Author Topic: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!  (Read 509446 times)

randersonnw

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #350 on: December 12, 2014, 11:53:48 AM »
Got inspired by this topic this morning, what do you think of the ad?
http://spokane.craigslist.org/pas/4802278777.html

Spiffsome

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #351 on: December 12, 2014, 11:00:00 PM »
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. 

Rekon

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #352 on: December 12, 2014, 11:46:10 PM »
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. 
 

bzzzt

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #353 on: December 16, 2014, 07:54:57 PM »
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.

girly mustache

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #354 on: December 22, 2014, 12:05:53 PM »
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..

Newtonium

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #355 on: December 29, 2014, 08:00:41 PM »
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/

Andrew

JLee

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #356 on: December 30, 2014, 06:57:12 AM »
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).

midweststache

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #357 on: December 30, 2014, 07:04:59 AM »
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!

FeynmanFan

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #358 on: December 30, 2014, 07:24:32 AM »
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.


Newtonium

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #359 on: December 30, 2014, 08:24:50 AM »
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.

thedayisbrave

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #360 on: December 30, 2014, 09:57:54 AM »
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.

Knapptyme

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #361 on: December 30, 2014, 10:47:23 PM »
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.

rodrigojds

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #362 on: January 01, 2015, 05:29:16 PM »
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:-)

MikeBear

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #363 on: January 01, 2015, 05:38:15 PM »
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.

lielec11

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #364 on: January 06, 2015, 09:13:52 AM »
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?

nawhite

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #365 on: January 06, 2015, 09:47:19 AM »
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.

Kris

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #366 on: January 06, 2015, 09:53:29 AM »
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.

minority_finance_mo

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #367 on: January 06, 2015, 09:57:13 AM »
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.)

lielec11

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #368 on: January 06, 2015, 10:16:42 AM »
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?

Cookie78

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #369 on: January 06, 2015, 10:22:09 AM »
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.

MandalayVA

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #370 on: January 06, 2015, 11:12:12 AM »
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.

greaper007

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #371 on: January 06, 2015, 11:55:35 AM »
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.

nawhite

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #372 on: January 06, 2015, 01:35:46 PM »
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.

lielec11

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #373 on: January 06, 2015, 01:48:57 PM »
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.

metastache

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #374 on: January 06, 2015, 03:18:58 PM »
I teach at a local college one night per week, and I'm fixing up a spare bedroom to host international students.

Kris

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #375 on: January 06, 2015, 03:22:39 PM »
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.

Kris

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #376 on: January 06, 2015, 03:25:51 PM »
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.

Ziggurat

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #377 on: January 06, 2015, 03:47:09 PM »
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?


Kris

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #378 on: January 06, 2015, 03:55:10 PM »
Sure, if someone wants to start a new thread on this topic, I'm more than willing to share what I know.

firelight

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #379 on: January 06, 2015, 04:16:43 PM »
I'd be interested too.... I've written some but nothing novel length and am looking to move into it.

Megma

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #380 on: January 12, 2015, 01:54:38 PM »
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!

Ascotillion

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #381 on: January 12, 2015, 09:00:24 PM »
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!

cavewoman

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #382 on: January 13, 2015, 01:57:16 PM »
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!

11ducks

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #383 on: January 16, 2015, 01:29:56 AM »
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 :)

ColorOfCash

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #384 on: January 16, 2015, 05:46:55 AM »
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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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #385 on: January 16, 2015, 10:54:45 AM »
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.

babysnowbyrd

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #386 on: January 16, 2015, 01:43:17 PM »
I rent out my basement apartment on Airbnb. It requires maybe 20 hours of work per month (cleaning, communicating with guests, etc.). It brings in about 1,800 per month in income, some of which is used to cover elevated utility costs, paper product costs, etc. Still a pretty profitable side gig, and we've also met a lot of cool people too.

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

What is Airbnb?

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

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.

KidneyMD

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #387 on: January 19, 2015, 09:39:22 AM »
Do you need to report this side income for tax purposes if it exceeds a particular amount?

babysnowbyrd

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #388 on: January 19, 2015, 11:26:27 AM »
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

gaja

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #389 on: January 19, 2015, 12:06:28 PM »
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, 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. 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.

NoraLenderbee

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #390 on: January 19, 2015, 12:26:00 PM »
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.

cashstasherat23

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #391 on: January 28, 2015, 01:18:39 PM »
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!


jackiechiles2

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #392 on: February 03, 2015, 08:06:33 AM »
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.

Medeine

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #393 on: February 15, 2015, 07:29:32 PM »
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!

Exhale

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #394 on: February 15, 2015, 07:42:47 PM »
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)!

Exhale

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #395 on: February 15, 2015, 08:20:19 PM »
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

Stash Engineer

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #396 on: February 15, 2015, 11:03:57 PM »
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. 

Gone Fishing

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #397 on: February 19, 2015, 01:22:35 PM »
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!

shotgunwilly

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #398 on: February 19, 2015, 02:32:13 PM »
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?

Full Beard

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Re: Who has a side gig/job that brings in extra cash?? Share with us!
« Reply #399 on: February 19, 2015, 06:41:48 PM »
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.