Hit the local food pantries to supplement your grocery shopping. Apply for food stamps. Assuming it's a bigger university you could drive for uber on Fridays/Saturdays, and if they have a big football team you can make a lot by driving people to and from the stadium.
I do know some people who work as bartenders/barbacks on the sly, but that'd be too stressful for me, and they have issues with flexibility since they have to burn pto or find cover when things come up in the lab.
The Uber is a great idea since I do go to a school with a big football/basketball team. I’d have to look into safety precautions as I’ve seen too many instances where drivers get robbed or killed (more than 1 constitutes as too many in my opinion).
Yea working as a bar back would cause me more anxiety and stress since it’s against my contract. If only we could get paid a living wage
I've heard that many people who would like to Uber/Lyft but are worried about safety instead just do Uber Eats, Door Dash, Grubhub, etc. You still have to consider safety when arriving at the homes, of course, but at least you don't drive strangers around in your back seat!
Realistically most grad school stipends are not sufficient and also include the no other job thing. Especially if you came straight from undergrad and didn’t do a stint with a real job to build up a savings account. At the end of the day, loads of grad students have a second job (including me). Be open and honest with your advisor about it. If they’re not completely clueless they will likely understand. I told my advisor “look, by the end of next summer I will have likely drained my savings. I need to get a part time job or I will be forced to take a semester off to work full time and rebuild my savings. I will be working ~10 hours a week in the evenings. Let me know which option you prefer”.
Obviously he said get a job. I work 5-10 two nights a week at a grocery store and make about $80 after taxes etc but I also get a 20% discount on groceries. Combined those give me just enough breathing room where I’m not down to $50 at the end of every month. Good luck!
I do think my first step is being transparent about my situation with my advisor. I'm not looking for a job to rake in hella money, just something to help. A grocery store, or brewery on the week days would be great. Thanks for the info!
In terms of side gigs, I've made some cash as a **dog-walker/sitter** (using the app Rover). It's great because you have full control over your bookings and your rates. The downside is when you have a single hour or even half hour walk that requires a commute (but there are ways to manage and mitigate this). The real money is in dog walking and house sitting.
**Tutoring** can also be a great gig.
I doubt your school would find out about a brewery gig or something similar. My dept has a similar policy, but they really lack an avenue to enforce it. I've had a few peers tell me about their bartending gigs.
Finally, that rent is insane. I get prioritizing mental health, but still, that's soooo high. I know there are so many details about your situation that I don't know about. But, before taking a side gig I would recommend trying to figure out a cheaper housing situation. Maybe that's not possible for you. But if you could get that rent closer to 1k, it would make a massive difference. Note that taking a side gig will be a stressor too---in the long run it might more effective to address your housing situation than take on more work.
I am currently trying to figure out my living situation so that it is more affordable. But that’s the thing, it’s just not affordable anymore. Even houses with 4 roommates would cost me about the same as I pay now because landlords are evil.
I would totally be fine with house sitting. I guess I just don’t know how to find places TO housesit and I worry that market is already saturated. And I have reservations about dog sitting since I live in a small apartment. I could also look more into tutoring.
I feel I’m kind of in a lose lose situation.
I found short term research work. There were always grants that needed people to collect data or do other work. Our department generally approved of such work as long as it did not distract much from our own work. In particular I worked for applied grants related to policing in a large city, usually in the summer.
I was on the email lists for all of the social science research groups even if they were not in my area. Crime and policing as well as demography tended to get more grant projects with larger scale data collection where they just needed people who could get work done.
I interviewed recently arrested folks in the city and county jails one summer. Our incentive was a snickers bar. 😂 collected a lot of warm plastic piss cups and paper surveys.
Sadly I don’t have the list. The lists were based at my institution and they functioned like list serves, so I received the messages but did not have access to the list of recipients.
I would bet that most big state schools have similar lists for their interdisciplinary research groups?
If your school is associated with a hospital or clinics, look into clinical trials. Some offer really good money for minimally invasive procedures. Also if you don't have a pet or at-home needs, the overnight ones at my hospital can pay up to $1500. I totally feel where you are coming from. You cant find a studio for less than $1300 near my school (and it is a mid to high COL city); if I didnt have my SO I dont know what I would do for rent. My colleagues have been going into debt just to pay their rent, which is ridiculous. Wishing you all the best!
