2024 Side Hustle Income

2024 was a big year for my side hustle (helped by my "funemployment"), but there were a few outliers that skewed the numbers. In order to give the most complete picture, I thought I would give a bit more color into how the money was made.

All told, I made double my goal of $3,000 for the year, earning $7164 of "side hustle" income. 

In order of how much I made:

• Jewelry store - $2113
• Ebay - $1573.55
• FB Marketplace - $864.12
• Work settlement (not severance, but a class action lawsuit) - $604.53
• Costco rebate - $523
• United plus point thank you gifts (sharing upgrades) - $350
• Staffing agency - AI user study work (9 hrs) $244.32
• Rakuten - $183.36
• Respondent (user study company, new & started in December) - $150
• Prolific - user survey site. New & started in December - $138.98
• iBotta cash withdrawal - $95.56
• Fetch - $80
• Last bonus for a transition I completed during my last week at work - $75
• Unclaimed property - $46.06
• Corporate survey - $50
• Equifax settlement - $25.28
• Health care survey - $25
• Audi settlement - $22.79

I discovered a few new ways to earn money in the last few months, so I'm trying them out (in italics). What about you? Any good side hustles you would recommend?

Frugal Friday

 Not many frugal things happening in our world, but here we go!

Saving on things we buy

• Redeemed a $10 off coupon for delivery pizza for Nick's Friday night poker game

Earning money

• Earned $50 doing surveys this week
• Committed to doing no more job applications until January, but saw a few that were interesting, so submitted additional applications. 

Avoiding spending

• Used a gift card to buy the boys lunch, and also used the free bakery treat reward to get myself a cookie. ;-) 

Eating what we have

• I made a large charcuterie tray for the boys & friends one night. Sam loves a cheese tray, so we'd stocked up before he got home.
• We've been going through so much fruit! Sam is a huge fruit eater, and says it's very expensive in college. He's more than making up for it at home.
• I made a chicken teriyaki rice dish, and used up the last of some ancient carrots.
• Even though I'm not a huge fan of an orange spice tea that I somehow have in my pantry, I've been working my way through the stash. Then I can move on to other flavors!

For others

• This is mostly because we absolutely love hosting Nick's friends, but they also really appreciate our house being their "spot" for any and all get togethers. Our grocery budget can flex to absorb all of the fun treats & snacks, and we love seeing the teens at various events. Debates, swim parties, poker, etc. 
• Picked up gift cards for Nick to give out to teachers that wrote letters of recommendation for him. (They are not current teachers this semester.) They write those letters during their own time, and we so appreciate their thoughtful contributions to the college application process!

What about you? Any wins you want to share? 

2024 Points and Miles Rewards Recap

I like to track these numbers to ensure we're 1) getting the most from our travel budget and 2) that we are not overvaluing things like our credit cards & making the right tradeoffs. We pay our credit cards off each billing cycle, and don't carry a balance. 

Before I dive into the value of our perks, points & miles usage, here's how we approach travel & accrual of points, miles, etc.

We use credit cards for all purchases, as long as the cost of using a credit card doesn't outweigh the value. For example, if a purchase charges 1% fee and our card gives the equivalent of 1% cash back in Hyatt points, but also accrues free night awards, and additional bonus points, then it's a worthwhile trade off to us. 

Sam's tuition is definitely the heavy hitter here. As you may have heard, college is expensive. ;-) We charge his tuition on our credit card, and then reimburse ourselves from our 529 (minus the credit card transaction fee, as that's not a covered expense). 

We also make sure to leverage airline miles whenever a flight is extraordinarily expensive, we are covering a gift for someone else or we are just trying to offset the cost of the rest of a trip. 

