The great thing about doing side hustles to generate extra income is that you can hustle on your own terms. The more hard work, time, and creative effort you put in, the more extra money you can make. You can hustle as little or as much as you want, whenever you want. It’s your extra money, and you can choose how you want to spend it. Instead of focusing on what ideas don’t apply to you, try focusing on different side hustle ideas that you can implement to work for your situation.
Once a month (usually on the 1st), I like to post a short summary of our personal and financial situation for the previous month. While I don’t often post articles, I am committed to documenting all of my side hustle income. Here I’ll share some of what’s been going on with our lives and our side hustles.
Welcome to March! Did you have a good February?
This has been a big month for us as our home renovation project has officially begun. We’ve been wanting to do some home remodeling for the last 10 years. There have always been reasons to delay such as not having enough money saved up and waiting for our kids to get just a little bit older. For the last 3 weeks, we’ve had remodeling crew in our home (wearing masks) working 6-8 hour days, 6 days a week. Our 40 year old kitchen has been demolished. All the carpeting (with multiple stains) has been torn out, soon to be replaced with luxury vinyl flooring that is 100% waterproof, scratch, stain, and dent resistant. We wanted to upgrade the flooring to make it low maintenance and easy to care for - great for 2 young kids and a dog. Electricians have installed over 70 LED recessed lights throughout the home.
During this time, we purchased a Ninja Foodi to help us with cooking food. This little kitchen appliance does so much, it can: pressure cook, slow cook, steam, make yogurt, sear/sauté, air fry crisp, bake/roast, broil, dehydrate, and keep foods warm inside the pot! We’ve used our Ninja Foodi to make rice, cook chicken, make French fries and even make fall-off-the-bone ribs. The Ninja Foodi has been a game changer for us, since we won’t have use of our kitchen for up to 8 weeks. The Foodi pretty much helps us prepare all of our meals during this renovation. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
As coronavirus case numbers continue to decline, and covid vaccinations continue to rise, I am increasingly hopeful that we are getting closer to beating the virus. Many venues are cautiously re-opening with new safety protocols. Our kids have enjoyed going back out to fun places such as the zoo, playgrounds and the aquarium. These places all have outdoor spaces with social distancing and mask requirements.
We did a new fun activity this month, which was a drive thru dinosaur exhibition called Jurassic Quest. Our family drove through a huge parking lot to get up close and personal to mechanized robot dinosaurs. Our drive was synced with an audio tour that had music and facts about all the prehistoric creatures we drove by. Masks were required to be worn as long as windows were down, which helped keep the adventure safe for all.
Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of February.
Cash Back
On 2.1, my wife received a $10 statement credit on her AMEX Gold credit card. This card offers a $10 dining credit every month on select restaurants such as Cheesecake Factory or Shake Shack.
On 2.4, I received $50 in statement credits ($25 x 2) on my AMEX SimplyCash Business card. The card currently has a promotion for $25 cash back on purchases over $500, up to 10 times. These credits were for two separate charges at Wayfair for home supplies.
On 2.8, I received a $31.58 statement credit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. This was credit towards a purchase made at a gas station, which qualifies towards the $300 annual Chase travel credit.
On 2.9, I received a $15 Target gift card as cash back from spending on my Target Red credit card.
On 2.10, I received a $59.27 statement credit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card for credit towards gas station purchase, from the Chase travel credit program.
On 2.10, I received a $1.80 statement credit on my Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card from Chase Offers. This was for 10% cash back on purchases made at Starbucks.
On 2.14, I received $50 in statement credits ($25 x 2) on my AMEX SimplyCash Business card. The card currently has a promotion for $25 cash back on purchases over $500, up to 10 times. These credits were for purchases made for our kids’ tuition.
On 2.24, I received a $25 statement credit on my AMEX SimplyCash Business card.
On 2.27, I received a $49.39 statement credit on my AMEX SimplyCash Business card. This was for 10% cash back on the purchase of 3 toilets from Lowe’s.
On 2.27, I received a $40.81 statement credit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. This was for getting gas, which qualifies as a Chase Travel credit eligible purchase. This card is essentially providing us with $300 worth of free gas each year.
Rental Income
On 2.5, we received a net profit of $740 from our rental property.
Survey Income
On 2.1, I received a $20 check from E-Rewards Medical for completing a survey.
On 2.6, I received a $40 check from M3 Global Research for completing a survey.
On 2.22, I received a $45 check from M3 Global Research for completing a survey.
On 2.23, I received a $35 Amazon gift card from M-panels for completing a survey.
Sales Income
On 2.5, I received $45 cash for selling an old Blu-ray player and a set of speakers on Facebook Marketplace. These have been sitting around unused for at least 8 years. With streaming services available, there really is no need to watch DVDs. Also, the speaker set was too loud for our kids.
On 2.7, my wife received $20 cash for selling an old lamp.
On 2.7, my wife received $45 cash for selling an old children’s playpen.
On 2.10, my wife received $10 cash for selling an old slow cooker.
On 2.16, my wife received $100 cash for selling some gently used women’s flats.
Monthly Totals:
We earned $332.85 from cash back income
We earned $740 from rental income
We earned $140 for completing online surveys
We earned $220 from selling used items online
All of this totals $1,432.85 from our side hustles for the month of February! Every little bit we earn helps us reach our financial goals (such as our home remodel) and our financial freedom. Keep hustling for that income.
