Did you know that 50% of young adults have a side hustle?
Bringing in that extra cash every month is a nice option to have for everyone. But I think the financial flexibility of a side hustle especially important in today’s world.
Simply put – the jobs available to most young adults today just aren’t as great as jobs of the past. Our grandparents, or even our parents, had the option to just land one great job and stay with it forever. Although the promise of great benefits and a pension sound amazing, it is extremely hard to find a job that offers that when entering the workforce today.
It might more difficult to find the perfect job, doesn’t mean that we have to live without options. That’s where a side hustle can come into play and transform our opportunities.
Money Matters
Whether we like it or not, money plays an important part in our lives. Even for adventurous adults, like us, that just want to have some fun but not go totally broke doing it.
Yes, your money choices matter. If you spend and save your money wisely, then you will have more choices down the road. Money=freedom.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s look at a hypothetical scenario:
10 years from now you are working at your normal 9-5 job. Nothing crazy, it pays the bills without too much leftover. But you would rather be doing almost anything else. Everything is going fine, but then you get a new boss who makes your life miserable. If you don’t have any other options, then you will probably have to stay and be miserable at work. BUT if you have a side hustle and have saved your money wisely, then you can just quit. Or at least give yourself some time to look for another job.
Hopefully, your boss never makes you miserable. But many of us would like to depend less on a single job and build more financial freedom into our lives. Even if you would just rather be doing something else, a side hustle might be the right move for you.
Is a side hustle right for you?
The simplest way to decide if a side hustle is right for you is to ask yourself this one question: Do I want to earn more money?
If the answer is yes, then you can get started right away.
If you said no, then that is okay too. You won’t succeed at a side hustle unless you truly want to succeed.
Not just sort of- kind of want to. You need to really really want to side hustle because a side hustle is werk. There is no way around it, you will have to work hard to make a side hustle successful.
I recommend nailing down the reason (or reasons) why you want to have a side hustle before you get started. Use those reasons as motivation to reach your goals.
For some, the reason might be just to save up enough money to pay off a large amount of debt. Others might start hustling in hopes of turning the hustle into a full-time income someday. You might just need to make enough to pay for one large purchase. Or maybe you just want to start saving extra money so that you won’t have to work forever.
For me, I decided to start side hustling to build more financial flexibility into my life. I’ll share more about my reasons in a future post.
Whatever your reason is, make sure it really resonates with you. You will need to draw strength from your reasons when you feel like giving up. Believe me, you will feel like giving up. But if you can remember your own reasons why you started in the first place then you will hopefully be able to pull yourself together and keep on hustling.
What kind of side hustle options are there?
There are SO many different kinds of side hustles. You really just need to find what works best for you.
I have been side hustling for a few years. I chose to start with freelance writing because I actually enjoy writing about a lot of different topics so it was a natural fit.
Some other side hustles include:
- Blogging
- Babysitting
- Teach English online
- Mystery shopping
- Take surveys
- Pet Sitting
- House Sitting
- Drive for Uber
Some of these will take longer to earn money than others. For example, you could probably earn money five minutes from now if you take a survey but if you try blogging it will likely take you a little longer to earn extra cash from it.
I plan to provide more options in a future post, but for now, I have only included ways that my friends or I have personally made extra cash. I know there are MANY other options, so don’t worry if nothing on this list strikes your fancy.
Which side hustle is best for you?
Pick something that you feel comfortable with, you don’t want to feel trapped or stuck at your side hustle. This is the place to be creative and have fun. If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, you’ll probably quit at some point.
You don’t have to pick something that you are already an expert at! In fact, I would say try something that you think you would be good at even if you have no experience at all. You can learn pretty much anything you need to know about almost any side hustle things days, so pick something that excites you!
No matter what you pick, I recommend you pick something flexible. This is a side hustle, so you don’t want it to interfere with your regular job. (Unless your side hustle goes full time one day and you can say adios to the 9-5!) Make sure that you can do your side hustle on your own time, without letting it affect your regular work schedule.
Tips
The biggest thing to remember is to make time for your new side hustle. If you don’t put in the time, then you won’t make money. Set a schedule and stick to it! The hardest part is just making time for your side hustle. It can be easier if you set a schedule and actually follow it.
If all goes well, then you will be making extra money soon. Keep track of this income because you will have to pay taxes on it at the end of the year. Side hustles are not exempt from any tax laws.
Do you have a side hustle? What is your favorite way to make extra money?
