Fancy a holiday but the budget isn’t quite stretching? You’re not alone. Nearly 40% of Brits now have a side hustle on the go, and a fair few are doing it to fund a proper getaway. In this article we’ll run through some of the best side hustles you can pick up for a bit of extra cash, whether that’s at weekends or after the day job. None of them require quitting work or any fancy qualifications. Just a few spare hours and a bit of effort.
Driving
If you’ve got a car sitting on the drive most evenings, it could be quietly earning you money instead. Signing up with a service like Uber, Bolt or Deliveroo is one of the quickest ways to start a side hustle, mainly because there’s very little standing between you and your first shift. No interview, no awkward onboarding, just a quick sign-up and a few checks before you’re good to go.
The real appeal here is flexibility. You decide when you work, which means you can fit it around your job, your family and everything else life throws at you. Friday and Saturday nights tend to be the sweet spot, when people are heading out, ordering takeaways and generally happy to pay for the convenience of getting from A to B without the hassle.
Let’s be honest though, nobody is getting rich doing this. The hourly rate won’t blow you away, and you’ll need to factor in fuel and the odd bit of wear and tear on your motor. What it does offer is steady, reliable demand and the freedom to switch the app on whenever you fancy topping up your holiday fund. For a lot of people, that trade-off is well worth it.
Babysitting
It’s hardly the most glamorous gig on this list, but babysitting has one big thing going for it. Parents will always need someone reliable to watch their little ones, and that demand never really dries up. Weekends are where the work tends to cluster, since that’s when mums and dads want a night out, a meal that isn’t interrupted every five minutes, or simply a few hours to themselves.
You won’t be charging eye-watering rates, and it’s worth being realistic about that from the start. Still, if you’re the sort of person who’s happy to spend a Friday or Saturday evening looking after someone else’s children, the money adds up nicely over time. Build a good reputation with a couple of local families and you’ll often find the bookings come to you, week after week, with very little chasing required.
There’s another quiet perk too. Once the kids are fed, entertained and tucked up in bed, a lot of the evening is yours. That might mean catching up on a box set, getting stuck into a book, or scrolling through holiday deals while you wait for the parents to roll back in. Get paid to relax a little, and watch your travel fund grow in the background.
Copywriting
If your talents lean more towards words, copywriting might be the side hustle for you. It’s a brilliant fit for creative types, and the work itself is surprisingly varied. One day you could be writing snappy product descriptions, the next you’re knocking out blog content, marketing emails, social media ads or the copy that fills a company’s website. There’s nearly always someone, somewhere, who needs decent words written.
The earning potential is what makes this one stand out. Experienced copywriters can command genuinely good rates, and plenty of people have started out doing a few hours at the weekend before growing it into a full time career. So if you fancy seeing where it leads, the ceiling is high.
That said, there’s no pressure to go all in. As a freelancer, you’re in charge of how much you take on and when you do it, which makes it easy to keep things ticking over alongside your main job. The trick is being sensible with your commitments. Only agree to deadlines that genuinely fit around your free time, and resist the temptation to say yes to everything. Overload yourself early on and the dream quickly starts to feel like a second full time job.
Online Surveys
Let’s set expectations straight away. Online surveys won’t fund your whole holiday, but they’re one of the easiest ways to turn idle moments into a bit of extra pocket money. Companies and universities alike are constantly after people’s opinions for consumer research and academic studies, and they’re willing to pay for your time.
The beauty of it is how little commitment is involved. You sign up as a participant, then pick and choose which surveys to complete whenever a spare ten minutes crops up, whether that’s on your lunch break, the sofa or the morning commute. In exchange, you build up rewards in the form of vouchers or cash, which you can cash out once your balance hits a certain threshold.
There are loads of sites out there, but a few have earned solid reputations. Ipsos iSay, SwagBucks and Y Live are all worth a look and easy enough to get started with. Prolific is another favourite, largely because it tends to pay better than most, though you may have to join a waitlist to get in. Frustrating, yes, but a decent sign that the rewards are worth hanging around for. Chip away at it consistently and the totals creep up nicely.
