Feeling the squeeze: How to make some extra cash

With cost of living pressures rising, you might be wondering how to make more space in your budget.

One way to ease the squeeze is to spend less, which is pretty hard when you are already buying cheaper brands and cutting your power use.

But the other way is to earn more. We have compiled a list of things you could try to boost your income.

Dog walking

If you are comfortable wrangling canines, you might want to offer yourself as a dog walker.

Dog walkers charge rates of $20 or more per walk and if you can manage to take a few dogs with you, that can add up. Wellington couple Phil and Penny Krieg walk 12 to 16 dogs at one time but say they spend time understanding how each dog interacts with others.

Rent out a room

You will have to be OK with having someone else in your space but renting out a room in your house can provide another source of income.

There are thousands of single rooms listed for rent on Airbnb for anything from about $40 to $100 a night.

You can take in a longer-term tenant too. As long as you do not charge more than Inland Revenue’s standard rate for a boarder, which was $194 a week in the 2021 tax year, you do not have to pay tax on this.

If you have flatmates, you will need to pay tax on the income you get from them but you can claim the expenses you incur too, including home loan interest costs.

Rent your garage or parking space

If you don’t need your garage, you could make some extra money renting it to someone who needs somewhere to park or to store things.

Sites like Allspace.co.nz connect people who have space to spare with people who need it.

The site says you can earn about $200 to $300 a month renting out an average lock-up garage.

The only downside is that you will have people coming on to your property to access it. (And you can’t be a hoarder, yourself.)

Sell your stuff

If you haven’t cleaned out your wardrobe for a while, now could be a good time.

Trade Me spokesperson Millie Silvester said there had been a resurgence in interest in clothing on the site.

‘‘We reckon more Kiwis are getting into secondhand clothing because it is sustainable and economical for both buyers and sellers. It is also a great way to find something unique.’’

She said there was a 25% year-on-year increase in sales in the vintage and retro women’s clothing category on the site last month.

‘‘This was also reflected in searches, which were up 152% in April when compared with the same month last year.

‘‘Searches for ‘quilted jackets’ were up 60% in April when compared with the month prior, seeing over 1500 searches,’’ she said.

‘‘Faux fur jackets became popular in the 1980s and they are making a comeback, too. Last month we saw a 46% jump in searches for ‘faux fur’ with over 2800 searches.’’

She said the return of school balls meant there was also an outlet for ball gowns.

‘‘Last month, searches for ‘formal dress’ were up 77% month-on-month with over 3200 searches.

‘Ball gown’ searches were also up 49% on the month prior.’’

People were also searching for winter clothing, including wearable, hooded blankets called Oodies. There were 11,000 searches for these in April.

Get online

Sometimes it seems like everyone is making money from an online side hustle.

Sites like Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer connect people with skills in things like content writing or web design with people who have a project that needs work.

You can also sell your creations on sites like Etsy or Chooice.

If you identify products overseas that you think New Zealand shoppers would be into, you might be able to set up a dropshipping site (where the supplier sends direct to the customer) or you could import small quantities and sell them on.

Shopify is one fairly easy platform to use to set up a new retail site.

It said 18,172 New Zealand businesses operating on its platform made $4.8 billion in sales in 2021, up 40%.

Uber/dasher

If you have a car or bike, you could make a bit of extra money by signing up as a driver for Uber or Uber Eats, or a dasher for Doordash.

Moneyhub suggests aiming for peak times to maximise your Uber earnings, such as around the time of a rugby match.

It says you can expect $25 to $35 an hour as standard. Check that your car insurance can handle it though.

Get gardening

If you have proverbial green thumbs, you might be able to find a source of funds in your garden. Some people are growing fruit and vegetables to swap or sell to neighbours.

Others are cashing in on the ongoing house plant trend by growing cuttings or seedlings into more established (and hardier) plants for sale.

Silvester said Trade Me data showed people were looking to grow their own at home. ‘‘Fruit trees (up 18%) and lemon trees (up 22%) saw the largest jump in popularity last month when compared with April 2021, seeing 12,550 and 5200 searches respectively.’’