1. Life is unpredictable

In a single moment your life can be turned upside down by: budget cuts, layoffs, plant closures, a labor strike, a position consolidation, your line becomes automated, your department is eliminated, your division is outsourced, your employer is bought out, or our GOVERNMENT IS SHUT DOWN.

And for the averaged 78% of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck, to have your job disappear with no warning means disaster!!! No way to take care of the mortgage payment, the utility payment, or the food budget.  If you have never experienced the pain of being in this position, odds are you will some day.

Being unemployed is not an awesome position, especially with a wife and three kiddos at home.  However, regardless of your circumstance, being unexpectedly without your income even just one time in this life is more than enough to never want to be in that position again!

Everybody NEEDS a side hustle!

People who have a side hustle buffer themselves from the unexpected.

2. Your hours have value

Your time has monetary value, even your down time.  For every hour that is spent “vegging out,” you are missing out on the opportunity to build something.  This is called an opportunity cost.  You are giving up one thing at the expense of another. 

Now, I’m not saying that you can’t have any down time, unless you’re in a season where you can’t afford down time.  I’m simply saying don’t take too much down time.

Use your break time, commuter time, lunch hour, TV time, and YouTube time to invest in a side hustle.

Leverage today’s resources for tomorrow!

Every person is given 24 hours in a day, how can you use them to improve your current situation?

3. A side hustle provides an outlet for creativity

If you’re a particularly creative person, you might go stir crazy if you don’t have a way to express that.  A side hustle is not just a good idea, it is a necessity!  If God has blessed you with a gift (painting, photography, drawing, music, etc) use it!

Before we had kids, my wife would spend hours drawing, and was AMAZING at it!  Now that our youngest is almost 4 years old, she FINALLY has some time to get back to it.  Lately she has been doing some awesome pencil drawings for people, and simply gives her drawings away.  (It is a type of ministry for her.)  Occasionally, she will have someone offer her compensation for her work.  What was intended to just be an outlet for creativity has all the makings of a solid side hustle! [If you’d like information on ordering a drawing, send an email with details to contact@makeanextradollar.com.]

4. Kids need experience

A side hustle is a great way for children to learn the value of work and money.  Maybe you’ve seen that one 16 year old kid who mows lawns on the side, learning the value of hard work, sweat, and labor!  He has to manage his equipment, refill all the fluids, sharpen mower blades, re-spool his weed-eater string, change spark plugs, etc.  After he receives compensation, he then has to figure out what to do with it (tithing, saving, spending).  That kid has a much better chance of NOT becoming one of the millions who live with the stress and defeat of living paycheck to paycheck, (though it is still possible.)  If nothing else, he has a side hustle to fall back on as an adult when times get tough.

My older brother did just that!  I used to make fun of him when we were kids.  I’d be at home watching Saturday morning cartoons while he was out sweating his tail off mowing our grandparent’s neighbors’ yard.  However, at 40 years old, when he lost his job making really good money, he returned to what he knew.  Before I knew it, he had employees, a few mowers, and more accounts than he could keep up with, pulling in over six figures!!!  WHAT!?!  Yep, whose laughing now?  Not me, that’s for sure!

Side hustles are a great safety net!

Guess who is mowing yards on the side now???  YEP, this fella!  HA! (I’m always learning stuff from my older brother…Thanks B!)

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Do you have a side hustle? 
If so, we want to hear about it and share it
with others, as an encouragement to them.  We believe that
“Your story may be the spark that someone else needs.“

If you don’t have a side hustle, NOW IS THE TIME!!!
It is your turn to DO SOMETHING!  Make today the day that you take that first step!