For most people, telecommuting remains a norm as we continue our lives with our work-from-home arrangements.
The current economy with high inflation has shown us how having just one income source is no longer safe.
Ask any personal finance guru how to be financially independent, and there is a good chance two words will follow: Side Hustle.
Personally, side hustles sound a little intimidating to me.
It seems like it’s something that will suck the rest of your resting hours away when you’re already half-dead from your day job.
But what if there are some that take just 30 minutes of your time?
(Well, this is on top of the money you can earn from free mobile apps.)
TL;DR: Side Hustles in Singapore You Can Do While Staying At Home
| Site | Job description | Remuneration (SGD) |
|---|---|---|
| UserTesting | Testing of Websites and Apps | $13.80 for each test, which lasts 15-20min |
| Gengo | Providing online translation services | S$28.98 to S$57.95 per assignment |
| Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStockPhoto, Getty Images | Selling photos to stock image websites | $0.14 to $8.01 per photo |
| Snapask | Ad-hoc online tutoring sessions | $1 per question answered |
| Cuisine At Home, EatingWell, Cooking for Engineers | Selling cooking recipes online | $69.01 to $350 per article |
| Quest – Hire a Hero | Adhoc errands | $3 to $360 per quest |
Disclaimer: This article is mainly for educational purpose and is not intended to be personal finance advice or recommendation. We highly encourage all readers to do your due diligence before committing yourself.
Testing of Websites and Apps
User experience has been gaining traction in recent years, and organisations are working towards becoming more customer-centric.
UserTesting is a website that lets you earn money by testing websites, prototypes, and apps. You don’t have to be a United States citizen to participate.
For this, individuals are to perform specific website tasks and navigate through certain functions (e.g. buying a particular dress) while providing real-time feedback.
While providing feedback, these reactions and thoughts will be captured as a video. What you need to do is just scroll through a website like you normally would.
Tests will be given based on age and demographics to ensure you are the right match to provide feedback.
For instance, if a shopping website is being tested, you might be asked how frequently you shop and what websites you use for shopping.
You can always accept, decline, or quit any available test, based on your comfort level, to reveal private details.
Here are some criteria you need to meet to be eligible:
- A computer that runs Windows or macOS
- A reliable internet connection (upload speed of at least 2MBps)
- A microphone, either built-in or external
- Ability to download UserTesting’s screen recorder
- You must be at least 18 years old
- Ability to speak your thoughts aloud in English or German
- Have a Paypal account
Now, how much will you get paid?
UserTesting pays US$10 (S$13.40) for each completed test and takes about 15-20 minutes each.
If invited to a Live Test, you will be required to speak with a customer and the payment will be as follows:
- US$30 for 30 minutes
- US$60 for 60 minutes
A pretty sweet deal, yeah?
Note: Payment will be received via PayPal. You won’t be paid for the practice test you submit as part of the application to join the UserTesting Contributor Network.
Read more:
Online Translation Services
Freelancing websites like Upwork and Freelancer.com offer ad-hoc translation jobs, where individuals get paid after completing a translation assignment.
For specialised translation websites, Gengo is one to be explored.
To become a Gengo translator, individuals have to sign up and go through a two-part test for an assessment of skills – a pre-test and a standard test.
Once accepted, there will be a list of jobs available, and jobs will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Translators will also have a ‘rating system’ for their translated work, and those with a higher score will have access to more jobs and higher-paying jobs.
The amount that can be earned varies greatly due to several factors such as the baseline rates in the industry, and also the language translated.
A typical rate for a translation service starts from US$0.06 per word if you’re at the standard level, and US$0.12 per word if you’re at the advanced level.
(The pro level can be taken after mastering the standard level, but the tests are more challenging and stringent.)
A typical assignment could be about 350 words, equivalent to ~US$21 to US$42 (S$28.98 to S$57.95).
You will be able to find your exact rates and the total reward amount at the top of the assignment.
Time to put your language skills to good use.
Note: Payment will be received via PayPal or Payoneer.
Selling Photos to Stock Image Websites
If you like to take photographs, consider selling your high-quality images to stock image websites!
Sites like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStockPhoto, or Getty Images allow contributors to upload their images and get paid whenever their photos are downloaded.
The sites vary in requirements, so check out what is needed to qualify.
Contributors consistently earn a percentage of these sites’ price for licensing their images.
For instance, Shutterstock pays between 15% to 40% of the price received.
Stock image websites generally pay about US$0.10 to US$5.80 (S$0.14 to S$8.01) per photo.
