The cost of living is rising. The UK is seeing a 40 year record high of inflation, with this summer marking a 9.4% rate. McDonalds has put the price up of their iconic cheeseburger for the first time in 14 years and groceries have seen a 12.2% spike over the last year, making it the largest 12-month increase since April 1979.
And yet, wages aren’t meeting the demands of these hiked bills and receipts. According to the Office for National Statistics, regular pay (excluding bonuses) rose by 4.3% in spring for the average employee. What will fill that discrepancy of 5.1% for the average worker?
As more and more people look for new ways to make ends meet, people are turning to their hobbies to see if they can be monetised. Alternate streams of income are becoming more appealing and everyone is saying ‘don’t stick to your day job’. In fact, 2 in 5 Americans have picked up a side hustle - and the amount of people planning to take on a new one is growing every year.
So, here is our extensive list of income boosting hobbies to supplement your 9-5!
Teach others
If you’re lucky enough to have a hobby that you’ve honed, then training someone up in it is a good idea. You can pass down the ladder to a young hopeful as they start climbing their way to becoming a prodigy! Whether you’ve mastered the violin, are not half bad at painting, or are a dab hand at cooking, make your skills pay the bills! There will be someone out there - either in your close circle or online - who would pay a modest amount for some lessons.
From dance lessons to web design to coding, if you know it, someone else wants to!
And it doesn’t have to be your typical hobbies and skills that you can train someone on. Most people can confidently say they completed school - so whether you’re a university student fresh out of school with some spare time on weekend and evenings or a parent trying to support your own school kids, tutoring could be an A* option for you.
For those looking to monetise a skill, such as playing an instrument and reading sheet music, you can join sites such as SuperProf or Fiverr to set your rates and make yourself known. If you prefer a more laid back approach, you can also reach out to your circle and let them know you now offer paid training. Whether you let the other mums and dads on the school run know that you’re doing this extra work or you post about it on social media, there are ways of getting the word out. Even printing your own basic leaflet to hand out to local homes and businesses isn’t too much of a stretch!
And for those who got a good grade in Maths or English and can pass on a few wise words and mark a few practice papers, there are many routes you can take. Reach out to local tutoring bodies, such as Explore Learning, to get a Sunday job, or be your own boss and manage your own schedule and payments. With the latter option, you can be totally flexible with timing. Pop a post up on social media saying your services are available for a good rate per hour and see if anyone bites. If not, ask for referrals from friends and family who may know someone looking for a helping hand. Be it a primary school student trying to pass the 11+, a sixth former tackling A Levels, or someone in a seminar with you at uni that has asked for a helping hand on a few modules, your services will be in demand!
And for those who aren’t committed to 1:1 time or online sessions, you can simply upload some of your best notes, guides, and transcripts of lectures to StudyDrive for money per term. https://www.studydrive.net/en/be-a-course-expert
Sell sell sell
Get on Depop. Get on eBay. Get on Vinted. Get on Facebook Market Place. Get on Gum Tree.
Whatever site you choose, there are many ways to flog your less used items. Whether you’ve got a bundle of clothes that haven’t been worn since 4 seasons ago or have books that are gathering dust, there are so many apps, sites, and online market places to auction them off.
In 2021, the global market value of secondhand and resale apparel was estimated to be worth 96 billion U.S. dollars - so there’s plenty of money in it!
If you’re the rare kind of bookworm that is actually okay with parting ways with read books (or at least a hoarder that is battling a problem with sentimentality that leaves you with more books in your shelves than pages in War and Peace) then Ziffit could be for you. Selling books that are still in good condition to buyers like Ziffit, We Buy Books, or Music Magpie is an easy solution that leads to a quick clear out. Though bulk selling will earn you less money than individually auctioning books on eBay, it is the easiest option.
Similarly, if you’re a university student who has finished a semester, you’re likely to find students from the year below who would be happy to take those pricey text books off your hands! English Students often have online forums for reselling the many books they accrue for a module, which can see you sell a collection of used or annotated books for a nice lump sum that might be around half the value of what you originally paid for them (before you ear marked them to death). The same can be said for any subject that requires expensive textbooks or materials.
