Side Hustles

[ellipses84]

Just curious if anyone has a successful side hustle. If so, what is it and what % of your income does it bring in?

I have a million ideas and the artistic talent to turn it into a side hustle, but my regular career takes up all my time. My dad was the king of get rich quick schemes that never pan out so I’m always leery of any social media side hustle success stories.

[jinkies]

Not sure that this is helpful, but my H used to scrap metal as a side hustle, with the caveat that he installed HVAC and his company did not have a scrapping program. So he had access to a lot of metal from his job that would otherwise be thrown out, and would usually spend a couple Saturdays a month separating it by type and taking to the scrapyard. I don't know how closely he tracked it, but I'd say he probably made somewhere in the $5k-7k range/year on it (maybe more? Idk. A lot depended on current market price for copper since that was the most lucrative metal).

He now works for a municipal authority, and he and my son have a side hustle mowing the lawns at both H's and my son's work. They are insured and had to buy a zero turn mower and trailer, so mostly broke even the first year. But since then they make probably around $12k/year?

I always thought the best side hustles would be for niche items for our kids' activities. For example, after the first year we sold Girl Scout cookies, I realized that we needed better organization than what the scouts provide. I found people online who created really cute printables for order forms, thank you tags, etc, and happily paid for them. I thought it was genius for the people who create them!

My son is now into civil air patrol, which has a mandatory camp that has a TON of packing requirements that are overwhelming. I actually looked into the feasibility of setting up a drop shipping site that would allow parents to buy a "cap camp package" of everything they needed it one swoop. It ended up being more complicated than I had realized, but I still maintain that there is money to be made if I can figure out a way to make things easier for civil air patrol parents to help their kids acquire everything they need and meet all their requirements.

[sadlebred]

I run a website for a H&F hobby I am into, but it doesn't significantly contribute to my income. In a good year, I make a couple hundred bucks. I put a lot of time into it, but it's also a labor of love. If I didn't have major health problems I'd probably work a 2nd job at night and on the weekends.

[chpmnk1015]

Not side hustle per se.. but my kids ref and it's mostly a lot of adults who have regular jobs.. but depending on the position they are reffing they get between 50 to 95 per game

[Poppy]

Depending on your regular work schedule, I think running before or after school activities could be decent income. Our elementary schools bring in 3rd party companies to run enrichment programs.

I feel like crafting type stuff is very labor intensive and people don't want to pay a lot for it, so it's a very challenging to actually make money with it. If you can sell digital goods, it might be tenable.

[noodleoo]

The people I know who have side hustles do it because it’s a passion, not for the money.

My sister started sewing and selling baby clothes when she had her kids. She loves to sew and got a lot of compliments on the stuff she made her kids, so she started doing craft fairs and an Etsy site. Now she’s moved on from baby stuff to purses, home decor and earrings. She’s very crafty and loves it. I don’t know how much money she makes but she enjoys it and she said the income goes right back into the hobby.

My H has a side business as a wedding/event videographer. He has been doing it for 20 years in various degrees. He minored in video production in college and wishes he could quit his real job and do it full time, but it never made sense financially for us. He makes good money doing it, but most of it goes back into buying very expensive camera equipment. He has had to cut back how many jobs he does while our kids are young, but I expect he will ramp back up again when they are older.

[janegold]

We run two seasonal AirBnB units (well, I say "we" but it is mostly just my H doing the day to day management). The income we get from them makes up about 10% of our overall income. We have a mortgage on one unit and we had big expenses this year on the other, so all of the proceeds this year are going back into the business.

[ellipses84]

This really was just a nosy curiosity question. I feel like most things must not pay off when you factor in expenses and a decent hourly wage or it takes a huge investment of time and/or money to get started.

I know one person who became insanely successful from an Etsy shop and now has their own website / expanded product line. They worked extremely hard but were also really lucky and had the right connections. I know quite a few who have done all right but got really burned out turning a hobby they enjoyed into a money making side hustle.

Friends who’ve done things like uber said it helped with immediate cash flow but just kicked things down the road and wasn't really worth it when you consider taxes, gas and car maintenance.

[tacokick]

I have made a solid part time income doing social media for local businesses. It takes very little time and effort and I charge a monthly flat rate to schedule a month of posts and do basic monitoring.

