Uncensored Money Season Three: Finding More Income

Melissa Browne: Ex-Accountant, Ex-Financial Advisor, Ex-Working Till I Drop, Now Serial Entrepreneur & Author, Financial Wellness Advocate, Living a Life by Design | 14/07/2022

Show Notes

Studies show that women have been conditioned by media to reduce their spending rather than find more income. So in this episode, Mel and Lawsie share 13 ways you can find more income.  

Resources mentioned in this episode:  

• Understanding Your Numbers masterclass
• The Secret to Pricing Successfully in your Business masterclass
• 50+ ways to find $5k in 5 months webinar

If you know you need more help with your finances make sure you join the waitlist for the next round of the My Financial Adulting Plan. 

If you're not already, come play over at insta at MelBrowne.Money and make sure you are signed up to Mel's Money Musings and Monday Money Moments (yep, we love us some alliteration) for more tips, tricks and ideas on how to best work with your money.

Finally, if you love this episode please make sure you subscribe and leave us a review.

Transcript

 Mel: Most of us understand what it means when I say to cut expenses. And certainly in times of rising interest rates and inflation, that's the obvious place many of us go to when it comes to finding savings. But did you realise that women have been conditioned to reduce their spending rather than finding more income? I know I've talked about this research before, but Starling Bank back in 2018 commissioned a linguistic study from semiotics and cultural value agency, The Answer which assessed 300 articles from a mix of outlets aimed at men and women. So linguistics are simply, I mean, all that fancy language is simply a study of language.

Lawsie: I love this word semiotics.

Mel: I know, sounds so fancy.

Lawsie: It does.

Mel: Uh, so using discourse analysis, they found that the media split women and men by language when discussing money. So 65% of articles defined women as excessive spenders and 70% of articles aimed at men defined making money as a masculine ideal. They also discovered 90% of female targeted articles focus on small ways to save money like hobbies, cutting back on outgoings or seeking out vouchers and bargains.

Lawsie: How exciting.

Mel: And we might not think this is problematic. But what happens is that when we are conditioned to think a particular way, that becomes our default. It becomes our bias without even realising we're doing it. Without even realising there's another way.

Mel: And that's why today we wanna talk about more ways to find more income, rather than just defaulting to what women are naturally thinking about which is ways to cut out expenditures. So we are gonna be talking about the obvious to the ridiculous, to the known, and your filter I want it to be is that, I liken it to going into the Modern Art Museum, which Tone calls the Museum of Children's Art and he walks around going, oh, could do that. I could do that. I could do that. And my answer always back to him is yeah, but you haven't. And for you, if you are listening along going, yeah. But I know that, but I know that. And so my question to you is, but what are you doing about that? So some are, some are things you're gonna know. Some are things you're not gonna know. And that's what we are gonna tackle in this episode. So we've grabbed 13 ways to find more income and Lawsie, I think we should start with the most obvious.

Lawsie: All right. You will be very surprised that the most obvious one is to look for a second job or a casual gig. So if you're working full time, you might go, oh, I don't wanna commit to always having to work every weekend or, you know, certain shifts every night. But which is where we're saying also look at a casual option and look at other things like, Election filling, you know, when there's an election on, you can go and just do an extra day here or like exam supervision as well as things like day labouring or working in your local cafe. Or just check out things that are available in your local paper or on Seek like so many options. But if you're wanting more income, put some labour behind it and pick up a second job or a casual gig.

Mel: Yeah. And we know that job ads are on the rise and employment rates are declining. So, you know, national job ads, if we compare June 22 to June 21, 23.3% more ads out there. So, and I know from the people, and this is across the board. I know from friends that are in hospitality, that are in tourism that they are absolutely desperate for workers. But also across marketing, almost name the industry. And they're desperate for workers. So if you are thinking, oh, but I don't have any particular skills or maybe I'm a bit older or maybe I'm a bit younger. Trust me when I say it doesn't matter at the moment. yes. If you want more work, you can go find

Lawsie: Yeah. Have the right attitude and you'll be fine.

Mel: Exactly. And it doesn't have to be for a long term. I love your point around, it can just be a casual gig that you pick up sometimes, or it could be a part-time job that you decide that you're only gonna do for six or 12 months, just to bump off a credit card or to build a buffer account or to have a buffer on your mortgage. Or to save for an overseas trip. So this does not have to be a long term thing. Realising that that's the most obvious one.

