3 secondary activities to discover this fall

If you want to increase your income, these roles are worth looking into.

Key points

• A side hustle is a great way to increase your income and make it easier to manage your bills.
• Once the school year kicks off, you may have even more opportunities to earn money on the side.
• Learn about tutoring, college prep work, and recreational sports leagues for a rewarding side gig.

There’s a reason side hustles have become increasingly popular in recent years. Now that many jobs have become more flexible as a result of the pandemic, more people can work from home or set their own hours, making it possible to take on a second shift.

If you’ve been thinking about bothering, it’s worth exploring your options. That second gig might make your bills more manageable at a time when the cost of living is so high (thanks, inflation). A side gig could also help you achieve different financial goals, whether it’s buying a house, paying off your credit card balance, or saving for a new car.

Meanwhile, fall is fast approaching. You may have even more options for parallel work available to you once school resumes. Here are a few worth looking into.

1. Tutoring

Some children may struggle with certain school subjects or simply find it difficult to pick up the pace once school resumes. If you are a patient person with reasonably strong skills in different subjects, you might be able to earn a good income tutoring children after school and on weekends.

Plus, some kids just don’t respond well to their own parents when it comes to sitting down and working on homework like math problems or science materials. So you don’t necessarily need to be an expert in these areas to work as a tutor – you just need to be willing to put in the time.

2. Offer college readiness assistance

Fall is the time high schoolers need to get serious about college. If you have experience in this area (for example, from your own college application days or just going through the process with your own child), then you can offer your services in all things college preparation. This could mean helping people apply to college, helping to edit admissions essays, and browsing SAT skills.

3. Sports training or refereeing

Many cities hold recreational sports leagues in the fall, and yours might need outside help with things like coaching and officiating. If you love being outdoors, running, and working with kids, this might be a great fall gig for you. Admittedly, many of these leagues operate on a shoestring budget, so it might not be a huge source of revenue. But it’s also the kind of work you might not think of as work, so even if the pay isn’t substantial, it might still be worth pursuing.

A side hustle could easily change your financial situation for the better. It pays to explore these and other options if you’re looking for more leeway to pay your bills and achieve different financial goals. And while some of those gigs might be seasonal in nature (like college prep and helping out with sports leagues), if you have a good track record, you can always plan to return to the same job the following year.