The Rachel Cruze Show - 12 Trending Side Hustles to Bring in Extra Cash

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

Whether you’re trying to pay off debt, save for a big purchase, or just put some extra cash in your wallet, this episode is all about helping you do that. We’ll go over 10 side hustles that are super popular right now, talk with my friend Christina Muscari about the fun and simple process of flipping furniture, and highlight 15 things you might already have in your home that you could sell for a lot of money. Let’s do this! In this episode: 10 Side Hustles Trending Right Now How She Flips Furniture for Extra Cash (And You Can Too!) 15 Items in Your Home That Can Make You Money   Helpful Resources: EveryDollar Christian Healthcare Ministries Pretty Distressed  Sponsors pay the producer of this show, The Lampo Group, LLC, advertising fees for mentioning their services or products during programming. Advertising fees are not based upon or otherwise tied to any product sale or business transacted between any consumer or sponsor. The following sponsor has paid for the programming you are viewing: Christian Healthcare Ministries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I got it for free. I painted it in two days and then I sold it for $200. So let your friends, family know, hey, I will come haul this thing away for you. I'm updating furniture. If you have anything you want to get rid of, let me know. Hey guys, welcome to this episode of The Rachel Cruz Show. I'm so glad that you're here. In this episode, we're going to talk about different side hustles and how to get additional streams of income to help you pay off debt or save up for your emergency funds. then you're going to hear a conversation I had with Christina Muscari with pretty distressed. So she flips furniture for cash, and she's going to give us all different kinds of tips on how we can do this. Now, don't be intimidated. I promise it's really good stuff.

But first, let's talk about the top 10 trending side hustles right now. Take a listen. All right, today we're going to talk about top side hustles that are trending in 2022. So those of you on Baby Step 2, which means you, you are paying off your debts. Having a side hustle is one of the best ways to speed up this process, okay? Extra income in, you get through it so much faster. So here are 10 side hustle ideas that are really popular right now.

Number one, become a mystery shopper. A mystery shopper is someone who gets paid by a retailer or a marketing research company just to go into different stores and report on the consumer experience. It's kind of like you're a secret agent. but you're shopping. It's like awesome, right? And there are a lot of companies where you can find work doing this, like Bestmark and Teleshop and Marketforce. Number two, do freelance bookkeeping with so much remote work happening these days. It is so easy to do bookkeeping remotely and virtually, and you get extra flexibility in your schedule by doing this. So there are so many

startups that have popped up over the past couple of years, and a lot of people are looking at for bookkeepers for their business. So this involves things like payroll, sending out invoices, paying vendors, and compiling documents for tax day, all of that. So if you're organized, if you're good at math, it's a big plus. Number three, create online courses or workshops. So there's probably a skill that you have that you're really good at. So is it writing, calligraphy, social media, marketing? Why not teach other people that skill, right? You can build your own website with platforms like Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix, and it's even easier to create and upload written course material or teaching videos, which people will pay to have access to.

And you can also do live workshops via Zoom and Facebook. Number four, manage social media accounts. You know, if you have social media, you're probably really good at it, let's be honest. And if you're kind of like a little influencer already, some of you kind of have your own thing going, then this could be a perfect side hustle for you. So there's a lot of people gifted in social media, and some people just need some help who are not great at it for growing their brand or their platform. And you can plan and create content. You can schedule posts, help grow their audience, monitor different posts that perform really well, which ones don't.

You could even engage with the customers, you know, via the comments or the direct messages, all of it. So it's a great option. Number five, sell your photographer. This is so interesting, because you don't have to be a professional photographer for this, but you just need kind of a decent camera or even a good iPhone camera and go on YouTube and look at photography tutorials, all of that. And that will get you a really long way because you can actually sell your photos to sites like Adobe stock, Smug mug, shutterstock, or even Getty images. You could also hire out your photography skills, you know, for friends' weddings or birthday

parties or other events. And as you get experience, you may be able to charge a little bit more. It's awesome. And you might even be able to sell your prints at a local coffee shop or on Etsy. So many options out there. All right. Number six, another great side hustle is edit college admission essays. So if you're really great at grammar, there are companies like elite editing or word vice that will actually hire you to proofread and edit college emission essays. So fast. And these projects sometimes will have a tight deadline, but for the most part, you can choose what projects you want to work on, which ones you don't. And you can even find work editing cover letters and resumes for job applications, so lots of options. All right, number seven, become a party planner.

