5 Side Hustles that are real and fit any schedule

In March of 2020, a wave of super cooties spanned the globe and the law firm I was administrator of closed its doors for good. I had done some “side hustles’ already to get out of the house, but was put in a position where I had to be more cautious and find a new, non-people job where I could help with some of the bills to feel like I was doing “something”.

Here are some of the things I did for money. I can add some affiliate links to the end if that helps anyone get a starting bonus, but don’t feel obligated.

Shipt: Shipt is a grocery delivery service. If you choose wisely when selecting orders (something that can take a bit of practice), you can easily bring in $100 a day while kids are in school if you’re in a good metro area. You download an app, get approval, and then literally go through someone else’s grocery list, consulting with them if stuff is out and they ask you to do so…. you drop off the groceries at their door, mark it as delivered, and the money is available pretty quickly. You can cash out once a day for .49 cents, or you can leave the money and earnings through Sunday with pay out the following Friday with no fee. It’s very straight forward. You will need to keep track of earnings and set aside money for taxes if you earn more than the IRS threshold (which I believe is $600).

Instacart: This is another grocery shopping app. It’s similar but its different too. You know what the approximate tip will be in advance, assuming the customer doesn’t change anything. It’s very straight forward, and as with Shipt, you can choose the orders you want and leave others. Caveat is bundled orders. One order may have a great tip which an order bundled with it does not, so you have to decide how much you want it.

Poshmark: I’ll be honest up front. Poshmark has mostly been great for me, but they charge the highest fees (20% of the sale price), they make you discount shipping costs if you discount the price, which comes out of your pocket, and customer service when I’ve needed them has been a nightmare. Positives though, are that you can list a dozen items in under a half hour….. shipping is super easy… you just print out a label, and drop your package at the post office… and if nothing is glitchy, you’ll get paid out within three days of delivery of your item. I made several thousand dollars last year selling stuff I was just never going to wear.

Mercari: Mercari also has pretty terrible Customer Service, but I’ve only needed it one time, and the automated features are easy to work with. Fees are lower that poshmark… MUCH lower, and so you can price things lower and things just seem to sell faster. I made $600 this year and only had 20 items for sale (8 sold) compared to the 300+ poshmark listings I have. I will eventually have everything on Mercari. Listing is super easy and its not just for clothes. I’ve sold art, Lego, doll clothes…. any random thing you’ve ever owned can go on there. It’s like Ebay but much more organized and you don’t need to list 500 details about it, which eBay now likes, and which is why I won’t be recommending eBay here.

Etsy: Etsy is fun and listing is just .20 cents. I like it because you can have a bunch of shops, some could be printables… maybe patterns you’ve created or pretty calendars… or you can sell tangible things…. a painting you’ve made…. some jewelry piece you’ve created…. or maybe you want to sell Vintage clothes… any of this can go on Etsy…. Its very handy.


Affiliate Links: Some have time restrictions, so be mindful of that.

Shipt: Referral code AYS-US-M0R (discount of Shipt Delivery + up to $100 bonus, depending on Metro)
Instacart: Referral Code GAG6E3D86 (Up to $450 sign-on bonus, depending on metro
Poshmark Referral Code MYFRESHRACK (get $10 for joining using code)
Mercari https://merc.li/9GHWcAxfb code DPQAXB (Get $10 off of your first purchase, or $20 off your first sale of $100 worth of stuff)
Etsy: https://etsy.me/3XDfGuw (earn 40 free listings for signing up)