I don't think I'd put out an ad or anything, but the cash has sure been nice!
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Reading all of these got me super motivated to find ways to make extra money,so I sent off a few resumes to after-school tutoring places (I'm a teacher) and I have an interview on Tuesday! If I can find a way to make it work with childcare etc, I could make an extra $100 or so a week, which would really help out! Thanks for the inspiration :)
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My side gig is doing software development 20 hrs week, $45/hr from home nights and weekends. I do more development during the day at another place, but wanted to learn new technology, so I setup a personal website last Sept, blogged on items I was learning, then applied for a full time position in Nov. Got it and negotiated with HR to start part-time instead of full time for first 90 days, going to see if I can negotiate some more to stay part-time.
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I have an Etsy shop where people can request custom colored knit beanies and crocheted gloves. I'll get other items up there as I learn how to make more things, too.
I've also fished for art commissions before, ended up with three but nothing since those. I'm not super-duper motivated and driven to advertise so it's understandable.
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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?
I also do Airbnb. It was a shot in the dark and I didn't think I'd get any customers because I listed the couchbed in my RV! When I started I was the only one for at least 75 miles, so anyone coming through my town had me or regular hotels as an option. I actually had enough visitors and good reviews to make SUPER HOST status! I started charging only $10 a night but I'm up to $25 now. I don't think I'll go higher (it is an RV after all.) I was sad to see recently that I lost my monopoly a few months ago. Of course, the other person is renting a whole house with 2 bedrooms so I don't think I really lost any customers to them since I attract smaller groups (I advertise for up to two, but have allowed 3 on occasion) and they are usually just traveling through and are looking for cheap accommodation and don't mind a more "adventurous" neighborhood.
Some people provide all the same services (or more) than a hotel. I personally don't except for washing the bedding between guests. I'm very accommodating once they arrive but I prefer to under-promise and over-deliver. I promise a clean place and a cheap price, nothing else. I'm clear in my advertisement about that, which I did on purpose. It seems to have worked. All the people who have stayed with me are adventurous and fun, and I haven't had any high-maintenance people come and complain about not getting breakfast in bed. I think I made about $400 in 6 months.
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Do you need to report this side income for tax purposes if it exceeds a particular amount?
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If you're talking about Airbnb they send a 1099 at the end of the year.
With other side income I think it's up to you to report it
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For the main topic: I've tried a lot of different SAHM jobs, from Lionbridge (same type as Leapforce), to translating and proofreading, to photography. DH claims he has made a bit of money buying old musical instruments, fixing them, and selling them. I think he has just got a nice collection of instruments for a relatively low price.
Well, I haven't really looked deeply into music, at least not deep enough to study the competition to advise you the best place to work with. I think first of all you could go here (http://www.istockphoto.com/audio), give it a look, read the articles, do some searches related to the kind of thing you do, look up keywords, and then visit the forums (http://www.istockphoto.com/forums.php). People there are very receptive and quick to give advice. They can easily give you tips on how to work with our audio bank, or to point you to external forums that might open up new possibilities.
The thing with royalty-free stuff is that you can be very authoral and creative, but you're not selling your music for yourself, your fans, etc. You're selling it to become someone's tool. You'll see it in Youtube video tutorials, website backgrounds (eeek), advertising (some people are experts in making jingles that the client just need to add a set amount of words to), maybe in an online game, or a corporate presentation. I think mostly YouTube, Vimeo and TV ads, though. :) Oh, yes, sometimes radio podcasts as well. :)
What we usually say to musicians is: if you have a studio hour hired, you can use 55 minutes to record your songs and then 5 minutes to record a short track or two to sell RF. It could even be just the sounds of the band dismounting after recording, some people laughing, or a short generic conversation. (I get lots of stares of the "but each single minute is sooo precious!" kind) - Most people just use they own devices at home, though.
Edit: Oh, yes, and I recommend audio because there's still so little content available for customers, in all of the stock market. If you're really interested I could see if I can find the contact of someone working in the audio section to ask more pointed questions about what's selling well, trends and tips.
This is an old post, but if there are other people reading reading through, I'd like to get in my two cents. I agree that stock photo, photage and music is a great side gig/passive income stream, but I do not agree with farmstache on a few things:
-$1/piece/month is for high quality stuff. You could just as easily make $.1/piece/month. And the rate keeps dropping as the competition increases.
-Stay clear of iStock. They keep a much larger share of the money than all the other stock agencies, you never know when they are going to change the rules on you, and several times they have given away stuff for free without asking the artists. Payouts get delayed for months, and you can get kicked out if you voice a protest about anything. My blog hasn't been updated for years, but the (affiliate) links to the sites still work, and the statistics over best selling and least selling sites are still true: http://gajasworld.blogspot.no/ . (Delete the last part of the links, or go directly to the sites by searching for the names if you prefer to avoid affiliate links.) The best for music, in my opinion, is Pond5.
-Be very careful when using models. One of the guys at microstockgroup.com is getting sued now by a model that found her pics used for porn. Not something you want to experience with a friend or aunt. I prefer shooting rocks. They don't argue.
I've had fun building my zazzle stores. It doesn't really make a lot of money, but ones the job is done, the income is passive. Also, I only make products with bad puns, so at least I get a laugh out of it.
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Do you need to report this side income for tax purposes if it exceeds a particular amount?
You need to report it.
If it's less than $600, the payer is not required to send you a 1099 form. However, you always have to report income.
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Inspired by reading this thread I started looking in to pursuing my own side hustles. I started with a small Ebay side hustle, and have made about $100 from it so far. Not great, but also don't have a lot of inventory as I am just selling off old clutter in my house. Once it gets warmer I will start perusing garage sales and seeing what I can make happen with that.
However, I have gotten involved with Sittercity as a Date Night Sitter and also on Taskrabbit as a tasker, and the jobs are starting to flow in! I booked a job that will net me $120 next Friday night on Taskrabbit, and just updated my availability for the babysitting-guaranteed to make at least $65 on the nights that I mark myself available. Will update once I get further into this, but just wanted to comment on how surprised I was at how easy it was to find side hustles once I motivated myself to get the extra cash!
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This isn't really a "side gig" per se, but it does pay around $8 a month, on average.
http://datacoup.com/
Basically it sells your data to companies interested in it. I figure since FB, the bank, cc company, etc. are already selling it, I might as well see a piece of the action. I've been a member of datacoup for 4-5 months or so. It basically pays my netflix bill each month.
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I write and self-publish erotica and romance (e-books). I started it about a year and a half ago thinking it could be a good side gig for when We retire. Now I have a big enough back-catalog that I make four figures a month without really working on it much. So, It's looking like retirement is even closer now, and I'll probably continue to do this/keep it in my back pocket if we feel our retirement investments aren't pulling in as much as we need.
I'd love to hear more about this. Did you start it because you were a fan, or did you just look for a niche? How many titles do you have, what sells best? It seems like writing is the absolute best do it anywhere, anytime kind of job but I can never figure out what to write.
No, i didn 't read erotica or romance before starting this. I read a Reddit ama at the right time. I was looking for a paid gig that would let me transition to part-time work. Since starting this, We have gone from thinking our retirement was seven years away, to realizing it is 3 1/2 years away. I am more than willing to share info.
Kris, I would love to hear more about this. How do you set up publishing and advertise? (If you have the link for the Reddit ama or tips on finding it, that would also be great.) Thanks!
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
i think it's between 15-20,000 words. it's 10 chapters long, and each chapter is 1500-2000 words. comes out to 45 pages as assessed by the kindle store.
i priced it low -- $2.99 -- figuring that it will be at least as entertaining and useful as a cup of coffee.
Thank you for this great information - so helpful (and inspiring)!
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I write and self-publish erotica and romance (e-books). I started it about a year and a half ago thinking it could be a good side gig for when We retire. Now I have a big enough back-catalog that I make four figures a month without really working on it much. So, It's looking like retirement is even closer now, and I'll probably continue to do this/keep it in my back pocket if we feel our retirement investments aren't pulling in as much as we need.
I'd love to hear more about this. Did you start it because you were a fan, or did you just look for a niche? How many titles do you have, what sells best? It seems like writing is the absolute best do it anywhere, anytime kind of job but I can never figure out what to write.
No, i didn 't read erotica or romance before starting this. I read a Reddit ama at the right time. I was looking for a paid gig that would let me transition to part-time work. Since starting this, We have gone from thinking our retirement was seven years away, to realizing it is 3 1/2 years away. I am more than willing to share info.
Kris, I would love to hear more about this. How do you set up publishing and advertise? (If you have the link for the Reddit ama or tips on finding it, that would also be great.) Thanks!
+1
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This is an awesome thread! I am amazed at the creativity in here!
I do metal fabrication as a side gig. I'm working on some seat mounting brackets for a race car right now. Most of my work tends to be automotive related.
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I used to sell plasma in college. I'd still be doing it but the closest clinic is too far away to justify driving. I was up to $25 a visit 2x per week. I had a high Hep B titer and could have gone for boosters to get up to $100 per visit, but I graduated college and moved on.
I would have tried sperm donation, but my wife wouldn't let me, and now that ship has sailed!
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I would have tried sperm donation, but my wife wouldn't let me, and now that ship has sailed!
Your wife is gone? Or your sperm is gone?
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I just started driving for UBER recently on a part time basis. At my full time job I work 4PM to midnight in Washington D.C. I have about a 45 minute commute home. I usually turn the App on when I start my commute and usually I get a couple rides along the way home. I've been doing it for about 3 weeks and I've been averaging about a $100 a week. It usually adds about an hour a night but it's more than paying for my gas and it's not hard.
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I would have tried sperm donation, but my wife wouldn't let me, and now that ship has sailed!
Your wife is gone? Or your sperm is gone?
Snip, snip!
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Random thoughts -
Give psychic readings as a fortune teller.
Rent boats or jet skis to people off Craigslist if you live near the water.
Be a charter fish boat guide or do Boat detailing/buffing.
Buy a large box truck or flat bed truck and put large billboard signs on it and drive around town in circles for money.
Start a business organizing "sign walkers" who hold signs on the side of the road advertising a local business. Just get the people from the temporary staffing agency.
Get a truck and haul away bulky stuff for people
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I sell digital cross stitch patterns on Etsy, currently have around 50 patterns up there, I make around $50-60 a month after expenses, with very little effort after designing the patterns: customers upon purchasing download the patterns directly from Etsy. Now, I've finished part time study, I want to design more (I like the design process, I can spend hours designing a pattern) and I will make a concerted effort to actually promote them.
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I'm living and working in the Czech Republic and I have 1-hour conversational lessons after my normal job.
Each lesson I charge around $13 and I have around 6/7 lessons a week.
I've been doing this since March 2014 and to this day I am still amazed that people will actually pay me just to speak with them - all thanks to me being a native English speaker:-)
This kind of work can make a lot of money in China. I usually make 200-300 yuan an hour, which at 6.1yuan=1dollar is about 32.80 an hour to 49.20 an hour doing tutoring, pronunciation work, reading novels and talking about them with students.
For money tutoring, its hard to beat mainland China right now. I live in a 3rd tier city. In Shanghai or Beijing Im sure more could be made if the person was good at it.
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My side gig is working as a gigolo..
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I'm sure somebody else has mentioned this "gig" before considering how long this thread is, but I chase credit card and bank signup bonuses. I'm projecting ~$1k in bank bonuses this year. I'm getting $444.44 in cc bonuses so far, not sure which ones I'll apply for next.
EDIT: Here's one you can do on an incredibly small scale that I know some people will not deem worth it: some credit card issuers such as Barclaycard and Capital One will waive cc balances of less than $1. So I let my statements close with $0.99 on them and "earn" 99 cents.
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Got my first payment from my new side gig as a Sittercity Date Night Sitter yesterday, and I didn't even have to work!
The way the system works is that you indicate your availability for the week, and then if you are not booked by 3 pm on the day you said you were available, you get a payment just for holding your availability! It's $25 for a Thursday or a Sunday, $55 for a Friday or Saturday. I made an easy 25 bucks doing nothing! We'll see what happens if I actually get a babysitting gig off this, but for now it's working pretty well for me :)
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Got my first payment from my new side gig as a Sittercity Date Night Sitter yesterday, and I didn't even have to work!
The way the system works is that you indicate your availability for the week, and then if you are not booked by 3 pm on the day you said you were available, you get a payment just for holding your availability! It's $25 for a Thursday or a Sunday, $55 for a Friday or Saturday. I made an easy 25 bucks doing nothing! We'll see what happens if I actually get a babysitting gig off this, but for now it's working pretty well for me :)
That is great to know! I've been planning to sign up for date night sitting when I moved from the mountains down into town, but I had no idea that the system worked like that!
I'm not a party people, so keeping my Thur-Sun open is easy peasy.
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I was excited too! But it's NY and Chicago only... http://datenight.sittercity.com/guarantees/
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Just started soccer refereeing a few weekends ago. Starting to get up to $300 a weekend already. Double gain as I am getting exercise.
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I just started this one... Brand Ambassador for a major scotch whisky brand... 40 hours a month, pays the same as my full time professional job (same cash, 1/4 of the hours)
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I just started this one... Brand Ambassador for a major scotch whisky brand... 40 hours a month, pays the same as my full time professional job (same cash, 1/4 of the hours)
I am pretty sure I could totally do this.
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I just started this one... Brand Ambassador for a major scotch whisky brand... 40 hours a month, pays the same as my full time professional job (same cash, 1/4 of the hours)
I am pretty sure I could totally do this.
They're awesome gigs where I do them (not sure about theirs?) as they are 3-4 hours on average, you get to live pour some places so you get to let them taste it, and some companies even pay a bonus for high sales...mine doesn't but by selling out most gigs you end up being the go to person for them and get more bookings. No boss, no one hanging over your shoulder squawking at you...just fun.
Sooo bummed my present ridiculous 'real' job is interfering with these gigs. But I know it's only for 2 more years....but they feel like dog years right now.
Best side gig, ever, imho.
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This will probably be very different from regular posts on this thread but I'm an artist and content creator for the Dota 2 Workshop. For those unfamiliar, Dota 2 is a MOBA(multiplayer online battle arena) game made by Valve, creators of Steam, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left4Dead and Half-Life. It has millions of players all over the world and is a competitive gaming giant like League of Legends.
Dota 2 is a Free to Play game where most revenue comes from in-game purchases for cosmetic items for your character like different armor/clothing/weapons. The Workshop is an online space where artists can create said items and potentially get added to the in-game store. Valve takes 75% of the revenue of the item sales though.
I started about 2 years ago, but I've only gotten one item in the game and have been feverishly working to get more but I've slowed down a lot in the past year or so. The one item I did get in was in a chest(with other items) that was $2.49 to open for The International, Dota 2's biggest tournament. It was a helmet model for a character that I spent maybe 8 hours total on. That said, under the new Steam agreement, I'm not allowed to disclose exact numbers but I made a little over 4 figures off of one item. There are a lot more successful artists doing this full-time and raking in the money generating a big stache.
I've been looking in to other projects to make money off of like the Unity and Unreal Asset store and other in-game content economies too.
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As an avid dota 2 player who has never paid a penny for the game or the countless hours I pour into it I thank you for making the content that keeps the entire operation running. I do somewhat less endorsed RMT in a few other online games and it looks like it may actually be sufficient to cover the majority of my living expenses. A childhood wasted apparently has some upsides.
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I just started this one... Brand Ambassador for a major scotch whisky brand... 40 hours a month, pays the same as my full time professional job (same cash, 1/4 of the hours)
Sweet. Where did you find that? Did you know someone who already did it, or apply / get hired through something?
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@traiskat : I met the Brand Manager during an event, and they were looking for someone with my personality ;) Obvioulsy, the Somm degree helped.
@The_path_less_taken: Exactly, 3-4 hours on average, just pour and talk about the Brand.. no sales, just a very high per hour pay... I also hate when my "real" job gets in the way and I have to make excuses...
Wife says that we could easily live on about 50% of what the side gig brings in... but the feeling you get when you are saving about 75% of your pay is just awesome!!!!!
5 more years baby!!!!
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eBay - unwanted things around the house or cast-offs from friends and family = $300-$500/yr.
Design work - my husband picks up a couple of freelance design jobs (a skill and hobby, not his profession) throughout the year, at about $250/hour = $1500/yr.
Extra work - neither of us earns overtime, but we occasionally have the opportunity to take on special projects for extra income = $500-$1000/year.
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I've been a driver for Uber for a few months now. Making good $$. Depends on how many days I do it.
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I've been a driver for Uber for a few months now. Making good $$. Depends on how many days I do it.
Can you share more details? Fees to be a driver?
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I re-sell a lot of things on eBay (a little Amazon). I blog about it over at FlippingADollar.com (http://FlippingADollar.com). I've had over 20k in sales on eBay since 2010.That translates to 10k profits. Most of that is in the past 3 years. I've barely broken the $200 mark on my blog, but it's a slow process.
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I can't do it because it is a conflict of interest with my current job, but I got my husband into freelance educational assessment editing. He verifies test items for science content; the minimum qualification was a PhD though.
My previous job always needed freelance writers for people who held "real world jobs" (don't get me into the fact that they considered anyone who was a professional writer, editor, or a teacher to have a "fake world job") but if anyone is looking for a few hundred dollars for a quick side-gig, or possibly a longer term contract if you're good at it, and has job experience doing almost anything (though I think they really liked when people had experience in trades) and decent writing skills, PM me and I can send you the info. You don't need any specific degree.
That sounds interesting! I sent you a PM. Always looking for extra $$$ opportunities.
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My friend Dave and I teach a basic mixology class that's super fun. We've done charity events, corporate and private parties too. Check out Paul and Dave's Mixed Drinks www.pdmixeddrinks.com
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x-posted in the Sidehustle 2015 thread under Throw Down the Gauntlet
Hi,
I've been spending a lot of time the last year and a half thinking of ways to earn extra money while still being stupid about money- I am getting smarter.
These are my ideas - they aren't super generic because they rely on my knowledge or skills or areas of interest or what I am willing to learn to do- but they are ideas I thought I would share to try to inspire and help others..... I hope they inspire you
I will do 5-8 of these in 2016, more if I can.......... the prices are what I would charge online and at a craft fair or the flea market
Bible verses (popular in this area) and inspirational quotes ( in calligraphy or embossed with white powder and watercolor) $7 each;
Custom framed family word clouds in shape of heart- check wordle.net ;
custom keychains (father, grandparent, moms)
Custom grandchild and spouse and parent portraits**B&W photography ONLY********
Art journal family trees $60
Art journal style Tshirts and fabrics (sell on Threadless and Spoonflower) - Also: Art Journal style mugs at flea market (small small batches)- Use china permanent pen on plain white china mugs to do custom funny sayings on them at Flea Market- have some "The best dads get promoted to Grand-dad" mugs ready to sell..
shabby chic accessories- pastel and white painted everything- French fabric (use own old contracts in French) sachets, pillows and aprons and tea towels, create fabric on Spoonflower or alternate website
add a bunch of designs to SPOONFLOWER.com site for royalties, use kid art, too
Dog/cat name tags ($7), keychains ($4) and metal baby's first Christmas ornaments (stamped) ($6),
infant memorial jewelry through the hospitals ($25),
wedding party keychains ($4-12 per person) (Groomsman/BFF/Bridesmaid),
labeled or stamped garden markers from old cutlery ($6 each), windchimes ($22)
Website design/set up using Wordpress
Amazon power tool, kitchen appliance and romance novel book reseller.
"Shabby chic" book
"Capsule Wardrobe" guide (call it something sassy) Kindle
"Guide to Frugal living on Kindle"
"Guide to Homekeeping"
"Guide to Home Repair"
"Guide to ______________________" on Kindle
AirBnB: $54/night, extra for second bedroom. If they need master bedroom, can sleep in den or at mom's???
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/blue-buffalo-dog-food-longevity/
A/ Do a cat food review site like this?????
B/ sell pet food ONLINE (Amazon)
Painted wedding shoes- calligraphy
Hand made wedding veils, sell on Etsy
Hand made paper rose bouquets sold on Etsy (from old books) and at flea market
Sell old documents on Etsy and eBay (find at garage sales)
Organize and declutter garages for people, and attics
Organize guys as junk haulers for people (charge $70/load, pay $30 to the guys)
Plant flower gardens for people in spring, plant bulbs in spring and fall
Offering resume coaching and interview coaching (based on my hiring and management experience), doing Linked In profiles for professionals in my field
Run a babysitting and home care service (short term cooking and laundry and light cleaning service for people in need)
Start a housecleaning company
Organize bills and statements and other medical and financial records (should get bonded to do this)
Handle filing medical claims for people.
teach art and basic accounting, get someone to teach home repair and car repair and carpentry
Start a christmas light hanging business (outdoor lights, house and/or trees)
Do pet sitting (join Pet Sitters International)
Bartending (good tips, part time)
Sell children's clothes like Terri does (new with tags from value village/thrift/charity shops or excellent condition) on eBay
Record audiobooks for ACX (Amazon) https://www.acx.com/help/how-it-works/200484210
(the website http://www.xojane.com/ has an article (a funny article, don't be put off by the title) on doing this)
Car and truck detailing (cleaning ultraclean), makes a good gift certificate for Xmas
Start a recipe channel on Youtube like PioneerWoman's show.
Start a "how to" channel on Youtube
(both require set up for ads on Youtube and social media distribution by friends and family and Fiverr.com)
I'd love to hear other ideas for sidehustles. I’m going to add this to the longer post that’s on this site but I’d love to see a dedicated category for the topic of sidehustles
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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 want to do this! I love wrapping gifts.!
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x-posted in the Sidehustle 2015 thread under Throw Down the Gauntlet
Hi,
I've been spending a lot of time the last year and a half thinking of ways to earn extra money while still being stupid about money- I am getting smarter.
These are my ideas - they aren't super generic because they rely on my knowledge or skills or areas of interest or what I am willing to learn to do- but they are ideas I thought I would share to try to inspire and help others..... I hope they inspire you
I will do 5-8 of these in 2016, more if I can.......... the prices are what I would charge online and at a craft fair or the flea market
Bible verses (popular in this area) and inspirational quotes ( in calligraphy or embossed with white powder and watercolor) $7 each;
Custom framed family word clouds in shape of heart- check wordle.net ;
custom keychains (father, grandparent, moms)
Custom grandchild and spouse and parent portraits**B&W photography ONLY********
Art journal family trees $60
Art journal style Tshirts and fabrics (sell on Threadless and Spoonflower) - Also: Art Journal style mugs at flea market (small small batches)- Use china permanent pen on plain white china mugs to do custom funny sayings on them at Flea Market- have some "The best dads get promoted to Grand-dad" mugs ready to sell..
shabby chic accessories- pastel and white painted everything- French fabric (use own old contracts in French) sachets, pillows and aprons and tea towels, create fabric on Spoonflower or alternate website
add a bunch of designs to SPOONFLOWER.com site for royalties, use kid art, too
Dog/cat name tags ($7), keychains ($4) and metal baby's first Christmas ornaments (stamped) ($6),
infant memorial jewelry through the hospitals ($25),
wedding party keychains ($4-12 per person) (Groomsman/BFF/Bridesmaid),
labeled or stamped garden markers from old cutlery ($6 each), windchimes ($22)
Website design/set up using Wordpress
Amazon power tool, kitchen appliance and romance novel book reseller.
"Shabby chic" book
"Capsule Wardrobe" guide (call it something sassy) Kindle
"Guide to Frugal living on Kindle"
"Guide to Homekeeping"
"Guide to Home Repair"
"Guide to ______________________" on Kindle
AirBnB: $54/night, extra for second bedroom. If they need master bedroom, can sleep in den or at mom's???
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/blue-buffalo-dog-food-longevity/
A/ Do a cat food review site like this?????
B/ sell pet food ONLINE (Amazon)
Painted wedding shoes- calligraphy
Hand made wedding veils, sell on Etsy
Hand made paper rose bouquets sold on Etsy (from old books) and at flea market
Sell old documents on Etsy and eBay (find at garage sales)
Organize and declutter garages for people, and attics
Organize guys as junk haulers for people (charge $70/load, pay $30 to the guys)
Plant flower gardens for people in spring, plant bulbs in spring and fall
Offering resume coaching and interview coaching (based on my hiring and management experience), doing Linked In profiles for professionals in my field
Run a babysitting and home care service (short term cooking and laundry and light cleaning service for people in need)
Start a housecleaning company
Organize bills and statements and other medical and financial records (should get bonded to do this)
Handle filing medical claims for people.
teach art and basic accounting, get someone to teach home repair and car repair and carpentry
Start a christmas light hanging business (outdoor lights, house and/or trees)
Do pet sitting (join Pet Sitters International)
Bartending (good tips, part time)
Sell children's clothes like Terri does (new with tags from value village/thrift/charity shops or excellent condition) on eBay
Record audiobooks for ACX (Amazon) https://www.acx.com/help/how-it-works/200484210
(the website http://www.xojane.com/ has an article (a funny article, don't be put off by the title) on doing this)
Car and truck detailing (cleaning ultraclean), makes a good gift certificate for Xmas
Start a recipe channel on Youtube like PioneerWoman's show.
Start a "how to" channel on Youtube
(both require set up for ads on Youtube and social media distribution by friends and family and Fiverr.com)
I'd love to hear other ideas for sidehustles. I’m going to add this to the longer post that’s on this site but I’d love to see a dedicated category for the topic of sidehustles
you go girl
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I work at the dog daycare I used to take my dogs to while I was working a 9-5. Since I work there now, I get to take my dogs for free and i get 50% off dog grooming. It's great exercise as well as I walk several miles while at work. I've networked with a lot of local artists as well who buy art supplies from my store and they pass the word to their artist friends too.
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Does anyone know anything about DoTerra or have an opinion about the essential oil business?
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Does anyone know anything about DoTerra or have an opinion about the essential oil business?
Like most MLM it requires a lot of bugging your friends and family, and you are unlikely to make all that much money. Most people I know who sell it do it for a discount.
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Does anyone know anything about DoTerra or have an opinion about the essential oil business?
Like most MLM it requires a lot of bugging your friends and family, and you are unlikely to make all that much money. Most people I know who sell it do it for a discount.
If you teach classes on how to use them, you can sell into the community- I found a recipe for a lemon sugar scrub that uses them, for example (search lemon sugar scrub doterra) and the person writing that blog and I think teaching in the community sells them. I have bought them to use as an air freshener and for the scrub which I will give as gifts to girlfriends for their birthdays this year ahead.
