Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
5 Side Hustles So Weird They Shouldn’t Work (But Do)
Moneymagpie Team
1st Apr 2025
There are pockets of the world where money hides in plain sight—strange little corners where creativity intersects with curiosity, and people are quietly turning that mix into cash. These are not the polished side hustles of YouTube gurus or the endlessly recycled eBay-and-Etsy playbooks. They’re weirder. More playful. More unlikely. And yet, they work. Not because someone followed a formula, but because they dared to write one from scratch.
Every once in a while, a person stumbles onto a cash flow not by copying others but by noticing something no one else did. A mural in an alleyway. A whisper of a local legend. A forgotten park bench. Unconventional side hustle ideas are gaining traction as people find new ways to blend creativity with earning potential. Even something like turning a quilting hobby into a lucrative side hustle shows how niche passions can become surprising sources of income.
This guide is about those people—the ones who find opportunity hiding behind oddity. You might call them scavengers of the surreal economy. They just call it Tuesday.
- Urban Scavenger Hunts Built Around Local Street Art
- Renting Out Unused Driveways as Tiny Pop-Up Shops
- Selling Custom Soundscapes Inspired by Public Spaces
- Curated Trash-to-Art Subscription Boxes
- Offering “Whimsy Walks” as Mindful Local Experiences
- Why the Weird Ones Work
Urban Scavenger Hunts Built Around Local Street Art
Street art has long been a form of cultural rebellion, but recently, it’s also become the centrepiece of a hyper-local side hustle. Here’s the blueprint: someone maps out a route featuring murals, tags, and hidden installations, then turns it into a narrative scavenger hunt for tourists or locals. The result is part walking tour, part game, part storytelling experiment—and surprisingly profitable.
It begins with attention to detail. Someone walks their city, logging every intriguing piece of art they can find. Then comes the twist: instead of simply listing them, they build a loose story or theme around the journey. Maybe it’s a mystery that unfolds clue by clue, or a narrative about the artists themselves.
Monetising the Mystery
The tour can be offered live, but many hustlers are going digital—selling downloadable maps and clues through a basic site or even a printed zine sold in nearby cafes. One enterprising creator in Bristol ties their hunt into local cafes—if participants buy a drink, they get a code to unlock the next part of the map. Others incorporate music, local folklore, or QR codes that trigger mini-videos. What looks like a fun game is, beneath the surface, a pay-as-you-go cultural experience. All for a few pounds per download—or a tenner for the full deluxe experience with printed maps and access to hidden bonus art spots.
People are exploring unusual side hustles that actually work to supplement their income, venturing into creative and unexpected avenues.
Renting Out Unused Driveways as Tiny Pop-Up Shops
Most people think of unused driveways as wasted space—or, at best, a place to park. But in certain towns and cities, especially those with high foot traffic, those patches of concrete are becoming micro-retail zones. Think book swaps, plant cuttings, handmade zines, or even donation-based snack stands—all running on the honour system or minimal tech. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, and yet it does.Unique side hustles that pay well often arise from spaces and objects that others overlook.
Some use small garden sheds or weatherproof boxes to host the goods. Others set up tiny stands with chalkboard signs and QR codes that link to payment apps or PayPal tips. People pass by, buy a cactus cutting for £2, and go on their way. It’s low pressure and oddly wholesome—and the best locations can see dozens of purchases a day.
This isn’t about high-ticket items. It’s about footfall, charm, and an element of surprise. The kinds of things people didn’t know they wanted until they spotted them mid-walk. A woman in Kent built a small local following selling jars of rainwater she “harvested during thunderstorms” and labelled by moon phase. A retired couple in Edinburgh sells hand-bound poetry pamphlets with envelopes encouraging people to “mail a feeling to someone.”
Keeping It Simple
The setup is minimal. A folding table, a locked donation box, a printed sign explaining what’s for sale, and maybe a weatherproof sleeve with a scannable code (perhaps from something like Uniqode’s QR code generator) for those who don’t carry change. The takeaway? Sometimes the weirdest shops have no walls at all.
Selling Custom Soundscapes Inspired by Public Spaces
Public parks, libraries, old train stations—these are places we usually pass through without noticing the moods they hold. But for a few experimental hustlers, they’ve become the muse for audio-based side gigs. The idea? Capture the feeling of a place and sell it as a downloadable soundscape. Ambient noise, layered music, narrative fragments, and field recordings—all woven together to evoke a specific space, reimagined.
People use these for everything from meditation to creative writing prompts to sleep aids. And it turns out there’s a niche but dedicated market for hyper-specific audio. Not generic rainforest loops, but “early morning in a foggy Glasgow park” or “night sounds near a forgotten churchyard.” These soundscapes can feel like memories, like dreams, like something too fleeting to touch—yet somehow yours the moment you hear it.
