As with most things you truly care about it is hard to pick a favorite and real estate investing gave this side hustle a good run for it's money. But, it's just so easy for the money I make!

Okay, drum roll please...

The winner of my favorite side hustle goes to..

USER TESTING!

When it comes to making easy money to me it gets no better than this. If you know of a better way please let me know!

I have tried numerous different testing sites and this is the one I've had the best success with and tell everyone about it!

How It Works
You'll have a window open on your computer, the site will ding anytime there is a test available, and you just take the screener to see if you qualify. It’s that simple. Because of all the things I do, I feel I qualify for a good amount of them.
 
If you qualify for a test you'll work through tasks on a website, prototype, or complete a live conversation. A test can range from a couple minutes to 20 minutes. From my experience tests typically last from 10 to 15 minutes and have done them for companies like Home Depot, Geico, and Verizon.

They also have options to participate in live conversation which can either be 30 or 60 minutes. You'll choose the time you want from options they have listed and simple walk through a new prototype or discuss your experience on their site.

I keep a window open throughout the day, whether at work or home, and like a true test subject when I hear the ding I come running!

​ How Do I Get Paid
For each test you complete they'll pay you $10 or if its a longer one they may pay you $20. If you complete a live 30 minute conversation you'll get $30 and a 60 minute test pays $60.

In 2018 I made $5960 ($496 a month or $115 a week)
In 2019 I made $6995 ($582 a month or $135 a week)

​Here is a month by month break down if you are interested:
January- $690
February - $550
March - $590
April - $490
May - $710 (I was also in Puerto Vallarta and San Miguel for a week. 
June - $430
July - $120 (I was in Asia from June 24th until July 24th)
August - $790 (I had four 60 minute convos and two 30 minute)
September - $530 (Three 60 minute convos and two 30 minute)
October - $915 (Two 60 minute convos, three 30 minute, and one extra money test for $15)
November - $710 (Three 60 minute convos and four 30 minute with and extra $100 test)
December - $470 (One 60 minute convo and three 30 minute ones)

Words of Advice
I started testing in 2016 and this is a great resource to earn extra money. From my experience they are becoming more strict on their rules so make sure you follow them! If you take a test you don't qualify for they will typically give you a one star rating and give you a warning. If you do it again you are kicked off the panel.

I had the thought, 'If I make so much off one account what if I did two?!' They eventually caught me and I was kicked off.  I used to be able to get back on the panel by doing the application tests on a different computer and completing the tests from my personal one. They have now figured that out and I got caught. I lost $180 this way as they void all payments, womp womp. 

If you are kicked off the panel the only way to get back on is to use a totally new computer. This is a great resource but I recommend you don't push your luck on trying to get extra money as you'll lose out on a great opportunity!

Summary
It really is that simple. You just have this page open, take a screener, if you qualify take the test and talk about the color schemes, layout, usability and get paid for it. I continue to try to get everyone in my life to do it because you can make good money doing something so easy. Just make sure you follow the rules!

If you want to see a complete list of side hustles you can see that here, which side hustles I think are best, how I doubled my income in 2018, or how I made even more in 2019. ​

If you are wanting to start your own side hustles I have an ultimate list here or to see which ones are the best for 2020 click here.

My Side Hustles
 
Side Hustle 1 – Real Estate Investing
Total Gross Income 2018: $37,508.83
Total Gross Income 2019: $50,615.9 
 
I moved out of my house hack in the quadruplex but still work as the landlord. ​It is really hit and miss on how time consuming it is. Turning over a unit is definitely the craziest part, especially when your tenant leaves in the middle of a lease.

What changed: My real estate income looks a lot better this year because there were a couple months where it was fully rented out which helps. I also got a full year of income from my out of state property with no vacancy.

Side tangent - Although I miss the free rent from my house hack I'm loving the space I now have living in deal 3. But what's cool is the rent I get from the unit I moved out of is $25 less than my portion of the mortgage payment.  I could still basically be living for free if I wanted! 