Lawsie: Yeah

Mel: yeah. Building on from that. I'm moving out of order for a moment from what we're looking at is... I know the system… to start a side hustle, uh, and that's because. People are starting businesses more than ever before.You know, there is the great resignation that's happening at the moment. And I think people think they need to chuck in their job in order to start a business. But starting a side hustle, so keeping your main job and starting a side business can be a beautiful way of starting to develop more income. So it might be building on your skill and you offer it in a consulting basis. It might be something that you've always loved and have a passion for, but you don't do in your main job and that's what you do. It could be a product that you've developed. It could be something you create. It might simply be a hobby in that it's a bit of ad hoc income, and it's just kind of paying for your hobby, but again, if you can make your hobby free, that's amazing. So side hustles, I believe, are a beautiful way. And if you are looking for ideas for that, you can jump on and, and simply Google ideas for a side hustle. But if you worried that business is scary, we've got a masterclass that's will pop in the show notes. It's only 49 bucks. We've got one on understanding the numbers in your business and one on how to price. So you might go and check out those two things.

Lawsie: Yeah, I love, yeah. The idea of the site hustle is the other one, particularly for those who go, oh, I don't wanna do a second job, but if you can be working for yourself and getting some extra income that way, it's beautiful. Another one that we've got and some of these, they're not gonna make you a millionaire necessarily overnight. But our next one is get paid to look at websites and review websites. And some examples of places you can go to sign up for this is Testmate and User Testing. You can do it in your own time. It's that thing that you can be doing if you're just sitting on the couch anyway and you're going, Hm. At least you can get paid for doing something else and just giving yourself exposure to different things that are out there as well. And, you know, really sort of developing a bit of a different skill set for yourself too.

Mel: And it could be a beautiful one where it's a little bit mindless, you know, if you are a new mum and you're thinking, oh, I'd love to contribute something. Or I'd love to have a little bit of pocket money, but I just like, my brain is fried. This could be a beautiful way. Like you're sitting there, you might be breastfeeding or doing something anyway. Lawsie just gone urgh, her and I do not cope with baby stuff, not to do with breastfeeding. We're all for breastfeeding. Uh, I've just said breast, so she's probably not coping. Uh, but it's one of those things where you can, it's almost a mindless activity and it doesn't take up much time. It could be 15 minutes and it's sure it might only pay you 20 bucks or 10 bucks. But those, all those little things add up.

We're gonna give you some more random ones now. So you can hire out your computer skills. So if you are, if you're good techie, if you might not be a software engineer, you might not have the certificate to prove it. But if you're techy and we used to have someone that works at, that worked for me, the very fabulous Fi that was very techy. She now goes and very ad hoc consults to my gorgeous husband cause he's so hopeless with technology that if he buys a piece of equipment, he just pays her to come and set it up so that because he knows that he's hopeless. So you could even provide that and set up a little, you know, I can do this for you yourself, or there's places like Ready Tech Go that you could contract for, or you could be a casual for, and you can then go and, you know, you could be helping old people kind of like my husband, uh, learn to use a computer.

Lawsie: Or Let's be honest, us on a bad day.

Mel: Oh my gosh

Lawsie: We need assistance with that too.

Mel: Mm-hmm so it might be things you're naturally good at. You don't necessarily have to have a degree.

Lawsie: Yeah, definitely. Um, the next one is hiring yourself out. So think of, you could take that anyway you like really, but, um, Airtasker and Upwork and things like that. So again, in that similar vein of, if you know, you're really good with computers and stuff like that. Airtasker, if you're not familiar with it is it's just those random jobs. Like we used them last week to go and collect something from a warehouse when you know, something else hadn't been delivered to us on time. They went, they picked it up, they bought it back to us. And it was awesome. We didn't have the time or the space to be able to actually go and pick that big thing up.

Mel: I've paid to build Ikea furniture before on our Airtasker. I've set up a job because I value my marriage. I’ve paid as a business for shoe boxes with my first book in it to be delivered to PR agencies.That was Airtasker like, there's, there's everything on.

Lawsie: Yeah, which is where it's all just going. If you've got time, then, and you're able to be handy or to be able to do something and you're prepared to do something that time, rather than just chilling out and watching Netflix, um, there's so many opportunities out there to bring in some extra dollars.

Mel: And especially if it's rushed, I know we paid a hundred bucks to pick up something we absolutely desperately needed it. And it had to there. And then it was cheaper than a courier, but more expensive than just a normal job. So if it could be something where you just have it open and you get those alerts and you can grab them, if you've got time. The next one is, you know, if you love a bit of shopping, but you can't afford to shop, then maybe mystery shopping is for you. So participating in focus groups and mystery shopping is a thing still. So places like Askable or the Realise Group will pay you to participate. And sometimes you get paid cash or sometimes you get paid to in things. So for example, I'm a mystery shopper for, and I won't say which group, but for a food app, a big hospitality group where I don't get paid, but my meal is paid and all I have to do is answer all of these very specific questions. I have to ask very specific things of the wait staff or of the security guard. Or even when I'm booking in and that's it. And I get paid, sometimes it's $150 meal. The most was about a $700 meal for four people. I mean, that's a beautiful way of being able to eat out without actually putting your hand in your pocket. But there are other ones where they'll pay you cash, not cash cash, but cash.