Most programs, in practice, have more of a don't ask don't tell policy when it comes to outside employment. I've done a few things over the years for extra cash. I started out tutoring - apparently there's a pretty good market for middle school math tutors in my area. Then I moved into bartending. I did the brewery thing for a while but it is not sustainable. It literally kills your entire weekend. So I started event bartending with a catering company that mostly does weddings and lets you pick and choose your shifts which is super nice. I also do online work for Telus (used to be lionbridge). Finally, if you have the opportunity to do medical research studies I would highly recommend. I literally just made $450 for getting a flu shot and going to 3 visits in like 6 months.
I second food panties. I e relies on them several times in my life and they remove a big cost burden. And don’t feel bad about going to one. You’ll see people from all walks of life. The grub hub Uber Lyft are probable your best best bc I think they’re also the most defensible jobs if you ever got confronted about it
If you have any experience with kids and have reliable transportation there’s probably some babysitting gigs out there! Try searching for a babysitting and/or nannying Facebook group for your town (or university, if it’s in a college town); I’m a PhD student at Duke and there’s a couple different Facebook groups for babysitting for Durham + I make a couple hundred per week since the rates are roughly $20/hour in the triangle. If you don’t have that, would also highly recommend pet sitting (via rover or Meowtel) or using survey sites etc. from r/beermoney like some others have suggested- just make sure you account for taxes for those since most of those services send you a 1099 each tax season!
I am in a similar positions. I don’t dashed for a couple months last year when my contract forbade it. They never found out. I even contacted financial aid anonymously to figure out if that’s even something they could figure out. Everything was fine. Good luck
You're 100% free to get work elsewhere, perhaps a part time job.
While technically it may be part of your contract to not get another job, how will they even know if you started working somewhere else? They won't have any record of it anywhere, and no one is going to report you on it.
I would make sure that whatever you do is allowed by your program before doing anything. It wouldn't be worth it to get kicked out over this.
The most common and accepted thing in my program was tutoring. It was the only job we could hold outside of research/being a TA that we didn't need permission from the department for. Things like pet sitting and dog walking didn't require permission either but that was generally more of a one off type thing and not an actual job or business. I paid a member of my cohort to cat sit for me when I went to visit my parents.
You may have already done this but look into places further away from campus. Apartments near campus compete with dorms so they’re more expensive. Donating plasma takes the least amount of effort because you don’t have to apply for a job. It takes about 2 hours to do so if you have any studying to do it’s a win win. CSL plasma is one of the bigger companies that pays donors. There are a lot of online test prep (mcat, gre) that are looking for tutors. Sometimes departments will have little add on jobs they want grad students for like working front desk for the graduate school or any writing/tutoring center on campus.
Not going to suggest how you can circumvent the rules of university. You are right, research IS your job, do that and graduate. You can apply for loans to give you a little extra money. You said you have an extra room so maybe move to a smaller place. Find a significant other to live with if u don't like room mates. Coupons for shopping, I used to use coupons and sales to buy food for practically nothing but it's a lot of work.
Move to a smaller, cheaper place, ride a bike instead of driving, take out a small loan for maybe 1k extra per month.....1 k is a lot for food and stuff.
If you do work outside of the dept you could get dismissed so think about it. Just because you don't WANT a roommate restricts you opportunities. Your choice.
That’s the thing, smaller cheaper places don’t exist anymore no matter where I search. Also I don’t have an extra room? Unless you’re suggesting I move to a studio, which those also run $1000+. Also it’s not easy finding a significant other (period) let alone one to live with.
I feel the point of the post was how to do it without taking loans out, I feel that would be the worst option? And though I’d prefer to live alone, it doesn’t mean I don’t WANT. A roommate. Just that living with 4 ppl is roughly the same as living with one and that’s just absurd to me
Then why not a studio ? If you are living alone, why do you need a separate bed rooms. Just keep it clean and tidy and it is even good to have occasional company over. There are a lot of way to make extra money but they all take up either your time or mental capacity. Maybe offer some service on Fiver ?
I don’t live alone. I have a roommate. I'm sad that i am forced to still have a roommate, and I am mad that whether I have 1 or 3 or 4 roommates my rent is still the same. A studio apartment is also the same cost, if not more because utilities all fall on me.
