The Art of the Side Hustle

Side Hustling Hailee here. In a recent game of who’s most likely to, I won the honorable card of “Would do anything for $5,” and I can’t help but be proud.

Ever since raking in dollar bills when I was 12 at a Lemonade Stand, to selling clothes under the legal age at consignment stores when I was 15, I have always loved doing side hustles to bring in some extra cash.

I love side hustles for a couple of reasons, and its not because I’m a greedy and money obsessed person. It’s primarily because I do enjoy spending money on incredible experiences, but unfortunately some of life’s most amazing experiences aren’t always cheap. I love concerts, and traveling, and incredible meals, and without my side hustles I wouldn’t be able to enjoy these opportunities. And some of the world’s most fulfilling jobs like non profit work won’t pay the bills, but doing various side hustles lets you combine a bunch of different things you love. A side hustle doesn’t necessarily mean gaining just physical money, but it can be acquiring skills, meeting new people, and overall learning new experiences.  I see side hustles as passion projects, where you can participate in fun meaningful experiences while making some extra money. 

Here are my favorite ways to side hustle:

One. Reselling my clothes/ flipping clothes.  I love thrifting, I love searching and seeking, I love flipping clothes and selling them. This practice is not only sustainable, but has been my source of extra cash for years, in addition to helping me attempt to practice minimalism. Since I was 15, I’ve been selling my clothes at Buffalo Exchange. I have literally brought in the same suitcases full of clothes for the last 5 years in hopes that I get offered $3. There are lots of ways to resell your clothes and here are my faves:

• Buffalo Exchange: picky depending on location, but look into the store/ neighborhood/ vibe and bring the correct clothes accordingly
• Platos Closet: I usually have much more success here, and they list on their website all the brand names they love
• PoshMark / Mercari: I’ve newly started selling clothes through these apps, and while it is most definitely more work then resell shops, you make a lot more money.

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Two. Temporary jobs: I love working and filling my days with different tasks, and a lot of the time you can get paid for these various activities. Whether it be dog walking, babysitting, shuttling kids around your town, theres tons of ways to make $$$. One spring break I stayed at my university and offered kids rides to the airport and easily made $100 in a couple of hours.  Here’s my favorite apps to find these gigs:

• Rover is a great dog walking app
• Care.comalways hooks me up with great babysitting gigs (I recommend paying extra for the background check account)
• Nextdoor is great for finding people in your neighborhood that need extra help
• College / City Classified Facebook Pages are great ways to offer rides, sell things, and recommend services!

Three. Volunteering: Volunteering is not only a great way to get involved in the community, to have something to add to your resume, to meet new people, but can also give you serious rewards. There are obviously lots of non profits and shelters looking for extra hands, and helping out there can be an incredible way to get involved. Additionally, there are many ways to volunteer in exchange for free items like music festival tickets and accommodation. I recommend:

• Volunteer Match : find projects in your area that you’re interest in
• Music Festivals: research into your favorite music festivals or concert venues and see if they have some sort of street team or volunteer program to gain free tickets
• Workaway.com / Worldpackers.com: if you’re looking to travel, these websites are incredible for gaining free accommodation and food. 

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Four. Gaining skills: Sometimes side hustles do not need to be about gaining physical cash, but adding valued skills to your resume. In my free time I love to edit videos, take photos, paint, write, and speak Spanish. All of these skills over time become useful as you get better at them. Whatever you’re passionate about, find a way to make it a usable skill for your resume. Here’s some ideas

• Get certifications: Whether it be for an adobe suite application, google ad words, scuba diva certified, a yoga instructor, or a language test, all of these are skills that a future employer may care about
• Sell your work: If you are skilled in photography, create a website, if you can paint, sell at a market or Etsy, if you can write look for temporary blogging gigs, all of these creative outlets can be used towards creating a portfolio or excelling in new skills

Five. Getting creative: sometimes a side hustle is sitting outside of a music festival selling snacks on the street. My friend and I thought it would be brilliant to sell food to people entering a New Orleans music festival (granted if this wasn’t Louisiana, I think you would definitely need a permit). We made some money, became homies with some New Orleans residents, and had a nice afternoon in City Park.