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FIRE Burning, Retire Early: Saving Half A Million In 8 Years

My Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) journey began when I was a little girl. I would look at people working until they were in their 70’s, mostly when they didn’t want to, and feel so bleak about my own working future.

Still, everywhere I turned, working was a necessity, because there was no other alternative. Even more strangely, working until old age was just something that was expected.

This I didn’t understand… surely there were more interesting ways to collectively spend our precious time? And why would we choose to work until we could barely stand anymore?

It wasn’t until I was in the workforce myself many years later that these feelings became particularly profound.

Despite my earnest excitement to be earning a full-time wage (9.5% superannuation! Annual leave!), I couldn’t shake the thought that working until 70 was now the bottom-line of my life.

Sure, I might get lucky and always enjoy my roles – and in a hopeful economy, the income would be consistent and well worth what I spent on my university degree.

Still, I’d be in it for the long-haul because that was just what humans had to do at this point in history.

To be honest, it really grated at me. I felt hopeless for a while.

Then I found FIRE, and I symbolically danced around it like the early homosapiens did a million years ago.

FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early; a term encompassing a whole community of people who were architecting amazing lives without the need for exchanging their time for a steady income.

This was the money-savvy elite; the personal finance prefects, who saved aggressively and invested it with as much fervour. In mere years, they had created income streams that were entirely passive.

Passive income, retire early def: “Passive income is income resulting from cash flow received on a regular basis, requiring minimal to no effort by the recipient to maintain it.” – Wikipedia.

In many cases, this passive income replaced (and sometimes exceeded) their day-to-day pay check.

It was through anything from share market dividends, rental yield, retirement fund payouts, interest payments from bonds and term deposits and even ad revenue or royalties from content.

Whether it was one, two, or all – the underlying outcome was the same:

Work was optional.

I’d always been okay with my money. I saved when I could, I stayed away from toxic personal debt and tried to live within my income bracket – but this was going to require a lot more dedication. I was committed and started straightaway.

Over the last 8 years, my husband I have saved over half a million Aussie dollars combined, pouring our earnings into investments that will buy our retire early “work freedom” decades before we otherwise could.

Now, we routinely invest 75% (or more) of our incomes each month into a very strategic investment portfolio across property, shares and stocks, superannuation, commodities and bonds.

We’ve seen some awesome returns so far and it’s spurred us to keep going.

Our (conservative) calculations show that we should be completely financially independent from our jobs at some point within the next decade.

These calculations take into account inflation (of which our investment returns should easily exceed) and any taxation implications. They also factor in the average cost of having and raising a child. We are trying to cover every base.

This isn’t by any means a definitive list, but it gives you a snapshot of the principles behind how we do what we do.

Live for the income you earn, not the income you want.

It’s money management 101, but it bears repeating – especially in this day and age.

While it’s never been more normal to self-deprecate and and laugh at our own misgivings, we’re also living in an age of total social fabrication. The Keeping Up With The Joneses mentality has transcended our immediate neighbourly boundaries and landed smack bang into our virtual ones.

We see highly-stylised lifestyle snapshots for people living in all corners of the globe. It looks effortless and abundant and we struggle to discern between what is product placement and what is truth.

Marketers are insidious; they find us anywhere and everywhere and will stop at nothing to make cart checkouts easier, fuller and more recurring. Loan providers are predatory and advantageous.

But we also have a responsibility to start spending more dutifully, too. When a 2018 survey of household comfort found that 1 in 10 Australian households overspent their income each month (with less than $1000 in savings to accommodate the shortfall), it was obvious where a lot of the culpability was lying.

Get to know every dollar coming in, and be ruthless in every dollar going out. Use a budget to account for important, non-negotiable costs, and eliminate anything that’s draining your money.

When income does rise, be careful not to inflate your lifestyle costs to go with it. My income varies as a small business, but my expenses do not. That means extra profit goes straight into investments. As for any loss? It barely touches the sides of my cost of living.

For those new to the retire early lifestyle, it might be easier to start with a very conservative savings rate of 10%. When this starts to become habitual (and easier), ramp it up.

Want to retire early? Have less in order to do more.

Being thoughtful, intentional and premeditated in the way you allow material things to come into your life is a very important pillar of financial independence. Granted, not everyone who subscribes to the FIRE methodology is a minimalist – but I think the most successful ones are.

