This is a guest post from Austin, let me know if you would like to guest post on RFI
Austin is the founder of The Logic of Money and has a passion for finance and helping others. He studied finance, investments, and banking as well as real estate and urban land economics in college. He hopes that he can share his knowledge and tips with others to help make personal finance less stressful for everyone. Follow him on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook!
How many times have you come across an article on the internet telling you that you can easily make $500+ a month only to click on it and see the same ideas as the previous article? Let me guess, they were probably something like driving for Uber or Lyft, becoming a delivery driver for one of the food delivery apps, or taking surveys online?
We’ve all been there. I’m even guilty of writing one of those articles because I thought it was the quickest way to break into the blogging world (wow, was I wrong).
These articles tend to have the same ideas or suggestions because making money on the internet or on your own time isn’t easy. If it were, every single person would be doing it. However, I am here to tell you that it is possible. You just need to find the thing that works for you.
What Makes a Good Side Hustle?
First, let’s start by clarifying that a side hustle is exactly what it sounds like. It is something you do on the side of your main or full-time job to bring in extra income. A side hustle is not your main source of income. Therefore, your side hustle should be something you enjoy doing. If it is not, you will spend every waking hour doing things you don’t enjoy doing and that is no way to live your life.
So what makes a good side hustle? A good side hustle really comes down to three things:
- A good side hustle is something you are already good at
- Something you enjoy doing; and
- Something that you can monetize
If you don’t like driving people around in your car in the wee hours of the morning, then driving for Uber or Lyft is probably not a great fit for you.
If delivering other peoples food just makes you hungry all the time and you continually get upset that the tips aren’t as good as you expected them to be, then being a delivery driver probably isn’t a great fit for you.
If you love coaching basketball and can provide value to others by putting on a youth basketball camp, then maybe running basketball camps is a great fit for you.
You simply need to find something you are good at, something you enjoy, then figure out if and how you can monetize it.
Why Have a Side Hustle?
You might be asking yourself, what’s the point of a side hustle? I’m set financially.
Well then that’s great. Side hustles aren’t for everyone and if you don’t need the extra cash and want more free time to yourself, then you don’t need to worry about it.
For other people like myself, it is a hobby, it is fun, and it is enjoyable. I like to continually learn new things and develop new skills and I have a bigger end goal in mind. I want to be financially comfortable, I want to retire early, I want to travel and experience things that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to, and I want to eventually provide more than necessary for my family.
For some people, they use a side hustle to help pay down debt, save up for a new car or house, or simply do it because they can’t sit still.
That is the beauty of a side hustle. It is something you get to control and you get to do it on your own terms. You don’t have to report to a boss. You are your own boss and get to pave your own way and if you’re lucky and put in enough time and effort, you may even be able to turn your side hustle into your full-time job.
What Are My Side Hustles?
I currently have two side hustles.
The first I started back in July of 2019. I began blogging on my site The Logic of Money about all things personal finance. I have had a passion for finance for as long as I can remember. I remember talking stocks with my father growing up and I finally opened up my own brokerage account when I was a sophomore in high school and I never looked back.
I started the blog not so much as a way to make money, but more so as a way to communicate with other people and to help educate other people on the topic. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to make money blogging, of course I do, who wouldn’t?
But in all honesty, that wasn’t my main motivation. I love talking about finance and I don’t think the people around me can take anymore conversations about paying down debt, budgeting, investing, or saving for retirement so I use my blog as an outlet. It is something I enjoy, it’s something I know a lot about, and it’s something that can be monetized. It checks all the boxes of a great side hustle.
The second side hustle I have is collecting/investing in sports cards.
Sounds nerdy, right? It’s something I have had a passion for since I was a young kid. I have always loved sports and I have always loved collecting trading cards. There was no better feeling than opening a pack of cards and seeing your favorite player or favorite team.
You’re probably wondering, “How the heck can you make money off sports cards?” Well, there has been a huge growth in popularity in the recent years in sports cards. People are spending more money and investing more time in the hobby.
If you have old sports cards laying around, you might want to take a look at them and check recently sold items on Ebay to see if any of them are worth any money. Seriously, you could make some serious money if you have any rookie cards of big name athletes. If you don’t know where to start, feel free to reach out and I would be more than happy to help out in any way I can.
I monetize this hobby by buying and selling sports cards of big name players and I write about it and share my collection with others on my other site The Card Report. And again, it is something I enjoy, I know a lot about sports, and I can make money off of my knowledge by buying and selling sports cards. It is another perfect side hustle for me.
Final Word
Side hustles are definitely not a one-size-fits all kind of thing. You don’t need to go read every article about how to make x-amount of money on your own time. It may be good to give you ideas but you can determine your own side hustle by figuring out what you’re good at, what you enjoy doing, then getting creative in how you can monetize it. And remember, the key to monetizing anything is by providing value to others, and going above and beyond the competitors.