Hi OZB community
I am after some ideas to earn some extra income each week. I am only thinking $100 per week and would ideally like something that is flexible as I have 2 children under 3.
I have thought about doing some bar work on weekends but I would prefer something more flexible that I could do throughout the week.
I look forward to hearing your suggestions
Cheers
Benny
Try to do something you either enjoy or will learn new things doing, maybe something your kids can be involved in too. Some random suggestions not knowing anything about you:
- worm farming (hear me out), get a set up where you breed the live worms and sell them for people wanting to establish their own farms, (they are $30 for 500 worms at Bunnings)
- furniture restoration, get stuff cheaply do it up (paint, upholster etc), when I’ve sold my own projects like this they sell really well
- disability support worker, there’s a bit of a gig economy for this e.g. kynd
- some sort of small scale produce e.g. growing finger limes or micro greens and selling to local restaurants
- propagate and sell plants (not sure on the regulations with this one)
- teach or tutor something (depending what your skills/quals are)
- make videos of kids toys (no need to include faces) try to get enough subscribers to monetise.
For all of these you’ll need to develop knowledge of the areas, and for disability work there are various level of qualifications, but some roles require minimal, just the various checks.
That is great advice. I have been selling seedlings and fresh produce that I have grown but this can be pretty slow and the margins are pretty small unless I did it on a major scale.
I do have a work farm and have always thought about selling the worms and castings.
Thanks again !
Create a YouTube channel teaching people how to effectively grow your own produce in your backyard garden. There is a channel called 'Self-sufficient me' and he has made many videos on garden tips.
There's no such thing as "enough" cash. When you get the extra $100/week, you're going to wish you had more.
Like others have said, your time is better spent with your kids while they're young.
I don't know what you do now for a job, but assuming you're on a salary that is within the 30% marginal tax rate, you just need to ask for a $7K payrise to net that extra $100/week.
The $100/wk should also be assessable income, so only need a $5k payrise (assuming OP wants to be above board).
All of the ideas proposed will have expenses and there is risk it won't make the money expected, so the deductions are probably worth making it legit?
I work 2 jobs, fulltime 45 hr weeks and 3 hour shifts as a casual nightfiller at woolworths $34/hr. So far i have netted an extra 7.5k in the last 6 months averaging around 12 hours a week.
Not a bad flexible side hussle to help repayments on my mortgage.
Slaving away while the bank owns you and one accident will cause it to come tumbling down.
Although i agree 'work can feel like modern slavery' to some extent.
I feel like in Australia we have adopted the mentality that 38 hours a week is full time and that is 'enough' and should be enough and perhaps it 'should be but in most cases It simply isnt in the modern world where property prices are high, taxes are high, cost of living is high - if you follow the crowd and earn the median income in Australia ~63k then in most major cities you cannot expect to own a home let alone live a comfortable life-style.
It all depends on what you want out of life but imho if the money is there to be made then make it - i have kids so these days i draw the line on weekends i refuse to work and ensure that is 'family' time but during the week i got no issue doing 12 hours days if the money is there to be made. - it prob depends on what industry you are in, i got a few mates that work commercial trades and without the weekend OT penalty rates money they would never got ahead or at least go into their family home.
I do understand that working extra 'sucks' for most people but the avg standard of living is declining in Australia but if you do what the average does then you need to start expecting less in regards to life style with the way things are heading…
38 hours a week is far too much in this day and age. It is not healthy or sustainable to work your guts out 5 days a week for 40 years in a miserable job. I want to see us fully embrace the gig economy, and the government should step in, abolish Centrelink and provide a UBI in its place. Give everyone a living wage, and free up time and ability for people to start businesses or do gig work to supplement. Work sucks, but when you work on your own as your own boss there is great satisfaction and lifestyle benefits to be had. I know I couldn't handle working full time for somebody else. There's plenty of opportunity to make money and have a flexible lifestyle nowadays, but it's the ever increasing cost of rent, groceries, housing etc that is strangling people. Something needs to change.
@nubzy: I dont actually disagree with some of what your are saying but im going to 'play devils advocate' for a moment -
I would like a UBI over centerlink as i think the current means tested system doesnt work and a social security system should be for EVERYONE regardless of being rich/middle class or poor i dont like this idea of 'those who need it most' it should be 'for those who fall on hard times' - I think we have become a country in which the system that looks after the top 1% and the bottom 5% but completely neglect the remaining 94% of people.
however a liveable wage UBI probably wouldnt work if the recent COVID payments are anything to go by all that will happen is people wont want to work 'low paying jobs' thus your Coles/Woolworths/Bunnings/Officeworks etc will need to pay more $$$ to attract workers resulting in 'higher' costs of living - thus making the 'set' liveable wage 'unlive-able' very quickly.
