How Do They Afford That?Want to make some extra money over summer? Need a way to get the kids out of the house during the holidays. Join Canna Campbell - a financial planner for 20 years - and Fear & Greed's Michael Thompson as they put together a list of ten summer side hustles - five for adults and five for the kids!
The information in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances, financial needs or objectives. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of it and the relevant product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement or other offer document prior to acquiring any financial product.
Canna Campbell is a Corporate Authorised Representative and Corporate Credit Representative of Wealthstream Financial Group Pty Ltd ABN 35 152 803 113 Australian Financial Services Licensee AFSL 412079.
Welcome to How Today Afford That, the podcast that peaks into the financial lives of everyday Australians. I'm Michael Thompson. I'm a writer and the co host of the podcast Fear and Greed business news. As always, I'm with Canna Campbell, financial planner and founder of Sugar Mummer TV, the financial literacy platform covering YouTube, podcasts, books, Instagram threads, TikTok, keynote, speeches and more. Hello, Canna, good morning.
How are you.
I'm well, I'm excited. I'm actually genuinely I'm always excited, but I'm genuinely thrilled about today's episode because it is an episode for summer. It is summer, the days are longer, many of us have got a little bit of time off. It sounds to me like the perfect time to earn a little bit of extra cash. And that might not just be for summer, like this might not just be like a few weeks, little earner. What you set up now could actually be a long term thing.
Oh, definitely the start of something big.
Yeah. So, as the side hustle queen, and you have declared yourself to be that in the past, I'm going to put you on the spot today to come up with six summer side hustles today for us. But but we are going to do things a little bit differently today because we've talked side hustles in the past and you've just breezed through those episodes without any hussles. Going to make things a little bit harder for you today. I want three side hustles for adults, and then three side hustles that the kids can do, perhaps during the summer holidays when they're sitting around and bored and they.
Want to spend your money. Yeah, where they can start earning their own money.
Their own money and spend their own cash. Are you up for the challenge?
I have one request, Oh dear, can we make it ten? Because I'm a bit OCD. Six just doesn't work for me.
Sure?
Five adults, five children?
Oh okay, this is this is unexpected.
Has to be quick though.
No, that's okay, that's fine. Yeah, that's that's fine. I'm just I'm reordering my list. You spring this on me and I.
Take this on me.
Okay, all right, that sounds fair. It's a dual springing. Okay, let's go Number one adult side hustle calling something an adult side hustle. Instantly sounds like only fans, doesn't it.
That's actually a topic for another day.
I reckon, okay, why not? Well, come on, like, there's no judgment here, but it's just like I like the least qualified person to talk about only fans. So, but this could be an interesting conversation like this. Actually, yeah, actually I.
Think it's interesting because there's a lot of things that people wouldn't think about with that is a side hustle.
Yeah, because you can just do feet.
There lots of things.
Okay, let's go number one side hustle, fur grown ups.
There we go, all right, Uber Driving sorry, and Amazon Flex. So driving for Uber, you know, packages or Amazon Flex is a great way to make some flexible income. It's a really busy time of the year. You've got lots of parties still going on. People are racing to the airport, You've got light late night events, so you've put a lot of people in demand for rides. So with everyone also shopping online, you know, with the post Christmas sales, the need for delivery service skyrockets, and who wants to go and sit on a beautiful slinny day in traffic to go pick up your packages or do your shopping online. So with these particular site hustles, Uber and Amazon Flex, you set your own schedules so you know you have your block that you work essentially like a shift. You're in your own car. With Amazon Flex, you can even have a pet in the car as a companion, which is pretty cool, and then obviously pack some snacks yourself if Uber Driving got to have car a nice and clean but this is a great way to drive with air conditioning on and listen to your favorite podcasts well earning some extra money.
That's great. I like the fact that you did squeeze in a mention of podcasts, this one specifically, how do they afford that?
Oh and Sugar Mama's Fireplay.
And Fear and great. So you got a lot of listening to do, so you better get one of these jobs straight away and start listening because you've got to get through your summer listening. Okay, Uber Driving, Amazon Flex, we're combining that into one number two. Shall we go all adult and then all kids? Yes? Okay, what's your second adult side hustle for summer.
Decluttering and selling unwanted items?
