With economists talking about inflation and a recession, I feel it is more important than ever to start a side hustle. Many people rely on one source of income, which is the job they go to every day. They feel incredibly secure only having this one source of income. Here are a few reasons why I think people should start a side hustle today.
Put all your eggs in one basket. That’s a bad idea.
The majority of people only have one job. This is probably due to the way society has wired us. Our entire school system is Monday-Friday 9–5 (like a job) prepping us to transition into the workforce after high school/college. Many college students believe they will land a great paying 9–5 career after they get their degree with a massive amount of student loan debt. Ouch. (tell us how you really feel).
Putting all your eggs in one basket doesn’t seem right in this case, especially with student loan debt and the rest of life’s curve balls. Why do we only have one source of income? Our “super secure job” could go away tomorrow. Yet, most people do not build anything for themselves or their families. Many of us saw the recession in 2008. Many people lost their jobs and not too many people had businesses they built on the side as a cushion. Let’s fix this.
Financial Freedom
There is nothing wrong with working a regular job. I think that’s awesome. But, you can only climb the corporate ladder so far. Hoping for that 3% raise every year and spending your time building something for someone else limits our growth potential. If people were to build a side hustle it could allow more financial freedom for them and their families.
Americans are bogged down with rent, car payments, student loans, and credit card debt. I know some people paying $500 a month on their student loans. Wouldn’t it be amazing if people had a side hustle that covered their student loan/mortgage payment or allowed them to invest more into their retirement account? Here’s an article I wrote on how I made $1000 per month mowing lawns. It paid my mortgage and it was just a few lawns every Saturday morning. Since it was my business, it allowed me a lot of flexibility when I wanted to mow and the financial freedom I felt from this was amazing.
Family and flexibility
This one tugs at my heart. For me, nothing sucks more than working a 9–5 and only having a few hours in the evening to spend with your family. I know starting a side hustle would be more work for some, but a side hustle can replace a 9–5 job allowing people flexibility with their families.
One example I see all the time is families trying to figure out daycare only to keep their job that has the majority of the paycheck going towards daycare. Now, with inflation increasing everywhere it is making affording daycare harder.
I know moms who have left their regular 9–5 jobs for a more flexible route such as care.com, Instacart, DoorDash, Etsy, and reselling on Poshmark to name a few. Their level of happiness increases so much. They can avoid daycare and make enough money that pays the bills. They don’t feel as vulnerable to being laid off and lessening the blow of inflation by getting rid of unnecessary payments. It’s a huge win in my eyes.
This example is just one of the many reasons I think people should build side hustles for themselves and their families. I know some readers are thinking, “what would I even do as a side hustle”? Chances are you aren’t super passionate about your job in customer service or sales. I am sure you like something well enough that you could turn it into a service or sell a product. Maybe it’s reselling shoes on eBay/ Poshmark, watering people’s potted plants when they’re on vacation, designing websites, baking cookies, and selling them on Facebook, we could come up with a list of a million side hustles. What I think is the most important is that people build this for themselves and their families. We cannot rely solely on one source of income, praying that inflation or a recession won’t touch us.
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