There’s a huge problem with side hustles: these hustles aren’t passive income. These are part-time jobs with a pretty name. You’re doing exactly what it states: hustling — trying to make a buck in your free time instead of focusing on the job you have or your education.
Young investors especially have an issue. If you’re working part-time jobs in between going to university or college or even high school, you don’t have time to organize a side hustle. Who has time to start making jewelry every night after writing an essay? That’s exhausting.
Instead, there’s an easy way to create some passive income that doesn’t cost you a cent to start. What’s more, it’s super fun and even involves scrolling on your phone to make it work.
Get into Printful
Printful is a space where you can design products and sell them through ebay, Etsy, or even Amazon. You could simply go on and choose some designs that you think could work, deciding that perhaps a t-shirt is the best route. But do just a touch of leg work, and you could make a killing.
First, go to Etsy or Amazon and seek out trending products. These might end up being sweaters in hot pink from the popularity of Barbie or something. It really doesn’t matter. But what you can view is how many products have been sold by that seller of this one product and how much it’s going for.
In the case of a sweater, it might sell for around $40. If that person has sold around 2,000 of those sweaters (again, it’s a popular product), that’s $80,000. That adds up to $6,667 each month!
Of course, it’s important to note you’re not likely to make that much. You’re going to need to make a lot of products, seek out trending topics in your downtime, and then create a design through Printful and sell it through Amazon or Etsy.
But here’s the thing, once you’ve done the easy (and free) leg work, you can sit back and relax. You’re done. If you have a weekend to do this, do it. Then you could be rolling in it!
Don’t stop there
Let’s say you’re now making a steady passive-income stream from Printful without doing much, and it’s great! But you don’t have to stop there. In fact, you shouldn’t! Instead, consider investing that cash long-term, at least in part. You’ll certainly want to celebrate with at least some of your earnings.
Let’s say you decide to max out your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) through this method. You then invest in a safe and stable high-yield dividend stock such as Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Bank stocks are safe in Canada thanks to provisions for loan losses, and TD stock has a diversified portfolio that spans the globe. It’s even one of the top 10 banks in the United States!
If you were to max out your contributions, you would also receive dividend income on top of your passive-income stream. If you were to invest $6,500 in your TFSA this year, and $8,000 in your RRSP, here’s how much that could bring in from TD stock.
| COMPANY | RECENT PRICE | NUMBER OF SHARES | DIVIDEND | TOTAL PAYOUT | FREQUENCY |
| TD | $85.25 | 170 | $3.84 | $653 | Quarterly |
As you can see, in just the first year, from a $14,500 investment, you could be bringing in another $653. And that’s without including returns!
Bottom line
There are numerous ways to make passive income, and I firmly believe there are always new and changing ways to make money — especially money that’s easy to make. So, don’t waste your time, patience, and even money on side hustles. Instead, create an easy passive-income stream and invest.
