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Three Can't-Miss Summertime Side Hustles

Whether you are a student on summer break or a full-time employee looking to supplement your income, the summer months can be the perfect time for a little professional moonlighting.

Here are three options you might consider.

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BECU
Community Content Team
Published Jun 14, 2019 in: Jobs & Income

Read time: 3 minutes

Food Delivery

It wasn't all that long ago that you had to get hired by a specific restaurant (usually a pizza joint) if you wanted to snag a food delivery job. But like it's done for so many other things in our lives, mobile technology has transformed the delivery game. Now, thanks to favorite apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and GrubHub, which allow hungry people to order from hundreds of restaurants in their area, delivery jobs have become a viable part of the gig economy. Since people eat at all hours of the day, many of these jobs offer flexible scheduling that makes it easy to customize your side hustle around a full-time job.

Teach English Online

Wouldn't it be nice if running a side hustle was as easy as having a conversation? It can be. If you like people, speak English and have a bachelor's degree (in any field), companies like Teach Away and VIPKid may be the perfect fit for you. Since 2013, this online educational company has specialized in helping international students--primarily students in China--learn English online through one-on-one teaching sessions. Due to time zone differences, many online instructors can work a full-time job and conduct training sessions with their students in their spare time. And with pay rates as high as $22/hour, the opportunity can be as financially rewarding as it is professionally satisfying.

BookScouter

While delivery driving and online teaching are substantial opportunities, you may be wondering if there are options for people who prefer a little less social interaction. If that sounds like you, BookScouter may be right up your alley. Although it is important to mention that while our previous recommendations have focused more on the job aspect of side job, this side hustle suggestion relies more on the hustle part. When it comes to book sales, there are retailers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon, but there's a lucrative secondary market as well. BookScouter allows you to participate in that market. With their easy-to-use mobile app, you can scan a book's bar code or enter the ISBN and find out how much a variety of used book retailers are willing to pay for the title. While profit margins may not be huge, there is money in selling used books. The popular website PennyHoarder.com recently listed several strategies that have allowed BookScouter users to earn hundreds of dollars each month.

Have you stumbled across side jobs that allowed you to make additional money while doing work you enjoy? Let us know in the comments!

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BECU
Community Content Team

BECU's community content team writes about personal finance topics like budgeting, saving and building credit to help you reach your financial health goals.