10k Side Hustle Challenge – Month 2 Update

At the start of 2024 I had a goal setting session and decided to challenge myself to make an extra £10k from side hustles. Currently, I have two seasonal jobs that mean I only work in person half of the year and have full flexibility over the other half of the year. Meaning I have time to embrace a bunch of random side hustles and kinda need the extra income boost in my off months. So I’ve embraced this side hustle challenge with open arms!

But before we get into a month 2 update let me explain the rules I’ve set for myself…

The Rules

This year I will have two main sources of income, a summer job and a winter job. And as this is a side hustle challenge I won’t be counting any earnings from these two sources towards my total. Although everything else is up for grabs! Including any freelance income outside of these two jobs and my passive income streams like bank interest.

I went back and forth but have decided to count both cash income and voucher income towards the total. I only counted cash in my £5k hustle challenge as the goal was to match my gap year spending pot. But the goal for this challenge is to push myself and test the earning capacity of various side hustles. So I will be counting both cash and vouchers when I have received them.

The minute they hit my bank account/inbox they will be counted towards my total. Before then they exist in limbo and my various trackers.

Ok, so now we’re clear on what the side hustle challenge is and the rules, let’s get into my month 2 breakdown…

Sharing Data + £2

I use the app Amazon Shopper Panel to get paid for sharing my ad data and they give me £2 a month as a thank you.

Watching Ads + £2.11

A few months ago, I started using WeAre8 again and added it into my morning side hustle routine. Earnings take 30 days to go from pending to payable on the app so the £2.11 that I cashed out this month were from ads I watched in January.

Cashback + £5.30

I love getting cashback on purchases that I was already planning on making. This month I had some cashback become payable on TopCashback and Shopmium.

Referrals + £10

Massive thank you to anyone who uses one of my referral links, it really does mean the world! This month I had two referrals payout.

Housesitting + £20

I did a one night housesit towards the end of Feb and got £20 for it. Straight into the side hustle pot!

Surveys + £59.52

My favourite marmite side hustle! Most of these earnings came from Prolific as they are always well paid and the cash out minimum is only £5. But I also got paid £1.50 from a survey I did with The Viewer.

Selling Things + £65.89

I sold my old phone and a few CDs in January and they got paid out in Feb. Nice little boost for very minimal effort.

Online Tasks + £78.41

I did a cashback offer with Quidco a few months ago and finally got paid in Feb so that was £15.55 in the pot. I also did a bingo offer through OhMyDosh and got a double win because I won on the bingo site too!

Mystery Shopping + £90

I did three at home mystery shops through iShopForipsos and got paid £30 for each one that I did.

Freelance VA + £97.50

I work a month in hand for my freelance VA client so in Feb I got paid for the few tasks I did for them in Jan.

Interest + £149.49

Thank you Lifetime ISA bonus!! I had over £125 paid out in the bonus this month and then made a good amount of interest from my various savings accounts. Interest is currently my only passive income source and I’m obsessed! Hoping to earn £2k this year from this income source alone.

Market Research + £170

My biggest earner this month was market research. The ultimate feast or famine side hustle which I just can’t seem to let go. I was lucky enough to land two really easy market research projects in Feb and both got paid out very quickly.

Month 2 Total = £750.22

Challenge Total = £1014.44/£10,000

Feb was definitely better than Jan in terms of things being paid out. And I’m already at four figures meaning I’m 10% of the way to my £10k goal!

Plus I did a few things in the month that will be paid out next month. Slightly annoyed that I am still waiting for the Tester Buddy offer from Jan to get paid out – anyone else having this issue? Here are some of the other payments currently on their way to my bank account…

Freelance Hours – £165

TSB – £125

Tester Buddy – £87

Stake – £25

Total incoming = £402

So whilst I’m at 10.1% in terms of side hustle income received, I will be at 14% without doing anything else! And I’ve added a decent amount to my various side hustle site balances (over £300) that will eventually be cashed out. So all in all, February was a decent side hustle month for me and I’m on track to hit my £10k goal!

Are you doing a money challenge in 2024? I’d love to hear all about it!