The name of the game is personal abundance: finding joy in experiences over objects, and using the space created by decluttering to make way for more enriching pursuits.

For me, cutting out the consumer noise led to a greater appreciation for so much more beyond the stuff.

Not only did I make money in what I could sell, but I save so much in only buying what I need, when I need it.

I do not allow marketers to incessantly bombard me, I never kill time by meandering around the shops, and when I identify something I do need to buy, I compare widely and pay using cash for discounts (I also use cash-back apps).

If it’s true that we overspend or impulse buy because we’re overwhelmed, time-poor and exhausted, then it stands to reason that eliminating or streamlining these triggers will do us a world of personal and financial good.

Start investing, and then do not stop.

Generally speaking, the average return of the sharemarket is about 7% (this has been even despite major economical dips and world events).

Other investments can do equally well (if not amazingly well) but are typically a little more dependent on other factors (for example, geography and uniqueness in the case of property).

I won’t list these all here because there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to investing – but, if you invest sensibly with the goal to make long-term return, the outcome will rarely be bad.

Long-term return really is that which is focused on growth (growing in value over time), and providing cashflow that exceeds the rate of inflation. Savings accounts don’t always do this – and sometimes you can even go backwards with your money “invested” through the bank.

Investing in high-growth investment vehicles with a moderate amount of risk is where a lot of retire early proponents carve their path. It’s certainly where we’re carving ours.

We learnt how to invest ourselves by reading widely, attending talks, speaking to financial professionals, and a little trial and error. It’s completely possible to invest well on your own (just like it’s completely possible to invest well with expert help).

It depends on the person and situation.

Our investment portfolio is a mix of property, shares (mainly Australian and US exchange-traded funds but some individual companies and classes), superannuation, and a few others. They’re in liquid and non-liquid vehicles – meaning we could pull out money in some without much hassle, and others with a lot.

But, we don’t really plan on doing that. Why? Because these investments are going to provide the brunt of our income one day.

In the future, we’re keen to start investing seed capital in startups, which represents a much higher risk. This is because I believe people and ideas drive successful shareholder returns, and I want to be at the forefront of finding great investments this way.

I also like having diversity across the type of investments we have (this makes it easier to weather the storm during market fluctuations).

Ultimately, how and where you invest is up to you. But start ASAP. I talk about this on my Instagram sometimes; how people often wait for ‘market drops’ and ‘share sales’. This is great if you can buy on sale (in fact, it’s my favourite time to buy), but if you haven’t yet invested… you probably don’t know what shares on sale look like.

And you won’t until you’ve had some time in the market, observing how it works. The best thing to do is to start.

Build an emergency fund that keeps you afloat.

Although savings accounts aren’t always great for investing potential, there’s certainly a place for them – at least in our journey.

In FIRE (and in everyday life), cashflow is so important. In particular, having access to money stored away that prevents you from reaching for lines of credit or putting yourself in compromising financial positions can make or break your efforts.

We call ours our ‘S*!# Happens’ account, and it makes up about six to eight months worth of our combined yearly expenses. We use it to cover unexpected bills and curveballs we didn’t anticipate, as well as act as a buffer in case one of us can’t work for a period of time.

The reason cashflow is important is because it keeps you liquid without penalty.

While it’s important to have some liquid investment assets, there’s no guarantee the market will be performing well when you want to draw them. Plus, there’s that pesky capital gains tax that might apply to the sale.

Having access to cold, hard cash bulletproofs you against the unexpected, and it keeps you afloat when you need it the most. It’s very powerful for your wallet and your sanity, and a high-interest savings account (with no withdrawal penalties) can at least earn you a little while it sits there.

We employ our savings to offset the interest applied to our principal mortgage, which for us far surpasses the return of a savings account, but it depends on your unique situation.

We invest first, save second, pay routine expenses third and spend last – this is a good formula to follow when it comes to saving your own emergency fund.

If you’re in debt, think about swapping out the investing part with paying down debt until you’re ready for that step.

Live to give.

This one is worth mentioning because it’s the right thing to do upon amassing more wealth.

When you start to get better with money, think about how you can better the lives of others with your changes. After all, the secret to living is giving.

Not only can it be super tax-effective, but it a core pillar of how many retire early followers plan to contribute to the world in absence of their work (should they choose not to work on anything).

The amazing thing about FIRE is that people don’t have to have great money stories to start doing it.

