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Aussie dad earning $4,000 a month with in-demand side hustle: ‘Extra money’

Frank Hoyt is one of many Aussies who are working multiple jobs to supplement their income.

Tamika Seeto
·Finance Reporter
Updated ·3-min read
Left: Frank Hoyt is pictured on the right in a fluoro green shirt. Right: A spread of $100 notes.
Frank Hoyt (right) works as a panel beater and does general painting, plastering and handy work as a side hustle. (Source: Supplied/Getty)

An Aussie dad has revealed how he is earning thousands of dollars extra a month through an in-demand side hustle. More people are working multiple jobs to get by as the cost of living continues to pinch.

Frank Hoyt works as a panel beater in his regular job and travels around Australia fixing hail-damaged cars. But given the seasonal nature of his work, the 40-year-old shared he has a side hustle painting and plastering homes, along with doing general handy work.

The dad of two told Yahoo Finance he can earn an average of $4,000 extra a month through his side hustle. He said he likes the flexibility of being able to pick up work while travelling or while at home in Brisbane.

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“Once my work slows down at the area I’m at, I pick up work from Airtasker,” Hoyt said, sharing he had been doing the side hustle since 2016.

“I like to spend time with the kids when I’m home so most of the time I like to pick up the kids from school or drop them off. You definitely can make [more], but that $4,000 a month is me trying to manage my time with the kids.”

With cost-of-living pressures and property prices skyrocketing, Hoyt said the extra work meant he could continue to save up for a home.

Frank Hoyt is pictured sanding and painting walls.
The dad said the side hustle is allowing him to continue to save up for a home. (Source: Supplied)

“These days you’ve got to work twice as hard to get somewhere. My plan is to either get a house or multiple houses to leave something for my kids,” he said.

“In general, the extra money is just good to be comfortable. It’s no longer like the olden days where you can go work somewhere for an eight-hour shift a day and everything is paid for and fine, and you can do what you want. It’s not like that. You’ve got to really work these days.”

Around 974,000 Aussies, or 6.7 per cent of employed people, are now working multiple jobs, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Women are more likely to hold down two jobs, at 7.3 per cent, compared to 6 per cent for employed men.

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Hoyt said he has noticed demand for handyperson work has “ramped up” since the pandemic, with Airtasker revealing general handyperson tasks were among the most in-demand on its platform right now.

Here are the top 5 most in-demand tasks on the platform:

  • Removalists $167

  • Residential Cleaning $190

  • General Handyperson $308

  • Gardening/Lawn Mowing $185

  • Waste Disposal Collection $157

Here are the top 5 high-paid tasks on the platform:

  • Fence Constructions - $950

  • Landscape Gardeners - $807

  • Bricklayer - $731

  • Demolition - $703

  • Painting & Painting Services - $645

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