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I've been a driver for Uber for a few months now. Making good $$. Depends on how many days I do it.
Can you share more details? Fees to be a driver?
I just started driving for Uber and Lyft though I've only done two rides (both Uber.) Both do background checks and required pictures of proof of insurance and vehicle registration. Uber provided a form and a list of approved repair shops to do an inspection in the car. Lyft had me meet up with a mentor who did a cursory inspection (brake lights, horn, turn signal, etc) and I did about a 20-minute drive with him in the car.
There were no extra fees, but in my state, Farmers Insurance has an extra rider you can add to your policy for rideshare services like Lyft and Uber. So I'm paying a little extra for that. Many insurance companies don't support this kind of use for vehicles, so some drivers just keep it secret from their insurance but that could majorly backfire on you.
Also, if you have a lien on your car, you're technically supposed to get permission from your lienholder to use it for hybrid commercial use, but I doubt most lienholder's would be OK with that.
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Just wanted to report back that my current face study is paying $225 this time, for 5 visits for pictures and using 9 drops of a moisturizer oil every night for a few weeks. Usually the studies only offer $40 but I've noticed more better paying ones recently. You had to qualify though (pale skin and redness on face for this one, certain age range, skin tone, etc.) They have a bunch of studies every week, but you can only do 1 study at a time. It's pretty easy and quick money. I usually don't have to get cash out if I have a study going on actually. The name of the company is Biometrx and they do studies out of SF and other cities. Or you can see if there is something similar near you. Also saves me money from not having to buy face moisturizer.
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Does anyone know anything about DoTerra or have an opinion about the essential oil business?
I distribute for Young Living (DoTerra is an offshoot of YL). I do $1100 a month lately.
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Have you checked on online jobs you can probably do? There are actually a lot of online job posting that can help you out. You can also either do buy and sell online.
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Posting to make it easier to find to read later, hopefully that's okay. I really need to find a side hustle to bring in extra money, and make me less dependent on my soul crushing desk job.
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i'm a full time physician so not a whole lot of extra time but...
i opened a mechanic shop and had my mechanic friend (who became my partner) run it for a while...
made some money but i reinvested a lot of it too...
it was good because he pretty much ran it and i did all the book keeping, financing etc...
i was on fiverr.com for a while and it wasn't too bad but needed a lot of my time and make $10-30 per month...
i started buying some car parts on craigslist and car forums for cheap and would sell them on ebay...
again time consuming...
i did this more when i was in med school...
in college i went around computer shops and asked them for the parts they didn't need (old hard drives etc)...
and would get all the info, make a nice posting and sell on ebay....
that actually was really good money....
You sound like my cousin, who is an anesthesiologist. He was a big-time Fatwallet/Slickdeals deal lurker and would do a lot of similar thing: buy "cheap" and flip on ebay. Super savvy. He used to be really into doing 'market research', then buying/finding the stuff for really cheap, and flipping it on ebay for a pretty good profit turn. This was primarily during med school and when he had more time to 'kill time' - nowadays, he seems pretty consumed with just being an anesthesiologist. It seems like he's raking in much more $$$ than he could have ever imagined, so why even bother with extra side-gigs. He puts in a full amount of effort and reaps rewards that are well-beyond "creature comfort" - it's making me quite jealous thinking about it... except, I'm sure he (and all current doctors) endured much hell going through med school and residency.
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We do lawncare like mowing and mulching for our side job. We need to figure out another job we can do in winter though..
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We do lawncare like mowing and mulching for our side job. We need to figure out another job we can do in winter though..
Where do you live? I knew a guy who did exactly what you are doing in Summer. In Winter he had an old beater of a truck but it was street worthy. He put a blade on the front and plowed people's driveways. If you live in Florida this will not work.
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I used to be a full-time freelance photographer, and even now that I have a full-time job in editing and creative management, I've kept a good relationship with my old agency, so they throw me a few contracts a year when they're in dire need of some help. I also just joined UpWork 3 weeks ago because I don't have the time or energy to get freelance writing gigs on my own, and so far I've booked two long-term part time contracts doing something I love and making over twice the hourly rate as my 9 to 5. Might even motivate me to go back to full-time freelancing if things keep going this way...
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Looking into hosting through AirBNB- we'll try it if we can find a home insurance company which will continue to cover us rather than making us buy a commercial policy.
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Looks like there are a number of other photographers here. I've been doing weddings/engagements/family photos for a while now. Although the more I book the more it tends to drain my passion for it so I try to keep a balance.
Also interested in the vending machine route, anyone have any good resources to learn about what to look for in a machine?
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I picked up a second contract doing similar work to what I already do, but where the luster has worn off my main job, this new one is fresh and I am highly respected in it. It makes me feel good to do it (because I'm appreciated) and is about another 10-20 hours per week on top of the 40-60 hours I work at my main job. It's also helping me justify some of the upgrades I want to do around the house (install fancy closet, get someone else to paint my house, etc).
Here's an update: I've been enjoying my second contract and brought in what seems like a ton of money in two years, but the reality is that I didn't really end up adding the bulk of the hours onto my workload - I merely traded one payor for another and risked pissing off my steady contract by being away more often than usual. It also caused some downtime due to traveling between assignments, etc. It was also a lot of extra stress. I'm glad I did it, but when it's over this year, I won't do another at the same time that I already have a steady contract going.
EDIT: fixed wonky quote
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I finally got caught and banned from an online game for selling their in game currency. +15k while it lasted.
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I tutor middle and high school kids in writing and make around $100/hour (and that's on the low end for this market!). It started as a side hustle almost three years ago when I was working full time, and then I had enough of cubicle life and quit, planning to grow my tutoring business instead. Turned out the work was too erratic to pay the bills so I got a part-time office gig last year. Now it's back to a side hustle. I'm building a website this weekend and the plan is take another stab at growing it as an online business. THen I can take my dream tiny house on the road in a couple years and work anywhere!
I also teach yoga a few times a month since getting certified last year. The potential for high hourly is there if I can get private clients vs. group classes, so I'm gonna focus on that too.
And maybe write an ebook? Thanks for the inspiration!
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I make custom plush (stuffed animals) and sell them online. When I was between jobs I brought in enough to cover rent and some basic expenses. Now it's just a side hobby that happens to be a lot of fun on weekends :).
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We do:
- dog training
- dog boarding
- credit card churning
- freelancing (writing in a technical area)
- betting arbitrage
Am looking into getting into:
- bike repair
- guitar teaching
- writing ebooks
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I used to sell cute handcrafted voodoo dolls and create character sprites for a visual novel.
Nowadays, I'm trying my hand to write articles and get paid for it.
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I babysit and dogsit occasionally, and do Amazon Mturk while at home/break at work. Just signed up with a few companies online to see if I can do website testing occasionally as well.
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I occasionally do Swagbucks for a few dollars but looking to get some good ideas from this thread.
I'm considering Lyft/Uber but am kind of unsure if the benefits outweigh the costs.
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
Do you know the rough word count of your E-Book? I want to write something, but I keep thinking it will be too short!
i can't remember exactly, but i think it's between 15-20,000 words. it's 10 chapters long, and each chapter is 1500-2000 words. comes out to 45 pages as assessed by the kindle store.
i priced it low -- $2.99 -- figuring that it will be at least as entertaining and useful as a cup of coffee.
That is so cool, Miss Madge! Your e-book looks really cool and I will check out blog as well. This is very inspiring.
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In the summer I lay sod with a landscaping crew every other Friday for $250 a day. Sod days are about 10 hours long with trucks leaving pallets at homes and the crew moving quickly from house to house. Lot of hustle but been a good gig for me.
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I've done a few different side jobs in the past:
SAT tutoring
Consulting for an old company after I had moved to a new one
Copy-editing
Participating in market research surveys
Things that I'm trying now:
Writing romance novels with other forum members (already published a few)
Writing ebooks on how to increase your salary (in the market research stage)
Things that I tried and abandoned for various reasons:
Personal finance coaching
Decluttering service
Credit card bonus chasing
Mechanical Turk (oh my god the teeeedium)
A friend who recently moved to my neighborhood said she could pay me to dogsit occasionally. Not sure if I would want to take her money, though. She's not in the best financial shape.
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things i've done in the past:
- e-mail spam... during the golden days of AOL, you could make $10k/week :-O also managed to make a passive income on it for $500/yr when I got out which was pretty schweet, stopped because morals kicked in eventually (I was in highschool)
- build computers for a flat $100 fee + 10% on parts I ordered for you
- stream on twitch/youtube and got donations prior to advertising being a thing on youtube
- google reputation management stuff for a couple of businesses but it felt slimy so I stopped
- buy/sell retro video games
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What a great thread!
I started a similar (side jobs) thread yesterday, and for some reason it was deleted.
But this is great.
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I started a similar (side jobs) thread yesterday, and for some reason it was deleted.
?
It appears intact to me.
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/post-fire/side-jobs-54582/
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I started a similar (side jobs) thread yesterday, and for some reason it was deleted.
?
It appears intact to me.
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/post-fire/side-jobs-54582/
Oh... I was looking in the wrong forum. Or it was moved.
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Oh... I was looking in the wrong forum. Or it was moved.
Nope, it looks like it was just posted to the wrong forum. I moved it to AAM. This thread probably suffices to answer your question though, with 9 pages of answers. :)
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I've started going for walks collecting soda/beer bottles. Where I live you get around $0.15 per bottle and people are too lazy to bring them in and just throw them all over the place. It started with my GF (who's working in a hotel) being allowed to take the bottles she found around the hotel rooms. And now I collect on my weekend-walks as well. Obviously not the best hourly wage but I like to walk a lot anyway and it helps clean up nature too. Almost covers our food budget on a good day.
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I've done some marketing surveys, dog sitting and selling things on ebay. I'm hoping to try my hand eventually at voiceover narration for ebooks.
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My new side gig is a four-plex that cash flows really well. On the first of the month, people pay me!
NDQ
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i scalp tickets - i have also recently started buying things on slick deals to resell on craigslist/ in my community... recent purchase 9 standup paddleboards for 150 each i plan to at least double up on if not more.
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i scalp tickets - i have also recently started buying things on slick deals to resell on craigslist/ in my community... recent purchase 9 standup paddleboards for 150 each i plan to at least double up on if not more.
Some people do this at the end of the season at Costco or BJs. Buy all the beach stuff and store in your garage to resell at the peak of beach season. I don't like the risk or having that kind of big inventory. I'd rather slow roll it using eBay. So much less cash risk. Also don't have to deal with craigslist meetups which I struggle with since I have 2 small children and busy weekends
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I sell on Ebay and have profited around $1,500.00 in the last year. All of the items that I've sold so far are personal items from years ago that I finally decided to un-box and get rid of.
I may be interested in trying some online proof-reading, has anyone ever tried that? I apologize if it's already been discussed. What are some legitimate sites for this?
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I sell on Ebay and have profited around $1,500.00 in the last year. All of the items that I've sold so far are personal items from years ago that I finally decided to un-box and get rid of.
I may be interested in trying some online proof-reading, has anyone ever tried that? I apologize if it's already been discussed. What are some legitimate sites for this?
I'm sure you can find something through upwork, but it would take a lot of electronic legwork. I'm a much bigger fan of eBay!
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I'm sure you can find something through upwork, but it would take a lot of electronic legwork. I'm a much bigger fan of eBay!
Thanks! I plan on doing something like that in addition to continuing the Ebay selling. Has anyone had any experience with Upwork?
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Doesn't bring in 'extra cash' per se, but it's a great deal...
A couple I know recently took on a side-gig as "RV Relocation specialists". They picked up an RV from the factory in Forest City, IA and spent 9 days driving cross-country to Denver, CO for a fee of $10/day for use of the RV.
A website I found offers similar deals with common pickup points (http://www.apollorv.com/reloc.aspx (http://www.apollorv.com/reloc.aspx))
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Doesn't bring in 'extra cash' per se, but it's a great deal...
A couple I know recently took on a side-gig as "RV Relocation specialists". They picked up an RV from the factory in Forest City, IA and spent 9 days driving cross-country to Denver, CO for a fee of $10/day for use of the RV.
A website I found offers similar deals with common pickup points (http://www.apollorv.com/reloc.aspx (http://www.apollorv.com/reloc.aspx))
I...did not know that was a thing. Thanks!!
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One of my husband's side jobs gave me a bit of a surprise last week when I noticed an extra grand in our bank account.
I called him about it and he said, "Oh, x must have paid me." "So... we can keep it? Cool." Transferred straight into savings.
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One of my husband's side jobs gave me a bit of a surprise last week when I noticed an extra grand in our bank account.
I called him about it and he said, "Oh, x must have paid me." "So... we can keep it? Cool." Transferred straight into savings.
What does he do that creates magical $1000s?
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One of my husband's side jobs gave me a bit of a surprise last week when I noticed an extra grand in our bank account.
I called him about it and he said, "Oh, x must have paid me." "So... we can keep it? Cool." Transferred straight into savings.
What does he do that creates magical $1000s?
He does thing with words and pictures. He works 70-80 hours a week, then picks up freelance copywriting, photography and graphic design jobs.
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I do custom shirts for people.
This sounds like some creative fun! How did you get into this? What kind of equipment do you use?
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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.
WOW! Where do you live that you get that much demand?
Are you still using Airbnb for your basement apartment? Do you need to be home most of the time to do this? This sounds better than the students i take in.
I live in Chicago. Hotels are so expensive here; there's a lot of demand for affordable temporary housing. :)
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I have done translation and transcription in the past but have recently found a more lucrative side gig. Anyone with an ESL or TESOL background can become an at-home language assessor. The company sends you recordings of ESL students and you rate them. I make about 40$/h 10hours per week. Very happy I found this!
Can you send me the details as well about the at-home language assessor job?
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I teach swim lessons for the Y. It only pays $13/hr, but my gym membership is free, and the kids are cute. I'm down to 5 clients right now, but I'm super picky and only teach one-on-one lessons one day a week. They have a massive, 3+ month long waiting list, so if I was less picky and more flexible I could do more. Generally, as long as you have swimming skills yourself, you don't need to be certified to teach (just have basic CPR and first aid).
Overtime at my real job is more like $60/hr, so I always have to cancel if a chance for that comes up!
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Just posted about a side-gig selling trade lines for your CCs that pays really well ($600+/hr):
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/selling-tradelines-piggybacking-$600hr-20-40kyr-side-gig/ (http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/selling-tradelines-piggybacking-$600hr-20-40kyr-side-gig/)
:)
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computer/cell phone repair
network/computer/sound system setup and wiremanagment
Domain parking
youtube videos (very very very small 10-20$ passive monthly income)
twitch.tv donations 1-500$/mo, just for playing games with my friends
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I have seen a number of articles on people selling their Pokémon Go accounts.
Interesting concept of biking and walking around town getting exercise and seeing the sites while building up your character for cash.
http://www.polygon.com/2016/7/18/12211672/pokemon-go-selling-account-cheating
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I've done a lot of consulting (mostly data science work) over the past year and a half, making $6k+ in 2015 and on track to make $15k+ in 2016. Finding the gigs is the hardest part, but I've really had pretty good success on Moonlighting recently. Moonlighting is an exchange of people who need stuff done and people who want to do stuff. I'm usually one of the latter.
Moonlighting: http://www.gomnlt.com/mnlt/sign_up/?SubAff=1061
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I bring in an extra $40k-$60k a year doing software and database consulting work. Averaging about 6 hours a week of real work. I'm ready to quit it, but the money's nice.
I also sell electronics from yard sales on ebay, doesn't bring in more than maybe $750 a year but it's fun.
In near future I'll be releasing a cookbook. In the less near but not distant future, I'll be opening a brewery.
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Reviewing grant proposals.
Also reviewing textbooks in my field.
I used to do some editing, but I don't really have the time anymore - pay rate is low for most jobs. Dissertations are higher but are a major pain.
Occasionally I'll take on an extra class. Not this fall, though, and I'm very happy about that!
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I make furniture and sell them!
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I've been reading this thread with great interest as I can't imagine just sitting around when I 'retire' and 'extra cash' will mean I can quit my job sooner.
I've also googled quite a bit, and found; http://www.retiredbrains.com/employment-assistance/start-your-own-business/suggestions-from-readers
One item that particularly caught my eye:
a stove and grille cleaning service. cleaning neighborhood grills and stoves He and his staff of 3 now do 5 to 10 a day at a cost of $90 to $200 depending on the size of the job
That averages out to some real money!
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Just started soccer refereeing a few weekends ago. Starting to get up to $300 a weekend already. Double gain as I am getting exercise.
I could definitely see myself doing that in the future!
Do you mind me asking, do you have qualifications? How many hours/games does it take to get $300?
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Posting to follow! So many great ideas here.
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I co-wrote a technical book (5 star rating on Amazon.com! :) and my half of the direct royalties was $10,000.
I wrote some technical articles for a variety of publications, one of them paid me about $5,000.
(Plus my salary and bonuses went up a LOT because of doing this because I was a consultant specializing in what I wrote about.)
My wife and I published a how-to journal for historical re-enactors. We didn't make a lot of money directly, (netting $1,500 in each of our best years), but that was about a 25% increase in our income at the time, so it was a BIG DEAL to us at the time.
Now I rehab and rent out single family homes.
In another year I'll be making art on the side.
I may write fiction or another technical book, or do a blog. (I'm prepping for the blog now.)
I might pressure wash driveways, fences and houses when the weather's nice in the spring and fall.
I've also done software consulting on the side in the past.
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Currently:
- "Engineering consulting" which is basically helping small businesses in my area do the things they can't.
- Carpentry/general labor
- Writing owner's manuals for yachts
- Tinkering. Fixing about anything.
In the past:
- House sitting
- Caretaking
- CAD work
- Carpentry/general labor
- Boat captain
In the future:
- Yacht delivery captain
- Boat building/repair
- More tinkering
- Caretaking/housesitting
- More technical writing or creative writing
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I wrote some technical articles for a variety of publications, one of them paid me about $5,000.
(Plus my salary and bonuses went up a LOT because of doing this because I was a consultant specializing in what I wrote about.)
Thanks for this idea...my company's been pestering us to write/publish more, and I didn't see any potential upside for the time involved until you mentioned this!
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My DH started buying and selling hunting knives on eBay. It's been over a year and he hasn't taken a loss yet. It's definitely just a hobby,but has probably netted about $100 in profit per month. It started as a desire to upgrade his current knife without spending additional money. Turned into a habit. Now he's a regular on some knife forums and has learned a lot about maintenance and repair. I would der if those skills could be useful outside of knife flipping.
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Now that I've been back in Japan for a about 6 weeks, I've finally landed my first gig subbing for English teaching. I have one regular job (once a week for 3 hours, with 2 classes back to back) lined up, but it doesn't start until February (though I wouldn't be shocked if the current teacher quits at least a bit earlier). It's actually a class I taught last time I was here, so I know most of the students and what they are looking for, which makes it easier. Word is starting to spread that I want to teach and am available most times (unlike those who have little ones at home or who need to be finished in time for school pick up), so I'm hopeful I will get some momentum going.
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After a very quiet July and August (earning less than €100 from translations but thankfully with enough outstanding invoices getting paid that money was still flowing in), I had two separate queries from new customers yesterday. And one of them confirmed today so that'll be a bit over €1,000 in the next couple of weeks. And the possibility of more work next year, as it's an annual publication. And a really interesting topic - I think this could end up being a good contact in general. Just have to make sure to put July and August down as dead months when I'm working on a plan for next year, I think.
My DH started buying and selling hunting knives on eBay. It's been over a year and he hasn't taken a loss yet. It's definitely just a hobby,but has probably netted about $100 in profit per month. It started as a desire to upgrade his current knife without spending additional money. Turned into a habit. Now he's a regular on some knife forums and has learned a lot about maintenance and repair. I would der if those skills could be useful outside of knife flipping.
Maybe he'll move on to actually making knives himself - there could be good money in that, I suppose. Also, come the zombie apocalypse, he'll be very popular (with the people wanting knives, I mean, not with the zombies. :-) )
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My day job is as a software engineer. On the side I do photography (weddings, portraits, some promotional/catalog stuff, and I sell art prints on etsy). This brings in an extra 10k/year on average. I also bought a farm last year and I am working towards growing a variety of fruits and vegetables for market. No farming income yet, but prospects look very good. As a bonus, these are the kinds of things I plan to do after my FIRE date, so in addition to making extra cash on the side, I'm also building a great foundation for my future full time life.
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Mechanical Truk is my latest side gig - made about $1200 since May. Should have enough by October to pay for a fall vacation.
I also have a photography website, mostly for fun, but it's nice to see the occasional sales rolling in.
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Mechanical Truk is my latest side gig - made about $1200 since May.
What are you doing for M.T. and how many hours are you putting into it?
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Mechanical Truk is my latest side gig - made about $1200 since May.
What are you doing for M.T. and how many hours are you putting into it?
Ditto - I'm thrilled when I make $5 a month to put towards cat food. I usually only do it when we have some down time at work, and lately that just hasn't existed for me.
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I work full-time in web design and development. Earn a good salary at it and get to work from home 3 days a week.
As a side gig, I do a few things.
1. Developed software about 6-7 years ago for a niche industry that pulled in about $25k/year at it's peak (3 years ago). This has dwindled down to about $10k/year but not bad for pushing a couple invoices a month (About 300 hours of initial development)
2. I'm also the tech behind the development of a health and wellness program that is currently in the Proof of Concept stage. It's rolled out to a large company currently and assurance is important so I'm paid to monitor server attacks, outgoing mail notifications, etc. This pays about $1k a month to "oversee and monitor" activities (about 12 hours a month)
3. Freelance web design and dev. On average, this brings in another $30-$50k a year and because I work from home, I'm not burnt out after an 8 hour work day with my employer.
So overall, the "side gigs" generate a very healthy amount of income.
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Mechanical Truk is my latest side gig - made about $1200 since May.
What are you doing for M.T. and how many hours are you putting into it?
Ditto - I'm thrilled when I make $5 a month to put towards cat food. I usually only do it when we have some down time at work, and lately that just hasn't existed for me.
LOL:) about the cat food:) You are not alone, lots of people don't make it past that and I still can't fathom how some people make $2K every single month. My goal is to get to $500 a month - ultimately. For now I've only made it up to $350 a month and practically nothing in August, because I've been sick.
MTurk is one of those things that has a learning curve. In the beginning I spent a fair amount of time learning about scripts, watching tutorials and setting up my turking strategy and I am still learning.
I'll try anything, but I do a lot of surveys, test apps or websites, language hits (I'm a native German speaker) - but as native American English speakers you can check out some of the Endor hits. I've found a few small batch requesters that I am always on the look out for. Once I hit 1000 approved hits that added about $2-$5 extra a day. I'm still a long way from 5K approved hits, so I am considering working on a big batch just to up my numbers. I might try to find something simple I can do while I am still sick and not feeling up to doing much. That might give me a boost for September.
Average time spent turking is 4 hours a day and I do approach it as a real job. I usually do 4 hours starting at 6am EST and then sometimes I will work an extra hour or two, afternoon or evening, off and on. I don't do weekends.
It takes time to get better and faster and I can tell you that every month I have improved my earnings.
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For now I've only made it up to $350 a month
...
Average time spent turking is 4 hours a day and I do approach it as a real job. I usually do 4 hours starting at 6am EST and then sometimes I will work an extra hour or two, afternoon or evening, off and on. I don't do weekends.
It takes time to get better and faster and I can tell you that every month I have improved my earnings.
4 hours/weekday = 20 hours/week x 4.5 weeks/mo = 90 hours/mo. $350/90 hours = $3.88/hour. Maybe half of minimum wage?
And that's after you've "worked up" to $350/mo (each previous month, per the last sentence, was worse).
Is it worth it?
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Architecture consultation and related services.
We work full time as architects which eats up a lot of creative energy during the day. So we usually take up menial architecture jobs- nets us around 10-12$ an hour which in our currency is a sweet deal. We have managed to earn 300-400$ in a weekend helping architects and others with drafting and renders.
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4 hours/weekday = 20 hours/week x 4.5 weeks/mo = 90 hours/mo. $350/90 hours = $3.88/hour. Maybe half of minimum wage?
And that's after you've "worked up" to $350/mo (each previous month, per the last sentence, was worse).
Is it worth it?
And I assume that figure is pre-tax.
Rosy, have you looked into working for Leapforce or Appen Butler Hill? It is online work like turking, but you are rating websites for search engines. They pay $13-15 per hour.
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I have been mystery shopping for the last three months. It is awesome. Not bringing in a ton of extra cash, but enabling us to cut down on our restaurant/grocery bill. Last month, between the savings on our restaurant budget (-$150; we just don't pay to eat out anymore), the savings on our grocery budget (-$50), and the money I'm paid to do the write-ups, it was an extra $300 towards our 401ks, just for going out with my family and spending about an hour afterwards filling out the surveys.
Next month I'm getting a paid vacation to Maui out of it (I live on Oahu) in exchange for doing a mystery shopping blitz for one of the days I'm there with my hubby.
I found the job on craigslist in the writing/editing gigs section. Highly recommend it if you like writing.
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4 hours/weekday = 20 hours/week x 4.5 weeks/mo = 90 hours/mo. $350/90 hours = $3.88/hour. Maybe half of minimum wage?
And that's after you've "worked up" to $350/mo (each previous month, per the last sentence, was worse).
Is it worth it?
And I assume that figure is pre-tax.
Rosy, have you looked into working for Leapforce or Appen Butler Hill? It is online work like turking, but you are rating websites for search engines. They pay $13-15 per hour.
Usertesting.com also. When I did that last year it was $10 for 10 min, but the site tests aren't endlessly available.
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I have been mystery shopping for the last three months. It is awesome. Not bringing in a ton of extra cash, but enabling us to cut down on our restaurant/grocery bill. Last month, between the savings on our restaurant budget (-$150; we just don't pay to eat out anymore), the savings on our grocery budget (-$50), and the money I'm paid to do the write-ups, it was an extra $300 towards our 401ks, just for going out with my family and spending about an hour afterwards filling out the surveys.
Next month I'm getting a paid vacation to Maui out of it (I live on Oahu) in exchange for doing a mystery shopping blitz for one of the days I'm there with my hubby.
I found the job on craigslist in the writing/editing gigs section. Highly recommend it if you like writing.
Besides craigslist, how does one go about finding these types of jobs?
Google search just brings up a bunch of sites that ask you for money first before setting you up to be a mystery shopper.
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Very interesting thread! Must follow.
