November 23, 2022 • 25 mins
Jess and Dom discuss the pros and cons of side projects with potential to supplement income from a main job. Side hustles can come in many different forms, but broadly fall into two categories: selling your skills or selling your stuff.
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Episode Transcript
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Jessica Irvine (00:05):
Hello and welcome to It All Adds Up the podcast
where we chat about money, how to get it, how
to spend it and how to invest it. I'm senior
economics writer Jess Irvine.
Dominic Powell (00:15):
And I'm money editor Dom Powell. And today we're talking
about the great world of side hustles.
Jessica Irvine (00:20):
It makes me tired just thinking about it. I see.
Dominic Powell (00:22):
Well, exactly. We already do enough work, you know, real hustling.
Who's who has time for hustling any? Well, apparently a
lot of people, they're very popular things to do. You
see a lot of people these days with a little
side hobbies and other little ways to to earn a
bit of money on the side. Yes. If you ever
had a side hustle, something you'd categorize as a side hustle.
Jessica Irvine (00:38):
Yeah, I have had many I'm excited about this topic
because just the idea that you can make money in
your spare time only recently occurred to me and in
ways that you wouldn't necessarily I haven't set up an
online business or anything, but in terms of selling stuff
on Facebook Marketplace, renting out my car space, I've done
a few of those things. I made about 300 bucks
(00:59):
a month, I think, by renting out my car space,
just pretty good street instead, you know, and I'm not
particularly I'm not in the CBD or anything. I just thought, Oh,
that's easy. Money doesn't matter to me if I park
on the street. Hmm. Yeah. What about you, dummy? You're
a hustler.
Dominic Powell (01:12):
Look, I think, like, if I'd thought about it, like,
I wouldn't categorize myself as, like, someone with the side hustle. But, like,
in the past, I've definitely done little things, like, beside that,
that have. That have saved. They have made me money. Like,
this is like super nerdy, which is like, really made
us like, baring all. But I used to be really
(01:32):
into playing like trading card games, Like you go and
Magic The Gathering. I still play them a bit these days,
but I used to like buy and sell like trading cards.
I'd like speculate on them, like I'd buy them at like,
you know, $0.50 and be like, Oh, they've gone out
to a dollar and I'd sell them for like a
dollar and all that sort of stuff. If it was,
it was fun.
Jessica Irvine (01:49):
Wow. I've never even heard of those. Yes.
Dominic Powell (01:51):
Yeah, It was like I didn't make like, I probably
made like maybe, you know, a couple hundred bucks a month, like,
I wasn't doing big bucks or anything like that. But
this is back when I was like 17 or something
like that. But yeah, I've had some I've had some
side hustles.
Jessica Irvine (02:04):
I guess that's really cool. And if it aligns with,
you know, your personal interests and you enjoy it, I
think that's yeah, I think that's perfect. Exactly. My, my
real big thing, which sort of bordered on an addiction,
was when I discovered Facebook Marketplace a couple of years ago.
And I just it just blew my mind that you
could connect with potential buyers. Like I could just post
(02:26):
anything and I'm a seller and you just, you know,
if you can navigate the wild world of is this
still available, which is the message you get through Facebook marketplace,
you know, if you need to connect with anyone as
a as a buyer and seller and you know and
you meet some wild and wonderful people that I was like,
I can I can sell anything. And yeah, you know,
we'll get to some of the things I've sold. But
(02:47):
like I sold, I went on holidays to the Highlands
and I found some really big pine cones that had
fallen from a tree and there was heaps of them
and I took about eight of them home and then
I found a wicker basket on the side of the road.
It was in good condition and I sort of styled it,
you know, these pine cones in this lovely wicker basket,
and I sold them for 45 bucks.
Dominic Powell (03:08):
That's so there you go. That's, that's an entrepreneur and mindset.
Jessica Irvine (03:11):
The crazy money bit of arbitrage.
Dominic Powell (03:14):
I think before we get into the whole thing, I'm
going to get on my soapbox for a bit. And
some would say that a podcast is a soapbox anyway,
so I'm getting on a soapbox. So then a soapbox, but.
Jessica Irvine (03:23):
I'm not going to interrupt you. Go for it.
Dominic Powell (03:25):
Is that I do have like I have like a
slight inherent issue with like the whole concept of side hustles. Like,
I feel like they've been really glamorized in like recent years,
you know, the whole idea of like, working a second effectively,
like a second job to, you know, make enough money
to get by, like, turned in to be sort of
all like, you know, you can go and work with
Uber and it's this whole sort of issue with the
(03:45):
gig economy, which I think is just sort of like
an unhealthy part of our society. Like it's sort of
inherently capitalistic, all that sort of stuff. I have a
I have a problem. And I think there's also like
a bit of like a privilege issue here where it's
like calling a second job a side hustle, which is
like the glamorized version of it, rather than just a
second job, which you need to work to get by. Like,
(04:06):
that's sort of doesn't sit right sometimes with me. But anyway,
I recognize a lot of people do it and really
enjoy the side hustle. So it's I know it's not
always bad, but I do want to recognize that there
is like a little bit of a perception issue here.
Jessica Irvine (04:19):
Yeah. I mean, the rise of insecure work. Yes, 100%
a thing. And sort of whether it's, you know, a
good thing that we have like new technologies, we can
jump on and do an Airtasker and sort of do
these and connect to work opportunities that might use our
good skills that we have. That's that might be good.
But is it a sign that, you know, you just
(04:40):
don't have a full time job that with an employer
who's committed to you and your career progression and paying
you a fair wage? And we know, of course, the
wages in Australia being backsliding, not keeping up with inflation
for a number of years. So is it a sign
of desperation that people are sort of having to now
go outside of their pay job, still do the the
full time work, but then also hustle on the side
(05:01):
just to keep? The rising cost of living. That is
a predicament a lot of people are in. That doesn't
sound very fun to me.
Dominic Powell (05:08):
No. But at the same time, I think there's a
lot of people out there who just genuinely enjoy monetizing
their hobbies and things like that. So I think there's
there's many bits of ways that you can sort of
swing it.
Jessica Irvine (05:16):
So exactly. And I think it's at least thinking through
some of the things like we're going to go through
a list of potential side hustles for you if you're interested,
just because it might spark some ideas. And, you know,
I mean, and to preface everything by saying that to
make sure that you're being paid a fair salary in
your full time job, you know, do ask for those
pay rises. I think it was that our second episode
that we did that was, you know, you can side
(05:38):
hustle yourself or you can ask for a pay rise
that might give you the equivalent if you're lucky, and
if you could negotiate anyway. But that's yeah, Before we
get into the side hustles, I do say make sure
you get paid.
Dominic Powell (05:50):
Represented, compensated fairly from your from your main place of employment.
Jessica Irvine (05:54):
And if you're not, maybe you should spend your spare
time looking at job ads and getting a new job
where you might be paid more. You know, if you're
not happy with what's happening in the in the day job.