It's the time to do it, isn't it because it is coming into Christmas. You need to clear some space, right, You've.
Got to find it home for all those presents you got and especially the stuff the kids get given.
And also people are looking for I'm just taking over your tip here. People are looking for things secondhand in the lead up to Christmas as well, because if they are smart with their money, then you're not buy all of your present brand new stuff. You're jumping onto Facebook marketplace, so you're jumping onto gum Tree or any one of these things, and you're buying good quality things secondhand to gift.
Exactly as a group is to get some duds of a presence, a good way to just quickly offload them clear some extra cash. But you know, this is the time of the year when you know, if you're not going away, you're at home and you're having a breakaway from work, you've got the time to do this. You know, to take those photographs and upload them so you know you can actually even offer this as a service to you know, your family and friends and your neighbors, and you know, for people who want to do it, or don't have the time or couldn't be bothered, but know that they've got quite a bit of valuable stuff to declutter and sell, so therapeutic and profitable.
I would say I like selling stuff online. What I do not like is the constant message of hi is this available? You know you've got that right, and you're like, if the ad is still online, yes, it is still available. Oh, then they'll follow up with Hi, what size is this? It's in the ad? Hi? Where are you located in the ad? Hi? How much is it? It's in the ad? Read the ad? If you still want it, then message me and buy it. I get very angry, and.
There are also a lot of scammers as well. We should warn people, so be very careful when it comes to selling things and buying things online, you know, through the secondhand economy.
No, I'm going to steer clear of that one. For me this summer. It just realized how angry it makes me dealing with people on that platform.
My dear, why didn't I come over to your house? I will for a very I'll give you mate th rates not come and declutter your house and we could split the profits we make and I'll sell everything for you through.
You cannot joke about that because I will one hundred percent take you up on it, and you know what, you could actually keep a greater percentage of what you sell just because I cannot do it. I cannot do it. I have I am you block, I have a block. I am borderline hoarder. I'm a border hoarder. Number three, what's your third adult side hustle?
So learning and offering a new online skill. So things like video editing, proofreading, copywriting, and you can use various platforms like you debm me, I think it's pronounced and skiol share, so you can start freelancing and using upwork to earn some extra money. And these are things you can do from the privacy and covert of your own home, low cost, obviously depending on what training and equipment you need. But you can, you know do this. You can choose the products you want when it suits you, and obviously the better you are, the more you can charge.
So these are not necessarily skills that you currently have. You're actually adding a little twist to this of upskill yourself and then on sell that skill exactly.
I've actually had a few people reach out to me saying can I edit your videos for YouTube? And they're learning how to edit videos at the moment to be paid. I think it's brilliant really, and it frees up my time. Love.
That's a that's great outsource.
But this is these are skills that people you know will happily pay for.
It does feel like at the moment, if you have social media skills, you are in the box seat to make some money because every business in the world seems to be looking at the moment for social media content creators.
It might be an extra side hustle for me. I could I could do some social media for you. I can manage your Instagram account my personal one, yes, which needs a lot of work.
Excuse me. Michael Thompson, author features pictures of my dog.
I'm very excited to hear you have a dog. As I said, when you message me, I now accept you.
That was the barrier for all of the episodes, the what one hundred and something episodes we've done, I've never quite felt like you have connected or accepted me. And as soon as we've got a dog, okay, all right, everything's all right. Now you're in now number five. Okay, So that's learn a new online skill, learn and then earn. Well I like that, learn and earn. I'm sure someone's already come up with that, but if not, it's mine. You heard it here first.
Number four pets sitting and dog walking. So with obviously summer holidays, a lot of people are going away and a lot of people don't really like ourdea or boarding kennels, so having someone to come in and take care of their pets is great. Keeps the pets in the same routine comfortable, and there are apps like mad Paws that help this. You make it really easy to find people that are actually in your local area wanting some help with their dogs and that cats of course, and budgies and rabbits and guinea pigs and turtles, sneaks, sneaks.
Rats, chickens obviously not walking. You wouldn't walk a snake. You might, I might have.
Some free time in the garden. I don't know, but you know that is a way of earning special money. And I even shared on an episode of a long time ago about one of my neighbors who was making sixty do all the day just looking after having someone else's dog come to her house for the day to hang out with her while she worked from home.