If you have a load of unloved clothes clogging up your wardrobe, they might find a more loving owner elsewhere. That glittery dress from your pre-covid clubbing days? It’s time for her to find a new party lover. That pair of Docs that always made your size 8 feet hurt? There’s a size 7 looking for that exact pair. That top you got in the wrong size but missed the return date on? There’s someone out there who wouldn’t dream of returning it!
And it doesn’t have to be clothes or shoes or books or valuables. It could be a bit of old furniture that’s gathering dust that someone online would buy for a reasonable price. Facebook Marketplace is THE place for getting rid of even the most random items quickly for a tiny bit of cash. But hey - a little goes a long way!
#influencer
Are you a wannabe influencer or a big time fashionista? There’s another hobby to capitalise on! By creating a 21 Buttons profile, you can earn passive income from other people loving your style. By creating a shoppable feed, you can earn around 5% commission on any purchase made thanks to organic advocacy!
If you have a bit of a passion that you think other people would resonate with, then there’s no harm in putting that out into the world. Whether you’re a first time homeowner who is extra house proud and has an Instagram account dedicated to all your favourite soft furnishings, cleaning products, and bargains, or a gamer on TikTok who is gathering a following unexpectedly, there’s money out there!
Even if you’re never quite asked to do a sponsored post with a brand or aren’t quite on the level of getting paid for an ad, the world of PR packages is a fun one to explore. That home owner account could get sent a promotional pack of the newest laundry tablets and the gamer might be sent a new game to try. It’s only worth it if you stick at it and genuinely enjoy it, but the algorithms can be kind! And, in a world of growing mistrust for mega celebrity influencer endorsements (because, cough cough, we all know celebs are paid eye watering amounts for saying that unopened bottle of shampoo has changed their life), nano and micro influencers have rocketed to the forefront of brand strategy.
Another option for anyone who wants to pursue an online presence is good old fashioned blogging! It could be that you create a blog about a passion for food, for travel, or for books. If you are getting good read rates, then it might be time to monetise! Google's AdSense program is one way to do so. You get a percentage of any resulting sale every time someone clicks on one of the ads on your blog. And, blogging is an easy skill to transfer to your career - and freelance blog writing is always in demand. Check out Indeed for blogging jobs to apply to!
Sell finished pieces
Talking of selling… And talking of hobbies…
Selling your masterpiece of a hobby is a great way to make extra cash. Join sites like etsy.com to begin selling your quirky skills - from jewellery making, to crochet, to embroidery, to portraits, to engraving, to print making, to much more!
For a more ad hoc system of sales, you can advertise your services on social media and let people know you take requests. Start low with your prices to get the word out and get referrals flooding in, but make sure you value your time.
There’s a market for personalised jewellery to gift on birthdays and Christmas. There’s an appetite for handmade cards to make people feel loved on their special day. And there’s certainly a hunger for delicious baked goods to give on Valentines Day.
Swap your skills
Trading = saving! If you’re blessed with a talent or can create something valuable to someone, then trading online with others could be a way of saving some cash. Whether you can trade your freshly grown fruit and vegetables - which, frankly, are too expensive to buy in supermarkets right now - or your carpentry skills, there are plenty of platforms you can get swapping and switching. TrashBank.com, SwapTree.com and GoSwap.org are just a few sites that will help you find someone to trade with.
There are many ways to use your time that would be useful to someone. You can do some dog walking for a neighbour in return for some gardening, or some cleaning in return for some DIY!
Photograph your hobby
Stock photos are constantly being bought by bloggers, by marketeers, and by advertisers. Websites need images - and you can provide them! By uploading pics of your hobby - be it fashion, art, LEGO, gardening, makeup or cooking - you can get commission every time someone uses your photo for the web. There are numerous stock photo sites where you can sell your work, including istockphoto.com and sxc.hu.
Turn your hobby into a career (or part time job)
We’ve discussed blogging, but it doesn’t stop there.