Dominic Powell (06:03):
Indeed. But I suppose how do you how do you
define a side hustle? I mean, I feel like that's
sort of in the name, right? It's something you just
do a little bit extra on the side, right?
Jessica Irvine (06:11):
Yeah, something on the side. Just a bit of extra
cash in the pocket outside of a traditional job. Although,
you know, if you really into your side hustles, they
can grow into small businesses.
Dominic Powell (06:21):
Absolutely.
Jessica Irvine (06:21):
That might be a future career for you. So but
I'm open to the idea of doing some things on
the side.
Dominic Powell (06:27):
Yeah. And I think we all do at some point
in our life, do a little bit of extra something
on the side, like, you know, even if it may
not be something that you think as it would be
a side hustle, but maybe you've just made a little
bit of cash doing, you know, whatever. You sold some
pinecones in a basket.
Jessica Irvine (06:43):
On the pine cone, retail.
Dominic Powell (06:44):
Pinecone. Right. So this is just as the job title
after a journalist and an economist who's also a pine
cone retailer.
Jessica Irvine (06:50):
Add that to the business cards. So we thought you
can basically divide side hustles into two broad types of
categories which we'll sketch out for you. This is my methodology, Tom.
I hope you're on board with it. You can either sell,
sell your skills and time or sell your stuff or
rent your stuff. So sell your skills, sell your stuff.
(07:12):
And I thought we might start with sort of listing
out for people. If you're interested in getting a side hustle,
selling your skills, you know, and your labor on the side,
what are some of the the best ones. 30, Right?
Dominic Powell (07:25):
Yeah. Well, I was like, you know, as we've sort
of just mentioned before, there's been a massive rise over
the past sort of decade, I guess, in terms of
these gig economy companies like Uber, Ubereats, DoorDash, Menulog, know, Deliveroo, RPA, Deliveroo,
you were too good for this Earth, or at least
too good for Australia, apparently, and Airtasker and all those
sort of things where you can go and, you know,
deliver food to people or pick people up and or,
(07:47):
you know, deliver someone's couch to them or help them
nail some nails into a wall. I don't know how
handyman work, but that sort of stuff like the you know,
there's lots of there's lots of like sort of things
where you can sell you sell your skills in that sense.
Jessica Irvine (08:01):
Yeah. And some of those are sort of what you
would consider lower skills, like you just your skills that
you can drive a car and you have some spare
time and you're willing to do that. But I think
Airtasker is fascinating, like the sorts of things, the jobs
that can be posted on there. And again, it is
that sort of wonders of technology and being able to
connect us. And if you've got something to sell, just
doing it in a more direct way. So yeah, Itasca
(08:24):
as well, you know, but that can work for you too.
You know, you're great at sort of, I don't know,
what are you great at?
Dominic Powell (08:29):
What am I going I'm great at? You know, being
a being a good friend.
Jessica Irvine (08:35):
Not being a good friend.
Dominic Powell (08:36):
No, I I'm as a one of my hobbies is photography,
which is something I do on the side. But like, I.
I would never be able to I don't think I
would be able to actually monetize that. Like, I don't
think I'm good.
Jessica Irvine (08:47):
I can you could probably go on Airtasker and say,
I'll be your friend for the day. That's it. A
hundred bucks, you know, that's what I'm a great, caring,
warm person. There are lonely people out.
Dominic Powell (08:58):
There, but I wouldn't $100. I'm not doing that for
a whole day. $400. Okay. Yeah, I'm going to need more.
I'm going to be more conversation than that.
Jessica Irvine (09:05):
Well, you can you know, you can test the market.
Dominic Powell (09:08):
Inside of this to get to like all of this,
to get into like the realm of like, escort, like,
you know, So I think, well, maybe, maybe, maybe we
get a little too close to the sun here.
Jessica Irvine (09:18):
Keep it legal. Yeah, that would be advice. Yeah, but
I love that, you know, monetizing your hobbies, whether it's,
you know, you're great at drawing or sketching, and particularly
with photography, you can sell prints. And I like to
talk about the sort of difference between side hustle and
passive income. If it's something that, you know, you, you
are producing great artwork and you can sell reprints of,
(09:41):
you know, one that you've done the work once you've
taken the gorgeous photo, but you're selling prints of it,
that's almost it. You know, there's delivery costs or whatever,
but it's a more passive thing where you've not taking
a new picture every time. I think that's a great idea. And,
you know, people get on mentioned Airtasker, you know eBay
you can sell arts and crafts Etsy everyone can have an.
(10:02):
See store. Now that seems to make it really easy.
And moving into the world of like digital products, you know,
which is a little bit more passive, as we say.
You know, particularly on Etsy is one where you can sell,
you know, get paid for like you're the specialist in this.
So you write a small, you know, ten page PDF
on get started on whatever it is, which is sort
(10:24):
of like an alternative to traditional book publishing. And then
once you've done it, every download is, you know, passive
income for you. And as you know, I'm into a
bit of budgeting and lots of people sell templates and spreadsheets.
You know, here's my net worth tracker. I can make
quite sizable passive incomes from having produced that intellectual property
(10:44):
and just pop it online and see if it flies.
Dominic Powell (10:46):
Well, you can write a book called Money with Jess,
and you can sell that in every good bookstore.
Jessica Irvine (10:51):
I haven't told you this, but last night I won
an award. Oh, yeah.
Dominic Powell (10:55):
Congratulation.
Jessica Irvine (10:56):
Thank you. Book of the Year by the Australian Business Awards. So, yeah.
There you go.
Dominic Powell (11:02):
Let's see if you. If your side hustle is good enough,
you can win an award for it. You.
Jessica Irvine (11:06):
Exactly. I'm really proud of that, actually. Yeah. You should decide.
Dominic Powell (11:13):
And lastly, I guess, like, you know, you can sort
of take yourself back to when you were when you
were younger and, you know, when everyone used to be
a babysitter or dogs today. And that's something you can
do these days as well. You know, you can put
an ad on a local noticeboard or on your local
Facebook community group, a good common network or whatever they
are these days where you can offer, you know, babysitting, house, sitting,
(11:34):
pet sitting, lawn mowing city guides, or another very popular
one for that that people do quite a bit. So
these are these are all all options that are a
good way to get a little bit of extra cash
in the pocket.
Jessica Irvine (11:45):
Yeah. My first job was lawn mowing lawns and we
just and my brother also used to mow lawns and
we got in the publishing business and just did some
flyers and dropped them around letterboxes in the local neighborhood.
That is still a legit option.
Dominic Powell (11:58):
My first job was the paper on which my parents
used to help me with because it was in a
rural area and it was way too big for me
to do by myself.
Jessica Irvine (12:05):
Oh, well, did you split the money?
Dominic Powell (12:07):
They gave me all the money. It was right. It
was a great gig, to be honest. I got I
was fantastic. Anyway, but on top of. Well, I suppose
as an aside to selling your skills, you can also
sell your stuff. So you can be like Jess and
you can sell a basket of pecans. Is there any
have you sold anything else like that? Jess, Is that
your best come up?