In fact, some of the FIRE followers who adopted the FIRE principles didn’t do it to retire early – but to speed up their journey away from stagnant debt. They did it to become more financially free. Often, just like us, they were everyday earners.

We’re not expecting a major inheritance or paying for everyday expenses with a trust fund.

While we earn good incomes, they are still commensurate with that of those expected in a major capital city. We have higher expenses for that reason, too.

We chuckle at times about how when we reach complete FIRE, we might choose we aren’t ready to retire early at all.

I enjoy running my business and he finds his work very rewarding – but that’s the amazing thing about the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement.

When something is based on opportunity, it’s hard not to start thinking about what you could do with all of the new open doors.

March 9, 2019/2 Comments/by Michelle

Minimalism

Minimalism And Money: Peas And Carrots

Minimalism and money are two things that go hand-in-hand.

And while you might think that the notion of having fewer things, or maintaining more simplicity in your life has little to do with the way you manage your cash – you’d be wrong.

In fact, minimalism has everything to do with money. Minimalism is about the re-evaluation of priorities.

It’s about understanding our internal motivators, what brings us joy – and of course, what doesn’t – and cultivating spaces around us (physical, digital and psychological) that are conducive to a life more full of shiny feelings instead of shiny things.

As humans, we have very precious and finite energy stores, yet we spend so much of it on keeping up appearances. We reach for conveniences because we’re too time-poor to even have time to think about how time-poor we are, and we’re so used to being bombarded with products, subscriptions and offers that oftentimes we don’t even notice we’re being lured in until we’re within the predatory grasp of the sale.

This all comes at a major cost. Not just to our health and ability for self-awareness, which I truly believe erodes over time with too much clutter and overwhelm – but to our financial wellbeing. People think it’s expensive to be a minimalist. I think it’s expensive not to be one.

For many years, I have lived a life that is fundamentally minimalist, both in how I keep “earthly possessions” in the physical world around me, but also how I view situations and problems, treat others and prioritise things that matter to me. The benefit of this on my wallet has been enormous, so here’s how I apply minimalism to my everyday:

I don’t buy what I don’t need. Genuinely.

As in, I rarely buy material things ever – and when I do, I go through a rigorous thought process beforehand. Do I need this? Will it solve a long-term need? Is there something I already own that could do the job? Could I rent, or borrow this instead? Will it hold, or even grow in value (should I choose to sell it later on)? Rarely do things I want to purchase tick all of those boxes, and so I can filter through a lot of ‘nice-to-haves’ in order to find what I really do need.

Intentional spending gives you breathing room to properly, and fully, evaluate. It exercises your brain to think critically about things it is programmed through predatory advertising to normally have no say in, and affords you the benefit of time and purpose to help you conserve your money for things that are worth the exchange. That makes them all the more worthwhile when they come around.

I reuse and find other uses for the same item.

Many items are, by design, multipurpose. We just often don’t believe, or see it.

Certain oils are great for the hair, skin and for cooking. A myriad of cleaning products and laundry detergent can be created from simple soap bars and white vinegar. Jars can be used as storage and then pulled out for decoration later on. Toothpaste is good for everything from dental hygiene to burns to jewellery cleaners.

When you see the potential for second lives for your items, you negate the need to have something specialised for every purpose.

This clears space but also keeps your bank account looking pretty full, especially when you consider how brands typically markup niche product ranges. And when you couple this with being less wasteful, like bringing your own jars, bags and pouches when shopping, you’ll see just how damn expensive, and limiting, packaging can be.

I keep things simple online as much as offline.

My digital life is as simple as my physical one. Everything is neatly collated and categorised, and the second I’m finished with something, there’s no archive or memory bank – into the bin it goes. I love holding onto memories, but if I’m honest with myself, I find more solace in feelings instead of things.

I’ve realised that if my nature is to archive something away, then the likelihood of seeing it again before at least another year or two is very low. And besides the fleeting chuckle of looking at a physical photo of a day in my life I cherish, there’s not much else that happens other than I put it back away. So, for files I really love, I keep them in a single cloud folder on my Drive, but mostly, I don’t keep a hold of anything but money.

Because I used to work in the media, I like to stay informed and aware. But when there are hundreds of companies vying for my attention with their updates, I’ve learnt not to feel guilty about subscribing only to a select few media platforms I know and trust. This is the same with entertainment.

