She's On The Money - Money hacks that actually make you cash (Real Ideas From Our Community)

Episode Date: April 14, 2026

If you’ve been feeling like you need to make a bit more money right now… this episode is for you. This week, Jess and Bec are getting nosy (in the best way) and diving into the real side hustles our community is using to bring in extra cash. And not the usual “fill out surveys” kind of advice… actual, clever ideas that are working. From people turning small ideas into proper income streams, to flexible gigs you can start on the side of your 9–5, this episode is full of inspiration if you’re trying to get ahead or just want a little more breathing room in your budget. Some of these are surprisingly simple. Some are a bit more creative. All of them will make you think, “okay… I could actually do that.” If you’ve ever said “I should probably get a side hustle” but didn’t know where to start… this is a very good place to begin. POINTS HACKING EPISODE: Points Hacking (No Credit Card Required)MORE SAVINGS HACKS EPISODES: I’m Bored. Give Me Your Most Unhinged Savings HacksFREEBIE: Get our free savings challenge resource here. NEW HERE?: Take our Money Personality Quiz and we will send you free resources based on how YOU actually manage money here.  Join our Facebook Group AKA the ultimate support network for money advice and inspiration. Ask questions, share tips, and celebrate your wins with a like-minded crew of 300,000+.And follow us on Instagram for Q&As, bite-sized tips, daily money inspo... and relatable money memes that just get you.Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 45128See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My name is Natasha Bamblett, I'm a proud First Nations woman, and I'm here to acknowledge country. Ti, gilinyan ganya, nianakaka yao yambina waka, nianakai nianbina yakarumja, duminyagumiga dumiga ithawaka nirawamundamun imelan, mumubangaraboma ininyalan waka, gaunonyakarumja, wutunadana. Hello beautiful friends. We gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people. We thank, acknowledge and respect the Aboriginal people's land that we're gathering on today. Take pleasure in all the land and respect all that you see. She's on the Money podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections,

bringing you the tools, knowledge and resources for you to thrive. She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast that's here to help you improve your bank balance. and tell you what in this cost of living crisis is something I think we all need I'm Bex Eyed and expect things to be a little bit rogue today because Victoria is not here and when the cats away the mice will play so we couldn't actually do this episode without our side hustle queen of

course, Jess Rickey. Hello. Hello. It's going to be unhinged. It is going to be a little bit unhinged, that's for sure. It always is. We probably won't even talk about the topic of the episode. I fear we may get sidetracked. I'm so sorry, everybody, but hopefully you enjoy the ride, as they say. Hopefully. We do. We know things are so tough right now and we get asked all the time about advice that we have on ways people can make some extra cash. And we did a great episode last year on how to find your perfect side hustle, which we will link in the show notes. But this episode, we're getting nosy. We asked the community for clever ways to make some extra cash and they did not disappoint.

So if you're hoping to make some more money, this episode is going to be full of inspo for you. Today is all about clever ways the community are making cash that aren't just doing surveys or collecting cans. Although they are very good ways to make money. As they don't not collecting cans because I love it and so does Melinda because she wrote in and said, We just saved our way to Disneyland by babysitting and collecting cans. It took us two years, but we did it. Oh, my God. So big snaps for Melinda.

And I fear I'm about to start asking everybody that I meet if I can have their cans because I would like to go to Disneyland. I've been asking people if I can have their cans, but ones that aren't monetary. So my first one comes from Jennifer, who says, I'm a nurse that works in operating theaters. That is cool. It's really cool. I make scrub hats for operating theaters. I started selling on Etsy six years ago and have made $42,000.

Whoa. Oh, that is insane. I sell them all over the world. Due to the amount I make weekly, I cut down the hours that I do at the hospital and it is profitable. It takes a lot of work, but it pays better than nursing. Oh, my God. That's incredible.

