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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask for your best side hustles?

255 replies

Sidehustelesplea · 26/06/2023 16:19

I’m 21 and working 40 hours per week in hospitality. As you can imagine this isn’t exactly bringing in mega money. I live in a flat-share and the bank of mum and dad is shut. Overall I’m just about covering my expenses but I want to make a bit of extra money on the side. So Aibu to ask for your side hustles, second job ideas, ways of making money online etc?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Hoppinggreen · 28/06/2023 09:46

Trounlet · 27/06/2023 21:50

How dud you get into this? Thanks

Answered an advert, had relevant skills and experience

Trounlet · 27/06/2023 21:50

Hoppinggreen · 27/06/2023 19:08

Public Sector

How dud you get into this? Thanks

Parsley1234 · 27/06/2023 21:22

I started going to the rag mill buying clothes and carbooting then I advertised £10 per bag cash paid for clothes then I got known for buying clothes a few years ago I make a good side income

Susurrar · 27/06/2023 21:18

OP, a few years ago I was exactly in your shoes. Hospitality was slowly draining the life out of me even though I was on a not too bad salary.

Is hospitality what you want to do “when you grow up”? If so, you need to find ways to improve your earnings - promotion? Checking what competition has to offer? Hospitality imho is a tough business and working a 40 hour week and a hustling on the side on top of it might become quite hard to maintain over time.

If you don’t want to stay in hospitality long term, start thinking what industry would be of interest. There are a lot of transferable skills in hospitality. I chose an industry I was interested in, successfully applied for a not very fancy customer service job and got my foot in the door that way. I worked my arse off, my employer paid for all my qualifications and in 5 years I completely turned my career around.

Octopus45 · 27/06/2023 21:16

Thanks for this. I've just applied to join through facebook. I've just started writing a book, so it will be good to find out more.

Bluemooni · 27/06/2023 21:10

User Generated Content - videos of you using branded products.

Affiliate income from blogging.

Online arbitrage.

Monetising your passion teaching others what you already know through coaching and courses that offer real transformation.

Etsy templates and social media captions.

TokyoStories · 27/06/2023 21:10

Polkadotpjs · 27/06/2023 15:01

I'd love to proof read. Have you any tips on where to start. I looked previously but it was a link to an incredibly expensive training course 😩

I was a copy editor and proofreader. It takes a lot more than just having a ‘good grasp of English’. It’s also difficult to find work in it these days as translators, copy editors and proofreaders are largely being replaced by AI.

I got an email from Schuh today about my return:

Once you have chose how you are returning your item(s) to us, there's only a few steps left for you to do:

Seriously, don’t bother.

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 21:02

GeneHuntsCowboyBoots · 27/06/2023 20:56

Lol, I won’t, I promise!😂 Have you ever tried selling on Vinted? Just with there being no fees? I do like make up and skin care so it should be fun to try.

Vinted is not for me as I've found it's a much smaller market so things take longer to sell and I like to turn my stock around fast. Not saying you shouldn't try it though.

GeneHuntsCowboyBoots · 27/06/2023 20:56

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 20:51

Don't go undercutting me on ebay now!
I think there must be a few people playing this game judging by the ebay listing. You may not sell everything in the boxes but I usually at least make my money back plus some freeebies especially the travel sizes. House is packed full of beauty samples now. So if you like your makeup and skincare, can't go wrong!

Lol, I won’t, I promise!😂 Have you ever tried selling on Vinted? Just with there being no fees? I do like make up and skin care so it should be fun to try.

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 20:51

GeneHuntsCowboyBoots · 27/06/2023 20:47

Thank you for the information! I’ll start having a look into it.

Don't go undercutting me on ebay now!
I think there must be a few people playing this game judging by the ebay listing. You may not sell everything in the boxes but I usually at least make my money back plus some freeebies especially the travel sizes. House is packed full of beauty samples now. So if you like your makeup and skincare, can't go wrong!

GeneHuntsCowboyBoots · 27/06/2023 20:47

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 20:29

I scour the Internet but can recommend the following for beauty boxes

Next
Hearst
Glossybox
Occasionally John Lewis
Charlotte Tilbury sometimes do mystery boxes at sale time all half price

There are others but you'd have to have a look online

I try and buy with a discount or discount code

You need to work out if it's worth it by seeing what the contents typically sell for using Ebay completed items as a guide.

Expect to sell high end stuff at half RRP

Low or mid range brands after postage and fees its not worth it.

Thank you for the information! I’ll start having a look into it.

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 20:32

Advent calendar season is good, all the beauty Advent calendars from the likes of John lewis, Harvey nicks etc. Made a bit of dosh last year selling those. Usually on sale from October

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 20:29

GeneHuntsCowboyBoots · 27/06/2023 19:24

Where/how do you buy your beauty boxes? That sounds like something I could make work.

Sorry if you’ve already been asked this - I’ve not read the whole thread!

I scour the Internet but can recommend the following for beauty boxes

Next
Hearst
Glossybox
Occasionally John Lewis
Charlotte Tilbury sometimes do mystery boxes at sale time all half price

There are others but you'd have to have a look online

I try and buy with a discount or discount code

You need to work out if it's worth it by seeing what the contents typically sell for using Ebay completed items as a guide.

Expect to sell high end stuff at half RRP

Low or mid range brands after postage and fees its not worth it.

Ameanstreakamilewide · 27/06/2023 20:17

The plumbers i know earn £300 a day.

Ameanstreakamilewide · 27/06/2023 20:15

@BluebellBlueballs

This was before I was married and had children, so i was pretty much as free as a bird!