Here are all of the miles, points & perks we used in 2024, and their approximate value:

Hyatt:

• Used a free night award for Arizona college tour in January, saving $175
• Used two free nights for the Napa half race with my mom & sister, saving $700
• Used four free hotel nights for the Sedona hiking trip with my mom, saving $1436
• Gifted my nephew a free night at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo (with lounge access & room upgrade) - $450
• Points to cover our all inclusive Costa Rica hotel, and applied a Suite Upgrade Award, saving $4,218
• Travel not happening in 2024, but redeemed/booked in 2024
• 3 nights at a hotel in Sedona in March for a girls trip - $1500
• 2 free nights in Madrid - $800
• 3 nights at a hotel in Seville - $1050
• Gave away a ton of expiring upgrades, suite awards & guest of honor benefits to friends & neighbors (not included in total below, but approximate value of about $1500). Possibly more value, depending on where each of them redeem the awards. I lost track at some point, as I gave away so many. These are the types of awards intended to be gifted. 

Miles:

• Alaska miles to cover the cost of 2 tickets to Portland for Sam's graduation party/family event, saving $872
• Southwest points to book my mom's flight to Sedona, saving $359
• Used the following United upgrades (came free with my status earned in 2023. Unfortunately, I will have no status in 2024, thanks to zero work travel ;-))
• Upgrades for Sam & Nick to Portland, about a $200 value
• Upgrades from a friend & her daughter from Denver to Portland, about a $300 value
• Upgrades for a friend & her daughter on an international flight, saving them about $750
• Received a gift card for a United upgrade via one of M's coworkers - $150
• Upgrades for Nick, Sam & my nephew on a flight from Portland to our house, about a $300 value
• Alaska miles to cover a flight for my sister, saving $300

• Southwest points to get my nephew from Tucson to Portland, saving $650 (we used miles because the flights were insanely expensive)
• United miles for a flight for myself & a friend on the way back from Moab (in turn, she covered the car rental), saving $400. 
• Hotel comps in Las Vegas to cover a hotel & meals with a friend - $1000

Total value:

• Hyatt - $10,329
• Other - $5,281

Grand total = $15,610

Edited to add: not mentioned above, but we also earned $110 from cash back offers on the Hyatt card, and a whopping $462 on our other Chase travel card. I go through once a week & look for cash back offers, adding any I think there's even the slightest chance I'll use them. If I make a purchase, cash is automatically added to our account statement. I find that our other Chase travel card has higher value offers, & increases the value of that card. For example, this year they had 20% cash back on ski passes, which was a big chunk of the value returned (of the $462). 

We have big travel plans in 2025, so hoping to strategically use lots of additional points & free nights! Feel free to ask any questions about how we think about travel planning, credit card usage or anything else!

Menu Planning

 It's been a bit of chaos lately, with lots going on & not a lot of menu planning. I definitely need to decide what we're having for dinners this week.

• Friday - Nick had friends over for poker, and I ordered them pizza. M & I had coconut shrimp & salad.
• Saturday - we ended up skipping dinner, as it was a crazy day.
• Sunday - I made a double batch of this chicken teriyaki rice, as Sam was supposed to be home with his girlfriend. Their plans changed, so we now have A LOT of leftovers! I froze half, to avoid waste.
• Monday - tacos
• Tuesday - leftover chicken teriyaki rice
• Wednesday - chicken shawarma
• Thursday - spaghetti & meatballs
• Friday - leftover shawarma

What about you? What's on your menu this week? 

Frugal Friday

 Here's what happened in our house this week!

Saving on things we buy

• I went to the store & stocked up on dinner ingredients, yeast & a few other items we needed, and used a $20 grocery store reward (earned from buying gift cards). 

Earning money

• M wanted to get rid of some old motorcycle pants. I sold them on Facebook for $40.
• Redeemed Fetch rewards for a $10 Amazon gift card
• Received a $23 settlement for a class action lawsuit of some sort.
• I gifted one of M's coworkers United upgrades, and they gave us a $150 gift card as a thank you.

Avoiding spending

• Avoided a lunch out, which I was in the mood for one day. 

