Can You Really Make Money With a Side Hustle? How I Made $1000 in a Month!

Side hustles are a great way to increase your income so you can pay off debt, save up for a big purchase or hit some financial goals you are falling short on. For years I was a stay-at-home mom, but I have always liked being able to help provide financially for my family when I could. I started working side hustles decades ago, but for the first time, I kept track of my side hustles in a little challenge I called Money Making March and I heard time and time again that it was everyone's favorite money challenge so far! Know what? It was mine too! I even threw in a few new side hustles to see if they helped me get to my goal faster. Want to know what I did to make an extra $1000 last month? Keep reading!

money making side hustle


How I Made $1000 with My Side Hustle

TOP MONEY MAKING SIDE HUSTLE



In case you missed it, I had several blog posts that explained a few of my favorite side hustles. I made money a few different ways this month. Here is how I did it.

Start here if you want a few ideas: 5 Ways to Make Extra Cash


1. Sold on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp $693 total
2. Took Online Surveys for $45 total
3. Sold at Consignment Shop $19.46 total
4. Quarter Auction $216.75

Selling on Facebook Marketplace was by far my most lucrative money-making endeavor.


Check out this post is you want to make money buying and selling on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUP or Craigslist.

My Top Side Hustle 


I made the most money selling on Facebook Marketplace. Over the years I've sold on Craigslist and OfferUp, but I am finding that because Facebook Marketplace offers the option to post in hyper-focused groups, you can really target your audience without much effort.

I had a box of Precious Moments Figurines in my garage that literally has gone unopened for about 20 years. I really don't have a sentimental attachment to them and I know my kids aren't interested in this as a collection. I did a little research on what the Precious Moments figurines were selling for, joined a few Precious Moments swap/sell and collectors groups, and did some more research inside the group. I wanted to get a fair price for my items and not sell something that would have been considered more valuable or collectible without doing my research. 

I put together 10 expert tips for selling online. These are the tips I used to sell nearly $700 worth of used stuff that was just sitting in my closet and in storage!

Keep in mind, most of the items I sold, were $10 items. I really didn't have a whole lot of high-ticket items that got me to this goal.

My second highest earner was selling on our local quarter auction site. I know not everyone has one of these sites so let me tell you a little bit more about what it is and maybe you can start your own!

quarter auction side hustle



What is a Quarter Auction Site?


Facebook offers the opportunity to have all kinds of groups. Our quarter auction group is a hyper-local community group that is auction-style where auctions start at .25 cents with no maximums held. The auction runs for a 48 hour window time period. Our local group has only 700 members in it.

What Works Well on a Quarter Auction Site?


People list a little bit of everything on the quarter auction site. It ranges from clothing and shoes to furniture, home decor, and gardening. I list things that I think are good enough to sell to my neighbors. Think things you'd sell at a garage sale. I typically don't list higher ticket items because you run the risk of selling the item for only a quarter. If you were content to donate it to Goodwill, then you'd probably be ok selling it on your local quarter auction site.

How do I start a Quarter Auction Page?


If you have a local buy nothing group that is active, you'd be surprised at how many members would welcome a quarter auction page. This is how ours started. Invite people from the local buy nothing group, and from your local community pages to join, set some guidelines and rules, and then start the fun! I was surprised at how much money I made on items I had just planned on donating.

Surveys


In my post 10 money-making side hustles you can do from home, I listed surveys as a possible option for making money. Years ago, I joined swagbucks and started using it as a search engine to make some extra cash. It wasn't hard to earn a $10 gift card here and a $10 gift card there. I had stopped using it, but decided to give it a try again. 

It was a lot different than it used to be! 

I signed up for a few of the special offers {I installed and registered Box Tops} and took a few surveys. I spent far longer than I'd like to admit taking surveys that paid pennies. But I did luck out and find a COVID focus group that sends out weekly surveys and that pays higher than the average Swagbucks survey. I ended up making $30 {cash, not a gift card} from the focus group, and continue to be a part of it to this day.

If you'd like to give Swagbucks a try, use this link and I'll get a little referral kickback. 

Selling on Consignment

Check out these tips for making money selling at a consignment shop


I sell seasonally at my local consignment shop. It's a great way to clean out my closet and get rid of things I just don't wear. I love my local consignment shop and rarely take the cash out from my sold items, I just use it as a credit on new-to-me clothing. 

At the beginning of the month, I dropped off 15 items at my local consignment shop and after three weeks, I'd only received $10.46 in credit. This is much lower than normal for me, but I often don't check back until after a few months. So while the total was disappointing, I'm not counting it a total loss because I'm assuming that in the next few weeks, the other items I dropped off will be flying off the racks and I'll be making money that I can use on some new duds!

PIN THIS FOR LATER

SIDE HUSTLE

I hope you were encouraged by the results of my money-making March challenge. I had a lot of fun taking all of you along on the journey. You can make extra money every month. Little changes can help you meet big goals!



disclaimer: this post may have affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing through them, I may receive a small commission. These small purchases help me to continue to keep writing content and creating at Rachel Teodoro. Thank you!

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