Keep in mind, this is my GROSS (total) income not my NET (after expenses) income. My net income was less impressive and was a loss if you include mortgage payments and a lot of expenses. The high repairs are intentional as I want to increase expenses to reduce my taxable income while forcing appreciation, creating equity, and reducing future maintenance costs.  But, as with all things consult your tax guy! 

 
Side Hustle 2 - Healthcare Contracting
Total Gross Income 2018: $17,480.79 
Total Gross Income 2019: ​$5,145

This side hustle took the biggest drop in money earned. My work in the schools allows for a flexible schedule and I used my weekends, holidays, and/or over my breaks (you know, those spring, summer, and winter breaks I get) to work with a healthcare contracting company as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) in nearby hospitals, rehab centers, and skilled nursing facilities. I typically put this money toward real estate.
 
What changed: In 2018 I didn't do a big trip during the summer since I went to Australia and New Zealand that spring. In 2019 I worked a bit in the beginning of the year and start of summer before I went to Asia for a month. When I got back I never heard from the recruiter again and I never reached out either. I was kind of over it honestly.

Side Hustle 3 – Website Testing
Total Gross Income 2018: $5960
Total Gross Income 2019: $6995

This is my all time favorite side hustle. I have tried numerous different testing sites and the one I have had the best success with is Usertesting. I tell everyone about this!
 
The way it works is you have a window open on your computer, the site will ding anytime there is a test available, and you just take the screener to see if you qualify. It’s that simple. Because of all the things I do, I feel I qualify for a good amount of them.

This is another simple trade of my free time for money but is less restrictive. I use this money to help with life expenses such as concerts, travel, or new car tires. You can see my budget here to see why I may need help with getting “fun money”.

Side Hustle 4 – This Blog
Total Gross Income 2019: $0

I didn't have this blog in 2018 and is one of the reasons I also contracted less this year, besides the travel of course. I see this as a better option long term and is something I actually enjoy. It does require A LOT OF WORK, way more than I thought, but it's something I genuinely like. I'm going to really try to monetize it in 2020. 

Summary:
If you don't have your calculators handy I'll show you the math.

Total in 2018: $60,949.62​
Total in 2019: $62,755.90

This year I contracted less, traveled more, and still had more income. That couldn't have been possible without my rental units working like little oil fields to make me money! I'm hoping my 2020 side hustle income will increase also since the  quadruplex should be rented out more full time and hopefully continue to get good income from the property out of state. I'll continue to test website and hopefully monetize this blog. 

If you are looking for an ultimate list of side hustles you can see those here.
For which ones I think are the best for 2020 click here.
To see how I doubled my income in 2018 go here. 

Driving Service
If you’ve considered a side hustle I’m sure you’ve thought of this. If you haven’t, all you have to do is download an app, do some registration, turn on the app and you can start to drive people around. This continues to be a good option as you can choose when you want to work using uber or lyft. When you want to make extra money it can be as easy as turning on the app and choosing when you want to work. 

Shoot, Uber even has a feature where you pick up people on your normal commute which may be a place to start.

You could also work for a food delivery service like ubereats, doordash, grubhub, which is very similar in my opinion. You can work when you want and the busiest times are probably when you aren't working, like nights and weekends.

​Why I like it: It is easy to start doing and you can pick the times you work. 
Why I don't: The hourly rate may be low and factoring in car maintenance it may not be a good long term option.

Rent Out Your House
This one isn’t for everyone but I think it's a great option. If you have an extra room in your house, if you travel for work, you can rent out a room or your whole place. This is something I’ll look into once I am done rehabbing my deal 3. This might be my newest version of house hacking.

You can use either Airbnb or VRBO. With the added cleaning fee you might get someone to clean your house on a consistent basis for free!

If want to pair this with house sitting that may be a good option or for when you want to travel. You can get started on mindmyhouse,  trustedhousesitters or housesitters.

Why I like it: It is easy to start doing, you can pick the times you want to have people in there, and you may get a free cleaner or just paid to keep your place tidy.  
Why I don't: If you need the extra space or aren't comfortable with people staying in your house. 

Customer Interviews
These can be in person focus groups or online interviews. The focus groups look like they are in person and may be during they day which could be difficult. 

