Side Hustling: A Look at the Last Two Years | brokeGIRLrich
So at the end of this month, I’m celebrating two years of blogging. That might not seem like a lot, but that’s a little more than 300 posts written just for brokeGIRLrich, not to mention all the other opportunities that have opened up to me since I started blogging.
Aside from being my own personal accountability tool through my monthly net worth updates, and introducing me to the greatest internet community around, this blog (and trying to figure out what on earth I was going to write about three times a week) has taught me how to hustle.
After writing my post about the power of making a list and noticing how much my net worth has increased since I started tracking it, I started to wonder how much my side income has increased since I became conscious of it.
And I’m pretty pleasantly surprised. It was a slow start, but it’s not uncommon for me to bring in at least an extra $100 a month and last year, when hustling my way to FinCon ’14 was a priority, I was bringing in several hundred extra dollars each month.
I love the comfort of knowing there’s more than one way to get the bills paid or amp up my savings or pay down debts. Partially snortrescue.org/online-neurontin because we all know how steady and reliable work in the arts is and partially because I’m a big believer in multiple streams of income.
You can also see from the chart that none of those income streams are even close to being sustainable, but each one of them provides me with more experience and slightly better foundation in case I do ever choose to bring them to the next level.
Even if you want to scoff at eBay as a stream of income, you shouldn’t. There are absolutely people who make a living flipping items – if you don’t believe me, check out this cool blog called Flipping a Dollar, which is all about that.
Two Years of Side Hustle Income
Note that after stage managing became my full time job again in December, I stopped counting that income in the side hustle graph.
My personal favorite is January 2014 – .33 cents.
The one I’m most proud of is all that increased green in the last year – income from brokeGIRLrich – grow little blog, grow. And note the blue, freelance writing, leading up to it, which I’m pretty sure helped grow my audience even more than it helped fatten my wallet.
New to side hustling? Here are 114 ideas to get you started.
I can’t believe it’s almost been two years since you started your blog!!! Crazy!! I have side hustled here and there mostly for fun money, although, I also had a goal for my writing to pay for Fincon last year, and thankfully I achieved that goal. This year I have been really focused on growing my business which has meant less time for side hustles and I miss them as an outlet.
Shannon @ Financially Blonde recently posted…Music Mondays – Don’t Stop the Party
FinCon is such a good catalyst for side hustling. I definitely haven’t done as well this year as I did last year when I made it a priority to hustle there.
Congrats on hitting 2 years! I did what some would consider side hustling for my main money for awhile. I’d do mystery shops, since I could work those in and around my health problems. It helped while I was waiting for, and then on, disability.
Since finding a job I can actually do, though, I’ve pretty much abandoned everything but the blog. I just don’t have the energy for it. (I have chronic fatigue.) The blog doesn’t bring in much, since I haven’t had a ton of time to grow it over the years. But I’m making it a priority now to change that.
Abigail @ipickuppennies recently posted…Donettes may or may not have been involved
That’s cool. I think the neat thing about just plugging along with your own blog for a while, without stressing about how to monetize it, puts you in a better position to do so once you decide you’re ready to take that next step.
Two years! That is a big deal! I’ve enjoyed everything you’ve written (and all you do!) over the past 24 months. And you’ve made some great progress along the way, too! Gotta ask, how did you make that much money on props? Selling them? Or working props?
femmefrugality recently posted…Everything You Need to Know About High Risk Insurance
Working them for shows – mostly shopping, but a little building.
Time flies so fast and congrats on your two years! I’m one of your big follower of your blog.
Kate @ Money Propeller recently posted…Some Quick Notes on How Healthcare Works in Canada
Congratulations on the last 2 years! In the blogging world, that’s seriously an achievement. I love your stuff, too – don’t stop! 🙂
I started side hustling just because I missed writing. I went to undergrad then grad school almost right after, then I started a job in finance. I went from writing 20 page plus research papers to barely writing an email, and I realized my writing talent was suffering.
On one hand, freelancing has made me a more concise and conversational writer, but it’s very, very different from writing for school. It took me too long to realize that 🙂
Melissa @ Sunburnt Saver recently posted…Top 12 All-American Road Trips You Need to Take This Summer
My side hustling has always been related to trying to “earn and learn” Unfortunately, the primary lesson that I learn is that I don’t like the part that is causing me to earn. On the blogging front, I’ve only ever made money from one blog (a food blog), but I had to give it up because the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze- I felt that it was too difficult to make authentic connections in the food blogging world for me to continue.
That’s a shame. I feel like the personal finance online community is incredible and always so helpful whenever I have questions – whether they’re about finance or even just blogging.
I too had a food blog and found the ultra competitiveness between sites and the constant pressure to take portrait worthy photos and maintain so much social media was not fun. You need props to make your creme brule look like it is sitting on a table in Paris. Some food bloggers have staff and recipe testers on their “team”. Making food blogs money worthy, I believe, is a full time job. Of course this is my experience.
Interesting tracker Mel! I love that you displayed it like that. Maybe I need to make a graph of my side hustle income too.
Financial Conversation recently posted…How to Save for Retirement if You’re Self Employed
I am new to the blogging arena, I appreciate you showing how your blog has grown over the past 2 years. I just started side hustling. So far it has consisted of mystery shopping and selling stuff we are not using.
I definitely started with that too. I was so impressed by your dinner! Which company are you working for that offers those types of shops? I used Sinclair Customer Metrics a lot when I first started and they have a lot of opportunities but you usually only make $5-20 dollars a shop.
Pingback: A Family & Life Update + A Writing Wrap Up - Budget Blonde
I’m sending my unemployed college student this link
I have been side hustling on EBay for 3 months now and have made some pocket money with very little hassle. There is a certain amount of persistence and non attachment to the items required. If Pay Pal is your method of payment then the money comes in dribs and drabs. There is some finesse in figuring out postage and presenting your items so someone will want to buy them. I scour thrift stores and yard sales and pick up things for cheap and then post them. Big wins have been shoes, clothes with the tags still on and vintage ceramics.I have had some big wins and a few surprises. It really is trial and error. My partner has been really successful recently. He bought 400 DVD’s in bulk ($100) and has sold most of them for $3-$1 each. A tidy profit. Last week we found a treasure of a thrift store in in a church basement and picked up 3 pairs of brand new hand made, one off Italian shoes and a pair of never worn motorcycle boots for $28 the lot. The shoes alone will make $100 each I am sure. We are about to take off on an extended road trip and think we will be able to do a little flipping on EBay for gas money. It is quite fun actually. I think the secret is not to charge too high as people are looking for a deal which is where the non attachment to items comes in.
I agree. It’s so important to not be attached to the items at all and think they’re worth a certain amount. I use eBay to declutter all the time and consider it worth it if it gets the item out of my house and not into a landfill – and lots of times I wind up making a nice sum too.
I’ve been side hustling for a few years. I’ve gotten serious this year because I’m working on my debt repayment. I also plan on paying for my Fincon registration with side hustle money.
Jason B recently posted…7 Months Into My Debt Repayment
That’s awesome! I was so excited to do that last year!
Pingback: Ep. 18: How Not to Live like a Starving Artist with Melissa Bondar
Pingback: A Family & Life Update + A Writing Wrap Up - Catherine Alford