ARE you financially comfortable or considering a side hustle to make ends meet?
Take this quiz to find out if you should be considering a second job – or donating a bit of your spare cash to others.
Take our quiz to figure out if you should take on a side hustle
It comes as research of 2,000 adults found 55% feel they need another job in order to feel comfortable with their funds.
The second-job culture seems to be on the rise due to the current economic climate, with 51% admitting they are considering finding additional work to make ends meet.
Although 46% already have some sort of side hustle, with 20% doing so to cash in on a hobby or skill.
A spokesperson for research agency One Poll, which commissioned the study and quiz, said: “Everyone could do with having a bit more money in their pocket.
“If you already have a talent you can parlay into something which will make money, that’s great – but many people struggle to find what that might be.
“On the other hand, it’s not unusual to stumble into a lucrative side hustle, you may walk someone’s dog as a favour one day then end up turning it into a small business.”
The study also found 36% of those who have started a side hustle did so because they were worried about rising energy prices.
But 26% like to have extra cash they can put aside as ‘fun money’, separate from their usual salary.
Another 13% are feeling a lack of security in their current day job and want to have a backup in case the worst happens.
While 44% also believe if they didn’t have this extra income on a regular basis, they would have issues paying their bills.
Side hustlers’ top gigs include selling old clothes on sites like Vinted (34%), making money through ‘influencing’ on social media (22%) – and drawing pictures of people’s pets (14%).
More than one in 10 (12%) have put their handy skills to use doing DIY for other people, and the same amount are even being paid for putting together flat pack furniture.
It also emerged four in 10 respondents with a side hustle think their little earner could one day turn into their full-time occupation.
But at present, the average take-home from a side hustle each month comes to just £289, although 4% claim to earn more than £1,000.
This comes from, on average, 10 hours and 39 minutes spent on these endeavours each month – just over two-and-a-half hours a week.
And the financial tipping point a side hustle needs to reach, to realistically become a full-time monthly wage, was deemed to be £1,955.
Online survey agency www.OnePoll.com’s spokesperson added: “Sadly, for many it seems a side hustle isn’t just something they do on the side anymore.
“It’s something they need to keep up, in order to stay the pace of rapidly increasing costs of living, from energy to food costs.
“When something becomes a job you need to do, rather than something you love, is when the magic can disappear – but if it’s what you have to do to keep a roof over your head, that’s what will happen.”
Top 30 UK side hustles:
- Selling old clothes on Vinted or similar
- A part-time second job
- Becoming a social media ‘influencer’ on TikTok or similar
- Blogging/writing
- Drawing people’s pets
- Making candles
- OnlyFans
- DIY for other people
- Putting flat pack furniture together for other people
- Buying clothes from charity shops and selling them as ‘vintage’ pieces
- Mystery shopping
- Creating and selling your own products
- Web design
- Vlogging
- Refurbishing electronics to re-sell
- Private tutoring
- Bulk buying products then selling them cheaper individually
- Admin/data entry
- Delivery services
- Baking
- Proofreading
- Graphic design
- Podcasting
- Pet services (dog walking/pet sitting/grooming)
- House cleaning
- Translating
- Taxi services (Either through Uber/Lyft or your own branding)
- Painting people’s nails
- Busking
- Childcare