• Respondent - This is a company I have seen in numerous places and tried but never got anything. 
• Focusgroup.org - Looking online it looks like they have a lot of options for over $100
• Userinterviews -  When I tried this I wasn't able to get a lot of tests. 
• Survey Squad - Every 1000 points earns you $1.00 but I don't know how many points you get each survey. 
• Findfocusgroups.com - A service that lists focus groups from around the country. When I checked the compensation for these ranged from $75 to $600. I tried to sign up for a few myself when I learned about this but they were across town and I'd be fighting rush hour traffic.
• Usertesting.com  - This is one I use on a consistent basis! As of October 21st, 2019, I've made $5485 this year using this site. In 2018 I used it to make $5960  and I use that extra money to supplement my fun money or silly purchases.

          With this one you leave the window open on your computer and when it dings you take the survey to see if you qualify.            I have taken tests that are 3 minutes or 20 and you get $10. If you do a 30 minutes live convo you get $30 or 60                      minutes gets $60. That's where the real money is at!

Why I like it: It is easy to start doing and just requires you to talk about your opinions. 
Why I don't: Sometimes you have to be ready to drop what you are doing to take the test or they pop up in the middle of the day which can be hard to complete at work. ​

Want to get out of your job and create a business of your own? These are all side hustles that can be time consuming but can grow into actual businesses if done right. All of these are things that can be started with a low barrier of entry. 

Digital Marketing Agency
If you have the skills of building websites, social media management, running ad campaigns, and SEO you can do this. If you already work for a company and have experience than even better! You can start out side hustling with only a few clients you can easily turn this into a full fledged business. 

If you know how to do digital marketing (or willing to learn) you can offer your services managing ad campaigns on either Google or Facebook. These jobs are becoming more and more useful since many businesses don’t know how to get the most out of their campaign. This is generally a good skill to have and can very lucrative. There are courses out there if you give it a quick Google to get started. 

You could also help build website. There’s no shortage of crappy looking websites out there, heck you may even think this is one of those. Pitch the benefits of good design and help people out!

If you are good with graphic design you may be able to start off doing quick things like creating logos or designing pdf’s. They may not pay much to start but can add up to a decent side income as you grow a portfolio. Having a good website yourself or examples of your work will help. 

Get Started!
​
Unfortunately none of these will be easy and all require some effort and work but the end result will be worth it.

There are a lot of ideas within each of these categories so pick a direction and get started. If it doesn't work out you can always try a different one later! I've tried multiple and feel I've gotten to the point that I know what works for me as I double my income in 2018 and will be close in 2019. Stop procrastinating and start hustlin'!

This is going to be an ultimate list but excluded things that would be good in theory but may be difficult to execute, at least for me, like dog grooming. I will be putting together a new post of what I think are the best for a side hustles. 

The side hustles I've used or tried with be italicized. 

​15. Renta friend
Are you an awesome hang? If so, someone may want to rent you to be their friend! RentaFriend.com let's you connect with someone looking for a strictly platonic paid companionship. Friends report earning $20-50 an hour to hang out with strangers. 

16.  Snuggler
Have you ever been told you are a good snuggler? Well, Dr. Kelso from Scrubs said, and I guess the Joker in Dark Knight, 'never do something you're good at for free' and here is your chance! SnuggleBuddies.com is an agency where you can charge $80 an hour or $60 an hour for over Skype. 

16. Online Surveys
Another thing you've probably heard of. From my experience these are good in theory because they are easy, you just log in and fill out some surveys while laying around the house. But, I found you typically do them for pennies and the time verse money ratio was never good enough for me but maybe you'll have better luck!

If you want to check them out here are some companies:

• Springboard America – Higher payouts than many other survey sites, but requires a $50 minimum to cash out.
• Survey Junkie – Popular online survey site with more than 3 million members.
• Swagbucks - Free $5 bonus; earn up to $35 a survey
• Prize Rebel – Earn $10-12 an hour doing surveys or completing other tasks. Just avoid the low-paying ones.
• InboxDollars - Free $5 bonus
• Opinion Outpost– Cash out at just $5 via PayPal or Amazon gift cards. Each survey enters you into a $10,000 quarterly drawing.
• Cashcrate – Get a $1 bonus just for signing up!