That's incredible and sad that nursing doesn't. Oh, pay the nurses more for the love of God and the teachers. Seriously. At all the female-dominated industries, fear I say. Is it a coincidence? That's a debate for another episode. I feel like Jennifer's done a really good job of spotting a gap in a market. But when you said making the hats that they wear or the caps,

I'm picturing like a little stylish, like she's made it fun somehow, like a fun scrub. I love a fun scrub. I think it's really, really cool. I would even buy one. Yeah, and there's something to be said, I think, for, especially if you work in an industry, being able to identify a gap because I think the most successful products or services do identify

a problem that you then solve or like something that's missing that you go, oh, I would love to have this. I'd love to have a fun cap to wear in surgery. That is so true. And also for like if you're working in, I mean, not to say it's only children that would enjoy like a cap with flowers because I feel like my day would be brightened. But I just think, you know, little things like that, they really make people happy. They go the extra mile for sure.

Yeah, that is so cool. Good on you, Jennifer. Next, I've got one from Alicia, which is so smart. She said, I have a second job where I work at events, usually the ones that I want to go to. It's very casual, so I only do what I can. But, for example, this weekend I went and I watched Ed Sheeran and I was paid for it. Everything I make goes straight to Offset, but I can use it guilt-free if something comes up.

I'm employed by an agency called VI People. Very clever. And then Bea said she does the same thing. And for the last year, she got $300 after tax and she does it through Event Logistics Australia. Amazing. You've done this before with, yeah, music concerts and festivals and stuff, right? Yes, but I usually do like volley things. So it's like not paid, but you do get a free ticket to like, you know, Meredith or something

like that. So that is really cool. My beautiful girlfriend, Jess, works for Styling Australia. So they will, it's very, very similar. It sounds like they'll kind of just like, you'll get shifts and go to concerts or, you know, things like that. So that is really, really fun. So this next one is from Amy and I've kind of always wondered about doing this.

So she's, she's got all the intel. Amy says, I do mystery shopping. I'm on five different sites and I do two to four each week. I average about $120 per week. The actual shop takes about 10 minutes usually and then 20 to fill out the survey after. I can easily take Bub with me. So cute. Good for supplementing when I'm on a mat leave.

She says the best sites for it is Mystery Customer and also Snooper app. Low barrier for entry and quick, easy jobs available. It's a really great idea. I always think like can you stack the, like how good would it be if it's like we're doing a weekly grocery shop anyway. Totally. And then, you know, if the shopping centre you're going to has one or two places that you can then also mystery shop. Yeah. That sounds like my sweet treat has just been paid for.

Oh, my God. That's such a good idea. Yeah. That's so true. Next, I've got one from Creative Queen Kat, and her tip is learn to braid with colours. She says, I always knew how to braid, and I did some quick crash courses from YouTube, started doing it during the school holidays, and was constantly booked out. Now I offer party packages and do school braids. Oh, cute.

Which is very fun. Yeah, braiding is a really good skill to have. I tell you what. I never learned. I know, same. And I always wished that I had. Like when you're in, you're like, oh, I just wish I could pull that. And I feel like a braid always looks so chic.

I was dating this girl once and I wanted to impress all her friends, so I said I could. And then the next morning they came and found me and said, I'm ready for my braid. And I did a really, really bad job because I don't actually know how to do it. So I recommend learning. Before you make that claim. Before we start a business.

Before telling a large group of people. So good on you, Kat. That's amazing. It seems like there'd be like quite a bit of money, especially like in kids' parties or things like that. It's a great idea. I think this is a great time to have a little break. And when we get back, we've got so many more smart ways to make some extra cash. So don't go anywhere.

Welcome back, everybody. Today we are talking all things side hustle, one of my personal favorite topics. And whenever the topic of side hustles comes up, Etsy is always mentioned. And I've wondered whether it's worth it. I've seen a lot of people on TikTok doing those. here's how much money I made on Etsy selling party templates or whatever. If you were wondering like I was, we had a community member say a few years ago, I made some PDFs and list them on Etsy. I forgot that I did it. I checked it about 12 months later and I had made five grand.

