Did you know that a side hustle is more than just another stream of income? It’s also the new job security!

If you are new here, hi I’m a freelance designer + developer, side hustler, and blogger behind Happier Freelancing.

I’ve been freelancing for a few years now. I work on a project-by-project basis like work for 3-6 months and then take a vacation for 3-6 months before returning to work for another 3-6 months.

This freelance lifestyle has a flexible work schedule, but no stable monthly income. Therefore, I need to make supplemental income to maintain a reasonable living.

On this page, you’ll find all of my side hustle income that I have worked on since 2015. These reports detailed exactly what I’ve done each year utilizing various side hustles. I hope that these reports can help inspire you (:

DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you. Please read my full disclaimer here for more info.

First, what is supplemental income?

Supplemental income is money you earn in addition to your regular paycheck.

Whether you are rich or poor, an employee or self-employed, a college graduate or not, supplemental income could be your first step to financial freedom.

Why is that?

Millions of Americans lost their job with employer health coverage during a pandemic and no one can have too much income diversity. With the economy shaky, a side business can be a great source of extra income to pay down debt, save money and invest.

My goal is to make an extra $1000 a month from side hustles

I started my side hustle journey back in 2015 to cover college expenses. At the time, I worked as a full-time software developer and had no time for another part-time job. I wanted to make extra money from home.

I spent an average of 10 hours a week on my side hustle project and made $635.84 a year at first. It’s $1.30 an hour and way below the minimum wage. But I didn’t quit. I kept doing what I can do. After 3 years of side hustling, I started to make $12-$19 an hour from home. It’s slow progress but still not so bad outcome. I believe any kind of progress is better than no progress at all. The important thing is to keep moving forward.

Total Net Income of Side Hustles: $34,149.58

Here is my overall progress.

I have already subtracted all the business expenses. These are net income from the side hustles.

• Selling Online – $21,917.49
• Virtual Assistant – $8,916.88
• Blogging – $1,111.11
• Investing & Dividend Income – $429.76
• Rakuten – $1,312.49
• Mr.Rebates – $394.06
• Fiverr – $120
• Ibotta – $67.79

Total Net Income of Side Hustles: $34,149.58 as of 2021

Yearly Progress and Monthly Breakdown

Again, I’m only sharing the net income of side hustles after subtracting all the yearly business expenses. Monthly Net Income is calculated by yearly net income divided by 12.

How it all got started and grew

• I started selling things online (eBay) as part of my spring cleaning in 2015. I learned that selling stuff online is a good way to make some extra money at the time.
• In 2016, I tried to sell stuff through various platforms such as Mercari, Poshmark, and Tradesy. I learned about brands and items that sell well on different platforms by using them. My favorite platforms were eBay and Poshmark.
• In 2017, I started a dropshipping business. I also tried Fiverr and affiliate marketing through social media, but I quit them after a couple of months. These side hustles didn’t fit in with my lifestyle at the time.
• The dropshipping business started to work well in 2018. It became the main source of side hustle income in 2019. I earned 14K from my dropshipping business.
• In 2020, the dropshipping business went down dramatically due to worldwide shipping delays. It was a real pain. So, I started blogging and affiliate marketing. The first year of blogging income was $940.43.
• In 2021, I felt the limitations of eCommerce, especially dropshipping. So, I started to test out new side hustles such as a virtual assistant. I did data analytics using Excel for my first virtual assistant job. I didn’t know it, but Excel can perform complex calculations, explore possible outcomes, and produce high-quality charts. It was good to learn about advanced Excel features.

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Wrapping Up

Extra $500 or $1000 per month can change someone’s life.

Earning a little extra might not seem like much, but a few hundred bucks a month for a decade may lead you to financial freedom.

What is your side hustle and how do you do it?