17. Customer Interviews
This is bolded and italicized because if you want an easy side hustle to do at home these are what I do and am pretty successful with it. These can be in person focus groups or online interviews. The focus groups look like they are in person and may be during they day which could be difficult. 

• Respondent - This is a company I have seen in numerous places and tried but never got anything. 
• Focusgroup.org - Looking online it looks like they have a lot of options for over $100
• Userinterviews -  When I tried this I wasn't able to get a lot of tests. 
• Survey Squad - Every 1000 points earns you $1.00 but I don't know how many points you get each survey. 
• Findfocusgroups.com - A service that lists focus groups from around the country. When I checked the compensation for these ranged from $75 to $600. I tried to sign up for a few myself when I learned about this but they were across town and I'd be fighting rush hour traffic.
• Usertesting.com  - This is one I use on a consistent basis! As of this writing, so through October 21st, 2019, I've made $5485 this year using this site. In 2018 I used it to make $5960  and I use that extra money to supplement my fun money or silly purchases.

          With this one you leave the window open on your computer and when it dings you take the survey to see if you qualify.            I have taken tests that are 3 minutes or 20 and you get $10. If you do a 30 minutes live convo you get $30 or 60                      minutes gets $60. That's where the real money is at!

​55. Alterations
There is no clear and consistent pricing for alterations so you just need to build up a reliable customer database. Pro tip: Post flyers at the gym or other places where people may have lost a lot of weight and need their clothes altered.

56. Child Care
This may not be for me, even if I spruce up the name instead of calling it “babysitting”. You can get started by reaching out to people you know or register on sites like SitterCity to begin building a client base.

57.  Caregiving 
As people continue to age there is more need for them to be taken care of and websites like care.com can help to get you started. 

58.  Tour Guide Service
Do you know all the local hotspots? You can create your own unique tour experience using ToursByLocals.com, Vayable.com, and LocalGuiding.com.
​
59. Travel Agent Service
Are you a seasoned traveler and love hunting for deals? Even though a lot of people have access to these sites some people just don't enjoy the booking process. Plus, they are looking for insider travel knowledge and the hands-off experience of letting an expert handle the booking.

60. Personal Chef Service
Could you imagine making food for other people and getting paid?  HireaChef.com connects you with families and events looking for private chefs, or you might just post on Facebook or NextDoor.

61. Baking/Catering
Maybe you don't want to cook the full meal but have a a specialty, like you make some really good cookies. Well you can partner with business or provide a catering service. 

62. Teach Yoga
This one is kind of a long play as you'll need to take classes, get certified, and work with a studio. But, if you are already into yoga you might as well get paid to teach it. I've tried to talk my mom into creating a yoga YouTube channel as the content is evergreen but she doesn't seem interested. At least I tried! 

63. Personal Trainer
Another one that may take awhile but if you are already going to be working out you may be able to start to train people. Depending on how you do it you may need a certification. Also,  the schedule may be nice as a side hustle because you could do it before or after work.. or maybe waking up to train people at 5 A.M doesn't sound as appealing?

64. Recreation Sports Officiating
Recreational sports leagues are often in need of referees and umpires and you can earn money working games on the nights and weekends. I was a ref while in college for a bit and it's harder than I thought. Plus, being a player the ref isn't everyones favorite person. 

65. Coaching
Maybe you don't want to be making the calls on the game but rather be coaching up the kids. This is always an option!

66. Lose weight
Through sites like healthywage you can get paid to get in shape. ​

67. Staging Houses
If you are good with interior design or decluttering you can help people sell their homes or rent out a unit. I know people that charge $500 to be able to help show a unit to rent. Try partnering with real estate agents to get a steady stream of clients. 

68. Manage Rental Properties 
If you are already staging a unit you might as well help put a tenant in there and manage the property. This can be hit and miss on the amount of work you'll have to do but most people can charge 1st months rent to place a tenant and then 8-10% a month after that. 