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I have been mystery shopping for the last three months. It is awesome. Not bringing in a ton of extra cash, but enabling us to cut down on our restaurant/grocery bill. Last month, between the savings on our restaurant budget (-$150; we just don't pay to eat out anymore), the savings on our grocery budget (-$50), and the money I'm paid to do the write-ups, it was an extra $300 towards our 401ks, just for going out with my family and spending about an hour afterwards filling out the surveys.
Next month I'm getting a paid vacation to Maui out of it (I live on Oahu) in exchange for doing a mystery shopping blitz for one of the days I'm there with my hubby.
I found the job on craigslist in the writing/editing gigs section. Highly recommend it if you like writing.
Besides craigslist, how does one go about finding these types of jobs?
Google search just brings up a bunch of sites that ask you for money first before setting you up to be a mystery shopper.
I got lucky with finding the job, and I live in an area where mystery shopping is a big deal because of the enormous tourist economy. However, I've googled it quite a bit since becoming a mystery shopper and it's actually everywhere. Look on reddit; there's a pretty good thread there about how to get into it. One thing that deters people is that you have to like writing and be an efficient writer because you have to include EVERY detail of what happens at the "shop". It typically takes me about an hour to fill in a restaurant survey after I do a dinner shop. Convenience stores and smaller shops take me around 20 minutes after the shop. It wouldn't be worth it if detailed writing is stressful for you.
I'm an English teacher and it was hard at first but after two months I got more efficient at it and now I find it pretty easy to do in front of the tv. My husband loves it because of all the free dinners out.
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For now I've only made it up to $350 a month
...
Average time spent turking is 4 hours a day and I do approach it as a real job. I usually do 4 hours starting at 6am EST and then sometimes I will work an extra hour or two, afternoon or evening, off and on. I don't do weekends.
It takes time to get better and faster and I can tell you that every month I have improved my earnings.
4 hours/weekday = 20 hours/week x 4.5 weeks/mo = 90 hours/mo. $350/90 hours = $3.88/hour. Maybe half of minimum wage?
And that's after you've "worked up" to $350/mo (each previous month, per the last sentence, was worse).
Is it worth it?
...and this is why when I have extra fire wood, I give it to friends instead of selling it. $3/hr is about what I compute I would make. Giving it away is fun. Selling it for $3/hr is depressing.
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Great information everyone! I'm new here and just read the whole thread to come up with some new side hustle ideas.
Personally I've tried:
eBay, Amazon, Craigslist & Etsy Sales
Driving for Uber/Lyft
House cleaning
Pizza delivery
Now I've got some new ideas for my next endeavor!
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Has anyone on here been a looker? I just heard about this and it sounds interesting. Trying to find out more information about it.
www.wegolook.com
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x-posted in the Sidehustle 2015 thread under Throw Down the Gauntlet
Hi,
I've been spending a lot of time the last year and a half thinking of ways to earn extra money while still being stupid about money- I am getting smarter.
These are my ideas - they aren't super generic because they rely on my knowledge or skills or areas of interest or what I am willing to learn to do- but they are ideas I thought I would share to try to inspire and help others..... I hope they inspire you
I will do 5-8 of these in 2016, more if I can.......... the prices are what I would charge online and at a craft fair or the flea market
Bible verses (popular in this area) and inspirational quotes ( in calligraphy or embossed with white powder and watercolor) $7 each;
Custom framed family word clouds in shape of heart- check wordle.net ;
custom keychains (father, grandparent, moms)
Custom grandchild and spouse and parent portraits**B&W photography ONLY********
Art journal family trees $60
Art journal style Tshirts and fabrics (sell on Threadless and Spoonflower) - Also: Art Journal style mugs at flea market (small small batches)- Use china permanent pen on plain white china mugs to do custom funny sayings on them at Flea Market- have some "The best dads get promoted to Grand-dad" mugs ready to sell..
See original post Aug 2015 in this thread- a lot of etc etc
Start a recipe channel on Youtube like PioneerWoman's show.
Start a "how to" channel on Youtube
(both require set up for ads on Youtube and social media distribution by friends and family and Fiverr.com)
I'd love to hear other ideas for sidehustles. I’m going to add this to the longer post that’s on this site but I’d love to see a dedicated category for the topic of sidehustles
So I gave a bunch of these a shot, discovered that between my commute and school and work and family, I don't have the hours to do somethings (learning experience) but that I also need to consider the profitabilty of some things.- controlling manufacturing is hugely profitable, owning a service based business, hugely profitable if done right. Actually performing services and manufacturing, not the same thing
I am just finalizing a Tshirt and mug website on Shopify with the intention of marketing through social media and then I am looking at coaching online (small scale) with an online course. I'm just listing what I could teach for the best price- once the course is designed and online, it is more a matter of online marketing and affiliate marketing. I'd like to blog but don't have time.
What would be profitable if I had the hours to invest: wedding calligraphy, running a housecleaning biz or garage cleaning/organizing and junk removal biz, teaching Pilates and tutoring.
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I hadn't really thought of this as a side-gig until the other day. I teach at a school in another town that one of my neighbor's kids attends, so I take him with me every morning. Last year they gave me some great gift cards (about $300 worth) and just last week the mom dropped off an envelope with $200 cash "for gas."
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Mechanical Truk is my latest side gig - made about $1200 since May.
What are you doing for M.T. and how many hours are you putting into it?
Ditto - I'm thrilled when I make $5 a month to put towards cat food. I usually only do it when we have some down time at work, and lately that just hasn't existed for me.
I've signed up for Mturk as well in May....but I have only made $5 total!! I haven't taken the time to really work at it but I know some can make $20 - $30 a day...but idk if it's worth my time for only a few cents at a time :/
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Ditto - I'm thrilled when I make $5 a month to put towards cat food. I usually only do it when we have some down time at work, and lately that just hasn't existed for me.
I've signed up for Mturk as well in May....but I have only made $5 total!! I haven't taken the time to really work at it but I know some can make $20 - $30 a day...but idk if it's worth my time for only a few cents at a time :/
There are a lot of HITs on Mturk that are (IMO) aimed at people in third world countries who would be OK making $1 an hour working at home. But there are also quite a few aimed at US residents (consumer surveys, academic surveys, etc.) that tend to pay a lot better. I recommend at a minimum you install a browser add-on called Turkopticon; it puts an icon next to every HIT and if you hover over it, it gives you ratings on things like generosity of pay, promptness of pay, fairness (i.e. do they reject HITs for no reason) etc. That will help you avoid all the crap stuff that pays pennies. Try doing a search for HITs that pay 50 cents and up, that you are qualified for, and then skim down the Turkopticon reviews until you find someone with a good rating. Sometimes if there are a lot of HITs to choose from I'll search for words like "survey" "bonus" "election" or "political" (there are a lot of easy political surveys out there right now and they all pay pretty well since they're aimed solely at US residents).
There are a lot of good HITs that require you to have 100+, 500+, 1000+, etc. HITs completed, so you may have to grind away at some quick penny HITs to up your numbers before you get some of the better-paying ones. (Amazon sometimes posts HITs that are really fast - search for "A9" for their HITs)
I tend to mostly do surveys and I've made $100+ this month without trying terribly hard. I'm sure my hourly rate isn't super, but I have to sit for a while every day to ice a couple of joints, so it keeps me productive during that time :-)
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Amazon Affiliates. We originally set up an affiliates account to create affiliate links for our blog but I've found that I link to Amazon on facebook or forums all the time for random reasons. This past month I've pulled in about $30 just linking to things I would have linked to anyway.
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Mechanical Truk is my latest side gig - made about $1200 since May.
What are you doing for M.T. and how many hours are you putting into it?
Ditto - I'm thrilled when I make $5 a month to put towards cat food. I usually only do it when we have some down time at work, and lately that just hasn't existed for me.
I've signed up for Mturk as well in May....but I have only made $5 total!! I haven't taken the time to really work at it but I know some can make $20 - $30 a day...but idk if it's worth my time for only a few cents at a time :/
When work is slow and I'm feeling keen I can reliably get another $20 out of a work day. Part of it comes down to having the right filtering techniques, although membership in communities that share high value HITs is important too.
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I hadn't really thought of this as a side-gig until the other day. I teach at a school in another town that one of my neighbor's kids attends, so I take him with me every morning. Last year they gave me some great gift cards (about $300 worth) and just last week the mom dropped off an envelope with $200 cash "for gas."
sounds great !
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Mechanical Truk is my latest side gig - made about $1200 since May.
What are you doing for M.T. and how many hours are you putting into it?
Ditto - I'm thrilled when I make $5 a month to put towards cat food. I usually only do it when we have some down time at work, and lately that just hasn't existed for me.
I've signed up for Mturk as well in May....but I have only made $5 total!! I haven't taken the time to really work at it but I know some can make $20 - $30 a day...but idk if it's worth my time for only a few cents at a time :/
When work is slow and I'm feeling keen I can reliably get another $20 out of a work day. Part of it comes down to having the right filtering techniques, although membership in communities that share high value HITs is important too.
I just signed up and got my approval email from Amazon. Sounds like it will take some time to build of my skills and rating, but I love that sort of thing. Kinda like watching your interest deposits grow!
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After reading this thread, I put an ad on craiglist to be a lunchtime dog walker. I live near a state park and was walking my dog every weekday anyway. I put an ad out asking if anyone wanted to join our "pack" and got a response right away from someone who works full time but wants their large dog taken out daily.
$10/hour x 5 days per week was $200/month, but I raised my rates to $15/hour after a year because I pick up/drop off the dog and live in HCOL area, so now it's $300/month to EXERCISE myself. I think people here pay up to $30/walk (!)
Great side benefit has been I can make no excuses about not exercising. It's actually really fun. We go out every day, rain or shine.
Thinking about adding another dog.
I also get stuff on craigslist FREE section or nextdoor.com and sell it. Would love to do more of that but a truck and more physical strength than I have would be helpful! It's amazing what people give away ... I've also been thinking about offering the service of selling people's larger items for them, for a cut. A lot of people don't want to bother with it, but I enjoy it.
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Previously:
- playing piano at a restaurant (paid by the hour, plus free food)
- recipe development, writing and photography (did that for awhile, was paid per recipe + cost of ingredients - stopped because the company I worked for was a hassle to deal with)
- freelance writing (paid per piece, was hired by a social media agency to do that briefly for a temporary project)
Currently/Ongoing:
- my blog is bringing in $50/month at the moment - not much, but nice to have because I would be blogging anyway regardless
Been wanting to learn to play piano for years. never picked up a instrument in my life. how should I start?
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Great information everyone! I'm new here and just read the whole thread to come up with some new side hustle ideas.
Personally I've tried:
eBay, Amazon, Craigslist & Etsy Sales
Driving for Uber/Lyft
House cleaning
Pizza delivery
Now I've got some new ideas for my next endeavor!
Please (PLEASE) give us your impression and rough income from them. And why you're looking for something new.
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I teach Japanese and I blog about my former life and adventures in Japan. I am also taking students at this time, if anyone is interested.
www.simplegaijin.com
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Previously:
- playing piano at a restaurant (paid by the hour, plus free food)
- recipe development, writing and photography (did that for awhile, was paid per recipe + cost of ingredients - stopped because the company I worked for was a hassle to deal with)
- freelance writing (paid per piece, was hired by a social media agency to do that briefly for a temporary project)
Currently/Ongoing:
- my blog is bringing in $50/month at the moment - not much, but nice to have because I would be blogging anyway regardless
Been wanting to learn to play piano for years. never picked up a instrument in my life. how should I start?
I have heard of people who are self-taught, but I (and most people I know) had lessons. In terms of the gear, you could pick up a cheap keyboard to learn, and if you decide you really like it and it's something you would keep at doing, then you can consider getting a piano.
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Find vintage 10 speeds free from friends or dump sell to college kids $100-150 a pop. I pretty much know what to look for, What sells well & how to fix. Those along with other free stuff from dump & eBay sales from bike parts averages to 10k a year.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk
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I take as many OT shifts as I can. And I work for my SIL's catering business from time to time. But I make a lot of my side money online - Swagbucks, InstaGC, QuickRewards, Gifthulk, Microsoft (formally Bing rewards), an Qrikit. I earn about $150+ per month clicking around while I'm watching TV/surfing the web.
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Previously:
- playing piano at a restaurant (paid by the hour, plus free food)
- recipe development, writing and photography (did that for awhile, was paid per recipe + cost of ingredients - stopped because the company I worked for was a hassle to deal with)
- freelance writing (paid per piece, was hired by a social media agency to do that briefly for a temporary project)
Currently/Ongoing:
- my blog is bringing in $50/month at the moment - not much, but nice to have because I would be blogging anyway regardless
Been wanting to learn to play piano for years. never picked up a instrument in my life. how should I start?
I have heard of people who are self-taught, but I (and most people I know) had lessons. In terms of the gear, you could pick up a cheap keyboard to learn, and if you decide you really like it and it's something you would keep at doing, then you can consider getting a piano.
If you have the space and desire, you can often get a piano for free! People are giving them away all the time.
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I teach a class on skillshare -- it used to bring in $150 a month, but they keep changing their policies so that teachers get less and less. I used to bring students to them for a flat fee, then they decided to only pay all of us teachers if someone subscribed to their whole site for a monthly fee, now they have this new payment method that they only pay you based on the "number of"minutes students watch your video". Now I only get $50 a month. What's worse is my students can't even get in to see my class overview unless they pay 99 cents just to get into the entire website. You'd think they are doing everything to chase away teachers. I wanted to download my class videos and take them to another site, but they will not release them back to me. Teaching online has a lot of potential -- but I would try it at another site -- maybe Udemy.
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I teach a class on skillshare -- it used to bring in $150 a month, but they keep changing their policies so that teachers get less and less. I used to bring students to them for a flat fee, then they decided to only pay all of us teachers if someone subscribed to their whole site for a monthly fee, now they have this new payment method that they only pay you based on the "number of"minutes students watch your video". Now I only get $50 a month. What's worse is my students can't even get in to see my class overview unless they pay 99 cents just to get into the entire website. You'd think they are doing everything to chase away teachers. I wanted to download my class videos and take them to another site, but they will not release them back to me. Teaching online has a lot of potential -- but I would try it at another site -- maybe Udemy.
My boss just put her first course on Udemy a few weeks ago - it's a free course so I don't know if she receives any, if much, income from it but I can ask her how her experience was if you like.
As for my own side gig, I spent some time yesterday trying to figure out some numbers for my health insurance place (since it's a larger portion of my income now, I may sometimes need to pay additional contributions on top of what is deducted from the salary of my ordinary job). 2016 was my first full-time year translating on the side and for an average of about 17 hours a month I earned nearly €10,000, which should be at least €7,000 after tax. And I think I should just about scrape by on not having to pay extra for health insurance, or only a very small amount if so. They essentially weigh up whether or not it is really a side gig, or whether it forms a principal part of your income.
The good news is that I'm definitely getting faster. The less good news is that that average is very heavily weighted towards the beginning of the year when I was lucky enough to get involved in a huge technical project. I am building up contacts all the time but I don't go looking for work and if I want to increase my earnings, that's probably what I need to concentrate on
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I cannot say how happy we are as Rover sitters.
http://refer.rover.com/v2/share/6398139337887592982
We sit dogs in our home for $22 a night (set your own rate) and we get a lot of business. They are super start at advertising so we don't have to do much besides sit back and wait for the clients to come to us. They have awesome staff too!
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I cannot say how happy we are as Rover sitters.
http://refer.rover.com/v2/share/6398139337887592982
We sit dogs in our home for $22 a night (set your own rate) and we get a lot of business. They are super start at advertising so we don't have to do much besides sit back and wait for the clients to come to us. They have awesome staff too!
What happens if you get two dogs that don't like each other or need to establish who is 'leader of the pack'?
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@HipGnosis we only watch one families dogs at a time so it is not an issue for us. A lot of Rover sitters watch more but that seems like a situation waiting to happen to me.
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My wife and I started retail arbitrage at Goodwill and Salvation Army, for kicks and giggles. It's not really for me but there seems to be a lot of success stories out there, especially on instagram, for those willing to put in the work. Apparently Gary Vee is all about reselling this year.
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A couple of running buddies and I started a race management company a few years ago. For the most part we did it for fun and some nice gear. We paid ourselves a little, too but never more than a couple hundred bucks a year. One of the other guys decided he he wanted out, so we bought him out after our last race. We had a couple grand in the bank after that and we're trying to figure out where to go from there. We started looking at chip timing systems and pulled the trigger on one so we can start timing other people's events. The system cost $1500, but we can easily get $400 a race for our services so we'll be in the black fairly quickly. We already have our first race lined up for May! The only other company in the area that offers this service waaay overcharges and upsells their own "marketing" and various other bogus charges. We're definitely stealing one of their races in December who shared with us that they were in over $1500 with the other company. We'll probably be able to steal more of their smaller races, plus we suspect there is a market for even smaller races that never considered chip timing before due to the cost. We'll still put on some of our own races because we enjoy it, but I am optimistic that we can turn this into a real money making venture. I don't know that I could retire off of it but if I can add a few thousand a year to my 'stache, it could cut a year or two off of my timeline.
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I had a test run this morning sorting post into post office boxes. The person who currently does it will be away soon doing some kind of month-long rehab/physio for her back. Might end up being longer than that. Even if it's only for a month though, and I can end up picking up occasional hours after that, it would suit me. It's not very well paid but because it's what they call a mini-job here, it's not taxed. So it's 400 a month tax free for a couple of hours in the morning. Six days a week, unfortunately, but since it might end up only being for a month or two, I can deal with that (I'm not a morning person so the thought of having to be up by six in the morning six days a week doesn't arouse tons of enthusiasm in me). Feeling very positive about it, hope they take me on now!
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My wife and I started retail arbitrage at Goodwill and Salvation Army, for kicks and giggles. It's not really for me but there seems to be a lot of success stories out there, especially on instagram, for those willing to put in the work. Apparently Gary Vee is all about reselling this year.
What is "retail arbitrage at Goodwill and Salvation Army"??
Who is Gary Vee?!?
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My wife and I started retail arbitrage at Goodwill and Salvation Army, for kicks and giggles. It's not really for me but there seems to be a lot of success stories out there, especially on instagram, for those willing to put in the work. Apparently Gary Vee is all about reselling this year.
What is "retail arbitrage at Goodwill and Salvation Army"??
Who is Gary Vee?!?
Buy brand name goods for cheap and then reselling.
Gary Vanderchuck - motivational business speaker, who is all about motivating, and not all about actual content.
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I cannot say how happy we are as Rover sitters.
http://refer.rover.com/v2/share/6398139337887592982
We sit dogs in our home for $22 a night (set your own rate) and we get a lot of business. They are super start at advertising so we don't have to do much besides sit back and wait for the clients to come to us. They have awesome staff too!
I've thought about that before but hadn't pulled the plug. I'm a teacher so I'm thinking of trying it over the summer since I'll be home. Good to hear you like it. We already have a dog of our own. Is that a problem? She is the opposite of aggressive, big, or scary.
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I cannot say how happy we are as Rover sitters.
http://refer.rover.com/v2/share/6398139337887592982
We sit dogs in our home for $22 a night (set your own rate) and we get a lot of business. They are super start at advertising so we don't have to do much besides sit back and wait for the clients to come to us. They have awesome staff too!
I've thought about that before but hadn't pulled the plug. I'm a teacher so I'm thinking of trying it over the summer since I'll be home. Good to hear you like it. We already have a dog of our own. Is that a problem? She is the opposite of aggressive, big, or scary.
Not a problem at all! two of our backup sitters have their own pups. You simply have a meet and greet with every dog in your home to see if they get along. You can say no to anyone who is not a good fit.
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I've been making stained glass panels for about 6 years now - just for myself, family, and friends so far. I finally feel like I've gotten good enough at it to try to turn it into at least a self-sustaining habit (glass is expensive!!), so I've started to display some items at work for sale, and have created a website to try to get some business creating custom panels for people. So far, I have sold one panel at work, and have an order from a coworker for a custom panel for her daughter. Shameless self promotion, here's my site in progress: www.leavesofglass.net.
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I wrote some technical articles for a variety of publications, one of them paid me about $5,000.
(Plus my salary and bonuses went up a LOT because of doing this because I was a consultant specializing in what I wrote about.)
Thanks for this idea...my company's been pestering us to write/publish more, and I didn't see any potential upside for the time involved until you mentioned this!
My salary went up $10,000 a year when I sent the book of to the publisher and another $10,000 when it was put in the hands of the company owner. The salespeople loved it because they could say "Our guy wrote the book on this software!"
If I had a regular corporate programmer gig that would not have happened. But because that book drove consulting sales it sure did.
I could take a variation on the article and present it as a paper at a technical conference. Presenting often meant I did not have to pay to attend the conference. (Still cost travel and expenses, but it made it a lot more likely that my employer would send me. Even when I was just a corporate programmer...) As a consultant I made a point of collecting business cards of likely prospects for our services and getting them in the hands of the sales people. That made them more willing to send me to more conferences... Plus, of course, that mean I was also getting lots more training than most people were, so even more raises...
Didn't get to go to one annual conference that I usually went to because a consulting gig was in the way. My boss went. People saw his name tag with the company name on it and they all asked him where I was. I got a big raise after not going to that conference because he realized how effectively I had branded the company as experts in my field. :)
I would get extra billing hours by volunteering to write up a detailed how-to on a time-saving utility program I put together for them. A common response was, "You would do that for us?", said in an awe-inspired way. Then I would re-package the documentation as an article or conference paper if it could be used to illustrate something useful. I even got to bill two different customers for writing the same utility that both of them needed. I only worked 40 hours that week but got to bill for 56 because I got to double-bill 16 of those hours. That made me popular with the boss.
Sometimes I would get cash payments, other times I got contacts or reputation that I could parlay into something useful later.
Hope that helps and sorry I didn't see your comment sooner!
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I use sell extra possessions on kijiji.
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I'm looking for more ways to set up some side income and I appreciate all of the information everyone's sharing here. For now, I'm building a website to provide eBay users with pages of listings that are well-refined and filtered so they save time from searching on eBay. I'm always looking for more people to work with, and I am making some other useful tools for them, so if you're someone who's into buying and selling on sites like eBay/Amazon, etc., contact me and maybe we can help each other out!
I know some people who have made a ton of money on the side just buying and selling clothes from thrift stores, goodwill, eBay, etc. so I wanted to get into it, and I kind of have. But I haven't done very much just yet, so I'm trying to put the programming skills to use and get this website off the ground for now. I went to a thrift store today and they have a lot of books, but I can't find anything that isn't on Amazon for 99 cents. How do you guys do it?
When I was in college, I bought and sold used textbooks pretty well, but that was in person of course. My best start to a semester was $600 in 3 weeks. The selling always peaks in the first few weeks for obvious reasons, but it's still great money and very easy when you're at school anyway.
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I'm a newish woodworker and am helping a friend teach woodworking to middle schoolers once a week. Not a huge paycheck, but I happily spend that money on tools and classes for myself, so it defrays the cost of the hobby enormously.
DH brings in a few $$ with a software tool he made 12 years ago. He's rewritten it once, but the overall cost to maintain it is negligible.
We also roast our own coffee & that creates many lovely barter opportunities!
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For now, I'm building a website to provide eBay users with pages of listings that are well-refined and filtered so they save time from searching on eBay. I'm always looking for more people to work with, and I am making some other useful tools for them, so if you're someone who's into buying and selling on sites like eBay/Amazon, etc., contact me and maybe we can help each other out!
That website sounds pretty useless. Why would anyone search for eBay listings anywhere else than on eBay?
If the point is to provide research material to eBay sellers... Terapeak has kind of already done this very very well.
Unless I'm missing something.
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For now, I'm building a website to provide eBay users with pages of listings that are well-refined and filtered so they save time from searching on eBay. I'm always looking for more people to work with, and I am making some other useful tools for them, so if you're someone who's into buying and selling on sites like eBay/Amazon, etc., contact me and maybe we can help each other out!
That website sounds pretty useless. Why would anyone search for eBay listings anywhere else than on eBay?
If the point is to provide research material to eBay sellers... Terapeak has kind of already done this very very well.
Unless I'm missing something.
Well when I control the listings results and the format they appear in, as well as how they load, it's more convenient than eBay already. People who buy and sell a lot have to spend a lot of time finding their desired items sometimes, so I can build algorithms and custom filters that can't be applied on eBay's site. I personally don't like going through the eBay pages because of how many things I have to scroll past, and all of the information is not available without clicking each listing. Other services exist for various eBay tools, but IMO there's always a way to improve something that's already out there. Besides, I'm not trying to get rich off of this, just making some side money with partners who find my services useful.
I don't know how useful Terapeak is, but I see it's not free. I'm not charging anyone anything to use my site.
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I'll be moving to a part-time/as-needed basis at my engineering job soon. Should free up more time to pursue some side gigs. On my list is going to be:
1. Carpentry projects -I've rehabbed nearly our entire house inside and out. Good with plumbing, electrical, painting, trim work, tile, yard maintenance, etc. Kind of a jack of all trades master of none. Already have projects lined up with both my siblings to get started.
2. Building furniture - I know there are a lots of folks who do this so there is competition. But I'm not looking to make a killing. I built a beautiful farmhouse sliding barn door credenza and farmhouse dining table for our house. Already have folks interested in wanting me to build some furniture like what I built for our house.
3. Dog walking - Certainly not much money to be made here. But we have 2 dogs and I love going for long walks with them. Might make a little side money walking others dogs while they are at work.
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For now, I'm building a website to provide eBay users with pages of listings that are well-refined and filtered so they save time from searching on eBay. I'm always looking for more people to work with, and I am making some other useful tools for them, so if you're someone who's into buying and selling on sites like eBay/Amazon, etc., contact me and maybe we can help each other out!
That website sounds pretty useless. Why would anyone search for eBay listings anywhere else than on eBay?
If the point is to provide research material to eBay sellers... Terapeak has kind of already done this very very well.
Unless I'm missing something.
Well when I control the listings results and the format they appear in, as well as how they load, it's more convenient than eBay already. People who buy and sell a lot have to spend a lot of time finding their desired items sometimes, so I can build algorithms and custom filters that can't be applied on eBay's site. I personally don't like going through the eBay pages because of how many things I have to scroll past, and all of the information is not available without clicking each listing. Other services exist for various eBay tools, but IMO there's always a way to improve something that's already out there. Besides, I'm not trying to get rich off of this, just making some side money with partners who find my services useful.