You don't need a degree in this. You just need to be organized, have good time management skills, people skills, creativity, and some clients. So if you've never done it before, maybe you start small. maybe for a friend's birthday party or even their kids' birthday party. You know, marketing skills obviously are plus to help spread word about your business. Number eight, do makeup for special events. Again, you don't have to have a degree for this or formal training. You obviously can go deep into this field.

But if you're just naturally good at it, like I have friends that just are great at makeup, right? If you don't like the basics of foundation and highlighting, contouring, brows, lips, lashes, all the fun stuff, you can offer your services. And so maybe it's for a photography session or a wedding or a birthday party. So just promote yourself via social media, word of mouth, and you never know. People may be like, yeah, that's awesome. I'm going to go out for my bachelor party. I'd love to have my hair and makeup done.

I don't know. Anything is possible, you guys, especially in the world of makeup and hair. Love it. All right, number nine, rent out your car. Yep, believe it or not, you can rent out your car with companies like Turro. It's just like when you run out your house for Airbnb. So there are some requirements, though. So you have to have less than 130,000 miles on your car,

and your car's model year has to be within the last 12 years. But if you have the right kind of car, and then another mode of transportation, this could be a great, easy way to make some money. All right, number 10, become a travel agent. this one is so near and dear to my heart. This, it's like my spiritual gift. If I'm not doing this right here,

talking to you guys about money, I would sleep train babies, newborn babies, and be a travel agent to my passions that I feel like I'm great at. So for you, it might depend on your background, but to be a legit travel agent, though, I'm just messing around

because I just love travel apps and all that. But you really might need a little bit of extra certification and experience for this one. But being a travel agent, does not require a college degree. So it's really easier than ever to find remote work as a travel agent, especially if you're able to work with clients

to help them find COVID-friendly travel accommodations. And your job would include, you know, making flight reservations, booking hotels, arranging group travel, and discounts, possibly canceling travel arrangements, all of that. But there are companies out there like World Travel Holdings, B-C-D Travel,

and Hopper to get started. All right, you guys, hopefully that just jogged your mind to think, okay, what are some ways that I can have a side hustle, make some money to throw up my debt, to get out of debt faster? Having a side hustle is one of the best ways to speed up this process. I'm really excited about this episode today because I have Christina Muscari on, and she's a full-time YouTuber and creator of pretty distressed where she takes thrifted pieces and makes them beautiful. beautiful and new looking. And I can't wait to have you and talk about this because I'm not a DIYer at all. That's okay. That's okay. I don't think you have to have any skill to do this, honestly. That's why I want to do. I dropped out of art class after two days, so. Okay. Okay. So do you consider yourself a creative person, though, like naturally? Not really. I've

always been a crafter. I grew up crafting with my mom and my grandma. So I've always had a vision for things. And I just don't like spending a lot of money on furniture. So if I can thrift it, if I can dupe something, that's kind of where all this came from. That you'll do it. Okay. So I can't wait to dive into this. Because people already, that you guys watching are listening and you're thinking, gosh, that's not me. Like, I'm not an artistic person. I'm like Rachel. I'm relating to Rachel right now because the fact of DIYing, it just, it intimidates me. It really does. So what's one or two tips for people that feel like, gosh, this is not my gifting,

that they could really do to get started? Yeah. Well, if you can paint a wall, you can paint a piece of furniture. It's just a paintbrush and some paint and just changing the of it. So I really do think that anybody can do it. And the best way to start is just go to a thrift store, look around your house. If you're sick of something and you're thinking, oh, I want to get rid of that. Just get that can't get that can't get that paint out, get that brush out. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to redo it or you just give it away to somebody else. There's no pressure. There's no pressure when it comes to it. That's a good point. Yeah. Because you can do this as a side hustle, which we'll talk about in a little bit.

But if you're doing it just to save money, yeah, there's no pressure on it. It's okay if it screws up. So when you go into a thrift store, though, what are you looking for? Like, are there things that you're like, oh, yeah, for sure, this type of furniture, this look is good, anything? I'm just looking for something, honestly, that's in good shape that doesn't have a strong odor to it, that doesn't look like it needs a lot of repair, something that's sturdy. A good thing to look for is dovetail drawing. I'm trying not to go over your head here. I love it. But it looks like these little teeth that come together.

And if you see that in a drawer, you know that's a solid piece, and that is always a good find. So I snatched those up right away. Okay, so that means it's like a well-built piece. A well-built piece. Okay, so paint you can do. Hardware, right? Hardware is, you know, a really quick fix is hardware. Say you find a piece that looks really great.

