Madaya Kennedy: Aussie FIFO worker makes eye-boggling amount from vending machine side hustle

An Aussie FIFO worker has revealed the eye-boggling sum she makes from her side hustle after gambling nearly $10,000 of her savings to get it started.

Queenslander Madaya Kennedy is a drill operator who makes more than $100,000 each year - without factoring in the earnings from her two side hustles.

Two years ago, she forked out $8200 on a vending machine in the hopes she might earn $500 a week in sales.

But according to a recent reel she posted on Instagram, this goal was much too small - the best month she has had so far saw her earn more than $5500 total.

She told news.com.au that she didn’t want to get trapped in the mining industry’s “golden handcuffs”.

“What tends to happen is because people are on more (money), they have a more expensive lifestyle, and they also get so comfortable,” Ms Kennedy said.

“I just want to use this as a tool because I want to be an entrepreneur.”

The vending machine idea first came to her years ago when she realised there was a lack of desirable snacks available on-site.

Previously, there had been a vending machine, but it had never worked, so she took the matter up with her boss.

“I made a proposal, and I asked him what his favourite snack was, and then I made sure I stocked that in the machine, and we shook hands on it,” she said.

Ms Kennedy works a seven-day on seven-day off roster, and instead of lying to site she drives there, so is able to fill her car up with stock.

“I have made $500 in a day, and when I’m there for a week, I have my car full of stock, and I can restock it and rinse and repeat. When it is my week off, I just fill it before I leave and fill it up when I’m back,” she said.

In the last financial year, her vending machine has made over $49,000 with a 50 per cent profit margin, making some of her fellow FIFO workers are envious.

“It was so funny when I set it up; some guys were like, ‘I had already thought of that idea.’ Okay, well, why didn’t you do it?”