6 Side Hustles and a Random Bonus for January

A few years ago, I closely tracked my side hustles and shared how much I made each month. Right now, I am 38 weeks pregnant with my 4th biological child (I have 2 teens and a 1 year old already plus an almost 8 year old stepdaughter) so I am limited with what I can do.

Below I share the different ways I made money on the side in January, excluding my blogging income (e.g. ads, eBooks, sponsored content etc.) even though those are side gigs too.

Disclosure, this post does contain affiliate links to products and services I use.

Bonus: You can get $100 Free with ING

If you open an everyday account by 31 March 2022 and use the code CNW116 you can get $100! Once you open the account, have $1,000+ deposited in there such as your pay this month plus have 5 settled transactions by the 31st March 2022. PLUS open a Savings Maximiser and make a deposit. It’s that easy!

You won’t get the bonus $100 unless you add the code CNW116 in the promo box when joining.

I have been with ING for almost a decade and they’ve been great.

Freelance Writing: $900

I used to do a lot more writing, in 2020 that changed with travel not being as prominent and having a difficult pregnancy. So now it is a side hustle I enjoy and only take on projects I find easy and fun.

Check out how to become a freelance writer for more on that.

Image of woman sitting down on wooden chair, back to us, facing the ocean with phone in hand and laptop in front of her. Text reads how I made $2,296.66 on the side in January

Bank Referrals: $155

2 of the banks I use have an ongoing sign up offers for free. One is 86 400 which offers new members $20 after they sign up with the code S7VL6WF and use their card 3 times.

Up offers $5 instantly when you sign up here.

As a result, I received $155 in bank referral bonus money in January.

Cryptocurrency: $570

It’s highly volatile and something I do more for fun than fully investing. I’ve enjoyed it, although I am not sure everyone can handle the ups and downs of it as it is more intense than the stock market.

Due to someone mentioning something I wrote for another site in a Facebook group, I got a surge of referrals resulting in $570 worth of Bitcoin through CoinSpot. This was unexpected but welcomed.

You can get $10 free Bitcoin when you join here and invest $10 as well.

Online Surveys $570.50

Online surveys are typically pretty easy plus many of the programs include referral bonuses. My favourites are:

Octopus Group: They are the highest paying in Australia and I get the most from them compared to others. You can join free here or read my full review, both good and bad here.

Prize Rebel: Payment is in USD and you can cash out small amounts straight to PayPal. Join PrizeRebel for free here.

Swagbucks: Offering a variety of ways to both earn points and cash out, Swagbucks is an easy one for me. You can join Swagbucks for free here and read how to make the most of Swagbucks here.

Pureprofile: I have a love/hate relationship with them. Usually, I get screened out, their payment terms are the worst out of all the online survey sites and customer service is terrible. But many readers love it so I have persisted with them.

With PureProfile you can only cash out $70 every 60 days and it takes up to 30 days to get paid. Compared to Octopus Group pay weekly, PrizeRebel pay instantly or Swagbucks usually only take 2 to 3 days.

Cashback: $71.96

I use cash back programs for all my purchases and I keep an eye out for the special offers to make the most of it. This month I cashed out from both CashRewards (my personal favourite) and Shopback. Both are free to join and if you use them, you get a bonus $20 too.

Other Cashback Programs

Your first step needs to be getting the apps and Chrome extensions installed. They can notify you when you are on a site eligible for cash back and how much you will get. The ones I use are:

CashRewards: By far my favourite as it usually has the highest cash back offer, the payments are processed easily and customer services has been good.

Simply join CashRewards for free, activate it when you see the cash back offer and get a bonus $20 cash back with your first purchase over $20.

Shopback: Works the same as CashRewards. You can only activate and use one so I compare to see which one is offering me a better deal. Join Shopback for free and get a bonus after your first purchase through them too.

Kickback: Similar to the others, Kickback is free to join and offers a variety of discounts and cash back on your purchases. Join Kickback and start saving money.

Honey: Slightly different, Honey offers cash back but also scans for discounts and coupon codes. Join Honey for free here.

Swagbucks: Best known as an online survey site, they also have a cash back program with the cash being awarded in points you accrue and cash out. Join free here.

ReceiptJar: This is for after your purchase is final. Upload your receipt and get points. Once you reach 1,000 points you can get a gift card. Join free with the code KYLIT3QH2 and get a bonus 200 points when you upload your first receipt.

Cash in Cans $16.60

These were mostly from Christmas and from our walks. I try to go for a walk every day and without fail will find 1 to 5 cans or bottles thrown on the ground. At the bottom of my pram I keep a bag specifically for this.

For the rest of the year, we plan to simply keep them all and cash it all in at once. Well, that’s what my kids want to do.

Gambling $12.60

I hesitate to put this here as I do NOT condone gambling and it wasn’t intentional. We found an old lotto ticket from July 2021 and a scratchie from a Christmas gift totalling $12.60.

I repeat gambling is NOT something I would do. I am including it as it was extra cash we got.

Plans for February

Since I will be giving birth in February, I don’t have huge plans. It will be whatever I can manage.

I’ve pulled out everything we have to sell and plan to list it asap. Previously, when I bought stuff to resell, I made over $10,000 in a month! I have a friend more involved in deceased estates with a trailer who is willing to team up if I want to after birth too.

With a newborn, toddler, 2 teens and no other help in the house (he is in another state working), it’s a juggle. I’m not setting lofty goals for February but if an opportunity comes up, I’ll take it.