There’s something very satisfying about having clarity and direction in what you allow to burn through brain cells every day. It’s kind of like sitting on a bridge on a highway, watching the clouds move when all the cars are frantically speeding on the lanes underneath and around you.

And while some of these things cost, because we absolutely should be paying for ethical, impartial journalism, and really good entertainment, what I get is way more valuable than any subscription fee. I’m afforded the luxury of staying present and in-the-know without the constant, mind-numbing noise of literally everything else I don’t care about, but that I’d undoubtedly be ground down to spend on.

I throw complexity out the window when managing money.

People sometimes say to me a little sheepishly “I only have a few bank accounts where I store my money.”

Well, that’s a couple more than I have. I don’t believe that there’s a complex formula to saving your money as a minimalist; at least not one I know anything about. I have a personal banking account for everyday transactions, a business account for anything related to my business (which makes tax time a dream), a bonus interest rate savings account for anything that’s not applied to the portion of our primary home loan that’s set up as an offset, and a credit card.

Managing my money day-to-day is simple, because why make it hard – and hard to remember? I pay my regular cost of living, business and maintenance bills, I shelve 70% into savings and investments (through separate investment accounts) and I live on the rest. I carry cash very infrequently, because I like having my money where I can see it, and I don’t have complicated insurance structures set up. They’re simple, run-of-the-mill things because that’s all I need.

Money management should be habitual and repeatable; with the same actions happening over and over every month. It’s the only place mundanity will help you thrive, whether it’s saving up or paying debt down. Make it muscle memory.

I keep a simple investment portfolio.

Much like my daily money management processes, my investments tick along just as simply. I pick investments that I understand and don’t require me to be very hands on – because at this stage in my life, I can’t be.

Property is one that requires a lot of upfront work, but significantly evens out, minus the occasional maintenance job, and shares – particularly the kind we like, ETF’s and LIC’s – are all bought, traded and managed online, with easy reporting when we want a clear overview of how our holdings are performing. We set up reinvesting automatically upon purchasing new shares because that’s extra work we can take off of our shoulders, and we don’t need to draw our investments as income right now.

Superannuation is managed from the one account (if you’ve got multiple accounts – combine, combine!) and I contribute concessionally to the tax-deductible cap (which is $25,000 for people who are self-employed). This is a regular part of my savings schedule every month.

Because we are long-term investors interested in growth (two-dimensional investments that grow in value and pay out income), rather than defensive assets (just paying out income, like the high-interest savings account above, which earns interest on the base amount deposited), the simplicity around our investments helps us to stay on top of it and make contributing habitual.

Maybe later, I’ll look into seed investing in startups and real estate investment trusts (REITS), but right now, we’re only interested in things we can easily manage and keep an eye on. Applying minimalism to the stage of life we’re at when it comes to our investments helps us to stay focused and make it a priority.

If it all became a bit too overwhelming, we’d probably sit back and stop, which would mean we’d be missing out on our investment’s most important moneymaker: time.

Ultimately, we’re hardwired to feel a lot of guilt and fear for missing out. We want all the things. All the content. Knowledge. Experiences. But what we forget is that a lot of that stuff doesn’t even apply to us, and it certainly doesn’t fulfil us. It drains our energy as much as our wallet. In a way, this makes us compliant and easier to persuade – moving us further away from what we really want.

Minimalism and money just makes cents. Going through the process of streamlining and cutting out crap is one of the most powerful things you can do for your finances. Looking after your money by looking after your time, and guarding your surroundings, is so easily forgotten – but so easy to put back in place.

February 28, 2019/0 Comments/by Michelle

Money Tips

The Definitive List of Doable Side-Hustles You Can Start Today

I sing to the high heavens about side hustles.

They are powerful ways to up-skill, fill your time productively and of course, bring in a few extra dollars outside of your regular income. If your day-job is wrangling kids around town, a side hustle can still be one of the most flexible ways to earn supplemental income and help contribute to the family’s finances.

I’ve always had side-hustles, although for a long time; I considered them my day-to-day job. Before the mighty side-hustle became a coined, worldwide phenomenon, I was a baby-faced university student running from one gig to the other in order to save aggressively, fund holidays and make rent.

A patchwork of both virtual and physical gigs across the spectrum was, in a way, my full-time job – outside of studying and drinking, of course.