And typically with pet sitting and dog walking. I mean, that's one example of the dog coming to you, but typically does the pet sitter go and stay in the house as well, So it becomes actually pet sitting and house sitting at the same time.
It can it really does vary where some people are happy, you know, for their animal to go to that person's house, or some people wat she move into the house. So it's a bit of a sort of combination of the two. It can be whatever you want it to be.
Is it expensive?
I well, I don't know. I am very lucky because my friend of mine moves into a house when we go and we don't pay him other than give him lots of wine, and he uses our house to do whatever he likes.
Well, we've talked about that as a savings hack before as well. The fact that it's it's kind of like a it's a free holiday, or it's like an a combinat because it's a change and if you are living in a new area, you get to trial and new kind of cafes and things around. If you live near a beach, you can go to the beach all these kinds of things, and so you just treat it as a as a breakaway from your own house and a break in your own routine. Okay, that's number four. Number five, this is our final adult side hustle for summer.
All right, event assistance?
What is this?
You're still thinking about OnlyFans? I am so summer parties and weddings, you know, having an extra set of hands for setting up, for serving, and for cleaning up. So you're most assisting with becoming a little bit of an event planner.
I actually like that. I like cleaning up after a gathering.
I hate it.
No, it's really satisfying. Don't you find that? Like, it is really really satisfying to just put everything into the dishwasher and no, you have to set like four loads off in the dishwasher in order to get it all done, and you work through it methodically. You get everything looking nice and neat and clean. That's just so satisfying. It's the best part of the whole gathering.
Oh, stickiness everywhere. I know. I'm a cleaner, I'd clean all the time, but I hate the cleanup of entertaining.
Would you advertise your services online for this kind of thing? Like how do you do the letterbox drop?
You can put a notice up on you know, community board. You could obviously put it online, posted on social media all sorts of different ways Facebook let people know, and obviously even put it on air tasker. Perhaps that you're available to help with parties with setting up, serving food, serving drinks, you know, maintaining even the other way to at I'm assuming that's a good point. I went and working with children as well, because I went to a barbecue on the weekend for Christmas and they had a nanny there because they had lots of children and there was a swimming pool and obviously got to keep your eyes on your own children, but just to help take the pressure off, she had this danny basically at the pool so that she had someone had their eyes, well, an extra set of eyes to assist with looking out for the kids, keeping them safe, and then also helping entertain them. And you know, she sat down and on the ground was playing and that was brilliant. And it was like I had three kids, so I had my eyeballs, could only go so far, but having her there as well, you know, it was really comforting and I thought that was brilliant. And then everyone chipped in to help pay for a cleaner because this house was being seriously trashed by so many children and like doing gingerbread houses.
Oh dear, that's a good idea though. Summer party's, weddings, all that kind of thing. An extra set of hands, whether it is for cleaning, for serving, setting up all that kind of thing. Letterbox drop, you could post something on you like your local community Facebook group, because every summurb has one. Yes, yes you can pop it on there.
But also let friends dose that and say, Fris, could you please speak to it of your friends or family that know they're having a party would love an extra set of hands to clean up and serve or to watch the kids. You know. So the adult's going to kind of relax a bit.
Yeah, okay, they are the adult side hustles. There's some good ones there. We're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we are going to talk about putting the kids to work and helping them to earn a little bit of extra cash over summer and hopefully getting them out of your own hair. Can are we doing summer side hustles today? What started out as a list of six summer side hustles has now become ten, so it's not quite as illiterative anymore. But that's all right because there's bonus side hustles. We've done five adult ideas, things that you might be able to do to earn a little bit of extra money across the summer. Now for the kids, if they are bored, if they are sick of or you're sick of them sitting in front of the TV, or sick of.
Draining your walk because they want to go up to the shopping center and hang out with their friends and they need twenty dollars to get sushi.
This feels like a very personal example.
It is my eleven year old has just become overnight very independent and has a bigger social life than me. It of course expects me to fund this. So I am actually in the thick of the side hustle movement with my son Roco.
Okay, let's go through five side hustles and for kids, what is the first one on this list? It's actually number six on the list overall, So I'm a very list based today.
