HOBBIES THAT MAKE MONEY IN YOUR 30S

For people around the world, turning 30s is a significant milestone. A new decade opens up, filled with so many opportunities, ambitious goals and beautiful ideas such as marriage, build a family or travel around the world. I invested most of my 20s in education and constructing a strong foundation for my career. As much as I enjoy being a pharmacist with a steady income and significant responsibilities, my mind is continuously creating goals to improve myself physically, mentally, and financially. Already having so much on your plates and with little extra times, here are some hobbies anyone can get into, that surprisingly can make you some extra money. 

#1 Ride-share Driving

If you like to drive people around town, this is something you definitely should try. Uber of Lyft services makes it so easy for anyone to start their own business. It is flexible because you can quickly turn on your apps if you want to work and turn it off if you get other priorities. 

Required skills:

Drivers get rated by their customer; so leaving a good impression by creating a fun, friendly atmosphere is a plus. For instance, there are a few minimum requirements to become an Uber’s driver:

• Be at least 21 years of age

• Have at least one year of driving experience in the U.S. (3 years if you are under 23 years old)
• Have a valid U.S. driver’s license
• Use an eligible 4-door vehicle

Potential income:

Watch out for Uber driver expenses :

• Insurance: This includes personal insurance and a rideshare or commercial insurance policy.
• Car/lease payments: The amounts a driver pays to drive their vehicle. Drivers either own their own vehicles or lease one from Uber or a third-party provider.
• Tolls, license, permit fees: Drivers pay for all of these fees. Passengers pay an added surcharge when drivers must incur toll fees.
• Gas: Since drivers are considered independent contractors, they must pay for their own gas, and are not reimbursed.
• Vehicle maintenance: Drivers are responsible for their own vehicle maintenance and upkeep. They will be reimbursed if a rider damages their vehicle, however.

After paying all expenses, and after the app takes its cut, drivers for a service like Uber and Lyft average between $8.55 and $11.77 per hour.

• Pay Per Month: A median of $155 per month and an average of $364 
• Pay Per Year: An average of $36,525 for full-time drivers

#2 Take Paid Surveys

Required skills:

NONE. All you need are times and some patience. 

Potential income:

According to Swagbucks, you could theoretically earn up to $5 a day. More realistically, though, users can make about $90 a month — more than $1,000 a year just by watching video. To make the best use out of your time, here are some advises you can follow:

• Use their web search tool (not a search engine, they just want to know what people search for). Make Swagbucks your default search engine
• Watching videos can earn 3 SB per 30 minute video. A limit of 150 points per day up for grabs just by doing this task. Basically you can all day just doing it, or just let it run in the background while doing something else.  
• I don’t recommend spending money but if you shop online through their links, you can also earn cash back as well. 
• Survey and pools usually take between 3 and 20 minutes to complete and you’ll earn around 40-100 SB depending on the survey. 
   

#3 Meal Delivery  

I know this is another hobby that require driving as well. But just hear me out. This make my list because you still have control of what you do and when you do it. So far, Doordash is the best meal delivery app anyone can apply. DoorDash serves by delivering from the restaurant to doorstep of customers who place food orders online through DoorDash. For the same, DoorDash charges a commission percentage out of each and every order delivered. Usually, the percentage of commission from restaurants is 20%.

Required skills: 

• You must be 18 years or older.
• Have access to a vehicle or bicycle. Any car, truck, motorcycle, or scooter.
• Own an iPhone or Android smartphone.
• Driver’s license with at least one year of driving experience.
• Valid insurance — name on policy.
• Complete an orientation online or in person.

Potential income:

DoorDash guarantees it will contribute at least $1 per order. The DoorDash website claims drivers can make up to $25 an hour, which might be a stretch for most markets. However, you are guaranteed a minimum of $10 an hour. 

For full-time driver, that’s over $1,000 a week! You’ll earn at least a $6 fee for each delivery, plus keep 100% of your tips. In the rare case you make less than $10 an hour, DoorDash pays the difference. The average pay per order is $5, plus anything you make from tips. 