Jessica Irvine (12:25):
Sold a lot. Like I kept a spreadsheet of my
transactions and there was one year it was pre-COVID. COVID
put the brakes on my Facebook marketplace reselling business. But
I had so done in the order of 150 to.
Dominic Powell (12:39):
220 hours.
Jessica Irvine (12:40):
In the course of a year. In addition to the
pine cones. My one of my favorite ones is I
bought some fake grass for $100. It was offcuts from
like a tradie who'd been laying it on a commercial site.
And I used it to lay down just out on
my balcony, my patio. So I bought it for $100.
I used half of it, and then I sold the
remnant for $100. So it was essentially free. That's great
(13:02):
that I got that. And then my best one I did,
veering to some interesting territory of of morality issues in
terms of I would also look and get free stuff
on Facebook marketplace because sometimes people just move or they
just want something gone from their house. So you grab
it if it's good. And then I would sort of
have it in my house for a little bit. I mean,
this was how I dealt with the morality of it,
(13:23):
because it was like a painting this big Balinese batik
painting or was like a fabric thing in a nice
gold frame and a lady just wanted it gone from.
So I went and grabbed it. I had it for
a while, decided it was too big and I thought
it for 150 bucks.
Dominic Powell (13:36):
They go.
Jessica Irvine (13:37):
To.
Dominic Powell (13:38):
Someone's.
Jessica Irvine (13:39):
Trash, a bit of arbitrage.
Dominic Powell (13:40):
Versus treasure.
Jessica Irvine (13:41):
Some people think that's probably a bit dodgy, but you know,
everything has an innate value and people people perceive that
in different ways. And, you know, I did make a profit.
Dominic Powell (13:52):
And that's and that's what it's all about because it
all adds up, which is the name of the podcast.
But I think in that sort of vein, like sort
of selling like, you know, secondhand books, furniture, all that
sort of stuff is, is really, really popular these days.
And one thing that's become massive, I think, in the
past couple of years is like reselling vintage goods. Like,
I see I feel like every week there's a new
like Melbourne Instagram account, which is like, you know, selling
(14:13):
random stuff like a little, you know, porcelain tiger or
something like that. And people just go and find these
in like UPS shops and garage sales and then just
resell them. And it's like they're making quite a lot
of money off this. Like these people sell them for
a few hundred bucks and I'm sure they got them
for a lot less than that.
Jessica Irvine (14:26):
So yeah, people can develop like a neat knowledge and
go into the op shop and see the bone shine
or whatever it is, and it doesn't mean anything to me.
But there are brands, you know, and particularly with clothing,
the luxury high end brands, and they'll sort of score
the the one and then pop it on like an
eBay store and resell it. So you got it. You
got some postage costs involved in that. But if you've
(14:46):
got an eye for, you know, vintage goods, that's something
to consider. Another way of sort of moving. If you're
into clothes and you've got the luxury brands, there's a
lot of consignment sellers as well. You just kind of
Google consignment seller in your area. And so particularly if
you have sort of lived in a opulent manner, but
now you're finding your pennies, you can sort of get
(15:09):
rid of some of that stuff and not just check
it out by using consignment sales. Yeah.
Dominic Powell (15:13):
And then there's also sort of things like these sort
of falls into the similar bucket to the Uber and
Menulog and all that sort of stuff. But like renting
out your car or your car space just mentioned that.
You mentioned that you had done that, rented out your
car space for a while.
Jessica Irvine (15:28):
Yeah. And a neighbour had just said dropped a flyer
saying they needed a space. That's all. I got that.
But you can, you can post your car space on
Facebook marketplace, you know, with a dollar amount. And there's
another site called Park Hound where you can advertise car
spaces for lease and then you can also just rent
out your car. There used to be something called car
next door, which I think is now Uber Fareshare and
(15:50):
this other one's called Drive My Car, an American one
called Turo 2ur0, which is just about to launch in Australia.
So when you're not using your car, you have to
go to the office. These days they make us do that.
You can, you know, your car's just sitting at home,
you can let somebody else use it. And you know,
there's apps that sort of arrange it all. You have
to sort of think about insurances as well and make
(16:12):
sure you're properly. Covered. But, you know, thinking of what
assets you have lying around and sort of making turning
them from dormant assets into income producing.
Dominic Powell (16:20):
And I think like, you know, on the very, very
far end of the scale for that, if you if
you are lucky enough to own a home that for
whatever reason, you're not using to live in. I mean,
you could always put it on something like Airbnb, but
like I feel like that's sort of like, you know,
if you're in that position, you probably don't need a
side hustle check, which she.
Jessica Irvine (16:36):
Could check it for. But as someone who does have
that privilege, another one, if you're reducing holiday costs, is
to look at home swaps or home exchange websites.
Dominic Powell (16:44):
Trying to sell me a time such as this.
Jessica Irvine (16:47):
Yeah, we should swap homes. I can come to Melbourne
and Sydney and have holidays for free.
Dominic Powell (16:52):
In Melbourne and Sydney. Two great holiday destinations. Yes.
Jessica Irvine (16:56):
It's a bit limited. But yeah, you know, a spare
room if you've got one, you know, can become an
income producer for you if you need it, if you're not.
Dominic Powell (17:05):
And I think an important thing to think about is
like not every side hustle has to be something like new.
Like you don't have to be like creating, you know,
you have to sit down and be like, Right, what
can I do? Like, what can I sell? Or, you know,
you can just be something that you do already or
have already like, you know, a lot of people talk
about this like monetizing their hobbies. Like, you know, as
I mentioned, I do photography. Maybe one day I want
to sell prints that would be, you know, quote unquote,
(17:26):
a side hustle sort of thing. So don't like if
you are interested in doing it, don't stress yourself out
about like having to come up with something. It can
just be something you kind of do already.
Jessica Irvine (17:34):
Yeah. And but also to be aware of tax implications
so that the ATO is on to us all side,
hustling ourselves in our spare time. And you know, if
it becomes a significant source of income. So maybe you
just like making little papier maché things or something and
it's just your passion that you want people to own
your paper maché creations, that's one thing. But if you
(17:55):
go setting up a market, stall, your advertising, you have
a business name, then you might be getting yourself into
the territory of being a small business and that being
something you might need to get an ABN with. So
do just, you know, maybe talk to your accountant if
you have one, or just, you know, be mindful that
income that you earn from side hustles can in some
cases definitely be taxes.
Dominic Powell (18:15):
Yes. And sometimes it can be the case that you
might earn so much from a side hustle that it
boosts your income up over a tax bracket that could
sort of eradicate the sort of benefit you get from
the side hustle in the first place. Right. In terms
of the amount that you would end up getting taxed.
So it's something you have to sort of think about.
Jessica Irvine (18:29):
Not be diminishing it. Yeah, Yeah. But, you know, sometimes
I think what the ATO doesn't like. Okay.