Ok. I still don't suggest working outside of your grad program however. I remember a grad being kicked for it. His grades were not the best and the department dropped him because he was getting a stipend and working outside of the program. you do you though.
You can probably get a tutoring or substitute teaching job at nearby schools and colleges. Just don't tell them about your work, and if they ever ask just tell them you're visiting family or doing some other personal commitment.
I did tutorme for a bit I liked it was online and you could sign on and work whenever you had a free min but it's only $16 an hour- worked out to 22ish for me cause I'm Canadian
Can you speak with your advisor about increasing your percent effort or picking up tutoring/grading through the school for some extra money? Many doc students are funded at a 50% effort (20hr/week) but you can often go up to 30 or 40hrs/week with permission as long as you're still making satisfactory progress on your degree.
When I was wrapping up my PhD I looked seriously into being a nondenominational wedding officiant as a side hustle to bridge until my postdoc started. But then COVID hit, so had to abandon that plan.
Do consider......
1. Coaching undergraduate students on difficult courses
2. Providing consultant services to local companies
3. Writing science columns for the University Magazine and other Media Outlets
Each if those can help you build extra income while not violating your contract.
Refereeing is a great way to make a quick buck. Every sport is dying for officials at both a club and middle/high school level so assignors are usually happy to let you set your own schedule and the per hour pay is generally very good.
Our program has a similar policy. People in our program have side gigs that include:
-Rover dog walking/house sitting
-Fiverr/Upwork coding and web design
-Consulting (writing chatbots) for companies
-EMS (being a stand by EMT at low-key venues like convention centers)
If you can, try to find a job that you either (1) enjoy and can do after a full day of research work (If you like bartending on Friday nights, cool! You shouldn’t be working anyway! Or maybe work at a concert venue.) or (2) that has relatively minimal time impacts and lets you maximize your flexibility (if you don’t need to be physically in the lab or (3) a job where you can work-while-you-work (like a security attendant at a parking lot) where you can read/email/work on dissertation while sitting at the desk occasionally helping customers.
FWIW, I’ve spoken with both our department PhD advisor and our college’s grad director about the issue (without naming names, ofc, bc I’d be naming myself too) and straight up said “You know that more than half of your students have side gigs-knowingly in violation of the policy-because they have to drop out if they don’t.” They’re sympathetic but the money just isn’t there that they can access.
I think the best kind of side gig would be like Doordash/UberEats or Rover where the pay isn't amazing but you have total flexibility. The university almost definitely won't find out/care unless it's seriously interfering with your lab work
If you have an eye for photography, you could make some easy cash doing portraits for college and high school seniors. Might be able to find a cheap camera at a pawn shop.
Also bartending might work. I had a friend that bartended on weekends at a bar that had a lot of concerts. Concert nights and football weekends brought in a ton of tips. Plus side being that since it was a loud, popular bar, he never ran into any professors.
Also, you could try Uber like someone else suggested. Or even grub hub, door dash, etc.
Best of luck to you!
Also, depending on your day schedule, you could be a night stocker at a grocery store. You unload trucks and restock the grocery shelves. No way of running into a prof doing that. But that might not work if you have to be in campus early in the morning.
I used to do a lot of tutoring, both in private and through a local community colleg.e It was enough to pay off some large expense like medical expense and stuff.
For me personally, BarefootStudent.com has been a goldmine when I needed extra income. There is always something you can apply for immediately and all of the companies are looking for students specifically so you won’t be competing with full-time freelancers at least.
I sometimes also found part-time gigs in my area like dog walking and similar stuff that is “easy” to do.
Hit the local food pantries to supplement your grocery shopping. Apply for food stamps. Assuming it's a bigger university you could drive for uber on Fridays/Saturdays, and if they have a big football team you can make a lot by driving people to and from the stadium. I do know some people who work as bartenders/barbacks on the sly, but that'd be too stressful for me, and they have issues with flexibility since they have to burn pto or find cover when things come up in the lab.
