Corporations taking over side hustles seems to be screwing over people, since they take such a large cut and flood the market for that hustle.

But the ones I’ve personally seen people do that work pretty well (in USA) are:

Stay at home mom watching another kid (legally dubious depending on state/situation. But I ain’t no narc.)

A neighbor of my mom’s sends out a menu saying what she plans on cooking each night for that week, and for $X will deliver you some as well (Legal in Utah due to special laws, other states could be dubious. )

People who go pick up free furniture that is pretty trashed, and then refurbishes it and sells it. Or people with trucks who are like “Will deliver furniture for $30 in X area” is also pretty life saver for people without cars/trucks. Was able to get a super cheap/nice coach because of this.
People who just flip free stuff or stuff from thrift stores without doing any improvements annoy me greatly though. We broke and you’re just driving up the price!

None of these generate a ton of cash, but I like that they take very little up front cost, aren’t disruptive, and mostly take labor.

So what side hustles have you seen work out?

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠
    30•1 month ago

    My wife does the furniture flipping thing. I don’t think we make any money on it — but we have much nicer furniture than we could afford otherwise and between reselling the items we get rid of the low prices we pay for the incoming, we’re certainly not spending money on it, either, and that’s counting the cost of renting trucks to move it around.

    • @ericbombOP
      8•1 month ago

      Well getting nice furniture from a hobby sounds pretty chill regardless!

      Every now and then my eyes pop at the cost of new furniture.

      • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠
        7•1 month ago

        We don’t fick with upholstered furniture for exactly that reason. Tables, dressers, cabinets.

        • @ericbombOP
          3•1 month ago

          I’m not saying all stories about inviting demons/vampires into your house are inspired by bed bugs. I have 0 evidence to support that.

          BUT, if tomorrow it is said that evidence that supports that theory is found, I’ll just nod and be like “Yeah that tracks”

          Once you’ve invited bed bugs in, they own that house now. You don’t wanna live with them anymore? Don’t like them sucking your blood? You move.

          Also all your stuff belongs to them now. You invited them in, it’s your fault.

      • @ericbombOP
        3•1 month ago

        With any upholstered furniture we’ve bought (Since we’ve bought some for personal use), we keep it in the garage and treat it for like a week before it comes inside. We don’t do it often and have yet to have a problem, but anytime we buy something soft we are very concerned we are inviting demons into the house.

      • @[email protected]
        2•1 month ago

        Maybe if you live in an area with mostly SFHs so bugs can’t spread as aggressively? I’d never take furniture off the street. I’d rather sleep on bare floor than deal with bed bugs.

      • @[email protected]English
        1•28 days ago

        Not that long ago I thought that “don’t let the bedbugs bite” was just a weird thing to say to your kid instead of “good night”. Turns out they’re a legit thing in some parts of the world!