💸 Side Hustles - Unlock the Secrets to Financial Independence
Welcome to the first day of my 5-day series on Side Hustles! As you know, my name is Sybil, and over the last 15 years of teaching, I've had 9 side hustles that have helped me accelerate my journey toward financial independence and soon-to-be early retirement. In this series, I'll be sharing my experiences and tips on how you can do the same. 🤩
Today, I'll introduce you to my current and past side hustles and give you a behind-the-scenes view of how they have helped me save, make, and invest more money. We'll also explore the different side hustles available and how to choose the right one for you. 💡
Here's a preview of the topics we'll be covering in this series:
Day 1: Saving with Sybil - Couponing Blog - Learn how I turned my passion for couponing into a profitable side hustle by monetizing my blog through affiliate marketing and sponsored content. And this was way back in 2006. Also, how learning new tech skills helped me leverage my future jobs. 💻💸
Day 2: Upselling baby and kids' toys and teaching night classes - Learn how I made money by buying toys cheaply at garage sales, cleaning them up, and reselling them on Craigslist and eBay. Also, teaching night classes helped me supplement my income and be home when my small children were awake. 🛍📚
Day 3: Renting our amazing Mountain condo out as a short-term rental and investing in the stock market - Learn how these two side hustles passively bring in high monthly revenue and how you can do the same. 🏡💰
Day 4: Selling teaching resources on TPT that I was already making anyway📚
Day 5: Online mentoring and literacy consulting internationally, giving me the freedoms of working from home, traveling internationally, and entrepreneurship 🌍
So, let's dive into my first side hustle, Saving with Sybil - a couponing blog not only helped me save money but also taught me valuable tech skills and set the foundation for my journey to financial independence. 💸
I was living the dream with my newborn in my arms, working part-time as a Kindergarten teacher and having plenty of time to spend with my little one. As two teachers, we made enough money for our starter home mortgage, a weekly date night, and even some traveling with friends and family (usually staying in the family room couch bed, but hey, it was still a vacation!). As we had already lived in Rome, Italy, for two years, we knew we loved to travel and wanted to be able to do it again. Our ultimate goal was to travel as much as possible on any extra income.
We loved road-tripping to national parks in the summer and then splurging on a fancy hotel stay in Vegas or California afterward. I was happy with my life but still had a solid drive to bring in more income to take care of that travel bug. That's when my first side hustle idea came to life.
With my daughter, Carina, being a good sleeper, I'd take advantage of her afternoon nap time to relax and surf the web on my brother-in-law's hand-me-down laptop. I was a huge couponer and started following some couponing moms online. This was way back in 2006, so if I wanted to join in, I'd have to learn to write HTML. I was tech-savvy, but this was a game changer. I wouldn't have become a Tech and Innovation coach in Dubai if it hadn't been for teaching myself to create a website and blog way back when.
While I didn't make a ton of money from it and eventually moved on to other side hustles (which you'll learn about tomorrow), I made some money through affiliate marketing and product sponsorship. Nintendo even sent me free remotes and money to host an ice cream party at my house. It was so much fun!
The tech skills I learned from creating my couponing blog were my biggest gain from this early side hustle, but it was also the beautiful beginning of my journey.
Who would have thought that couponing would lead me here?
It shows that you never know where your passions and side hustles will take you!
Tomorrow's post will feature upselling baby items and teaching night classes at the University of Phoenix. These side hustles started bringing in good money. 🤗
I'm excited to share my knowledge and experiences in this series with you. I hope that they help you on your journey toward your financial and life goals.
Kind regards,
Sybil
Comment below, letting us know what your first side hustle was or will be!!