So number one is car washing. So summer often means sandy feet, salty water, and you know in my car, if you dare it enough to put your head in my car, you'll see it's disgusting. We've got melted ice cream wrappers, water bottles, it's quite foul. So great opportunity to get these kids cleaning up after their own mess and they can safely play with water out in the backyard or in the front yard and clean your car. And Rocco has actually become quite efficient this. He gets the blower and just packing me in the car, he blows the car and everything flies out. It's very efficient.
That does sound very efficient, so like I would create an awful mess outside of the car, then.
It does with its that all the way was here. I do make sure he picks up. We don't wan stuff going into the ocean. But it is a very efficient way to actually clean clear the area so you can then start wiping down.
I love this idea. It's such an old school kind of thing, isn't it.
But it's expensive to go and get your car washed these days.
It is so I remember washing people's cars when I was I would have been about probably eleven, in order to save money to buy a Super Nintendo. It was great and we succeeded.
Do you still have that Super Nintendo?
Yes, somewhere. It's probably worth money now it's an antid. Yeah, okay, it's car washing. That's number number six overall, number one on the kid's sub list. Let's go for number two, Stroke seven.
Lightweight, home and admin. So like folding laundry. As we all know, in school holidays there is a lot of laundry, and some kids, like my two daughters, like to worry about different outfits throughout the day. And if you're going to the beach or the pull by the pool, there's a lot of linen that needs to be washed, so you know, a bit of gardening as well.
I'm feeling okay, thinking as a child like channeling and in a child here this all sounds a lot like very boring chores.
That's the point you can realize that welcome to the real world, children, like life is not all like super Nintendos and hanging out spending twenty dollars at sushi train with your friends like this is part about equipping them, equipping them, equipping them, I can't say.
It equipping equipping equipping that.
Sounds a bit to many peas there. Equipping them for the real world and understanding that you know your priorities. First, you've got to have responsibilities before we can gut and have fun.
Yeah, but if we're trying to entice them away from say playing Fortnite, for instance, or playing an.
Xbox, they're getting payment, and they're getting immediate payment the moment they're finished.
Okay, So we're talking home admin, light laundry kind of things, so folding clothes, weeding the garden.
Dusting something that's obviously safe.
Yeah.
I wouldn't be getting my child to stand my floors, for example, But you know I got Rocker to clean all the skirting boards the other day and all use the feather duster to get into all the corners of cobwebs.
It was great. Yeah, that's good.
I may be pushing the boundaries with myself, but he's saving up as well.
If he wants his sushi, well, exactly, he's got to do.
I'm trying to understand show that it's so hard to you. I'm not a tree, a money tree.
Yeah, you're not an ATM. No, So okay, got wee are sounding old here?
Well you I'm old and grumpy because I've been dealing with this for a while.
What I'm hoping is about thirty seconds ago, you said, if you these kids need to learn that it's not all about super Nintendos. I'm just hoping that at some point we take that clip isolation and put it somewhere separately. And it makes you sound like you are about one hundred years old.
I feel a hundred oh.
Good anyway at number eight.
So cooking and meal prep okay, yes, So obviously the holidays are full on. You've got lots of people coming and going, you're entertaining, and well you might be going to someone's house and need to take a plate with you. So teaching your kids about food and how long it takes to cook meal and also the nutritional benefits. So getting your kids to help with maybe if it's safe, chopping vegetables, you know, washing things, laying the table or like the things that help make the whole meal go by smoother. And obviously it's very you've got to be considered of their age and their skill set. But this is a great way of bonding experience as well. But they're also they're learning a new skill and this is something again I'm doing in my own home with Rocco and what happened He's been We do Hello Fresh Ones a fortnight, which is brilliant. So he's become so good and so confident at cooking and food prep. Last night, I'm hungry, Do you mind if I go and make myself a burrito? I've never made a burrito. He's never made a burrito. He found something on TikTok and he made the most delicious burrito. He even need to defrost things to do this.
And that's impressive.
And the rule was that's fine, but you must clean up everything afterwards, and he did, and I was so proud of himself.
Isn't that the dream to have kids that will either feed themselves or hopefully then one day feed you as well well.
Exactly. But it's funny how that you know, he's been doing food prep and cooking with me as a side hustle, turns extra money, and he's actually become organically become a benefit for him in his life skills.
Oh that's great, eleven year old.
I was so proud.
