9 Financial Side Quests You Should Try

Updated: July 13, 2026

If you’ve spent any time on TikTok lately, chances are you’ve heard someone call their side hustle, their gym habit, or even their skincare routine a “side quest.” It’s gamer slang that jumped straight into real life.

Side quests are small, optional missions you take on outside your main storyline that, in the end, make the whole game more fun (and more rewarding). And as it turns out, this same idea works beautifully when applied to money.

Your “main quest” is probably your job, your business, or whatever pays the bills every month. But financial side quests? Those are the little, doable money moves you can slot into your everyday life that quietly build your wealth on the side. None of them will make you rich overnight. But string a few together, and you’ll be surprised how much progress you can unlock.

Here are nine financial side quests worth adding to your list.

Side Quest 1: Turn Your Tambay Time Into Tutok Time on Cashback Apps

Every peso you spend already earns you something, whether you notice it or not. Apps like GCash, Maya, and GrabRewards quietly hand out cashback, points, or perks every time you pay bills, load up, or order food through them.

Most people ignore these because the amounts look small — ₱5 here, ₱20 there. But treat it like a mini quest: consolidate your everyday spending into one or two apps you already use, and let the rewards pile up in the background. It’s not about chasing every promo. It’s about not leaving free money on the table.

Side Quest 2: Declutter Your Closet, Fund Your Goals

That bag you bought two Christmases ago and never used again? Someone out there wants it. Selling pre-loved items on Carousell or Facebook Marketplace is one of the easiest side quests to start because you don’t need capital as you already own the “inventory.”

Clean out your closet once every few months, take decent photos in natural light, price things fairly, and you’ll be surprised how quickly items move, especially clothes, gadgets, and kitchenware. Many Pinoys have funded a weekend trip or a month’s worth of savings goals just from decluttering twice a year.

Side Quest 3: Rent Out What You’re Not Using

If you have an extra room, a parking slot you rarely use, or even storage space in a condo unit, that’s an asset quietly doing nothing for you.

Platforms like Airbnb work well in tourist-heavy or business-district areas. Still, even informal arrangements such as renting a parking slot to a neighbor, or subletting a bedroom to a young professional, can turn unused space into a steady trickle of income. This quest takes a bit more setup than the others, but once it’s running, it mostly runs on its own.

Side Quest 4: Freelance in the Gaps Between Your Main Quest

You don’t need to quit your job to build a freelance side income. Sites like Upwork, OnlineJobs.ph, and Fiverr are full of clients looking for Filipino talent in writing, graphic design, virtual assistance, bookkeeping, and video editing — skills a lot of us already have from our day jobs.

Start small: one client, a few hours a week, to test the waters. Many successful Filipino freelancers today started exactly this way, picking up side gigs on weekends before eventually deciding whether to go full-time.

Side Quest 5: Let Your Spare Change Invest Itself

One of the most underrated side quests is also one of the easiest to activate: automated micro-investing. Apps like GCash’s GInvest or Maya’s savings and investment features let you start with as little as ₱50, often rounding up your everyday purchases and automatically investing the difference.

It won’t feel like much day to day, but this is the definition of a side quest. It’s a small, passive action that quietly compounds while you focus on everything else.

Side Quest 6: Make Pag-IBIG MP2 Your Not-So-Secret Weapon

If GInvest is the casual, low-stakes version of investing, Pag-IBIG MP2 is the slightly more serious side quest for Pinoys who want government-backed, tax-free returns. It’s a voluntary savings program on top of your regular Pag-IBIG contributions, which has historically offered higher dividends than a regular savings account.

You can start with as low as ₱500, lock it in for five years, and let it grow. For overseas Filipino workers especially, MP2 has become a go-to side quest for parking extra savings somewhere safer and more rewarding than a bank account collecting dust.

Side Quest 7: Turn Your Home Cooking Into a Weekend Business

If your dishes always get rave reviews from family and officemates, that’s a side quest waiting to happen. A lot of Pinoys have quietly built weekend food businesses out of home kitchens: baon delivery for the office, homemade kakanin for merienda, or a signature dish sold through Facebook groups and neighborhood chats.

You don’t need a storefront or a big budget to start; just a following of hungry regulars and a reliable way to take orders, whether that’s a simple GCash payment link or a shared spreadsheet for pre-orders. It takes more effort than the other quests on this list, but few things feel as rewarding as turning something you already love doing into extra income.

Side Quest 8: Turn Your TikTok Scroll Into a Side Income

If you already spend hours scrolling TikTok or Shopee, why not let that habit pay you back? Affiliate programs through TikTok Shop and Shopee let you earn a small commission every time someone buys a product through your unique link or video.

You don’t need a huge following to start. Some Pinoy creators earn a modest but steady side income by sharing honest reviews of products they already use, such as skincare, gadgets, or pantry finds. This quest rewards consistency more than virality.

Side Quest 9: Sell What Others Throw Away

Here’s a distinctly Pinoy side quest that doesn’t get enough credit: selling scrap and recyclables to your local junk shop. Old appliances, tangled wires, empty bottles, scrap metal — items most households consider trash can add up to real cash at a nearby bote-dyaryo or junk shop.

It’s not glamorous, but it’s a genuine example of turning trash into cash, and it costs you nothing to try.

Why Small Quests Add Up to a Big Story

None of these nine side quests will single-handedly change your financial life. That was never the point. The magic is in stacking them — a little cashback here, a modest freelance gig there, a Pag-IBIG MP2 fund quietly growing in the background.

Like any good game, progress in your finances doesn’t come from one dramatic move. It comes from showing up for the small missions, again and again, until one day you look at your “stats” and realize just how far you’ve leveled up.

Your Financial Glow-Up Starts With One Quest

You don’t need to complete all nine side quests at once, and you shouldn’t try to. Pick one that fits naturally into your life today, whether that’s decluttering your closet this weekend or opening your first Pag-IBIG MP2 account. Master it, let it become second nature, then add another.

Your main financial quest — building real, lasting wealth — is still the goal. But every side quest you complete makes that main story easier, richer, and a little more exciting along the way. So go on and accept the mission.

What to do next: Click here to start your financial journey with IMG Wealth Academy