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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Levi Winchester

Student explains how she makes an extra £150 each week to help pay rising bills

A student has explained how she makes an extra £150 each week through a side hustle website.

Ella, who studies product design at the University of Leeds, started using Paperound to boost her income as the cost of living crisis continues to take its toll.

Paperound is a website where business owners can hire students to carry out tasks.

The student can sign up to the website and list their skills in order to match up with someone.

Ella, 20, says she makes between £100 and £150 each week by completing design work for clients - and hopes to up her rates in the summer holidays.

Do you have a side hustle? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk

“When I came across Paperound, I wanted to gain some industry experience with design work and I could see it was going to be an easy way to make money alongside my degree,” she said.

“It has allowed me to grow my portfolio in different areas of design and to gain valuable industry experience.

“Alongside my degree, I had to limit the amount of work I took on as I had to prioritise university work. So, I would do 10 to 15 hours a week so roughly make £100 to £150 a week.

“However, now I have upped my price to £15 an hour and throughout holiday periods I can take on more, this week I will have earnt around £300.”

According to a study from Student Beans, around 61% of Gen-Z youngsters have started a side hustle as a direct result of the cost of living increasing.

Over a fifth of Gen-Z (21%) said they need to make an excess of £300 a month for the side hustle to be worth it.

It comes as the cost of living crisis continues to deepen, with inflation soaring to 9.4% in the 12 months to June.

The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation is used to explain how much the prices of everyday essentials have increased.

When inflation rises, it means that your money doesn’t go as far as it used to.

For example, if something cost £1 a year ago and the rate of inflation is 9.4%, it would cost roughly £1.09 today.

The Bank of England (BoE) thinks inflation could top 11% later this year when energy bills rise again in October.

The BoE normally tries to keep inflation at around 2% a year.

Do you have a side hustle? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk

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