I recently had the pleasure to talk with Zach over at Four Pillar Freedom about all of the goofy side hustles I do and how I got started with them. When it comes to side hustles, I think I have a unique perspective because I’m not just talking about them – I’m actually out there doing them.
In my interview with Zach, I get into:
- How I started side hustling;
- Side hustles that didn’t work out for me;
- The best side hustles for people with busy schedules;
- And more!
It was definitely a fun interview, so make sure to click on over to Four Pillar Freedom to read the entire interview.
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Zach: When did you first start side-hustling? Was there an article you read that inspired you to start, a video you saw, etc. that first started you down the road of side-hustling?
Kevin: My journey into side hustling began in 2015 when my wife and I moved into a fancy, luxury apartment that we’d snagged through a deal on Craiglist (basically, some guy had just signed his lease, found out he needed to move, and paid us to take over his lease). On our first day in that fancy building, we walked past a dumpster in the parking garage and I saw a nice coffee table just sitting there. I’d never really grabbed “trash” before, but this coffee table was in perfect condition, so I snagged it and decided to list it up on Craigslist for $25. It sold within a day. After that, I was pretty much hooked on trying to make some money on the side.
A little bit after that, my brother told me about an app he’d been using called Postmates, where he was basically delivering food to people around the city using his bike. It seemed perfect for me since I bike all the time. Plus, I liked the idea of being able to make money on my own time while also getting some exercise. In a way, it was like getting paid to exercise. When the delivery apps started up in my city, I signed up for all of them and started doing deliveries in my spare time and just had so much fun doing it.
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Click here to read the rest of the interview over at Four Pillar Freedom.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the sharing economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the sharing economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps Kevin uses to track his financial accounts.
- SoFi Money. A really good high-interest checking account with absolutely no fees. It also reimburses all ATM fees worldwide. Even better, you'll get $75 if you open an account and have two direct deposits of at least $500 each.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. It's great for a taxable account or if you are looking for a place to create a Roth IRA.
- Dobot. This is a great microsaving app that monitors the cash flow in your bank account and saves away small amounts for you each week. It's free and you'll get $5 when you use it.
- Credit Karma. A free credit monitoring app that everyone should use. It'll notify you of any changes to your credit report and is the best credit monitoring app out there.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Hi FP,
I wanted to ask you a question about this part of your interview: “I like to also try to do a delivery on my way home from work, since often times, I can get an order heading back in my direction (I bike to work, so since I’m biking home, it’s a nice bonus if I can get a delivery heading back towards my house).”
-This isn’t with Postmates correct? Because all that I see when I use postmates is the location of the pickup, not the drop-off. Which is really unfortunate for me because most of the trips I can’t do by bike – I have to use a car. Would you recommend another courier gig? (Im in San Diego)
So, with Postmates, you can often get a good idea of where the delivery is going based on the restaurant. For example, if it’s a Chipotle order, I know that the order is going to be going to somewhere near that Chipotle, assuming that there are a lot of Chipotle’s in your city. Those are the orders I look to grab when I’m on my way home from work.
There are two delivery services that I know of that don’t do blind drop-offs (i.e they tell you where the order is going before you accept it). Doordash, and Caviar. I recommend signing up for both of them too. That way, you can really give yourself options.
I once found a vacuum cleaner in the lane and cleaned it up and sold it for $50. Then used that money to buy myself a Dyson lol!
It’s amazing what people throw out.
Haha, awesome!