Side job/side hustle ideas/recommendations to supplement income

[PineClone]

your daycare costs are less than 5000 total in a year?

Ah...good point and thanks for the correction. It's been a few years since daycare (we're almost empty nesters) but you're right. There is a cap to the amount that you can set aside. And now i'm remembering that the orthodontics were paid through a flexible benefits account where we could set aside $3000 tax free each year for medical.

 

[HGoat1]

My advice would be to not start a side hustle, and instead gain skills, a degree, or a certification in your career field that will make your earning potential higher. What those skills are are going to vary depending on the field you are in. Talk to your boss. They may offer some sort of tuition or skills/certification re-imbursement. They may have a need within the company for someone to do X, and willing to pay for you to gain the skills necessary to fill that gap and potentially earn more.

 

[CascadeClone]

Anyhoo, this guy in Baltimore was a retired college professor. His wife had a high paying job. So he quit that and spent his time flipping vehicles and their homes - they'd move every several years, each time into a nicer home using gains they rolled forward....

The guy who built my last house did this. He was just a one-man general contractor, but did as much of hte work as he could (mostly the carpentry). His gig was, he would buy a lot, build a house, and finish it out while living there (had 4 kids!). He could get one finished out about every 2-3 years, while still generalling the other houses he built for others as his regular income. Then he would sell his house, net maybe $100-150k of the instant equity for his retirement savings. And do it all over again. He said he had to do this 2 or 3 more times, and then he could retire (he was in his 40s I think). His biggest concern was if the wife would put up with moving 2-3 more times lol.

 

[cowgirl836]

Ah...good point and thanks for the correction. It's been a few years since daycare (we're almost empty nesters) but you're right. There is a cap to the amount that you can set aside. And now i'm remembering that the orthodontics were paid through a flexible benefits account where we could set aside $3000 tax free each year for medical.

​

Ok I was just wondering what I was missing! And thought the ortho sounded more like the limited purpose FSA which can be used primarily for dental + vision costs, common if you utilize an HSA for medical.

The dependent care amount hasn't gone up since at least 2017 which is crazy. Really wish it would follow FSA or IRA rules in going up basically as a COLA each year. Purely on tuition increases, daycare has gone up by 20% since we started in late 2018. $5k was already spit in the bucket but that means it's lost significant value over time to us as well - outside of the doubling in 2021 that some companies implemented.


eta: jfc I just looked and the DSA limit was set in 1986 and because Congress didn't tie to inflation, it has NEVER CHANGED. That is nuts. 5k in 1986 would cover a significant portion of childcare expenses. No change in 36 years. Insane.

 

[cyphoon]

Buy stuff at farm/garage sales and resell it on Facebook and/or Craigslist.

Or.....Sports betting.

My wife did this when we had youngins. She would buy a toy at a garage sale for $.50 and resell it for $10-$20. One year she pulled in close to $10,000, which may not seem much, but we weren't spending anything on daycare at that time. So really about a $20,000 impact on our family's bottom line.

H

 

[NWICY]

No kids but I've thought about something like Costco or similar just to pad things a bit.

They pay decent and many of the workers at the one I go to have been there since I started so they must have decent employee satisfaction.

Imo whatevr it is should be seemless/easy. I had a friend who was a teacher and worked at an ice cream shop for a summer and it was a super toxic work environment somehow.

Worked up at Afton Alps one season so much the bold sentence I told myself I would quit the 1st day it wasn't fun ended up being in the last 6 they let go at the end of the season. It was a great part time job only reason I didn't go back was that I moved too far away.

 

[HGoat1]

Dang! 40K is more that my wife brings in a year (she works as a full time substitute teacher).

Have you done a cost-benefit analysis and had an honest discussion with your wife on what she wants from her career, and whether she might consider staying home? In my area we would be approaching 40k/year for childcare if we had 3, maybe even over 40k in cost. Totally get it if she wants to have a career outside of the home and the decision is different for everyone, I know I would go insane as a stay-at-home dad.