I don’t think most side hustles that require making a physical product unless it is very basic or farmed out (like designing stickers or pins that are produced by a third party) are very profitable. Or anything where you are relying on tips or other people.

[brooklyn]

I’m a sahm but make about $1k a month dog walking/boarding.

[lizlemon19]

Therapy is my side hustle. I do it very part time. I used to waitress.

Where you said you are artistic- I know someone who gets paid by grocery stores and restaurants to make nice chalkboard designs.

Anything related to kid birthday parties can be a good. Airbrush tattoo, paint parties, face painting, music.

[melmel4854]

I do dog walking weekly. I walk the same dog 4 days a week. It is not a ton of $$ but it helps, and I use it towards my car payment.

[dr.girlfriend]

Nov 3, 2023 11:02:52 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

Just curious if anyone has a successful side hustle. If so, what is it and what % of your income does it bring in?

I have a million ideas and the artistic talent to turn it into a side hustle, but my regular career takes up all my time. My dad was the king of get rich quick schemes that never pan out so I’m always leery of any social media side hustle success stories.

Not my side hustle, but I've paid several online artists to do portraits.  I have a few of my kid at different ages, and one of my husband.  I absolutely love them.  Sometimes I'm familiar with the artist's work already but other times I have just taken a chance based on a few examples of current works.  IDK how much income you're looking to generate, but my impression is the timing is usually flexible and people take on as many commissions as they feel able to handle so it's not a constant grind. 

[waverly]

My H has a rental business. There is a large upfront cost but we make about $900 on one and we sold a unprofitable property for another one that will make about $800 per month.

I don’t know that percent of income is helpful here because everyone’s regular job is different amounts. But I think making 1700 a month is not bad.

[sadlebred]

Side hustle: You could also do something like retail work. Might not be the most $$, but jobs like the grocery store are really flexible with hours. Working as a server or bartender, too.

[sent]

Nov 16, 2023 20:58:41 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Side hustle: You could also do something like retail work. Might not be the most $$, but jobs like the grocery store are really flexible with hours. Working as a server or bartender, too.

Sometimes I fantasize about working at Whole Foods doing the order shopping. Or working at the local pizza place delivering the pizzas. Something physical just 10 hours a week or less to bring in a little paycheck with my name on it. 

Otherwise I have a million ideas swirling in my head for side hustles but 1) need to get on top of my main hustle first 2) not sure how to pursue or price clients for side hustle. It would be a consulting gig utilizing the random industry-specific knowledge I have. I'd love to write a blog also related to the consulting. 

One of my teacher friends works at a brewery. It looks like a fun side hustle. She tried to start an essay editing service and found the brewery paid way more. 

[wildrice]

I adjunct at a local private college, which I don't recommend if you actually need money but does bring in a little extra cash. It's about $3300 a course.

I am looking into becoming a travel "advisor", which is kind of like a travel agent but not quite as full service from what I understand. I'll see how it goes. I am not willing to do a ton of stressful work for more money - we are lucky to have enough to be able to avoid that - but I think it might be kind of fun and it would be nice to bring in a little extra money that I can then put back into travel for myself. I have a Zoom call scheduled in a couple of weeks to learn more.

[niq]

A friend quit her office job to make her group fitness instructor side hustle into her full time work. Right now she runs classes at Soulcycle and Solidcore (lagree/pilates). I think she does maybe 8 classes total per week?

Before she quit, she was doing 2 classes during the week and 1 on weekends.

[red]

I am staying home a few years due to little ones… I bring in a few hundred a month writing continuing/study questions and answering surveys on Prolific (mainly surveys from doctoral students). It’s like 4% of what I used to make. Lol. But I have an 18-month-old and 4-year-old and can’t commit to a “real” job until they are in daycare/school. We focus more on budgeting the hell out of everything. You either need to make more or spend less, so whichever is more enjoyable. :-)

[fryjack2]

Nov 25, 2023 22:10:24 GMT -5 red said:

I am staying home a few years due to little ones… I bring in a few hundred a month writing continuing/study questions and answering surveys on Prolific (mainly surveys from doctoral students). It’s like 4% of what I used to make. Lol. But I have an 18-month-old and 4-year-old and can’t commit to a “real” job until they are in daycare/school. We focus more on budgeting the hell out of everything. You either need to make more or spend less, so whichever is more enjoyable. :-)

How many hours do you do this per week?  This actually sounds fun and like something I would enjoy for fun