Whoa. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. I think when I think about Euro, I've bought on Etsy all kinds of things. I've bought templates for people by cleaning schedules and people by, you know, party templates and almost anything in a PDF format the videos that I would see on TikTok would kind of say oh you make it once in like a Canva or something and you upload it and then if anybody happens to be looking for it I mean it costs you nothing really to host it there and then oh my god kind of I was gonna say free money but you've earned it so maybe not quite but not a bad idea that's incredible okay I'm gonna be doing that for sure what would you design You are very creative.

Thank you so much. Well, I have like done my own bunch of things. Like I like made a very specific exercise program for myself that I like make on Canva with all the nice colors and things like that. And so I'm like, maybe I just chuck that up there and see if anyone wants it. Oh my God, can you? Let's do it as an experiment. Pop it up and we can see like how much money you make.

That's so cool. That's fun. Oh my God. Okay, this next one is a stereotypical response to people who want extra cash. and one of the community members have come through with the inside information about what it's actually like, stacking shelves in the supermarket. My mom used to do this. What's it called?

Night fill, I think it was called. It always sounded so satisfying, you know? So this person says they did night fill. Oh, my God. Night fill and they do 12 hours a week and that nets them $320. They're usually about three to five hour long shifts and sometimes they end up with about $24,000 annually. This is what this person's set to be earning by the end of this year, which is incredible.

They said you can apply on the Coles or Woolworths website, but their inside tip was to go into the store and introduce yourself after you apply to stand out from the high volume of applicants they get. It's an incredible idea. Some other perks are that you can get about $32 per hour with penalties, get a staff discount on groceries, and you can listen to a podcast while doing it. Preferably the She's in the Money podcast, maybe. Preferably.

Unfortunately, you can only listen to the She's in the Money podcast while you do it. That's a rule. I feel like I would love Night Feel simply for the fact of I'm done with my customer service days. Totally. Like I did 10 plus years of customer service and I just fear I can't go back. But Night Feel, it's just you, maybe a couple of people in your team and you're literally just stocking up the shelves.

I know. I would really love to do that. That's what my mum said when she was doing it. She was like, it's so peaceful because they close the shop, no one's coming up to you, you're chucking your songs on. And there's something about like I play those games where you have to stock shelves anyway. So I'm like the satisfaction of spinning them all to face the right way,

pushing them all to the front. Have you seen that woman on TikTok? She's American. She goes into like a Dollar Tree or a Walmart and she'll just fix the shelves and she like lines it all up perfectly. That's the side of TikTok that I'm on and I love it. That sounds right. It feels right for you.

It really does. The next one is for the people who have a specialist subject area. So we had a community member say they were marking assignments at their local university. They said they average a payout of about $75 per student per semester. So in three months, they can earn between $4,000 or $5,000 depending on the enrollment numbers and how many courses they take on. Each assignment takes about 15 to 20 minutes to mark, and usually students have two to three assignments per paper.

So it works out to be around $75 an hour. The bonus is that it isn't work that they do all the time. only when the assignments are due across the semester and they said that they have a degree in the subject that they're marking. So, you know, that's how they kind of got the job. That's a shame. It never occurred to me that it wasn't the teachers marking the papers. Yeah.

Not that I've been to university or I would know, but that's such a cool idea. That's so cool. Work from home, in your jammies, put something fun on TV. Fun. That sounds really good. And if you've got the specialist knowledge. So many people say, I've done a degree and I feel like I'm not using my degree. Yeah. Maybe this is a way to use your degree. That's it. You know what I'm saying? That's it.