I don't know how useful Terapeak is, but I see it's not free. I'm not charging anyone anything to use my site.
I think it sounds useful, gredenko. I thought that that sounded like something I'd like to use when you first described it. Good luck to you!
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For now, I'm building a website to provide eBay users with pages of listings that are well-refined and filtered so they save time from searching on eBay. I'm always looking for more people to work with, and I am making some other useful tools for them, so if you're someone who's into buying and selling on sites like eBay/Amazon, etc., contact me and maybe we can help each other out!
That website sounds pretty useless. Why would anyone search for eBay listings anywhere else than on eBay?
Unless I'm missing something.
I can't wait for the site to be up. Searching eBay listings is excruciating!! On my most recent search, I HAD to scroll through and click 'next' through THIRTY pages before I found what I was looking for!!
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I think it sounds useful, gredenko. I thought that that sounded like something I'd like to use when you first described it. Good luck to you!
Thanks! It does provide a lot of help to the few who use it already.
I can't wait for the site to be up. Searching eBay listings is excruciating!! On my most recent search, I HAD to scroll through and click 'next' through THIRTY pages before I found what I was looking for!!
Right.. and it's exactly this kind of thinking from people who assume everything of value is on the front page, who create the market for resellers to make consistent profits.
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I have an Etsy shop that I run on the side of being a parent and having a day job. It involves a niche jewelry market. It keeps me as busy as I want to be now. It's great since I enjoy making the items, and if no one bought them, I wouldn't be able to afford to keep making them.
I've been at it for almost two years and have over 700 sales. I will say that the "business" side to a creative outlet is waaaaay more work that I expected. But it's nice being able to put the shop on vacation when I need a break, since I don't depend on the income. Any profit goes straight to investments.
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I have an Etsy shop that I run on the side of being a parent and having a day job. It involves a niche jewelry market. It keeps me as busy as I want to be now. It's great since I enjoy making the items, and if no one bought them, I wouldn't be able to afford to keep making them.
I've been at it for almost two years and have over 700 sales. I will say that the "business" side to a creative outlet is waaaaay more work that I expected. But it's nice being able to put the shop on vacation when I need a break, since I don't depend on the income. Any profit goes straight to investments.
Look into partnering with a manufacture to make your jewelry, and you can make more money and input less time.
Etsy recently began to allow sellers to do this, but you have to apply for the program in order to do this on your account.
They might even be able to help you find a manufacturer: https://www.etsy.com/manufacturing
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Look into partnering with a manufacture to make your jewelry, and you can make more money and input less time.
Etsy recently began to allow sellers to do this, but you have to apply for the program in order to do this on your account.
They might even be able to help you find a manufacturer: https://www.etsy.com/manufacturing
Thanks for the tip. The type of jewelry I make doesn't lend itself to outside manufacturing - it's part of what draws customers to me. For now, I am happy with it as a side gig. Luckily it does involve skill but now that I have my silversmithing set up and my process down pat, the cost per item is fairly low. There are multiple steps involved and I batch-process pieces. It's worked out to me making $30-$40 CAD an hour (with the cost of materials built into the item price).
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I started a side gig in January 2014. I lead online webinars and study groups preparing students for a couple certifications. I'm a big fish in a very small niche. LOL
The business has grown to bringing in about $6K a month average while still remaining part time (10-20 hours a week).
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My Appen Butler Hill 'side hustle' is rapidly becoming my main hustle. I'm at almost 30 hours/week now.
It's definitely making me feel more secure in my income so I'm revisiting starting an eBay business that can be outsourced in a year or so to be a passive income.
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I have an Etsy shop that I run on the side of being a parent and having a day job. It involves a niche jewelry market. It keeps me as busy as I want to be now. It's great since I enjoy making the items, and if no one bought them, I wouldn't be able to afford to keep making them.
I've been at it for almost two years and have over 700 sales. I will say that the "business" side to a creative outlet is waaaaay more work that I expected. But it's nice being able to put the shop on vacation when I need a break, since I don't depend on the income. Any profit goes straight to investments.
What are the business things that take up your time? I'm not an Etsy seller (just eBay) but I've been thinking about trying out Etsy too. :)
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I have helped a few people in town take memoirs or other manuscripts and turn them into "real books" using my knowledge of Scrivener, Amazon, Createspace, etc. Sometimes I add light editing, and charge a small add-on fee ifor stuff like buying barcodes, ISBN numbers, etc.
Most recently I helped a local guy turn his memoir into a book and charged him $750 for about 10 hours of work. I was also able to kick my artist friend the work for the cover design. The internet is clogged with people and companies that want to help you publish a book for super cheap but the older clients I've dealt with want a little more hand holding and don't want to have to figure out any of the technology parts. They definitely aren't signing into Fiverr.
I don't know if this will grow or fizzle out but it's been a lot of fun
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I have helped a few people in town take memoirs or other manuscripts and turn them into "real books" using my knowledge of Scrivener, Amazon, Createspace, etc. Sometimes I add light editing, and charge a small add-on fee ifor stuff like buying barcodes, ISBN numbers, etc.
Most recently I helped a local guy turn his memoir into a book and charged him $750 for about 10 hours of work. I was also able to kick my artist friend the work for the cover design. The internet is clogged with people and companies that want to help you publish a book for super cheap but the older clients I've dealt with want a little more hand holding and don't want to have to figure out any of the technology parts. They definitely aren't signing into Fiverr.
I don't know if this will grow or fizzle out but it's been a lot of fun
This is really interesting. I'd used The Book Patch to cheaply print a book previously (which was super easy), but never thought of offering this type of thing as a service for those who might be really tech challenged. Great idea!
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This is really interesting. I'd used The Book Patch to cheaply print a book previously (which was super easy), but never thought of offering this type of thing as a service for those who might be really tech challenged. Great idea!
Thanks. What's really cool is that I'm not promising someone that they'll make a bunch of money publishing their book or some other pyramid scheme nonsense. Most of them just want to hold a book in their hands that they wrote and they're cool with the fact that only a few hundred friends and family will buy.
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I have an Etsy shop that I run on the side of being a parent and having a day job. It involves a niche jewelry market. It keeps me as busy as I want to be now. It's great since I enjoy making the items, and if no one bought them, I wouldn't be able to afford to keep making them.
I've been at it for almost two years and have over 700 sales. I will say that the "business" side to a creative outlet is waaaaay more work that I expected. But it's nice being able to put the shop on vacation when I need a break, since I don't depend on the income. Any profit goes straight to investments.
What are the business things that take up your time? I'm not an Etsy seller (just eBay) but I've been thinking about trying out Etsy too. :)
The business things that take more time than I expected include: sourcing materials, taking pictures for listings, writing listings, optimizing SEO, bookkeeping, answering customer inquiries (I offer custom made pieces, which require some back and forth), and managing social media (Facebook and Instagram).
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Naive question: how do you find your niche market? how can I find mine?
Thanks,
S.
I have an Etsy shop that I run on the side of being a parent and having a day job. It involves a niche jewelry market. It keeps me as busy as I want to be now. It's great since I enjoy making the items, and if no one bought them, I wouldn't be able to afford to keep making them.
I've been at it for almost two years and have over 700 sales. I will say that the "business" side to a creative outlet is waaaaay more work that I expected. But it's nice being able to put the shop on vacation when I need a break, since I don't depend on the income. Any profit goes straight to investments.
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Rosy, have you looked into working for Leapforce or Appen Butler Hill? It is online work like turking, but you are rating websites for search engines. They pay $13-15 per hour.
Similar, but does anyone have background/more info on either Leapforce, Appen, or www.usertesting.com? I'll be taking some paternity leave from my full-time job in the near future, and would love something I could do from home on a part-time basis (while DS is napping; just a couple hours a day) to make some extra cash with an hourly rate that isn't as abysmal as Amazon MechanicalTurk.
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Similar, but does anyone have background/more info on either Leapforce, Appen, or www.usertesting.com? I'll be taking some paternity leave from my full-time job in the near future, and would love something I could do from home on a part-time basis (while DS is napping; just a couple hours a day) to make some extra cash with an hourly rate that isn't as abysmal as Amazon MechanicalTurk.
Try Prolific Academic - it's all academic surveys (no consumer stuff or menial tasks like MTurk). The work is sporadic but it's nice if you have 15 minutes here and there, you can check in and see if they have anything. It pays much better and is much better designed than MTurk. (Referral link in my sig if you want, or just go to prolific.ac.)
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Similar, but does anyone have background/more info on either Leapforce, Appen, or www.usertesting.com? I'll be taking some paternity leave from my full-time job in the near future, and would love something I could do from home on a part-time basis (while DS is napping; just a couple hours a day) to make some extra cash with an hourly rate that isn't as abysmal as Amazon MechanicalTurk.
Try Prolific Academic - it's all academic surveys (no consumer stuff or menial tasks like MTurk). The work is sporadic but it's nice if you have 15 minutes here and there, you can check in and see if they have anything. It pays much better and is much better designed than MTurk. (Referral link in my sig if you want, or just go to prolific.ac.)
Cool! A survey website that doesn't restrict me just for living in Germany. This could be interesting. :)
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Try Prolific Academic
Thanks DollarSlice! I used your referral code and will start filling out the pre-screening questions tomorrow. This may be a great start for me!
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I have been working on creating a woodwork business on the side. I just got done opening up the business checking account, along with completing the partnership agreement. Even though we haven't officially started we have probably made a few hundred in sales. Initially all of our profit will be going to buying the rest of the machinery, and after that it will be going straight to investments. I'm estimating very conservatively 500 profit a month for me working at most 2 hours a day, and will move up from there once I get more experience and a better feel for the Market. Even though it won't be a lot of money at first, it is a niche market and is something I enjoy, so I don't even consider it work. I'll let OP know if I can swing a decent profit in a few months. Right now I'm sticking with the fun stuff like engravings, custom cutting boards, all types of boxes including customized jewelry boxes, and gardening items like planter boxes with an artistic element etc.
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Wood can = tons of money. I guided my buddy in to the wood business. He was already a wood worker but I guided him to a business and he makes a lot of profit. He can't keep enough adirondack chairs made. He sells them before they are even made because he doesn't cut corners and people know his work is quality. He also started out with that small stuff but I had him making bigger things within a few months. he used to think he was cool because he could sell a pen for $10 then I showed him how much profit could be made with larger items. He sells to this one Montessori school and does very well. If he wasn't getting so old he would sell to more Montessori schools. He makes all of their book cases, tables and what ever else they need. Daycares, schools, moms groups, just any place like that can make you a nice profit if you only make quality items. The part that scares me and should scare you too is the dreaded...... partnership..... ouch! That will probably hurt your pocketbook in the future and probably your heart as well. Good luck! Keep us updated.
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Similar, but does anyone have background/more info on either Leapforce, Appen, or www.usertesting.com? I'll be taking some paternity leave from my full-time job in the near future, and would love something I could do from home on a part-time basis (while DS is napping; just a couple hours a day) to make some extra cash with an hourly rate that isn't as abysmal as Amazon MechanicalTurk.
Try Prolific Academic - it's all academic surveys (no consumer stuff or menial tasks like MTurk). The work is sporadic but it's nice if you have 15 minutes here and there, you can check in and see if they have anything. It pays much better and is much better designed than MTurk. (Referral link in my sig if you want, or just go to prolific.ac.)
DollarSlice- How often are you able to complete studies on Profilic? I know I'm pretty new to it, but I've only been eligible for one study so far. Can you reliably count on one or more survey per week?
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I have some apps on the iOS App Store that make me a tidy $100/month. They're these fun apps that give you a random trick to try when you're out skateboarding with your friends.
Skate Dice:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/skate-dice-free/id547074685?mt=8
The initial revenue on these was really good, but it eventually plateaued after a few months. People are still interested though, and now I'm trying to figure out how to do it over again. With a fairly crowded App Store, that's easier said than done.
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I was considering making some kind of FIRE date calculator app, something that lets you input your spending and earnings, then gives you a weekly notification telling you how things are progressing.
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DollarSlice- How often are you able to complete studies on Profilic? I know I'm pretty new to it, but I've only been eligible for one study so far. Can you reliably count on one or more survey per week?
It's been totally dead the last week or two, for some reason! I was wondering about it myself. Before I was doing closer to one a day than one a week. Sometimes more than one a day. The last couple of weekends were holiday weekends in the UK and US, so maybe it will pick up a bit now.
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DollarSlice- How often are you able to complete studies on Profilic? I know I'm pretty new to it, but I've only been eligible for one study so far. Can you reliably count on one or more survey per week?
It's been totally dead the last week or two, for some reason! I was wondering about it myself. Before I was doing closer to one a day than one a week. Sometimes more than one a day. The last couple of weekends were holiday weekends in the UK and US, so maybe it will pick up a bit now.
Good to hear. There have been a few studies up since I signed up a few days ago but I'm not eligible for any of them (even though one of them was German, which I was sure I'd be able to do). Was starting to think maybe I shouldn't have bothered answering all the pre-screening questions. On the other hand, I've tried to sign up for studies at the uni I work at which I seem to fit all the criteria for and then when it comes down to it, they're actually only looking for people of x age because all the other participants turned out to be x age, or something like that. I try not to take it personally. :)
It also occurred to me that other survey sites that didn't work out for me were not always because of my location, but often seemed to be due to the fact that I'm not married/don't have kids and, more often, just amn't much of a consumer, especially of processed food.
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DollarSlice- How often are you able to complete studies on Profilic? I know I'm pretty new to it, but I've only been eligible for one study so far. Can you reliably count on one or more survey per week?
It's been totally dead the last week or two, for some reason! I was wondering about it myself. Before I was doing closer to one a day than one a week. Sometimes more than one a day. The last couple of weekends were holiday weekends in the UK and US, so maybe it will pick up a bit now.
Good to hear. There have been a few studies up since I signed up a few days ago but I'm not eligible for any of them (even though one of them was German, which I was sure I'd be able to do). Was starting to think maybe I shouldn't have bothered answering all the pre-screening questions. On the other hand, I've tried to sign up for studies at the uni I work at which I seem to fit all the criteria for and then when it comes down to it, they're actually only looking for people of x age because all the other participants turned out to be x age, or something like that. I try not to take it personally. :)
I have two available right now, but I don't want to do either (one is long and has a mediocre pay rate around $5.80/hr, the other is also long and has to be done on your smartphone).
I just checked my history and I did 15 in the first 15 days of August and and 6 between August 16th and now. So yeah, it's been very dry. I assume I also miss a bunch because I only log in a couple of times a day and some of them go pretty fast.
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My wife and I recently started doing Rover and have brought in on average just over $100/week. We are pretty selective with our clients as I work from home and we live in an apartment complex. We started charging ~$20 a night to get some ratings/reviews, but now we charge $30. Timely communication, tons of pictures, and sending dogs home tired are essential to staying competitive.
https://refer.rover.com/s/Maddie6
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We have been writing a computer game (a MMORPG actually) for a couple of months and perhaps eventually it might bring some side income if it is popular and I figure out a way to monetize that popularity. My awesome wife is doing all of the coding and writing her own 2.5D graphics engine of sorts although if we eventually go full 3D there are some deals you can get with Unreal where they let you use the engine and source code for free up to the first $3,000 of revenue a year then a 5% royalty.
I am trying to learn Blender (no, it is not for making shakes) because my job is to do the art and testing (and game flow). I have Rhino 3.0 but the upgrade to Rhino 5.0 is $495 which is NOT happening. Blender is free and open source. Quite powerful but it is not CAD. Rhino 3.0 has pretty good CAD modeling but can't do things like png with transparent background and I am designing a lot of icons for the interface bars which need that. I have no clue why Rhino 5.0 is so expensive, it is not *that* great of software.
I will need alpha testers...hint hint
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I know it's anti-mustachian, but we own a small summer home which we only use for a month. (Maine Coast) This year, we rented it out through air BNB for August, when we're back home (Crested Butte), and rented out our full-time home for July, when we were in the summer house. Between that, and having air BNB guests in our guest room when we ARE at home, we cleared 10k this summer. Yes, we're crazy lucky to have these options, but it's well worth thinking about making some of the choices about where you live be dependent on how well you can rent the spare room, or the whole place, to help pay for it.
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I was considering making some kind of FIRE date calculator app, something that lets you input your spending and earnings, then gives you a weekly notification telling you how things are progressing.
It's not a bad idea, but it sounds a lot like budgeting to me- isn't one of the key tennants of mustachianism to not budget,but rather to actually live within your means? Then again, it may be nice to have a handy tracker outlining your SR for the month or something.
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Interesting thread!
I have had three different good side gigs while being a (stay at) homemaker. The second and third were quite lucrative.
fine artist
graphic designer and illustrator (most lucrative of the three)
horseback riding instructor
Of the three, I found the easiest to find work for was riding instructor. It's not an easy entry career, nor an easy job in general. But, if you get in and are pretty good at it, there is lots of work... at least in New England (USA). I'm currently out of this one for health reasons.
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DollarSlice- How often are you able to complete studies on Profilic? I know I'm pretty new to it, but I've only been eligible for one study so far. Can you reliably count on one or more survey per week?
It's been totally dead the last week or two, for some reason! I was wondering about it myself. Before I was doing closer to one a day than one a week. Sometimes more than one a day. The last couple of weekends were holiday weekends in the UK and US, so maybe it will pick up a bit now.
Good to hear. There have been a few studies up since I signed up a few days ago but I'm not eligible for any of them (even though one of them was German, which I was sure I'd be able to do). Was starting to think maybe I shouldn't have bothered answering all the pre-screening questions. On the other hand, I've tried to sign up for studies at the uni I work at which I seem to fit all the criteria for and then when it comes down to it, they're actually only looking for people of x age because all the other participants turned out to be x age, or something like that. I try not to take it personally. :)
I have two available right now, but I don't want to do either (one is long and has a mediocre pay rate around $5.80/hr, the other is also long and has to be done on your smartphone).
I just checked my history and I did 15 in the first 15 days of August and and 6 between August 16th and now. So yeah, it's been very dry. I assume I also miss a bunch because I only log in a couple of times a day and some of them go pretty fast.
Is everyone else still finding it slow with available studies? I've only done three, all month. I wonder if it being the start of the academic year has any bearing.
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I use Swagbucks instead of Google and get over $100 in Amazon gift cards a year. Swagbucks is a search engine that shares a portion of its ad revenue with the user in the form of "swagbucks" points that you can redeem for all kinds of things (I'm a big fan of the amazon gift card, but there's lots of other stuff). If I decide to fill out a few surveys on their site I can easily land a $25 gift card in a few weeks time, in my spare time only (a few seconds or minutes here and there). Interested? (http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Switch89)
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DollarSlice- How often are you able to complete studies on Profilic? I know I'm pretty new to it, but I've only been eligible for one study so far. Can you reliably count on one or more survey per week?
It's been totally dead the last week or two, for some reason! I was wondering about it myself. Before I was doing closer to one a day than one a week. Sometimes more than one a day. The last couple of weekends were holiday weekends in the UK and US, so maybe it will pick up a bit now.
Good to hear. There have been a few studies up since I signed up a few days ago but I'm not eligible for any of them (even though one of them was German, which I was sure I'd be able to do). Was starting to think maybe I shouldn't have bothered answering all the pre-screening questions. On the other hand, I've tried to sign up for studies at the uni I work at which I seem to fit all the criteria for and then when it comes down to it, they're actually only looking for people of x age because all the other participants turned out to be x age, or something like that. I try not to take it personally. :)
I have two available right now, but I don't want to do either (one is long and has a mediocre pay rate around $5.80/hr, the other is also long and has to be done on your smartphone).
I just checked my history and I did 15 in the first 15 days of August and and 6 between August 16th and now. So yeah, it's been very dry. I assume I also miss a bunch because I only log in a couple of times a day and some of them go pretty fast.
Is everyone else still finding it slow with available studies? I've only done three, all month. I wonder if it being the start of the academic year has any bearing.
I think a lot of it is what time of day you check the site. Early in the morning (US timezones) seem to have at least 1 or 2 available each day; I don't always do them but I've completed ~10 or so studies in the past couple of weeks.
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@okits: I've found it a little better the past week or two, but not up to where it was a few months ago. I caught a couple of very high paying ones so I'm happy enough this week. I haven't checked in since Tuesday though (had surgery on Weds so I'm not upright long enough to get bored enough to do surveys...)
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1. Sharpening knives, scissors, lawn mower blades etc...
2. Friends started a tree service company. Most established tree service companies have huge overhead in equipment with bucket trucks, trailers, grinders etc... Some decent sized trees are easily quoted at a few thousand each. So when a person talks to us and tells us they were quoted $4,000, we come in at $2k and say it may take a little longer they generally don't ever care. We take low risk, no power lines, houses/property in the way jobs. Bought a dump trailer at an auction for a crazy good price. For good trees we sell the wood, if not we use each of our licenses to dump the trees for free. The money potential here is insane and we've made about 6 grand with just a few jobs this year while just getting started. The work is hard but it burns calories and you are outside. So you look great and make cash!
3. Recently started to drive for Lyft. 9 rides made $212. Not worth it for me during normal rate times, but if I keep an eye on the city and prime time rate increases (200 to 500%) I'll go out and make some easy cash.
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1. Sharpening knives, scissors, lawn mower blades etc...
Do you do this one? How did you get into it? what type of equipment is required?
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My buddy sharpens blades of all kinds. He started with a file and has now moved up to some type of machine. I have no idea what the machine is. He also tunes up push mowers (no riders). He stays busy just tuning them up. He doesn't really do much else to the mower except most need a new carb so he replaces it, tunes it up, sharpens the blade, cleans it up and and it's ready to go..... $79+ parts. He only does mobile service.
I met a guy who had a lawn service that was booming but he was selling it because he found there was way more money in the stump business and didn't have to deal with near as many workers so I can believe the tree business is a money maker. The trick should be to not be out there doing that hard work, get the $10 an hour guy to do the work while you sit in the truck taking a nap. Or better yet, stay at your desk and find more jobs for the workers.
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I very recently (as in within the two months or so) started forays into an etsy shop, which has made me about $250 in profit so far, and I might be able to make about another $150 more before the materials I have (some of which are vintage and not easily acquired) run out. I'm making and selling hand-made costume accessories for a specific costume for a specific series. A few others are selling the same item, but I sell mine at the highest price because it's also the most accurate and highest quality of the products out there. Time-wise it's actually been a huge time sink making the dang thing by hand, but it's work I enjoy and not stuff I could outsource (and personally I really love the sense that people are buying things that I created with my own two hands.)
And the best part is, I started this up because I had to make one of these accessories for myself, and some friends and ended up with a bunch of extra materials to produce more, so I'm practically making money out of stuff I have on hand. I'm already inspired to create more things to sell and use the opportunity to a) learn new skills like resin casting and working with different thermoplastics, b) make back or turn a profit on expensive cosplaying materials I would've already been purchasing and c) build up some kind customer and/or cosplay fan base for my next projects. Learning and bringing in $$$ at the same time! :)
I'm also looking into soap-making and making an etsy soap shop, though I know that's quite an oversaturated market. I loooove handmade soaps though, so even if it doesn't take off, I'll be happy having just acquired the skills.
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I was a bartender through college for a small restaurant/bar chain and still pick up shifts once in a while. I call the owners when I have an open weekend and can usually work whatever shift I like. A closing shift on a Saturday night can pull in $400 to $500. An easy 8 hour shift usually pulls $200. It requires no commitments, investments, or creativity and is completely flexible. I've thought about starting other side businesses, but it's hard to pass up $25/hour with zero responsibility!
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I referee soccer games. Depending on the age group and skill level, I make anywhere from $20 to $70 per game. Its really pretty easy to get certified to referee any number of sports, you typically just need to take one full day class costing less than $100, buy a uniform, and then pick up as many games as you want. Some assignors even reimburse the cost of the uniform and certification class if you ref a certain number of games for them within the first few months.
Refereeing is a great side hustle because you are literally getting paid to exercise and you get some entertainment watching a sport that you enjoy. You also get to develop social connections with other referees which has been a fun little clique to be a part of. YMMV :)
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1. Sharpening knives, scissors, lawn mower blades etc...
Do you do this one? How did you get into it? what type of equipment is required?
I've been sharpening knives for 20 years as a hobby using stones etc... Was like a fun hobby I did for friends while up north around the camp fire etc... So a TON of manual sharpening. After looking into it as a business, and considering the many different types of sharpening rigs I decided on a 1" belt sander with different grits and a leather belt. The speed and absolutely insane edge you can get on a blade in such short time is incredible. You just have to be careful not to push to hard at certain times(esp the leather strop) as it will turn a thin blade's edge glowing hot quick.
As a business though you have to be very aware of the different edge types, the type of blade, how thick it is and the metal content. For instance, generally you don't want a fine razor sharp edge on a pocket knife. You want a sharp but durable edge. Making a blade "razor" sharp that you can shave with is really very, very easy to do.
The little belt sander works amazing and its CHEAP! $35 at Harbor Freight. I bought the belts where ever I could find them, and a 1" leather strop for the sander on Amazon. If you get more serious and get into professional shears for hair cutting and pets, you really need to invest in a good grinder where you can properly control the angle.
Lot's to learn. =D
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I referee soccer games. Depending on the age group and skill level, I make anywhere from $20 to $70 per game. Its really pretty easy to get certified to referee any number of sports, you typically just need to take one full day class costing less than $100, buy a uniform, and then pick up as many games as you want. Some assignors even reimburse the cost of the uniform and certification class if you ref a certain number of games for them within the first few months.
Refereeing is a great side hustle because you are literally getting paid to exercise and you get some entertainment watching a sport that you enjoy. You also get to develop social connections with other referees which has been a fun little clique to be a part of. YMMV :)
My buddy Chris is the announcer at the local dirt track and also announces all kinds of ball games during the week. He will announce 4-5 games on Saturday @ $50 each and then come to the race track and make $100 more.
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1. Sharpening knives, scissors, lawn mower blades etc...
Do you do this one? How did you get into it? what type of equipment is required?
I've been sharpening knives for 20 years as a hobby using stones etc... Was like a fun hobby I did for friends while up north around the camp fire etc... So a TON of manual sharpening. After looking into it as a business, and considering the many different types of sharpening rigs I decided on a 1" belt sander with different grits and a leather belt. The speed and absolutely insane edge you can get on a blade in such short time is incredible. You just have to be careful not to push to hard at certain times(esp the leather strop) as it will turn a thin blade's edge glowing hot quick.