 

[alarson]

If the guy needs a side hustle to get by I doubt he has the money laying around to buy a rental property.

And financing those at current rates is not great. Rents have risen but not necessarily enough to make those cashflow positively, and thats before potential maintenance things that pop up which can drive a unit into the red (for instance, mine was in the red last year as the furnace and AC both needed replacement). You make money on investment properties over the long term as the property value rises and the mortgage is paid down with rent, but if OP is wanting a side hustle assumedly he wants something that would generate additional cashflow immediately.

 

[ISUTex]

My wife did this when we had youngins. She would buy a toy at a garage sale for $.50 and resell it for $10-$20. One year she pulled in close to $10,000, which may not seem much, but we weren't spending anything on daycare at that time. So really about a $20,000 impact on our family's bottom line.

H

I know a lot of retired guys who do this with machinery, tools, lumber, building materials etc..

 

[ScottyP]

Have you done a cost-benefit analysis and had an honest discussion with your wife on what she wants from her career, and whether she might consider staying home? In my area we would be approaching 40k/year for childcare if we had 3, maybe even over 40k in cost. Totally get it if she wants to have a career outside of the home and the decision is different for everyone, I know I would go insane as a stay-at-home dad.

Having her stay at home is an option we are considering. Our day care has a thing where teachers can just pay a $150 fee to hold the child's spot for the summer so we don't have to pay daycare over the summer.

When we did the cost analysis, depending on taxes/deductions, we would a in a couple hundred a month after daycare expenses. The thing is, if childcare rates jump a bit for next year, that benefit goes out the window. I'll be sending out a note to the center to see if they have calculated what their rates would be for next fall to get a better grasp on the analysis.

 

[Gonzo]

Having her stay at home is an option we are considering. Our day care has a thing where teachers can just pay a $150 fee to hold the child's spot for the summer so we don't have to pay daycare over the summer.

When we did the cost analysis, depending on taxes/deductions, we would a in a couple hundred a month after daycare expenses. The thing is, if childcare rates jump a bit for next year, that benefit goes out the window. I'll be sending out a note to the center to see if they have calculated what their rates would be for next fall to get a better grasp on the analysis.

My mom did daycare for a handful of kids when we were growing up. In addition to the potential savings, it can also provide additional playmates for your kiddos every day.

 

[ScottyP]

My mom did daycare for a handful of kids when we were growing up. In addition to the potential savings, it can also provide additional playmates for your kiddos every day.

My wife worked at a daycare a couple years ago. Even though it was half-rate for employees kids, the pay wasn't good and the constant employee turnover/staffing burned her out.

For a while, she thought she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. My wife had the summer off this past summer with our two kids who are seven and 2 (birthday is today). She realized that being a stay-at-home mom wasn't maybe for her (my 2 year old is a handful).

 

[I@ST1]

If the guy needs a side hustle to get by I doubt he has the money laying around to buy a rental property.

I guess all you have to do is take out an unsecured personal loan, start an LLC, put the loan money into a personal bank account, go to a new bank and open up a business account showing that you have cash on hand (deposit loan money into the LLC account), get a loan through the business for the 20% + “rehab” expenses, pay off the unsecured loan with the “rehab” money, then you have 20% down for your down payment and you’ll be cash flowing within 2 months.

At least that’s how I see it done on TikTok.

 

[CycloneErik]

Ugh, that's really rough. Obviously she's got other things going on right now but she may want to think about what she enjoys for the long term. She has a degree and experience in a field just *filled* with skills employers are looking for right now. Corporate trainer comes to mind immediately. Project management would be another she could probably easily do. The ability to teach and wrangle 20 crazy el ed kids and get them to focus and learn translates very well to the corporate world.

Project management is one that a lot of academics and teachers have run into trouble with. Translating those experiences can come off as "too cute" or trying to diminish the value of corporate understandings of project management.
It's another trick to moving out of teaching-related professions that some have run into.

