3 Side Hustle Ideas to Finance Your Life Insurance

Money can’t buy you happiness, but having a little bit more of it to spend on your needs and wants isn’t a bad thing, either. People have different reasons why they want to earn more or grow their money—pay off accumulated debt, fund their loved ones’ healthcare expenses, or have enough to spend on their children’s education—and these financial goals help them stay on track.

If there’s one thing you should be putting your money into, though, it has to be life insurance. Not only can it protect your wealth if something bad happens to you, but your loved ones or beneficiaries can also reap the rewards of your hard-earned money and continue to live comfortably.

Understandably, you can only achieve your financial goals or pay off insurance if you have a stable inflow of cash. If you’re being paid enough in your day job, good for you! Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys a high, steady income, and some even experience setbacks like being fired or laid off. The good news is there are many ways to earn extra income.

Hustling on the Side

A side gig is extra work you can do when you have free time, though it doesn’t have to be relevant to your day job. It can be a passion for other things or a skill that you want to put to good use. Filipino professionals, especially yuppies, can bring in bigger bucks for better income flow to fund their insurance through side gigs.

The best part about side hustles is, unlike your 9-to-5, it’s very scalable. You can get more work if you have the time and energy, and scale back if you need to focus on other aspects of your life. Here are some side hustle ideas for the financially savvy professional who wants to pay off their life insurance. 

1. Freelancing and/or Professional or Trade Skill Services
   
   A freelancer, otherwise known as a self-employed worker, has no long-term commitments to an employer and usually works on a per-project or contractual basis. The Philippine business climate has many workers who build their whole careers as full-time freelancers, so much so that some are already earning somewhere between P10,000 to P100,000 per month.
   
   Just like with a regular job, you have a chance of getting bigger payouts and more clients if you consistently deliver a high quality of work. Of course, you’d need to improve your skills continuously to do that.
   
   However, don’t forget to correctly charge your clients for your services without being abrasive. Though P10,000 is more than enough to pay for your premiums in a month, you’ll want to get more in case you don’t get enough work for the next few months.
   
   Freelancing opportunities in the country include such industries:
   
   • Creative writing, editing, data entry, and transcription
   • Multimedia arts
   • Digital marketing
   • Events and promotions
   • Online tutoring
   • Administrative support and customer service
   • Web and software development
   • Accounting or auditing
   
   Aside from freelancing, you can also try your hand at trade skill services that are manual labor type of jobs like household chores, artisanal work, or craftsmanship. You can earn an additional income of about P15,000–P40,000 per month doing manual labor such as the following:
   
   
   • Home cleaning, repair, and improvement
   • Logistics services
   • Gadgets and appliance repairs
   • Food catering
     
     
2. Utilizing Sharing Economy
   
   Technology has paved the way for convenience apps that can be profitable for common folks, especially young professionals, if done correctly.
   
   For instance, you can get on board ride-sharing apps like Grab or Angkas and be a driver when you have the time. Full-time drivers can earn P30,000–P40,000 a month, so your income will depend on how frequent you’re on the road. The bad news is that you’ll probably get stuck in traffic too often.
   
   Another app or service that is highly recognized today is Airbnb. If you have a condominium or spare room in your house, you can register with Airbnb and rent it as temporary lodging. Usual customers are tourists or business travelers. Depending on the location and size, you can charge P500–P4,000 per day.
   
   In both cases, though, you need to factor in the cost of maintenance, which you’d probably get from what you earned.
   
   
3. Buy and Sell
   
   Similarly, technology has opened up better opportunities for e-commerce in the country. Online shopping has become the norm that even preowned items can now be sold here. Buy cheap but great deals and resell them. You can even visit garage sales or thrift shops that aren’t visible online.
   
   This may not be the most profitable way in this list, but as long as you’re quick on your feet and have a good eye, you can create value for your customers and expect a decent return for your efforts. Buy and sell traders usually get P10,000–P30,000 monthly.

Good Things Come to Those Who Hustle

Thanks to technology, yuppies now have more ways to earn money on the side. If you want to start hustling hard today, remember to know what kind of work you’re comfortable with and research about the market, including your possible competition and target audience.

Remember that the earlier you get the right side gig, the earlier you can finance your life insurance premiums, as well. Invest your money into something that can help you provide a better life for yourself and your family. To learn more, visit any of BPI’s 900 branches nationwide and talk to a Bancassurance Sales Executive today.