Dominic Powell (18:34):
Oh, bold words. Oh, you're going to have, you know,
of Chris Jordan busting it all around in the second time.
Jessica Irvine (18:42):
I sort of figure if you all sort of selling
a few of your photographs.
Dominic Powell (18:45):
Yeah, I mean I've never declared any of my side
hustle quote, income to the ATO. So they go.
Jessica Irvine (18:52):
And I think I did interview the ATO tax time
and I asked them about my Facebook marketplace stuff and
it was not a business that I was running. I
just happened to have sold some things and bought them
some things and there was any resulting profit or loss
was not taxable. And I said, So maybe if I
became just surviving Marketplace reseller extraordinaire.
Dominic Powell (19:10):
Papa.
Jessica Irvine (19:10):
John's Inc, it would have been a thing. Yeah. So
I hope there's some ideas there. If people are sort
of needing to rustle up a little bit of extra
cash these days. You know, some of the sites we've mentioned,
you know, give it a Google. You can just Google
side hustles. But yeah, if you have some extra time
and you don't actually need that for relaxation or seeing
(19:31):
your family. Exactly. To look after yourselves, everyone, and make sure,
of course, that you're getting the pay the pay that
you deserve. And your main job would be my take out.
Dominic Powell (19:39):
Yeah. And I think the thing is like also it's
good to keep in mind that like, a side hustle
shouldn't distract you from your main job, nor should it
be like additional stress in your life, right? Like, don't
do it if it's going to make you feel crap
and like, you know, stress you out and make you worried. Like,
just only do it if it sparks joy. You know,
as Marie Kondo once.
Jessica Irvine (19:55):
Said, and if it doesn't, and if your job doesn't
spark joy, maybe spend the time looking at job that
since did. Indeed. So onto our listener question of the week,
which is from Mallika. Hi, Jess and Dominic. We recently
bought a house and when negotiating interest rates with the bank,
it would be helpful if you could provide some tips,
especially on how to structure the home loan. The fixed
(20:16):
interest rates are currently much higher than the variable rates,
and considering the cash rate hikes have slowed down a bit.
Does it make sense to still opt for a fixed rate?
What do you think?
Dominic Powell (20:27):
Still tough? I don't know. It is one of those
sort of situational things. If I was doing a home
loan right now, I would probably be sticking with a
variable rate because there is the sort of view that
the cash rate will stop rising soon and could start
dropping next year. And the great thing about being on
(20:48):
a variable rate is that if you stay on it
and you see the cash rates start to drop and
those fixed rates start to go down, you can then
make the switch pretty much whenever you want. You're free
to free to do that. So I think it's sort
of good at the moment to keep your powder dry
because you're right, there are some fixed rates out there
that are really high. And if you're going to be
on that for, you know, a year or two years
(21:09):
and then the interest rates start to drop, then you're
going to feel a bit shit. So I think that's
that's probably what I would say. But what do.
Jessica Irvine (21:15):
You. Yeah, I've always taken the view that fixing is
sort of a gamble. You're trying to figure out where
interest rates are going and the banks got a lot
of very clever people to try and figure that out,
that they'll probably win on the deal. We've just come
off a really historically unusual period where fixed rates were
lower than variable rates, and that was incredibly unusual. It
was to do with the pandemic. And so this idea
(21:37):
of fixing is sort of become very popular because you
could fix it these 1.8, 1.84%. But traditionally it is
the other way that fixed interest rates are higher than
variable interest rates. And that's because you're paying for a
bit of certainty because, you know, you just feel like
you need the certainty of knowing what the repayments will
be each month for a fixed period. And traditionally you
(21:57):
do pay a premium for that. So I think we're
back into the more normal world where that's the case.
And then whether you fixed or whether you variable, that's
sort of a personal preference as to whether you can
stand the uncertainty of you don't really know exactly what
the repayments are going to be or whether you want
to pay for the certainty to have it in. And
anything else is gambling and sort of trying to time
(22:19):
the market or figure out which one. You can also
do a little bit of both. This is I didn't
know this that you could sort of have half of
your loan fixed for some certainty, half of it variable.
You can structure that in any percentage split you want. Yes.
So just explore all those options.
Dominic Powell (22:35):
Absolutely. And just what is your budget tip for this week?
Jessica Irvine (22:38):
Yeah, this is from my friend Meredith. Hi, Meredith. She
told me about this on the weekend. If you want
a cheap holiday, particularly if you like, a bit of camping,
a bit of van camping glamping, There are some new
apps to try in Australia. So if if you do
want to grab a camper van and go around Australia,
you know, there are big retail brands that are quite expensive,
(23:01):
but there's now an app called Camp Le Phi where
you can, you know, camper van owners. You know, it's again,
it's sort of a side hustle for them. They pop
on their camper van. They're not using at the moment
or it's a motorhome or a caravan. And then people can,
you know, rent that out from from the owner and
presumably is cheaper. I haven't used it yet. But then
so just sort of paying the retail price and then
(23:23):
you can combine that with another app called Hip Camp,
which is another online marketplace where people who have properties,
rural properties, can advertise, lease out their space. So maybe
you go, you get the camper van on camp, the FI,
and then you find a spot to go park in
the wilderness, which is just somebody who's got a property
(23:44):
they're not using. So you can combine the two and
have a lovely holiday. So I'm very much an aspiring
camper van Holiday just.
Dominic Powell (23:53):
Yeah, I'm like, I like it like unhealthily obsessed with
like people on, you know, like Tik Tok on Instagram.
Who are those like Van Life sort.
Jessica Irvine (24:00):
Of a nurse.
Dominic Powell (24:01):
Like I, I can spend, I can spend hours watching
that sort of stuff with. It's like, I don't think
I could live that way. I don't think I could
live in like a tiny van, but like watching the
when the fact that I can and I've got like,
you know, spices hidden underneath the stove or something like that,
it's yeah. And it's all like, perfectly like bento box
sort of, you know, shoved into place. That sort of
stuff fascinates me. So maybe I'll go and go and,
(24:23):
you know, live my best van. Life fantasy, if you.
Jessica Irvine (24:25):
Like my life. Yeah. Give it a try. And then
if it's not you.
Dominic Powell (24:28):
If I, if I call into the podcast next week
from a van, you'll know.
Jessica Irvine (24:31):
I'll, I'll praise that and admire that in you. Yeah.
Dominic Powell (24:35):
As we should.
Jessica Irvine (24:36):
Yes, we should celebrate. You know, it's good to talk
to you again next week.
Dominic Powell (24:40):
Yes. Thanks everyone for joining us. Say, let it. This
episode of It All Adds Up was produced by Julia Carr,
Cat Soul. The information discussed is general in nature and
does not take into account your personal financial situation, goals
or objectives. You should always do your own research or
(25:01):
get professional advice before making any major financial decisions. If
you like today's episode, hit follow a new podcast app.