It's in good shape. You're like, man, this doesn't even need paint. A really quick update is just to change out that hardware. And, you know, you can find cheap, affordable hardware at Amazon on the hardware store, and it could just give it a really quick update. See, this is the stuff that gives me hope. Like, you see things you're like, man, This could be complicated, whether it's like a type of cooking or gardening or DIY.

I don't know, anything, but you're like, no, when you go and it's practical, you think, okay, paint and hardware, I can do this. I can order off Amazon and get some hardware and unscrew some stuff and put some stuff back, and it's a whole new piece. Yeah, and all you have to do to paint a piece of furniture, there are some great paints on the market now that make it really easy. All you have to do is clean your piece, and there are specific paints that you can buy that you don't have to prime, you don't have to sand back the fin. So it's just as easy as cleaning off your piece, getting this furniture paint. Do you mean just like taking a, like a cloth? Like you're like... There are several things that you can do to clean.

The best way, the most inexpensive way to clean a piece of furniture, is to get some dish soap, you know, because it's grease cutting. So you're going to take that dish soap, some warm water. You're just going to suds that up, wipe it all down, and then rinse that with water, and you should be good to go. And then you're good. You're good to go. You grab your favorite color of furniture paint,

and it's just a matter of getting that paint on. You can roll it on, you could brush it on, and you just want to watch for big, you know, drip marks. That's the only thing really that you have to do in your painting furniture. It's just like painting a piece of paper. It's just like painting a wall. You're just putting it on smoothly and the paint levels out and it kind of does the rest of the work for you. It's not that hard. Okay, what's one piece of furniture that you're like, this is the easiest thing to start with?

And then what's the one that's like, ooh, this is hard. Right. I always tell people, start small. Do not take your grandmother's china hutch or dining table or six chairs and try to tackle that. You will give up five minutes in. The best thing to do, grab an end table, grab a nightstand, grab an old coffee table, something that you can tackle quickly, like in a day that's not going to be overwhelming. You can get those techniques down, and then once you do, you can move on to that China hutch or that dining table.

Okay, so how long does it take, realistically? Well, realistically, to do a coffee table. Let's say you have to do two coats. It'll probably take you about 30 minutes to brush on that paint, give it about an hour or two to dry, come back in with your second coat. And most of the time you don't have to topcoat these paints, but if you want some added protection, like if it is a coffee table, you would want to seal it with a top coat on the top. So then you're talking about another couple of hours to get that done.

So you could literally flip a piece of furniture in a day. I've done it several times. That's amazing. So let's talk to price point. Okay. Like what's like the cheap? We'll use coffee table as our example. Like what's probably the cheapest coffee table that you've seen, like at a thrift store?

And at the first store, you can get those for like $5. $5. But here's the thing. You don't have to pay for furniture. There are people that want to get rid of things. So if you were wanting to do this, find your trash days that, you know, people are putting their stuff out on the curb. If you have that in your area, know those trash days.

You can drive around and find things on the side of the road. The very first piece of furniture I ever flipped and sold for money, I pulled off of my neighbor's driveway because they were moving. So I got it for free. I painted it in two days. and then I sold it for $200. Okay. So these are the things that you need to be doing.

I mean, people want to get rid of furniture. So let your friends, family know, hey, I will come haul this thing away for you. I'm updating furniture. If you have anything you want to get rid of, let me know. So for free or $5 to, I mean, literally you could resell for. You could resell a coffee table depending on your market once you refinish it from anywhere from $50 to $150. That's amazing.

Depending on the work that you put into it. Okay. And you started this personally. as a hobby, right? And then it turned into a side hustle, and then now it's like a full-time business. Yeah, this was a hobby for me. It was, I was a stay-at-home mom. I had been on corporate communications for seven years. Stayed home with my children, which I love, but I just had mommy mush brain. And I just wanted something for me. I wanted something creative. And we had just moved into a house, and we had spent money redoing the floors and fixing a few things around the house. And my husband was like,

we are done. We're not spending any more money on this house, but it wasn't furnished. So that's when I got creative and I started, I found a dresser at Goodwill that I redid for our foyer. We had a dining hutch and set that was passed along from his family that nobody wanted because it was extremely outdated and I painted that and put it in our home. And then friends and family just started asking me, hey, this is great. I love what you're doing. Will you do a commission piece for me? I'm like, uh, sure, you're going to pay me? You're going to pay me to paint? And I just, I loved it. And it just, you know, it was something that I could do during nap time. It was something I could do at the when the kids went to bed at night when my husband was traveling.

And it just became this whole thing. And, yeah, it just was a lot of fun. And I think anybody can do it. For sure. I do. I really do. Okay, so here's like a kind of a tactical question. Then I don't want to get back to this. I have a hustle idea.

