Additional Income Streams?

[ceejay74]

Who here brings in extra money on the side while holding down a full-time job? I'm not talking about passive income on savings, but rather money brought in through online sales, blogging, part-time jobs, freelancing, and so on. Please share your stories of success, failure or other experiences trying to bring in extra money via an additional activity alongside a full-time job.

Or, as blogger Frugal Dad calls them, "side hustles." (I love that term!)

Thanks!
CJ

[akrogers]

I am an avid cosmetic collector, but that has also led to me having a closet full of things that I never use. I was able to find a place online where people will actually buy my used high end makeup (no need to discuss how 99% of us wouldn't do that for hygiene reasons), and have made $150 in the past two days. Also, that is from selling probably about 1/30th of what is in my closet... I could really cash out!

[disneysteve]

I sell on ebay and half.com sporadically. I started a challenge this year to have sales of at least $100/month. I did well the first few months and then lost interest, though I'm still on track on average. And I made a $19 sale on half.com today which helps. There was a time when I was a very active ebay seller. My best month ever, I had sales of over $2,000.

I also do a lot of medical surveys (not open to the general public). In a really good month, I can earn $600-$700. In an average month, it will be $300 or so.

[red92s]

I've started attending auctions for factories and plants shutting down and buying old "machine age" furniture. I clean it up and resell it (tanker desks, stools, etc). I rent a small storage space to store and work on it.

I have a small computer-controlled routing machine that can do sign work and stuff for custom car audio installations.

I have also been selling a lot of random stuff around the house on ebay and craigslist.

All told I bring in a couple hundred bucks per month this way.

[GREENBACK]

I'm a part time dog breeder of high quality labrador retrievers and enjoy it quite a bit. It's a hobby for me as I love dogs and this breed in particular but does bring in a profit at about $500 a puppy. I don't do it to make money but it does generate a little income. When I retire I hope to do this regularly.

[DebbieL]

I work a full-time day job and also go to college at night (3 nights a week Sept-Apr, and 2 nights a week May-Aug). In my "spare time" (ha, ha), I work a part-time job doing the bookkeeping for a medical clinic. They are open 7 days a week/12 hours a day, so I can go in whenever I want (so long as mid-month and month-end paycheques and other payments are done on time). From this extra work (15-20 hours a month) I bring home about $285-$380 per month.

[boosami]

Here are what I consider my "active" additional income streams:

• Side Business - I own my own business, featuring an online store where people buy products I create. Also generates money from advertisers.
• Side Jobs - I work as an independent contractor in the IT and Defense fields, taking additional jobs when they are a good fit
• Landlord - I own several rental properties with tenants
• I am a board member for a large non-profit organization
• I own a dozen Web sites that generate money from advertising and affiliate sales

The rentals make me the most money, but expenses can be high as well. I have a management company for some of my properties that are not nearby. Other than that, freelancing ($50-$200/hr) is the most profitable, but it takes the most time out of my life. The side business ($500-$1,000/mo) is second runner up, but it took a lot of time initially to set it up as I created it by myself all from scratch. My Web sites used to be much more profitable ($200-$300/mo), but some of my partners changed their terms (now I make $100/mo).

I consider all my additional income streams as extra money, and it goes to savings (except the business which I keep separate).

[ceejay74]

Very interesting stuff! Keep 'em coming!

I brainstormed several ideas yesterday, and I'm torn between focusing on one of them or trying them all out. Problem is, none of them are guaranteed moneymakers but all have potential. So I think I will continue to flesh out all of the ideas, start working on those that don't need any startup capital, and see where things go.