One of the main parts of college that people fail to mention, is how empty your bank account becomes. Which leaves students wondering how they can stay afloat with the cost of living, food, weekend fun, and above all the hefty tuition. Two words: side hustle.
For those who may not know, a side hustle is a way to make some extra cash that allows you the flexibility to focus on school, work, your main job, or whatever else you do in your free time. Whether it’s selling clothes or manning a paper route, there are definitely ways to scrape together some extra cash.
One pair of student’s side hustle game has taken off in the form of an instagram business. Laura Rouw and Emily Mellick, two juniors at Kansas State, started an instagram account based on their thrifted finds. They go to thrift stores around town, find the best pieces, style them as an outfit, then post them to Instagram. People then comment in a fury if they want the items and some of the items even go to bidding wars. The two girls started out as classmates, then became coworkers, and quickly realized they both loved thrifting. Rouw came up with the idea of creating an account together and their little shop has taken off from there. Starting out with just their close friends as followers, the account has continued to gain momentum and is currently at more than 750 followers. Mellick said, “I seriously love helping people find cute and unique pieces that they love and I enjoy meeting and getting to know all of our followers.” Rouw agreed that the best part of her side hustle is seeing people happy about what they get. She also said she is very open about telling people where she goes and is always happy to take them on thrift hunts.The girls try to get together at least once a week to thrift and stay up to date on posting new finds for theirfollowers. Mellick said they want to make sure “everyone has a chance to buy something that they love and is unique to their own personality.”
An easy way to make a buck selling clothes on your own without starting a mini business is through the Poshmark or Mercari app. You just upload your clothes and people can easily buy them through the app.
Another way you can start your own side gig is by becoming a campus representative. Skylar Peters is one of the campus reps for Bumble, a social media app that works for dating, friendships, and networking. There are 5 others who work with her to helppromote Bumble, which is a pretty large campus team. She works about 1-2 hours a week and is compensated based on the growth within the app at Kansas State. Her and her team hold different events and giveaways that are marketed to students. She gets to do it all on her own time which is one of the best parts. When asked for advice on how to snag a campus rep job, Peters said, “nowadays, social media is very important for how people and companies look into other people. They want to see how you represent yourself and how you would portray their company.” She said she has loved working as a campus rep and highly suggests it for people looking for an extra gig. Some other places you could be a campus rep for are Insomnia Cookies, the Squirrelit App, PINK (by Victoria’s Secret), and more.
Finally, if you want to get old school, you could start a paper route. Alexander Hulsing, a junior at Kansas State, began as a paper boy at the beginning of this semester. His routes run in the early mornings before class from around 6-7am. He works Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for an hour and gets $20 per route which gives him an extra $120 every two weeks to spend on groceries or weekend activities. On advice for future side hustlers, Hulsing said, “pick something that works with your schedule and something that won’t drive you absolutely insane.” Since the shift is so early, it gives Hulsing time to get back home, make breakfast, do homework, or hit the rec center.
There are plenty of ways to earn that extra buck whether it’s thrifting for days, slugging papers, repping an app, or anything else. Whatever it is, find your niche and go for it and always remember to hustle!