Lawsie: Yeah, it's a fun one. Um, the next one is to become a delivery person. Again, you don't have to be particularly skilled. Helpful if you can drive, or ride a bike, depending on where you're going with the food

Mel: in the city, Although if you're in the city, saw a person running today, so it can be, you could quite literally just be able to run

Lawsie: right.

Mel: right.

Lawsie: Well, it's opening it up to almost everyone. But what we are thinking of here is, you know, delivery people for food or being an Uber driver or a an demand courier, like all of those things. Again, if you've got some time and either resources of a car or a bike or your feet and want to run around, it’s just another way that you can make some quick cash.

Mel: Yeah. And you don't even need the bike. Like we see backpackers in the city all the time on rented bikes, charging around the city. So you don't even need your own bike. You can rent a bike and do it. And for Uber drivers, again, if you are thinking I'm too time poor for this, if you are super social, and if you've got a commute, just say you were in the Northern Beaches and, and going into the city, it might be half an hour every day.

Mel: You could try and pick up a fare, there and back both days. So every day you might only pick up two a week and that could pay for your fuel in your car. So it's a way of having latent assets work for you.

Lawsie: Yeah. And just thinking outside the square a little bit.

Mel: Yeah, definitely.

Mel: Um, if you are unlike Lawsie and I, if you with a second language…

Lawsie: I don't know why you're thinking. I'm not, I mean, my Bonjour is beautiful. And champagne like I'm set. I'm set. Sorry. We digress showing off our language ability or lack thereof.

Mel: So there are translation services, so Gengo, Unbel, or government. So, uh, there are places where you can be paid to provide translation services. So that can be a beautiful one.

Lawsie: Yeah, we, a long way of getting paid. I think that'd almost pay us to not be there.

Mel: Pay us to stop.

Lawsie: this is another one that's a little bit different, but getting paid to walk and yes, it is actually a thing. So it's called Cash for Steps. So it's, you know, you can download the app and sort out how all of that one works. But essentially you walk, the more you walk, the more you get. Yes, again, you won't be a multimillionaire from that, but if it's something else that if you're out walking anyway, or if it's just that extra bit of encouragement that you need and you get one, the exercise and movement that you want, and also a few dollars flung your way then you know, that's a nice one

Mel: And I think that one's more a lottery thing rather than being paid consistently from memory.

Lawsie: yeah, like whoever's does the most steps in that kind of stuff?

Mel: yeah. yeah. Or a random thing, but I mean, if you're gonna walk anywhere, you may as well register for it, do it. And yes, they're gonna be able to track where you're going, but who cares? So if you've got tracking features on your phone, if you've got that navigation on then people are gonna know it. Zuckerberg knows anyway.

The next one is rent out your stuff. So if you have things lying around, so it might be clothes. It you'll be surprised what you could rent out. So if it was clothes, um, there are places like The Outdress, The Volte. There's an E on the end of Volte. Designerex with an X at the end. And so many more websites for everything else. You could look at Federent, Higher Things or Gecko Online, but also random things. So if you have a swimming pool, Swimify. If you've got a caravan, Campify. If you've got a car space, a Spacer. If you have a car, you could rent that out, like

Lawsie: Cars Next Door

Mel: If you have assets, so if you have a power tool, uh, and you are using them maybe twice a year, that can be a beautiful thing that, that you list. I’ve got a projector. If I rented that, like if I put that online, I reckon I could rent that every single week and pay for that projector, you know, five times over in a year. So it really is just what are you prepared to rent and then listing it, finding the right site and maybe trying a few until you find the one that's right for you. But you'll be surprised what you're able to rent. Certainly for me, I was surprised when I looked at this many years ago that you could rent out your swimming pool. if you've gone away, just say you decide, you've got a swimming pool and you go away in summer for a couple of weeks. You might be super picky about who uses it, but there might be people in your suburb that don't have a pool that then could rent it out. We have a family coming and use ours when we're away and we don't charge them. But I mean, essentially it would be, it would be like us listing it and getting a fee for it.

Lawsie: The next one is sort of that step up from renting at your stuff is to actually sell it. So if you don't need it or if you've outgrown it or don't want it then to sell it and not just let it collect dust in the garage or the spare room or under the bed or in the closet or wherever else, you've got it stuffed. And so the obvious ones for those are obviously Ebay and Gum Tree, which most people have heard of as well as like Buy Search Sell. And even just more specific ones. Like I know Mel, you are 'de popping' your clothes everywhere.

