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The term ‘side hustle’ has grown in popularity in recent years, as more people consider weaponising their skills and free time to boost their monthly earnings. Side hustles fall just short of a second career, existing as a light, casual way to earn some spending money or boost savings.

Side hustles have become especially prescient in recent months, though, as a cost-of-living crisis continues to affect household budgets. Whether you’re saving for the long term or hoping to subsidise your energy bills, what are some ways you can bring a little more money into your home?

Selling Via Online Marketplace

Becoming an online vendor has never been easier, with a wide range of web-building and drop-shipping solutions that enable people to start full-scale e-commerce businesses from their bedroom. But for those looking to simply make a little extra on the side, online marketplaces such as eBay, Vinted and Depop present a golden opportunity to build a casual business of your own.

You could start by simply rifling through your existing belongings and using a de-clutter as a chance to turn unwanted items into money. If your sales take off, you could build up stock by visiting second-hand shops and kilo sales. All of the money you earn could then be put into a tax-free ISA to maximise your earnings even more, by protecting any interest accrued from taxation. This ISA ‘pot’ could then constitute a healthy emergency fund, or savings for a larger investment in the future.

Dog-Sitting

Not everyone is a natural-born salesperson, and the prospect of running your own storefront-of-sorts, no matter how casual, may be unduly stressful to include in your day-to-day life. Luckily, there are other ways of making some extra money – and some of them come with undeniably fun perks.

Dog-sitting is a prime example of this, being a casual vocation that puts you into direct, close contact with man’s best friend as often as you’d like – and gets you paid for it to boot. There are, of course, some challenges to professional dog-sitting, but on a casual basis the hustle can be uniquely rewarding.

Copy and Content Writing

If you fancy yourself as something of a wordsmith, you can use your writing skills to your benefit by offering your services as a writer. Earning a crust from writing is often misconstrued as rare or difficult, but there are myriad opportunities available for those who want them.

Online freelancing platforms like Fiverr are the perfect place to start for burgeoning creative freelancers, and a great place to pick up casual work to bolster a pre-existing income. You get to be selective with the quality and amount of work you take on and can control your own rates as well. Where establishing yourself in a competitive industry may prove difficult, it remains incredibly easy to pick up light work as and when you need it.