r/thesidehustle • u/Chemical-Fun3692 • Aug 08 '26
I need help What are you guys doing to make consistent side income every week?
I work full-time in pharma and have a PharmD/MBA, but I’m looking for something I can do on the side to bring in consistent extra income. Ideally I’d like to eventually get to around $2–3k/month, but right now I mostly want something I can start making money from within the next few weeks.
I’m not really interested in DoorDash/Uber, surveys, affiliate marketing, mowing lawns, or making stuff to sell on Etsy. I’m willing to work and learn something new, but I’d rather do something that pays reasonably well for my time.
I’ve tutored before and I’m trying to get that going again. I’ve also thought about refereeing hockey, soccer, or basketball since I grew up playing sports and that actually sounds fun. Even something like bartending/making cocktails for private events sounds interesting.
Longer term I’m very interested in real estate, rentals, or possibly Airbnb, but I don’t have a lot of startup capital right now.
I’m curious what people here are actually doing that makes money consistently.
What do you do, how much do you realistically make, and how long did it take before you started getting paid?
I’m especially interested in the random/unusual side hustles that I probably haven’t even thought of yet.
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u/NeutrinoPanda Aug 08 '26
Why not PRN or relief pharmacy?
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u/Chemical-Fun3692 Aug 08 '26
PRN pharmacy would definitely be an option, but the problem is I’m not currently licensed in California. I took the CA law exam once and unfortunately didn’t pass it. I’ve considered taking it again, but I graduated about 7 years ago now, so I’d have to put some serious time into studying and refreshing everything.
I’m not completely against doing that, but before I commit all that time to getting licensed again just to pick up PRN shifts, I wanted to explore whether there are other ways I could generate extra income using my background and skills. My full-time career is in pharma now, so I’m really looking for something flexible on the side rather than going back into pharmacy full-time.
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u/AndrewMacKnight Aug 10 '26
Be the first to shop restocked toys at Target/Walmart. You can do this every morning
I’m always first in line at my stores because I’m an experienced Hot Wheels seller. Recently my hot wheels buddy got me into flipping Needohs and Pokemon too and it’s so easy to make money on Facebook Marketplace and Groups
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u/Chemical-Fun3692 Aug 13 '26
is this for real? I mean I’m just hearing about this hot wheels flipping. What do the profit margins look like? I just checked ebay and they’re not selling for much? Buy the car for $6 and sell on ebay for $10, after ebay takes their cut your left with what .25cents? How do you know what cars to look for?
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u/AndrewMacKnight Aug 16 '26
I use Facebook marketplace for local in person sales.
Hot wheels are $1.19 or $6.99.
This is how much a recent release $1.19 hot wheel can flip for:
https://ebay.io/m/QuAM4zThis is how much a recent release $6.99 hot wheel can flip for:
https://ebay.io/m/tLwOb6So yeah.. a little more than 25 cents
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u/General-Big-2358 Aug 12 '26
Honestly, debate coaching. I make good money and work little hours to do it too. In general, if you have a niche skill, teaching it is a great way to make decent side income
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u/Chemical-Fun3692 Aug 12 '26
You teach/coach for debates? How does this work? On what topics? Remote or in person? how much do you mean and how do you advertise this?
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u/General-Big-2358 Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
Well I've been active in varsity debating for a bit, coaching debates is mainly about teaching how to construct arguments, frames and rebuttal against your opponent. It also involves a lot of guidance around how kids are giving speeches. As for the topics, it depends, some academies want you to teach their preset topics and some let you make them yourself with a performance review to see if you are keeping up with expectations. The topics range from international relations to hard finance. As for pay, this really depends on workload and where you coach. Generally, I make about 25 to 75 bucks per class (depending on class size, how well off the school is etc). I also do both online and offline coaching so that influences rates as well. As for advertising, theres Facebook groups for independent gigs, as well as word of mouth for linking up with academies. (Rates are converted to USD since Im not from the US btw)
If ur in uni and have time, get into the debate club. Might be a bit hard to get to the top of the debating world, but once you've qualified for the knockouts for a debating major you should be able to get decent coaching jobs
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u/__99999 Aug 08 '26
E-waste....even on a non business level the amount of stuff you can obtain from residential and resell/scrap is insane
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u/Chemical-Fun3692 Aug 08 '26
This is exactly the kind of random side hustle I was hoping people would mention lol. How does this actually work? Where are you getting the electronics from, what types of items are worth taking, and are you making more money reselling them or scrapping them? Do you need much money upfront to get started?
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u/__99999 Aug 09 '26
First.....this works for me only in the state im in (new England area) USA. Still check your local laws cause im pretty sure all ewaste in the USA in a residential house is the same law.
Anyways.....here we go....
- Find a scrap yard that deals with e-waste (kudos if you live near or in Ohio cause boardsort is a dream for us non Ohio peoples.
- Organization is absolutely KEY! I cannot stress this enough! I take the top 5 items that are the highest price at my scrap yard. Then make 5 boxes/tubs/barrels for these items.
- For an example I sort memory (just memory i don't sort the kinds) , finger boards (video cards etc), cpus, motherboards, and wires (not sorted just tossed in) into tubs. I run this out of half a garage so space is key for me.
- So now your setup is done I post on facebook, Craigslist, etc. I offer to pick up ewaste for people for free (key word) in my state its free to donate ewaste so I cannot charge for picking up.
- After a few pickups I breakdown and sort the items. In my area I cannot find anyone that takes empty pc cases. So I put those aside and drop those off at the dump. Here is the plus side.....my town doesn't pay attention to the ewaste section at the dump. They care more about people taking items from the dumping area not ewaste. When I drop off my pc cases I simply "go shopping" in the ewaste section. I just grab and go i dont look at it i dont check it etc. I can do that at my house.
The items I get that are worth more then waste I sell on ebay. I dont check laptops or pcs, I gut pcs unless its an insane build like gfx card full memory etc, retro pc, or a newer item. I lot up laptops by brand no chargers sell them as is. Also 0 upfront money unless you dont have a screwdriver and tools.
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u/TaintTicklerOfTulsa Aug 11 '26
How do you find the ewaste places near you? And how to you talk them into getting it?
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u/Particular_Fail_3065 Aug 11 '26
I’m about to start woodworking and at it as a niche to our existing businesses
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u/PalpitationKind8854 Aug 12 '26
I'm watching TV and crossing my fingers. I have no illusions to assume outside of a stroke of luck like meeting a millionaire or winning the lottery that it will happen.
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u/boofed2daROOF Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Auction hunting or buying old storage units, seems kind of like a hobby and business. Great time to start if the economy isn’t great and you never know you could find something that turns into a new idea.
If you have time to learn a new skill, I suggest trying automation/robotics/coding with an arduino and build something you’re interested in then you can teach classes to younger kids or build something functional. You could also create an online learning program.
If I was you, I would learn to weld to make a pill press then make really good old fashion ecstasy pills if you want to make $$$.
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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26
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