Mel: I've made a thousand dollars so far from, I put this on two weeks ago, I've made a grand like it’s ridiculous. Yeah, cranky at myself for not doing it sooner.

Lawsie: At least you're doing it, but it is. And that is that thing, though. With any of this, it's not gonna be free money. You've gotta make the effort to do it, but if you can put in the effort or if you've got some spare time and you know, can do these things, then why not sell the stuff and get some more dollars in your bank account. So, and it's figuring out the right site. So for me, I've used a site before, which really I've used two different sites and none of them really worked. They were both consignment sites and I really, and this is not an ad for Depop, but it's just one that I'm familiar with. And I pay for it. I just do it. I just wanna make it very clear.

Lawsie: Oh, yeah, you're not sponsored.

Mel: No, not an ad, not sponsored or anything, not sponsored. I have to push it out. So I put it, I just pop it on my stories on Instagram once a week, but I really like that I'm in control of it. Whereas other people would love that they can just consign it, but I found with consignment that you have less control and maybe it will sell, maybe it won't. So at least with something like Depop, you can choose to list it. My husband loves himself a Facebook Marketplace on the other hand. So we have a house full of furniture that we will be gradually selling over the next year. And it'll be all on Facebook Marketplace. Yeah. So he will be loving himself.

Lawsie: As will everyone else is buying this

Mel: Yeah. But another thing you can sell is if you're a uni student, how freaking expensive are books, you know, your economics books or finance books or accounting books were expensive. I did law for three years. Those books were ridiculous. So I used to sell my secondhand textbooks, um, and that would pay help to pay for the next year's textbook. And at the time I'd sell them on my Student Co-op, which you still can. But you can also sell them on Student VIP, on eBay, on Marketplace and more. But also, so I used to sell my course notes. So I was a great note taker. So I would sell them to the people that were just sitting around me. Like they would look and go, oh, wow. My gosh, you know, you're a fast writer and you've got it's all colour coded. 

Lawsie: such a nerd

Mel: I know a dag. Uh, so I would sell notes, but you can sell them online now as well. So Student VIP and Nexus Notes will pay you for if you're a great note taker. So again, if you are doing something anyway, it's well, if I'm doing it for me, I may as well get paid for. And students don't necessarily have a lot of time in some courses. So this is a way of you monetising what you're already doing, which I'm such a fan of.

Lawsie: And our last one on our list is to take in a boarder or rent out your granny flat or rent out your house when you're going overseas or holidays rather. Even just to look at house swap, I mean, I dunno if anyone remembers the movie, The Holiday. I know you and I watch that every Christmas, but think about swapping your home, wherever it may be located with someone else that's on the other side of the world. So that way the accommodation part of your holiday is taking care of, but it is also just looking at it. If you've got empty rooms in your house and you can deal with someone else living in your house, then why not rent out that space, or if you're not gonna be there. It’s easy enough, you know, let someone else move in and pay to live in your space. So you've just got that extra income.

Mel: And I know empty nesters sometimes do this. My parents, we all fled very early for many reasons. But they then got boarders in. So they got uni students to then rent because their theory was uni students are gonna be gone a lot of the time. They're not gonna be wanting to pay a lot but they would be able to pay something. And then it was a way of them having company, but also getting that income. They realised very quickly uni students aren't at uni for as long as they thought. They were around a lot. But also someone I knew, she was a single woman and she really wanted as some more income and she was a nurse, so she didn't have a lot, she would take on extra shifts. So she had a downstairs garage and she had a really old bomb car, which she didn't value and never parked it in there. So she just had that converted and she just had a really cheap and nasty toilet and shower that put in the back, like kind of one of those prefab things. She had a tiny kitchenette put in it, and then it was already plastered and she just put it carpet and she just made it carpeted or put that faux laminate down and left all of the rest open and that was it. And she had a young guy come and stay there. When he got married, he and his wife stayed there to save money and it was company for her, security for her and an income. And yet they had separate entrances, all that sort of stuff. So it's also looking at what you've got and saying, how could I convert what I've got to, something that could make me money.

Lawsie: And in a way that you're comfortable, cause yeah, not everyone's gonna want someone living in their house, but if there is that thing where they're, it is still that separate entrance and everything else, and you can make some dollars out of it. It's perfect.

Mel: Yeah. So hopefully in that we've sparked some ideas for ah, I didn't think about that. That's another way that I could earn more income rather than tighten a belt, which just hasn't got much more give in it. But of course, if you are after more resources, as I mentioned we’ll pop the masterclass for understanding your numbers and pricing in the show. And we'll also put a link to, I did a webinar on 50 ways to find 5k by the end of the year. And we'll put a link that as well. So that'll give these ideas and a whole stack more. 

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