@Trying2SaveABuck: Problem is capitalism relies on the exploitation of the underclass. People ( those with decent salaries) have gotten too comfortable without realising people are being exploited on low wages and even wage theft to live their current lifestyle. COVID has only exacerbated the problem and it has come to the mainstream attention. It’s now an employees market and the employers need to adjust or suffer the consequences.
@Griffindinho: of course but that just isnt 'capitalism' that is 'human nature' my family came from a communist nation and it was no better matter of fact i dare say it was worse.
no system is perfect - but the best way to 'fix' capitalism is to tax a 'individuals' wealth not their income - however i dont know how one would do that.
Elon recently tweeted he pays 11bn in taxes which is a lot of money but in regards to his earns it is less then 1 cents of every dollar he earned and in regards to his net wealth it isnt more then 0.1%
@Griffindinho: Same old argument, leads to the same old question. Who pays for your UBI? As @Trying2SaveABuck suggested, Covid 'payments' have put this Nation in huge debt, which our children will need to address, forget about us being able to!
If someone is in a miserable job, that's their responsibility. It is not the tax payer, not the government's problem to address.
Capitalism creates, it provides productivity and opportunity everywhere, for everyone. What people like yourself don't ever wish to do is compromise. In other words, be prepared to lower your own standard of living by killing capitalisms benefits. More government intervention kills economies, the more free the market, the more productive, the better off we all are. The government produces nothing, it takes off working people then redistributes. The less there is to take, the less they have to redistribute. Yes, the rich get super rich, it's a necessary imperfection.
BTW - The top 17% of earners in Australia pay 85% of the income tax. The top 10% pay 50% of the income tax. In other words, the people most of whom work MORE than 40hrs a week are helping you to maintain your current standard of living in Australia, not the government. Have a think about that.
@R00D: I dont disagree with anything @R00D is saying i dont 'mind' capitalism but i just dont agree with the the top 10% pay more take then the bottom 60% - of course they do majority of the bottom half pay barely any tax at all but the top 10% 'majority' half what they earn if it wasnt for the plebs on the bottom doing all the work ie cleaning toilets, handling food, security etc
My issue always has and always will be tax should be based on wealth not on earnings, it is backwards approch in which 'money' or 'fiat' is the only thing of value and it simple isnt in the modern era - just bcuz you earn 200k doesnt mean you are 'rich' and just bcuz you earn 50k doesnt make you poor.
Ill give you a real life example - whilst i was at uni i worked at Woolworths there was a girl who is a single mum she worked about 15-20 hours a week earned barely enough to beat the tax free threshold from wages alone - she had inherited about 9 investment properties (which she had to split some how with her brother) and that boosted her income to sit in the 70-80k ranges (im not 100% how much she was getting but all properties were rented out) - in essences this women probably way 10-15k in tax a year but has a ne wtorth of a few million with zero debt.
Now same shopping centre their was director in a different business earning around 160k a year he had a family of 4 and a home loan of well north of 650k this man was paying around 35k a year in tax but his net worth was essentially the value of his property minus his debt (say his house was worth around 900k)
All the current system does is discourage people earning more money by dis-insensitiving work - when if anything we should be aimming to dis-inventivise excessive wealth.
Now let me get this straight i got nothing against people getting wealthy - but the issue is when wealth isn't moving or trickling down then it is a problem. Right now property in Melbourne and Sydney dictates wealth for a number of people those would have multiple properties commercial/residential are wealthier then those who dont have property or only have one but 'earn' a good wage in most cases.
It isnt just property that can make 'one' wealthy but it is the most obvious and socially 'taxing' example
thus the idea of taxing the rich needs to change to 'tax the wealthy' the example i gave the women with multiple properties should be in the highest tax bracket instantly due to her 'wealth' and the bloke struggling to support a family should be in a lower backet but in our current system it is the other way around which to me is just stupid.
@R00D: I already make compromises and am finanically stable.
I know what the conditions are like for those facing poverty and hardship. Since I was unemployed for a while before.
There’s always going to winners (the capitalists) and losers (working class/underclass) under neoliberalism capitalism. Other forms of capitalism like social democracy tend to emphasis egalitarianism and strong welfare for its citizens. Australia is heading towards what America is. A dystopian hellhole where the wealthy, who can bypass tax via capital gains loopholes, negative gearing on their property portfolios or offshore accounts.
Our public healthcare is degrading thanks to deliberate government underfunding and staff shortages.
Our welfare system needs a massive transformation to keep up with inflation since the is rate too low. You know what keeps our inflation from not rising even higher? the unemployed! Thanks to the NAIRU.