So when the Internet exploded with side-hustle popularity (including thousands of blogs about how to *$TART EARNING MILLION$ WITH DA ULTIMATTE $$$IDE HU$$TLE TODAY!!*), I felt like the Oprah of the movement. By that stage, I actually was in full-time employment, but I had still been keeping the mighty side-hustle going on for the most part.

There really is very little that beats the feeling of receiving money separate from the expected monthly deposit of your regular job. It’s an addictive feeling – and to say it can supercharge your savings goals is the understatement of the century.

So without further adieu, here’s my definitive list of doable side-hustles that you can start today. It doesn’t include things like blogging, and starting a business – because the reality is – those don’t generate money straight away. And if you’re reading this, I presume you want those dollar bills to start rolling right now.

Instead, these are things that require low overheads, not a huge amount of skill and you can start immediately. Happy side-hustling!

Pet-sitting and dog-walking:

My personal favourite. If you love a puppers or two, this one’s for you, as well.

There are an estimated 24 million pets in Australia (which is almost on par with the amount of people in the country, according to the last census) – and with a large majority of these people working, going on holiday or having to run to interstate for emergencies, there’s a lot of furry friends needing companionship.

Some will ask you to have their pet in your home, some will prefer you to go to theirs (residing there, in some cases), and some just ask for you to take them for a little jaunt around the neighbourhood. You set your own rates and availability, and people contact you asking if you’re around. Normally, you arrange a meet and greet beforehand, so they can see how the animal responds to you (and check you’re not a psychopath) which is on your own time, but once everyone is happy – they book you in.

Finding work: PawShake, MadPaws, list your dog-walking services and a bio of you on a site like Gumtree, or chuck up a flyer in your local area.
Rates: It varies. I charge around $20 for a dog-walk, $50 for an overnight stay and around $30 per visit either going to them, or them staying with me.
Tips: Don’t do this if you genuinely don’t like animals. They’re intuitive little things and they’ll know you don’t dig ‘em, which is a waste of time for all involved. If you’re renting, check your by-laws around having pets (or do it… but know you might lose your bond) and be careful with any of your existing pets – you can’t assume they will like every animal that comes barging into their territory.

Babysitting:

Oh, baby. This one’s a goodie. Do your civil duty of giving exasperated parents a break of an evening, or help with the afternoon school run when they’re still hanging out trying to meet deadlines at work. Kids, for the most part, are great fun. I love their creativity and unique way of thinking, but again, you have to love this demographic to enjoy this kind of work. Fun fact: I once babysat for a couple in the UK who, when I asked them where they were off to that night, actually replied: “Nowhere. We’re having sex but we needed help with the kids because they always run in on us when we try any other time.” I decided we’d all go get ice-cream very far away that day.

Meet the children beforehand, because some kids require much more time than others, and side-hustling isn’t meant to be stressful. I don’t babysit too much anymore as my copywriting business, Wordy and Smith keeps me pretty busy, but if I do, I’ll ask to meet up with the kids and the parents in a relaxed park setting, so we can sit down and chat properly. It gives me a great opportunity to see how the kids interact with their parents and each other in an environment that’s very exciting for them and that’s usually a great indicator of how they’ll behave with me.

Finding work: FindABabysitter, JuggleStreet, BabySits, BabySittersNow. If you are into the nanny thing (and looking for a more full-time gig), I met Michelle from MiniNannyAgency at one of the workshops we did at Wordfetti and highly recommend having a chat with her – she is such a gorgeous human.
Rates: Around $25 to $30 an hour is an average rate, but this will vary on things like age, experience, what’s required of you (i.e. are you going to be hanging out with babies and toddlers, or self-sufficient early teens).
Tips: If you don’t have the patience of a saint, this one isn’t for you. Kids are unpredictable, emotional and sometimes unreasonable little human beings, and they needs lots of love and attention. This isn’t a “do it whilst doing something else” kind of gig. Also note that you will probably need need police clearance.

Paid surveys and market research:

Opinions are like… you know what. Everyone has one, and sometimes businesses will pay for yours. There are a variety of ways to go about this, whether it be short, paid online surveys, or in-person, roundtable market research discussions. The latter are much better paid, but often only run in major capital cities or work hubs, and you need to attend in-person for an hour or more. All have stringent pre-qualification protocols, so this isn’t something you’d want to depend on for regular side-hustle income… although I’m pretty sure I made about $5,000 over a six-month period a few years back. Just got lucky, I guess!

