$2K in 2 Months: My Side Hustle Challenge!

39 Comments / Freelancing, Goals, Making Money / By

As you might have guessed from the title, I’m challenging myself to make some extra income, and fast.

We’re taking a 3 week trip to Europe to visit M.’s side of the family in September, and as you can imagine, it isn’t cheap. Not only did it cost a chunk of change to buy airfare for 3, but it also means that we’re losing out on 3 weeks of income while we’re away. Ouch! We spent some time debating whether or not to take this trip, considering the expense.

Ultimately, we decided that it is worth the cost because time with family is invaluable. We aren’t sure when we’ll have the opportunity to take so much time off to get over there again, so it’s important for us to go this year.

In order to make up for some of our lost wages, I’m challenging myself to come up with $2,000 over the next few months. I need to kick my hustle into high gear! I know it will be tough, but I’m going to try my hardest to make this happen.

So here’s my side hustle plan:

  • Take on any paid writing jobs that I can
  • Create gigs on Fiverr
  • Look for and offer other blog-related work like virtual assisting, commenting, etc.
  • Sign up for mystery shopping
  • Keep up with Swagbucks and MyPoints to earn gift cards

I’m going to count gift card values towards my cash total, simply because they can be used on groceries and personal care products. Mystery shopping is something that I haven’t done yet, and I’ve never used Fiverr before. Ordinarily, I would not be willing to do anything for only $5 (even less after fees), but if it helps my bottom line right now, I’ll give it a try.

I’m sure I’m going to add more things to the list, but these are just the ones I thought of so far. I’ll track my progress and update on here with how these potential gigs are working out for me. If I even get close to my goal, I’ll be happy!

I zeroed out my PayPal account, so I’m starting fresh, as of today. I’m going to set up my Fiverr account, and sign up for mystery shopping this week. If you need a writer for blog posts, niche site articles, web content- anything– please shoot me an email: writebudget@gmail.com. You can also view my hire me page here.

$2k sounds like a lot, but I’m determined to give this challenge my best effort!  Wish me luck…

Have you ever challenged yourself to earn a certain amount in a set time frame?  

39 thoughts on “$2K in 2 Months: My Side Hustle Challenge!”

  1. Michelle

    This sounds like a great challenge since you sound determined to make it happen! Good luck!

  2. Kirsten

    I am very very curious to learn how this pans out for you and how much time it took each day. I need about 1k a month in order to be able to stay home with my girls (a huge goal for me).

    Also, try Gigwalk. They have “jobs” for $5, 10, 20.

    1. Lauren

      Thanks for tip on Gigwalk! I know it’s tough trying to earn from home so that you can stay with your kids. I stay at home with my daughter, so freelance writing has been ideal for me, but it isn’t always enough.

      1. FF @ Femme Frugality

        I’ve done gig walk before, too! Most lucrative endeavor aside from writing on the side or an extra job has been selling stuff I don’t need anymore on Craigslist, though.

  3. DC @ Young Adult Money

    Best of luck! We count the gift cards we win in giveaways as income. It essentially just replaces cash we otherwise would have spent. Giveaways have HIGH variance (you might win a bunch one week and then none for the next 8) so I’m not sure I would recommend it unless you have no other cash-flow positive activities going on. We’ve won a ton of stuff, even as random as a sink faucet and “kid’s bookshelf.” We sell most of the things we win and keep the gift cards and cash (obviously). It’s been a good way to make some extra money.

    1. Lauren

      Thanks DC! I haven’t tried entering too many giveaways yet. Sounds like you’ve gotten some pretty interesting prizes. The Hawaii trip must be the best one, huh?

  4. Derek @ MoneyAhoy.com

    Good luck Lauren! That’s a great aggressive goal to set for yourself. Is Mr. M also chipping in to help get over the bar?

    1. Lauren

      Thanks Derek! M.’s day job keeps him pretty busy, but he’s going to sign up for mystery shopping too 🙂

  6. Jon

    Good luck! Sounds like you have great determination… you can do it! All the hard work will be worth it when you’re relaxing in Europe 🙂

  7. DivHut

    Good luck with the challenge of raising that cash with sides hustles. I 100% agree with you about taking the trip as well. Travel is one thing I will always spend money on because time spent visiting, seeing, exploring will always bring back fond memories; Much more so than any tangible item might give you.

  9. Aldo Rancier

    This is a good challenge. I also want to get into the mystery shopping, but when I looked into it there was really nothing that I was interested in. I hope it works out for you.

  10. Debt Busting Chick

    I’m currently challenging myself to earn at least £300 per month. So far I’m on track but next month will be tough.

  12. Connie @ Savvy With Saving

    Good luck Lauren! You can totally do it!
    I’ve had some luck finding virtual assistant jobs on Elance. I also offered resume critiques on Fiverr for awhile – it took up a little bit too much of my time but there was definitely a steady stream of jobs coming in.

    1. Lauren

      Thanks Connie! That’s good to know. I set up my Fiverr account and got an order within a few hours, so hopefully this continues!

  13. E.M.

    Good luck! I would have decided to go, too. Family is too important, especially when they’re so far away.

  14. Kara

    What a great challenge! I just signed up to be a mystery shopper, but all the shops in my area are car dealerships…
    Good Luck!

    1. Lauren

      Thanks Kara! I have to say, I’m not expecting much from the mystery shopping, but I figured it’s worth a shot.

  15. Sov

    Good luck Lauren! I could also do with an extra $2000 over the next few months. I was made redundant in March and trying hard now to carve out an online living! All the best.

  18. Liz

    That sounds like a great challenge –with a really great reward that will make all the work worth it! Do you have anything you can sell? That might be an easy way to round up a little cash and do a little cleaning before you trip. Also, I hear some people have a lot of luck with task rabbit. We don’t have that in my city yet, but some people really seem to do well with it. You will have to keep us posted. Good luck!

    1. Lauren

      Thanks for the suggestion of Task Rabbit- I’ll look into it! I do have a few things I could sell on eBay…

  19. John @ Sprout Wealth

    Good for you Lauren! I’m going to be doing something similar this summer as we’ll be taking three weeks off while we go to San Diego to visit my in-laws. That said, I’ve done things like this in the past and have always been encouraged to hit the end goal. Good Luck!

    1. Lauren

      Thanks John! Great to hear that you’ll be challenging yourself, too 🙂 Vacations are awesome, but that loss of income hurts!

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