There’s no such thing as “free market” as shown during the pandemic where the government gave massive subsidies to large corporations who still made profits and choose to not pay it back, besides a select few who did.
We are at the stage of capitalism that large corporations use their power & influence for favourable policies. Also known as crony capitalism. If you think it’s a fair playing field, then you’re in fantasy land.
@nubzy: What do you mean by give everyone a living wage? Generally speaking, peoples wage reflects there inherent value they are putting into society.
You don't get paid by not providing a useful service to others?
This topic has been done to death.
Search 'side hustle' in the forum's and your mind will be blown with ideas.
Buy a vending machine and refill it once a month
They usually do $100-$500 a week
they hold $2000 worth of soda?
If you’re at the cinemas they probably hold $4,000 worth of soda.
1000 cans?
@Tleyx: No, a larger vending machine will hold 400-500 cans at best.
I’m more just affirming that cinemas are expensive AF
And if at an airport, then $10,000
Where do you place it? There must be approvals/ legislation around it.. plus it would need electricity connection etc.
tell me tooo
Try the army reserve, it is usually very compatible with a public sector job.
Catalogue delivery.
Given your skills I second the stock market. My wife has similar quals and work background. Very disciplined when it comes to risk management. She started using some saved cash during the lockdowns to invest actively and conservatively. Went through a big learning curve, but now spends maybe an hour every few days and keeps up with her avenues of interest. She averages considerably more than $100 pw.
She now kicks herself a bit as she could have been doing this for years……
That’s interesting, I am already in the stock market but not actively trading.
Does your wife trade daily in individual stocks or indexes
Yes. She has some blue chips that she watches and when she feels that they are value, buys, then sells when the price moves back to about average.
She has some that she holds - I think she is slowly building a portfolio of dividend shares.
She also has some sectors that she has developed interest and experience in now so she buys and sells these as she feels.
It was a bit consuming for her when she was on a steep learning curve during the early lockdowns. She never lost money - more missed opportunities because she didn’t have the background knowledge to reduce her risk.
Usually scans her info in the morning while she has her cuppa in bed,
With young kids you could possibly do your ‘homework’ in the evening. They are more important than extra money - always.
She is sharp as, and very disciplined - not at all a gambler. She enjoys it.
Your wife started investing during the easiest bull market in a long time, dont expect similar results over the next few years
@redfox1200: True. But the context here is OP wanting an extra $5k pa after tax. Slowly building a bunch of shares and learning about investing and market sectors of interest - we are not talking Wall Street wolves here.
@redfox1200: Absolutely this. Been in the stock market for more than 15 years (2006), and everyone thinks it's just profit all the time. It takes a lot of time and skill to be regularly profitable. Sometimes luck, too.
Some people have the skill to trade daily or invest longer term, but it has a way of luring people in when the times are good and trick them into thinking they only ever go up. The SP500 just went up over 25% in 2021, this is not normal and do not expect it every year.
A lot of people have absolutely no trading plans and only hope for the best. You need to find what trading or investing style suits you, and only risk what you can afford to lose.
As a general rule of thumb, the markets always rise in the longer term, so buying during large dips for long term holds is generally fairly fool proof. But buying at all time highs?
In this situation that the OP has asked, I would highly NOT recommend stock investing as a side gig. It is a very risky and not easy way to make money. The opposite of a safe or easy way to make money.
@redfox1200: This. I remember how everybody was a stock picking genius leading up to 2007. All went a bit quiet after that.
You will rage quit after losing 70% of your capital in the 1st Qtr and 100% in the 1st year.
It is the price of the education.
You need to provide comments based on performance over the whole cycle and against a benchmark (return % not $). E.g. if she is a long trader and the market is bullish, then it's easy to make money, but perhaps will underperform a buy and hold strategy.
If trading yielded the best returns, then the likes of Buffet etc would be traders and but they aren't.
I was going to suggest this. Anyone who started investing circa April 2020 has made a fortune. Buy index funds, job done. Very few beat the market long term and those that do usually have an inside line..
matched betting
if you know you know
please explain
Basically anyone who is across Matched betting knows its the best side hustle expecially in australia
Not that simple, and a good way to get promo banned.
the only good answer
Yes agree. Been doing it for 2 and half years now and dont think i will stop anytime soon.
Hey pretty interested in starting out do use any particular service or just the Facebook pages?
@Gumster: There is tons of stuff on the internet about matched betting, read them, listen to matched betting podcasts and get an idea. If you know anyone who does it, sit with them on a weekend and see what they are doing. It is the best side hustle ever for me.
Care to share?