Online surveys are just a series of questionnaires, taking between five and fifteen minutes to complete. Market research can be interviews, taste-tests, or a business launching a new product and wanting to run the way they market it past a focus group first. They might show you variations of different ad campaigns, or different photos of the product prototypes to see how they make you feel. Writing down: “This tub of chocolate mousse makes me feel sad” feels strangely right – and even more so when they hand you your cash-filled envelope at the end of the session.

Finding work: PureProfile, PaidFocusGroups and MyOpinions.
Rates: Online surveys can be anywhere from 50c to a couple of dollars, depending on the time you are allocated to spend on it. Market research is much better paid, and they often reimburse you for your travel. Expect anywhere from $60 to $120 for an hour and a half’s session. More frequently they are paying with gift cards nowadays, but these can still be redeemed at major supermarkets and chains.
Tips: My friend Lucinda who originally got me into market research (who has an ah-maz-ing candle business FYI) told me, anecdotally, that they prefer female participants between the 24-35 age range as they have the most purchasing power in Aussie households. That’s not to say they aren’t looking for a wide range of profiles but, you know, inside scoop and all that.

Selling stuff around the home:

If you’re not on the KonMari, joy-sparking bandwagon, where have you been? Aside from being super popular, the concept of minimalism is very powerful when it comes to tidying up your personal finances. I first read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up a number of years ago, and as the title would suggest, it literally changed my life. I now keep things very simple and uncluttered in my home, in my work and in my accounts. Making no space for mess and complexity has made so much space for everything else.

One of the key ways to do that is to declutter – and then stop filling your home up with more stuff you don’t need. Go through drawers, under beds, through cupboards, bookcases, boxes, garages, cars and everything else with a nook or cranny, and pull out everything you haven’t been using for more than a year. Ask yourself genuinely: Do I need this? Will I use this? Do I already have one of these? Does it make me happy? If not – list it up for sale. People will often come round to pick them up, handing over their cash, and that saves you a trip to the charity shop bin and helps the environment.

Finding work: Gumtree, eBay, Facebook Marketplace and specialist sell sites (I’m currently trying to sell my wedding dress on one).
Rates: The general rule of thumb is to ask yourself what you’d be prepared to pay for an item if you needed it. You can also look at how much similar items have gone for, because the age old adage says that something is only worth what the market is willing to pay.
Tips: Be prepared to negotiate on price, and to have a degree of your time wasted. Don’t plan your day around someone promising to come around and pick something up, because you have a 50/50 chance they’ll show. Never ever meet up with buyers in unknown and unpopulated places, and if they’re coming round to collect something, use language that suggests you are not home alone (i.e. “yes, we will be home / we should be free then.”) I also ask buyers ahead of time not to bring big notes because I can’t break them and don’t store cash at home. Cashless societies for the win!

Freelancing with your skills:

This one I love on so many levels, because it’s essentially where my business sprouted from. We humans are pretty talented, multi-faceted beings, and at some stage of other, we’ve probably picked up a few key skills that we can use to help someone who either doesn’t have the time or know-how to do themselves. Whether it be writing, graphic design, SEO, digital marketing, web development, public relations, consulting, coaching, event planning, sales, virtual assisting, calligraphy, illustration or managing social media accounts, there’s likely someone out there willing to pay for your skills.

This is the kind of side-hustle that you can start today, as long as your niche doesn’t have huge overheads (like buying product or equipment, as in the case of catering or recording and animating videos). Things that also require huge software subscriptions (Adobe) aren’t ideal if you don’t already have them. Freelancing is great because it offers total flexibility and freedom, and in this game, word-of-mouth travels fast. It’s where almost all of my new leads come from – businesses telling other businesses that I’m a pretty top chick, or my existing clients reaching back out with a new project.

Finding work: Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr – or specialist sites for your niche. You can also ask in your network, through somewhere like LinkedIn, whether anyone needs help in a specific field for an upcoming project.
Rates: Most charge per hour, but it depends on the field and specialty and your level of experience – so there’s no one-size-fits-all rate. You can always work out your salaried hourly rate by taking your salary, dividing it by the amount of work-weeks in your working year, and then dividing that by how many hours in your work-week (or, you know, using a calculator like this). Someone who is salaried at $60,000 would earn $28.85 per hour (assuming 52 weeks in their working year and 40 hours per week).
Tips: You’re likely dealing with people who have, to some extent, deliverables and KPIs – and they’re engaging your expertise with the expectation that you can deliver as you have said you can. Managing clients can be a big learning curve if you don’t have experience in client-facing roles. Goal-posts can change, people can sometimes be unreasonable under pressure and invoices can be paid late. But these things can be navigated around and with experience and the right upfront processes in place, they get much easier.

