Couple earns $3,500 a month in the most wholesome way — by letting dogs play in their backyard

One of them said that talking to neighbors before launching the dog park at home is the key.

UPDATED NOV 4, 2024

Representational image showing a group of elderly people playing with dogs | (Cover image source: Getty Images | Miodrag Ignjatovic)

Rising costs have left people struggling to save up after making ends meet, but this has also made people seek out innovative side hustles to earn extra cash. One such creative side gig is helping two retired farmers Dianne and Dale Neffendorf from Oregon, make an extra $3,500 monthly simply by letting dogs play around them. Of course, digital communication tools have a role to play in this as the farmers use a platform called Sniffspot that allows them to rent out their land as a dog park for neighbors. It's not only the patio area that's available on the platform, but dog owners can also find hiking trails, water parks, and indoor parks for their canines.

Dogs playing in the backyard | (Image Source: Getty Images | Stefan Cristian Cioata)

For the 65-year-old married couple, the side hustle is proving to be extremely lucrative. "It's been a life changer," Dianne told Newsweek. "With this income, we can look at retirement without some of the financial restrictions we might otherwise have." The COVID-19 pandemic left a lot of people with more time on their hands than before, and that's when innovative ideas to earn cash on the side took shape. When the Neffendorfs initially began thinking about a side hustle, they thought of renting their farm space during the pandemic, but later realized that opening their patio for the dogs was a better option as all the dog parks were closed.

Happy dogs playing with women | (Image Source: Getty Images | The Good Brigade) — Happy dogs playing with a women | (Image Source: Getty Images | The Good Brigade)

"I was living on my phone, answering phone calls all the time, looking at my calendar, and needing to collect payment," Dianne said. "When I heard about Sniffspot, I started using it because it took care of all the work. It lets me have a life again and it turned out perfectly," she added. A side hustle of this nature can easily uplift your finance s without a lot of investment, and the couple simply had to open up a space that they weren't using anyway. "Talk to your neighbors before you start," Dianne said, before suggesting, "Be realistic with how much you charge as you set your own rates."

Although the pandemic has ended, the aftermath in the form of inflation is still making people hold onto their side hustles. "I think everyone needs to be a little more creative these days for extra income, especially retirees," Dianne said. "There are so many different things people can do if they are creative." According to a recent Zapier report, 40 percent of Americans had a side hustle in 2022, and another report from LendingClub predicted at least 50 percent of the U.S. workforce is making money from at least one side gig. "The main reason for this shift is the stark realization that purchasing power is eroding due to increasing inflation," Larry Zhong, an investing and personal finance expert who founded YieldAlley.com, told Newsweek.

Another CNBC report noted that Americans are increasingly turning to side hustles to make more money amid economic uncertainty and persistently high inflation. Some 44% of Americans are working at least one extra job to make ends meet each month, according to a survey from Insuranks.