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Issue 41 · Updated 28 August 2026

What side hustles actually pay.

We test freelance gigs and side income ideas, then publish the rate, the hours, and what it cost to start. No blurry income screenshots. No passive-income fairy tales.

The rate ledger Jul 2026

Freelance writing$65/hr8$0

Bookkeeping$45/hr10$310

UGC video$250/ea5$180

Dog walking$22/walk6$0

Print-on-demand$3.40/sale4$90

Median of 612 reader-submitted invoices and payout screens, verified before publishing.
See all 27 rates →

This week

The one worth reading first

All freelancing reports

$0.11Median per word, 40 gigs

Freelancing 9 min read

I priced 40 freelance writing gigs in July. Here is where the money actually was.

Job boards pay a third of what direct clients do for the same work. I tracked every quote, every reply, and every ghost — and the pattern was uncomfortably clear by week two.

Side hustles 6 min

The $0 start: seven hustles that need nothing but your phone

Pricing 5 min

How to quote a project when the client will not name a budget

Reality check 7 min

Print-on-demand math: why a 3% margin quietly killed my store

Clients 4 min

Retainers beat hourly. Here is the exact email that landed one.

Start here

Pick by the hours you actually have

Browse everything

Evenings only

Gigs you can finish after dinner without wrecking tomorrow.

Weekend build

Enough time for repeat clients, not enough to quit anything.

Second income

Where the numbers start looking like a real second paycheck.

Going solo

Runway, rates, taxes, and the month everyone underestimates.

Free tools

Work out your own numbers

How we test

Your minimum rate

Covers unbilled hours, holiday, expenses and tax set-aside.

The rate ledger

Median pay, hours and start cost for every kind of work we track.

Invoice templates

Hourly, fixed fee, retainer, and the late payment chase.

Submit your numbers

Add what you were paid. Published anonymously, as a median.

The archive

Latest reports

Page 1 of 24

Filing taxes on side income for the first time, without panicking

Money admin Method

28 Aug · 11 min 058

The $0 start: seven hustles that need nothing but your phone

Side hustles Numbers verified

27 Aug · 6 min 057

I priced 40 freelance writing gigs in July. Here is where the money was.

Freelancing Numbers verified

26 Aug · 9 min 056

How to quote a project when the client will not name a budget

Pricing Method

25 Aug · 5 min 054

Upwork vs. cold email: which one filled the calendar faster

Client hunting Numbers verified

22 Aug · 8 min