Side Hustles

[PTR 444]

In today’s connected world, it is becoming increasingly common for people to look at other sources of income in addition to their main jobs. From affiliate marketing, writing a blog or selling art online, the possibilities are endless.

What side hustles do forum members here have, regardless of whether it earns them a penny or a million? I understand not everybody can hustle due to the nature of their main job, but for those who do have one or more, please feel free to discuss further and how you became interested in it. For example, does it relate to your main job or qualifications? Is it a hobby you are absolutely passionate about? How much time do you invest in it?

 

[ABB125]

I'm an occasional writer for a railway magazine. I occasionally do technical work at live events (eg: lighting, sound etc). I'm currently a student at university (engineering degree), who also works at the Students' Union doing tech work.

Meanwhile, someone I know has side hustles of writing musical arrangements, mixing cocktails, and repairing old shoes... Quite a variety!

 

[birchesgreen]

I blog a lot, i used to make money from Adsense (not a huge amount but the occasional 60 quid from Google was nice) but thats changed now since one of Google's many mess-ups... i mean changes to their system. I am a published dead tree author now, so if y'all buy my book on Birmingham's railways (details in the media section of this forum) then i can have some nice royalty income.

I don't do these things for money though (which is probably just as well), is it still a side hustle if its something you'd do anyway and any income received is just a bonus?

 

[dangie]

I’m interested in photography and have ‘sold’ a few pictures and also framed & mounted others. By ‘sold’ my payment is usually beer money in the local hostelry.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Pub quizmaster, mostly did it online during covid and have remained doing so although being quiet of late, so if anyone wants an online quiz or a fundraiser or needs a new quiz master in their local pub and happened to be in reasonable traveling distance of Chatham then I'm your man


Who remembers the forum quizzes that we had on zoom, they were a lot of fun during the dark days of lockdown

 

[jfollows]

After I had a stroke, and recovered (mostly), I volunteered for the Stroke Association for a while in helping them select recipients of grants, usually post-doctorate students pursuing research into preventing stroke or improving its treatment. This led also to a number of years doing similar work for Pfizer, for which I was paid, and one year I even got paid enough that I was pushed into paying income tax.
I've stopped doing both now; not because of the money (I only had expenses from the Stroke Association anyway) but because all the work has gone to Zoom/Teams and there is no longer any personal contact, and the main benefit to me was meeting people and talking to them in person.

 

[JohnMcL7]

A few years back I did some writing for a games site when gaming was a hobby which went well initially with some articles that had a good response but I couldn't keep thinking of ideas for articles and wasn't spending enough time on it on top of my main job.

More recently I trained as a cycle leader and first aider so I could lead cycles and again that was due to cycling being a hobby although that stopped with covid.

 

[TheSmiths82]

I DJ with a couple of other friends in a pub once a month. It pays for the taxi home and a beer (the pub isn't that local). However if I wasn't doing that I would probably still be out and having to pay for more beer and transport home etc. That said my wear on my vinyl records and the fact it is mostly our own equipment means it still costs us money to do. I sometimes want to take it further but with work and everything else once a month is enough for now. I am in the process of starting a YouTube channel but that is more for my CV than actually getting any views .

 

[THC]

A few years back I trained as a domestic energy assessor, which was only ever a side hustle to my main job, and I made a fair few quid in the first couple of years. The arse fell out of that market at the same time I started climbing the greasy pole in my main job. I'm too senior now in what I do - I simply don't have the time or headspace to cope with another gig on top of my main one.

THC