What are your other side hustles besides mystery shopping and driving. Main hustle bookkeeping. Side hustles lawn work.

This is my side hustle.
I'm a substitute teacher for my day job.

main job: teacher
side hustles: tutoring, landlord, mystery shopping

I a also own a holiday rental property. A management company takes care of it.

I am also a substitute teacher.

I invest in the US stock market (mostly) for dividends, interest and capital gains. I find it's less hassle than property rental (no 2am toilet broken, no heat phone calls). Yes, it takes decades to build up your net worth (we deducted over 25% from our paychecks for 401K and after tax contributions), but compounding is awesome. It's allowed me and my spouse to retire early and do mystery shopping for low cost fun side hustle.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2023 11:19AM by maverick1.

This is my side hustle. I have a full time job as a data manager. Yawn! It pays the bills. I have looked into things that generate passive income but I just can't grasp all that I need to know. Takes time and there is so much to learn.

I'm the poster child for the gig economy:

•Lyft/Uber driver (still the best way for me to get $$$ the quickest, but man, have the companies made it hard to land some consistent decent coin)

•Community college adjunct professor (electronic music/audio stuff)

•Sound designer/main keyboardist for The Great Gig, a Pink Floyd tribute (we play maybe twice a year)

•Only work so far, but getting a new trio together with a singer/songwriter buddy that I've been in bands with before (I will be playing synthesizer bass and making other noises)

•Part-time work with music industry non-profit (they are trying to get funding for a full-time position for me)

•Part-time regional product support for a major musical instrument manufacturer, which just started back up after begin shut down a few years ago for some health thing that happened.

This last one is quite welcome. Not only does it get me back in music stores which have been my world since I was a teenager, it includes some remote locations, and the company pays mileage. I make sure to book at least one gas station mystery shop and anything else available when I make my rounds #WinkWinkNudgeNudge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2023 04:00PM by CoolMusic.

In addition to mystery shopping (which has surprised me by being my dominant gig lately), I sell on eBay, drive for Instacart and sometimes DoorDash, occasionally do User Testing, and self-publish books. I'm also an artist and look for art contests to enter but haven't won any yet. I have a few other ideas for more income streams, but have to reorganize a few things at home and figure out a work flow that would allow me to fit them all in. I like trying out new ways to make money to see how it works out because I thrive when I have variety in my life. But it can be tricky to stay on top of it all in an organized way.
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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2023 02:53PM by shopnyc.

@shopnyc wrote:

drive for Instacart and sometimes DoorDash

Curious about these. I have a Door Dash bag somewhere, but never did anything with them.

I drive both Lyft and Uber, but have given up doing Uber Eats or any delivery jobs because, as opposed to a rider, I have to deal with someone without a vested interest in things happening in a timely fashion.

What would you estimate your hourly gross is for Instacarting/Door Dashing?

My goal when driving is $30, and I can hit that when the companies offer lucrative bonuses. Unfortunately, those are inconsistent in both frequency and payout.

I've had a great week with Lyft only to have them offer a smaller bonus for more rides the following week.

Because of this, I'd like to find alternatives to ridesharing when the companies are being stingier (than usual).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2023 03:59PM by CoolMusic.

How much ( non tip) does Instacart pay for 1 shopping job?

The money you can make with Instacart or DoorDash will very much depend on where you live. I live in a semi-rural coastal community in New England. In this area, it's all small towns and we don't have very many places that use either of these services for delivery - and the customers can live quite far from the stores. For that reason, I find Instacart is much better than DoorDash because the pay per each delivery is always higher, but I'm very picky about which deliveries I will take. Keep in mind, for Instacart, it's mostly shopping for the stuff and then delivering it, although sometimes there are deliver-only opportunities. So, it can be time-consuming and I don't want to spend an hour shopping and then another hour driving on a 2-lane road with speed limit of 30mph to deliver to a house out on one of the peninsulas if the pay sucks. I do it if I have the time, feel like driving, want to explore someplace unfamiliar to me, or will be going somewhere near a grocery store - if I think the offer is worth my efforts. Once in a while I will spend a day doing Instacart, but it's really just filler for me. If you live somewhere with a higher population and lots of stores and fast food places, you can do much better than I do with either one. There are subs on Reddit for both Instacart and DoorDash drivers and you can learn a lot from people there.
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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2023 04:33PM by shopnyc.

I do seasonal tax returns. Love it.

@CoolMusic wrote:

@shopnyc wrote:

drive for Instacart and sometimes DoorDash

Curious about these. I have a Door Dash bag somewhere, but never did anything with them.

I drive both Lyft and Uber, but have given up doing Uber Eats or any delivery jobs because, as opposed to a rider, I have to deal with someone without a vested interest in things happening in a timely fashion.

What would you estimate your hourly gross is for Instacarting/Door Dashing?

My goal when driving is $30, and I can hit that when the companies offer lucrative bonuses. Unfortunately, those are inconsistent in both frequency and payout.

I've had a great week with Lyft only to have them offer a smaller bonus for more rides the following week.

Because of this, I'd like to find alternatives to ridesharing when the companies are being stingier (than usual).

Here is my 2 cents...