#4 Create a YouTube Channel

When I was a college freshman in 2007, the idea of making videos on YouTube seem so silly. I remembered telling myself to gave up after making a few videos and didn’t go anywhere. Sadly I did give up. Fast forward to 2019, everyone knows Youtube, make video, and earn an actual income. From celebrities such as Zac Efron, Will Smith, to NFL stars like Antonio Brown, people realize how much money you can make. For heaven sake, Logan Paul, the fourth highest-paid YouTuber in 2017, with earnings of $14.5 million in 2018. 

Required skills:

Beside a camera and a computer, there are many skills you need to be a successful youtuber. But just like any business, success doesn’t happen over night but it takes time. I am talking about consistency, knowing what  successful meant to you, understand marketing, study video editing skills, keeping up with your niche, develop your channel’s goals and content,…

Potential income:

Let’s me put this into context of the income you get per video view.  I get different infor depends on what resources . Just to give you an idea: YouTube shares 55% of its ad revenue with video creators and books an average of $7.60 per 1,000 ad views. That means you get about $4.18 for every 1,000 views of ads shown on your videos. Take a look at the estimation below:

#5 List a Room on Airbnb

If you have a spare room, you can either rent it out to a renter or post it on Airbnb. I am currently rent out a room to my co-worker for about $550 a month. It might seem like a small amount but it actually help with my mortgage. 

Required skills:

To help create comfortable, reliable stays for guests, Airbnb ask all hosts to meet these basic requirements for each listing:

• Be responsive: Maintain a high response rate by replying to booking inquiries and reservation requests within 24 hours.
• Accept reservation requests: Make guests feel welcome by accepting requests whenever you’re available.
• Avoid cancellations: We take cancellations seriously and ask all hosts to avoid cancelling on guests–their travel plans depend on it.
• Maintain a high overall rating: Guests like to know they can expect a consistent level of quality, no matter where they book.

Potential income:

Airbnb earnings can range drastically, with some hosts making more than $10,000 per month, while others make less than $200. Here are a few tips to increase your income potential:

• Take beautiful photos to showcase your home
• Keep your prices realistic: don’t be greedy and list your room way over the others in the same area. Do a little research to see what is the standard price is. 
• Don’t forget the little things like mini toiletries, towels, entertainment, or a little sweat treats. 

#6 Find Babysitting Gigs on Care.com

Being a caregiver is rewarding in many ways. If you like to spend your time to help other people, why not making money why doing it. Care.com is a public corporation helps families find child care, senior care, special needs care, tutoring, pet care, housekeeping, etc… You don’t have to pay to apply for a job at Care.com. 

Required skills:

• Compassion
• Communication
• Observation
• Interpersonal skill
• Time management
• Organization
• Cleanliness 

Potential income:

Here are an average income for the most popular jobs on Care

#7 Invest

To be clear that investing might not be the right fit for everyone. There are multiple ways to invest: stock, real estate, or business. What I am mentioning here is purely for long term stock investment and not for short term cash. The first thing I recommend is to max out your retirement plans such as 401k, Traditional, or Roth IRA. If you have money left on the side, there are other tools to invest your money: Open a low cost investing account on Vanguard, join robo-advisor investment apps such as Betterment, Acorn, or Stash. The most important thing is to educate your self about investing. 

Related: WHY I MAX OUT MY 401Ks: $120,000 IN 4 YEARS.

Required skills:

Being patience and not act upon your emotion is number one thing I would address first. Here are 6 tips if you want to be a successful investor from Fideltity

1. Develop a long-term plan—and stick with it. Talk to us. …
2. Be a supersaver. …
3. Stick with your plan, despite volatility. …
4. Be diversified. …
5. Consider low-fee investment products that offer good value. …
6. Focus on generating after-tax returns. …

Potential income:

I use investment calculator to see the potential saving that I end up with once I am retire. Using investment calculator from DaveRamsey, base on my current retirement saving that I have already accumulate, if I continue to contribute $400 monthly, with a 10% annual return rate, I will send up with 3.6 million by the time I retire at age 67

I hope you enjoy this blog. Comment below the current side hustle you use to create more income on the side. Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to see more information about PERSONAL FINANCE.