What You Need to Know About Side Hustles

Side hustles are great for making extra cash on the side to help you reach your goals quicker. But there are a few things you should know before diving into the world of side hustles.

1. Side Hustles are Exhausting

Even when you love what you are doing, sides hustles are something you are doing on the side. No matter how you spin it, it is extra work; it is something you are doing on top of your day job.

Whether it is a second part time traditional job, freelancing, or building your own business so you can make the leap to full-time employment, there will be days you just don’t want to do it anymore.

But you will keep going because you are working towards a goal and if you are the type of person to start side hustling in the first place you are probably not a quitter. Just know that it will be exhausting just as often as it will be exhilarating.

2. The Income From Them Will Still be Taxable

If you are working a traditional second job, the taxes are probably already taken care of, however, if you are freelancing you will need to take care of the taxes yourself.

What does this mean? It is a good idea to set aside 40% of your income for taxes. Hopefully, you’ll be able to deduct some expenses, but don’t count on it. Set aside 40% for the tax man and when you end up getting to keep some of it, it will be a nice bonus.

3. They Are Worth It

At the end of the day your side hustle is getting you closer to your goal, and when you finally accomplish your goal, it will have all been worth it. So keep on hustling on, I promise it is worth it.

Wrapping it Up with a Bow on Top

Side hustles are just that, something you do on the side that requires some hustle. It’s not always glamorous or exciting but when you see the difference that extra money makes, it’s almost always worth it. Keep working hard towards your goals, we’ll get there together.

Related:

Financial Goals: How to Set & Achieve Them

Looking for an easy side hustle, you can do any time? Side Hustle Series: Becoming a Lyft Driver

Want control and freedom to work where you want? Side Hustle Series: Freelance Writing

Curious about blogging as a side hustle? Side Hustle: Start a Blog

Want more ideas? Check out my Make More Money Page.

Have you ever hit a wall with your side hustle? What did you do to get past it?

Hustle tools & resources i recommend

GRAMMARLY (BE A BETTER WRITER) I use Grammarly as a second pair of eyes to help me clean up and proofread my writing/typing. The best part is that it is free to use. You can install an extension on your web browser and it will check any writing you do online. While there is a paid premium version, you can get by with the free version for a long time. I only recently upgraded. If you want to know more about Grammarly, you can read my review.

30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success (to start freelance writing) Personally, I found the course, 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success extremely helpful to get me started with freelance writing. It breaks down everything you need to do, step by step, so that by the time you get to pitching for jobs, you are prepared and successful. For me, the course paid for itself when I got my first freelance writing job. I now earn between $2,000 – $4,000 per month (check out my income reports) with freelance writing.

Lyft (to make money driving) Driving with Lyft is a great way to earn some extra cash. I love how easy it is to just turn on an app when I feel like driving and make some money. I wrote an entire post about driving for Lyft. It includes what you can expect during the application process, what it’s like to actually drive and the many perks of driving with Lyft.  Get started driving for Lyft.

BookScouter (to make money selling your books) BookScouter allows you to enter your book’s ISBN number and it compares the prices it would get from various sellers, making sure you fetch the most money possible for selling that book.

Contena (for Finding Freelance Writing Jobs) I used Contena when I was working my 9-5 and getting started freelance writing. It made it easy to find freelance writing jobs to pitch. While it’s not a cheap Contena is definitely worth it if you don’t have a ton of time to spend looking for freelance writing jobs to pitch. Contena pulls together pretty much all of the available freelance writing jobs out there into one place and will  notify you via email of ones in your niche. 

Rover (make money hanging with dogs) Rover is a website that connects pet sitters with pet owners. I did a video tutorial on how to use the site as pet sitter and the accompanying post goes over what makes Rover a great side hustle. Read and watch the post or get started petsitting.

Quickbooks Self-Employed (for managing Hustle Money) I use the QuickBooks Self Employed (BTW you’ll get 50% off with my link) app to calculate my quarterly taxes so I know how much to set aside. Though keep in mind it only keeps up with federal taxes and you will need to set aside an additional amount for your state taxes.