The Side Hustle, Worth It?

We all could use some extra income now and then. There’s many ways to achieve this, but is it worth it and what or how should we go about creating this useful tool? I’ve grown a lot in this area and can talk about it in great length. For this article, I just want to highlight the reasons for it and what our goals should be.

The Reasons: Maybe you’re planning for a vacation or a down payment on a car. Maybe you want a new tv or just a small remodel on the house. Maybe you have student loans or other debt. If you just need an extra amount of money temporarily, I think getting a temporary job or one of these gig jobs is ok. Get to the amount of money you plan on spending and get out. The problem becomes when we make that temporary job or gig our never ending job. Turning it into our second, third, fourth or even fifth job in a week. If you’re like me, you might want a different direction for your career. I’m working on this blog as a side hustle. Eventually, I want it to become a thriving business helping others. If you want to grow a side hustle into a business, that’s a good reason to start. When you make money from it, the big difference is you don’t spend the money! Everything should be going back into what you are doing. At that point you are an entrepreneur. We won’t go deep into that but it’s important to know the difference. You want extra income or to leave your job?

I did this myself in my late teens to early twenties. I was operating off the popular phrase that the rich have multiple streams of income. I didn’t realize that they didn’t actually labor or even needed to be there to make it an income. So if you find yourself always needing more money we need to focus on a long term income source that can be made without always being there to get an hourly or per-task job.

Now what I’m about to mention may be a controversial topic, but it’s my experience and opinion. If you want to work one of these gig jobs or part time fast food joints, don’t be upset that it feels like you are not making progress, like it’s your main job, on achieving your goal. These are entry level positions, meaning no experience or expertise is required. Meaning they will pay the bare minimum the law will allow. These are great for students and someone trying to get on there feet from incarceration or another life set back. It helps someone that needs work history gain experience to get through there situation. If you are just looking for extra work, look closer to your field of expertise or talent. My best example is a teacher. Teachers have many days off that they can utilize their skill and passion for helping others learn. The salary for a teacher yearly may not be what they would love to make, but adding a side gig of tutoring can greatly propel their potential into six figures and beyond! Think of how many kids need extra tutoring. You can charge a daily, weekly or quarterly charge per kid. I would say you can make as little as $20 an hour every day of the work week or multi hour sessions on the weekend for an upcharge. Depending on the area you are and the population, skies the limit. Another example is in the field oh HVAC ( heating ventilation and cooling ). People in this industry make a lot of money on their normal jobs, but may need some extra work sometimes, especially when it’s slow season. They can advertise there service to people who normally can’t afford the big company upcharges. Yes that means charge less, but it’s more for you because you don’t have to split the money with the boss! You also get to help your community and that’s always a big plus.

The Goal: Lets talk about the people who want extra income that are living paycheck-to-paycheck or just don’t have the income they want from their job. In my opinion we need to think differently about a side hustle. Yes we can go add multiple jobs to get more money, but I think we have better long term options. We need to find a skill or trade that we can be very good in. Instead of working for mediocre income at entry level positions that will never give us the income or freedom of time we want! Think about this. Instead of working for minimum wage and giving yourself a few extra dollars a month, what if we find a skill or trade that we could learn and possibly double, triple or more our income! There is a trade off. You may have to volunteer or intern or find something you would have never thought you would do. My best example is a septic tank technician (sorry I don’t know the proper term). These people can make six figures or more driving around sucking peoples septic tanks and disposing of them. A guy I follow on YouTube Shortz literally states “The reason I pay my guys so well, is because it’s a shitty job”. I wouldn’t have looked for a job like that, but I’m open to it if I ever was in a bad position financially. You make good money and servicing peoples needs. What a noble thing!

In conclusion, we can tackle the side hustle by evaluating our personal situation and goals. Don’t make the side hustle a permanent one unless you just love what you are doing. We must think long term and keep these to achieve a short term goal( A year or less ). Any longer and we need to find something sustainable or what we are passionate about.

Short story: I worked at a pizza place as a delivery driver for about a year and a half. At that time I was making around $46k a year working 60+ hours a week at my transportation job. I thought adding this would propel my income to at least be the average American income. I made a little more than $5K that first year. I was excited because, on paper at least, I achieved a new bracket in my income. I was upset, however, that it didn’t change my life in some dramatic way. In fact I blew a head gasket in one car, over heated another and had so many repairs, that I was feeling like this was pointless trying to achieve that goal. On top of that, it put me in a tax bracket that made the tax credit I received on my return, I usually got back go away, equaling the $5k I earned! So, try not to find a hustle that can cause you to lose money trying to keeping the hustle, if you can. My current side hustle is selling supplements ( you can join me here! or support me by trying one of the awesome supplements here! ). I also deliver and help move people part-time with my truck. No right or wrong way, just have a plan in mind why you are working. We want to escape the rat race, not add races!