That's a fantastic idea. I love that. A popular side hustle in the community is disability support work. So we have a few people who say they were doing that. One person in particular said they do one weekend of fortnight, Friday through to Sunday. And last year they made $40,000 before tax doing this. Some other tips for this kind of work was that you can make more money if you have an ABN rather than going through an agency. But if you do want to help getting clients, the platform Mabel was mentioned a few times. Tashyn Best, she's like a friend of the show. She used to be a disability support worker and she posted a lot about it. It was really interesting. She would do a lot of, I think like overnight shifts and stuff like that. And that's

what I found really fascinating is like, I also have a friend who does this and she said there's been times where her disability support work has included like going for a walk with the person or taking them out and about running some errands, going somewhere fun or staying the night being there in case they need something. Obviously, there's a lot of hard work that goes into it as well. I don't want to trivialize it. But she said before that, yeah, it's really fun to keep things different and moving and you get to really engage with someone and feel like you're being a part of their life, being really useful. I'm someone who loves to be useful. So that is very appealing to me. And yeah, it just sounds like a really fulfilling job. Although I have heard it can

also be taxing, but very flexible, it sounds like. I love that. That's such a great idea. The next one I've got is one that you should be doing, Bec, with all of your gym memberships. How many of you are at the moment? Two. That's not so bad for you. Not so bad. You're doing very well. I think you're going to like this one.

Okay. We had someone say that they became a group fitness instructor. Okay. They make about an extra $1,000 a month teaching five classes a week. They said, I would have done those classes anyway as a participant, but I now also get four gym memberships for free. There are some upfront costs to get trained and ongoing costs for music and things like that. But they're really enjoying it and have chosen a program where there's plenty of work.

They could be doing two or three more classes a week if they wanted to. And they said they teach variations of cycle and spin classes. This is a great idea. I thought about this for Pilates. Sometimes I'm like, should I just do my Pilates certification to like know how to do my own Pilates? And then also, you know, to be able to teach if you wanted to as well. That would actually save money if you knew how to like do your own Pilates. That's what I thought, but you've got to buy a machine.

but that's so fine I would love to have a reformer yeah would be I like to just like slide on it is that the one where you can like you bounce with the springs yeah oh my god so fun stretch it I love parties oh my god but such a good idea if there's something that you're wanting to do yeah teach it then you're I mean it depends on the class like spin class is the instructor is usually doing the exercise with you I don't know if I could get through five in a day but if you're doing them spread out then perfect and I mean sometimes you know like a reformer for example generally the instructor's not on a reformer they're just working walking around and like helping people so yeah you might not have to tax your body quite so much totally and it'd be so fun

I always watch like the BFT trainers and stuff and I'm like I'd love to be just like yelling and screaming at everyone you'd be very motivational thank you I I would like to think so you know yeah give it your best motivational thing and people can clip it and make it like their alarm um you want that right now yep um depends on the exercise i'm struggling it's me yeah 90 seconds on the clock for this rotation you're doing that i'm trying to do this yeah i'm doing the ropes okay i'm ready to give up i'm sitting next to you yep and i'm saying baby girl you got this and we're doing it together we're singing that together you sing it with me now baby girl you got this but i'll be panting as i'm going exactly i'm so gonna clip that make

that my alarm that's hilarious oh my god because baby girl you got this okay amen that's it coming to a gym near you yes and also another one I like wait I can because I have to instead of like you know when you're like you you know when you have to get up and go to the gym and you're like how do you how do you do it how do you get through it you're like well I can and I do it because I have to there's no discipline involved I can because I have to and it's like me I'm going because I paid $35 for this class. Exactly. That's why I'm going.

Exactly, exactly. I should also look into this one from Madison because I've been doing it at my friend's bar a little bit. Madison said her second job is hosting trivia two nights a week. You have done this before. I have. So she says it brings in $300 a week and she's using that money to pay for upcoming trip to Italy.