69. Manage Vacation Rentals
If you don't want to deal with tenants you can deal with vacation rentals. This will require a lot of systems since you'll be  dealing with check-ins, cancellations, cleaning staff, and maintenance. I met a dude in Providence, Rhode Island that did this full time and said he stayed in whatever unit was empty that night. 

70. Real Estate
Currently I have one primary residence and 5 rental units and know this will be a side hustle that I do forever!

71. Real Estate Wholesaling 
If you don't want to put your cash or credit at risk a good way to make a lot of money is wholesaling. Basically, you find people that are motivated to sell their house by mailing campaigns, knocking on doors, or networking and getting that property at a discount and flip it to someone to buy it. For all your hard work you will get paid a fee that can be thousands of dollars. 

72. Lending 
You can either use sites like Fundrise and invest in projects or do peer to peer where there are numerous sites. You would be able to choose the person you would like to lend money to and see their information. You could also partner with people who are doing real estate as a hard money lender. Just naturally be careful as this could be very risky!

73. Note Investing
Okay, maybe you don't want to put you money into the house or lend to other people, then just buy the note! This could work  by purchasing the mortgage of a property. They typically sell for less than what it is worth because people or companies want the money now. As long as the person keeps paying it can be an easy way to get consistent cashflow. At some point I'll try this. You don't get the appreciation of the house or the tax write offs but you can get consistent money which is also nice. ​

​74. Bookkeeping, Accounting, Tax Prep
This may be specifically for those accountants out there and I'm sure you've considered it. You could easily pick up clients and once you have enough income begin to branch out and start your own business. 

75. Computer Repair
If you know your way around a computer or really any technology you can fix them. I used to use some sketchy guy of Craigslist to fix my Xbox anytime it broke.

76. Build Website
There’s no shortage of crappy looking websites out there, heck you may even think this is one of those. Pitch the benefits of good design and help people out!

77. Graphic design
If you are good with design you may be able to start off doing quick things like creating logos or designing pdf’s. They may not pay much to start but can add up to a decent side income as you grow a portfolio. Having a good website yourself or examples of your work will help. 

78. App Development 
I wouldn't know the first place to start when it comes to this but new apps are popping up all the time. A freelance app developer will be paid whether the app goes on to become a hit or not.

79. Product Licensing
I think this may be one of the more cool ideas. You just come up with a great idea and sell the rights to large companies to use and collect royalties. I imagine you'll need a patent or something because if you just e-mail them they may just steal your idea!

80. Buying Websites
Okay, maybe you don't want to build a site and create a following, well, you can buy a site that is already producing through sites like EmpireFlipers.com. 

81. MLM sales
​MLM (multi-level marketing) programs are often thought of as pyramid schemes — and many of them are — but some people do well with them. There are a couple out there now like Rodan + Fields or Herbalife. When I was in college there was a company called Vemma that people tried to get me into and is now shut down under federal regulations for being a illegal pyramid scheme. Just be careful!

82. Voice Over Acting
If you have a nice sounding voice someone on Fiverr may pay you to make commercials and that sounds pretty sweet to me. 

83 Create Presentation Slides
Have you ever been told you make one heck of a power point presentation? This may be the side hustle for you! You can find people on Fiverr or just create them and sell them on Envato Market.

84 Data Entry
If you are good with spreadsheets, accuracy, and typing you may be able to do this side hustle from home. You can look for one-off jobs like pulling information from a pdf into a spreadsheet, researching online to create a list of data, or compiling a variety of sources into one database. You may see a lot of these jobs online so just be aware that you shouldn't have to pay to participate. 

85. Corporate Workshops
Corporations bring in people to run workshops on team-building, leadership, sales, wellness, and more. You can pitch your business skills to run the events or get creative and do team building activities. 

Growing up I knew a guy that did this and had like bounce houses and tricycles and would go around and do events for businesses. 

86. Party Rentals
Speaking of bounce house, do you have that or large canopy tents, inflatable play structures, foldable tables and chairs?

Do some research to find trending themes in kids parties and weddings, and what is popular in your area. You want to be sure there is a market before investing. This isn't exactly passive and I looked into it as you'd need a truck and hose down the equipment and some may be heavy. But, most large outdoor events will take place over the weekend, so you can start this side hustle and keep your day job.

