Side Hustles | Side Gigs That Are Affordable to Start & Not a Waste of Your Time – EP 24

Extra jobs, gigs, supplemental income, passive income – however you want to define – we’re all talking the same thing: side hustles. While it’s not necessary to have a side hustle to be frugal, they can certainly help in the “debt-pay-off-and-other-financial-goals” journey! In this episode we look at the most (and least) lucrative side hustles, discuss realistic expectations, things to consider when taking on extra work, and our own experiences with side hustles. Having more money would be great, but how do we do this with the least amount of time investment, and the highest financial return? Listen in!

Sponsors:

  • CookSmarts: Not an official sponsor, but we like them! It’s a meal planning service that provides recipes, instructions, weekend prep options, and a shopping list for 4 meals per week, with dietary adjustments to meet your needs. They are offering 3 free weeks of meal plans if you sign up at frugalfriendspodcast.com/cs
  • Time Management: We all only get 24 hours in a day, but planning how to spend those hours is the difference between getting nothing done and getting something done. It’s the best way to feel accomplished – and make room for that amazing side hustle! Time management. If you didn’t learn it when you were 10, try it now!

Notable Notes:

  • What the Internet has to say:
    • This article from Market Watch gives the most (and least) lucrative side hustles. Complete with charts, and visuals it is easy to see what jobs require the least amount of work for the biggest financial pay-off.
  • What Jen and Jill have to say:
    • We agree with selling/renting property as the most lucrative side-hustle. Jen has had great success with renting a room in her home on Airbnb, it is not a big time commitment but provides a great payoff!
    • Selling crafts is so labor intensive, with such low financial return that you might as well get a part time job at Trader Joe’s instead
    • Biggest key is ENJOYING your side hustle
    • A few resources for getting your feet wet with a side hustle include:
      • TaskRabbit allows users to advertise skills like building furniture or moving boxes
      • Fiverr connects people with freelance work such as resume writing or translation starting at $5 per job
      • Wag! is for dog-walkers and takes a cut of the fee pet owners pay
  • More from the Internet
    • This article from Side Hustle Nation lists a comprehensive 99 side hustle ideas. Most do not apply to your average person, but we like side hustle nation, so we thought we would give them a shout out.
  • More from Jen and Jill
    • Nearly nothing on this list is applicable to our lives, but it does get our creative juices going!
    • Selling on amazon – personal story of the pitfalls, but can be a worthwhile side hustle!
    • Teaching english – can be a legitimate way to earn money

BILL OF THE WEEK – If you want to submit your bill of the week visit frugalfriendspodcast.com/bill to leave us a bill

  • Thank you Jen for your bill of the week! This was literally one of the most adorable things Jill has heard in her life. She could barely contain herself.

Our side hustle experience:

  • Jen -airbnb, amazon – selling t-shirts, self publishing, online data entry
  • Jill – custom furniture, painting, cleaning, bartending/serving private events, DJ-ing, flips of vehicles, yard sales (online and in person)
    • There is a difference between one-time hustle and on-going hustle – apparently Jill prefers the sporadic hustle!

Things to Consider with a Side Hustle:

This article from the luxe strategist outlines some great questions to ask yourself when thinking about starting a side hustle, including:

  • Can you do your day job outside of your day job? Meaning could your area of expertise also become your side hustle?
  • What do you do for fun? Could you make money with something you enjoy?
  • What are you good at? Do you notice people coming to you for assistance in a particular area?
  • What are some problems you or people you know have had to solve? Think through the needs you have seen and whether there is a market for a service you might provide

Frugal Friends Book Club

We are reading “Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez in the month of October

  • We are giving away 1 book for every 5 reviews we get this month! So if you want a free copy of November’s book: The More of Less by Joshua Becker 
  • To enter, leave us a review on your podcast listening device (not just itunes) screenshot the review and send it to frugalfriendspodcast@gmail.com
  • We’ll select the winners for this book at the end of the day October 31st.

Thank you so much for hanging out with us today! Hit the subscribe button wherever you’re listening to this episode and we’ll come at you every Friday with more frugal goodness. Until next week!

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