Frugal workers find ways to make ends meet

Tessa beams with pride when she explains everything in her house is either a hand-me down or a find on Facebook Marketplace.

She's even more boastful about her sartorial steals all of her clothes from local op-shops.

She says that all of her food for the week will be cooked from scratch from mostly discounted ingredients.

It's part of her motto to make it happen in order to get ahead of rising interest rates.

She tells 7.30 that I do not want to live pay cheque to pay cheque.

You have to make it happen, you have to be realistic with your expenses if you want to achieve things down the line. In addition to her staunch frugality, Tessa — who's a single mum — works two jobs she calls side hustles.

She'll often rush off to clean an Airbnb during the lunch break of her day job, and on weekends she works as a volleyball coach.

As a single parent, I realized that I didn't have enough money for a house deposit, so I needed extra money. She says she needed a side hustle.

I would have a day job, but I'd pay my mortgage off in 30 years, and I don't want to do that.

I want to live better than the bare minimum. Economist Angela Jackson said Tessa is part of a growing trend of workers who have found extra work on top of their full-time pay packet.

She says that the people who are doing casual jobs are changing, so we're seeing it move from something younger people do to people who are doing it to make ends meet.

According to the latest labour accounts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 900,000 people now hold a second job - about 6.5 per cent of the Australian workforce.

Ms Jackson says that the surge in demand for workers has given people the chance to earn extra money in casual jobs and pick up additional hours in casual jobs.

She says people's full-time jobs are often not providing enough salaries as the cost of living increases.

People aren't able to access a full-time job to make ends meet, so they're having two, sometimes three jobs to make ends meet, Ms Jackson says.

Grace Gbala, an elderly care worker in Adelaide, says it's a slap in the face that she has to work two jobs to pay for her rent and living costs. While jobs are plentiful and picking up extra cash is relatively easy, Grace Gbala says it's a slap in the face.

Ms Gbala said she was so poor in aged care that she was only able to keep herself financially afloat by getting a retail job.

It's a slap in the face, it's just a reminder that we need better pay, she tells 7.30.

I am a very compassionate supporter, I want to keep giving but I can't keep giving if I keep working another job to support myself. Aged care workers are some of the highest proportion of Australian employees who have sought out secondary work.

Tessa says working multiple jobs isn't for everyone and agrees it's unfair that many jobs aren't paying enough - but she says it's something she's more than willing to do.

She says that she has a lot of energy that can be used in a second and third job.

I was ready to do extra work. It is not everyone's desire to do that, so you have to figure out what works for you.