Yahoo Finance Side hustles: Clever ways Aussies are making an extra $5,000 a month
Looking to earn extra cash next year? Three Aussies share the easy ways they are supplementing their income.
Aussies are picking up side hustles as a way to earn extra cash, as cost-of-living pressures continue to bite households.
More than 955,000 Aussies - or about 6.6 per cent of all working Aussies - currently have multiple jobs on the go, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
We spoke to three Aussies to find out how they were earning extra cash by leveraging their belongings or skills.
Do you have a story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com
Renting out wardrobe
Perth resident Louise Seery makes around $8,000 a year renting out her designer clothes on The Volte and has been doing this for about three years.
“I’m a lawyer but have expensive fashion taste that my government salary doesn’t allow, so this is enough to finance my wardrobe and expensive taste in brands,” Louise told Yahoo Finance.
The mum of two has about 30 dresses listed on the platform, including from popular brands like Zimmerman and Scanlan Theodore, which are rented out across the country.
“My lilac crepe knit short-sleeve Scanlan Theodore dress is the most popular and has been rented out about 15 times in the last year, making me more than $1,500 alone,” she said.
Louise uses the extra cash to buy new dresses and also sells the clothes that aren’t rented out as regularly.
“Also, I have a 16-year-old daughter who definitely takes after me with expensive tastes, so the money helps with that too,” she said.
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Tapping into freelance skills
Former English teacher Michele Berner started freelancing as a proofreader on Fiverr about eight years ago and is making about $1,000 each month from the gig.
The Melbourne retiree said she was looking to make some extra cash to supplement her pension, which is set to run out this year.
“It’s a solid way to make money. It’s consistent money and you can create all sorts of gigs depending on what your skills are,” Michele told Yahoo Finance.
While Michele said her proofreading work had slowed down recently due to artificial intelligence, she was still earning enough money to make it worthwhile.
Her jobs include proofreading novels, blog posts and university dissertations, with a large portion of her clients coming from America.
“If you’ve got skills and interests and passions that you can use to develop a gig, start by researching and seeing what other people have done and looking at comments. See what negative comments there are so you can see where there are gaps,” Michele said.
According to Fiverr, the current top trending searches in Australia are:
3D rendering - $600-$1,600 per gig)
Proofreading English - $150-$650 per gig)
Virtual assistant social media - $200-$900 per gig)
User generated content creator ($400-$800 per gig)
Renting out pool and spare space
Sydney resident Hemant Benne has been renting out his pool on Swimply since 2020 and says it’s earning him around $5,000 a month in summer.
Hemant charges between $35 and $60 an hour for his King Langley pool (depending on the size of the booking) and says it’s mostly rented out for parties.
“There have been a few interesting requests as well, including families needing a private space to take a dip, bookings for private swimming lessons, scuba diving lessons and there was a baptism that was a religious request,” Hemant told Yahoo Finance.
The dad of two said the extra cash was going towards his pool’s maintenance costs, as well as improvements to his backyard.
Hemant also rents out the spare space in his basement for storage. He currently rents out three rooms for between $100 and $150 a month each.
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