Eating what we have

• We often don't get through the last of buns & bread & the like before it goes bad. I've been much better lately about freezing buns, and successfully finished off an entire package (including the random 1/2 bun that was in the bag) & a loaf of bread, using two ends turned inward to make a grilled cheese for Nick. It was a satisfying feeling to finish both!
• I was super tempted to get a sandwich when I was out & about, but convinced myself to come home & find something in the freezer. I found a filling chicken & dumpling soup, and paired that with pomegranate seeds. We are still eating pomegranates!
• Made Nick quick fill in lunches between events, practices & study groups, helping him avoid eating out.
• Defrosted a burger patty for M, on a night when I was at a late soccer match. 
• Finished off all of the leftover lemon chicken (which was delicious, btw). 

For others

• Filled out reports for volunteer students, held two calls, and sent over scholarship options for one of the students.
• Volunteered at an event at the high school
• Cleaned up trash after a soccer game. 
• Gave away a bunch of hotel room upgrades, perks & lounge access awards through Buy Nothing. I've had them expire before I can use them in previous years (I already get all of these perks myself when traveling, so these are intended to be gifted) & it feels so nice to give them to people who are excited to receive them & will use them. Woohoo!

What about you? Any wins to share?

Wednesday Miscellany

 Largely copying my response over from the Frugal Girl blog post, because.. it's that kind of day! Random things that are top of mind for me right now.

• We've hosted a ton of AP physics study groups at our house over the past ten days, as everyone prepares for the final. I've cleared Trader Joes out of snacks!
• DS17 found out that he didn't get an immediate entrance into one of his target colleges yesterday (and, the one DS18 is at) & needs to provide his first semester grades. It's not a no (and, it happened to dS18 as well), but he's so bummed & freaking out about the other schools he applied to. This process is so stressful! I'm trying to help him stay calm & focused on the things he can control.
• I have a ton of research & prep to do for an interview on Monday. I'm excited about the company, but know nothing about the vertical industry, so I need to dive in. I've started a list of all the elements I want to research & understand more to be prepared. 
• I'm still in the running for a couple of contract jobs I applied to, so we'll see what happens there. 
• DS18 had two finals at night yesterday. I can't imagine taking tests at night. I'm an early bird. Luckily, he's a night owl.
• I'm still trying to figure out how to get DS18's skis to him. We'd planned for him to fly back with them, but the shuttle that goes from the airport to his college doesn't accept skis. The logistics are killing me!
• We upgraded DS18's bed to a queen. I need to list all of his matching furniture & twin bed on FB. And clean up the mess we created last night while doing all of that. It also meant ordering new bedding, a mattress, etc. His bed had a good run, as we bought it when he was 2. 

Okay, that's enough miscellany from me. What about you? What's top of mind for you today? 

Fitness Recap

Another week has whizzed by! I found it very helpful to set a few goals for the week, and monitor those a bit more closely each day.  

Workouts:

• Monday - 4 mile hike + 30 minutes of elliptical
• Tuesday - 60 minute HIIT class
• Wednesday - 3 mile hike
• Thursday - 60 minute HIIT class
• Friday - 60 minute HIIT class
• Saturday - 50 minute strength only class
• Sunday - 60 minute HIIT class

Average daily steps: 13,722

Average calories: 1370

Weight: Down 2.5 lbs. For transparency, I weighed myself in the morning (I always do), after a night when I didn't really eat dinner due to a late soccer game. 

How I feel about the past week: Overall, I achieved my goals that I set for the week - dropping my calories & increasing my steps. I'm happy I'm paying more attention to my steps, because it definitely helps increase my overall activity. Generally I'm pleased with the week. 

Goals for the week ahead: I'd like to maintain my trajectory & continue my goals from last week: keep steps above 12k/day, keep calories at or below 1400/day & avoid snacking. 

What about you? How are you doing with your health & fitness?

Menu Plan Sunday

 

I have a bunch going on this week, so it's a pretty boring menu for the week. Here's what we're planning on eating.

• Friday - grilled chicken, ravioli & acorn squash
• Saturday - gyozas & wings
• Sunday - chicken curry & rice
• Monday - grilled burgers
• Tuesday - chicken shawarma
• Wednesday - leftover curry & rice
• Thursday - chicken shawarma
• Friday - tacos

What about you? What's on your menu this week?