Crafting an Experience
The work begins with exploration. Artists roam their cities with portable microphones, capturing creaking gates, train whistles, birdsong, and conversations muffled by distance. Later, they blend these with soft instrumentation or spoken word. Some soundscapes are eerie, others warm and nostalgic. Each one carries a fingerprint of place and intention.
Some soundscape sellers distribute through Bandcamp, Ko-fi, or personal Gumroad pages. Others offer them as part of subscription models or bundle them with local stories and photography in digital zines. You don’t need a professional studio—just a decent microphone, free editing software, and a sense of atmosphere.
What makes this hustle so compelling is its emotional resonance. One creator from Manchester says her soundscapes are like “bottled memory.” Her most popular piece? A haunting loop called “Underpass at Dusk” that mixes footsteps, distant traffic, and soft humming. It’s weird, beautiful—and earns her several hundred pounds a month.
This innovative approach exemplifies how one can delve into creative ways to make money, transforming ambient sounds into marketable art and mirrors other side hustles suitable for college students looking for flexible, creative income streams.
How to Get Started
If you’re curious about trying this unusual hustle yourself, consider starting with these simple but effective steps:
- Scout out locations that feel emotionally charged, such as playgrounds at dawn, old bridges, or lonely footpaths—any place with a natural atmosphere that stirs a mood.
- Use free or low-cost software like Audacity to experiment with layering sound and building loops. You don’t need to be a musician—just a good listener.
- Pair your soundscapes with visuals, like moody photos or short poems, to offer a more immersive package that resonates with listeners.
- Tap into niche communities online, such as those for writers, RPG creators, or therapists—audiences that actively seek ambient sound.
- Test different themes or emotional tones, like “abandoned carnival” or “quiet optimism in a snow-covered car park.” The stranger the better—it’s part of the charm.
Curated Trash-to-Art Subscription Boxes
Everyone talks about upcycling, but few take it to the strangely delightful extreme of curating trash into art kits. These are subscription boxes filled with random, rescued items—think broken doll parts, vintage buttons, scraps of handwritten letters—and sent to artists and crafters looking for weird inspiration.
This hustle thrives on two things: sourcing and story. The best curators don’t just dump junk in a box. They theme each month’s contents—“Post-Apocalyptic Picnic,” “Ghosts of the Seventies,” “Bureaucratic Romance”—and include short notes about each item’s origin. Suddenly a bent spoon from a charity shop isn’t just metal; it’s a character.
Subscribers are drawn in by the novelty, yes—but also by the sense of mystery. Many share unboxing videos or artwork made with the pieces, creating a feedback loop of curiosity. Pricing varies, but even a small monthly box going for £12–£15 can bring in a solid side income once postage is streamlined. Some creators partner with local schools or art centres for material sourcing, making the project both sustainable and community-focused.
Boxes can be sold through Etsy, a dedicated website, or even Instagram DMs. They’re odd, slightly chaotic, and deeply beloved. Proof that even rubbish, when curated with care, can become a revenue stream.
Among the most lucrative side hustles right now are those that tap into niche markets, such as transforming discarded items into curated art experiences.
Offering “Whimsy Walks” as Mindful Local Experiences
The world is saturated with structured activities. But increasingly, people crave experiences that feel spontaneous, strange, and soothing. Enter the “whimsy walk”: a gentle, guided wander through a neighbourhood or park where the goal isn’t fitness or facts—but playful observation.
These walks often have loose themes. One guide in Brighton offers a “found poetry” route, encouraging participants to collect phrases from signs, graffiti, and overheard conversations to piece together a poem by the end. Another in Cardiff runs a “cloud safari,” pointing out shapes in the sky while walking slowly through overlooked green spaces. Some guides use handmade cards with prompts. Others let the environment do the talking.
Sessions are usually £5 to £15 per person. They attract curious tourists, overstimulated city dwellers, and even team-building groups. What’s notable is how low-tech and high-touch these walks are. Some do use digital tools—a sign-up link, a booking form, or even the occasional QR code for bonus content—but the emphasis is on being present. Not productive. Not efficient. Just oddly delightful.
There’s no right way to run a whimsy walk. That’s part of its charm. And for those with a flair for storytelling, a sense of humour, and a pocketful of odd ideas, it can become an unexpectedly steady income stream.
Why the Weird Ones Work
The side hustles that work best aren’t always the ones that scale big or promise instant riches. Sometimes, they’re the ones that tap into something quieter—curiosity, wonder, or the joy of tiny things done well. These five ideas aren’t designed to be replicated en masse. They’re invitations to look closer at the oddities around you and ask: could this be something more?
Balancing a full-time job and your new side hustle requires careful planning, especially when pursuing ventures like these that require time, presence, and a bit of magic.
We live in a world increasingly optimised for productivity. That’s why hustles like these matter. They break the mould. They honour the peculiar. They prove that earning money doesn’t always require chasing trends or building empires. Sometimes, it starts with noticing a crack in the pavement—and turning it into a story worth paying for.
Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.
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