Leave a review and recommend it to all your friends.
You can also submit your list of questions in text
or audio form. AT It all adds up at 9:00
PM today. Thanks for listening.
Hello and welcome to It All Adds Up the podcast
where we chat about money, how to get it, how
to spend it and how to invest it. I'm senior
economics writer Jess Irvine.
Dominic Powell (00:15):
And I'm money editor Dom Powell. And today we're talking
about the great world of side hustles.
Jessica Irvine (00:20):
It makes me tired just thinking about it. I see.
Dominic Powell (00:22):
Well, exactly. We already do enough work, you know, real hustling.
Who's who has time for hustling any? Well, apparently a
lot of people, they're very popular things to do. You
see a lot of people these days with a little
side hobbies and other little ways to to earn a
bit of money on the side. Yes. If you ever
had a side hustle, something you'd categorize as a side hustle.
Jessica Irvine (00:38):
Yeah, I have had many I'm excited about this topic
because just the idea that you can make money in
your spare time only recently occurred to me and in
ways that you wouldn't necessarily I haven't set up an
online business or anything, but in terms of selling stuff
on Facebook Marketplace, renting out my car space, I've done
a few of those things. I made about 300 bucks
(00:59):
a month, I think, by renting out my car space,
just pretty good street instead, you know, and I'm not
particularly I'm not in the CBD or anything. I just thought, Oh,
that's easy. Money doesn't matter to me if I park
on the street. Hmm. Yeah. What about you, dummy? You're
a hustler.
Dominic Powell (01:12):
Look, I think, like, if I'd thought about it, like,
I wouldn't categorize myself as, like, someone with the side hustle. But, like,
in the past, I've definitely done little things, like, beside that,
that have. That have saved. They have made me money. Like,
this is like super nerdy, which is like, really made
us like, baring all. But I used to be really
(01:32):
into playing like trading card games, Like you go and
Magic The Gathering. I still play them a bit these days,
but I used to like buy and sell like trading cards.
I'd like speculate on them, like I'd buy them at like,
you know, $0.50 and be like, Oh, they've gone out
to a dollar and I'd sell them for like a
dollar and all that sort of stuff. If it was,
it was fun.
Jessica Irvine (01:49):
Wow. I've never even heard of those. Yes.
Dominic Powell (01:51):
Yeah, It was like I didn't make like, I probably
made like maybe, you know, a couple hundred bucks a month, like,
I wasn't doing big bucks or anything like that. But
this is back when I was like 17 or something
like that. But yeah, I've had some I've had some
side hustles.
Jessica Irvine (02:04):
I guess that's really cool. And if it aligns with,
you know, your personal interests and you enjoy it, I
think that's yeah, I think that's perfect. Exactly. My, my
real big thing, which sort of bordered on an addiction,
was when I discovered Facebook Marketplace a couple of years ago.
And I just it just blew my mind that you
could connect with potential buyers. Like I could just post
(02:26):
anything and I'm a seller and you just, you know,
if you can navigate the wild world of is this
still available, which is the message you get through Facebook marketplace,
you know, if you need to connect with anyone as
a as a buyer and seller and you know and
you meet some wild and wonderful people that I was like,
I can I can sell anything. And yeah, you know,
we'll get to some of the things I've sold. But
(02:47):
like I sold, I went on holidays to the Highlands
and I found some really big pine cones that had
fallen from a tree and there was heaps of them
and I took about eight of them home and then
I found a wicker basket on the side of the road.
It was in good condition and I sort of styled it,
you know, these pine cones in this lovely wicker basket,
and I sold them for 45 bucks.
Dominic Powell (03:08):
That's so there you go. That's, that's an entrepreneur and mindset.
Jessica Irvine (03:11):
The crazy money bit of arbitrage.
Dominic Powell (03:14):
I think before we get into the whole thing, I'm
going to get on my soapbox for a bit. And
some would say that a podcast is a soapbox anyway,
so I'm getting on a soapbox. So then a soapbox, but.
Jessica Irvine (03:23):
I'm not going to interrupt you. Go for it.
Dominic Powell (03:25):
Is that I do have like I have like a
slight inherent issue with like the whole concept of side hustles. Like,
I feel like they've been really glamorized in like recent years,
you know, the whole idea of like, working a second effectively,
like a second job to, you know, make enough money
to get by, like, turned in to be sort of
all like, you know, you can go and work with
Uber and it's this whole sort of issue with the
(03:45):
gig economy, which I think is just sort of like
an unhealthy part of our society. Like it's sort of
inherently capitalistic, all that sort of stuff. I have a
I have a problem. And I think there's also like
a bit of like a privilege issue here where it's
like calling a second job a side hustle, which is
like the glamorized version of it, rather than just a
second job, which you need to work to get by. Like,
(04:06):
that's sort of doesn't sit right sometimes with me. But anyway,
I recognize a lot of people do it and really
enjoy the side hustle. So it's I know it's not
always bad, but I do want to recognize that there
is like a little bit of a perception issue here.
Jessica Irvine (04:19):
Yeah. I mean, the rise of insecure work. Yes, 100%
a thing. And sort of whether it's, you know, a
good thing that we have like new technologies, we can
jump on and do an Airtasker and sort of do
these and connect to work opportunities that might use our
good skills that we have. That's that might be good.
But is it a sign that, you know, you just
(04:40):
don't have a full time job that with an employer
who's committed to you and your career progression and paying
you a fair wage? And we know, of course, the
wages in Australia being backsliding, not keeping up with inflation
for a number of years. So is it a sign
of desperation that people are sort of having to now
go outside of their pay job, still do the the
full time work, but then also hustle on the side
(05:01):
just to keep? The rising cost of living. That is
a predicament a lot of people are in. That doesn't
sound very fun to me.
Dominic Powell (05:08):
No. But at the same time, I think there's a
lot of people out there who just genuinely enjoy monetizing
their hobbies and things like that. So I think there's
there's many bits of ways that you can sort of
swing it.
Jessica Irvine (05:16):
So exactly. And I think it's at least thinking through
some of the things like we're going to go through
a list of potential side hustles for you if you're interested,
just because it might spark some ideas. And, you know,
I mean, and to preface everything by saying that to
make sure that you're being paid a fair salary in
your full time job, you know, do ask for those
pay rises. I think it was that our second episode
that we did that was, you know, you can side
(05:38):
hustle yourself or you can ask for a pay rise
that might give you the equivalent if you're lucky, and
if you could negotiate anyway. But that's yeah, Before we
get into the side hustles, I do say make sure
you get paid.
Dominic Powell (05:50):
Represented, compensated fairly from your from your main place of employment.
Jessica Irvine (05:54):
And if you're not, maybe you should spend your spare
time looking at job ads and getting a new job
where you might be paid more. You know, if you're
not happy with what's happening in the in the day job.
Dominic Powell (06:03):
Indeed. But I suppose how do you how do you
define a side hustle? I mean, I feel like that's
sort of in the name, right? It's something you just
do a little bit extra on the side, right?