As a business though you have to be very aware of the different edge types, the type of blade, how thick it is and the metal content. For instance, generally you don't want a fine razor sharp edge on a pocket knife. You want a sharp but durable edge. Making a blade "razor" sharp that you can shave with is really very, very easy to do.
The little belt sander works amazing and its CHEAP! $35 at Harbor Freight. I bought the belts where ever I could find them, and a 1" leather strop for the sander on Amazon. If you get more serious and get into professional shears for hair cutting and pets, you really need to invest in a good grinder where you can properly control the angle.
Lot's to learn. =D
There was a guy in Houston that had a trailer set up to sharpen blades/knives/etc. He said he set up in the same spot every day for 25 years and made a killing! It was a few years ago when I spoke to him and at that time he was looking to sell his trailer and retire.
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There was a guy in Houston that had a trailer set up to sharpen blades/knives/etc. He said he set up in the same spot every day for 25 years and made a killing! It was a few years ago when I spoke to him and at that time he was looking to sell his trailer and retire.
I've looked into the small cargo trailer setup. This is also a relativity cheap thing to get into as these are abundant on the used market. I already own a little Honda generator that would be perfect for the task. You could travel and do restaurant cutlery, go to arts and craft shows or any kind of outdoor events and sharpen pocket knives, hand out business cards etc...
You can even offer other services/up-charge items such as restoration of blades. Most knives with a few minutes on a polishing wheel will clear any minor scratches and even up the appearance.
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Just don't spend all your profit on fuel. That's part of why this guy made so much money is because he set up close to his house and everyone got to know he was there.
You will quickly learn that for every 5000 business cards you hand out ....you will have lost a minimum $200+. lol That's it.... I didn't mention anything about new paying customers. It takes a certain skill to make a business card work. I actually have people ask me for a business card and I do get business from them but that is rare. I handed out business cards in the cleaning business for 19 years and never had 1 paying customer from them.
Any place that uses knives. Try to get all of your customers really close to each other. You know that fresh seafood warehouse in town? They need sharp knives. The place that processes meat... they need knives. Taxidermy... he needs a knife. Up sell those mesh gloves and even rubber gloves of all types. Don't buy the gloves ahead of time, have them order from you and you get them from some cheap place online and take them on your next visit.
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This past year, I picked up golf balls on walks - we lived by a golf course - and am now selling them. If I had time to burn, I'd package sets of them and could sell them for much more.
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Ok, now you've piqued my interest. What is the going rate for golfballs? Do you sell them online (craigslist/ebay/etc), or back to the gold courses direct?
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great thread!
Currently I'm in a cover band, 2-4 gigs a month at local clubs. I get $125 a gig plus usually a couple of free beers and meal. And it's a load of fun.
Once I FIRE hope to:
- do some consultancy in my area of expertise which should pull in about $5k/week plus expenses. 4-6 weeks a year would be perfect. May be able to get a short term consultancy in a wonderful overseas location (beaches, warm, popular holiday destination) and essentially get a paid vacation for family in the depths of a Michigan winter.
- DW will be able to coach horse riding
- will look into doing a class at local community college/University.
- ebooks sounds like a great idea esp. once you have a 'back catalog'
- partner with professionally skilled friends on commercial real estate development opportunities
- live poker. I typically make ~$25/hr at low stakes NLTH depending on the density of fish.
We have a FIREd friend who owns a tiny theatre company doing educational history shows for schools, where he and his DW dress up in costumes, put on short plays and have simple home made sets. They seem to have a total blast and get paid as well.
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So glad I found this thread! So many interesting ideas.
Once I reach FI I'd like to:
1. Start selling canned produce such as pickled carrots or salsa etc. I find if you get the produce in season on sale, this can be very very cheap to make. But there are a lot of regulations regarding selling food so it might be a super small side gig.
2. Hope to do some fun renovations work for people I know for cheap (max $20/hr). That way I don't have to feel bad for not being perfect.
3. Hope to write an ebook someday (like in 10 years) and maybe generate income from a blog one day.
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My buddy sharpens blades of all kinds. He started with a file and has now moved up to some type of machine. I have no idea what the machine is. He also tunes up push mowers (no riders). He stays busy just tuning them up. He doesn't really do much else to the mower except most need a new carb so he replaces it, tunes it up, sharpens the blade, cleans it up and and it's ready to go..... $79+ parts. He only does mobile service.
I met a guy who had a lawn service that was booming but he was selling it because he found there was way more money in the stump business and didn't have to deal with near as many workers so I can believe the tree business is a money maker. The trick should be to not be out there doing that hard work, get the $10 an hour guy to do the work while you sit in the truck taking a nap. Or better yet, stay at your desk and find more jobs for the workers.
So I guess I'll tag on here. I've been watching this thread for excellent ideas. SC93 has some great ones.
Personally, I am beginning a financial planning business and had my first client meeting recently. I enjoy that immensely and am able to add value to peoples' lives as well, so it's a win-win. It also makes use of all the knowledge I gain from MMM and my leisure reading.
This past year, I picked up golf balls on walks - we lived by a golf course - and am now selling them. If I had time to burn, I'd package sets of them and could sell them for much more.
I've had a lawn mowing business in the past that was wildly successful. People detest hard, hot, sweaty labor, while I enjoyed the exercise (and listening to music). I had fun making $$$ with it, and never wanted for business. You'd want to offset that, though, with a winter business, as it gets slow during winter unless you're a company who forces people onto year-long contracts. (I don't like that idea, personally, and was paid per job by a set of regular clients.) Depending upon where you live, that could be an easy way to make some side cash.
As SC93 said, you could really roll in dough if you found cheap reliable help. Emphasis on reliable.
I am interested in your Financial Planning gig. I really want to do this as i think i would enjoy helping people and sharing my knowledge of personal finance as well. Did you need a certification or any formal training? How did you get your first client? thanks
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I have a teaching license, so I was able to get a very part time teaching job at night. I teach adult immigrants how to read English. It's about five hours a week, and I take home an extra $500 a month. It's super easy and fun! Definitely a fun side gig.
I actually volunteer to do this, but is there a specific requirement in order to teach for income? I would love to have it as a side hassle because I genuinely enjoy it. Even when I am in a horrendous mood, just being in the class cheers me up.
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I have a teaching license, so I was able to get a very part time teaching job at night. I teach adult immigrants how to read English. It's about five hours a week, and I take home an extra $500 a month. It's super easy and fun! Definitely a fun side gig.
I actually volunteer to do this, but is there a specific requirement in order to teach for income? I would love to have it as a side hassle because I genuinely enjoy it. Even when I am in a horrendous mood, just being in the class cheers me up.
Requirements all depend on where you are (and on the employer).
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I was invited to participate in a research group for automotive enthusiasts/collectors...turns out it pays $600/half day and they want me for two (half) days.
I'm hoping it actually happens!
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Teaching piano. It started out as a favor to a friend who's daughter lost their previous teacher. My wife has a "wine night" every Monday, so I teach while the Mom's all hang out. It started a year ago with one student, now I have 6 students with a 7th getting set up soon. It's providing $250 extra / month at this point. All it takes is patience with the kids and a half hour each lesson. After working a 10 hour day it gets a little tiresome, but it's a good gig.
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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.
This is brilliant.
I agree - made note for the season where extra personal time is available!
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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.
This is brilliant.
I agree - made note for the season where extra personal time is available!
Agreed, this seems like a great idea for the almost FI or the newly FIRED people that have a lot more free time on their hands.
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In related news the past few days have been phenomenal for Prolific- I have taken several surveys that only took me ~10 minutes and paid $3.28 or more. For anyone interested PM me or use my referral link in the signature below.
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In related news the past few days have been phenomenal for Prolific- I have taken several surveys that only took me ~10 minutes and paid $3.28 or more. For anyone interested PM me or use my referral link in the signature below.
I have been too busy to grab many of them this week, but I did get a great one today. $1.30 for 3 minutes.
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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.
This is brilliant.
I agree - made note for the season where extra personal time is available!
You go to their house but there are 40 gifts to wrap?
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A side gig I'll continue even after getting a full time jobs that pays more is being a construction Security Guard.
The job requires you to secure the entrance and let no one who isn't authorized inside, beyond that you can use your phone to read a book or relax and watch videos.
I actually reread all of MMM Posts while at Work, and took the time to pocket archive all of the best ones to reread again.
It's an awesome job even if it does pay minimum wage.
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Jazz piano player. Tax prep.
I've got 30 years of experience playing piano...started when I was 5 yo. Glad it puts some extra cash in my pocket.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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A side gig I'll continue even after getting a full time jobs that pays more is being a construction Security Guard.
The job requires you to secure the entrance and let no one who isn't authorized inside, beyond that you can use your phone to read a book or relax and watch videos.
I actually reread all of MMM Posts while at Work, and took the time to pocket archive all of the best ones to reread again.
It's an awesome job even if it does pay minimum wage.
Raj- can you do this part-time/on the weekends or evenings? Also, how did you get into this line of work?
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Raj- can you do this part-time/on the weekends or evenings? Also, how did you get into this line of work?
Yes you can in fact do it part time and on the weekends, in fact that's what I did when I was in University.
The only downside to doing it part time is you are going to have to do night shifts if you want a shift or two every week, where as if you say day time only your more likely to get it once a month if you insist on doing only construction shifts like I do.
Basically if you want a lot of shifts regularly then it needs to be full time, but if you want a supplementary job to get income occasionally then it also makes an awesome side job.
Also the shifts are only so rare if you narrow it down to just construction, if your willing to also do normal security work your near guaranteed to get shifts on the weekend especially if your willing to do nightshifts.
I got into this because of my father and my laziness as a high school student.
My Father had been trying to get me to do a part time job through out high school and I would humor him by throwing a resume at a store if he was with me but otherwise didn't bother looking. (I was a lazy shit as a teenager who only wanted to read various fiction books)
I never got an interview and I was nearing the end of high school. My Dad was exasperated at me and my step brother Mark was a Security Guard himself who told him there are a fair amount of jobs in the field currently since you need a license and not many people are interested.
So for my 18th birthday present he enrolled me into a Security Guard Course, where on the weekend I had to attend some quick and easy lessons. After a few weeks of doing high school and this extra course I finished the extra course and took my Security Guard Exam.
It took a month or two to get processed so I graduated high school and got my Security Guard License around the same time.
Mark then told me that his employer was looking to expand and got me an interview.
The interview itself was barely even an interview at all, my boss just wanted to know that I had my Security Guard License and when told I had no experience said that I could learn on the job.
I was then told to go to the Uniform group which gave me a custom fitted uniform which cost around $300 all together and came out of my paycheck and then started my first shift late August.
A few weeks later I was then in College and continued doing Security Guard shifts on the weekends.
I did that throughout the years even after I shifted to University until I finished all my courses.
I couldn't find an Accounting Job in Co-Op which is needed to graduate right away, so I shifted to full time Security and have been looking for an Accounting job ever since although I recently have started applying to volunteer ones as well so I can graduate.
That's my story on how I got into being a Security Guard.
I'll now fully explain the process.
First you have to get your security guard license, I live in Canada so I'm not sure if it's different in Colorado but it's not difficult to do.
You take a few classes for a week or two and get taught how to do CPR etc.
You then take a test that is rather easy and pay to get your license.
I've actually forgotten most of what I learned in that security course because in my 4 years of experience as a Security Guard none of it has ever come up.
You've now gotten your license and apply to become a normal security guard.
A Normal Security Guard's duties are to deter theft by being an intimidating gargoyle that hovers around meat and medicine and patrols.
It's rather dull and the only source of entertainment is one headphone where you can listen to things like a podcast etc.
After a month of doing that Full Time or a year of doing that part time you can then apply to become a construction guard.
Your new duty is to secure the entrance and only allow authorized personnel inside the store. They either can't lock it so that construction workers can come in and out, or their is a hole in the wall and your by yourself.
Either way you tell any customers or unauthorized people who come that they can't enter, and you ask anyone who your not 100% sure about if they are working there.
These are usually 10 - 12 hours shifts and of that time, I spend less than an hour overall up and talking to people scattered about with the rest of the time being on my phone reading various fiction books or even watching movies during the more dead times.
It can be a little irritating to interrupt myself every 15 minutes or so for 30 seconds but it is definitely worth it.
All throughout this you'll being paid minimum wage or a bit above it if you get some experience.
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Just did a gig for a big private party on NY eve. Free dinner and a few beers, 6 hrs "work" (much of that relaxing with the band between sets while DJ did his thing) and got paid $430.
Sweet.
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Here in the states you don't need a license to be a security guard. If you carry a gun you need a license for that. At the museum where my wife works all you do is put in an application and they basically hire you if your record is clean. Pay starts at $11 an hour which is 'ok' if one is an hourly worker type of person. Once you are hired all you do is stand in the gallery all day and watch the hot girls go by.
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I work in Landscaping and tree care, and I did moonlighting gigs the whole four years I was working for someone else since we moved here. A bit risky, because my work contract explicitly forbade it, and I could have been fired for it at any point. However, my independent work developed enough that I could quit my day job and go solo - now I'm earning double and working fewer hours. Worked out well!
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Professional Organizer
Organizing, Retirement Downsizing, Minimizing...I help people set up their physical spaces, schedules and their lives so that they run more efficiently.
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Professional Organizer
Organizing, Retirement Downsizing, Minimizing...I help people set up their physical spaces, schedules and their lives so that they run more efficiently.
I love this idea, but how did you get into it? Just put a listing on CL? Are there any certifications or anything that you've obtained?
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Professional Organizer
Organizing, Retirement Downsizing, Minimizing...I help people set up their physical spaces, schedules and their lives so that they run more efficiently.
I love this idea, but how did you get into it? Just put a listing on CL? Are there any certifications or anything that you've obtained?
I'd love to know this, too! I just helped one of my family members with this since she is getting ready to move, and we ended up spending 8 hours clearing out the master closet. She ended up donating 13 full-size trash bags of clothes and shoes. Whew.
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Let's take organizing for example..... your main goal isn't to be a professional organizer, you probably already know how to do that. Your main goal is to become a professional marketer. That's the difference between the $12 an hour organizers and the $100 organizers..... do you really think there is a difference in their work? This holds true for any 'side gig' aka business you have. This is why I've always made money in almost every business I've had.
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Along the lines of the home organising...
We have a website here where people post odd jobs and anybody can sign up, make offers and hopefully win the work. I'm not sure if there's an equivalent platform in the US. There is a lot of cleaning and gardening type work posted, and a few things where people just want something done on the cheap when they should be using someone with a licence and insurance eg felling trees. The site takes 15% of the fee for hooking you up.
However, for all its shortcomings - I live in a HCOL area and I've picked up quite a few good jobs and made about $1.5k in 6 weeks after expenses. I'm doing some light courier / concierge type jobs but also I've been helping people clear out their rubbish and taking it to the tip. A few hundred $ earned comes solely from selling things that people were throwing out. They just couldn't be bothered doing it themselves. One reason I think I've done well out of it is that I'm polite and write proper sentences when I make an offer to do a task. Some people write something like "pick me mate, I'll get it done" and expect to get the job??? Also I'm female and I think it works in my favour when females post tasks that require you to come to their house.
TL/DR: If you live in or near a fancy area, try offering rubbish removal / garage clearing type services.
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Yes, all kinds of websites here like that. Some are free and some cost $$$.
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Yes, all kinds of websites here like that. Some are free and some cost $$$.
Can you give some examples, please?
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Thumbtack, Care .com, Porch, homeadvisor, Craigslist, Facebook to name a few. I gave 6 examples too many because if a person is very gung-ho about a business, they will find these sites and make them work. People who need the sites named will probably make a grand total of $1.86 profit in their life. That's not meant to be mean like most of you will think, it's just the truth. Normally, those that get their feelings hurt by remarks like this are the $1.86 earners.
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That is GREAT! How much do these make every year or month? I think a lot of people will want to know this answer. Great job on putting out the effort.
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Well, you can also earn $0 per day. lol
Hopefully you are a high earner.
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Someone may have mentioned this already, but I participate in focus groups for extra cash. If you are interested and want to find companies that will call or email you about opportunities, you can check out the Quirks website: https://www.quirks.com/directories/focus-group-facility
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Someone may have mentioned this already, but I participate in focus groups for extra cash. If you are interested and want to find companies that will call or email you about opportunities, you can check out the Quirks website: https://www.quirks.com/directories/focus-group-facility
Did you separately register with each local focus group/company listed on that site? Those companies will then contact you if you meet their criteria to participate? Is it always an in-person session? Any tips/lessons learned? Thanks in advance!
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Someone may have mentioned this already, but I participate in focus groups for extra cash. If you are interested and want to find companies that will call or email you about opportunities, you can check out the Quirks website: https://www.quirks.com/directories/focus-group-facility
Did you separately register with each local focus group/company listed on that site? Those companies will then contact you if you meet their criteria to participate? Is it always an in-person session? Any tips/lessons learned? Thanks in advance!
Yes, years ago I went to the website of each company in my area and looked to see if they had a page for focus group participants to register. Companies will call or email when they have opportunities available. I have been to in-person focus groups and online groups. My only tip is to be honest in your responses to their qualififying questions and during the group. There are plenty of opportunities available, so there should be no need to lie or exaggerate to qualify just so you can get paid.
Also, the link in my signature should get you 600 United Miles for participating in an easy survey.
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Here in the states you don't need a license to be a security guard. If you carry a gun you need a license for that. At the museum where my wife works all you do is put in an application and they basically hire you if your record is clean. Pay starts at $11 an hour which is 'ok' if one is an hourly worker type of person. Once you are hired all you do is stand in the gallery all day and watch the hot girls go by.
That depends on where you are. Arizona requires you to have a guard license (https://www.azdps.gov/services/public/licensing).
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Here in the states you don't need a license to be a security guard. If you carry a gun you need a license for that. At the museum where my wife works all you do is put in an application and they basically hire you if your record is clean. Pay starts at $11 an hour which is 'ok' if one is an hourly worker type of person. Once you are hired all you do is stand in the gallery all day and watch the hot girls go by.
That depends on where you are. Arizona requires you to have a guard license (https://www.azdps.gov/services/public/licensing).
And all for $10 an hour? lmao
I do think it is a good idea for them to be trained but I would think that makes them more valuable and should be paid at least a little more money. I'm sure it might be that way in every state before too long.
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I write and record more, which I then license on sites like Pond 5. It brings in a few hundred dollars a month, mostly passively. Plus I also submit to custom songs to libraries for even more. I also teach people how to get started in the industry through an online course at https://www.stockmusicmusician.com.
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Here in the states you don't need a license to be a security guard. If you carry a gun you need a license for that. At the museum where my wife works all you do is put in an application and they basically hire you if your record is clean. Pay starts at $11 an hour which is 'ok' if one is an hourly worker type of person. Once you are hired all you do is stand in the gallery all day and watch the hot girls go by.
That depends on where you are. Arizona requires you to have a guard license (https://www.azdps.gov/services/public/licensing).
And all for $10 an hour? lmao
I do think it is a good idea for them to be trained but I would think that makes them more valuable and should be paid at least a little more money. I'm sure it might be that way in every state before too long.
Yes. The armed guards at Bank of America were making $12/hr in 2011 when I worked for G4S.
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Our consulting company, which was our main source of income pre-FIRE, continues to generate a small income from various streams. Seems to be in the $10-12K a year range.
Not something we ever planned on but it is kinda nice.
The effort is minimal, mostly answering a few emails and billing.
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I have been making jewelry as a side gig since I was a teenager. I also make gifts and donate pieces for various fundraisers that I support.
My husband and I keep bees and sell excess honey. It pays for the hobby and then some.
I also sell excess veggies and eggs we produce when I have them.
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My husband and I keep bees and sell excess honey. It pays for the hobby and then some.
I also sell excess veggies and eggs we produce when I have them.
This is a goal for me in FI(RE). Just need to get a house with a yard first, but we're working on it!
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We bought our current house 4 years ago. We are 15 minutes outside a small city. We have 2.5 acres and it is zoned agricultural. The zoning means we can have any animals we want or we could make it a market garden with a farm stand if we wanted to.
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
working on the second one now :)
what was the book on? What's to book's title?
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I stumbled across www.upwork.com/ (https://www.upwork.com/) today and I was curious- has anyone one this forum used this website to find part-time side gigs? It looks like there are some other threads on the forum, but most of them are extremely small and only have 1-2 responses. What I'm most curious about is:
-Can you set your own hours (outside of the work-day in US) and still get work?
-Is it very hard to get started?
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What type of work would you be doing on upwork?
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Seems like doing VoIP Customer Service, Personal Assistant work, or other similar work has potential to earn more than $10/hr.
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PA work can bring in great money if you know how to market yourself.
I honestly have no idea why anyone would do anything for $10 an hour. I mean, I am so thankful someone will do it but I just don't understand why they would. I would never get out of bed for $10 an hour. Hell, I'd never get out of bed for $20 an hour but atleast I can see someone working for $20. A person can make so much more, it's almost humorous to see people working for less but instead of laughing I usually feel sorry for them. Side gig or not.....
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I hate when people use that expression about not getting out of bed for a certain amount of $. It's like they are better then other people. Ugh!
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I hate when people use that expression about not getting out of bed for a certain amount of $. It's like they are better then other people. Ugh!
Agreed. Minimum wage in many states is still the federal minimum level of $7.25/hr, and plenty of people are working for that much. I think that's enough for a lot of jobs. I've done volunteer work before and didn't get paid at all - that's why they call it volunteer work.
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For the first time tonight I drove for Lyft. It was slightly terrifying at first but the 2 rides were NICE PEOPLE, thankfully. I was in an area of downtown city that I’m not 100% familiar wth and it was rush hour. The first rider was a very experienced ride share user businessman who shared with me what he thought made the best Lyfts: clean cars and no bad smells from the car. He said my car was very clean :) The second ride was a group of tourists and they were too engaged in their own conversation to pay any attention to my slightly terrified driving. I made $20 and had some adventures. Glad I got over my fear and did it.
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I stumbled across www.upwork.com/ (https://www.upwork.com/) today and I was curious- has anyone one this forum used this website to find part-time side gigs?
I tried it about a year and a half ago, and was not impressed, unfortunately. I was looking for tasks in print production/proofreading/editing (with almost two decades of professional experience) and I found that the pay was very low. When I got my first gig, it turned out that what I thought was a rare decent paying task was in fact just poorly described, and they wanted way more work than I thought, and they wanted a graphic designer, which I'm not. The client was really difficult to work with and didn't leave me a rating. I didn't bother continuing after that... It's possible I just had bad luck. And the area you're interested in could be totally different. But I'd recommend going in with the expectation that people want to take advantage of you and you have to be on guard and ask a lot of questions up front.
There's a similar site called Fiverr (or something like that) that you could also check out. I see ads for them all the time but haven't tried them out.
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For the first time tonight I drove for Lyft. It was slightly terrifying at first but the 2 rides were NICE PEOPLE, thankfully. I was in an area of downtown city that I’m not 100% familiar wth and it was rush hour. The first rider was a very experienced ride share user businessman who shared with me what he thought made the best Lyfts: clean cars and no bad smells from the car. He said my car was very clean :) The second ride was a group of tourists and they were too engaged in their own conversation to pay any attention to my slightly terrified driving. I made $20 and had some adventures. Glad I got over my fear and did it.
Don't forget to track your mileage, both for Lyft and otherwise (so you or your tax preparer can calc your deductions).
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I stumbled across www.upwork.com/ (https://www.upwork.com/) today and I was curious- has anyone one this forum used this website to find part-time side gigs? It looks like there are some other threads on the forum, but most of them are extremely small and only have 1-2 responses. What I'm most curious about is:
-Can you set your own hours (outside of the work-day in US) and still get work?
-Is it very hard to get started?
Well, I can give you some insights from the other side, if you're interested.
Over the last 7+ years we've spent upwards of $50,000 on contractors on oDesk.
Mostly graphic design but with some research jobs as well.
-The people we did contract were always the ones who projected themselves as solutions to our needs. NOT part-time gig seekers. (If we wanted part-time employees who want to work from home, take no responsibility, produce amateur work and make a lots of money... we wouldn't need to pay oDesk's commissions. We would advertise on craigslist for free.)
-Price was never a consideration to us. But value was paramount.
The highest price people we used were always on-time, accurate and complete with projects.
-Having a good rating (4+ if I remember the grading system correctly) is a necessity.
-Showing a well thought out and impeccable portfolio of your work is your major sales tool.
-We always agreed and signed a written statement of work for every engagement. But... I made them write the body of the SOW based on our written requirements (i.e. expected end results). This ensured that I knew that they knew what was actually expected.
-Almost all of our contacts were fixed price... so yes, you could do the work when/where you like.
They just had to make sure they were available to talk at the prearranged times.
We had contractors from Canada, Argentina, Egypt, India, France and the USA.
-Any hourly contracts were with people we had worked with already.
We never made them sign in for online monitoring. Again, work where and when you want. But don't miss a deadline or a meeting. No excuses. (Well, obviously, some excuses were acceptable, but I was always pleasantly surprised when contractors would tell me the work may be late due to snowstorms or family illness or in one case a parent passing away, and yet they almost never were, despite assurances from me that the delay was manageable on our end.)
-Despite best intentions and the precautions above sometimes it just doesn't work out.
Only twice in the whole time did we need to terminate a contract early for non-performance. In both cases, the contractor agreed that they weren't up to the job. We got our money back and left the contractor a 5-star review for professionalism and good judgement. No major harm done on either side, other than the delay for us.
Finally, I would say that if you really have skills in demand and want to be in business for yourself go for it.
You will have a full pipeline of work.
If, however you are looking for a quick buck, you'll probably have better luck at picking up empties.
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PA work can bring in great money if you know how to market yourself.
I honestly have no idea why anyone would do anything for $10 an hour. I mean, I am so thankful someone will do it but I just don't understand why they would. I would never get out of bed for $10 an hour. Hell, I'd never get out of bed for $20 an hour but atleast I can see someone working for $20. A person can make so much more, it's almost humorous to see people working for less but instead of laughing I usually feel sorry for them. Side gig or not.....
I’d imagine 3/4 of the planet makes less than $20/hr. Sheesh.
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PA work can bring in great money if you know how to market yourself.
I honestly have no idea why anyone would do anything for $10 an hour. I mean, I am so thankful someone will do it but I just don't understand why they would. I would never get out of bed for $10 an hour. Hell, I'd never get out of bed for $20 an hour but atleast I can see someone working for $20. A person can make so much more, it's almost humorous to see people working for less but instead of laughing I usually feel sorry for them. Side gig or not.....
