Hustle Series Archives - Page 7 of 9

How I Paid Off Over $100,000 in Debt With the Help of eBay and Garage Sales – And How You Can, Too!

Last Updated: January 8, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 71 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Enjoy this blog post from a blog friend of mine. Veronica has an AWESOME story to share and hopefully this post will help teach you how to sell on eBay.

Have you ever hosted a garage sale where people arrived 2 hours early to look through your old junk? Did they seem overly eager to snatch up what you deemed to be garbage?

If this sounds familiar to you, those people probably weren’t hoarders-they were ‘flippers,’ and that old ‘junk’ you just sold to them for 50 cents might have just paid their bills for the month.

My name is Veronica, and I am one of those flippers.

My husband Andrew and I are both full time health care professionals, garage sale ‘flippers’, bloggers, and seekers of financial independence. We have been paying our bills with the help of garage sales, estate sales, auctions, and eBay for the past few years, and have made quite a dent in our once-staggering amount of debt!

To date, we have completely paid off $96,500 in student loans, our $15,000 wedding, $5,000 in credit card debt, a $6,500 car, and over half of our mortgage- $76,600 and counting!

No, we didn’t receive an inheritance or win the lottery. [Read more…]

Make Money Selling Books – An Easy Side Hustle For Anyone

Last Updated: November 5, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 28 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Enjoy this post about how to make money selling books from a blog friend of mine. You can check out other ideas in my side hustles series here.

I like books. In graduate school, I read a lot of books.

For seven years, I worked at a couple of bookstores and now for at least the past decade I have purchased books at clearance sales, library sales and garage sales and then flipped them on Amazon for profit.

Another strategy that has also proven quite rewarding is by selling books, CD’s and DVD’s at chain bookstores. I know that several franchises, with stores in multiple cities, purchase used books. Half Price Books is one of them. But my experience and specific tips are based upon sales to Hastings Entertainment, although I suspect that most of the strategies I’ll share are applicable to other establishments as well.

While I do buy used books at garage sales, library sales and such, the better deals may occasionally be found at retail establishments.

For a couple of years, I purchased books at one franchise with a local store which would discount new books to as low as 47 cents each. I would purchase a shopping cart load, resell the more valuable books on Amazon, donate certain needed titles to a university library being developed elsewhere, and trade in the majority of the others at Hastings Entertainment.

Then for several years another bookstore, that has since gone out of business (understandably), would discount their new books that had been in stock for a couple of years. They would gradually lower the prices until they would sell a sack full for $15.00. [Read more…]

The Perfect Passive Income Real Estate Investment

Last Updated: November 21, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 22 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Enjoy this blog post from a blog friend of mine.

An investment in REITs offers the benefits of real estate investing without the hassle of buying individual properties. Find out why it should be part of everyone’s investment strategy.

Ever since Will Rogers made his famous quote about real estate investing in the 1930s, people have been lining up for their share of the profits. Few investments have created as many family legacies and created more wealth than real estate.

My own experience in real estate investing started in 2002, just after getting out of the Marine Corps. I took a job as a commercial property agent and started rehabbing single-family houses for rent in my spare time. Of all the passive income strategies in which I’ve invested, real estate has been my favorite,

…and also one of the most frustrating.

Promises of a six-figure income as renters pay off your mortgages and investing strategies that involve little more than collecting your checks are about as far from reality as a bad sci-fi flick. I had as many as six properties before selling all but a couple in 2006. Phone calls come in at all hours of the night for repairs and bookkeeping alone can be a part-time job. [Read more…]

What I Learned Having Roommates

Last Updated: May 1, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 34 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Enjoy this blog post from a blog friend of mine. As you know, I’m all about having roommates in order to lower your expenses. Here’s what Adam has learned from having roommates.

I’ve always had roommates.

Since the day I got to college, I’ve been splitting rooms, apartments and houses with a long parade of strangers (college just puts you with somebody), friends, fraternity brothers, and acquaintances. Some of them have worked out great. They were phenomenal roommates and have become lifelong friends. Others were complete disasters, even if they were nice people.

Personalities can clash, ideas about cleanliness can vary significantly, and other issues that never occurred to you can pop up.

When I graduated college and started my career, I really didn’t have to have a roommate. I was living in a low cost part of the country, making a solid salary, and could have easily afforded a 1 bedroom apartment or even a house with a bit of savings.

Instead, I just kept the streak alive. My first apartment was a 2-bedroom, 1 bath, in an older complex. It wasn’t fancy, but it was 5 minutes from work, in a decent neighborhood, and only cost $600 a month (that is not a typo). I didn’t know anyone in my new city, so I started out living solo, but as I made friends, I found another guy looking for a place to live. Once we hit it off, he moved in and my bills instantly dropped by half. For the next year, I spent $300 on rent and maybe another $150 on utilities and internet. [Read more…]

2nd Mortgage Lending – The best zero-time side hustle

Last Updated: December 7, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 54 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Today’s side hustle post is by a new online friend of mine. You can check out other posts in my side hustle series here.

