9 great side hustles that'll make you more money this month
Posted July 2018
Ease the financial burden with these money-making ideas!
Did you know that New Zealand is one of just four industrialised countries where a large percentage of the population works over 50 hours a week?
For many Kiwis, these hours are spent working a second job to earn extra cash.
Even then it can still be difficult to make ends meet without a loan or credit card!
If you’re looking for opportunities to supplement your regular job with extra income - whether you’re paying off debt or saving money - there are plenty of ‘side hustles’ out there that could be right for you.
To help make your life a little easier, we’ve collated a diverse range of money-making opportunities that will still leave you with energy and time for your main job.
Better still, they don’t require any experience or specific skills.
Some of these include:
- Why making the most of your spare room makes a lot of...cents.
- How selling stuff you don’t need can earn you some extra dollars, fast.
- And the survey says...you could make some extra money!
To start, let’s look at making some spare cash with your spare room...
1. Utilise your spare room
Without much effort, that empty spare bedroom could be making you a respectable amount of cash.
How so?
With Airbnb, of course!
Airbnb is a popular site for people booking accommodation.
It’s also a place where - as an AirBnB host - you can rent out your room for short periods of time.
As the host, you have the freedom and flexibility to determine the room’s availability, price, and check-in times. Alternatively, if you’d prefer a regular, stable income, you could consider taking in a boarder.
So long as you’re agreeable to someone sharing your living space, that is.
Students and seasonal workers make ideal boarders. Just be sure to create a ‘boarding agreement’ to set out the terms of agreement between yourself and the boarder to cover off a range of situations in order to protect both parties.
2. Become a Mystery Shopper
If you love to shop or have an appreciation for good customer service, there are opportunities around the country to become a Mystery Shopper and get paid for each assignment.
You’ll need to be “reliable, have an eye for detail, a great memory, have excellent written and oral communication skills, good time management, and the ability to follow directions with ease.”
To get started, simply register your interest on websites like Quality Shopper.
3. Become an Extra
Do you dream of being a movie star?
Or at least a patient on Shortland Street?
The good news is you can also get paid for your fifteen minutes of fame.
Talent agencies are always on the lookout for a diverse range of people of all sizes, age, and ethnicities to appear as Extras in commercials, TV shows, and movies.
A quick Google search will turn up the relevant agencies, as well as any call-outs for extras.
No experience or skills are required, but you do need to be available for a few hours at a time, and be content to stand around a lot. Just make sure you remember to read the fine print on any agreement to make sure you’re not paying for the chance to be an Extra – they should be paying you!
4. Sell your stuff
A quick and easy way to raise some cash is to sell stuff you no longer need.
It's also a great excuse to declutter your place at the same time.
Clear out your wardrobe, cupboards, bookshelves and garage. If you’re selling items online, a good photo of the item can go a long way. Especially for clothing. Just make sure the item is well lit in the photo and tidily presented.
If you’re the art or crafty type, there are loads of marketplace sites where you can sell your products to the world. Even if your thing is knitting tea-pot cozies, there’s a market out there wanting to buy your creation.
5. Sell your photos
Most of us carry a camera in our pocket, so why not generate some money from your best photos?
Magazines, websites, and graphic designers are always looking for images to illustrate their stories and content. They generally purchase these images from royalty-free stock photo sites, and some of these allow any photographer - that’s you! - to upload their own photos for licensing.
Better still, there are a number of stock photo sites dedicated solely to New Zealand images.
To start? Simply upload your photos to one of these sites, and you’ll receive a percentage of the licence fee when the right to use the photo is purchased.
Heck, you may even sell the same photo many times over!
6. Think local
Dog walking?
Weeding gardens?
Washing windows?
It turns out there are a raft of traditional jobs you could be paid for in your own neighbourhood or apartment complex.
There are also a variety of innovative job opportunities sitting right under your nose!
For example, while many people these days are composting their food scraps to reduce waste ending up in our landfills, others don’t have the time or resources. Setting up and managing composting worm farms for neighbours could earn extra cash while helping the environment.
And there’s the added sideline bonus of selling the worm tea (the liquid concentrate of worm compost) as plant food.
7. Complete online surveys
Here’s a job you can perform while wearing your pyjamas; completing online surveys!
Signing up is free, and you can complete as many or as few surveys as you like.
Google ‘paid surveys’ and start signing up.
8. Casual work
If you’re up for casual shift work then Sidekicker is an example of an ‘on-demand staffing’ app we’re likely to see more of in the future as the traditional nine-to-five day job disappears.
Sign up and Sidekicker will send you notifications when shift jobs are posted.
If you’re interested? You simply apply online, turn up, work your shift and get paid.
Most current jobs are hospitality and promotional marketing type roles, which are perfect if you’re looking for after-hours work.
9. Drive for cash
Have wheels? Then you have the potential to make extra money.
Both Uber and Zoomy match drivers with passengers requesting rides through an app. As an Uber or Zoomy partner you set your own schedule and make money from trip fares.
As Uber and New Zealand-owned Zoomy gain popularity around the country more opportunities to become a driver are becoming available. To get started as a driver, you and your vehicle must meet a number of criteria and regulatory requirements from NZTA.
A little extra can go a long way
The opportunities to make extra cash on the side are diverse and many. After taking care of your tax obligations on any extra income earned, you’ll be on your way to paying back your creditors and saving money, while enjoying lots of new flexible work experiences!
Want to know your options?
Try our personal loan calculator.