Money. That’s the thing with it. The more you have, the more you want. And turns out, the smarter you are, the more you can make of it. Not satisfied with just getting a monthly paycheque, there are some people who like to go beyond the day job and earn a side income. We had done an infographic on some of the ways one can earn extra alongside a full-time job. It’s great to see that, almost a year later, there’s a good number of people already practicing a lot of these. Whether to deal with a job with a sucky pay, or just to keep your very monetisable passion alive, these hustlers have managed to turn their hobbies, passion, skills and smarts into ka ching, all while keeping the day job.
Here’s 15 people describing what they do to make the extra buck.
1. This woman can have her cake and sell it too
This banker straddles a fulltime banking job and in her free time and on weekends, dishes up cakes and other goodies that cater to those with a sweet tooth and fat wallets. Describing her, her husband says, “my wife started baking as a hobby, then started giving it out to her friends at the office, started a Facebook page. Orders trickled and then poured in, now 2 years on, she has quit her job and is currently booked up for next 2 months. She’s thinking of hiring help for her “hobby”.
2. This man has bought a flat and rented it out
The age old occupation of being landlord has found favour with the new urban age professional who’s now investing in property and instead of letting it idle away, is turning it into a sizeable side income. Prem has a house on rent in Noida (NCR) for which he pays 13,000 a month in loan instalments and saves 2,000 on paying income tax. Other than making a profit of 2,000 this way, he gets to own the property in a few years.
3. Turning a house into a service apartment
While letting out a house on rent is one thing, this gentlemen has found a way to make it even more profitable. According to Anand, ‘I had some savings and I took a year off and did this:
- Rented a fully furnished apartment (4 floors * 3 rooms/floor) and converted it into a service apartment.
- Hired a manager and 2 caretakers.
- Hired a web designer to create a B2C website for it with an in-built CRS (Channel reservation system) for OTAs (Online travel agents) to book individual rooms from various streams like booking.com, expedia.com, cleartrip.com, via.com etc…
Running it since 2 years, business has been stable and profitable. Although it is a bit risky!”
4. Turning tutors
If you’re good a something, teach it, and these folks would vouch for the adage. “I take Maths tutions for school kids for a couple of hours. Pays well. CAT Coaching institutes easily pay anywhere from 700 to 1500 Rs. per hour.”
5. This lawyer makes some legal side income, doing small lawyer things on the side.
“I take up small – in my individual capacity – assignments and gigs such as drafting/negotiating agreements, advice on structuring, company incorporation and filing of trademarks, copyrights and patents, reviewing term sheets, documentation for seed/angel series-A rounds, advice on regulatory filings, drafting scope of work docs, employee contracts, NDAs. “
6. This guy literally makes money from an ATM.
“I have bought a 100sq ft space and rented it out to a commercial bank. I make 20,000 a month easily and payments are quick.” Meta.
7. Adult entertainer
We’re not sure if we can take his word on face value, but here’s a dirty secret user ghum23 has revealed. “My side income comes from being an adult entertainer. I organize girls for private parties like bachelor parties, adult birthday parties, bartending, Holi and other adult only events. With absolutely NO SEX involved.”
8. This guy is a consultant by day, photographer by night
Photography is increasingly becoming a popular choice as not only a viable full-time profession, but as a much doable, source of side income. This user confirms the same. “The consulting gig pays well and I enjoy the work so I haven’t moved into full time photography. However, I easily make more from photography than my pay 5 years ago. Also photography assignments give me the opportunity to travel a lot.”
9. Ecommerce Smuggler
Don’t get ideas. This guy is only using his skills and contacts for some harmless peddling stuff across borders. “Sometimes I smuggle stuff from U.S.via friends and family then sell it off on eBay. This was better when $$ was cheaper but now there’s not much margins”
10. Digital Marketing consultant
It’s the age of the digital marketer and as one of the most sought-after jobs currently, this guy has found a perfect way to turn his skills into big monies. “I can set up an adwords account for you and setup a flawless campaign. I can also do SEO and app installs for you on facebook or Google. I can also give you advise on marketing your product digitally. I haven’t had the time to freelance though. I think I can make a decent sum if I started.” Hire him already!
11. Tour guide on weekends
What better way to make more money than to get to travel around and show people your city. This user knows this. “I am a walking tour guide in my city, this is a hobby which I do 2-3 times a month. The tour gets me anywhere between 40-50 Euros for a tour, as its tip only tour. I kinda enjoy it for the fun of the activity, money is a good bonus.”
12. Trading and betting into games
“If you’re into games, you can get into CSGO skins and items and start trading, farming, betting and earn shit tons of money! Like pocket money type money. People have even got flats from the money earned and a friend of mine got a Contenental GT ( BIKE ) in like a year of successful trading!”
13. A startup on the side
Well, we have heard of stories of people quitting their cushy jobs to turn to entrepreneurship, but there are some enterprising folks, who have found their own reasons for starting up while still retaining the day job. “I started with a small startup, but managed to get some funding on it. Marketed the hell out then shut shop with lot of monies in my pocket.”
14. Get paid to tweet
It pays to be popular. This user who claims she got paid to tweet sponsored – content would know. There are many startups like Blogmint ( As featured here) and Getevangelised who hire social media influencers and bloggers for small gigs for brand promotions.
15. Get paid to review experiences
Everyone shops online: there are now ways to make money after. You can get paid for sharing true reviews at sites like RevExpo.com. If you shopped, purchased products, or ordered products online, just take a couple of pictures and videos about product unboxing, and upload to RevExpo reviews. All approved reviews get paid.
16. Corporate slaves by day, rockstars after-hours
This one’s our favourite. Many talented musicians who find it difficult to sustain on music alone, are now doing jobs by day, while giving an outlet to their talent at night. Ferdinand, who works as an analyst at a tech MNC is a part of a 3 member band, that does gigs at clubs, cafes and even stores, over the weekends and sometimes even weekdays. “While this way I can balance monotony of the job and keep my passion alive, the money isn’t bad either. Sometimes, we make more from a few gigs than our monthly paycheques”
17. Turning Shakespeare
If you have the gift of the written word, it can help your earn yourself a pretty penny while still working a full-time job. Sites like UPSCBuddy can not only give you a platform to air your opinions, but also pay you for efforts. The best part? You can be anywhere in the world while you’re doing your freelance writing gig.