Yeah, that is awesome. Yeah, that's actually a good point. The fact that this is not just a kind of making some money short term, this is actually that is preparation for the rest of your life. Exactly, well done, that's good. Okay, last one bring home.
I feel like we haven't.
It was eight No, we did car washing, then home and laundry and things home admin, then cooking and meal prep and then I've written meal prep down again. So apparently we've done two lots of meal prep. So let's get another night.
You okay? You had me worried. Okay. So babysitting is a busy time of the year. You're out barbecues, catch ups. You also might just want to break date night. Maybe I have babysitting. Yeah, great, and obviously again age appropriate, but or even just like sometimes I will get a babysitter and I'll just go and sit in another room, close the door. Like I had to get some work down the other day of the weekend, and I needed the kids to be quiet and be safe, so I got a babysitter over for a couple of hours so I could just get on top of my work and clear my emails that were stressing me out.
It largely becomes more about the entertainment and distraction than kind of and you are on hand. Yeah, if anything goes wrong.
And one needs anything, I'm just yeah, knock on the door.
But it just means that you are not the first port of call for every single question that is asked.
Oh my gosh, hearing mom, mom, momum, all day. I have a ten point a point one for extra for good luck.
Well, so far we're only on number nine, so if you've.
Got one more, you have got two more.
It's got to say, I'm gonna put it out there.
Okay, we'll cap me at ten.
No, these lists are a mess today, and it's because you changed it from six summerside hustles to ten.
I named ten because I just can't have to do everything, and.
Then I had to do it as two subsets within one master list. So it's just it is diabolical.
But keeping you on your toes.
So we have got number nine there, number nine on the overall master list and then obviously number four in the kids subset list is babysitting great, and you advertise that through your local Facebook group again word of mouth kind of bait. You can do a letterbox drop also letterbox drops. Right, it's actually a sarde hustle in itself. It is because and it's a relatively a safe one to a degree, because it is typically your own neighborhood that you were doing it through and so you can google kind of pamphlet delivery and check out kind of what's in your area. And also you actually get the menu ail box anyway saying hey, do you want to be a walker for the local deliveries.
And it's actually great fitness because you're getting of steps up.
Yep.
So obviously slips off, slap, be careful of the sun.
So that one is good for both kids and adults. So I'm going to put that at the top of the list as the best tip we've had today because it is one that both people can use and it came from me. What's your next one is tech help for seniors. So kids these days are just so clever with technology. Yeah, you know, I had to switch over my I find the other day. I was having a bit of a meltdown. I was filled with anxiety that how this process would go, and things didn't quite go as smoothly as I would have liked. This is where kids are sober.
They just come in. They've got so much confidence that they'll fix it for you. So if you aren't you have a child that is really tech savvy, they can sit down with someone who's not and actually helped fix all their things in there, whether it be their computer or their iPad or their iPhone.
And chances are they're already doing that for their grandparents anyway, they may as well do it for other people and get paid for it.
Exactly.
Oh, that's a really good idea, teaching people how to use connect their printer.
Yeah, and there are those annoying little things that can really irritate you, but a child comes through and just fixes it's done.
They just have this kind of natural understanding. Can I tell something funny please? Tom and I have really both of us have a really bad sense of direction. And we had a holiday in Tokyo earlier this year and I for twenty twenty four and.
We got lost. But Rocker was brilliant instructions. He was able to we were going in the complete opposite direction, and he was like our devour guide as to where we were going and how to do it and which trained to catch and which connection. It was unbelievable. And so when we had to go to a wedding in Rome for three days, which was literally a run there, run back because we couldn't let the kids we was we got bost in Rome, We're like we did call Rocco. Let him know where we are on our maps and he can help us get to the hotel.
That is impressive.
We were stuffed. Yeah, it's so good.
So here is human google maps, google maps. That's awesome. All right, is that our full list? What did you have a little bonus one that you wanted to?
Sorry, I do, but I just just a lemonade stand.
Go on, drop it then lemonade stand stand.
Well, it's hot and everyone loves supporting a child who has some sort of stand, whether they're selling biscuits or cakes or I saw the other day kids selling succulents, which I thought was really andrew like a hydration station like Rocco did for his school.
Yeah, I love it.