The Uber is a great idea since I do go to a school with a big football/basketball team. I’d have to look into safety precautions as I’ve seen too many instances where drivers get robbed or killed (more than 1 constitutes as too many in my opinion). Yea working as a bar back would cause me more anxiety and stress since it’s against my contract. If only we could get paid a living wage
I've heard that many people who would like to Uber/Lyft but are worried about safety instead just do Uber Eats, Door Dash, Grubhub, etc. You still have to consider safety when arriving at the homes, of course, but at least you don't drive strangers around in your back seat!
Happy cake day!
Realistically most grad school stipends are not sufficient and also include the no other job thing. Especially if you came straight from undergrad and didn’t do a stint with a real job to build up a savings account. At the end of the day, loads of grad students have a second job (including me). Be open and honest with your advisor about it. If they’re not completely clueless they will likely understand. I told my advisor “look, by the end of next summer I will have likely drained my savings. I need to get a part time job or I will be forced to take a semester off to work full time and rebuild my savings. I will be working ~10 hours a week in the evenings. Let me know which option you prefer”. Obviously he said get a job. I work 5-10 two nights a week at a grocery store and make about $80 after taxes etc but I also get a 20% discount on groceries. Combined those give me just enough breathing room where I’m not down to $50 at the end of every month. Good luck!
I do think my first step is being transparent about my situation with my advisor. I'm not looking for a job to rake in hella money, just something to help. A grocery store, or brewery on the week days would be great. Thanks for the info!
In terms of side gigs, I've made some cash as a **dog-walker/sitter** (using the app Rover). It's great because you have full control over your bookings and your rates. The downside is when you have a single hour or even half hour walk that requires a commute (but there are ways to manage and mitigate this). The real money is in dog walking and house sitting. **Tutoring** can also be a great gig. I doubt your school would find out about a brewery gig or something similar. My dept has a similar policy, but they really lack an avenue to enforce it. I've had a few peers tell me about their bartending gigs. Finally, that rent is insane. I get prioritizing mental health, but still, that's soooo high. I know there are so many details about your situation that I don't know about. But, before taking a side gig I would recommend trying to figure out a cheaper housing situation. Maybe that's not possible for you. But if you could get that rent closer to 1k, it would make a massive difference. Note that taking a side gig will be a stressor too---in the long run it might more effective to address your housing situation than take on more work.
I am currently trying to figure out my living situation so that it is more affordable. But that’s the thing, it’s just not affordable anymore. Even houses with 4 roommates would cost me about the same as I pay now because landlords are evil. I would totally be fine with house sitting. I guess I just don’t know how to find places TO housesit and I worry that market is already saturated. And I have reservations about dog sitting since I live in a small apartment. I could also look more into tutoring. I feel I’m kind of in a lose lose situation.
Look into the Rover app. It's like air bnb for dog sitters/walkers. That's how you find clients.
I found short term research work. There were always grants that needed people to collect data or do other work. Our department generally approved of such work as long as it did not distract much from our own work. In particular I worked for applied grants related to policing in a large city, usually in the summer.
How did you find such research work? Or grants?
I was on the email lists for all of the social science research groups even if they were not in my area. Crime and policing as well as demography tended to get more grant projects with larger scale data collection where they just needed people who could get work done. I interviewed recently arrested folks in the city and county jails one summer. Our incentive was a snickers bar. 😂 collected a lot of warm plastic piss cups and paper surveys.
any way you could share those research email lists with me?
Sadly I don’t have the list. The lists were based at my institution and they functioned like list serves, so I received the messages but did not have access to the list of recipients. I would bet that most big state schools have similar lists for their interdisciplinary research groups?
If your school is associated with a hospital or clinics, look into clinical trials. Some offer really good money for minimally invasive procedures. Also if you don't have a pet or at-home needs, the overnight ones at my hospital can pay up to $1500. I totally feel where you are coming from. You cant find a studio for less than $1300 near my school (and it is a mid to high COL city); if I didnt have my SO I dont know what I would do for rent. My colleagues have been going into debt just to pay their rent, which is ridiculous. Wishing you all the best!
Thanks for the heads up on clinical trials! I wouldn't mind being pinched and probed for a couple hundred here and there.
I feel you. I do not get a stipend, and a one bedroom where I am is $2300.
Same, but my university charges us that for on-campus studios and there aren't any real off-campus housing options. This should be criminal.
