In this day and age of rising costs and hidden expenses, who wouldn’t want a little extra cash to help them to cover the bills, or enjoy life a little more? These daily demands are just some of the reasons why so many are opting for a little side hustle – and with so many options available to you, by the time you finish reading this article, you’ll probably be kicking yourself for not starting sooner. Without further ado, let’s dive in and take a look at a selection of side jobs that could earn you a little extra cash and have you living more comfortably in next to no time, as long as you don’t mind making the effort.
What is a Side Hustle?
First things first, a side hustle is a type of job that you undertake outside of your main source of income. Let’s imagine that by day, you work at a bar or a restaurant, slaving away to earn your pay cheque, but at night, you find yourself with a little free time to stare at a TV screen, or scroll through Instagram. That’s where side hustles step into the spotlight. By learning a new skill, or by taking advantage of something that you already have a firm understanding of, you could turn your free time into extra cash.
1 – Take It Online
From YouTube and Twitch, right through to running your very own blog, the internet plays host to an estimated 5 billion people as of the start of 2023. That’s a pretty big audience, and although you might not attract all of them, you only need a tiny percentage to pay attention to what you’re doing and you could turn that visibility into a cash flow. Take YouTube for example. By building an audience, you could eventually upgrade and monetise your channel, which will promote products and services via ads, and you’ll get a small cut of each advert viewed based on the time that your viewer spends watching them.
2 – Affiliate Marketing
You’ll likely notice that we didn’t cover details about blogging above, and that’s because it’s actually much better suited to affiliate marketing than many expect. As with a dedicated website, you could create content on a topic that you know, develop an audience and then begin to introduce them to the types of products that appeal to you, complete with their own affiliate link, which when clicked and purchased from, will give you a percentage of the sale for your hard work. Even smaller sites can make extra pocket money, with larger ones making 4, 5 and even 6 figures for their owners each year.
3 – Freelance Work
Let’s imagine that you have a particular skill when it comes to design, writing, artwork, or any type of creative activity. Now imagine that instead of giving your talent away as gifts, you actually charge for your hard work. That’s a side hustle and by taking on a little freelance work, you could quickly find your client base growing, and your bank balance improving. Depending on what you want to do, you could find platforms online to help you to promote your services, and as you’ll be working on a freelance basis, you won’t have to give up your day job, unless of course your talent takes off and earns you enough to go full-time.
4 – Stocks and Shares
For a side-hustle, why not look into the stock market and see if you could invest, trade and then profit? There are so many tutorials and guides online to help you to get started, and if you’re strategic, you could find yourself turning a small investment into a healthy return, and the more experience you get, the better the results could be. Remember trading can be risky, only invest what you can afford to lose and focus on increasing your skillset.
5 – Food Delivery
With big brands like Foody, Wolt and many others constantly looking for cyclists and motorcycle riders to help to meet the demand for deliveries, is it any wonder why more and more people are turning to this option as a side hustle? The great thing is that if you don’t have a driving license but can ride a bike, you won’t be left out in the dark, and if you do have a license, you’ll be able to enjoy darting around safely from home to home dropping off meals, while you add to your income.
The great thing about a side hustle is that it does exactly what its name might suggest – it’s a hustle or a job that you can enjoy on the side, without detracting from your usual activities and responsibilities. You’ll be able to work around your schedule, fit your side job in whenever you can, and best of all, you’ll be getting paid for your time and effort in the process. There are even some people that opt for more than one side hustle and those that do get to enjoy even more earning potential, so why not weigh up your options and see what you can come up with?