When I did Instacart you'd have to shop for products. If you had a 5 item grocery list; great. If they wanted 30 items it became tedious. Then you have to worry about getting the grapes that were not quite ripe enough, or the dented can of beans....if they had outages; lord help you. Doordash was different for me. With them, I didn't do the shopping; I picked up the order that the store workers shopped. Much easier. The pay wasn't as good but the sanity was worth it.

Look into the Roadie app. Roadie is a UPS company. Essentially it's like being a hot-shot UPS driver where you are dispatched to a store to pick up an order and deliver it. I haven't seen any restaurant deliveries in my area--I'm not counting a local bakery that bakes cakes.

Me too, I am an accountant and do books and taxes.

Maverick, Do you mind sharing how you select your stock or fund investments?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2023 12:02PM by BarefootBliss.

I'm retired, so I'm living from a pension and dividends.

Mystery shopping is my side gig - helps defray cost of groceries, gas (not from reimbursement lol) and restaurant meals.

My brother and sister are teachers - they tell me the local districts are desperate for subs - so maybe I should consider that too?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2023 12:04PM by BarefootBliss.

im a substitute teacher and a mystery shopper too. you need a bachelors degree and pass all clearences. I have cut way back on mysteryshopping over the past 4-5 years because i have been getting regular substitute jobs. also the pay has gone from 90 a day to 214 a day in my area.

The districts here (semi rural) have boosted their substitute pay....I have a masters degree and retired from law enforcement - not sure what databases they use, but I should come up all clear. I just think all I could handle are the little kids lol

just contact the districts they will either have you come in and fill out an application or give you the contacts of their subfinder system. they will also be able to tell you what clearences you need an how to get them. here in PA its about $90 for all three patch, fbi, and child line. you have to cover them out of pocket but they last a year.

I sell drugs on the side

NJ generally requires 60 college credit hours plus a variety of background checks including fingerprinting. Most school districts use a substitute teacher service. Certification is done by County, The fee is $125. In Camden County, many of the school districts use ESS (the name of a company that hires and coordinates substitute teachers).

@simonbanks wrote:

I sell drugs on the side

I prefer bank robbery.

I upload sheets for students on TeachersPayTeachers. Haven't done that in a long time but steady revenue every month which is a few Dollars! Focus groups pay a lot better and sometimes, $300 to $400 per interview.
Became a sub this year. In my Dist, they pay $135 for a full day. I sub for two districts and the other one pays almost the same. Right now, I sub half days mostly twice a week.
Mystery Shopping not so much except phone calls and a few well paid on-sites. I used to write articles on ehow some 15 years ago but then the company was bought by another organization. For the longest time, since I got married I couldn't work because I was on dependent visa. I did a few things like surveys for fun and a few bucks but mostly to pass time. Now that I have my citizenship, the first job I wanted was that of a teacher since I have always loved it.

Mystery shopping is my side hustle. When I was in my 20's, I did egg donation and made a nice chunk of change for that.

If I could sub for no more than three hours per day, as often as once per month, I might consider that. TPTB undoubtedly prefer people who can complete the designated full and half days. Oh, well.

I remember my Middle School days. I felt so bad for our subs. Students were so bad, myself excluded of course. I remember one who cried.

@Madetoshop

I don't remember ever misbehaving in middle school. My friends have different memories ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I rarely sub for middle school/highschool as I taught elementary. I'm not on the list for those schools. But most schools in this rural area are K to 12. So, those teachers do call me sometimes.

I like half days @Shop-et-al, but they aren't that common.

@BarefootBliss wrote:

Maverick, Do you mind sharing how you select your stock or fund investments?

Sorry Barefoot...I just saw your question today...

I'm afraid my answer is going to be boring. I diversify our investments. Spouse and I saved 25% of our paychecks in our 401Ks for many years. If I had more money left over in our credit union accounts, I'd send that to an after tax brokerage account. I also have a small HSA. What are we invested in? Mostly S&P500 mutual fund at low cost (0.04). Some in Nasdaq (QQQ), healthcare fund, REIT funds, a couple utility stocks, a few international funds, bonds (mostly short term), TIPS, and a handful of stocks I picked for fun (<5%). Overall about 75% stocks, 25% bonds/cash. Buy and hold. I don't day-trade. We're under the "4% rule" (Google Trinity Study). No financial advisor, so we avoid that fee (typically a 1% haircut).

Of course, I'm a DIY person and work on my cars, house, cycles, make most meals at home, build my own desktop computer, etc. so that's how we end up with extra funds to invest. We've retired early, but we're not bored. There's always something to do.

Like I said, investing is (and should be) boring.

@Shop-et-al..You can do 3 hours, I guess. I do half days that are 3.5 hours. I always get 1 hour free somewhere in between as students go for gym, PE, music, or recess depending on the time of the day. Today, I worked a half day from 9 to 12:30. I was done at 11:30 since they went our for special classes. I even came home early since their teacher came back and said that I could leave. The office has no problem with me leaving early if the teacher is back.

@Madetoshop..I agree, students are a bit rowdy when they know a sub is there. I generally try to be nice but when things go, let's say beyond my comfort level, I have to be assertive and that usually works.