Side gigs become second nature for working families

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Rick Estes loves his day-job as the choral and guitar teacher at King High School in Tampa.

But Estes, like many working adults, has taken on a side hustle. 

At 4 a.m., early before the first-period bell rings, Estes gets online to teach English to children in China. 

He puts in an extra 15 to 20 hours a week.

"Depending on the month, I bring in anywhere from $800 to $1,000," he said. 

It's money he's put to good use.

"We had accrued some debt as a couple and I just wanted to find another way to create some income to bring that down," Rick explained.

He's not alone. A recent bankrate.com survey shows 37 percent of working adults have a side gig, bringing in an average $683 a month.

Ben Schaefer, intelligence analyst by day and woodworker by night and weekends, makes as much as $3,000 a month extra.

"My wife asked me to build some furniture. My friends came over and really liked it. They asked if I could build them something. We put it on Facebook and it took off from there," Schaefer explained.

He works an extra 20 to 30 hours a week.

His wife Charissa, a full-time software engineer, puts in an additional 10 hours a week. She helps with wood decor and keeping up their Facebook page.

"We definitely count on it, especially to pay down our car payments and our credit cards, and just to have some extra spending money to do things with the kids," she said.

Their advice to anyone looking for a side-job is simple: Find your passion.

"I can go work 40 hours during my day job and I'm just completely drained. But I come here, I'll work a couple extra hours after I get home and I'm fully recharged and ready to go. I love doing this!" Schaefer said.