14 Ways We Made Money and Generated $33,277.57 on the Side in 12 Months!

Originally posted in January 2019

In 2018, we changed what we were doing and focused less on side hustles but if an opportunity came up, we went with it.

In 2017, we focused on buying things to resell and managed to generate $10,000 in a month. 

2018 was more about my business, passive and sustainable income.

Our main income comes from our businesses, however, a variety of side gigs generated $33,277.57 in 12 months.

Note: If you like free money, check out how to get a $100 cash bonus from ING, $15 from Up Bank or have a look at the full list of freebies, offers and discounts for every state.

Note that there are affiliate links to the products and services we made money from. Read the full disclosure here. 

Monthly Updates

Each month, we shared how much we made and how we made it so you could do it as well.

To make it easier, you can use trackers such as these to see how much you are making and saving and stay focused.

In January, we made $3,200.17, February we forgot to do a post but made $3,833.37 and in March we made $4,005.

April saw us make $1,600.70 (then spend it all), May we chose to focus on my business and managed to double my income and add another income stream. June was slower at only $851.15. July was $1,881.96 and August was $6,862.62.

September was a wipeout due to life and we didn’t realise there was no update.

$3,062.40 was made in October and $6,413.40 made in November.

Lastly, December we made $1,566.80 despite travelling half the month.

How we Made Money on the Side

It is amazing how many ways there are to make money now.

When we first started making money online and on the side, blogging was our first idea (read how tp make money blogging and how to set one up here).

Followed by online surveys (these ones are the best), freelance writing and everything else went from there. Here are all the things we did on the side for 2018.

Airbnb/Renting out a Room

When we lived in the city, we rented our entire apartment when we went away.

Now we live in a house in the suburbs and have others living with us.

This is a super simple way to make extra cash if you have space.

With our apartment, we made $1,300 in 5 days at Christmas 2017 alone! In 2018, Iwe moved house and didn’t do it as much but still made $2,263.47. 

Sign up free as a host or try it first as a traveller and this post with tips for making money with Airbnb and this post for tips on renting a room to a boarder.

Medical Testing

At the end of 2017, the opportunity arose to test medicine for a medical condition and get paid for it.

They have medical trials all the time and we wanted to check this out as an option for you as well. We wrote about it here.

The trial Iwedid started in 2017 and finished in 2018 but was paid in instalments. So the 2018 part was $3,550.

Bank and Referral Bonuses Plus Loyalty Programs

Bank bonuses, referral bonuses and loyalty programs cashed out made me a decent amount of money in 2018.

Referral and affiliate income from The Thrifty Issue is separate from this.

The amount here is just from people we know personally.

Selling Things

In 2017, we focused on selling things and made almost $3,000 in the first month then over $8,000 in the third and over $10,000 by the fourth.

We knew in 2018 we were going to be travelling more, moving house and it wasn’t practical to do a lot of buying/selling.

Yet we still managed to make over $5,000 doing it!

Online Surveys

We don’t do online surveys much but we do test them regularly to make sure the ones we recommend here do pay, are accurate regarding how long they take etc.

Most people who do these ones that we know personally make $2,000 to $5,000 a year with them.

Trolleys

Random little cash was included in my tally.

Last year, we lived near Woolworths and trolleys were regularly dumped near us.

We’d take them back when we were going to Woolworths if they had money in them, as we were going that way anyway.

Market Research

You can easily make $100+ an hour with market research.

Find out more about market research here.

Paperwork

Have you consolidated your superannuation, checked for lost money and filed all paperwork correctly?

We had a few we were putting off and when we finally got around to it, we had a lot of money we were unaware of.

It was a nice surprise.

Money Found

Without actively looking for lost money, we happen to find coins here and there in the street.

Whenever we find a wallet or similar, we hand it straight to the police.

Random coins in the street are ours though.

Gift Cards

Not including presents, these gift cards were from other sources and pleasant surprises.

You can get gift cards for doing a variety of things, including online surveys.

Spacer

Renting out my garage worked well in the city. We didn’t use it as we didn’t have a car and this was money we didn’t think about.

A man stored his car there, Spacer collected the money and it rolled over from month to month.

The only reason it stopped was because we moved.

We’ve got a few friends who are now renting out their garages too.

Cash Back

Admittedly, we bought new beds and mattresses so the cash back was slightly higher than most might get.

However, ensuring we use the app or the Chrome tab with all purchases meant we got over $600 back from things we had to buy anyway.

Shopback: Join Shopback for free and get a bonus after your first purchase. Get even more cash by doing online surveys, joining challenges, uploading receipts and utilising upsized cash back offers.

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.

Bonus freelance writing

We do freelance writing regularly but these articles were separate to that and done differently. Not for regular clients and not through the business. You can find out more about freelance writing here.

Random

There are so many ways to make money and towards the end of last year, we made an extra $968 in random ways. Check out 43 ways to make money as a single mum for ideas.

For more ways to make and save money follow us on social media:

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