87. Google Adwords Manager
If you know how to do digital marketing (or willing to learn) you can offer your services managing ad campaigns. These jobs are becoming more and more useful and available and generally isn't a bad skill to have. 

88. Facebook Ads Manager
​Similar to Google ad words, many businesses don’t know how to get the most out of their campaign and if you can this can be very lucrative. 

89. Digital Marketing Agency
If you have the skills of building websites, social media management, running ad campaigns, and SEO you can do this. If you can start out side hustling with only a few clients you can easily turn this into a full fledged business. If you already work for a company and have experience than even better!

Summary
​Hopefully this was helpful on giving you ideas to start side hustling, there really are so many options. I have tried a bunch and doubled my income in 2018 and will be close in 2019. If you felt I left any good ones off the list let me know in the comment section!

My Real Job
 
Real Job- Speech Language Pathologist
Total Gross Income: $60,679.09
 
I work in the public school system as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). This isn’t the most lucrative decision I could make. I know people making $80k working in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) or over $100k in a hospital.
 
I actually feel really lucky because according to the census bureau the average household income in 2017 was $61,372 and I only work 182 days a year. Plus, the schedule allows me to work 6.5 hour days, which leaves enough time for me to work on everything else I do, and travel! I’ll also get a nice pension if I stay that long. 

My Side Hustles
 
Side Hustle 1 – Real Estate Investing
Total Gross Income: $37,508.83
 
I currently house hack a quadruplex and operate as the landlord. I have been living in one of the units for free so that hurts the overall numbers, but you can see them here.  Last October I purchased an out of state property and you can see those numbers here. Landlording can be hit and miss on how time consuming it is and I am also working to rehab the units. I am definitely looking forward to the days that all my units will be run by a property manager!
 
Side Hustle 2 - Healthcare Contracting
Total Gross Income: $17,480.79
 
The flexibility in my schedule allows me to work with a healthcare contracting company as an SLP in nearby hospitals, rehab centers, and SNFs. This side hustle is a simple trade of my free time for money. I work the occasional weekend, holiday, and/or over my breaks (you know, those spring, summer, and winter breaks I get.)
 
This situation is great because they will let me know when a shift is available and then I get to choose whether I want to work. For the summer of 2018 I decided to take a two-week real estate licensure class, a week trip to Boston, Rhode Island, and NYC and still had time to work full time for 5 weeks at a hospital.
 
I am paid $49 an hour and put all this money toward real estate or other savings. I use this trade of my time for money to grow a business that will provide me passive income.

Side Hustle 3 – Website Testing
Total Gross Income: $5960
 
I have tried numerous different testing sites and the one I have had the best success with is Usertesting. I tell everyone about this!
 
The way it works is you have a window open on your computer, the site will ding anytime there is a test available, and you just take the screener to see if you qualify. It’s that simple. Because of all the things I do, I feel I qualify for a good amount of them.
 
If you qualify for a test you will work through tasks on a website, a prototype, or complete a live conversation. I have done tests for companies like Home Depot, Geico, and Verizon.
 
A test can range from a couple minutes to 20 minutes. From my experience they typically range from 10 to 15 minutes. For each test they pay you $10. If you complete a live conversation test, a 30 minute test will pay $30 and a 60 minute test will pay $60.
 
I keep a window open throughout the day, whether at work or home and like a true test subject, when I hear the ding, I come to take the screener.
 
This is another simple trade of my free time for money but is less restrictive. I use this money to help with life expenses such as concerts, travel, or new car tires. You can see my budget here to see why I may need help with getting “fun money”.

Total Real Job Income: $60,679.09
Total Side Hustle Income: $60,949.62
 
I'm not going to lie, it sucks spending my weekends or nights doing yard work, rehabbing a unit, or working a second job. But, I also know these side hustles won't last forever and I'm using them to accelerate my financial goals. When I keep that in mind, I'll take any opportunity I can to get there faster! Figure out what works for you and just take action! 

What is that quote? Live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later.