It makes it feel free when it doesn't come from my main pay is what she says, which I think is a great idea. it so is the case like even if you have cash or something like a little extra you've worked purposely for this thing yeah then it feels like it's free do you love hosting trivia i really love it yeah is the crowd always vibey have you ever had a dead crowd well sometimes i've dead tables yeah but for the most part everyone's pretty like lively it is a little bit of a shame when like i'm reading out the answers and people are like yes and they're not like you know oh you want them like yelling and screaming you know but sometimes they're just like

oh yeah cool got that one I'm like no bitch get excited where's the competitive spirit yeah seriously it's always so much fun I really love it do you want to do it I just participate in a trivia I love a trivia night I think I'll just come and enjoy your hosting skills okay but it does it looks very fun I just don't think I'm charismatic enough for that kind of stuff do you know I mean I think you've really got to have a certain je ne sais quoi I'm not a funny person I say this all the time no it's not true I'm really not a funny like I just couldn't do it I don't think. That's not true. Everything you said is incorrect and objectively that you aren't charismatic and you actually are very funny. That's very nice of you. I'll be your rowdy

table instead. I think that's my journey. Thank you so much. The next one that I've got for you is about babysitting and nannying, which I know is quite a common side hustle, but I like the little bit of extra insight that this community member gave us, which was she said she started babysitting for high income families. She's built rapport with them and she's now the go-to girl for all the other things that they want to outsource, washing dishes at family functions. She's been paid to do their food shopping, driving the grandparents to appointments. And she says she charges a minimum of $35 an hour. Sick. That's great. Imagine just being able to pay people to do things. I know. I don't want to do the dishes at the family. Christmas, dinner,

dishes, not for me. I know. Well, my best friend does pay me too. Sometimes she'll be like, I'll pay $10 to make my bed. You know, you have to put the sheet on. That's hilarious. God, the sheet, you know, it's so annoying. I would do that for free. I love making a bed. Oh, my God, I hate it. I love to make the bed. It's my favourite thing ever.

Well, it depends. If you're at my best friend's house for whatever reason, make sure you're getting that money. You're not just doing it for free because you will pay. Well, before we wrap up, I did want to share Paula's tip because not only is it a great one for making extra cash, but if you are in between jobs, which is me at the moment, and I use something similar but haven't heard of this one,

Paula recommends Sidekicker app. She said you can do side jobs, weekends, weekdays, hospitality, healthcare, labour, etc. The one I use is SUPP, S-U-P-P, for mainly hospitality. So barista, front of house, all that kind of stuff, kitchen hand. We're doing a bunch of that stuff. So I think this is a great idea. Thank you so much, Paula. I'm going to check out that app.

So a lot of people say like rideshares, you know, doing them aren't really worth it anymore. So this one did surprise me. We had someone say, I started doing rideshare driving as my side hustle. They used to do creative work, but it was too unpredictable. to save for a house, and they earned approximately $2,000 to $3,000 a week doing about full-time hours. That's crazy. $2,000 to $3,000 a week is way more than I would have thought it would make.

Same. And you would have to put money aside for tax, don't forget. True, true, true. But that's a lot of money. Yeah, that's incredible money. That's so good. The next one I have is really fun. It's from Kat, and she says,

I own a fairy floss business. It's been an absolutely wild ride, but so worth it with the returns. I'm now looking at opening a shop because we want to expand. Kat, I'm dying to know how much you're earning. Also, just an addendum, I love Fairy Floss. Fairy Floss is one of my favorite little treats to get at the cinema. I love Fairy Floss. Oh, in my head, I was thinking Fairy Floss, the Facebook group,

but that is for house shares. Oh, I was like, I have no idea. Fairy Floss, bring it back. That's incredible. Oh, my God. And wanting to open up a brick and mortar. That's very cool. That's really, really cool.

I love the idea of that. Hopefully it's in Melbourne and I'll come visit. Next one I have is from Anna who said, I started dashing with DoorDash a few months ago to bring in some extra cash on the side of my full-time job and it's honestly been such a game changer. I just log in for a few hours in the evenings or on the weekends when I feel like it and I can easily make a couple of hundred dollars extra a week. I love that I can choose when I work.

