We all want to make money, and it’s even more fun to make money on the side. Have you ever considered side hustles at home? Ever look around each room and ask yourself, do I still use, need or know what “that” is even for? How many of us have old phones, computers, TVs, clothes that are bursting out of the seems of the walls, within the place we live? This article drives to talk about how create side hustles at home and enjoy the benefits. Benefits, such as, the way to clear out the clutter and put extra capital in our pockets.
Side Hustles at Home
Given my recent rants about how every dollar counts and with my new strategy adjustments articles, having extra cash and capital would be a very nice thing to have, I would say. I know right now I could use each and every dollar for normal every month living costs and/or even to stock-pile cash to make an individual stock investment. Further, though not as wild, I have noticed the clutter being built up in my house. This post really falls in line with my minimal possession lifestyle and I realized – our homes are goldmines filled with “stuff” we don’t use or have no further use for anymore. Why not give or sell to someone who can actually use them – such as phones, computers, clothes, etc.. the list really can go on. This pairs up fairly well with Bert’s article on 5 things he does to make money while he travels on the road, which you can see these are a few things to make extra money while you’re at home too! Let us dive into the side hustles at home listed below!
Cell Phones – How many used cell phones do you have laying around? What about the ever-so-sad destructed cell phone screens on a “newer” smart phone? Yep, been there and have done that, that’s for sure. I recently have had the fun of thinking of what to do with my cracked screen, touch-screen digitizer broken LG G3 smart phone. I purchased the phone back in July of 2014 for roughly $99. In March 2016 (just a few months ago) it slipped and cracked on concrete. At first I wasn’t phased, as the phone still worked, but after 3-4 days the digitizer was not functioning any more (i.e. the touch screen). Therefore, my touch on the screen was not recognizable and left my phone useless. After 4.5 months of using an old 2010 smart phone that I had laying around (yes, I luckily had one spare), I was able to switch Verizon (VZ) and go to Google’s Project Fi with a new phone. What was I to do with my LG G3? I could have fixed it myself for around $50-75, but that’s if I did it right. I could have had someone else fix it for around $100-$125, but I wasn’t about to shell out more dough, when I was going to leave Verizon and that phone in just a few short months anyway. So what did I do? Popped the broken phone on eBay, of course! However, my timing wasn’t the best – as I should have sold it in March BEFORE the LG G5 (2 generations ahead of the LG G3) was released. Therefore, my phone with the broken digitzer wasn’t as marketable. I just sold it at the end of July with fees & shipping included in the final amount of $43.92. The question is – how many of you have at least one old smartphone laying around collecting dust? Don’t you think you can rid your life with it AND make a few extra bucks on the side? Reason people are willing to pay – they either did the same thing, know how to fix it and use it, know how to fix it and re-sell it and/or want a used phone that they don’t have to extend their contract for. It’s that simple. The market is amazing out there for used smartphones, and my LG G3 experience being sold is a fairly great example.
Clothing – One can even go through the closet, picking out the notable brands (remember when you used to wear Abercrombie in grade/high school…) and sell them across different sites such as eBay, Craigslist or even OfferUp. These are sites that you can sell the clothing pieces (T shirts, jeans, sweaters, dress shirts) from $5 to $35 per article of clothing! I know I’ve been able to sell quite a few things in the years in the past, but as I am making more room/decreasing the things that I know – this is an avenue that I want to do again. Also – it happens to be one of my 2016 year goals, to sell more things on eBay/online. In addition, if it doesn’t sell and you itemize your taxes, you are in luck. You can even donate your clothing and set a reasonable fair market value of the goods that you own. So far, this year alone, I have donated 9 shirts, 3 dress shirts, 2 full very nice conditioned suits, 1 pair of jeans, a package of unused boxers (size wasn’t mine), undershirts and socks and have written that at around $195, which I am sure is conservative. This will save me roughly $48.75 on my federal tax bill already, cha-ching! This simply means more money in my pocket at the end of the year. I’m only 7 months into the year on doing this, therefore – those items that don’t sell, I will simply donate them to receive federal tax savings.
Electronics/Computers – Remember my article about the Best Laptops or Device for Blogging? Well, if I choose to go that route, I’ll have a 2008 aluminum Macbook that will sit there. I think someone wanted to buy an Apple product that has 8GB of RAM (Yes, remember when I did a ~$60 upgrade to boost the heck out of this machine?) and 160GB storage with a beautiful screen. Now, I don’t think it would command $200, but I would have to assume it would fetch over $100, for sure. Plus, I would have all original items for it, as well. When I upgraded the RAM, I would also have the old RAM to sell on top of this, increasing more of the value in the side hustle expeditions. Also – here is some proof on the value of the Macbook with plenty of time for more bidding!
I won’t mention any names, but I also know someone who knows how to fix Macbook chargers that lose their luster on the cheap, therefore, the person can essentially buy broken Macbook chargers, spend the 5 minutes along with an inexpensive part, fix them and re-sell them for more than $30/$40 easily online. The side hustle can become very real here. The big takeaway is if you happen to buy a new electronic – say it is a computer, a television, a game console (the list can go on); that you can sell the old. It works tremendously if you also just want to sell the things you own simply because you do not have a use for them anymore.
With just thinking of these items above – they easily can combine into approximately $300 in side hustle income – about $170 for my old computer, $45 (rounded) for the old phone and easily $85 for clothes. I can more than likely do better in the clothing department, but that’s a conservative estimate. That $300 can allow me to trade 43 times. That $300 I can donate to receive further tax savings at $75 (25% tax rate). That $300 can be invested at a rate of 3.5% and produce $10.50 in forward income, not even including dividend reinvesting, appreciation or dividend growth. $300 can go a long ways ; )
Conclusion on side hustles at home
I’m beyond thrilled for this. Sold the cell phone and a combination of clothes & the computer are on deck. I’m looking forward to removing a few things from my life, cleaning out old items, creating more space and possibly putting some green in my pocket. The uses for the money can be for your normal living costs, a vacation assistance, a travel fund or my favorite – an investment purchase. The compounding that can occur from the money you make on the side hustles at home are tremendous and I hope everyone can consider these if they have the time!
What side hustles at home do you partake in? What other items are you finding easier to sell or dispose of? Do you donate a lot if you itemize? Any further thoughts or consideration – please share in the comments below! Again – thank you for stopping by, it means a great deal and I’m excited to share the journey to financial freedom with everyone!
-Lanny