I saved £20k in two years for house deposit with my clever side hustle – here’s how you could do the same
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A DAD saved £20,000 for a house deposit in just two years thanks to his lucrative side hustle.
Audrius Stukas makes bags of extra cash from doing odd jobs alongside his full-time construction role.
The 34-year-old has brought in a staggering £15,000 from his handyperson skills, on top of his £43,000-a-year salary.
And he can now make an additional £2,200 a month from the supplementary work - which more than covers his mortgage repayments and bills in full.
Audrius, from Croydon, south London, who finds jobs using the website Airtasker, said: "I can bring in between £500 and £2,200 a month, depending on how many jobs I take on.
"It's how I saved most of the deposit for my first house.
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"It's a great way to bring in extra income in my spare time and it helped me significantly boost my income during the pandemic."
Dad-of-one Audrius said it took him around two years to save the down payment for his first home - but doing work on the side meant he didn't have to scrape by.
"I wasn't saving like mad, so I was still spending money on holidays, days out and so on," he said.
"The £20,000 covered the deposit and all the necessary things to be done to a new house."
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Audrius joined Airtasker, a local services marketplace where people can earn money using their skills or get jobs done, in September 2018.
Having the expertise, and tools, from his career, he quickly boosted his income - and he has made more than £15,000 to date.
During a good month, Audrius can see his bank balance increase by £2,200 from the tasks he completes.
These range from general handyperson jobs, to assembling furniture, to installing satellite dishes.
One 30-minute job which involved carrying a sofa down a single flight of stairs earned him an impressive £250.
Audrius has even been drafted in by celebrities who want his help.
He once turned up to hang some photos for a "very friendly" client - but it wasn't until he saw the guy's face on the side of a bus that he realised it had been Capital FM host Roman Kemp.
Audrius said that being able to make some extra money has been incredibly helpful as the cost of living continues to rise.
He currently pays £1,900 a month for his mortgage and bills, but this has gone up considerably in the last 12 months.
"The rising cost of living is a worry as I’m already seeing significant increases," he said.
"My mortgage has doubled since last year so I need the money to pay for that.
"It is difficult times for everyone."
But will also prove particularly beneficial when he hopefully becomes a father for the second time.
The homeowner, who lives with his daughter and wife, said: "We are planning one more baby so I will definitely need to work more as my wife won’t be able to.
"I will probably use Airtasker more often than now and complete more jobs to earn extra income."
A spokesperson for the outsourcing company said their top earners bring in an average of £29,951 a year.
But anyone picking up work on the side of their day jobs should beware of the tax implications.
You can earn up to £1,000 without paying tax thanks to the trading allowance. from side hobbies like selling things online ow babysitting for instance.
If you earn more than £1,000 a year, you need to complete a self-assessment tax return.
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How much tax you pay on anything you earn over this will depend on your tax rate in your current job.
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You pay 20% tax on any earnings over the personal allowance of £12,570 and up to £50,000.
Anything you earn over that amount it taxed at the higher rate of 40%.
