As many of you know, I’ve held numerous side jobs over the years—tasks and projects that have since formed the foundation of my business and led me to being self-employed. I never expected those side gigs to become my full-time career.
But that’s exactly what happened, and I couldn’t be happier.
My side hustles transformed my life. Looking back, I feel incredibly fortunate at how things unfolded.
My life today is very different from what I imagined just a few years ago.
At first, I wanted a part-time role after finishing my undergraduate degrees. I had roughly an eight-month break before starting my MBA, and I even considered taking on side work while working full-time and attending MBA classes. My partner advised against it, believing I needed a real break. He was right—taking an additional in-person part-time job would have been too stressful.
Instead of seeking a traditional part-time position where I’d commute and be present every day, I expanded my online activities and pursued remote opportunities. Writing and providing other online services felt natural and enjoyable—it was more like a hobby than a chore.
From there, I found many online opportunities, and everything took off.
Although I always juggled multiple side income streams, most of my friends don’t earn extra money outside their day jobs. It seems common among personal finance readers and bloggers to pursue side income, but I’m not sure why others don’t. Still, there are many benefits to having side work.
1. I had substantial student loans.
I realized that relying only on my day job would mean it could take a long time to pay down my student loans. I try not to dwell on the details, but my standard monthly payment would likely have been around $500. Paying $500 a month for ten years wasn’t appealing.
Some friends only make the minimum payments—others pay over $1,000 monthly—and they don’t pursue additional income to accelerate repayment. I didn’t want to be in that position. I believed I could clear my loans much faster by earning extra.
I created a student loan payoff plan and managed to pay off all my student loans within a year after graduating with my Finance MBA. Without side income, I doubt that would have been achievable. While it would have been possible to pay a bit extra from my salary, the scale of repayment I achieved was made possible by those side earnings.
2. We were struggling financially.
We always had shelter and food, but finances were tight. We weren’t saving much, and I was accumulating student debt despite both of us working full-time.
3. We wanted to travel.
With our regular income and expenses, vacations felt out of reach. Side income allowed us to allocate bonus money specifically for travel, so we could enjoy trips without guilt or strain on our regular budget.
4. We wanted to save more.
Earning extra gave us the ability to save significantly. With the additional income, we became less dependent on any single source of pay and managed to save over half of our income in some months. Those savings helped us build a solid emergency fund, plan for repairs, save for retirement, and fund vacations.
5. We didn’t want to feel trapped.
One of the biggest benefits of extra income is flexibility. If an unexpected expense arose, we had a much better cash flow buffer, so problems felt manageable instead of catastrophic. That contrasted sharply with how we felt before side income—small issues used to cause a lot more stress.
6. We were frugal but didn’t want to cut more expenses.
We could have trimmed a few more costs, but not enough to create meaningful change. We’ve always been fairly frugal, so the pragmatic solution was to increase income rather than continue cutting an already lean budget.
Related: User Interviews Review – Make $50 To $100 An Hour Sharing Your Opinion
Why do you earn extra money? If you don’t, what holds you back? Would an extra $500 a month change your life—and if so, how?