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Life has a habit of throwing you a curve ball when you least expect it, right? I guess we can take solace in knowing that those instances happen randomly. Like, there’s nothing you can physically do to keep unforeseen, terrible situations at arm’s length.
That’s why we get so frustrated when we draw the short straw in situations we have some degree of control over.
Prime example: uni timetables.
It differs depending on how your institution handles the planning of thousands of lectures and tutorials, but over the course of your academic career, you’re going to get a doozy. That means you’re going to have to cop heading into uni for a 9AM lecture, have nothing on for HOURS, and have your last class at 5PM.
Sure, you can use that time to, y’know, study, but given how much time you have at your disposal, you’re probably going to be on top of all your work ASAP.
So, let’s get you hooked up with a few ways to pass those patches of time. Oh, and they’ll help you make a few dollars too, because you’re a uni student and you probs need a few injections of cash, right?
#1. BECOME A (SIDE) HUSTLER
Aight, we’re going to get the ambiguous option outta the way first – why not work on your side hustle? Going on the assumption that you’ve been gifted with a brilliantly entrepreneurial mindset, we imagine you’ve got a fab idea for a disruptive business up your sleeve, right? Or, at the very least, have toyed with the idea of making millions off something that’s your own creation.
Unfortunately, this is where the ambiguous comes into play for this option. We can’t exactly tell you how to proceed with getting that fab idea off the ground if we’re not clued-in on what that idea is.
What direction we can give you, however, is to continue your research roll (that you’ve probably been doing on your course work hours before) to see what competition, if any, is out there.
#2. NOTE A DIFFERENCE TO YOUR INCOME
Y’know how you have to make notes in uni? Like, a lot of notes? Well, some very clever / sensible gents from Sydney thought people might buy good notes from others so they can improve their marks. As luck would have it, they were right.
Nexus Notes is a platform for current or past uni students to buy ‘n sell notes they’ve taken for specific units. You upload whatever you’ve taken down during tutes as well as lectures and then they review them to ensure they’re of a high enough quality. If they get the tick of approval, they’ll be uploaded to the site for everyone to purchase.
So, how well does it pay? The structure itself is awesome – notes cost $35 to purchase, and you get 50% of that ($17.50). That’s $17.50 every time someone purchases your notes. Yup, it could be a very lucrative cash cow if your notes are the best thing since sliced bread.
#3. FREE(LANCE) YOURSELF FROM DEBT
FYI: freelancing platforms are quickly becoming recruitment avenues for the next generation of talented folks like yourself. So, regardless of what you’re studying, you should be dabbling in it – it could lead to securing a job straight outta uni, and wouldn’t that be nice? Not to mention that freelancing offers you a way to sharpen the skills you’re learning in your degree / life, develop a portfolio, and make some cash on the side.
There’s two ways of tackling freelancing – the first is for people who are just entering the market, and the second if for those with more experience / an established portfolio.
OPTION A)
Depending on where you’re at in your degree / life, your skills to produce quality work might be a bit limited (which will obviously disappear as you progress), some of y’all might have to start of doing easier jobs that pay a bit less. The perfect platform to do this is Fiverr.
Fiverr is designed to link people who need small, quick jobs done with talented folks to complete ’em. Because of the type of work, a lot of the jobs are charged at $5 (hence the name Fiverr) – but most of them pay more than that. Even the jobs charged out for a few pennies are worthwhile picking up as they’re easy to turn around fast, and are great for quickly developing a portfolio.
OPTION B)
If you’re super talented human with a solid portfolio and looking for more lucrative opportunities, there’s a plethora of freelancing platforms available for you. The reason you need more of a backing behind you is because you’ll be competing for work against humans who are already in the field / making a genuine income from these platforms / have years of experience behind them. Additionally, huge businesses are utilising these platforms to outsource work for a leaner cost rather than hiring someone internally.
Don’t let that discourage you, though – people can always recognise good work. So if you’re brilliant at what you do, check out: Upwork, Toptal, Freelancer, Guru or Demand Media.
#4. SURVEY YOUR OPTIONS
Completing surveys for different platforms is a tried ‘n tested way of making some cash on the side. A lot of them, however, provide renumeration in the form of gift vouchers, so if you’re chasing cash then this might not be the best avenue for you.
Unfortunately the rumours are also true: they don’t pay explosively well, and you have to do quite a bit to even see a single penny. Then again, completing them won’t require a degree in biochemistry, so if you’re after a mind-numbing task to do before your 5PM economics lecture then this could be for you.
If you’re keen, then have a look at the following sites: My Opinions, Global Test Market, Mint Surveys, Rewards Central, Valued Opinions and Opinion World.
Look, those offensively long breaks can seem like the worst thing in the world, but as you can see, if you play your cards right you could actually stand to make quite a bit of coin.
While you’re thinking about making money effectively, give some consideration to spending it more effectively (’cause those broke uni feels can be REAL). Pay less so you can live more by visiting Officeworks HERE.
Photo: Legally Blonde.