For top tiers such as extended or enhanced licenses, these platforms also offer more earnings per download as well.
This may not seem like a huge number, but it can be a promising side income as it requires only one upload effort and can be online for users to download.
No worries about copyright issues, too.
Websites generally allow copyright to be retained by the contributor while attaining the rights to license these content to customers.
Note: If you’re on Shutterstock, you’ll be paid at the end of each month when you reach the minimum payout amount of US$35.
Online Tutoring
You should know by now that Singapore’s tuition industry is a billion-dollar industry.
If you have relevant academic qualifications and would like to offer tuition services in the comfort of your home, this is one option.
Dubbed the ‘Uber’ for tutoring in Asia, Snapask is an online tutoring platform that allows students to ask questions and receive quick responses and answers.
Its headquarters are in Hong Kong, and it expanded to Singapore in 2015.
This website has over 3 million users, with a surge in recent months due to the COVID-19 situation, which left students stuck at home for learning.
Students can simply snap a photo of a question, and tutors can answer directly.
What is great about this is that tutors can talk to up to 10 students at once, which allows some flexibility that is more difficult to achieve through traditional tutoring.
The payment offered as compensation for answering questions is S$1 per question (or session, as the site calls it).
On top of regular earnings, Snapask has a Bonus Rocket Programme which incentivises tutors who have answered at least 200 questions, achieve an average rating of 4.8 or more, and have been favourited at least 10 times.
Snapask’s founder Timothy Yu has also mentioned that tutors in Singapore can generally earn about US$1,200 (S$1,656.22) a month for spending one to two hours per day answering questions.
Selling Cooking Recipes Online
This one’s for those who like to cook!
If you’ve got a habit of documenting your cooking recipes and #instaworthy photos, why not make some money?
A couple of online sites pay people for their food recipes!
Websites like Cuisine At Home offer US$50 (S$69.01) for food recipes or unique kitchen tips.
Another website, EatingWell, pays US$1 (S$1.38) per word. Articles typically range from 150 to 400 words, while new writers are limited to 350 words (that’s also $350!).
That said, if you’re not into writing recipes but have a knack for writing other types of content, check out Fiverr, Upwork or freelancer.sg.
Please note that these websites have guidelines to follow to ensure the ideas remain coherent and value-add their readers. EatingWell requires a brief pitch before one can score an assignment on the site.
Quest – Hire A Hero
Quest is a start-up founded by three Singapore Management University (SMU) undergraduates who wanted to help Zillienials earn an alternative source of income.
The jobs or “quests”, are grouped into the following categories: Academics, Urgent, Anything Else, Errands, Business, Research, Social & Household.
You can be a “Hero” when offering your help/service to the “Citizen” requesting the help/service.
For those who prefer staying home, you can choose requests under “Academics”, as these requests mainly require someone to help with writing or coding.
Other requests on the app range from buying food to looking for a personal trainer.
A quick scan of the app showed that job postings ranged from $3 to $360 per job (NGL, I’m quite impressed)!
While there is no sign-up fee, Quest will take a 10% service fee for each quest completed. So, choose your jobs with this in mind.
Bonus: GrabHitch
If you have a car, a driving license, and you are always driving from point-to-point, joining the GrabhHitch programme is perhaps something that may interest you.
According to Grab, the average GrabHitch fare is between $8 and $13 per pickup ($18 from East to West based on personal experience), and the company will collect up to 10 per cent platform fee on GrabHitch rides from drivers.
The best part if that you don’t have to drive regularly, you can just pick someone on your way, at your convenience.
How Much Can You Earn From Side Hustles?
Now, if an individual were to look into these websites listed above, a reasonable amount that can be earned from doing these activities every month would be:
- Testing of Websites (once a week): S$53.56 (S$13.59 per test)
- Online Tutoring (1 to 2 hours daily): S$1,656.22
- Recipe Submission (once a week): S$276.04 (S$69.01 per submission)
- Online translation (once a week): S$115.92 (S$28.98 per assignment)
Adding all these up will give us at least S$2,101.74!
Sounds pretty great as extra income, doesn’t it?
This is apart from the additional money you get if you have other income streams such as investments.
Read more:
Side Hustles You Can Do While Staying At Home
The power of the internet has allowed jobs to be done remotely at home.
So many of us are trying to look for additional ways to make money, and the ways we can do that now have expanded so much and in so many different directions.
We no longer need additional degrees or certifications to get started.
That being said, nobody should feel pressured to have side hustles just because it’s common nowadays.
But if you have an internet connection and want to earn more money, we hope that these sites can help you!