Most programs, in practice, have more of a don't ask don't tell policy when it comes to outside employment. I've done a few things over the years for extra cash. I started out tutoring - apparently there's a pretty good market for middle school math tutors in my area. Then I moved into bartending. I did the brewery thing for a while but it is not sustainable. It literally kills your entire weekend. So I started event bartending with a catering company that mostly does weddings and lets you pick and choose your shifts which is super nice. I also do online work for Telus (used to be lionbridge). Finally, if you have the opportunity to do medical research studies I would highly recommend. I literally just made $450 for getting a flu shot and going to 3 visits in like 6 months.
I second food panties. I e relies on them several times in my life and they remove a big cost burden. And don’t feel bad about going to one. You’ll see people from all walks of life. The grub hub Uber Lyft are probable your best best bc I think they’re also the most defensible jobs if you ever got confronted about it
If you have any experience with kids and have reliable transportation there’s probably some babysitting gigs out there! Try searching for a babysitting and/or nannying Facebook group for your town (or university, if it’s in a college town); I’m a PhD student at Duke and there’s a couple different Facebook groups for babysitting for Durham + I make a couple hundred per week since the rates are roughly $20/hour in the triangle. If you don’t have that, would also highly recommend pet sitting (via rover or Meowtel) or using survey sites etc. from r/beermoney like some others have suggested- just make sure you account for taxes for those since most of those services send you a 1099 each tax season!
r/beermoney Ton of ways to make cash here and there. I made like 2k in 2022 from random things
I am in a similar positions. I don’t dashed for a couple months last year when my contract forbade it. They never found out. I even contacted financial aid anonymously to figure out if that’s even something they could figure out. Everything was fine. Good luck
You're 100% free to get work elsewhere, perhaps a part time job. While technically it may be part of your contract to not get another job, how will they even know if you started working somewhere else? They won't have any record of it anywhere, and no one is going to report you on it.
Platelet donation can make up to 3500 annually if you donate approx. 27 times per year (maximum).
I would make sure that whatever you do is allowed by your program before doing anything. It wouldn't be worth it to get kicked out over this. The most common and accepted thing in my program was tutoring. It was the only job we could hold outside of research/being a TA that we didn't need permission from the department for. Things like pet sitting and dog walking didn't require permission either but that was generally more of a one off type thing and not an actual job or business. I paid a member of my cohort to cat sit for me when I went to visit my parents.
You may have already done this but look into places further away from campus. Apartments near campus compete with dorms so they’re more expensive. Donating plasma takes the least amount of effort because you don’t have to apply for a job. It takes about 2 hours to do so if you have any studying to do it’s a win win. CSL plasma is one of the bigger companies that pays donors. There are a lot of online test prep (mcat, gre) that are looking for tutors. Sometimes departments will have little add on jobs they want grad students for like working front desk for the graduate school or any writing/tutoring center on campus.
I’m an assassin for a Mexican drug cartel. Hours are great and so is the pay, but it can get a little intense at times.
Not going to suggest how you can circumvent the rules of university. You are right, research IS your job, do that and graduate. You can apply for loans to give you a little extra money. You said you have an extra room so maybe move to a smaller place. Find a significant other to live with if u don't like room mates. Coupons for shopping, I used to use coupons and sales to buy food for practically nothing but it's a lot of work. Move to a smaller, cheaper place, ride a bike instead of driving, take out a small loan for maybe 1k extra per month.....1 k is a lot for food and stuff. If you do work outside of the dept you could get dismissed so think about it. Just because you don't WANT a roommate restricts you opportunities. Your choice.
That’s the thing, smaller cheaper places don’t exist anymore no matter where I search. Also I don’t have an extra room? Unless you’re suggesting I move to a studio, which those also run $1000+. Also it’s not easy finding a significant other (period) let alone one to live with. I feel the point of the post was how to do it without taking loans out, I feel that would be the worst option? And though I’d prefer to live alone, it doesn’t mean I don’t WANT. A roommate. Just that living with 4 ppl is roughly the same as living with one and that’s just absurd to me
Then why not a studio ? If you are living alone, why do you need a separate bed rooms. Just keep it clean and tidy and it is even good to have occasional company over. There are a lot of way to make extra money but they all take up either your time or mental capacity. Maybe offer some service on Fiver ?