Jessica Irvine (06:11):
Yeah, something on the side. Just a bit of extra
cash in the pocket outside of a traditional job. Although,
you know, if you really into your side hustles, they
can grow into small businesses.
Dominic Powell (06:21):
Absolutely.
Jessica Irvine (06:21):
That might be a future career for you. So but
I'm open to the idea of doing some things on
the side.
Dominic Powell (06:27):
Yeah. And I think we all do at some point
in our life, do a little bit of extra something
on the side, like, you know, even if it may
not be something that you think as it would be
a side hustle, but maybe you've just made a little
bit of cash doing, you know, whatever. You sold some
pinecones in a basket.
Jessica Irvine (06:43):
On the pine cone, retail.
Dominic Powell (06:44):
Pinecone. Right. So this is just as the job title
after a journalist and an economist who's also a pine
cone retailer.
Jessica Irvine (06:50):
Add that to the business cards. So we thought you
can basically divide side hustles into two broad types of
categories which we'll sketch out for you. This is my methodology, Tom.
I hope you're on board with it. You can either sell,
sell your skills and time or sell your stuff or
rent your stuff. So sell your skills, sell your stuff.
(07:12):
And I thought we might start with sort of listing
out for people. If you're interested in getting a side hustle,
selling your skills, you know, and your labor on the side,
what are some of the the best ones. 30, Right?
Dominic Powell (07:25):
Yeah. Well, I was like, you know, as we've sort
of just mentioned before, there's been a massive rise over
the past sort of decade, I guess, in terms of
these gig economy companies like Uber, Ubereats, DoorDash, Menulog, know, Deliveroo, RPA, Deliveroo,
you were too good for this Earth, or at least
too good for Australia, apparently, and Airtasker and all those
sort of things where you can go and, you know,
deliver food to people or pick people up and or,
(07:47):
you know, deliver someone's couch to them or help them
nail some nails into a wall. I don't know how
handyman work, but that sort of stuff like the you know,
there's lots of there's lots of like sort of things
where you can sell you sell your skills in that sense.
Jessica Irvine (08:01):
Yeah. And some of those are sort of what you
would consider lower skills, like you just your skills that
you can drive a car and you have some spare
time and you're willing to do that. But I think
Airtasker is fascinating, like the sorts of things, the jobs
that can be posted on there. And again, it is
that sort of wonders of technology and being able to
connect us. And if you've got something to sell, just
doing it in a more direct way. So yeah, Itasca
(08:24):
as well, you know, but that can work for you too.
You know, you're great at sort of, I don't know,
what are you great at?
Dominic Powell (08:29):
What am I going I'm great at? You know, being
a being a good friend.
Jessica Irvine (08:35):
Not being a good friend.
Dominic Powell (08:36):
No, I I'm as a one of my hobbies is photography,
which is something I do on the side. But like, I.
I would never be able to I don't think I
would be able to actually monetize that. Like, I don't
think I'm good.
Jessica Irvine (08:47):
I can you could probably go on Airtasker and say,
I'll be your friend for the day. That's it. A
hundred bucks, you know, that's what I'm a great, caring,
warm person. There are lonely people out.
Dominic Powell (08:58):
There, but I wouldn't $100. I'm not doing that for
a whole day. $400. Okay. Yeah, I'm going to need more.
I'm going to be more conversation than that.
Jessica Irvine (09:05):
Well, you can you know, you can test the market.
Dominic Powell (09:08):
Inside of this to get to like all of this,
to get into like the realm of like, escort, like,
you know, So I think, well, maybe, maybe, maybe we
get a little too close to the sun here.
Jessica Irvine (09:18):
Keep it legal. Yeah, that would be advice. Yeah, but
I love that, you know, monetizing your hobbies, whether it's,
you know, you're great at drawing or sketching, and particularly
with photography, you can sell prints. And I like to
talk about the sort of difference between side hustle and
passive income. If it's something that, you know, you, you
are producing great artwork and you can sell reprints of,
(09:41):
you know, one that you've done the work once you've
taken the gorgeous photo, but you're selling prints of it,
that's almost it. You know, there's delivery costs or whatever,
but it's a more passive thing where you've not taking
a new picture every time. I think that's a great idea. And,
you know, people get on mentioned Airtasker, you know eBay
you can sell arts and crafts Etsy everyone can have an.
(10:02):
See store. Now that seems to make it really easy.
And moving into the world of like digital products, you know,
which is a little bit more passive, as we say.
You know, particularly on Etsy is one where you can sell,
you know, get paid for like you're the specialist in this.
So you write a small, you know, ten page PDF
on get started on whatever it is, which is sort
(10:24):
of like an alternative to traditional book publishing. And then
once you've done it, every download is, you know, passive
income for you. And as you know, I'm into a
bit of budgeting and lots of people sell templates and spreadsheets.
You know, here's my net worth tracker. I can make
quite sizable passive incomes from having produced that intellectual property
(10:44):
and just pop it online and see if it flies.
Dominic Powell (10:46):
Well, you can write a book called Money with Jess,
and you can sell that in every good bookstore.
Jessica Irvine (10:51):
I haven't told you this, but last night I won
an award. Oh, yeah.
Dominic Powell (10:55):
Congratulation.
Jessica Irvine (10:56):
Thank you. Book of the Year by the Australian Business Awards. So, yeah.
There you go.
Dominic Powell (11:02):
Let's see if you. If your side hustle is good enough,
you can win an award for it. You.
Jessica Irvine (11:06):
Exactly. I'm really proud of that, actually. Yeah. You should decide.
Dominic Powell (11:13):
And lastly, I guess, like, you know, you can sort
of take yourself back to when you were when you
were younger and, you know, when everyone used to be
a babysitter or dogs today. And that's something you can
do these days as well. You know, you can put
an ad on a local noticeboard or on your local
Facebook community group, a good common network or whatever they
are these days where you can offer, you know, babysitting, house, sitting,
(11:34):
pet sitting, lawn mowing city guides, or another very popular
one for that that people do quite a bit. So
these are these are all all options that are a
good way to get a little bit of extra cash
in the pocket.
Jessica Irvine (11:45):
Yeah. My first job was lawn mowing lawns and we
just and my brother also used to mow lawns and
we got in the publishing business and just did some
flyers and dropped them around letterboxes in the local neighborhood.
That is still a legit option.
Dominic Powell (11:58):
My first job was the paper on which my parents
used to help me with because it was in a
rural area and it was way too big for me
to do by myself.
Jessica Irvine (12:05):
Oh, well, did you split the money?
Dominic Powell (12:07):
They gave me all the money. It was right. It
was a great gig, to be honest. I got I
was fantastic. Anyway, but on top of. Well, I suppose
as an aside to selling your skills, you can also
sell your stuff. So you can be like Jess and
you can sell a basket of pecans. Is there any
have you sold anything else like that? Jess, Is that
your best come up?
