Are You A Hustler? Supplement Your Income, Change Your Financial Circumstance

For most of the working-class, the dream is to provide a comfortable life for loved ones and to have enough money to allow for incremental climbing of the proverbial financial ladder. In today's economy of high inflation and rising cost of living, our money doesn't go as far as it used to. Whether your paycheck has kept up with inflation, some extra income is always welcome and might propel you into a much more comfortable financial situation. Thanks to the Internet, there are now more ways to help supplement income streams. Today, we will look at some ways you might earn some extra cash, but first, let me make something very clear. I don't offer any quick ways to become a millionaire or to make you rich overnight. Building wealth is hard work, and it takes time, discipline, and perseverence. If you have the patience and the drive to change your circumstance, nothing can stop you from accomplishing your goals.

What Side Hustle Should You Take On?

Well, that's a very subjective question and unlike some other websites, I won't be telling you about what opportunities are available, but encourage you to go find one on your own. Why? well, it's simple. I believe, subconsciously, you already know the side hustle that you want to take on but you have been too self-conscious or scared to fail, that you probably ignored that voice inside that's been telling you what you need to do. In my case, not that I'm looking to make money from this blog, I've been mulling over about creating this blog for years. I finally launched this blog because I set aside my fear of failure and I used my strengths of technical savvy to gain confidence in my idea. Ultimately, the best side hustle is something that you're good at. Maybe you like running, so you decide to launch a health and fitness blog that focuses on all things running, or maybe you create a running meetup group and charge a small fee for organizing running routes. There are millions of possibilities. Everyone has strengths they can use to increase their net worth. What's yours?

What Worked For Me?

I disregarded negative commentary from others. I didn't really care about what people thought of me or about my thoughts on the topic. I just starting doing it. Sometimes it's best to tune negativity out and do what you think is right. I'm not saying all ideas you have are good ideas or that all your ideas will work out; but that you should identify and think through your ideas. Another reason it took me some courage to start this blog was the cost associated with developing a blog. That said, starting a blog is not that expensive, but it adds up to considerable money. Maybe your side hustle requires initial capital as well, and that could be holding you back, or maybe it's a time commitment issue, which is a genuine concern. Are you willing to sacrifice some freedoms to take on a new challenge? Is what you'll be giving up worth the squeeze? Map out these issues and resolve them one by one to get you on your way. Only you can answer these questions. Once you answer some of these initial questions, I believe it will become clear how or what side hustle may work for you. You might fail initially and that's ok. These failures will help you hone in your skill set. I also created boundaries for myself: like what I was going to spend time on and things that I wouldn't let distract me. For example: I could've hosted this blog on my own and maintained it all myself but because managing a server takes time and constant TLC, I outsourced that aspect so I could focus on writing for OMG! RETIREMENT! blog vs. letting myself get diverted to other menial tasks.

Start Small

Don't go for making the ultimate cash in your initial attempt. Temper your expectations, make realistic goals for yourself. Maybe your initial goal is to make $500 per month, set a realistic benchmark for yourself. The idea is to start small, gain small moral victories and then build up to incrementally larger objectives. If you make unrealistic goals for yourself and you don't measure up to those goals, you are likely to fail and not get intended results.

Remember Your Goal

Don't forget why you want to take on a side hustle. The goal is to supplement your income, so you can improve your financial circumstance. Once you make money from your side gig, don't forget to save and invest your new capital. The desire to spend this additional money may creep up and you may give into it once or twice, which is ok because that's called being a human. To keep these slip-ups under control, what may work is to have a goal that you will save 90% of the new capital and invest it in a pre-determent way. I would highly recommend that you research and invest according to your investment thesis and fight the urge to invest in flashy or meme investments. I highly recommend investing in a low cost passive index fund like VTI.

Closing Thoughts

No one can encourage you like you can. Think of things that motivate you, use that emotional capital to get off that proverbial couch and make something happen for yourself. Remember, only you can change your circumstance. Be a Hustler, become a savvy investor.