 

[carvers4math]

My wife worked at a daycare a couple years ago. Even though it was half-rate for employees kids, the pay wasn't good and the constant employee turnover/staffing burned her out.

For a while, she thought she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. My wife had the summer off this past summer with our two kids who are seven and 2 (birthday is today). She realized that being a stay-at-home mom wasn't maybe for her (my 2 year old is a handful).

When I quit my job when we hit three kids, the first week was physically exhausting. It turns out it takes a lot more physical activity to take care of three kids than to sit at a desk all day, go figure!

We had a family that did in home daycare nearby which was nice cause I would meet up with them in the park and they had lots of kids to interact with, leaving me just dealing with the baby mostly.

Also a bit of a break to take them to things like children’s library programs.

 

[cyfan92]

and if either of you feel you are due for promotions/raises - work on that. Document your work successes/good feedback and go armed with that into any performance reviews, pending when you have those.

This should be your first step. If you are a hard worker. Ask for a raise, an empathetically boss who recognizes your situation (assuming you are a high performer) should work with you.

I'd sell it as you may need to supplement your income. That could affect your ability to be 100% at the current job.

 

[ScottyP]

This should be your first step. If you are a hard worker. Ask for a raise, an empathetically boss who recognizes your situation (assuming you are a high performer) should work with you.

I'd sell it as you may need to supplement your income. That could affect your ability to be 100% at the current job.

Good news is that I've recently started that process. I met with my boss last week to discuss some of it. I even mentioned that I am willing to take on some additional responsibilities/projects (within reason, of course) to justify a pay increase.

My wife and I recently reviewed some of our expenses and were able to find some cuts that made sense. I was able to cut my cell phone bill by about $65 a month by adjusting our plan. We also found a few subscriptions/member ships that we could cancel, The problem is it gets to a point where there isn't much else to cut so that is where the supplemental income comes in.

 

[cyfan92]

Good news is that I've recently started that process. I met with my boss last week to discuss some of it. I even mentioned that I am willing to take on some additional responsibilities/projects (within reason, of course) to justify a pay increase.

My wife and I recently reviewed some of our expenses and were able to find some cuts that made sense. I was able to cut my cell phone bill by about $65 a month by adjusting our plan. We also found a few subscriptions/member ships that we could cancel, The problem is it gets to a point where there isn't much else to cut so that is where the supplemental income comes in.

Father of 2 under 3. I get the daycare thing... $3 grand a month is double our mortgage including escrows.. Adding another $1600 a month is definetly on our minds for #3 and beyond. Especially since our boys are summer birthdays where we likely want to hold them back. Daycare is keeping my wife full-time versus part-time, and that really impacts her.

I haven't found a good idea for supplemental income that doesn't severely impact my time with the kids or wife.

 

[cowgirl836]

This should be your first step. If you are a hard worker. Ask for a raise, an empathetically boss who recognizes your situation (assuming you are a high performer) should work with you.

I'd sell it as you may need to supplement your income. That could affect your ability to be 100% at the current job.

Very careful on this - plays into the bias of fatherhood bonus/motherhood penalty. Any employer should pay you more because you have demonstrated value to the company and they see the potential for you to continue delivering that value. Not because you need more money. Psuedo threatening that you need $$ or won't be present at a job is not the best way to approach it.

 

[cyfan92]

Very careful on this - plays into the bias of fatherhood bonus/motherhood penalty. Any employer should pay you more because you have demonstrated value to the company and they see the potential for you to continue delivering that value. Not because you need more money. Psuedo threatening that you need $$ or won't be present at a job is not the best way to approach it.

"(assuming you are a high performer)"

If there is 1 thing I have learned in corporate America... It's that you HAVE to get greedy and take advantage of every situation. The system is set up to pay you as little as possible and and it's up to YOU, not your bosses to ask for the compensation.

Hear you on the maternity side. That a larger conversation, likely not had online.

I disagree on the threat, AGAIN, assuming you are a high performer. You have to look out for you own best interests. It's REALLY expensive and sometimes impossible to backfill talented employees. Fight for every dollar.