There's no pressure if I want to take a week off or I can go harder when I'm saving for something specific. At the moment, I'm using it to help build up my emergency fund and it's made such a difference. Oh, my God, that's really, really cool. I feel like the flexibility is such a healing thing because you can do it, you know, I'm doing a side job at the moment and it's being able to do something around what's already important to you

and what's already full-time. Totally. But having that extra money. I know. And I didn't realise you make that much per week if you just, like, did it a lot. I know. I'm dying to know, Anna, how often you're doing this. So let us know.

But it sounds, like, really good. That's incredible. I literally think I'm going to do it. This one is for all the green thumbs out there. Michelle says, I love gardening. So she takes cuttings of harder to find plants and grows them into new plants to sell, which is a great idea. It's just a hobby, but it gives her a little bit of extra cash, which she puts away for rainy days. This is great because some plants are randomly like $700.

You know what I mean? I was just thinking my... Fiddle leaf. No. Monstera. Very gay Monstera. That's all. My favorite callback.

Yeah, my variegated monstera or variegate monstera for those who have been playing along with the bit for God only knows how long at this point. People sell those, cuttings of those or Thai constellations or elbow monstera. There's a few different variants. Wow. And people will. They'll have like a big mama plant and they cut them, propagate them and then sell the cuttings to people for quite a lot of money as well. It's crazy. Crazy.

It's really interesting. And then one day I was in Japan, we walked past literally a elbow monstera that someone was just growing out the front of their house that was the size of like three human beings. Wow. And I was like, this plant would be worth like $10,000. It was nuts. Wow. It was just like sitting on this lovely little old Japanese lady's porch.

Oh, that's gorgeous. They really are an investment. Plants are a really investment. They're also very good for the air or something in your home. So they clear the toxins and all that sort of stuff. Exactly right. Especially mother tongue, mother tongue, mother-in-law's tongue. I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about.

Is that snake plant? Is that another word for a snake plant? Snake plant. Very good for the air. I've got one for our thrifty queens. Yes. Abby says, I go to op shops and if I see something I know is worth more, I buy it and list it on eBay.

She says she's in a regional town. You have to know in your soul it will sell because otherwise you end up wasting money. My best find was six vintage Nintendo DS Pokemon cards for $6 and sold it to a collector for $500. Wow. And she paid her rates with it, which I think is very clever. It's a fine line, though, between.

Yes, I think I know what you're going to say because my girlfriend does this, too. And she can see, like, the clothes. Like, she'll be like, oh, this is really good material. But in my head, I'm like, opportunity shop for. It's the moral dilemma. It's the moral dilemma. Like, the people that can't afford this stuff are going there because it's for that purpose to be able to afford things that you might not be able to otherwise. But I do see the benefit.

it i guess also like if you're if you can't afford clothes and like it would be really nice if you could buy like a polo shirt what's it called ralph lauren or whatever yeah to make sure that you're not like going out into the world and feeling like you're you know it just would be nice for your self-esteem if you could afford something like that and if it is in the shop and someone's like oh i can sell it on ebay for 50 bucks it's like cool you could or you could let someone buy it because they can't i feel like there's a difference as well between it sounds like abby's just picking up an odd thing here and there totally whereas i've seen people post videos online about how like the day that the op shop puts new stuff out there'll be people with

trolleys full of all the good stuff you know it's it's such a hard thing because i'm never gonna say i don't want people earning extra money i think it's so good i also think toys is probably a good category to do it in because there are just so you know i mean yeah so many toys so many games yeah let's i don't know i don't know i sit in the middle of it but you know what abby good on you I love doing episodes like this because I really enjoy seeing how resourceful the community is. There have been so many good ideas. And if you found this episode inspiring, make sure you're following us wherever you get your podcasts. And send it to a friend who's always saying, I need more money.

Because there's about 15 ideas for them right here. Also, make sure you join our Facebook group. Follow us on Instagram where we're uploading all of the fun things. And I think that's it for this week. So. Gorgeous. We'll see you again on Friday. Bye, guys.

Bye. The advice shared on She's on the Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's on the Money are authorised representatives

of MoneySherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.