Do you enjoy sewing? If the answer is yes, you may want to look in to starting an alterations business! If you already have a sewing machine, then you’re ready to get started! However, if not and looking for an inexpensive one, you can find second-hand ones online!

You can advertise and market yourself online on social media  and other websites such as gumtree to build your client base. In addition, you can even put up flyers in your local dry cleaners to increase your client base.

We all enjoy coming together to celebrate big moments, especially weddings! However, planning these events can be stressful. It may even cause sleepless nights worrying about the success of your wedding. Therefore, having someone there to help organise your wedding makes it a convenient option and reduces stress.

Therefore, if you have a flare for design and enjoy being organised, wedding planning may be a career path for you to take if you’re looking to create a small business! With the use of social media, you can really market yourself. For example, this may be through showcasing images of events you have organised in the past or taking some sample images of ideas that you have.

Do you love spending time with animals? You could turn this into income! In fact, becoming a pet sitter could be very rewarding and is a great idea if you love animals and have a pet-friendly household.

This could be for the day, or for a few says or weeks if they go on a holiday. Usually, friends, family, and neighbours are a great way to get start this type of small business! You can always market yourself on social media and other websites such as gumtree. You could also put up flyers in veterinary clinics and local parks.

If you enjoy being in the kitchen and are an expert at a particular dish or dessert, you could consider starting a small business in catering! Also, the best part is you don’t have to leave your home. You can whip up everything in your own kitchen, and could choose to transport it yourself, or get it picked up and delivered to the event location.

For example, some catering ideas for your small business may be:

• Weddings
• Corporate catering
• Buffet catering
• Food truck catering

In addition, you can make your own social media page and take photos of your creations to get your business out there. With permission, keep making your creations for events of family and friends to increase word of mouth. You could even create business cards and start handing them out at these events!

Are you an expert writer and editor? If so, starting a small business as a resume writer may be a great option for you! You would be able to assist clients by creating a lasting first impression by showcasing their skills and experience in a way that stands out from the crowd.

Even though there are no formal experience or training is required, you will need to have strong writing and interviewing skills, and have a creative flare.

If you are good with numbers, then you would be able to advertise your accounting or bookkeeping services! In fact, you may want to start with small businesses who are just starting up and may not have time to keep up with their accounts.

If you’re looking for a more involved level of accounting you can then do balance sheets, income statements, and other financial reports on a monthly, quarterly, and/or annual basis, depending on the needs of the business.

Petrol is an expensive need for Australian drivers. Over the past couple of months, the prices of petrol have noticeably increased in multiple Australian cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane. Additionally, economists are predicting that prices will remain high for quite some time. We do have some budgeting tips on how you can reduce the amount you spend on petrol!

•  Fill up on the cheapest days: According to the Savings Guide, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest days to buy petrol, where in contrast, Sundays and Mondays are the most expensive days. 
•  Top up before you run empty: Getting petrol is one of the those time-consuming things we only want to do when necessary, therefore, most drivers tend to fill up their car just before they run out of petrol. However, the downside to this approach that you have no choice but to pay what the price is on that particular day. Instead, try making a habit of topping up when you see the prices drop. 
•  Download a petrol-tracking app: You can use your smartphone to find the best petrol prices nearby. These apps also allow you to to select your preferred petrol type and the brand, while providing you with updates!

Online shopping and credit cards make it very easy to spend money these days. Some people find it hard to have self-control when purchasing things they want, rather than need. Therefore, limiting your impulse purchases is one of the most important budgeting tips to implement.

If there is something that you really want, Canstar suggest that you give yourself some time, as the urge of wanting it may pass. Another way to avoid impulse buying is to calculate the hours of work it takes to earn the purchase price of the item. This will help you save money!

You will find that there are some financial institutions out there who will try to charge you a lot of fees, making it hard to save money. Therefore, it’s important to have a look around to find ones that don’t. This can be one of the easiest budgeting tips to implement. Changing banks may seem like a hard process, however, it is very straight forward! When researching your options, have a look to see what banks offer basic accounts with:

• No withdrawal fees (from other ATMs)
• Free monthly statements
• No minimum deposit amounts
• No overdrawn fees

A small fee may not seem much at the time, however, over a longer period this would work out to be hundreds of dollars that you could be saving!

Buying a home is an exciting, yet expensive, investment! However, as this is one the largest debts you will ever have, you want to make sure you are getting the best value. One of our budgeting tips is to search the market for what the best loan rates are with the lowest interest.

If you already have a mortgage, you can look into refinancing your loan. First of all, look at what other options are available out there. Once you have done this and you have written them down, give your existing lender a call. See if they can negotiate a rate that is closer to what their competitors are offering. If they are willing to negotiate, that’s great news for you! If not, you may need to go to a mortgage broker and find out how much it will cost to switch lenders. You can even use a Refinancing Calculator to help you. More often than not, with the fees associated with switching, you would still be saving thousands by making the switch.