Jessica Irvine (12:25):
Sold a lot. Like I kept a spreadsheet of my
transactions and there was one year it was pre-COVID. COVID
put the brakes on my Facebook marketplace reselling business. But
I had so done in the order of 150 to.
Dominic Powell (12:39):
220 hours.
Jessica Irvine (12:40):
In the course of a year. In addition to the
pine cones. My one of my favorite ones is I
bought some fake grass for $100. It was offcuts from
like a tradie who'd been laying it on a commercial site.
And I used it to lay down just out on
my balcony, my patio. So I bought it for $100.
I used half of it, and then I sold the
remnant for $100. So it was essentially free. That's great
(13:02):
that I got that. And then my best one I did,
veering to some interesting territory of of morality issues in
terms of I would also look and get free stuff
on Facebook marketplace because sometimes people just move or they
just want something gone from their house. So you grab
it if it's good. And then I would sort of
have it in my house for a little bit. I mean,
this was how I dealt with the morality of it,
(13:23):
because it was like a painting this big Balinese batik
painting or was like a fabric thing in a nice
gold frame and a lady just wanted it gone from.
So I went and grabbed it. I had it for
a while, decided it was too big and I thought
it for 150 bucks.
Dominic Powell (13:36):
They go.
Jessica Irvine (13:37):
To.
Dominic Powell (13:38):
Someone's.
Jessica Irvine (13:39):
Trash, a bit of arbitrage.
Dominic Powell (13:40):
Versus treasure.
Jessica Irvine (13:41):
Some people think that's probably a bit dodgy, but you know,
everything has an innate value and people people perceive that
in different ways. And, you know, I did make a profit.
Dominic Powell (13:52):
And that's and that's what it's all about because it
all adds up, which is the name of the podcast.
But I think in that sort of vein, like sort
of selling like, you know, secondhand books, furniture, all that
sort of stuff is, is really, really popular these days.
And one thing that's become massive, I think, in the
past couple of years is like reselling vintage goods. Like,
I see I feel like every week there's a new
like Melbourne Instagram account, which is like, you know, selling
(14:13):
random stuff like a little, you know, porcelain tiger or
something like that. And people just go and find these
in like UPS shops and garage sales and then just
resell them. And it's like they're making quite a lot
of money off this. Like these people sell them for
a few hundred bucks and I'm sure they got them
for a lot less than that.
Jessica Irvine (14:26):
So yeah, people can develop like a neat knowledge and
go into the op shop and see the bone shine
or whatever it is, and it doesn't mean anything to me.
But there are brands, you know, and particularly with clothing,
the luxury high end brands, and they'll sort of score
the the one and then pop it on like an
eBay store and resell it. So you got it. You
got some postage costs involved in that. But if you've
(14:46):
got an eye for, you know, vintage goods, that's something
to consider. Another way of sort of moving. If you're
into clothes and you've got the luxury brands, there's a
lot of consignment sellers as well. You just kind of
Google consignment seller in your area. And so particularly if
you have sort of lived in a opulent manner, but
now you're finding your pennies, you can sort of get
(15:09):
rid of some of that stuff and not just check
it out by using consignment sales. Yeah.
Dominic Powell (15:13):
And then there's also sort of things like these sort
of falls into the similar bucket to the Uber and
Menulog and all that sort of stuff. But like renting
out your car or your car space just mentioned that.
You mentioned that you had done that, rented out your
car space for a while.
Jessica Irvine (15:28):
Yeah. And a neighbour had just said dropped a flyer
saying they needed a space. That's all. I got that.
But you can, you can post your car space on
Facebook marketplace, you know, with a dollar amount. And there's
another site called Park Hound where you can advertise car
spaces for lease and then you can also just rent
out your car. There used to be something called car
next door, which I think is now Uber Fareshare and
(15:50):
this other one's called Drive My Car, an American one
called Turo 2ur0, which is just about to launch in Australia.
So when you're not using your car, you have to
go to the office. These days they make us do that.
You can, you know, your car's just sitting at home,
you can let somebody else use it. And you know,
there's apps that sort of arrange it all. You have
to sort of think about insurances as well and make
(16:12):
sure you're properly. Covered. But, you know, thinking of what
assets you have lying around and sort of making turning
them from dormant assets into income producing.
Dominic Powell (16:20):
And I think like, you know, on the very, very
far end of the scale for that, if you if
you are lucky enough to own a home that for
whatever reason, you're not using to live in. I mean,
you could always put it on something like Airbnb, but
like I feel like that's sort of like, you know,
if you're in that position, you probably don't need a
side hustle check, which she.
Jessica Irvine (16:36):
Could check it for. But as someone who does have
that privilege, another one, if you're reducing holiday costs, is
to look at home swaps or home exchange websites.
Dominic Powell (16:44):
Trying to sell me a time such as this.
Jessica Irvine (16:47):
Yeah, we should swap homes. I can come to Melbourne
and Sydney and have holidays for free.
Dominic Powell (16:52):
In Melbourne and Sydney. Two great holiday destinations. Yes.
Jessica Irvine (16:56):
It's a bit limited. But yeah, you know, a spare
room if you've got one, you know, can become an
income producer for you if you need it, if you're not.
Dominic Powell (17:05):
And I think an important thing to think about is
like not every side hustle has to be something like new.
Like you don't have to be like creating, you know,
you have to sit down and be like, Right, what
can I do? Like, what can I sell? Or, you know,
you can just be something that you do already or
have already like, you know, a lot of people talk
about this like monetizing their hobbies. Like, you know, as
I mentioned, I do photography. Maybe one day I want
to sell prints that would be, you know, quote unquote,
(17:26):
a side hustle sort of thing. So don't like if
you are interested in doing it, don't stress yourself out
about like having to come up with something. It can
just be something you kind of do already.
Jessica Irvine (17:34):
Yeah. And but also to be aware of tax implications
so that the ATO is on to us all side,
hustling ourselves in our spare time. And you know, if
it becomes a significant source of income. So maybe you
just like making little papier maché things or something and
it's just your passion that you want people to own
your paper maché creations, that's one thing. But if you
(17:55):
go setting up a market, stall, your advertising, you have
a business name, then you might be getting yourself into
the territory of being a small business and that being
something you might need to get an ABN with. So
do just, you know, maybe talk to your accountant if
you have one, or just, you know, be mindful that
income that you earn from side hustles can in some
cases definitely be taxes.
Dominic Powell (18:15):
Yes. And sometimes it can be the case that you
might earn so much from a side hustle that it
boosts your income up over a tax bracket that could
sort of eradicate the sort of benefit you get from
the side hustle in the first place. Right. In terms
of the amount that you would end up getting taxed.
So it's something you have to sort of think about.
Jessica Irvine (18:29):
Not be diminishing it. Yeah, Yeah. But, you know, sometimes
I think what the ATO doesn't like. Okay.
Dominic Powell (18:34):
Oh, bold words. Oh, you're going to have, you know,
of Chris Jordan busting it all around in the second time.
