Over the last decade, as inflation has outstripped salary growth, we have seen a significant movement towards making extra money to boost our income.
On the flip side, sometimes we want to replace our 9-5 job for something with a bit more autonomy. As a result, there are hundreds of ways to make money online or from home.
Being in a couple gives you double the availability and earning power. But, more importantly, it allows you to leverage your combined strengths as a couple. In fact, pursuing a side hustle as a couple is beneficial for many reasons.
How can making money together help strengthen your relationship?
Managing finances in a relationship can be the key to a successful relationship. Taking this one step further, making money together is an incredible way to strengthen your relationship.
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It forces you into a situation where you have to learn cooperation, patience, and understanding. Of course, we would hope that it is already present in our relationships, but it is very easy to get complacent, or maybe it is just one of the skills you need to work on.
By forcing ourselves into a co-working situation, these skills become imperative to the business’ success and the relationship’s success. You will find that you have never been pushed so hard to give and take, which trickles down into your relationship.
How can you decide which money-making idea is best for you and your partner?
I would start by sitting down and writing down all of your strengths (and probably weaknesses, too!).
That way, you can decide if there are certain areas that you thrive in that your partner may not.
For example, I love writing, and my partner doesn’t, whereas she loves organizing and managing. Together this lends itself exceptionally well to blogging as it requires creativity, planning, and organization to make the business run smoothly.
Once you have written out your combined list of strengths, run through the options of what you can do and see if any of the money-making ideas fall in line with your combined abilities!
So without further ado, here are 7 ways that you can come together to make money…
7 Ideas to make extra money together as a couple:
1. Selling clothes and your ‘stuff’ online.
This can be one of two things. Either selling what you already own on, say Ebay. Or creating things and selling them on a platform like Etsy.
For the latter, this requires someone who has a penchant for design or creativity and understands something about marketing and reaching customers. Whether it is macrame or designing art prints, both the design and the marketing will affect whether or not your items self.
2. Blogging
We live in a world where we cannot get enough information. Maybe you and your partner have traveled together, had a baby together, maybe you invest together or even work together?!
If you have a unique take on what is out there, you can attract traffic and ultimately monetize this traffic. For example, my friend gave birth to the loveliest boy, born with down syndrome. They run a blog that advises other couples in the same situation.
Before you start blogging, though, consider your unique angle, as this is the difference between just another blog and a blog that can generate traffic
3. Babysitting
This is a great one! If you are looking to have kids soon or in the future, this is an excellent warm-up for the main event. When you have kids, you see how you truly work with your partner in a relationship. You are pushed to your limits and understand the meaning of self-sacrifice quickly.
If you already have kids, then babysitting will slot into your life and, if anything, provides extra entertainment to all the kids involved.
4. Pet sitting / Dog walking
I love this option. Not only do you get paid to look after pets but, depending on the service, you can house sit while looking after the pets.
This means that you and your partner provided you are geographically flexible, get to live in the countryside for a couple of weeks or live in a high-rise in the city. As a couple, getting paid to live somewhere else while looking after animals is pretty much a dream situation.
5. Rent out your spare room
Ok, so this is not possible for everyone, but often couples will have an extra room for future kids or extra space. Renting this out to a lodger or someone in need of a workspace is a great way to make extra income.
Even better, you can rent out your extra space (even your garage) as storage. Some companies make it easy to do in an Air BnB style format. List your space, and you can get paid for storing other people’s things in unused areas of your home!
6. Start a Podcast or YouTube together
This is similar to the blog, except it is perfect for couples who are confident being seen and heard. If you think you have great chemistry and have something worth saying, then a podcast or Youtube could be a great option.
To be clear, this isn’t a ‘if you build it, they will come’ type of situation. You will still need to put in the work recording videos or podcasts and marketing. But, if you can put in regular, consistent hours, this is an incredible way to have fun with your loved one while making money!
7. Extra work (aka Supporting Artists)
This is a fun one and one that not many people know about. You can be an extra on a film set!
It’s an absurdly easy way to make money, and they are looking for couples all of the time. You need to sign with a casting agency, upload a couple of photos, and they do the rest for you. It is casual and laid-back.
You choose if you want to put yourself forward for a job. The only caveat is that you need to live near a filming studio; otherwise, it may not be worth your time.
My partner and I did this a lot (I have been on the set of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Eternals, etc.). It is great fun and well paid!
Bonus: If you have kids, you could put them forward for modeling / acting jobs
This last bonus one is in line with the previous point. Often casting agencies want kids or a family with kids. Alternatively, your baby or child could be in commercials. The agencies pay incredibly for this, and it is a fun day out. I wouldn’t recommend it with young babies, though, as it can be a long day out!
Is working with my partner a good idea?
Absolutely. Not only do you learn a lot about yourself, but it can highlight your strengths and weaknesses.
There are so many reasons why having extra income in a relationship is important and this article has hopefully given you a few ideas to think over. The best way to ensure that you make money as a couple is to find a way that speaks to you as a couple. Most importantly, just enjoy it!
Darren Hazan left the financial world after over a decade and now helps fellow millennials with investing, crypto and all things personal finance.
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