Driving:

Broom, broom said the little cash-loving car. Ride-sharing has surged in popularity over the last five years (literally pulling certain people around the world out of poverty), but it remains pretty controversial for reasons of safety and corporate responsibility. Still, if you have a car, and spare time, it can be a nice little income generator for you. I recently found out about Shebah through the Lady Startup Summer Series of podcast interviews, and fell in love. They’re a business doing amazing things and it’s female-only, so if that’s a worry for you, this is a great way to be involved in the process.

Many of these apps even have options nowadays where you can only pick up and drop off people travelling on your normal route. So if you’re heading into work or to a social event, and fancy making a cheeky bit of cash, you don’t have to go out of your way to do so. If you’re into the driving economy, you can also sign up to deliver food, which also has the added benefit of earning you tips and gratuities. Full disclosure: I have never done either of these (but friends have), mainly because a.) Sydney is Satan’s playground for drivers and b.) my husband routinely reminds me that if we ever did food delivery, he’d have to take a personal “bite-tax” out of every one. I don’t imagine we’d last long when all of our reviews came back with: “You ate some of my dinner you drongos!”.

Finding work: Uber, Shebah, GoCatch.
Rates: Finder have a decent calculator for Uber, and on their website, Shebah say: “you keep 85% of your fares, and enjoy higher rates than other rideshares. You earn more during peak times, and fares are inclusive of GST and tolls!”
Tips: Obviously there are safety concerns for women driving strangers around, especially at night – but platforms like Shebah combat this (and honestly, if you haven’t listened to George McEncroe being interviewed on the Lady Startup Summer Series, you’re missing out). Shebah also offer a free financial planning session to all drivers. You’ll get more fares in the capital cities but you have to be comfortable with city driving – and I’m not so convinced on their GPS efficiency, either.

Renting out a car, garage or room:

Never before has the concept of short-term leasing on someone else’s space or assets been so attractive. We live in an age where the cost of ownership is damn high, and you’re ‘in’, the cost of maintenance is just as astronomical. It makes sense for both owners and renters to utilise and benefit from unused or idle assets, and this can take the form of a spare room, a garage or a car.

Car sharing, garage sharing and room-sharing can come at a fraction of the cost of buying or owning outright (and saves them all the ongoing maintenance and management fees), so it’s a very attractive proposition. You call the shots with how you want to offer your assets, including short-term leasing, or, if you have a separate granny flat or home office, as a long-term commercial lease. Garages are great if you have a two-car space, but one car, and live in an area where street parking is difficult or expensive. Before we bought our own car, we regularly utilised the services of Car Next Door and found it to be a great way of getting around when we needed more convenient transport, like for food shopping.

Finding work: AirBnB, Car Next Door, Spacer, Just Park.
Rates: AirBnB depends on the area, type of property, whether you’ll be vacating completely or sharing the space and any other perks (like breakfast or a gift pack). You can look at other places in the same area for a better comparison. Car Next Door sticks to about 33 cents per kilometre and will charge a membership fee depending on usage amount. Garage sharing services take a cut of any bookings, and prices vary by location, ease of access and level of privacy.
Tips: AirBnB has experienced a significant decrease in bookings, at least in Sydney where we live. Many other AirBnB hosts have commented on how few bookings they receive than they used to; but Christmas is always a pretty safe bet. As always, good reviews are golden so try and help your guests or borrowers to have a great experience.

A weekend job:

There’s no shame in doing a little bit of extra weekend work for cash. I’d still happily do anything I did pre-university today, although I unfortunately know a lot of people in my professional circle who wouldn’t. That’s a shame, in my opinion, because it’s not only a great way to boost your income on a guaranteed basis, but you’ll meet some awesome people and learn new skills at the same time. Whether it be barista work, waiting tables, helping at a shelter or sanctuary drive, pool cleaning, handing out flyers at brand events, car-washing, working for a catering company on weekends or doing some admin and reception work – it’s all excellent income opportunity.