Jessica Irvine (18:42):
I sort of figure if you all sort of selling
a few of your photographs.
Dominic Powell (18:45):
Yeah, I mean I've never declared any of my side
hustle quote, income to the ATO. So they go.
Jessica Irvine (18:52):
And I think I did interview the ATO tax time
and I asked them about my Facebook marketplace stuff and
it was not a business that I was running. I
just happened to have sold some things and bought them
some things and there was any resulting profit or loss
was not taxable. And I said, So maybe if I
became just surviving Marketplace reseller extraordinaire.
Dominic Powell (19:10):
Papa.
Jessica Irvine (19:10):
John's Inc, it would have been a thing. Yeah. So
I hope there's some ideas there. If people are sort
of needing to rustle up a little bit of extra
cash these days. You know, some of the sites we've mentioned,
you know, give it a Google. You can just Google
side hustles. But yeah, if you have some extra time
and you don't actually need that for relaxation or seeing
(19:31):
your family. Exactly. To look after yourselves, everyone, and make sure,
of course, that you're getting the pay the pay that
you deserve. And your main job would be my take out.
Dominic Powell (19:39):
Yeah. And I think the thing is like also it's
good to keep in mind that like, a side hustle
shouldn't distract you from your main job, nor should it
be like additional stress in your life, right? Like, don't
do it if it's going to make you feel crap
and like, you know, stress you out and make you worried. Like,
just only do it if it sparks joy. You know,
as Marie Kondo once.
Jessica Irvine (19:55):
Said, and if it doesn't, and if your job doesn't
spark joy, maybe spend the time looking at job that
since did. Indeed. So onto our listener question of the week,
which is from Mallika. Hi, Jess and Dominic. We recently
bought a house and when negotiating interest rates with the bank,
it would be helpful if you could provide some tips,
especially on how to structure the home loan. The fixed
(20:16):
interest rates are currently much higher than the variable rates,
and considering the cash rate hikes have slowed down a bit.
Does it make sense to still opt for a fixed rate?
What do you think?
Dominic Powell (20:27):
Still tough? I don't know. It is one of those
sort of situational things. If I was doing a home
loan right now, I would probably be sticking with a
variable rate because there is the sort of view that
the cash rate will stop rising soon and could start
dropping next year. And the great thing about being on
(20:48):
a variable rate is that if you stay on it
and you see the cash rates start to drop and
those fixed rates start to go down, you can then
make the switch pretty much whenever you want. You're free
to free to do that. So I think it's sort
of good at the moment to keep your powder dry
because you're right, there are some fixed rates out there
that are really high. And if you're going to be
on that for, you know, a year or two years
(21:09):
and then the interest rates start to drop, then you're
going to feel a bit shit. So I think that's
that's probably what I would say. But what do.
Jessica Irvine (21:15):
You. Yeah, I've always taken the view that fixing is
sort of a gamble. You're trying to figure out where
interest rates are going and the banks got a lot
of very clever people to try and figure that out,
that they'll probably win on the deal. We've just come
off a really historically unusual period where fixed rates were
lower than variable rates, and that was incredibly unusual. It
was to do with the pandemic. And so this idea
(21:37):
of fixing is sort of become very popular because you
could fix it these 1.8, 1.84%. But traditionally it is
the other way that fixed interest rates are higher than
variable interest rates. And that's because you're paying for a
bit of certainty because, you know, you just feel like
you need the certainty of knowing what the repayments will
be each month for a fixed period. And traditionally you
(21:57):
do pay a premium for that. So I think we're
back into the more normal world where that's the case.
And then whether you fixed or whether you variable, that's
sort of a personal preference as to whether you can
stand the uncertainty of you don't really know exactly what
the repayments are going to be or whether you want
to pay for the certainty to have it in. And
anything else is gambling and sort of trying to time
(22:19):
the market or figure out which one. You can also
do a little bit of both. This is I didn't
know this that you could sort of have half of
your loan fixed for some certainty, half of it variable.
You can structure that in any percentage split you want. Yes.
So just explore all those options.
Dominic Powell (22:35):
Absolutely. And just what is your budget tip for this week?
Jessica Irvine (22:38):
Yeah, this is from my friend Meredith. Hi, Meredith. She
told me about this on the weekend. If you want
a cheap holiday, particularly if you like, a bit of camping,
a bit of van camping glamping, There are some new
apps to try in Australia. So if if you do
want to grab a camper van and go around Australia,
you know, there are big retail brands that are quite expensive,
(23:01):
but there's now an app called Camp Le Phi where
you can, you know, camper van owners. You know, it's again,
it's sort of a side hustle for them. They pop
on their camper van. They're not using at the moment
or it's a motorhome or a caravan. And then people can,
you know, rent that out from from the owner and
presumably is cheaper. I haven't used it yet. But then
so just sort of paying the retail price and then
(23:23):
you can combine that with another app called Hip Camp,
which is another online marketplace where people who have properties,
rural properties, can advertise, lease out their space. So maybe
you go, you get the camper van on camp, the FI,
and then you find a spot to go park in
the wilderness, which is just somebody who's got a property
(23:44):
they're not using. So you can combine the two and
have a lovely holiday. So I'm very much an aspiring
camper van Holiday just.
Dominic Powell (23:53):
Yeah, I'm like, I like it like unhealthily obsessed with
like people on, you know, like Tik Tok on Instagram.
Who are those like Van Life sort.
Jessica Irvine (24:00):
Of a nurse.
Dominic Powell (24:01):
Like I, I can spend, I can spend hours watching
that sort of stuff with. It's like, I don't think
I could live that way. I don't think I could
live in like a tiny van, but like watching the
when the fact that I can and I've got like,
you know, spices hidden underneath the stove or something like that,
it's yeah. And it's all like, perfectly like bento box
sort of, you know, shoved into place. That sort of
stuff fascinates me. So maybe I'll go and go and,
(24:23):
you know, live my best van. Life fantasy, if you.
Jessica Irvine (24:25):
Like my life. Yeah. Give it a try. And then
if it's not you.
Dominic Powell (24:28):
If I, if I call into the podcast next week
from a van, you'll know.
Jessica Irvine (24:31):
I'll, I'll praise that and admire that in you. Yeah.
Dominic Powell (24:35):
As we should.
Jessica Irvine (24:36):
Yes, we should celebrate. You know, it's good to talk
to you again next week.
Dominic Powell (24:40):
Yes. Thanks everyone for joining us. Say, let it. This
episode of It All Adds Up was produced by Julia Carr,
Cat Soul. The information discussed is general in nature and
does not take into account your personal financial situation, goals
or objectives. You should always do your own research or
(25:01):
get professional advice before making any major financial decisions. If
you like today's episode, hit follow a new podcast app.
Leave a review and recommend it to all your friends.
You can also submit your list of questions in text
or audio form. AT It all adds up at 9:00
PM today. Thanks for listening.
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