You already have your 9-5 job. You work hard and like what you do but you just aren’t where you want to be financially. You aren’t making much of a dent towards your student loans or your savings is almost non existent. Maybe you should think about a side hustle to help you reach your financial goals quicker. I am always excited anytime we can get extra money in our family bank account. I have heard before that absolutely everyone should have a side hustle with a way to earn extra money. I run with a really hard core gang of moms that have young kids. Most of the moms do not work outside of the home and most of them have a side hustle besides taking care of the kiddos to bring some money in. It is best to make a list of what you are interested in. A side hustle needs to keep your attention about something you enjoy because it is technically done in your free time. When looking for a side hustle that will work for you and your situation, make sure to keep in mind schedule and earning potential. The schedule of your side hustle will need to work around your main job and earning potential is big because you want to know how much you can make. I wanted to share some ideas of side hustles you can do to improve your financial situations while still working your regular job.
Sell your crafts on Etsy
Have you ever been on Etsy? If not, do yourself a favor and go check it out. It is a website marketplace that sells handcrafted items. I particularly love this website because I love the look of handcrafted items but have zero creativity or crafting skills myself. I have bought several things on Etsy including jewelry and hand knitted dog sweaters that I could never made myself. In case you are wondering bulldog bodies are hard to buy dog clothes off the rack, they usually require a specific fit. Once you have an idea of items you want to sell, you open an Etsy store online and list your items with prices and pictures. Once your item sells, you accept payment from your customer and ship it out. Of course Etsy will take a portion of your sale as well as a listing fee. Selling on Etsy is a good side hustle because you can tap into your creative juices to make items to sell as well as being able to do it in your free time.
Blog
Do you have an interest you are passionate about? Why not blog about it and make money? Blogging is a great side hustle because it can truly be done in your free time and you can work on it at your own pace. Blogging also requires no supplies besides a computer and an idea to get started. Blog topics are endless! You can write about parenting, cooking, personal finance or anything that interests you and you have experience with. One of the most common ways bloggers get paid is by ads. Many bloggers place banner ads on their sites that they hope their readers will click on. You get paid based on reader clicks. You can also get paid for blogging by affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is the process of earning compensation by promoting other company’s products. For example, you are writing a blog on cooking and a company that makes pots and pans asks you to write about their pan, if people buy that pan based on your blog, you will get a portion of that sale.
Uber/Lyft
Gone are the days of looking up a cab company in the phone book and calling them for a ride. Most people now use a ride sharing app to get around. Do you have a reliable car and want to use it to make some side hustle money? Uber or Lyft could be an option if you want to transport people. The concept for Uber and Lyft is pretty simple after you have gone through training and been accepted as a driver. All you do is log in to to the app with your location and wait to be requested for a ride, take the rider to their location and repeat for as long as you want. You are paid based on a percentage of the miles driven providing rides. Uber and Lyft are very flexible and you can make yourself available or unavailable based on your schedule. I used to work with someone that had a pretty lengthy commute to and from work. He would turn on his Uber app before he left home and work for the day and see if he could pick up a rider that was going in the same direction he was already going. I found this genius!
Uber Eats
What about if you don’t like the idea of strangers in your car? Instead of delivering riders, you can deliver food! Uber Eats is similar to Uber and Lyft except it is food you are giving a ride to. The customer orders food from the app and the driver picks up and delivers the food from local restaurants. You get paid based on the the delivery charge and are often tipped.
The ideas for a side hustle are endless! We love to hear from you, please comment below with that side hustle you are working on to make extra money.