In Australia, the average standard variable rate is currently 4.49% p.a. Therefore, according to Canstar, if you can get a home loan of 3.49% p.a., you could potentially save yourself around $280/month on a $500,000 loan!

If you are creative, love art, and have a passion for design, you may want to consider becoming a graphic designer. Graphic designers work in a variety of industries. There is a lot of growth in this line of work to increase your earning potential. As graphic design often is very deadline-driven, they usually work after hours. This means they can be paid for over-time, therefore, increasing their revenue.

As a graphic designer, you can create many visual items for businesses. These items may include posters, logos, product packaging, brochures, and book covers. Most graphic designers work as freelancers. This means they can work for many companies at a time, and also work their own hours, therefore being one of the more flexible types of casual work. This provides you with control of the volume of work you take on.

Do you love being active and living a healthy lifestyle? Becoming a fitness instructor may be one of the best casual jobs for you! It’s a great way to earn an income for sharing your healthy lifestyle and helping others!

As a recreation and fitness instructor, you have the option to book classes or clients around when it suits you, especially if you’re only looking to work casual hours. As a result, you get more job satisfaction and enjoyment out of your work. There are many different areas you can choose from in this field. The opportunities are endless! Some examples are:

If you enjoy keeping things in order, love number crunching, and have experience in accounting, your skills are in demand! Therefore, working as an accountant casual may be the right job for you! It is one of those flexible part time work opportunities.

Accountants perform many different clerical duties. These may involve answering the payroll, processing transactions, and financial reporting – just to name a few. In fact, a lot of organisations outsource their accountants. This means you can control your work volume by doing bookkeeping for different companies.

If you’ve always enjoyed taking photos, but haven’t yet pursued a career as a photographer, now may be the time! As a photographer, you can still work casual hours and take on different projects. These may be for events such as birthdays. weddings, and corporate events. However, you will need to identify your niche to differentiate yourself from others.

If you don’t have experience, but think this may be something you would like to pursue, you can start by taking photos of your garden, your neighbourhood, and your friends and family. Once you have enough photos, you can create a portfolio of your best work to attract clients.

Do you love booking vacations and helping others plan their adventures? You may want to consider as a travel agent! Working as a travel agent is a casual work opportunity that allows you to get to know new and exciting locations, and advise people on their accommodation, flights and sightseeing opportunities.

The travel and tourism industry is one of the world’s largest industries and is always growing. Therefore, it is one of those casual work ideas that are booming! With travel being such an important part of our self-fulfillment and even for business opportunities, you will have consistent clients.

If you enjoy writing, becoming a freelance writer is a great career option for you. As a freelance writer, you would work on a self-employed basis, which means that you can write for multiple companies. In fact, they are probably one of the most creative rural jobs!

Additionally, when working as a freelance writer, you have the chance to share your opinion and write reviews of books, restaurants, fashion, movies – the list is endless! For example, you can write newsletters or articles for magazines or newspapers on different topics such as travel, recipes, and recent news events. Lastly, you can give yourself the freedom to write your own content. All you need to do is to create your own website and start writing. Overall, this provides you with the opportunity to write about topics that you’re really passionate about and educate others.

There are many companies where you can register yourself as a tutor and conduct your tutoring sessions online. In fact, you can do it from your own home at a time that suits you. Becoming an online tutor can be one of the most rewarding rural jobs, as you will be helping students improve. It is also a great way to make an income online by doing something you’re familiar with and good at.

With many businesses operating mostly, if not, completely online, virtual assistants are becoming one of the most popular rural jobs. Therefore, if you have good communication and organisation skills, you could work as a virtual assistant.

Also, virtual assistants are self-employed and provide administrative, technical and creative assistance to clients rurally from their home office. When first starting out as a virtual assistant, you can use social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter to market yourself and give you a head start to get your first client.

We know the importance of keeping our websites user-friendly. If a company is losing visitors due to poor navigation or content, then they’re losing money. Therefore, website testers play a vital role in checking websites.

Many companies hire website testers to make sure that their website is easy to navigate and that users are able to understand their product or service. Website testers usually do this on different devices such as desktops, laptops, and mobile phones. Therefore, this puts you at the customer’s point of view and allows you to share your ideas on how to make the end-user happy.

To test out websites from home, you will need to understand the English language and be computer savvy. Also, website testers are one of those rural jobs that usually don’t require a formal qualification. However, companies may require you to have strong computer skills, to ensure their website is being tested correctly.

You would also be able to transfer your parenting skills into this line of work. Also, you may also be able to get a job at the school or child care that your children are at too!