I’d imagine 3/4 of the planet makes less than $20/hr. Sheesh.
According to this calculator http://www.globalrichlist.net/ actually 99.37% of the world's population makes less than $20 an hour (filled in $38500 which was said to be $20 an hour).
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I know.... sad thing isn't it? I am very thankful for those that do work for low wages, without them, prices would be sky high. I just have no clue why anyone would work for that low of a wage. In the US, no one HAS to work for that low wage. I tip great when we go out to eat..... when I pay for gas if it doesn't hold it all I give the remainder to the clerk.... Yesterday I gave a dryer to a lady that makes $40 a day.... I try to show my appreciation and keep those folks going but my brain does not compute working for such low pay. I'd be the guy that never had a job if I chose to work for that low pay. Without the low wage earners I wouldn't be able to make the money I do and the same goes for other business owners. So..... hopefully atleast 1 MORE of you will take the step outside your comfort zone and start your own business or get a j o b making more money. Yes, it's scary at first but you just have to take that 1st step just like everything else in life. Am I a hard ass? No, LIFE is a hard ass. I just don't sugar coat it for you like others do.
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I know.... sad thing isn't it? I am very thankful for those that do work for low wages, without them, prices would be sky high. I just have no clue why anyone would work for that low of a wage. In the US, no one HAS to work for that low wage. I tip great when we go out to eat..... when I pay for gas if it doesn't hold it all I give the remainder to the clerk.... Yesterday I gave a dryer to a lady that makes $40 a day.... I try to show my appreciation and keep those folks going but my brain does not compute working for such low pay. I'd be the guy that never had a job if I chose to work for that low pay. Without the low wage earners I wouldn't be able to make the money I do and the same goes for other business owners. So..... hopefully atleast 1 MORE of you will take the step outside your comfort zone and start your own business or get a j o b making more money. Yes, it's scary at first but you just have to take that 1st step just like everything else in life. Am I a hard ass? No, LIFE is a hard ass. I just don't sugar coat it for you like others do.
Nothing you wrote makes sense, it’s just arrogance and cruelty. Wonderful, you think you’re better than most people good for you. From your attitude, it’s clear to me you’re not a very happy person and there are lots of people making far less than you, making $20/hr or less that are far happier than you. I’m sure they’d pity you, like you pity them. Except they wouldn’t waste their time, they have better things to do.
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I just started working again as a whitewater kayak instructor. I get about $50/3 hour pool session and $120 for a full day class. More importantly though, it gives me pro deals on gear (usually like 20% off wholesale prices) and allows me to deduct my gear purchases as business expenses which combine to make most gear about 60-70% off full retail for me.
Those benefits combined with the income makes teaching pay for all of my whitewater hobby.
This is an old one but I finally made the leap with this from working for someone else to starting my own business. All of the companies who operated locally closed or moved to the other side of the state to get more reliable water which made continuing to work for them difficult. So I started my own company doing it myself. The fact that I'm small and doing it for a side business means that I can be more flexible about time and location of classes than the bigger players so I can better deal with the un-reliable water.
Overall, I'm putting in about 10x as much work (though I love doing it so I don't mind) to make about 5x as much money but it is so nice to be working for myself.
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^this sounds awesome, congrats!
Do you do this part time while still holding down a full time job, or has this transitioned into a more full time thing?
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^this sounds awesome, congrats!
Do you do this part time while still holding down a full time job, or has this transitioned into a more full time thing?
Thanks! I still hold down a full time job, but I'm about 50% of the way to my FIRE number and that stash plus this side hustle means I don't really need to keep the full time job. I'm guessing this business will grow year over year, and that combined with probably becoming a dad soon and wanting to spend way more time at home means that the full-time job's months are numbered.
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Amazon FBA and selling videos to media buyers.
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Amazon FBA and selling videos to media buyers.
How did you get into this? Do you film your own videos, or get them from somewhere else? Definitely seems like an interesting business.
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When I was in high school I used to make a little extra cash by doing some manual labor for my grandfather's friends such as trimming hedges, branches, and things like that. I didn't mind it and it brought in some pretty good money. Recently I have also reffed some little kids basketball tournaments which I would do just for fun so the money that I bring in is a good bonus factor.
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I know.... sad thing isn't it? I am very thankful for those that do work for low wages, without them, prices would be sky high. I just have no clue why anyone would work for that low of a wage. In the US, no one HAS to work for that low wage. I tip great when we go out to eat..... when I pay for gas if it doesn't hold it all I give the remainder to the clerk.... Yesterday I gave a dryer to a lady that makes $40 a day.... I try to show my appreciation and keep those folks going but my brain does not compute working for such low pay. I'd be the guy that never had a job if I chose to work for that low pay. Without the low wage earners I wouldn't be able to make the money I do and the same goes for other business owners. So..... hopefully atleast 1 MORE of you will take the step outside your comfort zone and start your own business or get a j o b making more money. Yes, it's scary at first but you just have to take that 1st step just like everything else in life. Am I a hard ass? No, LIFE is a hard ass. I just don't sugar coat it for you like others do.
Nothing you wrote makes sense, it’s just arrogance and cruelty. Wonderful, you think you’re better than most people good for you. From your attitude, it’s clear to me you’re not a very happy person and there are lots of people making far less than you, making $20/hr or less that are far happier than you. I’m sure they’d pity you, like you pity them. Except they wouldn’t waste their time, they have better things to do.
I am assuming your comments are in response to SC's previous comment alone. If so, I re read his post and dont see the cruelty in there. It might even be a stretch for the arrogance as well. I appreciate his nudge to others to start a business or get a job making more money and how he acknowledges its scary at first but you have to make the jump.
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I worked PT for a local nonprofit for almost four years, doing miscellaneous work in writing, editing, program management, event planning, and volunteer coordination. It was a small office, so I was a jack-of-all-trades. I netted an extra ~$300/month.
I recently quit to focus on getting through school but it was a good gig while it lasted. Plus, I (significantly) expanded my skill set for when I'm job-hunting, and met some awesome people through non-intentional networking!
So here's a fun update. Three years later, after still volunteering for events off and on for this NPO (like, once a year) after I quit, they opened up my old PT job to be FT.
Guess who's starting that new FT job soon for an organization they love that pays $10K more than her current job with better benefits and an infinitely better commute?
Two thumbs up if you guessed midweststache :)
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I worked PT for a local nonprofit for almost four years, doing miscellaneous work in writing, editing, program management, event planning, and volunteer coordination. It was a small office, so I was a jack-of-all-trades. I netted an extra ~$300/month.
I recently quit to focus on getting through school but it was a good gig while it lasted. Plus, I (significantly) expanded my skill set for when I'm job-hunting, and met some awesome people through non-intentional networking!
So here's a fun update. Three years later, after still volunteering for events off and on for this NPO (like, once a year) after I quit, they opened up my old PT job to be FT.
Guess who's starting that new FT job soon for an organization they love that pays $10K more than her current job with better benefits and an infinitely better commute?
Two thumbs up if you guessed midweststache :)
Huge congratulations, @midweststache ! 👍👍
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I started tutoring iOS app development on Wyzant. I have seen other tutors charging as much as $60/hr, but I'm charging about half of that starting out, since I don't have many student ratings.
So far, it's all of the fun of software development with pretty much none of the B.S. You only have to commit to a few hours at a time, the clients are usually quite gracious, and I think it helps your skills to get better at communicating the core ideas around programming a particular way.
This is one of my little side-hustle experiments for the year. It'll be interesting to see how far I can go with the hourly rate. I would assume the market tops out somewhere, but it's hard to tell this early on.
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I started selling supplemental/income insurance to coworkers. In my industry it's pretty much a god given right that you buy this or you put yourself at a huge risk. Anyway long story short I average over $1,000 a month and pretty much don't do anything other then send an email to someone that wants to buy insurance. It's all word a mouth advertising so people are banging down my door to sign up. Of course it helps that we are half the price of our nearest competition. I've been doing it for over 5 years now. Funny thing is I was actually offered a position full time with the insurance provider, but I'd have to move to a different state. I prefer to keep things status quo and keep my day job, but I'm not going to turn down an extra $1,000 a month that's for sure!
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Friday I participated in an in-person study at a lab. I made $125 on a visa gift card for my time. I have another study to do in person Thursday after work. I’ve been looking at my local Craigslist page, under Volunteers for these opportunities. I think if you live in an area with a lot of universities this could be a pretty good moneymaker.
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How did you get into this? I had an ex-colleague who did something similar and I always wondered about it.
I started selling supplemental/income insurance to coworkers. In my industry it's pretty much a god given right that you buy this or you put yourself at a huge risk. Anyway long story short I average over $1,000 a month and pretty much don't do anything other then send an email to someone that wants to buy insurance. It's all word a mouth advertising so people are banging down my door to sign up. Of course it helps that we are half the price of our nearest competition. I've been doing it for over 5 years now. Funny thing is I was actually offered a position full time with the insurance provider, but I'd have to move to a different state. I prefer to keep things status quo and keep my day job, but I'm not going to turn down an extra $1,000 a month that's for sure!
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I used to do editing as a side job, and now it's my full time job. Dog walking is a great opportunity to earn cash, or pet sitting in general. I once sat for a turtle and was paid $25 cash a visit. This wasn't your ordinary turtle, though. He needed to be bathed in order to "poop" and then to feed him, I had to rub his left leg. Yeah...
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My side gig is music, I have in the past used the proceeds to buy more instruments and equipment, now I've been focused to save/invest the money I make.
I play solo guitar for restaurants and clubs, sell my original music, play parties, host open mics, etc.
Some years have done really well, but gigs are feast or famine . . .
But, it's a lot of work, fun, yes, but long nights, heavy equipment. So always looking for something I can do at home maybe in front of a computer.
Thanks!
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I just worked as a polling official for the provincial election held this week. My experience:
Day one (two weeks before): training (3 hours)
Day two (night before election): set up polling station (4 hours)
Day three (Election Day): serve voters, pack up paperwork and equipment, clean up (15 hours)
I'd say half the team was retirees and the other half were people with flexible jobs (one lady used lieu time to do the work) or students.
It's only sporadically available but with three levels of government and occasional by-elections it does come up from time to time. Fifteen hours is a long day, though, and we were so busy that breaks to eat or use the washroom were hard to come by.
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I'm surprised more thrifters aren't making $$$ on reselling apps! I started selling clothes on Poshmark after finding a lot of high end clothing that wasn't in my size or my style. I've been doing it a few months and while I love reselling clothes I've thrifted I'm not actually that big a fan of Poshmark itself (tries to hard to be a social app) but it seems like the best of the reselling apps so far. My first sale was a pair of Nili Lotan pants I bought for $6 at a Goodwill in Houston and sold for $88.
I also overcame my fear of "the bins" and now go regularly. The bins are the goodwill outlets and they are an experience like no other!
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I make money as mobile notary public. I go to medical offices, business offices, and homes to notarize documents.
My state allows good fees per signature notarized and per person receiving the oath. ($10 per signature and $10 per person given the oath.) Plus I add a travel fee.
I used to do home loan refinance work when it was it paid $150 per job for 2 hours of work right before the big crash in 2008. Now "signing agent" work pays $75 a job or less and they want a lot of secretarial work, like faxing or scanning every single page (of a 100+ page pkg) before shipping to title. Not worth my time.
But notary work is fun as every appointment is different. I never know who I will meet and what their story might be.
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Here's one that I actually just started last week! It meets all of the criteria, because I've now made a total of 36 cents on it. A completely negligible amount, but it IS technically bringing in extra cash :-p
I do research engineering for a living, and a huge part of that job is data analysis. I collaborate with laboratory testers to perform experimental studies, then they send me the data and I figure out what it means, and how others can use it to make decisions. Being faster at data analysis both makes me better than my competition, because I can do a more thorough study at lower cost, and happier, because I find digging through thousands of spreadsheets incredibly tedious. So I started writing computer programs to do it for me. It's incredible; I can spend a day writing a program, and 5 minutes analyzing a data set, instead of a month manually doing all of the data analysis.
I've started a side company focused around this as a service. I offer consulting services either teaching people to do this themselves, or writing programs that they can use. With a net revenue of 36 cents so far, clearly I haven't found any clients yet. I also write a blog teaching people the basics of how to do this with ads on the site (There's the 36 cents!), and hope to eventually compile blog posts into books to sell.
Right now my main challenge is traffic. Since the site has existed for less than one month, and I only announced it on Thursday, obviously it isn't getting much traffic yet. So I'm creating more content, experimenting with different ways of getting the word out there, learning about search engine optimization, etc. Exciting times!
Here's a link, in case anybody is curious and wants to check it out: https://www.1000x-faster.com/blog/
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I bought a dump trailer for my truck. When ever I need some extra cash it is easy to book a bunch of stump grinding jobs or dump runs. I usually just walk around the neighbourhood pounding on doors that have stumps in their front yard until I have booked $1500-2000 of work then crush it over a weekend. This year I started paying a guy $20 per hour to do the work as I have been a bit to busy with other projects. Paid everything off in one summer three years ago. The standard rate for stumps in our area is $5 per inch but the town over is $8-10 per. Dump runs are $100 per load + dump fees. Can usually do 5-6 per day.
Marketing this way books usually one job every twenty doors I pound on and so I book up a weekend with 4-6 hours of knocking on doors. Thick skin for rejection helps in this department :)
Friends always are always looking to borrow the truck and trailer so they often fill the tank up or buy me alcohol for the use.
In the winter I pull the plates to save on insurance and park the equipment. Have thought about buying a skid steer to do snow removal but am not sure how much work I could win as it seems there is one on every other block in our area.
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I'm not doing this gig, but I recently learned about it and thought I'd share.
People pay good money for someone to clean their decks and pavement with a pressure washer - every 3-5 yrs.
I also learned, that there's a power washer attachment that makes this a lot easier and faster; the Homelite EZ Clean (possibly others).
I'm in Wisc, so it could only be a seasonal gig for me, which lowers the ROI. And I'd have to buy a truck or van. But if I ever have another reason to get a truck or van, I will keep this in mind.
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No need to a truck or van. Get a compact electric power washer and be up front with the customer about you plugging into their electric and water. This plus a garden hose or two and extension cord and you could get going for under $500.
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I make money as mobile notary public. I go to medical offices, business offices, and homes to notarize documents.
My state allows good fees per signature notarized and per person receiving the oath. ($10 per signature and $10 per person given the oath.) Plus I add a travel fee.
I used to do home loan refinance work when it was it paid $150 per job for 2 hours of work right before the big crash in 2008. Now "signing agent" work pays $75 a job or less and they want a lot of secretarial work, like faxing or scanning every single page (of a 100+ page pkg) before shipping to title. Not worth my time.
But notary work is fun as every appointment is different. I never know who I will meet and what their story might be.
Sounds interesting:) How do you even find clients and do you have the option to accept or decline freely?
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If anyone is Facebook savvy, you can go through their FB courses to learn more about ads & then approach small local businesses and offer your services on a % revenue base.
I took it a step further and paid for a FB Ad course but when I'm done I'll be able to make $500+ a month with minimal time investment.
Set up the website (funnel site) to generate leads: maybe an hour
Set up the initial FB ad: maybe another hour
Review the ad every 2-3 days: maybe 10 min each
So if an ad runs for 3 weeks, I've invested about 3hrs of my time and I'll charge back 25-30% of the revenue pulled in. Which; in my case will be in the 600-900 range for 3hrs work :)
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If anyone is Facebook savvy, you can go through their FB courses to learn more about ads & then approach small local businesses and offer your services on a % revenue base.
I took it a step further and paid for a FB Ad course but when I'm done I'll be able to make $500+ a month with minimal time investment.
Set up the website (funnel site) to generate leads: maybe an hour
Set up the initial FB ad: maybe another hour
Review the ad every 2-3 days: maybe 10 min each
So if an ad runs for 3 weeks, I've invested about 3hrs of my time and I'll charge back 25-30% of the revenue pulled in. Which; in my case will be in the 600-900 range for 3hrs work :)
Facebook is partnering with community colleges to provide training on how to do this, too: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/06/11/facebook-adds-community-colleges-program (https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/06/11/facebook-adds-community-colleges-program)
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I write, but that's sort of like a second job. I even make extra money from my writing. I have gotten paid from appearances and podcasts. My publicists have press kits for me and I have a one sheet available for speaking fees, etc. I will sometimes speak for free if it's a big enough venue (like Comic Con or a festival).
Another thing I do is medical trials. One I get a hugely expensive drug free as well as free medical care and other free drugs. It's easy to fill a prescription, I get soooo many free perks, and i get a $75 check per visit.
In another clinical trial, I just give blood monthly for testing at $75 a pop.
I also do MRI's for $50 a pop. It helps me stay healthy (I need regular MRI's) and I just pop a benadryl and sleep through the whole thing. It's a paid nap.
Keep in mind I have a doctor I trust advising me on the safety of these things, but it does make me some extra cash. And I don't get taxed on clinical trial money.
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Professional Organizer
www.tagorganizing.com
My dream job :)
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What a fun thread to read!
I am a full-time 6th grade teacher and I always take on extra clubs for a little extra money. It's immediately after school and I can pick what I'd like to offer. I've done Legos, coding, board games, Harry Potter, and "history of ___" clubs. I always leave in a pretty good mood on club days. It's not crazy pay but it adds up.
I have one or two kiddos I tutor privately for far too cheap. I'd love to flesh this out, eventually charge more and get a larger clientele but elementary isn't where the spenders are. I could certainly put in some more effort getting the word out. I have been an adjunct instructor at the college some semesters when they need me. That's not at all regular, however. I just hear from them occasionally.
My best side gig, though, is teaching English online. I know others here are doing this too. I have a TESOL Master's (not required but helps booking numbers) and doing these online classes hits the spot. I just adore the students and I'm a morning person anyway. A few hours before going to work and some Friday nights. It's a blast.
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@Linda_Norway This makes me smile. Did you know that Lithuanians have a verb - grybauti - which essentially means 'go stomping through the forest to find mushrooms'?
https://www.grybai.lt/idomu/kur-kada-ir-kaip-grybauti/
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@Linda_Norway This makes me smile. Did you know that Lithuanians have a verb - grybauti - which essentially means 'go stomping through the forest to find mushrooms'?
https://www.grybai.lt/idomu/kur-kada-ir-kaip-grybauti/
Nice to know. I do that grybauti a lot and it's a nice hobby. Many eastern Europeans here in Norway look for mushrooms.
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I started a great side gig by accident. I was studying for an exam I needed to take and put all of my notes on a simple wordpress website. And I just kept adding to it, leaving questions for myself, and figuring them out.
After a while Google got a hold of it and others asked me more questions, and I researched and put more answers out. I started with some ads that generated $100/month. Eventually I put a study guide product out. Now I get to earn a substantial amount while helping people progress in their careers!
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Does anybody here have a successful YouTube channel? I’m considering doing some videos on my upcoming surgical procedure because I’ve gotten a lot out of watching others presurgery videos.
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I'm sure it's been covered, but my side gigs include:
Designing t shirts and selling them, or selling the designs to a reseller - Probably gets me an additional £150-250 a month
Selling stock photography from shoots I've worked on - Averages £100 a month (once did £800 but that was a one off)
Retouching photos for social media - £150 a month
I also used to do free voiceover work while at university which I'd love to take up again if I can get paid for it, it was a fun way to earn. Inspiring to read the things you guys get up to!
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Designing t shirts and selling them, or selling the designs to a reseller
Do you 'make' the shirts to sell or hire someone to make them? Where do you sell them?
How would I go about selling designs to a T shirt reseller?
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Designing t shirts and selling them, or selling the designs to a reseller
Do you 'make' the shirts to sell or hire someone to make them? Where do you sell them?
How would I go about selling designs to a T shirt reseller?
What pricing model do you use for selling those? Is it a flat amount for the design, a royalty for each shirt sold with your design, or a mixed model?
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I sold my consulting firm last year that brought in ~$30k post tax. The investment from the sale brings in a little over half of the money that did without having the 2 am calls from dumbass customers.
Starting a new analytics firm this year. Based on the customers who are signing on and the eventual sale of the product we're developing, 10x income over the old firm is likely within 2 years.
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I sold my consulting firm last year that brought in ~$30k post tax. The investment from the sale brings in a little over half of the money that did without having the 2 am calls from dumbass customers.
Starting a new analytics firm this year. Based on the customers who are signing on and the eventual sale of the product we're developing, 10x income over the old firm is likely within 2 years.
Congratulations on selling your business.
I am envious.
I've never figured out a way to sell our consulting firm.
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Today I had my first mushroom picking course for a company on their yearly social day. I gave a presentation and then we went looking for mushrooms in the forest. It was fun to do and nice weather. I got very positive feedback and can us them as a later reference. I also sold one bag of dried mushrooms that I have prepared as a next sidegig.
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Today I had my first mushroom picking course for a company on their yearly social day. I gave a presentation and then we went looking for mushrooms in the forest. It was fun to do and nice weather. I got very positive feedback and can us them as a later reference. I also sold one bag of dried mushrooms that I have prepared as a next sidegig.
Your mushroom picking stories make me smile every time. I'd love to do (and learn how to do) something like this. I went once in Bosnia with my boyfriend at the time and his aunt and uncle. We had to clear each mushroom with his uncle, who knew what was what. We also weren't allowed to go without his uncle because he knew where the land mine free areas were. I didn't find any good ones (or land mines) but I had a lovely day hiking in the mountains.
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Does anybody here have a successful YouTube channel? I’m considering doing some videos on my upcoming surgical procedure because I’ve gotten a lot out of watching others presurgery videos.
I monetized my youtube channel (sadly 10 years after I was eligible...oops). I was up to $12, when they change their requirements. You now need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours viewed annually to monetize.
It takes consistent work to get to that.
That said, I still post on an irregular basis and like getting comments from viewers. You could do the videos, but I wouldn't expect much to come from it unless you continue to do so.
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Today I had my first mushroom picking course for a company on their yearly social day. I gave a presentation and then we went looking for mushrooms in the forest. It was fun to do and nice weather. I got very positive feedback and can us them as a later reference. I also sold one bag of dried mushrooms that I have prepared as a next sidegig.
Your mushroom picking stories make me smile every time. I'd love to do (and learn how to do) something like this. I went once in Bosnia with my boyfriend at the time and his aunt and uncle. We had to clear each mushroom with his uncle, who knew what was what. We also weren't allowed to go without his uncle because he knew where the land mine free areas were. I didn't find any good ones (or land mines) but I had a lovely day hiking in the mountains.
Thanks, it is nice to walk in a forest, especially one without hidden landmines.
If you want to learn, my advice is to start with a thin beginner's book and try to learn a few species per year. Start with boletes, which are reasonably safe, in Norway at least.
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Renovated the basement (about $12k total in costs), started doing AirBnb, so far in 4 months I have pulled about 8k. Work is minimal, cleaning takes about an hour per turn, rest of the "time" is tough to calculate since I basically just have to be on my phone all the time.
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I used to walk dogs for extra cash and watch other peoples' pets, and that would bring in $25 an hour (cash). Then I started copyediting as a side gig, and now it is my full-time job :).
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Not sure if anyone has heard of this but Nutria is an invasive species and Louisiana has a bounty program that pays $5 a tail. Other states may do this too.
https://www.nola.com/pets/2010/09/nutria_tail-bounty_program_see.html
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Nothing says fun more than killing helpless animals. Ugh!
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Cassie, these animals are invasive and ruin swampy areas by eating the roots thus less land mass to protect from storms. They reproduce rapidly as well. In Florida they have invasive pythons that are breeding like crazy eating birds, deer, raccoons. There are bounty's for them too. There is a hunting season for the alligators to cull the amount in the swamps. If not for these methods of eliminating these species, they will take over. There are invasive fish too. They end up eating all the fish that belong in certain waterways.
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I started a great side gig by accident. I was studying for an exam I needed to take and put all of my notes on a simple wordpress website. And I just kept adding to it, leaving questions for myself, and figuring them out.
After a while Google got a hold of it and others asked me more questions, and I researched and put more answers out. I started with some ads that generated $100/month. Eventually I put a study guide product out. Now I get to earn a substantial amount while helping people progress in their careers!
Umm. Are you Pat Flynn??
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I write, but that's sort of like a second job. I even make extra money from my writing. I have gotten paid from appearances and podcasts. My publicists have press kits for me and I have a one sheet available for speaking fees, etc. I will sometimes speak for free if it's a big enough venue (like Comic Con or a festival).
Another thing I do is medical trials. One I get a hugely expensive drug free as well as free medical care and other free drugs. It's easy to fill a prescription, I get soooo many free perks, and i get a $75 check per visit.
In another clinical trial, I just give blood monthly for testing at $75 a pop.
I also do MRI's for $50 a pop. It helps me stay healthy (I need regular MRI's) and I just pop a benadryl and sleep through the whole thing. It's a paid nap.
Keep in mind I have a doctor I trust advising me on the safety of these things, but it does make me some extra cash. And I don't get taxed on clinical trial money.
I have participated in a few research studies too but they add it to my paycheck and take taxes on it. I only do the easy ones such as a blood draw or urine sample. It is a nice way to earn an extra $50 on a lunch break.
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I have a work from home freelance job as a translator and editor.
Once when a friend who is also a SAHM was talking to me about her money woes, she made the comment that at least I have a job and can bring in some "fun money." I decided not to correct her assumption that I spend this money however I please on unnecessary things. Instead I consider it the same way as any other household income, to offset necessary expenses, like food.
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@Linda_Norway This makes me smile. Did you know that Lithuanians have a verb - grybauti - which essentially means 'go stomping through the forest to find mushrooms'?
https://www.grybai.lt/idomu/kur-kada-ir-kaip-grybauti/
Yet another reason for me to keep the Baltic states on the top of my next place to visit!
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I started a great side gig by accident. I was studying for an exam I needed to take and put all of my notes on a simple wordpress website. And I just kept adding to it, leaving questions for myself, and figuring them out.
After a while Google got a hold of it and others asked me more questions, and I researched and put more answers out. I started with some ads that generated $100/month. Eventually I put a study guide product out. Now I get to earn a substantial amount while helping people progress in their careers!
Umm. Are you Pat Flynn??
