Part-time hustle ideas?

ArnieB

ArnieB

Dryer sheet wannabe
Joined
May 30, 2024
Messages
16
Location
Wisconsin
Hello all!

I am in my mid-fifties and have been retired for about a year-and-a-half now. My wife is still employed full-time. During the past year, I have occupied my time by getting back into some long dormant hobbies, and finally getting around to the list of items that needed attention around the home that we never seemed to have time for. But I do believe that I am just about "caught up" in that regard, and am looking for new ways to busy myself, but still enjoy my time. I was wondering if anyone had discovered a low-stress and flexible "side hustle" that helped to give structure and purpose to their daily routine? My previous employment does not really lend itself towards "tutoring" or "consulting" or some of the other more obvious options. I was just curious if anyone had any suggestions that I may not have considered.

Thanks so much!
Arnie
 
Are you looking to to make money or just have more structure? For the latter, there are likely all kinds of volunteer opportunities to consider.
 
Depends on your skill set and what you like. I sometimes see retirees doing repair services on items like clocks, computers, small appliances, etc.
 
I would do a perimeter search, of local businesses and employers in your area. For example, if there is a library in your area, and you like libraries, take a little trip over there and ask about applications for part time work. If you see a coffee shop or a nursery (and you have an interest in that), you could take a little trip there and ask to fill out an application for part time work there. If there is a local farm, etc. You could actually make a little hobby of looking for a low stress part time job - and meeting some new people while you are going about it.

There are also temp agencies if you want to try something for a week or two to see if you like a particular type of job.
 
A friend of mine drives for Uber. He certainly doesn't need the money but he has a presentable vehicle and just drives when he wants, always in daylight and avoids drunks and partiers, etc. by working days only. He picks up extra money and funnels it to his grandkids after expenses and gets a kick out of talking to people who want to talk and just being a driver for those who don't.
 
I worked at a winery for 4-6 days a month. I did it for 5 years, fun times and good money on weekends. Re-retired, but would consider working sales at a bike shop.
Do something FUN!
 
Several guys I worked with are “golf pros” or course rangers. The free golf is probablyl worth more than the pay. Several others have jobs driving for non profits or new vehicle delivery
 
Route246 said:
A friend of mine drives for Uber. He certainly doesn't need the money but he has a presentable vehicle and just drives when he wants, always in daylight and avoids drunks and partiers, etc. by working days only. He picks up extra money and funnels it to his grandkids after expenses and gets a kick out of talking to people who want to talk and just being a driver for those who don't.
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A couple of neighbors who are retired women drive for Uber. They open the app while at home doing housework. Because of the location of our community - 15 miles outside the metro area, what they normally get offered for fares are local people in the neighborhood wanting a ride for shopping or appointments. Both of the women have developed a small clientele from Uber fares of people they directly contract with for similar ride services, but scheduled ahead of time.

A much bigger project I'm considering is rehabbing and flipping a distressed house. I have experience from my younger days working construction and have done significant projects over the years and I'm comfortable roofing, framing, sheetrock, etc. Haven't done it yet but if the right project shows up, I'm game.
 
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I have a BIL who loves fishing... spends a boatload of money doing it... he has a favorite shop he goes to and talks to them all the time... well, they needed help for some reason and asked him if he would do some shifts...

He now works some shifts at the tackle store... and can talk all day long with others coming in which he enjoys... I do not know how much he works but as of now he likes it...
 
I decided to work 2-3 days/week at a local brewery. Has been fun so far!

I never really thought about Uber as I have heard horror stories about not making any money and although it's not (all) about money, I would not want to put he wear and tear on my vehicle to drive people around simply for company. It may pay better in cities, but I have many times heard from Uber drivers how little of the fare they actually get.

Flieger
 
COcheesehead said:
I worked at a winery for 4-6 days a month. I did it for 5 years, fun times and good money on weekends. Re-retired, but would consider working sales at a bike shop.
Do something FUN!
Click to expand...

jazz4cash said:
Several guys I worked with are “golf pros” or course rangers. The free golf is probablyl worth more than the pay. Several others have jobs driving for non profits or new vehicle delivery
Click to expand...

Texas Proud said:
I have a BIL who loves fishing... spends a boatload of money doing it... he has a favorite shop he goes to and talks to them all the time... well, they needed help for some reason and asked him if he would do some shifts...

He now works some shifts at the tackle store... and can talk all day long with others coming in which he enjoys... I do not know how much he works but as of now he likes it...
Click to expand...

Flieger said:
I decided to work 2-3 days/week at a local brewery. Has been fun so far!

. . .
Click to expand...

One of the common themes for low stress "work" seems to find something which involves something which one really, really enjoys.
 
After I retired from my big, full-time "career" gig about 11 years ago, I decided I would do part-time freelance consulting for a while, both to give me "something to do all day" and to earn a little extra spending cash. I thought it would help ease my transition to the full-time, fully FIREd lifestyle while not being too mentally burdensome. Well... not so fast.

I quickly began to realize that the main reason I was so eager to FIRE was to gain complete control over my time and my schedule. I never was going to be okay with waking up at 6:30am and driving across town in rush-hour traffic in order to work on arbitrary tasks at someone else's behest. And honestly, even having to wake up at 7:30 or even 8:30 and having to drive across town at any time of the day, rush hour or not, felt like an aggravating and unnecessary burden. I kept asking myself: Why am I still going to all these lengths and letting someone else control my time, just for some money I don't really need and for some supposed "structure" or "sense of purpose"? You might want to ponder some of these considerations before jumping into any kind of side-hustle that involves someone else managing your time.
 