If you enjoy working up a sweat, a career where you can have a good time and help others reach their fitness goals might be just what you’re looking for! As a recreation and fitness instructor, you can choose if you want to work for a business or be self-employed as an independent instructor. Either way, you have the option to book classes or clients around when it suits you.

As a result, you get more job satisfaction and enjoyment out of your work. There are many different areas you can choose from in this field. The opportunities are endless! For example, these may include:

If you’ve always enjoyed social media and what it has to offer, why not use these skills as a job!  In fact, social media is a booming industry and is an important way for businesses to connect with their target market. Overall, it’s an effective way to market their products and services.

Therefore, if you spend a lot of time on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram – you may be able to find some clients who are in need of a social media consultant! Additionally, if you know how to promote events, products, and ideas using social media, this might be the one of the best jobs for a good work life balance!

The ability to speak two or more languages is a highly specialised skill. Translators breakthrough international barriers and create a channel for communication. Therefore, if you are bilingual, you may be able to pursue a career in translating!

As a translator, you translate conversations, videos, and documents. Not only is this job easy for someone who is bilingual, but it will help you keep up your language skills!

As this job can be online, your work schedule can be quite flexible. This means you can choose your work hours and the location of where you work with your clients. Therefore, offering you to create your desired lifestyle. You may find you have a work life balance like never before.

A career in graphic design is a great opportunity if you are creative, love art, and have a passion for design. As a graphic designer, you can create many visual items for businesses, such as posters, logos, product packaging, brochures and book covers.

As most graphic designers work as freelancers, they have the flexibility of setting their own work schedules. Therefore, this provides you with the freedom to work around other demands in your life – you can create that work life balance you desire! As most graphic designers are self-employed, they can be working on multiple projects at one time. This also means they can work for many companies at a time, therefore, increasing income potential.

If you’re wondering how to budget and save, it’s important to know how much money you have coming in and how much is going out. Therefore, it’s important to calculate this for each week or fortnight by drawing it out on paper or putting together a spreadsheet.

To do this, try and keep all receipts and go through your bank statements to make sure you have included everything. You can categorise them into fixed expenses such as rent, mortgage or credit card repayments, utilities, groceries, and splurge (such as leisure/entertainment).

After tracking your income and expenses, sit down and determine what financial goals you have. Are you looking to buy a new car? Save for a house deposit? Go on a holiday? If you have more than one goal then prioritise them.

Once you have determined what you’re saving for, you need to set yourself a timeline. For example, you may want to save $20,000 in 2 years. However, make sure that this goal is realistic to achieve, as this will impact on how to budget and save. Also, if you’re trying to go from saving nothing at all to saving 50 percent of your pay overnight, you might find this not financially viable and too restricted. Instead, start with saving 20% of your pay.

Following this, start to draft up a budget plan, as this will help you determine how to budget and save. Refer back to the categories of your outgoing expenses and estimate how much you spend on each one.

By using these projections, you can see how much you will spend for the coming week, fortnight or month. In addition, ensure that you set aside an amount to put into your savings. You can even set it up automatically to transfer into your savings account when you have been paid. This will reduce the urge to spend it!

However, if you find that you aren’t saving enough to reach your goals, try and reevaluate your budget and see where else you can reduce your spending.

Once you have achieved one of your goals, tNo stopping there. Go back to your list of goals before you first started your plan on how to budget and save, and see what’s next on your list. You might also think of something new to save for. Therefore, you will always have a goal to work towards.

Alternatively, if you haven’t saved up for a $10,000 emergency fund, this may be something you could save for. This emergency fund is there if the inevitable happens and you need funds.

If you feel like you still need some help with how to budget and save, or that you aren’t sticking to your current budget plan, trying use the Barefoot Investor’s 60/20/20 rule. This is an simple structure to follow to help you achieve your goals, but also without restricting yourself!

The way it works is that you set aside 60% of your earnings towards your daily and fixed expenses, such as rent/mortgage, utilities (power, water, internet, phone), transport and groceries. Then set aside 20% for splurging, which means you can spend it on whatever you like. And lastly, set aside 20% for your savings account.

A way to make your budget less complex is to use the three-category budget plan. Instead of tracking every dollar that you spend, choose three categories that you know you’re likely to overspend on. For example, these may be eating out, online shopping and entertainment. Focus on reducing your spending in these areas, and put the money that you have saved into your savings.

Sometimes when we put a new plan into place it doesn’t always work out. Most budget plans require trial and error. Your budget just might not be feasible. You may have underestimated how much you spend, or had forgotten to consider other expenses. Therefore, it’s important to keep reviewing your budget to see how you are tracking. Also, you don’t want to leave yourself short of cash. For this reason, it’s important to make amendments where you can.