LOLOLOL
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I started selling supplemental/income insurance to coworkers. In my industry it's pretty much a god given right that you buy this or you put yourself at a huge risk. Anyway long story short I average over $1,000 a month and pretty much don't do anything other then send an email to someone that wants to buy insurance. It's all word a mouth advertising so people are banging down my door to sign up. Of course it helps that we are half the price of our nearest competition. I've been doing it for over 5 years now. Funny thing is I was actually offered a position full time with the insurance provider, but I'd have to move to a different state. I prefer to keep things status quo and keep my day job, but I'm not going to turn down an extra $1,000 a month that's for sure!
Im comtemplating doing this. If you dont mind me asking, with which company do you work? Are there any requirements such as certifications or exams in order to do this. Im in a field where this is in high demand as well. most if not all of my colleagues would be interested in this. Thanks for any help you can provide me.
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I'm doing currently 2 side hustles that actually bring quite some cash.
Wedding photography, which can be stressful sometimes but I take very few. I don't advertise, just have website and some word of mouth. I charge anywhere between 1500-3000 ... I just upgraded to a full frame camera for like $300 out of pocket instead of the sticker price of $2400 using coupons and packages and such. I have been doing 10-12 weddings per year.
I've got to the point where I shoot manual ALL THE TIME, and I have devloped my own presets, so, when it comes to edit the pictures I can edit 1 single picture and propagate the settings of the edit to the rest of the pictures. And since I use a lot of the commercial photography concepts, couples freak out when they see their pictures especially the details.
I also am doing educational trips for senior highschoolers along with my wife. The kids at our local highschool were paying 5000-6000 dollars for trip to Europe with a major educational tour company for 7 days. And it didn't even include all meals.
We started doing ourselves, and we charge around 4000 for 10-14 days and with meals. We have been doing only 1 trip per year and we revenue about 75K with costs around 15-20K while still giving the students a way better experience than they would have with the other tour agency. We get to travel for "free" and it doesn't really take THAT long to organize it. I may start doing 2 tours per year because demand is growing in the local HS. Might even branch out to other local HS's.
And not only the travel is "Free" but even our solo travel is tax deductible since we use our own traveling to research potential areas for next year tours.
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I also am doing educational trips for senior highschoolers along with my wife. The kids at our local highschool were paying 5000-6000 dollars for trip to Europe with a major educational tour company for 7 days. And it didn't even include all meals.
We started doing ourselves, and we charge around 4000 for 10-14 days and with meals. We have been doing only 1 trip per year and we revenue about 75K with costs around 15-20K while still giving the students a way better experience than they would have with the other tour agency. We get to travel for "free" and it doesn't really take THAT long to organize it. I may start doing 2 tours per year because demand is growing in the local HS. Might even branch out to other local HS's.
And not only the travel is "Free" but even our solo travel is tax deductible since we use our own traveling to research potential areas for next year tours.
Wow, I commend you on this ingenious idea for a side hustle. For those of us that love to travel, this sounds very intriguing.
But upon further thought, the idea of having to chaperone groups of co-ed teenagers, for weeks at a time, in a foreign country, most of which have more lax drug and alcohol laws, terrifies me. You seem to be making it work though. What do you do for liability/insurance concerns?
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I also am doing educational trips for senior highschoolers along with my wife. The kids at our local highschool were paying 5000-6000 dollars for trip to Europe with a major educational tour company for 7 days. And it didn't even include all meals.
We started doing ourselves, and we charge around 4000 for 10-14 days and with meals. We have been doing only 1 trip per year and we revenue about 75K with costs around 15-20K while still giving the students a way better experience than they would have with the other tour agency. We get to travel for "free" and it doesn't really take THAT long to organize it. I may start doing 2 tours per year because demand is growing in the local HS. Might even branch out to other local HS's.
And not only the travel is "Free" but even our solo travel is tax deductible since we use our own traveling to research potential areas for next year tours.
Wow, I commend you on this ingenious idea for a side hustle. For those of us that love to travel, this sounds very intriguing.
But upon further thought, the idea of having to chaperone groups of co-ed teenagers, for weeks at a time, in a foreign country, most of which have more lax drug and alcohol laws, terrifies me. You seem to be making it work though. What do you do for liability/insurance concerns?
Yes I agree there is some concerns. Of course we have it in a LLC. Insurance wise we have liability insurance for the business and also make sure we use individual insurance per traveler that covers pretty much everything - from cancellation, sickness, liability, etc. It's not expensive at about 60-90 dollars per passenger.
Also my wife is a teacher at said HS, so we kind of run the program as a merit based thing. We invite only students that are "worthy" and are invited by the teachers themselves - so they need to have good GPAs (usually most students are on NHRS, etc). We also have a form for parents for everything, in terms of handling misbehavior or anything that could arise. We ask for example that students are allowed in most european countries to drink, and if they are to drink is only in a "european" manner aka a meal ro something like that. So if parents have any opposition, we mark it and have them signed - so far, all parents allow it. We've taken 45 kids so far and not an issue on anything as of yet. Actually a lot of parents are starting to ask us to organize trips for them as well.
The fact we limit the students where it's not a matter of just signing up but an invitation, might be an obstacle to grow in the future and to keep things in check if we allow other schools to get in I admit, but so far I think we have no sights on expanding other than keeping it at current school. I think it keeps possible liability way lower, to deal with students we know and parents we know, than to venture outside of our sphere of influence.
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Anybody tried Uber Eats, or one of the other food deliveries? I have about an hour or so after work to take something on, and wanted to see if that would be a "rush" time for orders.
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I (slut) out my credit score to help others improve theirs before they purchase something big like a house or vehicle. Its the only income I've ever witnessed for someone with a good credit score get rewarded for being responsible... smh.
I also buy and sell concert tickets, but compare this activity as to something like options/forex trading as there is a lot of politics/demographics/etc. involved.
Currently working on a start-up to connect buyers and sellers for vehicles as well!
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Has anyone tried being one of this electric scooter chargers?
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Refereeing sports. I make $40-$60 per game doing teenage soccer. You can be as casual as a game here and there or as intense as a tournament with 6-8 games per day for 3 days over a holiday weekend. Getting qualified is a matter of completing a weekend course. They're always begging for more refs.
Must have a thick skin and enjoy running about in the park! I tell everyone I can about this side gig because making 45 bucks watching 14 year old girls (they rarely foul each other) have fun outside on a sunny afternoon is like stealing money.
This is really great to know. Refing basketball or something would be fun.
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i wrote an e-book, and on a typical month, i make about $50 from it. the first few months it was out, i made a lot more.
you have to get your [eBook] in front of a bigger audience.
So funny you say this. I was thinking about how much something is read simply by being posted on MMM. I mean, I could start a thread called "dumb thread where I say nothing," and it will be clicked hundreds of times in the week. But I could start my own blog where I prove something scientific, and it will be a wasteland.
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My side hustle won't be for everyone, but it's been great fun for me with much less risk than other jobs in the sex industry: I'm a webcam model! This means that people can tip me during public webcam shows or pay for private shows. I also sell erotic videos and photos online.
This side hustle is much more accessible to and lucrative for women, but men are able to do this kind of work as well. And the good news is that you don't have to be a "traditionally beautiful" person to arouse others--there are so many tastes and interests out there :)
If you look anything like your photo, I can see the attraction. I mean, there are not a lot of purple cloud blobs out there. Add in a great sense of humor, and you're likely killing it!
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Current Side Hustles
Teaching at a college. I make $4800/class, and teach 2-3 classes a year.
eBook Publishing. Very little money has come in. I tried an idea with an eBook for parents to read to babies to help learn numbers, colors, etc. I did no advertising and so the results are not surprising.
Here's an example: https://www.amazon.com/Numbers-20-English-Little-Ones-ebook/dp/B07N423C98/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1564317767&refinements=p_27%3AA.B.+Cee&s=digital-text&sr=1-2&text=A.B.+Cee
I have the same book in about 10 languages.
Past Side Hustles
Drove Uber. I liked driving Uber a lot, but the economics didn't make sense. Good for cash flow today, but lessens the back end life of the vehicle. The cash came in at just the right time. I drove a couple weeks, then the alternator blew. The money I made paid for it.
TextBroker. I wrote hundreds of articles for this site, from 2009-2016. It was there when I needed it, but the pay was excruciatingly low. In 2013 I tried to see if I could replace my job by making $150/day. After 4 hours I did make $75, but was mentally tapped out, and could see that the work was not going to be there for me to even earn that much half the time.
Helping students with term papers. I did this through a site, but sometimes found work on CraigsList. I wouldn't call this tutoring, but it wasn't exactly like editing, either. I made $20-$100 for each paper.
Ad Writing through Boost Media. This gig was a great one. I averaged $3500/month in 2015. The downside was that you had to compete for the work by clicking/claiming the ads one at a time. I was blessed with a knack for being much faster than other people at creating the ads, and with better Internet speed. When the work was there, I could make nearly $100/hour, but it's rare the work was there, and so I'd spend the day repeatedly refreshing the web page hoping ads were loading and I could click/claim it before anyone else.
Collecting cans. In NY, you can get $0.05/can. People put big blue cans on the street once a week, full of cans and bottles, and sometimes bagged, so after midnight I walked around a neighborhood and pulled the bags out to turn in the next day. I also worked on a beach where cans could wash up on the shore. The summer that I did this the most, I might have made an extra $200.
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Has anyone tried being one of this electric scooter chargers?
Did it for a couple of months before we moved to a city that doesn't have them. Competition is fierce.
The company was Lime. You get 4 chargers for free (you pay shipping, though). The pay is something like $3-20 for scooter, but the upper pay tiers are because other "juicers" have been unable to find or unwilling to get the scooter, usually for safety concerns. Most paid $7. Remember, you have to factor in your electric rate. You can also get paid $3 to simply move a scooter to the proper location -- for example, if someone leaves one laying in a yard, you get paid to move it to a proper parking spot, like the nearby bus stop.
I lived between two major parks, 5 schools, a library, and a huge shopping center, so it was a major scooter hub. There was still major competition from other juicers, so there were rarely any available nearby that needed charging when I would check the app. Instead, we made most of our cash on our evening walks, which we started timing to be right after the commute home rush in the neighborhood. We'd run the app and pick up and move scooters to proper parking for $3 a pop. Maybe made $25 -$50 a week just doing that. We only actually charged a few, because we just weren't committed enough to study the app to learn the best times and places to snag scooters for charging.
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Current Side Hustles
Collecting cans. In NY, you can get $0.05/can. People put big blue cans on the street once a week, full of cans and bottles, and sometimes bagged, so after midnight I walked around a neighborhood and pulled the bags out to turn in the next day.
That sounds like stealing.
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Current Side Hustles
Collecting cans. In NY, you can get $0.05/can. People put big blue cans on the street once a week, full of cans and bottles, and sometimes bagged, so after midnight I walked around a neighborhood and pulled the bags out to turn in the next day.
That sounds like stealing.
Not sure why taking someone's trash that they put out for disposal would be stealing? Generally, when people opt to put stuff into municipal recycling cans, they have chosen to forego the opportunity to make money off of the cans and are choosing to let the city dispose of them. Depends on local codes whether it is illegal. Not sure about my current county, but in my last county items put on the curb for garbage/recycling pickup were fair game as long as you didn't enter private property/go over a gate or make a mess.
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Current Side Hustles
Collecting cans. In NY, you can get $0.05/can. People put big blue cans on the street once a week, full of cans and bottles, and sometimes bagged, so after midnight I walked around a neighborhood and pulled the bags out to turn in the next day.
That sounds like stealing.
Not sure why taking someone's trash that they put out for disposal would be stealing? Generally, when people opt to put stuff into municipal recycling cans, they have chosen to forego the opportunity to make money off of the cans and are choosing to let the city dispose of them. Depends on local codes whether it is illegal. Not sure about my current county, but in my last county items put on the curb for garbage/recycling pickup were fair game as long as you didn't enter private property/go over a gate or make a mess.
No, that is correct. The recycling is picked up by a company (or the town) on contract, and they make money by providing the service. I found out after the fact. Probably half the money I made by recycling was gotten in this way.
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Hey y'all, I signed up for Prolific and took a couple of surveys. Does anyone know how long it takes for the submissions to be approved?
NGL, things are a little bit tight right now, and I freely admit to needing $$$.
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Hey y'all, I signed up for Prolific and took a couple of surveys. Does anyone know how long it takes for the submissions to be approved?
It varies a lot because the surveys are all approved by the researchers, who all operate on their own schedule. I've seen anything from minutes to weeks. Most are within a couple of days.
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Hey y'all, I signed up for Prolific and took a couple of surveys. Does anyone know how long it takes for the submissions to be approved?
It varies a lot because the surveys are all approved by the researchers, who all operate on their own schedule. I've seen anything from minutes to weeks. Most are within a couple of days.
That makes sense. Thank you!
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This is not my side hustle but I thought it a good one for the right person/situation and wanted to share. There is a person in my neighborhood who you can contact/pay to put up celebratory signs in your yard. Like HAPPY 40th ANNE! Spelled out, letter by letter. I’m guessing the set up cost isn’t too high (but high enough that customers won’t buy their own) and time and storage needs are fairly low.
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I'm able to bring in $3k+ / month on Fiverr
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I'm able to bring in $3k+ / month on Fiverr
Impressive, fiveroundshootout! What sort of work do you do on that site? Do you have any tips/recommendations for folks getting started there?
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I saw this idea as a side gig and thought it was a great idea! It is painting address numbers at the end of people's driveways with a stencil. In my area I have not seen this done unless perhaps a condo parking lot. Not sure if there are laws about it or not. Seems like a great idea to me. I would like to have the address at the bottom of my driveway. You never know when you might need an ambulance and great for delivery drivers.
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I now only have side hustles, my main activity being to travel/live in my truck camper so my gigs need to fit in my lifestyle. Looking for a free place to camp, some firewood, or a place to shower is also part of this lifestyle.
Side gig #1, my main source of income, doing peer review of various environmental management reports. Remotely, average 10 hours a week of work, 75% reading, 25% commenting and writing my report. My rate is $150 per hour, a steal compared to what other consultants charge. But I have no overhead, my truck (or the beach...) is my office, and I only need internet access for a couple of hours a week to download reports then upload my reviews. This gig keeps me intellectually sharper (I am trying...), and connected to younger folks in my field. I could work much more than that, but why would I, I am 61?
Side hustle #2, from May to October, in a great little remote city in Northern Canada, literally at the end of the road: support worker for people with disabilities with a local non-profit association. Before the beginning of every month, I request the days I want to work. Fun gig, I take peeps out on light outdoor activities, canoeing, hiking, bowling, going to the pool, the movies: $26 per hour having a blast, pretty much like the fun summer camp counsellor jobs we had when we were seventeen. I'll do this until I can no longer do it physically.
Side hustle #3, remote via conference call of no more than a couple of hours, with bi-annual face-to-face meetings: sit as a board member on a regulatory board. Interesting job, we have professional staff who do the leg work, we review their work, say yay or nay, etc. Honorarium is $350 a day, nets me on average $1200 a month, travel and expenses are paid on top of my honorarium.
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I'm able to bring in $3k+ / month on Fiverr
Impressive, fiveroundshootout! What sort of work do you do on that site? Do you have any tips/recommendations for folks getting started there?
Mostly digital marketing and SEO services such as content marketing, backlinks, and e-commerce optimization. My tip would be to create good gig images and videos, and if you want to get a boost get some people to buy and review your service. Fiverr is good at giving new people a chance to shine by bumping them up in the rankings so that is your time to prove yourself when you are first starting out. Fiverr currently makes me more than my full-time job and I get to work when I want, it's been great!
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I sell products on Amazon through the FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) program. A bit more than half of what's sold on Amazon is from third-party sellers like myself, not Amazon itself. FBA lets me ship a box of products into Amazon and they handle all of the shipping to customers - far cheaper than I could on my own.
Currently I'm selling mostly grocery products from local manufacturers. I buy cases at wholesale prices and sell for about 3-4x what I paid. These are items that can be found at a local grocery store but not outside the area because the manufacturer doesn't have nationwide distribution. I can but it for $5 at Walmart, or $4 at wholesale, but people on Amazon will pay $15 for it.
Currently I'm just selling a couple of products from two manufacturers but I net a couple hundred per month. I plan on scaling up as I've found a couple other manufacturers with similar products and potential profit margins.
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Sounds great, Michael in ABQ. How did you get started in this? Just with Kickfurther or some other avenue?
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Sounds great, Michael in ABQ. How did you get started in this? Just with Kickfurther or some other avenue?
Got started with this thread a couple of years ago. https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/entrepreneurship/selling-on-amazon-prime-via-fulfillment-(amazon-fba)-anyone-try-this/
Some things have changed since then. I started out with retail arbitrage. Basically find an item at a local store like Walmart, preferably on clearance. Scan it with the Amazon Seller app on your phone and it will show what it's currently selling for. If there's a large enough profit margin you buy it, stick it in a box, and send it off to Amazon FBA. For instance I found some relatively high-end European brand tanning lotion in a Walmart clearance aisle selling for about $3 a bottle. It was out of stock from the normal seller on Amazon and I was able to see all 7 in a week or two for about $15 each. After shipping and fees I probably made $5-6 for each one.
Since then I took a piece of advice from that thread and identified some local grocery products. I contacted the manufacturers, setup a wholesale account and now I've got a few product that sell consistently 10-30 units per month with each sale netting $2-5 in profit after all fees. My overhead is less than $100 a month for the professional seller account and some accounting software.
Kickfurther is something I heard about on an excellent eCommerce podcast, EcomCrew. Ecommerce is cashflow intensive, especially for most products being produced in China. Typically from first deposit to actually be able to sell a product and get your first payment from Amazon is several months. So if you have $50,000 in product you might double or triple your investment but before you even sell through that production run you need to order more. Kickfurther lets businesses crowdsource funding and they offer very attractive returns with pretty low risk. They've been operating for a few years and they've gotten down to a delinquency rate of about 1%. Typically these businesses offer 5-10% returns for about a 6 month investment, so 10-20% annualized. That's still cheaper than using a factoring service or loans from Amazon or Cabbage or some other online lenders. If you use my referral code we each get $10. https://www.kickfurther.com/buyer-referral/mfzrmqzpff Also, you can use a credit card for funding the purchases so it's a great way to manufacture spending for earning credit card rewards. I've invested about $2,000 on 5-6 different products. Should start getting payouts in January.
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Sounds great, Michael in ABQ. How did you get started in this? Just with Kickfurther or some other avenue?
Got started with this thread a couple of years ago. https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/entrepreneurship/selling-on-amazon-prime-via-fulfillment-(amazon-fba)-anyone-try-this/
Some things have changed since then. I started out with retail arbitrage. Basically find an item at a local store like Walmart, preferably on clearance. Scan it with the Amazon Seller app on your phone and it will show what it's currently selling for. If there's a large enough profit margin you buy it, stick it in a box, and send it off to Amazon FBA. For instance I found some relatively high-end European brand tanning lotion in a Walmart clearance aisle selling for about $3 a bottle. It was out of stock from the normal seller on Amazon and I was able to see all 7 in a week or two for about $15 each. After shipping and fees I probably made $5-6 for each one.
Since then I took a piece of advice from that thread and identified some local grocery products. I contacted the manufacturers, setup a wholesale account and now I've got a few product that sell consistently 10-30 units per month with each sale netting $2-5 in profit after all fees. My overhead is less than $100 a month for the professional seller account and some accounting software.
Kickfurther is something I heard about on an excellent eCommerce podcast, EcomCrew. Ecommerce is cashflow intensive, especially for most products being produced in China. Typically from first deposit to actually be able to sell a product and get your first payment from Amazon is several months. So if you have $50,000 in product you might double or triple your investment but before you even sell through that production run you need to order more. Kickfurther lets businesses crowdsource funding and they offer very attractive returns with pretty low risk. They've been operating for a few years and they've gotten down to a delinquency rate of about 1%. Typically these businesses offer 5-10% returns for about a 6 month investment, so 10-20% annualized. That's still cheaper than using a factoring service or loans from Amazon or Cabbage or some other online lenders. If you use my referral code we each get $10. Invest in inventory for eCommerce businesses with KickFurther and earn 10-20% annualized returns for 4-8 month investments. Use my referral code and we each get $10.
https://www.kickfurther.com/buyer-referral/mfzrmqzpff Also, you can use a credit card for funding the purchases so it's a great way to manufacture spending for earning credit card rewards. I've invested about $2,000 on 5-6 different products. Should start getting payouts in January.
@Michael in ABQ Can I join this and invest with a small amount first? And does it work if I am only an investor and not selling the products myself? Does ik still give the return you mention above?
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Sounds great, Michael in ABQ. How did you get started in this? Just with Kickfurther or some other avenue?
Got started with this thread a couple of years ago. https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/entrepreneurship/selling-on-amazon-prime-via-fulfillment-(amazon-fba)-anyone-try-this/
Some things have changed since then. I started out with retail arbitrage. Basically find an item at a local store like Walmart, preferably on clearance. Scan it with the Amazon Seller app on your phone and it will show what it's currently selling for. If there's a large enough profit margin you buy it, stick it in a box, and send it off to Amazon FBA. For instance I found some relatively high-end European brand tanning lotion in a Walmart clearance aisle selling for about $3 a bottle. It was out of stock from the normal seller on Amazon and I was able to see all 7 in a week or two for about $15 each. After shipping and fees I probably made $5-6 for each one.
Since then I took a piece of advice from that thread and identified some local grocery products. I contacted the manufacturers, setup a wholesale account and now I've got a few product that sell consistently 10-30 units per month with each sale netting $2-5 in profit after all fees. My overhead is less than $100 a month for the professional seller account and some accounting software.
Kickfurther is something I heard about on an excellent eCommerce podcast, EcomCrew. Ecommerce is cashflow intensive, especially for most products being produced in China. Typically from first deposit to actually be able to sell a product and get your first payment from Amazon is several months. So if you have $50,000 in product you might double or triple your investment but before you even sell through that production run you need to order more. Kickfurther lets businesses crowdsource funding and they offer very attractive returns with pretty low risk. They've been operating for a few years and they've gotten down to a delinquency rate of about 1%. Typically these businesses offer 5-10% returns for about a 6 month investment, so 10-20% annualized. That's still cheaper than using a factoring service or loans from Amazon or Cabbage or some other online lenders. If you use my referral code we each get $10. Invest in inventory for eCommerce businesses with KickFurther and earn 10-20% annualized returns for 4-8 month investments. Use my referral code and we each get $10.
https://www.kickfurther.com/buyer-referral/mfzrmqzpff Also, you can use a credit card for funding the purchases so it's a great way to manufacture spending for earning credit card rewards. I've invested about $2,000 on 5-6 different products. Should start getting payouts in January.
@Michael in ABQ Can I join this and invest with a small amount first? And does it work if I am only an investor and not selling the products myself? Does ik still give the return you mention above?
Absolutely. For legal purposes you are purchasing inventory on consignment, not investing directly in the company. When the company raising money sells that product, they pay you back with a pre-specified amount of profit. Each co-op funding is setup a little differently. The minimum investment might be $30 or it might be $800. For instance there is a beauty supply company that is raising money today for buying a hair removal product. The price for one package is $864.99. The profit is $81.69 per package for a return of 9.44% over an expected period of 10.5 months. Some other co-ops I've invested in had prices of $50-200 and timelines of about 5-6 months.
One thing to note is that the supply of investors outweighs the supply of companies raising money. So these typically fund in a couple of hours.
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I've been doing tons of research on this! I recently met a couple who make and sell candles full-time. The wife left a career in Speech Pathology to pursue their candle making business, and I'm guessing they're doing well enough because they've been at for a few years now. It inspired me to learn about craft making as a way to make extra cash. I took a chunky blanket making class for $65 and perfected the skill with some practice and YouTube videos. I found a wholesaler and began selling my products in a local market to test out interest. It's only been 2 weeks, so we will see how it turns out...but it is something I really enjoy. I am also learning how to make candles, body butters, and re-finish furniture as well to see if those might be income opportunities.
I saw that someone mentioned selling books from Goodwill on Amazon a while back. An alternative to this would be purchasing brand new books from the dollar store. I saw a video on Youtube recently of a guy who does this and he does pretty well with this!
I also think print on demand or drop shipping are great opportunities. Apparantly there are plenty of print and demand companies online... you could type VEGAN on a t-shirt in some special font and there are people who will buy it on Etsy and your print on demand company will create and send the item to the buyer without you ever seeing it.
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I've been doing tons of research on this! I recently met a couple who make and sell candles full-time. The wife left a career in Speech Pathology to pursue their candle making business, and I'm guessing they're doing well enough because they've been at for a few years now. It inspired me to learn about craft making as a way to make extra cash. I took a chunky blanket making class for $65 and perfected the skill with some practice and YouTube videos. I found a wholesaler and began selling my products in a local market to test out interest. It's only been 2 weeks, so we will see how it turns out...but it is something I really enjoy. I am also learning how to make candles, body butters, and re-finish furniture as well to see if those might be income opportunities.
I saw that someone mentioned selling books from Goodwill on Amazon a while back. An alternative to this would be purchasing brand new books from the dollar store. I saw a video on Youtube recently of a guy who does this and he does pretty well with this!
I also think print on demand or drop shipping are great opportunities. Apparantly there are plenty of print and demand companies online... you could type VEGAN on a t-shirt in some special font and there are people who will buy it on Etsy and your print on demand company will create and send the item to the buyer without you ever seeing it.
Very cool. Please post a link. Maybe I'll get one as my Secret Santa gift at work.
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Today I had my first mushroom picking course for a company on their yearly social day. I gave a presentation and then we went looking for mushrooms in the forest. It was fun to do and nice weather. I got very positive feedback and can us them as a later reference. I also sold one bag of dried mushrooms that I have prepared as a next sidegig.
Your mushroom picking stories make me smile every time. I'd love to do (and learn how to do) something like this. I went once in Bosnia with my boyfriend at the time and his aunt and uncle. We had to clear each mushroom with his uncle, who knew what was what. We also weren't allowed to go without his uncle because he knew where the land mine free areas were. I didn't find any good ones (or land mines) but I had a lovely day hiking in the mountains.
Thanks, it is nice to walk in a forest, especially one without hidden landmines.
If you want to learn, my advice is to start with a thin beginner's book and try to learn a few species per year. Start with boletes, which are reasonably safe, in Norway at least.
I hunt hunt for mushrooms in the United States. There are people who lead mushroom hunts and charge for it, I usually hear them called “mushroom forays”.
In the past I have traded mushrooms for produce, I have thought about selling to local restaurants but have always been too busy.