Frugal Friday

 Here's how the first week of December went for us. 

Saving on things we buy:

• Used Rite Aid rewards to buy four packages of sparkling water, noting the minimum purchase for a corresponding Fetch offer. Paid $9.21,and earned $2 back via Fetch. 
• In the same vein, used CVS rewards to stock up on vitamins, including a BOGOF sale, and a BOGO50% off. I saved about $30 on the vitamins, and earned another couple of bucks back via the iBotta cash back reward. 
• Picked up chicken at Costco for $5/off per package. Packaged it out & stuck it in the freezer for future chicken needs. 
• Stacked a $5 off a $50 purchase at the grocery store with two $20 rewards (earned from buying gift cards). It was the last day of the $5 off & I decided I'd do a stock up to be able to use the $40 in rewards & the extra $5. I bought: two packages of tea, two containers of oat milk, 4 packages of cheese, 2 very expensive containers of candied fruit (for some holiday baking) & a giant bag of gummy worms (part of Nick's Christmas gift). All told, I spent $13 after the coupons.
• I received a request from the staffing agency I'd used to do a sexual harassment prevention training. It was unclear if I needed to (my user study work had ended), but I took it anyway on the off chance I got paid & made $40. 

Earning money:

• Made $150 doing a couple of user studies,& saw a user study that required a teenager. Nick is desperate to find a flexible job (around his many activities, which is near impossible to find), so I asked him if he wanted to participate & he made $30 on a user study as well. 
• Filled out a few other surveys & earned $20. I'm trying out a few low touch side hustle options.
• Sold a scarf on eBay & made $16. It's been listed forever, so I'm glad to see it gone!
• I also sold a workout pullover top on eBay. 
• Received a $25 Discover gift card as part of a settlement. 

Avoiding spending

• Can't really think of anything that fits the bill for this. It's an expensive month, with gift purchasing & all. 

Eating what we have

• I picked the last of the 20 or so pomegranates & M cleaned a bunch of them. We were able to send Sam back to college with a huge container, as pomegranate seeds are his favorite. I've been snacking on them all week as well. 
• We finally finished off the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers (steak, beans & scalloped potatoes). The stuffing was gone the next day, as it's my favorite!
• I've been using spinach in smoothies for lunch, to drive up my veggie consumption, and also stay on top of the large containers of spinach M buys. For my smoothies, I use: a banana, spinach, a small scoop of peanut butter, oat or soy milk, & any frozen fruit I have around for a little sweetness. I would like to add protein powder, but it depends on when I'm making the smoothie, as protein powder bothers my stomach if I haven't already eaten. 

For others

• My sister & her partner have been so incredible for Sam (attending family weekend, managing transportation from the airport, stocking him with supplies) that I wanted to thank her. Used Alaska miles to purchase a flight for a trip she's making here, saving her ~$300. 
• Gave away teen clothes to a local mom, including two pair of dress pants that she was very excited to receive. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Goals for December

 I'm very excited for the month ahead. Sam will be home for three weeks, we will spend Christmas with my sister & her family, my BFF & her daughters, & my parents. We also have a ski trip at the end of break. Yippee!

Here are my goals for December

Financial:

• Save $2000.
• Mini freezer clean out. Use up the following:
• 1/2 of the pizza
• A bunch of the tater tots from the restaurant sized bag M found on super mark down. ;)
• A package of naan bread
• Sell fitness watch
• Sell/give away all expiring travel rewards
• Make $100 in side hustle

Family:

• Finish all holiday shopping/wrapping/baking
• Have a fantastic holiday season with the family
• Book travel for spring girls trip & trip to Spain with M
• 2 dates with M

Fitness:

• 15 strength workouts 
• Follow the No S diet 15 days & track calories daily
• Have eye exam 
• Maintain my weight during the holiday season

Personal:

• Complete daily tasks 20 times (meditate, language, journal)
• Get together with friends
• Declutter 25 items
• Network 2x
• Continue exploring jobs
• Spend time on volunteer role
• Come up with more structure in my daily routine

What about you? What are your goals for December?