Couldn’t agree more, been doing it for 2 years now and constantly make a grand every week. Best side hustle ever.
Yes same experience for me. Its one of those things that sounds too good to be true but there is actually no catches.
Exactly, most people think it is straight gambling but don’t realise it is almost risk free. I have my mates signed up with me so I use their accounts as well and slip them some cash every now and then.
would you be willing to help me out with this?
I’m gonna say. Make a blog. Takes a little while to get going but it’s passive. Rinse and repeat.
Involve it around something you actually enjoy.
Not another mummy blog. Just because you're a parent doesn't mean you know how to…
I was going to suggest becomming a Dawrin Award candidate. I hear they can make good coin, but I'm having troubles finding someone who can verify this.
Some real estate agents pay for literature to be letterboxed near auction/sale properties. Maybe check out local ones
Usually that's about $50 for the local suburb letter box drop. All day walking.
Just do jobs on Airtasker or sign up for Uber Eats etc (there is a $500 bonus if you do 30 deliveries for new users). A lot of those Airtasker jobs actually pay really well, you could be making upwards of $50 an hour for simple tasks around people's homes or delivering things etc.
Sell drugs.
Disclaimer: IANADD
Username checks out…
@ozbjunkiedrug detective?
Yes, the double D is for detective, orificer
Matched betting. Profit accumulator. Say no more. Flexible and I earn an extra $2-$3k tax free a month. Not a long term solution but will last you 6-12 months.
I been doing it for 2 and half year now. You got to check out bonus bank. Their discord community is amazing.
Thanks. I'm only 4 months in. I'll check them out too.
Do you pay for membership ? Is it worth it?
Seems complicated or am I stupid
Is that the website profitacumulator?
Yes it's excellent and has a free trial. Not for everyone but I'm up 11k since end of September
UK or au?
Check out bonus bank as well. You can pm me for more details if you like. Bonusbamk been around much longer and got a great discord community similar to ozbargain.
Had a great six years before the bookies caught on and gave me the chop.
thats a great run. You should look into it again as lot of new bookies have popped up since covid started and you might be able to make few thousand more.
Are you coping okay without a sex life? 😕
Sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?
thats the thing. There is no catch as long as you can follow the process and dont go decide to have a punt.This is a good side hustle as rampant gambling culture in australia alows bookie to offer generous promos as loss leaders, which is what we use to make profit.
i'd temper that somewhat - I always recommend people have some 'fun bets' thrown in there so that you look like a mug, like a few dollars on a ten leg soccer multi - with the intention of losing - so that your patterns don't match 'professionals' and you lose access to promos
@Choc83: Yes for sure. After i lost my first few books i started doing this a lot more and had great success maintaining my last remaining bookies for last year or so.
how to get started ?
Check out bonus bank. You can pm me for more details if you like.
Onlyfans?
I’m not very attractive - is that ok
Feet
Thats ok, not a lot of onlyfans is either ;D
Parcel deliveries for Amazon (it's called Amazon Flex). Pretty flexible timings.
That looks pretty cool. What’s the flexibility and pay like
$108 for a 4 hour block. Sometimes you get overloaded with packages and a difficult route, other times are easier and you might finish in 2-3 hours. But IMO it is stressful and underpaid, and you are increasing the wear and tear on your own car + burning fuel the whole time. Then tax has to come out on top. Pretty underpaid really for what it is. You can make more in less time doing odd jobs at people's houses.
Ok thanks for your honest advice, I might look into airtasker as someone has mentioned above
For a "side hustle" it is pretty good I'd say. I've always waited for the last moment before I can accept the blocks (the pricing is dynamic). The best I've had is $156 for a 4 hour block that I completed in 2.5 hrs. Never have I had to to more than 3.5 hrs for a 4 hr block. Very straightforward for a side hustle.
I agree with ModiWar, I've found to pretty good. Every time I've done it so far has been with the increased rates, like $120-138 for a "4 hour" block which I complete in around half the time. Yes it can be stressful, but given how short the work takes usually I think it's worth it.
I commented on another post about Amazon Flex here with my experiences and tips on it.
Edit: Also as a side note, yes you still need to pay for your income tax out of it but Amazon covers the GST component for you. I.e. if you accept a $120 block you actually get paid $132.
i think it is 120 dollar now?
@Haha Hihi Hoho: It's normally $108 for 4 hours, or $135 for 5 hours.
But it often goes up to the above rates when it's closer to the time slot.
However, I don't know how long that will stick around - Flex drivers in America have posted on Reddit that in some of their cities they need to be quick to get the blocks as they are in high demand. Australia, or at the very least Brisbane's DC seems to have the opposite problem for now…
during my lunch time ?