Christmas is one of the most expensive calendar events for parents and carers across the UK. The average parent will spend over £100 on gifts for each child, which can be a struggle for families who have a strict monthly budget. Many parents are turning to side hustles to fund the extra costs that come with the festive period.
A side hustle is a form of extra income that is earned on top of a full-time job or alongside the duties of being a parent. At Christmas time, around one in five adults will take up a side hustle to make ends meet.
You don’t need to be highly skilled or have hours of time on your hands to start your second stream of income in 2021. Here are the best side hustles for busy parents that you can start today!
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1. Pet sitting
Pet sitting involves looking after other people’s pets in exchange for money. This is an excellent side hustle idea at any time of year but demand for services tends to peak around Christmas.
As a result of shorter daylight hours, many dog owners find themselves unable to fit in a daily dog walk. Instead, thousands of dog owners across the UK will hire a pet sitter to walk their furry friends instead.
Dog walking isn’t the only job that pet sitters offer. Some sitters are paid for simply filling up food bowls during the day or looking after pets for longer stints of time when owners are away. If you love animals and have the ability to take care of them, you could start advertising your own pet sitting services today!
2. Selling on Facebook
One way that many parents are saving money this Christmas is by buying second-hand gifts from online marketplaces, such as Facebook Marketplace. Facebook Marketplace is open for absolutely anyone to sell their pre-loved toys, clothes, tools and even homeware. In fact, you can sell just about anything to people on the platform.
Items are often sold at a much lower price than they originally cost, but earnings can quickly stack up. Selling old items online is a great way to be financially efficient this Christmas. You can use the money earned from selling unwanted things to buy new gifts for your family.
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3. Blogging
Blogging is a side hustle that you can do from the comfort of your sofa (with an optional glass of Christmas fizz in hand). Anyone can be a blogger. All that’s needed is life experience, an interesting angle and the ability to write well!
There are currently over 600 million active blogs online, which shows just how much people like to read them! ‘Mommy blogs’ are a partially popular niche that draws in millions of readers each month. As an experience, there is no reason why you shouldn’t hop on the bandwagon and share your own learned knowledge!
You can earn money from your blog through advertising, affiliate marketing and brand sponsorship. Platforms like Medium also pay writers based on views and shares. Blogging is a side hustle that takes time to build up but can be very profitable in the long run.
4. House sitting
If pet sitting sounds great but you aren’t great with pets, house sitting might be an option for you! People pay house sitters to look after their homes when they’re away.
Most of the time, house sitters will temporarily stay in the home to ensure that it is safe. However, some house sitters will simply conduct daily checkups to make sure that everything is in order.
The beauty of house-sitting is that it doesn’t require any expertise. This makes it a super easy side bustle to start if you’re looking to make some extra cash over Christmas. A good way to get started is to put an ad on Facebook and ask friends to spread the word.
5. Social media managing
This last side hustle requires some level of skill but can easily be picked up by anyone who knows the basics of social media. A social media manager is someone who is paid to look after a social media account. The job usually involves posting content, writing posts and captions, interacting with followers and managing account activity.
Talented social media managers can easily earn upwards of £20 per hour. The job can be done in the evening when the kids have gone to bed or during your lunch break at work. You simply need a few hours a day to keep track of the accounts that you manage and the ability to keep up with trends.
Freelance platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork are excellent places to find your first clients.
