Many students struggle with the costs of everyday life and many of them don’t even have time for regular part-time jobs. As someone who has also been actively looking for more ways to increase the amount in their bank account, I thought that I could help others by sharing my findings. Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of common easy side hustles that people do for some extra cash. These can be easily implemented into your routine without taking over your entire schedule.
- Selling Homemade Goods
Many people already have a hobby that they enjoy. Whether it’s crocheting, clay art, baked goods etc. If you already have something that you enjoy doing, you can potentially turn that into cash. You can easily set up an Etsy, Facebook, or eBay page and put your homemade goods up for sale. Depending on your skill level and other market prices, price your goods accordingly. Eventually you may be able to start taking orders or feedback from customers to better your products.
2. Campus Tutoring
Ventura College offers a wide variety of on campus jobs and one of them is their campus tutoring program. You can be a drop-in tutor which is where you choose your hours and go to the tutoring center and kind of wait for students to come (which can be easy money), OR you can be an embedded tutor where you have an assigned class. The requirements are that you have a minimum 3.0 GPA, an A or B in the subject you will be tutoring in, are in good academic standing, and you need a faculty recommendation. You don’t have to be a full-time student so that can allow for more freedom and working hours. Their pay rates are $17.33/hr for drop-in tutoring and $18.19/hr for an embedded tutor. The downside is that you can’t apply anytime you feel like it. Sign-ups seem to be only at the end of the semester. Join Our Team | Ventura College
3. Rover
Rover is an app/website where pet-owners can hire people to pet-sit or walk their animals. You can set your own rate and work your own hours. If you decide to put yourself at a minimum wage rate of $16.90 in the state of California, and work of a minimum of 10 hours a week, that means you can cash an extra $160/wk. It may not seem like much but it can add up and cover some basic costs or extra personal interests you may have.
4. Food Delivery Services
There are many food delivery services that are readily available now such as DoorDash, Grubhub etc. If you have a car, you can make this work a bit easier (keep in mind cost of gas), but there are also many people who use bikes to deliver food. People make most of their money on food delivery services through tips, and payments vary per delivery. Some tips I found were to work during peak hours. These would include lunch and dinner hours where people are more likely to order food.
5. Flipping/Reselling Items
I interviewed a fellow VC student and he said that he buys cameras off Facebook, eBay, or local thrift shops and: cleans/fixes them up, makes sure they function well, and packages them to resell for a small profit. His hobby is collecting cameras and he wants to be a photo journalist so this extra cash grab also allows him to further his knowledge of cameras and their value/quality. This shows that you can take something you are already interested in and already do and make a profit. It may not be much monetarily but the value of honing his skills more makes up for that. This can be done with clothing, toys, furniture, other electronics etc. There are so many opportunities.
One last little thing I’d like to add. Make sure that for whatever you decide to do, you plan it out accordingly. Keep in mind your actual net profit after expenses and taxes.
Finally, I asked our fellow VC student if he had any final words of advice or of encouragement and here’s what he had to say:
“Understand that it isn’t going to be “easy” easy, but that hard work will pay off. Don’t overwhelm yourself and start with a huge task or expectation. Don’t worry. If one thing doesn’t work out, don’t be afraid to try something different.”
-Quentin Giesea Obeck
VC Social 