So where do you do it in your garage? Currently, I do it in my garage because I have space. But if you don't have space in a garage, I used to do it in my foyer. I used to do it in my dining room. And, you know, my house didn't look perfect when people came in. But I was making money. And I was having fun doing it. So just wherever you can find a space to do it,

you don't have to have a whole big studio. You can just do it in different rooms in your house because this paint that I use is low VOC, so it's safe to use around your family. Okay. Yeah. That's a great point. I saw this like Instagram reel the other day,

and it was like this husband, he was like the things my wife thinks people are going to do when they come over. And he's like making fun and he's like looking in the kids' rooms and in the cover, everything. And it's like, no, people don't do that. So even to your point of like, even if it is stuff that you, you know,

If you're getting traction on it, you're like, yeah, you've got to do use your four-year. People come over, people really don't care. Like, yeah, it's not this thing. Yes, for sure. You can put it up and put it to the side or put a drop cloth over it if people are coming in. Yeah, but if it's your side hustle, it's amazing. So a lot of people are looking for ways to make money, to get out of debt specifically, anything to bring an income, right?

And so this is a great option because it's low cost for the most. And if not free, you got to pay for paint and stuff. But to be able to flip things. And so have you found people doing this? and making good money doing it? I mean, I know you are. You've been doing it for a while. And I have to tell you guys,

there is a whole community of furniture refinishers, and you can just do a quick search on Instagram or on YouTube, and you can find a lot of them. I have two friends that I have connected with through YouTube that have paid off major debt. I had a friend. She actually was in the studio here live. Her and her husband came up and shared her story.

Her name is Kara from lemons to lemonade, and they paid off $46,000 worth of medical debt, flipping furniture. I also have a friend who is a kindergarten teacher, and she started flipping furniture about a year ago, and she paid off $25,000 in student loans in under six months. Flipping furniture. Flipping furniture on the side and teaching kindergarten during the day. Where have I been, Christina?

Where have I been? I was like this. What am I doing here? What am I doing here? The market is only growing because you know a supply chain. It's so hard to get furniture right now. So if you can find a quality piece, sometimes it's just cleaning it up and maybe buffing it up a little bit. And like we said, changing the hardware, just taking it home, staging it, put like a plant on it, a picture and put that up on marketplace.

People are going to be like, wow, it looks like something out of a store. And you can just make money. Sometimes just cleaning a piece up, not even necessarily painting it. And I think some of the most, like, simple, elegant homes that I even know that friends have, that it's not like by this big designer. But they have these pieces, right? Some of them may be in redone. But it's the idea of like you're just like putting things together that work. And it makes your home feel cozy and warm.

Like there's something about it versus almost this stark all matching piece. You know what I'm saying? Right. There's something about the character that furniture can bring. You know, if you buy it or redo it, that I think is awesome. Yeah, and these are one of a kind pieces. Yes. You have to take pride in your work.

When you are taking something and creating something, no one else can buy that piece of furniture that looks exactly like that. They may have that, but you change the color up, you change that hardware. So it is a unique piece for someone's home that they can be proud of, yeah. So great. Oh, well, thank you for all the tips. I mean, it's as huge, you guys. And again, such a great way for you to put money towards paying off debt.

Okay. So one thing I always ask my guests is what is one thing you're doing with money? It can be anything. Okay. That is creating a life that you love. Well, I just love how generous we get to be. We get to be radically generous with what God has blessed us with. And when he asks us to give big, I love that we can.

And, you know, within my company now, I've been able to hire out some things that I can no longer do that I need to take off my plate. So I'm just so encouraged that a company I started is now helping other people achieve their dreams. It's amazing. Yeah. It's really cool. And you do it debt-free. Yeah. Right. Yes. And so part of that is having that margin to be able to do it, which is so great. Okay, where can everyone find you? You can find me at pretty distressed.com and you can find my YouTube channel and my Instagram and TikTok and everything through there. It's all there. It's all there. Thanks so much for coming. That's so appreciate it. Thanks so much for having me. Happy flipping, guys. Happy flipping. If you're trying it to get out of debts or even just save some extra cash, then this episode is for you.

We're going to be talking about things that you already have lying around your house that you can actually sell to make money. So again, when you're paying off debt, every little bit help. So selling stuff will make you money. You guys, like hundreds of dollars. Look around. Look around your house and just think, what am I not using that I could sell? in places like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Etsy, Poshmark, eBay, and all of these places are great options to sell your stuff. And depending upon how old your item is, you might even be able to sell it to an antique store or even to an antique collector.

