Having a side hustle to fit around your day-to-day activities is becoming more and more popular with Australians of all ages. In fact, 67% of Australians alraedy have one. Even if it’s $30 or $50 a week – that can make a HUGE impact on your weekly budget!
If you’ve been wondering how you can make a little bit of extra cash, here are some stellar side hustle ideas for you to consider that you can do in your downtime when the kids are in bed or even things you can do WITH the kids!
But first, remember these side hustle rules…
Side Hustle Rule #1 – your hustle needs to be flexible
The BEST thing about side hustles is that they allow for flexibility. The ultimate side hustle is something that you can fit around your existing job, kid’s naps or bedtimes and isn’t so demanding that you can still attend school assemblies and so on – flexibility matters!
Side Hustle Rule #2 – it doesn’t need to be a huge money-spinner
Extra money is extra money, right? Sure, everyone would love to earn hundreds of dollars extra every week but that’s not always achievable for busy mums! Keep your eye on the prize and don’t be deterred if you’re not raking in the cash straight away – every dollar of profit you make counts!!
Side Hustle Rule #3 – make it enjoyable
If you’re spending your downtime hustling, you should make sure you at least enjoy what you’re doing – this is why making money from hobbies is a way to go – you’re ALREADY doing it, so why not try to make some money from it? GENIUS!
Side Hustle Rule #4 – have your official documents ready
Be proactive and have your certification in place before you launch your side hustle. There’s nothing worse than advertising and then having to knock offers back because you don’t have a current Working with Children Check, Police Clearance Certificate or your kitchen registered through your council. Applying for these varies from state to state, so look into them early!
20 totally doable side hustle ideas
1. Babysitting
The more the merrier, right? If you’re already looking after your own kids, what’s one or two more?
2. Tutoring
If you’ve trained as a school teacher or have a solid knowledge of a subject field, tutoring children can be a really rewarding side hustle. Let your local school know you’re keen to offer your services and if advertising in the school newsletter is an option.
3. School pick-up and drop off
I LOVE that there are mums making money out of collecting kids for school pick up and drop off! Be it on foot or by car, if you’re taking your own kids and have room for more, why not? Throw in a playground visit and it’s one less thing for some parents to have to find time for. Imagine having a newborn and NOT having to do school pick-up! #AMAZING
4. Ironing
SO many people hate ironing. Offer to pick up baskets of ironing (or have them dropped off to you), pop a movie on and get steamy with the iron and board!
5. Flip furniture
Keep a razor-sharp eye on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree or your neighbourhood on hard rubbish days – one person’s trash is another person’s treasure! Often sanding back and a lick of paint can transform a piece of furniture from drab to fab, making good money on sold pieces.
6. Online surveys
Getting paid to do surveys online? SHUT UP AND GIMME MONEY. There are lots of platforms available where companies are willing to pay you for your opinion. Some might be only a few dollars and some might be a lot more – even just an hour a day can be time well spent to build up some funds.
7. Children’s party decorating and planning
Do you LOVE to throw a kid’s birthday bonanza and can face paint or make an enviable balloon arch with a simple flex of your DIY party-throwing elbow? There’s a whole market out there for you guys! Let your local community know you’re available to help organise and set up kid’s parties and busy, craft-lacking mums will be grateful!
8. Photographer
If photography is your passion – and you’re actually quite good – you can monetise your hobby by selling your photos to stock libraries.
9. Cleaning
Believe it or not, there are people who are REALLY good (and passionate) about cleaning. Lucky for them, there’s money to be made because so many people hate to do it themselves.
10. Cookie and cake making
If you can make and decorate cookies or cakes, you’re on a good side hustle wicket! Start practising and advertising your delicious masterpieces locally. What might start out as a one-off birthday cake order might turn into a regular weekly cupcake customer!
11. Pet sitting
A really awesome idea if you can’t commit to a full-time pet yourself, is pet-sitting. Short term or long term pet-sitting of dogs, cats, birds and more can bring SO much joy to the family!
12. Handy services
If you know your way around a lawnmower, a paintbrush or a flatpack, let people know! If there’s a house in your street whose lawn is always out of control, drop a note with an hourly rate and your phone number in their letterbox. After all, you won’t know until you try.
13. Outsource your skills – graphic designer, transcript writing, bookkeeping, website building
If your expertise is something you can do remotely from home as a contractor, look at employment websites such as SEEK for companies looking. TIP: Etsy is also a brilliant platform for advertising logo and website banner graphic making!
14. Dog walker
Make money from walking a dog? Yes, you can! Plenty of peppers don’t get enough exercise because of their elderly owners can no longer walk distances or perhaps it’s a really busy time for some people – so offer your dog walking services. It’s a win, win!
15. Teach music
If you know how to play the piano, guitar, flute – heck, even the drums – your skills are appreciated by parents of kids who want to learn!
16. Organising
Professional organisers are a THING. If you have super neat tendencies and have a sharp eye for decluttering and sorting, this could be your jam. You might not want to be a full-time organiser but advertising your pantry over-haul skills could earn you some sweet cash.
17. Makeup
Not everyone knows a concealer from a highlighter so if you are a whiz at applying makeup, let people know you’re available for lessons or makeup applications for events.
18. Driving
This one could be a little daunting given the increasing fuel prices but if you have the time, availability and a reliable car, offer your driving services to the likes of Menulog, Doordash, Uber Eats and Uber!
19. Pamphlet and catalogue delivery
Much like dog walking, you can get paid to exercise with pamphlet delivery! You can do it solo or head off with bub and the pram in tow.
20. Crafting
If you’re a hobby crafter you can sell your finished crafts! From sewing, jewellery making, Cricut pantry labels, leaf confetti making, candle making, soap making, metal stamping and all the crafts in between – hobbies can make you money.
21. Airtasker
If you’re not sure what expertise you hold for a side hustle, just keep your eye on Airtasker. Lots of people advertise for a range of jobs or needs – from picking up groceries to waitressing at events – you might just spot something you can turn your hand to for some cash!
There you have it, folks, 21 side hustle ideas to explore and make some sweet extra money from. Do you have a side hustle that you’d like to share? Feel free to drop it in the comments below to add to the list – you might just inspire others!