If you’re a green thumb, have you considered selling your landscaping skills to people who don’t have time to finesse their garden?
If you love crafting a perfect Pinterest board or have an Instagram that can only be described as on fleek, have you considered starting a career as a social media manager?
If you’re a baker, have you considered selling your cakes for weddings and birthdays?
If you’re a dab hand at makeup, have you considered hiring out your services for a fee?
If you’re a photographer, have you considered snapping shots for people on special occasions or doing photoshoots?
House flipping
So you can do DIY. You have an eye for interior design. You have money you want to multiply. It’s a big investment, requires upfront money, and is no easy feat, but house flipping is a seriously lucrative way to embrace a new hobby. It’s a bit of a step up from just offering out your decorating services to local neighbours, but it could be the next step!
You can level up houses that need some TLC and - eventually - get a great return on investment.
Investing
Investing can seem like a complicated art but it doesn’t have to be. There are lots of ways to stretch your money further - as long as you’re patient and don’t panic when the market fluctuates! The general rule is that the longer you can leave it, the better it grows. 2-7 years of waiting will see you set!
If you want to do things more short term, Entrepreneur says this: ‘Day trading is not for the faint of heart. It takes grit and determination. It takes understanding the different market forces at play. This isn't something intended for amateurs. But, if learned and learned well, it is a way where you can quickly -- within hours -- make a significant amount of real money with a relatively small investment.’
You can play the stock market, buying groups (baskets) of stocks and shares based on the US market or global. Or you can invest in individual companies, though this takes more monitoring and thought. For instance, you could invest in Apple and Etsy and Meta, or you could take a generalist approach and invest in the FTSE 100.
According to Investopedia, ‘A basket is a collection of multiple securities (e.g., stocks, currencies, etc.) which have a similar theme or share certain criteria. For instance, a sector exchange traded fund (ETF) may contain a basket of stocks that are all in the same industry.
‘They are used by institutional traders, hedge funds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to quickly and effectively alter their portfolio allocations. Most retail brokers also allow an individual to create baskets and basket orders.
‘In economics, a basket of goods refers to a fixed set of consumer products and services whose price is evaluated on a regular basis, often monthly or annually, for the purpose of tracking inflation.’
Metals, energy and agriculture are commodities you can trade, too. To invest, you can use an exchange like the London Metal Exchange or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, as well as many others.
Another investment is cryptocurrency - but like all investing, there’s an element of risk. You can use exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, or Cex.io.
There’s also real estate, options, and yourself! Always invest in your own education and development and you’ll see more than just monetary opportunities come from it…
The easiest way to begin investing is to pay a small fee for someone to manage your finances for you, such as an investment manager - or an AI trader. Most investment programmes, like Vanguard, will have this automatically set up for you.
From eToro to Vanguard, there are many ways to get into investing online!
ISAs
A Lifetime ISA (LISA) can be opened by anyone aged between 18 and 39. You can save up to £4,000 a year in it towards your first home or retirement.
But the real beauty of this type of saving account is that the state will add a cash bonus of up to £1,000 a year on top. The government will add 25% of what you save on top of your existing savings… yep, that’s right: free money!
So, if you’re thinking of buying your first home in over a year then get saving - and if you’re coming up to 40, now’s the time to set up your retirement fund before you miss the cut off date.
Paid market research sessions
Join a Facebook group to let local market research providers know you’re on hand for interviews and focus groups. There are plenty around and can see you get around £40-60 for an hour or two of ideation. The beauty of these sessions is that more and more are online these days, meaning you can say goodbye to travel costs. Plus, they’re a bit of fun!
There are tons of market research sites out there to sign up to and you can start earning extra cash on the side.
Driving your way to wealth
Got a driving license? Confident behind the wheel? Know the area? If you’re a well insured driver with good directional instincts, then signing up to drive for Uber or Lyft on evenings or weekends could be an option for you.
With Uber, you can receive and extra £750 when you complete 50 trips! You don’t need to have your own car and you can earn on your own schedule.