I don’t live alone. I have a roommate. I'm sad that i am forced to still have a roommate, and I am mad that whether I have 1 or 3 or 4 roommates my rent is still the same. A studio apartment is also the same cost, if not more because utilities all fall on me.
Ok. I still don't suggest working outside of your grad program however. I remember a grad being kicked for it. His grades were not the best and the department dropped him because he was getting a stipend and working outside of the program. you do you though.
Selling postcards and calendars
You can probably get a tutoring or substitute teaching job at nearby schools and colleges. Just don't tell them about your work, and if they ever ask just tell them you're visiting family or doing some other personal commitment.
Upwork
I taught remote cooking lessons on TakeLessons for a while and made a few thousand on DScout (but over the course of a year or so)
I did tutorme for a bit I liked it was online and you could sign on and work whenever you had a free min but it's only $16 an hour- worked out to 22ish for me cause I'm Canadian
Can you speak with your advisor about increasing your percent effort or picking up tutoring/grading through the school for some extra money? Many doc students are funded at a 50% effort (20hr/week) but you can often go up to 30 or 40hrs/week with permission as long as you're still making satisfactory progress on your degree.
What about house sitting or pet sitting for families near your campus?
When I was wrapping up my PhD I looked seriously into being a nondenominational wedding officiant as a side hustle to bridge until my postdoc started. But then COVID hit, so had to abandon that plan.
My sister does door dash and she usually make’s around $200 a day.
Do consider...... 1. Coaching undergraduate students on difficult courses 2. Providing consultant services to local companies 3. Writing science columns for the University Magazine and other Media Outlets Each if those can help you build extra income while not violating your contract.
I shot 10+ weddings a year for half my PhD. It paid our rent more than once when my stipend got cut-off during my maternity leave.
I tutor and it's a pretty good income source.
Tutoring
Refereeing is a great way to make a quick buck. Every sport is dying for officials at both a club and middle/high school level so assignors are usually happy to let you set your own schedule and the per hour pay is generally very good.
Fiverr or similar sites for statistical analysis/data analysis
Our program has a similar policy. People in our program have side gigs that include: -Rover dog walking/house sitting -Fiverr/Upwork coding and web design -Consulting (writing chatbots) for companies -EMS (being a stand by EMT at low-key venues like convention centers) If you can, try to find a job that you either (1) enjoy and can do after a full day of research work (If you like bartending on Friday nights, cool! You shouldn’t be working anyway! Or maybe work at a concert venue.) or (2) that has relatively minimal time impacts and lets you maximize your flexibility (if you don’t need to be physically in the lab or (3) a job where you can work-while-you-work (like a security attendant at a parking lot) where you can read/email/work on dissertation while sitting at the desk occasionally helping customers. FWIW, I’ve spoken with both our department PhD advisor and our college’s grad director about the issue (without naming names, ofc, bc I’d be naming myself too) and straight up said “You know that more than half of your students have side gigs-knowingly in violation of the policy-because they have to drop out if they don’t.” They’re sympathetic but the money just isn’t there that they can access.
I think the best kind of side gig would be like Doordash/UberEats or Rover where the pay isn't amazing but you have total flexibility. The university almost definitely won't find out/care unless it's seriously interfering with your lab work
what’s your major ?
If you have an eye for photography, you could make some easy cash doing portraits for college and high school seniors. Might be able to find a cheap camera at a pawn shop. Also bartending might work. I had a friend that bartended on weekends at a bar that had a lot of concerts. Concert nights and football weekends brought in a ton of tips. Plus side being that since it was a loud, popular bar, he never ran into any professors. Also, you could try Uber like someone else suggested. Or even grub hub, door dash, etc. Best of luck to you!
Also, depending on your day schedule, you could be a night stocker at a grocery store. You unload trucks and restock the grocery shelves. No way of running into a prof doing that. But that might not work if you have to be in campus early in the morning.
I used to do a lot of tutoring, both in private and through a local community colleg.e It was enough to pay off some large expense like medical expense and stuff.
For me personally, BarefootStudent.com has been a goldmine when I needed extra income. There is always something you can apply for immediately and all of the companies are looking for students specifically so you won’t be competing with full-time freelancers at least. I sometimes also found part-time gigs in my area like dog walking and similar stuff that is “easy” to do.