November Goals Recap

 November whizzed right on by. I had the impromptu trip to Las Vegas & Zion, lots of job searching & a bonus few days with Sam for Thanksgiving. Here's how I did on my goals:

Financial:

• Achieve savings goal - yes, done! We actually were over a bit, which is always nice.
• Mini freezer clean out: 
• 1/2 of the pizza in the freezer - no progress
• Use up the cranberries - done! Made cranberry muffins
• Sell the white car - done!
• Sell fitness watch - no progress, as this is through M's work alias & I have no visibility. I'll remind him & see what's up. 

Family:

• Help Nick with final applications & essays - done, although by "final", that was out of the ones due in November/December. There are plenty more scholarship essays ahead.
• Sort out plans for winter break - done!
• Fianlize all travel plans for Sam - done!
• One fun activity with the boys - Sam, M & I went on a hike. Nick is injured from soccer.
• 2 dates with M - we played pickleball & went out for dinner on Friday night

Fitness:

• 15 strength workouts - 13/15
• Follow the No S diet 15 days & track calories daily - 5/15 days following the eating plan, and tracked about 75% of the time
• Schedule MRI - I scheduled this, but now don't need to have the MRI done, so it's cancelled.
• Lose 2 lbs - I gained around 1.5 lbs this month, which isn't the direction I'm trying to go!

Personal:

• Complete daily tasks 20 times (meditate, language, journal) - 15/20
• Get together with friends - lots of friend time: hikes, trip to Zion, walks, coffee meet ups
• Declutter 25 items - 15/25
• Network 2x - done!
• Continue exploring jobs - lots of job exploration & applications
• Spent time on volunteer role - yes
• Come up with more structure in my daily routine - not much happened here. 

So, that's how November went at our house. What about you? How did you do with your goals for the month? 

Fitness Recap

I'm finding it really helpful to recap my weeks here, so hopefully it's useful or at least entertaining to some of the readers as well. ;-) 

Workouts:

• Sunday - 60 minute workout class
• Monday - 60 minute workout class
• Tuesday - 60 minute workout class
• Wednesday - 4 mile hike (hip was twinging a little, so didn't want to run)
• Thursday - 4 mile Thanksgiving hike with Sam & M!)
• Friday - 60 minute workout class
• Saturday - 4 mile hike

Average daily steps: 12,960. I've been tracking my daily steps a bit more closely, to try & hit the 12k/day target, and it appears to be working. 

Average calories: 1560

Weight: honestly, I didn't weigh in this week, which is never a great sign! I try to remember to weigh in on Monday, to get an accountability check. 

How I feel about the past week: Well, I definitely enjoyed my week. My food calories were pretty okay, but we had martinis & wine during the week, which bumped my overall calories *way* up. I've also been MUCH snackier than usual. I'm tempted by what's in the pantry, and when I buy snacks for the teens (extra this week, as Sam was home), I'm tempted by them. It's hard to remember in the moment that I don't have the metabolism of a teen boy!

Goals for the week ahead: Continue my 12k/day average, cut back the calories to 1400/day, which is going to be hard with snacking. Therefore, LESS or no snacking! 

What about you? As we enter the holiday season, do you have any health or fitness goals?

Menu Plan Sunday

I didn't do much planning for the week, after Thanksgiving. I spent all of my effort on the Thanksgiving meal plan and my planning shut down after that. ;-) 

• Thursday - Thanksgiving (steak & traditional fixings)
• Friday - the boys were both off with friends, so M & I went to dinner & shared a salad & French dip
• Saturday - Thanksgiving leftovers
• Sunday - grilled burgers
• Monday - ravioli & chicken sausages
• Tuesday - leftover burgers
• Wednesday - something easy, because Nick has a soccer game, so likely grilled burgers 
• Thursday - leftover ravioli & chicken sausages
• Friday - pizza & salad

What about you? What's on your menu this week?