I've contemplated this question as well as I approach FIRE. I'm going to need something to do to get me out of the house.

My parameters are as follows:

1. Light manual work, or put differently, I'd like to be on my feet preferably with walking involved. After a career sitting behind a desk I figure I can get paid and get some steps in with the added benefit of losing some weight.
2. Indoors.
3. Minimal engagement with the public. None is better. I don't want to be dealing with questions or people.
4. 20 hours a week, preferably 10 to 3, and preferably no weekends.
5. I'm getting paid.

Things I came up with.
1. Personal shopper at Whole Foods, or Costco.
2. Librarian who pulls books from shelves for customers.
 
I drove new cars around for the local dealerships for awhile. Lots of BMWs Mercedes, Alpha Romeos, Maserati's and some other more mundane cars and trucks. It offered human interaction, service and parts discounts at the dealership, and if you like cars, it's fun. I could work as much or as little as I wanted. There's very little money in doing it, so if that's part of the motivation, it may not be a good fit.

Many good memories of no longer being in an office everyday, instead, blasting along down the road in the sun in a brand new high end vehicle using company gasoline with Sirius XM playing. Good times.
 
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We take in a friend's dog when she goes on vacation. And we stay at another friend's house to watch her pups when she goes on vacation. They both insist on giving us money. I do ask them not to tell others because because we really only want to do this occasionally for super close friends.

We don't ask for money, but you could make money doing this or even just dog walking and/or daily pet visits. I have heard it is easy to sign up on Rover.

If you love pets this is a fun thing to do!
 
A lot of responsibility. Our dog was killed in someone else’s care and the city determined it was a criminally negligent act,
 
Anything you do with even a slightest motive of making money turns in to "work" sooner or later. Focus ONLY of the fun aspect of the side hustle. To me, the word "hustle" is a non-starter. I like to use words like hobby or community service. Like my signature says, there is no free lunch. Even hobbies and community service come as a complete package with its own setbacks and challenges but it is a fun puzzle that you like solving. YMMV.

PS: Only hobby I took on which makes some money is beekeeping. But you can't pay me enough for the amount of work that goes into keeping bees alive. I do it because it's a challenge and fun for me.

Counter example, I do a lot of woodworking and every once in a while I think "May be I can do custom woodwork for others?". But then I scrap the idea because I know it will turn into work someday.
 
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If you search podcasts and YouTube for ‘Side Hustle”, there are several channels featuring guests who do creative things that I’d have never thought of, like renting out bouncy castles for kids parties, for example. 🥳. It’s endless variety, and entertaining to hear the stories even of stuff one will not attempt.

The thing is, it can get you into some unusual mindsets. I was all set to rent out mobility scooters to tourists and visitors to my city, after hearing an episode. In fact, I built a website and quickly learned that there is endless demand. DW put the kabosh on it, because she correctly pointed out the liability issues, but my baby steps showed that’s a very viable idea.
 
I mow for a State Owned Ag Research Center Campus. About 10 acre setting and I use their equipment and takes about 10 hours to riding the mower to get it done. It is once a week for about 2 months and every two or 3 weeks between mowing after that.
Not hard but it does get in the way at times and always say this is my last year but seems like I still do it.
A couple 1000 bucks a year but I enjoy the people and there is benefits like garden produce and grains that Ii can have and be part of.
To answer your question there is always a shortage of people wanting to do some yard work for someone. A couple of yards for an elderly person can be a nice change and to help a person with their yard can be rewarding.
 
Markola said:
If you search podcasts and YouTube for ‘Side Hustle”, there are several channels featuring guests who do creative things that I’d have never thought of, like renting out bouncy castles for kids parties, for example. 🥳. It’s endless variety, and entertaining to hear the stories even of stuff one will not attempt.

The thing is, it can get you into some unusual mindsets. I was all set to rent out mobility scooters to tourists and visitors to my city, after hearing an episode. In fact, I built a website and quickly learned that there is endless demand. DW put the kabosh on it, because she correctly pointed out the liability issues, but my baby steps showed that’s a very viable idea.
Click to expand...
You were smart. Liability is big one to watch out for.
 
I have a ton of ideas, but as I get deeper into any of them I quickly realize they will pull me away from what I really want to do. Understanding what’s in your own head is a big part of enjoying retirement.
 
My side gig is proofreading novels. I only work for a few indy authors and am not interested in expanding. I average 1 book per month. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment and helping them and also some pocket money. I do this on the Kindle app so can work on my phone or ipad wherever I am. My other gig is an unpaid volunteer on our local fire dept.
 
A friend is a docent for a museum. DW and I volunteer at the local food bank. I teach adaptive skiing part time in the winter.

Many of my friends won't retire because they think they will be bored.
 
freedomatlast said:
I drove new cars around for the local dealerships for awhile. Lots of BMWs Mercedes, Alpha Romeos, Maserati's and some other more mundane cars and trucks. It offered human interaction, service and parts discounts at the dealership, and if you like cars, it's fun. I could work as much or as little as I wanted. There's very little money in doing it, so if that's part of the motivation, it may not be a good fit.

Many good memories of no longer being in an office everyday, instead, blasting along down the road in the sun in a brand new high end vehicle using company gasoline with Sirius XM playing. Good times.
Click to expand...
I am jealous of the gray haired guys working the auto auction circuit (Mecum or Barrett-Jackson) that stage high end one of a kind cars. I inquired and it can take years to move up to actually sitting behind the wheel.
 
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