I have also seen mushrooms for sale on Craigslist, but I have not done it myself.
There are lots of online resources / groups for hunting mushrooms. I am far from an expert, there are some deadly mushrooms, and some that will make you sick, the edible ones I hunt really can’t be confused with anything else.
The main edible ones here are (and not necessarily their scientific names) hen of the woods, chicken of the woods, hericium, morels, oyster mushrooms, lobster mushrooms (interesting because it’s actually a parasitic fungi that grows on an inedible mushroom, making it edible), lactarius indigo (not so much for its flavor as for its blue color), young dryads saddle (a polypore), chanterelles (I usually pass on because of bugs).
There are more but those are the easily identifiable ones, the boletes I tried are the only mushrooms to cause indigestion, and I haven’t learned the edible ones from the inedible ones by heart so I don’t pick them. I listed out the identifiable ones hopefully to show there are probably more edible mushrooms than most people are aware of. Some of the mushrooms can weigh several pounds, and they often grown in the same spot each year, so that makes it easier to collect them once you find the right spots.
I mostly just like walking through the woods, going off the path and exploring the sights. I have collected dozens of old glass bottles from old dump sites, I have sold some for a dollar each, the antique market isn’t so great anymore, so it’s more of just a hobby to see what kinda of interesting things I can find.
I imagine leading the mushroom hunts would be the most profit for least time, I am not that much of a people person though.
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Today I had my first mushroom picking course for a company on their yearly social day. I gave a presentation and then we went looking for mushrooms in the forest. It was fun to do and nice weather. I got very positive feedback and can us them as a later reference. I also sold one bag of dried mushrooms that I have prepared as a next sidegig.
Your mushroom picking stories make me smile every time. I'd love to do (and learn how to do) something like this. I went once in Bosnia with my boyfriend at the time and his aunt and uncle. We had to clear each mushroom with his uncle, who knew what was what. We also weren't allowed to go without his uncle because he knew where the land mine free areas were. I didn't find any good ones (or land mines) but I had a lovely day hiking in the mountains.
Thanks, it is nice to walk in a forest, especially one without hidden landmines.
If you want to learn, my advice is to start with a thin beginner's book and try to learn a few species per year. Start with boletes, which are reasonably safe, in Norway at least.
I hunt hunt for mushrooms in the United States. There are people who lead mushroom hunts and charge for it, I usually hear them called “mushroom forays”.
In the past I have traded mushrooms for produce, I have thought about selling to local restaurants but have always been too busy.
I have also seen mushrooms for sale on Craigslist, but I have not done it myself.
There are lots of online resources / groups for hunting mushrooms. I am far from an expert, there are some deadly mushrooms, and some that will make you sick, the edible ones I hunt really can’t be confused with anything else.
The main edible ones here are (and not necessarily their scientific names) hen of the woods, chicken of the woods, hericium, morels, oyster mushrooms, lobster mushrooms (interesting because it’s actually a parasitic fungi that grows on an inedible mushroom, making it edible), lactarius indigo (not so much for its flavor as for its blue color), young dryads saddle (a polypore), chanterelles (I usually pass on because of bugs).
There are more but those are the easily identifiable ones, the boletes I tried are the only mushrooms to cause indigestion, and I haven’t learned the edible ones from the inedible ones by heart so I don’t pick them. I listed out the identifiable ones hopefully to show there are probably more edible mushrooms than most people are aware of. Some of the mushrooms can weigh several pounds, and they often grown in the same spot each year, so that makes it easier to collect them once you find the right spots.
I mostly just like walking through the woods, going off the path and exploring the sights. I have collected dozens of old glass bottles from old dump sites, I have sold some for a dollar each, the antique market isn’t so great anymore, so it’s more of just a hobby to see what kinda of interesting things I can find.
I imagine leading the mushroom hunts would be the most profit for least time, I am not that much of a people person though.
Strange that you pass chantarelles for the bugs. In Norway the cantharellus cibarius is one of the most popular edible ones, especially because it doesn't have bugs.
I have a friend who owns a catering company and is cook, and approved for being good on mushrooms. He picks commercially and sells to restaurants, as well as using it in their own catering.
I put some mushrooms for sale on our equivalent of graig's list, but ended up selling it for half the price to a friend. I didn't get any strangers to buy there. It is not worth the hassle.
I also have another friend who has written a mushroom cookbook with her own artsy pictures. That is a way of making at least some money.
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I love seeing these side gig ideas from people doing it. I dont think I've ever had an original idea in my life so my side gig is pretty boring. I own some rental property and manage it myself. Brings in 1100/mo.
Finding and acquiring good deals is a part time job. Managing rentals isn't so time consuming so long as you screen correctly.
When I retire, (about 9 years) I'm getting my homebuilders license reinstated. I was a homebuilder before the 2008 crash. After learning some hard lessons, i think i can be more successful the second time around.
I see people doing consulting work. I feel like there is some type of consulting work i could do given my skillset and training. I have a masters in cyber security and 11 years as a fed. Not sure how one becomes a consultant.
I did a research project on internet anonymity and criminality. Maybe I could post something like that on udemy or fiverr or something in a more educational format.
I've also thought about writing an ebook on personal finance geared toward a niche market.
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I sell products on Amazon through the FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) program. A bit more than half of what's sold on Amazon is from third-party sellers like myself, not Amazon itself. FBA lets me ship a box of products into Amazon and they handle all of the shipping to customers - far cheaper than I could on my own.
Currently I'm selling mostly grocery products from local manufacturers. I buy cases at wholesale prices and sell for about 3-4x what I paid. These are items that can be found at a local grocery store but not outside the area because the manufacturer doesn't have nationwide distribution. I can but it for $5 at Walmart, or $4 at wholesale, but people on Amazon will pay $15 for it.
Currently I'm just selling a couple of products from two manufacturers but I net a couple hundred per month. I plan on scaling up as I've found a couple other manufacturers with similar products and potential profit margins.
I am always hesitant to sell anything like food or anything that could possible be used to injure someone for fear of being sued. How do you insure yourself against this?
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I sell products on Amazon through the FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) program. A bit more than half of what's sold on Amazon is from third-party sellers like myself, not Amazon itself. FBA lets me ship a box of products into Amazon and they handle all of the shipping to customers - far cheaper than I could on my own.
Currently I'm selling mostly grocery products from local manufacturers. I buy cases at wholesale prices and sell for about 3-4x what I paid. These are items that can be found at a local grocery store but not outside the area because the manufacturer doesn't have nationwide distribution. I can but it for $5 at Walmart, or $4 at wholesale, but people on Amazon will pay $15 for it.
Currently I'm just selling a couple of products from two manufacturers but I net a couple hundred per month. I plan on scaling up as I've found a couple other manufacturers with similar products and potential profit margins.
I am always hesitant to sell anything like food or anything that could possible be used to injure someone for fear of being sued. How do you insure yourself against this?
Right now I'm mainly selling things like spices. Pretty hard for someone to get sick or injured from that. Plus, I'm getting it directly from the manufacturers and they have shelf lives of 2-5 years. If something did happen I imagine they would look to the multi-million dollar manufacturer with deep pockets, or the billion dollar company with deep pockets, rather than the sole proprietor whom most buyers don't even realize exists. They just assume they're buying a product from Amazon.
If this ramps up to the point where my sales hit six figures I'll probably add an insurance policy and change my structure to an LLC. At the moment though, the risk is not worth the extra cost and effort.
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I edit academic papers. I've got a MPA and I'm a native English speaker. It's satisfying. It scratches the itch of wanting to start my own small business, and the itch of wanting to write and edit.
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I edit academic papers. I've got a MPA and I'm a native English speaker. It's satisfying. It scratches the itch of wanting to start my own small business, and the itch of wanting to write and edit.
How did you get started doing that? Also, is it something that you need an MPA for, or can anyone with an advanced degree (and published history) do it?
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I edit academic papers. I've got a MPA and I'm a native English speaker. It's satisfying. It scratches the itch of wanting to start my own small business, and the itch of wanting to write and edit.
How did you get started doing that? Also, is it something that you need an MPA for, or can anyone with an advanced degree (and published history) do it?
@BuffaloStache sorry, didn't see your reply.
I got started when some friends started asking me to take a look at their papers, and another friend paid me $150 to edit her book. I started advertising here and there and got a few customers.
Having a Master's means I know the anatomy of a research paper, and I have some exposure to MLA and APA citations. I know you use simple past tense in the literature review to talk about current research, but use present tense in the results section. I know there are times when you write out the number seven, and times you use the numeral. I know there's stuff I don't know about how other fields write and present their research, and I know to look stuff up.
So yeah, I'd say having a Master's is important. It's not the be all and end all, but it certainly helps.
Some of my clients are ESL. Some of them put their papers through a translation bot. I can hear some of you groaning as you read this. Being able to figure out what they were trying to say, keeping a record of what I can't puzzle out, keeping the client up to date and asking them questions so they get a good edit, that's also important.
I go through each paper a couple of times and track the changes I make. My customers get a clean copy, and a copy with the changes so they can see what I changed and what I didn't.
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This woman thought she found a way to make money. Guess it didn't work out for her.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/woman-cut-off-hand-insurance-payout
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I found this thread recently and just finished reading through it. There's so many great ideas - thanks to everyone who posted.
I don't have much to add since my side gig is pretty standard. I do freelance consulting, mainly building/maintaining websites, doing email marketing, and creating or enhancing Excel templates (including VBA macros).
I am surprised to see this thread go dormant and since it's been a while, I thought it was worth bumping to see if there are any new contributors. Given the pandemic and the shift to WFH, I gotta imagine there are plenty of people with some new ideas. Let's hear 'em :)
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I did some tech consulting on the side for about a year - last month they offered me a staff position (which landed me a 44% raise!). :)
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I work as a developmental editor or substantial editor for a couple of publishers on the side. I also provide accreditation renewal consulting for several small, private liberal arts universities.
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Used to do e-commerce (https://goodmoneygoodlife.com/why-e-commerce-is-the-best-side-hustle/) until unfortunate things happened w/ my business partner. I think it's still a good way to go for a lot of folks that don't have a ton of specialization already.
Nowadays, I mostly focus on coding up bots to do arbitrage.
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I did some tech consulting on the side for about a year - last month they offered me a staff position (which landed me a 44% raise!). :)
I retired for 3 years and then went back to the corporate world with 52% raise from my last corp job. Since I am still relatively young and no financial dependency on the job, I don't mind working for a few years so I consider it as my side gig.
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I do Mystery Shopping. I contract with companies to go in and experience their product and then tell them how it went.
For instance, tonight I had Mexican food on the beach here in the Seattle area. I clocked when servers brought food, when I ordered it, how the service was, the cleanliness and the food quality. In exchange, I get a great meal and $10-20 each time.
Another good one is that I will fill out loan applications using predetermined information to capture interest rates. It usually scares people away because it is financial but it doesn't do a hard pull on your credit and nets me $250 every three months.
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Another good one is that I will fill out loan applications using predetermined information to capture interest rates. It usually scares people away because it is financial but it doesn't do a hard pull on your credit and nets me $250 every three months.
Can you elaborate on this a bit please?
My first thought was that you were basically swapping Credit Cards, as many of them have bonuses to use them for awhile.
But you mentioned instead that you were doing so to capture what are I assume lower interest rates.
Not sure how that would consistently work or get you $250 every 3 months.
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Can you elaborate on this a bit please?
Yeah, sure thing. So, I do churn credit cards and bank account bonuses but that is different.
Instead, I work with a company that wants to know their competitors' rates so I go in and check with a specific income/debt ratio they provide. I stop before they do a hard pull but they give the rates. It usually nets me about $250/quarter. It is pretty sweet.
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Last year I started a side hustle. I sell 3D printed items and also 3D print custom orders for people through Etsy. Another chunk of my side income last year was designing Peloton accessories for a friends Amazon store, although I doubt that continues much this year (everything launched last year). Will be working with him to find new products to go after!
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I was doing arbitrage sports betting for a while... before I moved to a different state. It's a guaranteed win as you're playing errors in the odds on one event... not the even outcome. Nice side cash and I wish I could do it where I currently live.
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I was doing arbitrage sports betting for a while... before I moved to a different state. It's a guaranteed win as you're playing errors in the odds on one event... not the even outcome. Nice side cash and I wish I could do it where I currently live.
Just keep in mind from the point of view of the IRS if you win $5,000 on one bet but lose $4,500 on a matching bet - you still have $5,000 in income to report - not $500. You can only deduct the losses if you're a professional gambler.
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I'm FIREd, so all I have now is side gigs. Not interested in full-time employment at this point.
#1. I do photography mostly as a hobby. I've made some money selling canvas of my prints and I've got a gig teaching a basic photography class that looks like it will continue with other topics like photo processing.
#2. This summer I'll be a TA making almost nothing for an online course taught by the Naval War College. In December, I'll get my own cohort and for about 4 hours a week of work on blackboard, I'll make about $22K a year.
There are two purposes to the war college gig: First is to keep me connected in some way to the service. Second is to give me income that "counts" to be able to continue contributing to my Roth IRA. I discovered after I retired that neither my military pension income or my VA disability income counts for purposes of contributing to an IRA.
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I have an e-commerce store and I’ve just started to get some orders. Everything is automated, so it isn’t a lot of work, perhaps 5 hours a week. So very excited about where it can go.
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I have used "scrap" wood (good quality hardwood) to make chunky puzzles for kids on the jigsaw.
Also, I've sewn teddy bears and toys made from natural fabrics (using goodwill/second-hand 100% cotton, silk, or wool shirts as my fabric source). Sewing dolls and doll clothes.
Converting wedding gowns into baptism gowns... (sort of stressful!)
Making baby blankets (sewn or crochet).
I really need to find time to do this all again. I love making stuff!
I have found the Waldorf groups buy this kind of stuff up like crazy, as long as it's all natural fibers. Probably not a high hourly rate, but I love turning nothing into something. I made enough profit to cover Christmas gifts for my kids and family each year I crafted. I have been too busy the last couple of years, but hope to start again!
I was thinking of teaching a community class on how to crochet.... I don't know how much money it would make, but I think it would be worth a shot and force me to do some socializing!
I'm an accountant, so these types of things are good therapy to balance my stress of monthly reports, audits, and year-end/1099 season :)
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Is there a magical formula for what is a decent side gig should pay or provide in positive vibes? I make
roughly $150K per year base rate and I’m considering a side gig that will pay me $25/hour to start.
I have an interview tomorrow! In theory I would meet cool and intellectually stimulating people from an arts community. I am not even remotely interested in spending any more hours at my regular gig as I already do OT there.
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Is there a magical formula for what is a decent side gig should pay or provide in positive vibes? I make
roughly $150K per year base rate and I’m considering a side gig that will pay me $25/hour to start.
I have an interview tomorrow! In theory I would meet cool and intellectually stimulating people from an arts community. I am not even remotely interested in spending any more hours at my regular gig as I already do OT there.
It depends on what you're looking for. Since your priority sounds like meeting intellectually stimulating people from an arts community, focus on how much interaction you would have with other people and what the atmosphere of the side gig workplace is like. If you're not in it mainly to make money, then try to get a side gig you would be happy doing even if they paid you pennies (or nothing). Then just do your job, be friendly, and avoid taking on additional responsibilities at both gigs like the plague.
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This woman thought she found a way to make money. Guess it didn't work out for her.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/ (https://www.foxnews.com/world/woman-cut-off-hand-insurance-payout)woman (https://www.umbrellastar.com/sarah-alkhoury/)-cut-off-hand-insurance-payout (https://www.foxnews.com/world/woman-cut-off-hand-insurance-payout)
Oh boy, what a dead end in her head could make her do that...
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Loretta, I've pondered this myself. I'll occasionally do related professional side things like market studies, tutoring, etc. I charge double my salary rate for that. I also do side things for fun like fixit stuff, making things etc. I charge half my salary rate for that. I do really like my job, and while I like my hobbies more, I think I'd find them stressful if I had to get so efficient to equal my corporate pay, and while I don't really enjoy the professional side things, double my time feels like enough incentive to do them.
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I usually do some kind of content site and make money off the ads, easy but time-consuming. Here is the latest one https://www.cryptofireside.com/ (by the time you read this, it may no longer be mine as it's for sale at the moment).
I also used to do this thing where I would search for lost dogs with my trained scent dog, want to get back into it and yes I charged money for it.
Bonus: my 65-year-old mother who couldn't even use email or a smartphone a couple of years ago is now a retired-part-time eBay hustler. I think they call it arbitrage. She buys stuff from GumTree which is like Craigslist and re-sells on eBay. Keeps her busy and she makes up to $500 a week.
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Is there a magical formula for what is a decent side gig should pay or provide in positive vibes? I make
roughly $150K per year base rate and I’m considering a side gig that will pay me $25/hour to start.
I have an interview tomorrow! In theory I would meet cool and intellectually stimulating people from an arts community. I am not even remotely interested in spending any more hours at my regular gig as I already do OT there.
I generally don't do any side hustle work that I wouldn't do for free, unless it's a side hustle that I'm building to sustain as part of a multiple part time income stream system.
But if I already have full time work and enough money coming in, I'll be very picky about what something ads to my life. However, I'm not picky about trying things. I'll try just about anything, but I'm very quick to leave if it's not adding to my overall quality of life.
My usual rate of pay is over $100/hr, but I've done fun side hustle work for as little as minimum wage. I just agreed to do some lectures for my old program for basically pennies, but only because they wouldn't allow me to do it for free because it would set a bad precedent for all of the other lecturers who are trying to get fairly paid for their work.
Right now I have a part time job, not a "side hustle" because I don't have a main job, I'm a grad student again starting over in a new profession, so my bar for my part time job is fairly low. It has to pay at least $30/hr and has to be fun and easy.
This job adds very little to my quality of life, and if I wasn't being paid, I wouldn't do it. I learn nothing, it doesn't meaningfully expand my network, I'm not going to make good friends from it, it won't benefit my long term career goals. It is fun though, so it's not like it costs me anything, but it is in the evenings, which is a huge concession because my spouse works days, but it's only a few evenings a week, and historically I've always had volunteer work that ate up my evenings.
I chose it because of how easy it is and how flexible it is. I have multiple major surgeries coming up over the next few years and none of my old side hustles or jobs options allow me to disappear for 6-12 weeks at a time in an unpredictable fashion over the course of multiple years. It's kind of miraculous that I found a single decent job that would! So I had to give it a try. It's been a few weeks, I'm still undecided if I'll stick with it.
The job is moderating corporate zoom meetings, which mostly means condo corporation meetings and other non profits that are run by volunteers who don't necessarily have the skills to run zoom meetings. I was the president of my condo board, so this is the kind of thing I did for free.
Let me correct myself though, it does provide me some minor career skills. I was already a very experienced meeting chair/moderator, but I'm not a tech person at all, and the job has made me very comfortable and adept at quickly managing technical difficulties with zoom. My future career (clinical counsellor) may well involve zoom sessions, so this could help me down the line.
All in all, why not try it? Just be very willing to walk away if it doesn't add a substantial net benefit to your life.
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I'm thinking of taking a shot at a new printables idea for Etsy sales. I've never sold on Etsy but I recently bought a certain printable for ... $2? $3? And the shop had thousands of sales. And I am certain I could make even better ones.
I used to dog sit a lot for $30-$60 per day, but I got really tired of staying in other people's houses once I got an actually nice apartment LOL.
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Is there a magical formula for what is a decent side gig should pay or provide in positive vibes? I make
roughly $150K per year base rate and I’m considering a side gig that will pay me $25/hour to start.
I have an interview tomorrow! In theory I would meet cool and intellectually stimulating people from an arts community. I am not even remotely interested in spending any more hours at my regular gig as I already do OT there.
I generally don't do any side hustle work that I wouldn't do for free, unless it's a side hustle that I'm building to sustain as part of a multiple part time income stream system.
But if I already have full time work and enough money coming in, I'll be very picky about what something ads to my life. However, I'm not picky about trying things. I'll try just about anything, but I'm very quick to leave if it's not adding to my overall quality of life.
My usual rate of pay is over $100/hr, but I've done fun side hustle work for as little as minimum wage. I just agreed to do some lectures for my old program for basically pennies, but only because they wouldn't allow me to do it for free because it would set a bad precedent for all of the other lecturers who are trying to get fairly paid for their work.
Right now I have a part time job, not a "side hustle" because I don't have a main job, I'm a grad student again starting over in a new profession, so my bar for my part time job is fairly low. It has to pay at least $30/hr and has to be fun and easy.
This job adds very little to my quality of life, and if I wasn't being paid, I wouldn't do it. I learn nothing, it doesn't meaningfully expand my network, I'm not going to make good friends from it, it won't benefit my long term career goals. It is fun though, so it's not like it costs me anything, but it is in the evenings, which is a huge concession because my spouse works days, but it's only a few evenings a week, and historically I've always had volunteer work that ate up my evenings.
I chose it because of how easy it is and how flexible it is. I have multiple major surgeries coming up over the next few years and none of my old side hustles or jobs options allow me to disappear for 6-12 weeks at a time in an unpredictable fashion over the course of multiple years. It's kind of miraculous that I found a single decent job that would! So I had to give it a try. It's been a few weeks, I'm still undecided if I'll stick with it.
The job is moderating corporate zoom meetings, which mostly means condo corporation meetings and other non profits that are run by volunteers who don't necessarily have the skills to run zoom meetings. I was the president of my condo board, so this is the kind of thing I did for free.
Let me correct myself though, it does provide me some minor career skills. I was already a very experienced meeting chair/moderator, but I'm not a tech person at all, and the job has made me very comfortable and adept at quickly managing technical difficulties with zoom. My future career (clinical counsellor) may well involve zoom sessions, so this could help me down the line.
All in all, why not try it? Just be very willing to walk away if it doesn't add a substantial net benefit to your life.
In all the things that I was imagining you might do in the evening for $30 an hour that were fun, moderating strata meetings was not among them.
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In all the things that I was imagining you might do in the evening for $30 an hour that were fun, moderating strata meetings was not among them.
But the post you quoted specifically says I didn't do it for fun, that it was fairly boring and I wouldn't do it if I wasn't being paid. Someone asked for an example of a "decent" side gig that would pay $25/hr, so I gave an example of a very decent, very easy job that paid more than that.
Also, I obviously *do* find running strata meetings fun or else I wouldn't have volunteered to do it for free as president. But I enjoy wrangling large groups of hostile people. In fact, handling angry, aggressive people is one of my favourite things to do, I find it very entertaining.
But the moderating job was more dull because I had no stakes, it wasn't *my* building, and no one was yelling *at* me. So yeah, it was pretty dull, and I was only doing it because I was being paid and I had wanted to try having a part time job at the time.
I was pretty amazed at how much I could get paid for so little effort though. I didn't stick with it for very long because I had surgery and ended up with much more interesting shit to do like spending a year relearning how to walk, but for the few months I did it, it was the easiest money I've ever made.
Hence a great example of an easy side hustle in the pay range that was asked for.
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I wish I found wrangling hostile people entertaining instead of terrifying! I had a big learning edge with just learning to politely and firmly shut down people who were off topic and wasting time.
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I wish I found wrangling hostile people entertaining instead of terrifying! I had a big learning edge with just learning to politely and firmly shut down people who were off topic and wasting time.
True, being very comfortable with hostility is rare, but it is learnable. I've coached countless professionals to get comfortable with hostility and open conflict. Not being terrified of social interactions is pretty liberating.
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I wish I found wrangling hostile people entertaining instead of terrifying! I had a big learning edge with just learning to politely and firmly shut down people who were off topic and wasting time.
True, being very comfortable with hostility is rare, but it is learnable. I've coached countless professionals to get comfortable with hostility and open conflict. Not being terrified of social interactions is pretty liberating.
Is there a resource you would recommend studying to improve this skill or general ideas on it?
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I wish I found wrangling hostile people entertaining instead of terrifying! I had a big learning edge with just learning to politely and firmly shut down people who were off topic and wasting time.
True, being very comfortable with hostility is rare, but it is learnable. I've coached countless professionals to get comfortable with hostility and open conflict. Not being terrified of social interactions is pretty liberating.
Is there a resource you would recommend studying to improve this skill or general ideas on it?
Not that I'm aware of, it was work I did personally with clients. It's largely about cultivating the belief that being liked and being respected are very different things, and that conflict is a necessary element of respect.
I also leaned heavily on behavioural experiments, helping people identify low-stakes situations where they could experiment with encouraging conflict rather than avoiding it and seeing what happens.
It usually doesn't take much to flip someone from being terrified of conflict to welcoming it.
A lot of this comes down to people-pleasing behaviours, so any resources that address that would likely be useful.
We're conditioned at a young age to believe that someone being mad at us is "bad" and reflects poorly on our behaviour, and we carry this belief through into our adult relationships.
When really, our parents or teachers getting mad at us was actually them caring about what we were doing. So if you modify the meaning of aggression away from judgement of us to someone expressing that they care deeply about something, it stops being about us and starts being about them.
What do they care so much about that they're getting angry?? What role and responsibility do we have for that anger?
If someone is angry in my direction and I do legitimately hold some responsibility for why and for solving it, that's great, that means I can actually do something about it.
If I don't hold any responsibility for causing or fixing what the person is caring deeply about, then it's just not my problem. My only job it to determine if I need to make that clear or just let the person do their angry thing and ignore them.
The key is to understand that hostility and aggression only reflect on you as a person when they come from someone who cares deeply about you and whose judgement about who you are matters to you.
Otherwise it's just a strong opinion someone holds. You get to decide how relevant that opinion is to you.
Also, the most important thing is that you can't stop people from being angry at you. People are angry at you regularly because all humans are incredibly annoying to someone. There's no amount of people-pleasing a person can engage in to stop people from being angry at them.
People who express that anger can be managed, people who silently, politely fume can't be. Angry people are asking you to help them feel better about their anger. Polite fumers just fucking hate you silently and wish you harm.
I'll take a yeller any day.
I can pretty much guarantee that I can get to a good place of mutual respect with a yeller. To get to that place with a silent fumer, I actually have to push them into open conflict to diffuse their rage.
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I would have thought that someone must have mentioned this on the thread, but I can't seem to find a link. Just in case:
Selling Tradelines / Piggybacking Part II: $1000+/hr, 20-40k/yr. Side Gig
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/selling-tradelines-piggybacking-part-ii-$1000hr-20-40kyr-side-gig/ (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/selling-tradelines-piggybacking-part-ii-$1000hr-20-40kyr-side-gig/)