Earn Extra Money With Side Hustles

 Over on the Cheapskates Club YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago,  Cath spoke about side hustles you can do to boost the family budget.  Many of these side hustles Cath has done herself when money was tight.  Even today I know she has many little income steams that helps keep her budget on track.

Over the years Darren and I have faced many financial hardships due to insufficient work hours,  low pay rates and our choice to be a single income family while I stayed home to raise our girls.

Having a few little side hustles meant we could save for holidays,  have enough money for groceries,  buy gifts,  replace our ' make do ' furniture for quality items and purchase cars with cash.

Here are some of the side hustles I've personally used to bring in a little extra cash.  Some of these hustles I still do to this day.

*  I polished silverware for a friend who was hosting Christmas at her place.  The silverware was family heirlooms that she wanted to use and display for the occasion. 

*  Some of my cleaning clients needed their ironing done.  This was additional work on top of my cleaning hours so I treated the extra money as a bonus.  Some of these clients enjoyed my ironing so much that it became a regular part of my cleaning visit.

*  Speaking of cleaning,  my cleaning work first started because we were living below the poverty line.  We desperately needed extra money to make ends meet but I didn't want to put our daughter in day care so I could work.  Somehow I managed to fit in a couple of regular clients when Darren had a day off and my work has snowballed from there.  When our girls were school aged,  I would clean during school hours.  When the school holidays came around,  the girls would come to the cleaning jobs with me.

*  I make jam from the fruit we grow.  Most of the jam is put away for our personal use.  I sell a few jars here and there which more than covers the cost of the sugar and gas used in the cooking.  I also give some as presents which frees up some of the gift budget.  This money is then put into other areas of our budget.

*  During the long lockdowns of 2020,  I made and sold many,  many face masks.  This was an unexpected side hustle that kept money coming into our home when I wasn't allowed to work.

*  Making my own greeting cards started out as a money saver for our budget.  The price of greeting cards had gone up from 4 for $2 to a minimum of $1 each in the discount shops. With the basic supplies I had on hand,  I started making very simple cards to put with presents.  Then I helped form a card making group and it turned into a hobby that earns me a little bit of money when I sell them on Facebook. 

*  I sell unwanted items on Marketplace.  Darren and I have always been wise with our purchases so we've never really had much to sell.  Still,  I've managed to sell DVD cases,  spare yoghurt makers, pet items,  a snow suit from my teens,  small electrical appliances,  Tupperware and pieces of furniture.

Jam has been a good seller

Some of the cards I've sold over the years -
   

                                                 

                                            

                                       

What side hustles have you done to earn a little extra money ?

This Week's Frugal Tasks Saturday 21st September 2024

 The last few weeks have full and eventful.  We celebrated Father's Day followed by our wedding anniversary the next day.  During that time,  Melbourne was hit by a ferocious storm in the wee hours of that Monday.   It was quite frightening and sounded like a cyclone was swirling around our home.  We heard a big crash outside but couldn't find anything other than a bin knocked over.  

The winds continued all week and we heard another crash on the Thursday but still couldn't see any damage.   I went to a card making weekend on the Friday and came home Sunday afternoon just as the rains came down again.  That's when I discovered we had a major roof leak.

Darren climbed up on the roof to find at least 7 broken tiles.  We heard from our next door neighbour that the house at the back of us lost a trampoline sometime during the storms and we think it hit our roof.  Darren said there were 2 trampoline springs up on our roof. 

Darren used the spare tiles we had to do some repair work with the help of our next door neighbour. Unfortunately the roof still needs more work.  We also have water damage inside our home which still needs attention.

We celebrated our granddaughter Naomi's first birthday on Tuesday and her party was last Sunday.

I also had a photo shoot with a major magazine this week.  That was just a little bit exciting.   We had lots of fun dodging rain and gusts of wind.  It's never a dull moment with Melbourne weather.

So after all of that,  here is my frugal list from the last few weeks -

*  Darren and I took our grandsons Luka and Bryson to the Jurassic World Dinosaur display.  It was a lovely day out into the city with a first time tram ride for the boys.  To keep costs down we took water bottles,  fruit and snacks for all four of us as well as sandwiches for the boys.  

*  Even with all the rain and strong winds we've had over the last few weeks,  I've managed to get most of the washing dry on clothes horses and the clothesline.  Only a few items were dried in the dryer.

*  Recently I bought a craft stamp cleaning mat.  It needs a cleaning spray to go with it but I was able to make that myself.  This retails for $23 but I made it for under $2.

*  I planted tomato and sugar snap pea seedlings.

*  I made up a big bottle of foaming hand wash using cheap shower gel and cooled water from the kettle.  I refilled the pumps around our home with this.

*  Darren and I went out for dinner for our wedding anniversary on the 2nd September.  We used a voucher to help lower the cost of our meals.

*  We filled up both our cars when petrol was $1.68 per litre.

*  On the colder days I turned our heater down just a little bit to 19 degrees Celsius.  Usually we have it on 20 degrees during the day.

*  I gratefully received lemons,  oranges and mandarins from a couple of friends. 

*  I wrote out a menu plan for the next four weeks.  This is quite an easy task to do when I keep old menu plans that worked well.  I just switch around a couple of meals to suit any occasion coming up.

*  I refilled the herb and spice jars from bulk packets I bought at Hindustan Imports.  This is a far cheaper option than constantly buying those little jars at the supermarket.

*  We are enjoying the homemade muesli bars so much that I make them on a regular basis.  I made another batch last weekend.

*  I dug out the dehydrator and dried the gifted oranges and a few mandarins.  They turned out really well and are so delicious.

*  Three loaves of wholemeal bread with extra goodness was baked this week.

*  I picked the last of the mandarins from our trees.

*  I bought 3 Summer tops from Savers and used a 20% off discount voucher to get them even cheaper.

*  There are some great bargains to be had as the department stores clear out old stock.  I picked up gumboots for the grandchildren for $4 and  Minecraft backpacks for $1.98.  I also picked up a couple of items for the gift cupboard and insect repellent products on clearance.

*  I made honey joys for Naomi's party using items I already had on hand.

First time dehydrating oranges

The finished product

Luka at Jurassic World

Both boys looking at the dinosaur

Bryson with his dino pet

Darren on Father's Day

Naomi turning 1

Honey joys for the party

$1.98 clearance bargain

Have you found any clearance bargains lately ?

How have you saved time,  money or energy the last few weeks ?

I'll Be Back Next Week

 I'm taking a short blogging break due to life being super busy at the moment.  

We had a very full last Saturday when we took Luka and Bryson to see a Jurassic World dinosaur display in the city.  Sunday was Father's Day and Monday was our wedding anniversary.  This weekend I'll be away at a card making weekend having lots of crafting time,  tea drinking,  chatting and eating.

I hope to be back next week and I'll have lots of photos to share.

Please keep your frugal list going and we'll share them together next weekend.