Yahoo Finance Husband's random text leads to Aussie couple's $50k side hustle: 'Less than a day's work'
This Aussie couple have found relief from cost of living pressures with a one-day a week job, and are having fun together doing it.
The rising cost of living is putting pressure on household budgets, making it harder to hit financial goals and afford leisure activities. But with the right side hustle, you can bring in thousands of dollars a month.
And that’s exactly what Aussie couple Sarah and Greg are doing. In fact, they’re funding their home renovation and a trip to Vietnam with their three kids by doing a single shift a week in their coffee van.
“My husband is a coffee roaster and had previously worked in a coffee van at the farmers market,” Sarah told Yahoo Finance.
When Greg’s employer turned down a request to take a slot at a market, the pair saw an opportunity.
Do you have a story to tell? Contact yahoo.finance.au@yahooinc.com
“Greg text me saying, ‘do you wanna get a coffee van and do the farmers market with me?’ Three weeks later we had bought a van and were up and running,” she said.
The couple pull a Sunday shift in the coffee van every week, banking them $50,000 per year, which they’re using to fund their home renovations.
RELATED
$12k in one week: How one thrifty Aussie built a thriving side hustle
The side hustles no Aussies should waste time on: 'No easy money here'
Surprisingly, the lucrative side hustle doesn’t take too much of the couple’s time on a weekly basis.
“Generally we’re out of the house from 5.30am - 2.00pm every Sunday. Outside of this, Greg just does the ordering of milk which gets delivered straight into the fridge inside the van,” Sarah explained.
The couple have been able to pay for a number of works in full with their coffee van earnings.
“It has paid for some things outright, like a builders deposit, aircon, fencing, painting, windows and smaller things along the way. The extra income has helped us get a loan for [our] extension.”
Quality time together while earning extra income
But what’s it like running a side hustle with a partner – could you do it?
Sarah described the coffee van shift as their “quality time" and said the side hustle has been extremely beneficial to the relationship.
“It’s been so good for us,” she said.
After pumping out around 500 coffees each week, the pair make time to have lunch together before packing up for the day.
Sarah and Greg make their Sunday side hustle work around their three kids for now, but don’t plan to do it forever.
“Working every Sunday isn’t ideal for family life,” she said.
Nonetheless, the extra income is helping them improve their family home and overseas holiday, which Sarah said they “couldn’t dream of” without the extra income.
DoorDashing for extra 'play money'
Another side-hustling couple, Jessica and Harrison, took up delivery driving together to earn extra “play money”.
“I had initially thought about getting a cafe Saturday morning job on top of my 9-5 corporate, [but] I knew I would quickly tire of the commitment. DoorDash appealed to me as I could do it as little or as much as I needed without any monetary outlay,” Jessica, who also runs her own online book club, told Yahoo Finance.
The couple split the labour of the delivery, with Harrison driving and Jessica jumping out to pick up and drop off orders.
“It saves heaps of time as we don't have to find a car spot or stop and start the engine,” she said.
Like Sarah and Greg, Jessica described the side hustle as “so fun” for her and her partner, and considers it quality time away from devices.
“No one is watching TV or scrolling on their phone so we have good chats whilst driving around,” she said.
Logging between 3-9 hours a week and earning around $30 per hour between them, Jessica and Harrison said they typically “go out Dashing with something in mind that we want to spend the earnings on.”
“We have just booked a holiday for July and will be Dashing to put money towards that.”
