Having a side income can be extremely useful, for many reasons. You can use your side income to pay off any debt you may have acquired over time, you could use your side income to save for a big ticket item, like a new car, or towards a deposit for your first home. You could also use a side income to pay for day-to-day luxuries such as eating out, going out for drinks or clothes shopping – whatever your reasons are, it can be very useful!
Bringing in some extra money alongside your day job can be done in numerous ways. Running a blog can be a good money maker and so can teaching people something you are passionate about, such as personal training (you may need to do personal training courses first). You can also make some money from survey sites or buying and selling reduced items from the supermarket. There are many possibilities, you just need to be determined and constant.
Keep on reading for our guide on six ways to have a side income alongside your full-time job.
Run your own blog
Running a blog is a big passion for a lot of people, but it’s also a good money maker for them, especially as a side income (it can become a full-time job). A lot of blogs will make money from affiliate links, sponsored posts, sponsored competitions, display ads and page takeovers. The amount will vary on the advertiser but also the number of viewers you have. The more people who view your site, the more you can charge for advertising.
If you go down the route of trying to run a blog, you will make a small amount of money at the start, but the more you post, the more money you will earn. To be consistent, write about something you are passionate about. This can help make it more fun and a long-term project as opposed to something you’re doing just to bring in money. People will be able to tell if you are passionate about what you’re writing about.
Get Some Freelance Work
One of the most turned-to routes to make a side income is freelancing. If you are good at your day job, you could offer your services to external clients in the evening or on the weekends. Freelancing can bring in a good amount of money as you can charge more. When you freelance, you charge for the hours you work, including meetings and any travel you have to do (if you have to do any). When freelancing, you can take on jobs as and when they come, meaning you can pick and choose projects that you enjoy and can turn down ones when you are feeling too busy. Freelancing is a great way to make money in your spare time with something you are talented at and that you enjoy doing. You can put skills to use that you have anyway and generate some money from it too.
Tutor Students
If you have something you are passionate about and skilled at, this is something you could do to make some extra money. When we say passionate and skilled, we mean speaking another language, playing a musical instrument or a sport like tennis, football, rugby, etc. If you live near a school, you could reach out and see if you can tutor any of the children, to help them with their exams or further learning. In certain subjects, you may need to get a qualification to tutor, but often you can do this online and once you have got a qualification, you can charge more to tutor. Tutoring is a really good way to bring money in and also know you’re helping younger people out with their education.
Buy and sell reduced items
A lot can be made by buying the reduced items in shops and then selling them on sites like eBay or Facebook Marketplace for a profit. In fact, some people have made this their full-time business. Try it and see how you do. Take a day to wander around your local shops and pick up any reduced items that you think you could sell for a profit. If it works, then keep that money to reinvest and buy more reduced products. If it doesn’t you won’t have lost much and could try and get a refund at the shop for what you bought.
Survey Sites
To make a little extra money, you can take part in some online survey sites. A lot of survey sites will pay you a small amount to answer the questions on their survey. How much varies depending on the length and the site, but in general, the longer the survey the more money you will make. That being said, the money you make isn’t going to be huge. A lot of time people use survey sites to top up their monthly “fun” spending and use the money for drinks at the pub or their clothes. Before you can fill out a survey, they will ask a couple of qualification questions to make sure you are the right person for it.
Become an app tester
A job that you can do on the side and pays a little better than survey sites is an app tester. What app testers do, is exactly what it says, they test apps before the application goes live to consumers. They will report on any bugs the app has as well as test it on different devices like an iPhone, Samsung, Google phone and more. You don’t have to have any dedicated qualifications to be an app tester, you just need to have an interest in apps and want to improve them. You can use your eye for detail and interest for tech to help other people make their business better and also get paid for doing this which is a great side income to fit around your other commitments.
Sell digital products
Are you a creative person who has a good eye for design and detail? If you enjoy using programs like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and other similar programs, you can make a solid income from selling the digital products you create on here. You can make things such as greeting cards, menus, itinerary templates and more. You could also create ebooks, online courses and templates that others can edit and make into their own. These can be sold on a myriad of places such as Envato Elements, stock sites, on Etsy and privately to people that commission projects they need.
There are so many ways to bring in an extra income, alongside your day job. Try a few of our points above and see if you have any luck, if you don’t you can always try a few others or do some more research on other ways to bring in a side income. The more things you try, the more likely you are to find something that works best for you – what works for someone isn’t always going to work for you. You could also try and get a friend or family member to do something with you, this way it’s more enjoyable, instead of doing it by yourself.
What tips would you recommend to someone trying to have a side income? Are there any suggestions that you can make which you think we should be adding to our article? Have you tried any of our tips above and been successful with it? Let us know in the comment box below, we look forward to hearing from you.