So do some searching around your house, your attic, your garage, and see if you have any of these things. Old TVs, yep. If you have an extra TV that's in good condition, even in a an older model, you can still sell it for money. So even on eBay, right now, an outdated Toshiba TV from 2005 was listed for $150. What? So you never know. Computers, yep, the same applies to computers. So even if it's an outdated model, but if it's in good condition, someone out there might want it. Cell phones, if you upgraded your cell phone recently, sell your old one. Just as an example, a pre-owned unlocked iPhone 6S in good condition can sell anywhere from $75 to $114 on eBay. And get this, you're ready?

A Nokia flip phone was listed on eBay for $66. Yes, even a flip phone. Also, unused gift cards is a great place to get some extra cash. So if you have a gift card that is not expired, you can actually sell it for whatever the balance is. or even a few dollars less. Also, vinyl records and turntables. So anything vintage right now is really in, so you can probably get a lot of money for it.

If you have any old records that you don't listen to, do research on the artist, the year, and the type of record, and see if it's a rare one. Because if it's rare, some rare records can sell up to $1,000. And some even newer, non-rare ones can be worth $50. Also look around if you have any $1,000. furniture that you don't need or you're not using. So furniture is a great source of cash, especially if it's in good quality condition. Also, a few bonus points for any furniture from

the 80s or 90s, because that kind of style is very in right now. Wicker furniture is on trend. So do some research on other furniture trends to see if you have any pieces around your house that qualify for that, because that will actually make you more money. But even furniture that isn't, quote, unquote on trend, again, we'll still bring in some great cash. Vintage clothes. Is your mom or your grandmother, do they have old clothes from back in the day? Because if they're not very sentimental, you could actually sell some clothes because vintage, again, it's very popular, all the trends and all of that.

So that's a great source of some cash. Next, musical instruments. So maybe your kids tried an instrument. it took a few lessons and they don't play anymore. Or maybe you had a kid graduates and their band kid days are behind them. Whatever the case, you can sell those instruments. Used instruments in good condition, especially guitars and drums, can sell for well over $100.

Next, jewelry. So even if you don't have jewelry, that's very valuable, it still might be worth selling. So look at your watches, chains, charm bracelets, anything that's not sentimental that you're not using, go to see if you can make money by selling it. Books. If you have any older books, including cookbooks,

these can be worth a lot. A quick Google search will show you how much the books in your home are worth. Typewriters. Yep, typewriters. They're very trendy right now. And depending on the condition, they can sell for $100 or more.

Kids toys. So there's obviously the toys all around. brand that they're not going to use, you can sell. But if you have any collectible items like Pokemon cards, matchbox cars, Hot Wheels, Legos, Barbies, action figures, comic books, and even old Halloween costumes, they could be worth a lot of money. And if you have any video games or arcade games from the early 2000s, they're in very high demand right now. Also old coins. So this could be a pain to look through and looking at all the dates and each coin and all of it. But just so you know, right now on Etsy,

I found a dollar coin from 2001 listed for $1,000. If you have it, I mean, for a dollar, $1,000, it's amazing. Absolutely amazing. Now, don't get your hopes up because it's not always the case, but again, it's worth the look. This one cracks, ma'ampe, I don't know why, but VHS tapes and cassette tapes. So remember all of us amazing Disney VHS box,

from the 90s and 2000s. So nostalgic, and now people are wanting to collect them. Even cassette tape. So you never know how much people are willing to pay for some retro VHS or cassette tapes. Any other vintage or antique items. So picked up a theme here. If you have anything older than 20 years,

it's considered vintage and it might be worth a lot of money. If you have anything over a hundred years, then it's considered an antique, and it might be worth even more. But you don't have to have a lot of vintage items. You can still just have a lot of stuff in your house that you're not using, that you're willing to sell to make some money. This is a place, again, I think it's just to get easy cash, you guys. Look around your house.

We have so much crap in our houses, so much stuff that we're not using. So purge and sell and make some money. And the good news is, again, the more you sell, the more money you're going to make, the faster you're going to be able to pay off debt. and that is such a huge bonus. I want you debt-free, so when your income comes in,

you have control of it. All right, hopefully that gave you some ideas of maybe what you can sell around your house and make some extra cash. Well, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode

and thank you to Christina for coming on and teaching us all new things, you know, about flipping furniture. Well, if you guys, if you have not subscribed to this podcast, make sure to hit the follow and if the spirit leads, you can leave a review.

As always, remember to take control of your money and create a life you love.