Ameanstreakamilewide · 27/06/2023 20:13

@RedNosedReindeer

Nothing as high falutin or glamorous as Instagram.

I walked past a fishmongers and the way they had scribbled the names of the fish gave me brain ache.

So I went in, explained that I'm a bit strange and the text gave me brain ache, etc; and I offered to write it out for free.

He then had a few people asking him about the 'writing', and buying some fish, while they were there.
I walk past it on the way to school, so one day he saw me, and nabbed me to give me £100.

I wouldn't take it at first. I felt a bit of a fraud, really, cos it only took about 10 minutes of my time and I enjoyed it.
He took my phone number and has passed it on to few local business owners, so I've done a bit of scribbling for them!

A wise man once said: if you're good at something, never do it for free.

Ingrowncrotchhair · 27/06/2023 20:03

ichundich · 27/06/2023 19:18

Yes, many clients and agencies require a degree in translation or a related field, e.g. linguistics, or an engineering / medical / chemistry / ... degree + fluency in the target language. Just because someone can speak another language doesn't mean they will be a good translator. You need a very good understanding of the source language and subject matter as well as excellent written skills in the target language, which should be your mother tongue. Having said that, there is a shortage of translators who translate into English, which means they can command higher rates and get work more easily. For certain target languages (French, Italian, German, Spanish) though there is a lot of competition; the market is ver much saturated and rates are very low. You can get work by registering with one or more translation agencies; RWS is a big one. They will require you to pass a test translation and will realistically only place jobs with you if your rates are low enough or they are desperate. If you are available during weekends and peak holiday times, that will give you an advantage over other, cheaper translators. The alternative is to find direct clients yourself, which can be time-consuming (but once you have a few and your quality is good you should be able to expand as people will recommend you). I've been a qualified translator all my life, but have decided to retrain because the money is so rubbish these days :-(. It used to be £22-40 per hour and nowadays you can only get around £10-15!

@ichundich thank you!

Irritateandunreasonable · 27/06/2023 20:01

deepfriedwithapple · 27/06/2023 11:13

If you are subject to tax then you cannot earn anything extra on the side without having to pay the tax on it. Cash in hand is illegal, even it is ''only'' £25 for baby sitting or whatever.

That’s actually incorrect.

You can earn up to £1000 without having to declare it or pay tax.

KisstheTeapot14 · 27/06/2023 19:51

People selling clothes online - which sites are you using? What about postage costs/site commission? What things sell best? Storage space needed? Do you wash the clothes from charity shops (possibly silly question but still). I'm at the other end of the age scale but always been curious about doing this. It may be that I end up buying more stuff than I turn a profit on though.

Lon88 · 27/06/2023 19:37

girlfriend44 · 27/06/2023 13:43

Everyone is doing dog walking etc.

Demand still outweighs supply in cities it's so hard to get a dog walker or dog sitter.

EekGoesTheBaby · 27/06/2023 19:30

Do you have a skill (Photoshop, etc.) that you can offer on fivver?

HeckinBamboozled · 27/06/2023 19:27

3BSHKATS · 27/06/2023 19:12

Plumber’s got about £80 an hour and spend the day is up to the rising shit. Electricians about £150 an hour and they never have to deal with shit. If you have half a brain be a sparky

Air source, photovoltaics and/or solar engineer are also a great thing to retain as. Massively in demand and there are not enough of them!

GeneHuntsCowboyBoots · 27/06/2023 19:24

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 05:05

I buy beauty boxes split them up and sell them on ebay. I usually keep a few things for myself so don't make that much but if I sold everything, after fees and postage I'd make a few hundred a month especially if I scaled up. Even if I keep some things back for myself it means I'm never having to spend my salary on majeup/ skincare so still a saving

You have to learn which brands will sell well and it can be a but of a gamble but that's part of the fun.

Elemis, bobbi brown, charlotte tilbury etc sell like hot cakes.

I'm a beauty addict so this is my little hobby business

Where/how do you buy your beauty boxes? That sounds like something I could make work.

Sorry if you’ve already been asked this - I’ve not read the whole thread!

BluebellBlueballs · 27/06/2023 19:23

Ameanstreakamilewide · 27/06/2023 18:37

I used to invigilate exams as well.

I'd take a week off work to do it.

Taking a week of annual leave to do work would kill me!

ichundich · 27/06/2023 19:18

Ingrowncrotchhair · 27/06/2023 16:33

@uhtredbebbanburg how did you get into that? I speak another language (native). Thought courses were required for this, tho?

Yes, many clients and agencies require a degree in translation or a related field, e.g. linguistics, or an engineering / medical / chemistry / ... degree + fluency in the target language. Just because someone can speak another language doesn't mean they will be a good translator. You need a very good understanding of the source language and subject matter as well as excellent written skills in the target language, which should be your mother tongue. Having said that, there is a shortage of translators who translate into English, which means they can command higher rates and get work more easily. For certain target languages (French, Italian, German, Spanish) though there is a lot of competition; the market is ver much saturated and rates are very low. You can get work by registering with one or more translation agencies; RWS is a big one. They will require you to pass a test translation and will realistically only place jobs with you if your rates are low enough or they are desperate. If you are available during weekends and peak holiday times, that will give you an advantage over other, cheaper translators. The alternative is to find direct clients yourself, which can be time-consuming (but once you have a few and your quality is good you should be able to expand as people will recommend you). I've been a qualified translator all my life, but have decided to retrain because the money is so rubbish these days :-(. It used to be £22-40 per hour and nowadays you can only get around £10-15!