Finding work: Go and call up local cafes, offices and shelters and chat to the managers (stay clear of their busy times!). Hand in your resume or pop up flyers for pool cleaning and car washing in your local area.
Rates: You shouldn’t be getting paid any less than minimum wage in your country. In Australia, it’s $18.29 an hour, or $694.90 a week. From July 1 it will rise to $18.93 an hour, or $719.20 a week.
Tips: Be persistent, and try and avail yourself of a weekend if you can. This is really when most places, or 9-5 workers will need your services.

Mystery shopping:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: acting as a mystery shopper to visit a particular shop and provide feedback on everything from customer service, floorplan, product layout, dressing room aesthetic and cleanliness. You take all of this personal intel and write it up in a detailed report that needs to be sent back to the agency within a day – so there is a timeliness component to the task.

There’s two components to mystery shopping remuneration – one is the fee, and the second is the goods you buy that you get to keep (although sometimes you need to buy it with your own cash upfront, keep the receipt and they reimburse you). This can be great if you need something from that store anyway. I’ve heard about Kikki K’s $200 mystery shopping initiative, which is pretty generous – but I’ve personally never done it.

Finding work: Seek, MysteryShopping, The Realise Group.
Rates: On average, around $20 in a flat-fee payment, and then the cost of product. This can be capped, though, so keep that in mind.
Tips: Try and take jobs for shops you actually need to visit – otherwise you’ll end up with a bunch of extra stuff you don’t need (unless you plan on selling it for less than RRP – triple whammy).

Tutoring or translating:

Bit of a whizz in school? Got a knack for maths, science or English? Busy, working parents in your area who could use a hand with their kids homework and study need YOU. Now, this is unlikely to be the hardcore tutoring stuff (like, parents who want their kids to come top 1% of the country in their exams) because this requires either being a teacher or understanding the curriculum requirements deeply, but a little help with basic homework will suffice.

The same goes for parents who want their kids to be able to learn a different language that you natively speak. For this, you’ll want to have your own BYO language learning book so you have some kind of structure to your sessions, and leave plenty of time for back-and-forth practice.

Finding work: Speaking to local parents at a community meetup or pop flyers up, TutorFinder, Upwork for translation jobs.
Rates: Around $25 per hour is reasonable, with each session lasting 1-2 hours.
Tips: You want to be good with kids and be able to engage them in order to help them learn. Some parents will expect you to provide a police or Working With Children check at your own time and expense.

Rent-a-hand:

TaskRabbit’s mission statement of “find jobs you love, at rates you choose, make a schedule that fits your life” sums up the whole rent-a-hand gig economy movement. There’s virtually nothing humans aren’t willing to outsource when it comes to things they don’t want to do, so it’s worth scrolling through the jobs just for the laughs alone. You can filter by things that are nearby, and things you genuinely love to do (like organising people’s bathroom cabinets. I think I’d do that for free).

Finding work: TaskRabbit, AirTasker.
Rates: Variable (but negotiable), and the better your reviews, the better your chances of being able to do so.
Tips: Don’t do anything you don’t know how to do (or aren’t licensed to – like plumbing or electrics). Exercise general, everyday caution when going into people’s homes.

With all of these, approach with an opportunist mindset. I’m an opportunist, and this has always served me well. Ultimately, the more you get out there – the more you will find. With some of the lower-priced jobs, take that thinking of: “I don’t want to to head out today for $15”, and consider instead the opportunity cost of not doing it. What else could you find when getting out that will lead to more long-term earning potential?

You might not want to start with all of them, because there is a portion of time you’ll need to dedicate in setting up your profile, and applying for a few initial jobs (you’ll find you get less work in the beginning – but once you build up those testimonials, my experience now is that the offers often come to me). Instead of applying, I vet through around 15 offers for different things per week, and pick whatever I have the time and capacity for.

Remember, if you’re in Australia (as most of these links are for), our taxation system basically lumps all earnings into the same bucket: income. You will need to declare this income at tax-time and your tax payable will be calculated by your marginal tax rate.

If you don’t feel confident in lodging and declaring this income, it is highly recommended that you speak with a personal taxation specialist. There is also a consideration of whether you’ll be running this as a hobby, or a business – in which case, you may need an Australian Business Number (ABN). The Australian Business Register has a good ABN entitlement tool (so you can check your eligibility) but if in doubt, run it past aforementioned accountant.

February 26, 2019/0 Comments/by Michelle