What's your side hustle?

A side hustle is a side job that makes you money.  A side hustle is not a hobby on which you spend money or fail to make money.  You can be an amazing woodworker and charge people money for your creations. But if at the end of the day you aren’t making more than what you are getting back, then it’s not a side hustle - it’s just a hobby. And hobbies cost money!

My side hustle is coaching soccer.  It’s something I’m passionate about, and while it’s certainly not lucrative, it does bring in some extra cash. I actually consider it a double or even triple saver and I’ll explain why.  I started coaching very early, while I was still in high school and continued to coach in college - both as an unpaid coach. I pursued coaching for the love of soccer, so it really started as a hobby for me. But because I had prior coaching experience, when I started coaching travel soccer, I got paid.  So from this point forward it wasn’t a hobby, it was a side hustle. I used my previous experience and turned my interest into my side business. I call my coaching money my “Roth IRA” money or my “retire early” money, and put everything I make into savings. 

So from this point forward, I was able to save more than the common man with only one job.  The added benefit was that coaching took up a lot of time, which means less time to spend money from my primary job or my side hustle.  Evenings after work have been taken up, as are many weekends from games.  So in my early 20’s through today, I just haven’t had as much time as others to spend money, hence the double savings.

As it goes with anything you do for a while, as long as you have a passion for learning, you end up getting better.  Since I focused my side hustle on something I love, I turned into a pretty good coach. So people kept offering me more money to do the same exact job!  Imagine that - doing something that you would do for free, but instead getting paid for it and eventually making more money! How cool is that!  Once the sunk costs associated with getting started in your side hustle (buying balls and cones in my case), you start to make some decent money.  I always put everything from my coaching right into savings and investment. I was therefore able to put a full 20% down on my first house solely from coaching money, as well as fully fund my Roth IRA each year!

Now a warning though. I’ve seen people attempt to have a side hustle, by selling clothes or supplements or beauty products.  Those people get into it because they think they can make an extra buck and supplement the cost for a product they already buy. But beware the pyramid schemes! These are not side hustles when you have to shell out the bulk of the money up front. If you don’t end up “moving” the products by asking your friends over and over to purchase the same types of items, you’ll just end up with a garage full of products and no extra money to show for it. 

So what’s your side hustle?  Is it coaching, photography, blogging, writing a book or walking dogs?  While startup costs occur with virtually any business, a side hustle should yield profits pretty quickly. If not, then it’s just a hobby. That’s certainly fine, if it’s something fulfilling that you enjoy. But if you can turn a hobby into a money maker (without making all your friends on Facebook block you), then you’re on the right track!