I created a challenge for myself to create enough passive income to replace my living expenses- but there was only one problem. I run a business and didn’t have time to take on side hustles that required a time commitment on my part.

I needed a zero-time side hustle that could bring in some cheddar. Sound impossible right? I thought so too…

Until I discovered second mortgages.

What is it?

Not only do you not need any spare time but you also don’t need any cool skill or talent to tap into. All you need is some extra money.

Second mortgage lending is when you offer your cash to people looking for small loans and put a lien against their property as collateral. Since you charge interest on the loan (in the range of 9-15%), you happily collect your interest cheques monthly.

That’s it. [Read more…]

An Interview With A Lyft and Uber Driver-Partner – Side Hustle Idea

Last Updated: May 10, 2019 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 36 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

It’s been quite a while since I published my last post for my side hustle ideas series, but I have a fun one today for you. If you are interested in learning how to become an Uber driver-partner, then you should continue reading!

If you want to become an Uber driver-partner, click here!

My friend Harry is a driver with both and let me interview him the other day. Enjoy!

Just to start off, can you share what exactly your side hustle is? Who do you drive with?

I’m a rideshare driver with Uber and Lyft.

For those unfamiliar with rideshare, it’s basically a way to request a ride with a smartphone app. There are thousands of drivers out there just like me who work full time jobs, part-time jobs, etc and whenever they want to drive, they can just turn their app on and they’ll be matched with passengers in need of a ride. The entire transaction is cashless and everything is done over your mobile app.

Why did you decide to do this as a side hustle idea?

I’ve always been good at making money but I love gigs that align with a hobby or a passion. Since I like to drive and love to meet new people, I figured this would be the perfect side hustle.

I also love the flexibility aspect since you can make your own schedule or you can take an entire month off from driving like I did over the summer when I got married. There aren’t many decent paying gigs that will allow you to do this.

How long have you been driving for side money? How many hours do you estimate you drive each week/month?

I started off driving for Lyft and I signed up to drive with Uber about a month later.

I usually drive about 10 hours a week and I always try to drive for at least a few hours during special events or holidays since that’s when you might be able to earn more.

How are you paid? Do passengers give you money or is it all electronic?

Everything is handled through the app and you are paid via direct deposit weekly. Some customers will tip in cash but for the most part, the entire transaction is cashless.

How much does it cost to be a driver? How much do you think you spend to be a driver, and what are some of the costs?

The start-up costs might be minimal if you already own a car and a smartphone, but requirements vary by city. Lyft requires all cars to be 4 doors and 2000 or newer while Uber requires all cars to be 4 doors and 15 years old or newer.

As a driver, you have to pay for pretty much everything including gas and maintenance on your car but typically I don’t use more than a few dollars worth of gas per hour. The big ‘hidden cost’ is probably the depreciation of your car.

What do you like and hate about this side hustle idea?

I love the fact that I get paid to drive people around. I don’t go out as much as I used to so it’s also a good way to live vicariously through other people

The only thing I really don’t like about being a driver is that you are sometimes rates change over the past few months so I don’t get paid quite as much as I used to but there is still plenty of opportunity available.

Do you have any interesting or fun stories to share?

Yes definitely! One of the coolest things that has ever happened to me was when I picked up a former professional basketball player. I am a huge basketball fan so we were obviously talking about that a lot and when he got out, he left me two tickets to the next night’s game. I was totally shocked and to this day, it is definitely the best ‘tip’ I’ve ever received!

Harry Campbell is a full time engineer and rideshare driver. He also runs a blog and podcast for drivers at TheRideshareGuy.com

Are you interested in learning how to become an Uber driver-partner?

How To Become a Stella & Dot Independent Stylist: Income Series

Last Updated: July 18, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 184 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey everyone. If you are new to my website, I am all about making extra money to improve your financial situation such as by becoming a Stella & Dot Stylist. Before I left my day job, I was making around $5,000 to $10,000 each month on the side with my online business. Now, this online business is my full-time business and I LOVE it 🙂

Today I bring you the next edition of my “Extra Income” series which talks about Stella and Dot jobs. If you would like to be featured, please send me an e-mail. Other hustles in this series can be found here. Sign up as a Stella & Dot Stylist for $199 and get $450 in free accessories! I will let our interviewee take it away now.

I am a wife, mom of a 3-year-old girl, and public health dentist.

I recently decided to join my friends as a Stylist with Stella & Dot, the jewelry and accessory company and hold one of the many great Stella and Dot jobs.

I was looking for a creative outlet and a fun, flexible way to earn extra income.

As an independent Stylist with Stella & Dot I share and sell irresistible jewelry and accessories online and at in home trunk shows or pop up shops. Currently there are 12,000 active stylists for this Inc. 500 fastest growing company with a $25 billion global market opportunity.

The products are often featured in style magazines and are described as modern-vintage boutique style, chic yet affordable. I absolutely love their products, that was a lot of my motivation to get involved! They carry irresistible products from statement necklaces, earrings, bracelets, scarves, bags, and tech accessories. [Read more…]

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