Everyone loves you, and no one like people say it's a dollar, oh keep the change.
Yeah. The big challenge with these ones no one has cash anymore. Like if you get people passing by in the old days, like everyone would just have some coins in their pocket, or they at least have their wallet with a five dollar note or something in it, whereas now if you get someone walking past you, they will be like, I'm sorry, I don't have cash. I've never got cash on me.
Ever, that's why you have that square white square thing you can buy from office works, which is not expensive at all, and you can just collect money on that tap.
So kids actually use a little square payment you.
Can just buy them from office works. Oh, stopping you these days from earning a little side hustle.
That is taking side hustles, particularly for kids, to a whole other level.
And that's why they are like helping seniors with their tech help.
Yeah, well said, okay, all right, that's a good list. So just to recap adults, first, Uber driving Amazon Flex, we put that in the one. Number two was decluttering and selling online. Number three is learn a new skill online and then monetize that skill, whether it's learning to edit videos or edit something and then on sell that. I can't think of any examples other than editing things.
Through freading, copywriting.
Hmm yeah, good point. Okay, that's number that was number three. Number four pet sitting and dog walking, and let's like, let's group house sitting in there as well, Yes, if we can. Number five, because it's really a bumper list, like there are no limits on this list. There are just there's tips and ideas all over the place. Number five extra set of hand hands plural extra set of hands singular hand for summer parties and weddings. That's a great idea. Number six getting into the kids zone now, car washing, helping around the home in terms of light duties inside, cleaning, folding, all that kind of thing. Number eight was cooking and meal prep. I like that idea because it's a life skill that then can go into adulthood. Number nine babysitting. Number ten was tech help for anyone else because assuming generally that kids are going to be better than most adults and most tech things generalization, but I think it's a fairly accurate one. A lemonade stand that was ten. A that was a bonus one. And then the ultimate tip letterbox delivery. Why wouldn't you? I mean, you get fit, you get things delivered, and it's relatively easy because everyone's got no junk mail, and so you just kind of walk past everyone's mailbox and go, hey, I did my job. That's on li Fhile. If everyone wants no junk mail, catalogs are the best.
You really thought this. You're thinking about something about taming. This is your own side hustle.
Do you have a no junk mail thing?
On your I hate junk mail. I need to go and get one.
Oh catalogs, How do you know you are like the Tips and savings queen? How do you know what is on sale if you're not getting these catalogs.
I don't like the waste damage to the environment. I think it's just it's just I have a big issue with it. I don't If I need a plumber, I will go find a plumb. I don't want I don't want someone's business card.
Being dropped now. I don't want business cards. But what I do want is the Kmart catalog or the catalog or.
All those trees, all that ink like and they all end up being going blowing everywhere into your neighborhood, and well they.
Do if your son's blowing it out of it out of the car to clean it out, just lasting it away unto the gutter. All right, that's a good list. If we want more information, how do we find you?
Before I say that? Can I share a couple of thoughts As a side hustle queen?
Please? All right?
Side hustles are not just about money. It's about, as you said, learning new skills, but also building confidence. And it might even for children in particular, spike an entrepreneurial spirit with you, which is something very special and should be nurtured and obviously enhanced. But for adults also they can be the start of something bigger and they are a brilliant waif also with adults working with children on their side hustle to help teach financial independence, but also having fun at the same time. And recently Rocker and I we're doing this savings plan for a new bike and we've had so much fun. It's been a beautiful bonding experience. So whether you're decluttering or folding laundry, this is a really great opportunity to have a lot of fun together and earn cash. And you never know what might actually come from a side hustle. I mean I would have never have thought I built a three hundred and something thousand dollars share portfolio from hustling.
That's a great point. The fact is that it starts, has to start somewhere right, and you can build some fantastic habits that might last a lifetime and could actually make you quite wealthy.
Yeah, you never know what will take you.
Indeed, a right, so Instagram's the best place to find you, Yes, and you can hear me every day with Sean Aylmer on Fear and Greed, daily business news for people who make their own decisions. Thank you for listening to how Do they Afford that? Remember please to hit follow on the podcast. Most important and the best thing that you can do as well is to tell somebody else or if you think they might be in the market for a new side hustle, and send them this episode. Spread the word about how to they afford that? Thank you very much for your company. Join us again next week.
