How to Make Another Income With Side Hustles!

At the start of the year, I shared my goals in this post and have since been sharing updates on how much I’ve made on the side each month, doing things anyone can do.

In April, I said I was going to scale back and focus more on my business rather than side hustles. All the side hustle amounts shared below and in posts are separate to my business and other work income. This year so far I’ve made $14,641.34 from side hustles!

January – $3,200.17

Clinical trials for a condition I have, Airbnb, bank account bonuses, selling things online and online surveys were the ways I made money on the side in January. I seriously scaled back the selling things online this year, as a conscious choice. Last year when I was focused, I made over $10,000 and you can find out how here.

February – $3,833.37

I forgot to post an update in February. Going over my finances I can see I made this much from Airbnb, Cash Rewards, selling things online, a few online surveys and doing something for a friend.

March – $4,005

Through the same methods used in January plus returning a couple of trolleys on my way to the shops.

April – $1,600.70

Selling things on the side while switching my focus to be more on my business was where the $1,600.70 came from. However, this month I also spent it all on various things as it was my birthday month and my kid went on a school holiday camp at the last minute.

May – I doubled my business income.

As mentioned, my focus moved more to my business and less on side hustles. My business income doubled and I did pick up an extra passive income stream. Renting my garage through Spacer at $191.75 a month, ongoing. I don’t have to do anything for it, I get paid each month and someone keeps their Mercedes in my parking spot.

June $851.15

A low month for side hustles, but also a low effort from me. My business has increased again this month, which is where my focus will remain. You can see below what I did this month and future plans.

Selling things online: $395

Last year I actively bought things to resell, mainly rockabilly clothing, specific camera gear, camping gear and certain things I knew would sell really well. I started making over $10,000 a month doing it. This year, I had other plans so the stuff I sold this month was purely in preparation for moving. An Ikea trolley, crutches, lamps, clothes and a few homeware items.

Spacer: $190.75

Last month was my first month renting my garage through Spacer and it’s continued this month. It’s super easy because it’s all done through the website, other than giving my tenant a remote to our garage, there is nothing I’ve had to do. Spacer direct debit the amount from him and deposit it into my account.

Referral bonuses – $180

While I make money from affiliates and referrals on this site, these ones were directly through friends and family using my codes after asking for them. It includes ING, Uber and Car Next Door. Check all the apps you use and see which ones have referral offers then share them with your friends and family.

I have a full list of freebies here, a list of apps you can make money with here and another list of apps you can save money with here. Some of the things mentioned in those posts have refer a friend programs too.

Found 15c

Ok, not technically a side hustle, but I find it amusing to see how much we find on the ground or in random trolleys like the other month. 15cents isn’t huge but my kids were excited to put it into our holiday tin for later this year. Every cent counts!

Cash Rewards – $91.71

This was a combination of my own shopping where I activated Cash Rewards and got some cash back plus a couple of family members using the referral code. If you want to get cash back on all your online shopping, sign up free here.

Bonus savings – $53 value

Again, I don’t make money from this, but it does save us money. This month we were accepted into the Woolworths Bunch program which I wanted to test for you all before posting about it. I am also getting another Black Box, which is a box of new goodies to try for free. There are more ways to get free and super cheap groceries here.

Get your first box free with HelloFresh.

Get up to $180 off EveryPlate, split across your first 5 boxes with the code THRIFTYEPLATE.

Get up to $144 off Dinnerly (49% off your first order, then 30% off the next two.) Marley Spoon offers up to $190 off 4 orders! That’s 53% off your first order, and 20% off your next three.

Online Surveys – $23.54

You can find a full list of the best online survey sites for Australians here. This month I tested a bunch of apps, some new online survey sites and this is how much I got from the few things I did. It’s not a lot, however, I was offered over $500 worth of online surveys and mystery shopping gigs within 2 weeks, so if I had wanted there was ample opportunity. Find the apps to make money here and apps to save money here.

Plans for July

It’s a new financial year, which I love and set new goals for. With July, my focus is less on side hustles and more on business and personal life. We plan to move soon and have been looking at homes so I am selling off lots of our things. My garage will remain rented out until we move then in our new home I’ll rent out that garage since I don’t have a car.

Passive Profit

Specifically, I have a new goal for an amount I want as passive profit, not just income. The difference being, income is before tax and expenses for most people. Profit is what you have left after all of that. By focusing on more passive streams, it gives me the freedom I want.

I don’t want to share the exact amount but will share how I do it later plus what works best for me etc.

Reduce expenses

I found almost $5,000 worth of savings in my annual financial review. With our move and a change in lifestyle, I’ll need to review this again shortly and am always looking for ways to make and save money.

Lifestyle changes

Moving house, 3 holidays and going to the gym each day are a few of the lifestyle changes we are making. My kids and I sat down, worked out what we wanted including their extracurricular activities, travel we want to do (The Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest are in September with Uluru in April), what we want in our home etc. It requires significant changes, but we’re excited to do it.

Travel, moving house, new furnishings, gym membership and other activities all cost money, but to me, they are investments in ourselves which is important. By having a budget, telling our money where to go, I’ll achieve my goal of financial freedom.