How I Made An Extra $19,668.11 in 2022
Disclosure. This post contains affiliate links meaning I may get a commission if you sign up. I will only ever recommend sites that I actually use.
Saying that 2022 was a financial rollercoaster would be putting it mildly…
The year started off pretty ordinary, as I found out I needed to save nearly $3,000 to get my wisdom teeth removed.
As a stay-at-home mum, money like this was really hard to save, but to make matters worse, they only offered buy now pay later services to people with paying jobs.
This put us in a really tight spot and this was even before inflation and interest rates wreaked havoc on our finances.
Our budget was stretched thin and there was absolutely nothing else we could cut out. Getting a job was out of the question as I had a newborn and a 2 year old to look after, which is when I realised that I was going to need to side hustle my way out of this mess and I was going to have to do it from home.
My goal for 2022 was to earn enough in side hustles to get my surgery, but I never imagined that I was going to be able to smash that goal.
In 2022, I managed to earn a whopping $19,668.11 in side hustles and this is how I did it.
Surveys
I first tried out surveys in 2013, so I'm no stranger to making money this way. In fact in 2021 I managed to earn enough from surveys to take my family on a holiday to see my grandparents in Queensland.
Surveys can be a slow burner, but for me they're a great way to make some extra money as I can do them any time of day and can fit them in around my kids.
Each day I spend between 1-2 hours doing surveys. I rotate through a few trusty sites so I have no shortage of surveys to complete.
It can be incredibly tedious, however I've incorporated it into my daily routine. I’ll complete surveys either in the morning when my kids are having brekky, or at night once they’ve gone to bed.
Throughout the year, I was able to make $5,325.03 by doing surveys.
The survey sites I used to make money in 2022 were:
Savings Trackers
In the beginning of 2022, I started creating and selling printable savings trackers through my Etsy store and website. I also sell personalised savings trackers which are custom made to suit my customer’s goals.
The purpose of these savings trackers is to help people visually track their progress as they work towards their savings goals.
In 2022 I earned $2,079.94 by selling these digital products.
Cashback
I could cry thinking about all the things I've bought over the years before I knew about cashback sites.
Now everytime I intend to buy ANYTHING, I check CashRewards and ShopBack to see which one will give me the best cashback on my purchase.
This side hustle requires minimal effort and it has given me a whopping $1,963.94 in cashback on purchases I was planning on making anyway.
Influencer
If you follow me on Instragram or regularly visit my blog, then you’ll be familiar with my ‘monthly side hustle’ posts where I give a run down of how much I earned the previous month. I don’t normally include my ‘influencer’ income in these posts because I thought that sharing how much I get paid might discredit the advertising that I do (even though I will only advertise brands that I know and trust), but I'm all about sharing my side hustle journey and being an influencer is a huge part of that.
The last thing I ever thought I would be is an ‘influencer’, but in 2022 I was fortunate enough to gain quite a following on my Instagram page and soon after, I began receiving emails from brands wanting to work with me. Now most of the brands that contact me are usually dodgy investment companies or multi-level marketing schemes, so for obvious reasons I do not work with them, but I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing brands that I do know and love, and they have paid me for content creation, referrals and affiliate marketing.
Although it is hard work (hats off to the influencers out there), I’m beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to earn money this way. As a stay-at-home mum, it’s really hard to find ways to make extra money that are actually worthwhile, so this has been an absolute blessing.
In 2022, I made a total $7,844.87 as an influencer on Instagram.
Market research
Market research has been a nifty way to earn extra money as a stay-at-home mum.
The market research opportunities I chose to participate in were online diaries, online discussion panels, taste tests and one-on-one interviews.
I really enjoyed market research because not only are they fun to participate in, but they also pay very well.
I found these market research opportunities through survey sites, as well as Askable and Realtime Research.
All up, I earned $1,965.00 through market research opportunities.
Miscellaneous apps
There's a handful of apps I use regularly that help me make a bit of extra money
ReceiptJar - scanning receipts to earn gift cards.
Shping - comparing grocery items and scanning receipts to earn rewards.
NielsenIQ Beauty Panel - scanning beauty purchases to earn gift cards.
These apps are really handy to have and from them I was able to redeem a total of $340.00 in 2022.
Blogging
2022 was the year I finally bit the bullet and created the SavingLikeMad website and blog. It was something I'd been wanting to do for a long time but I had no idea where to begin.
It took a little bit of time and effort to set up, but by the end of the year I was able to monetise my blog using Google AdSense.
In 2022, I earned $149.33 through my blog. It’s a modest amount, but every little bit counts.
At the beginning of the year, I was stressing about how I was going to come up with $3,000 to cover my surgery. I knew I was going to have to work really hard to find ways to make extra money, but I never imagined that I’d be able to hit it out of the ballpark.
I am so grateful to have found side hustles that are perfect for me and allow me to do things I enjoy while I bring in an extra income.
My aim for this year is to earn $25,000 in side hustles, so stay tuned to see if I can smash that goal as well.
Follow SavingLikeMad on social media to keep up to date with my side hustle journey, as well as tips and motivation for saving money.
