Hustle Smart: Side Hustles "Gig work".

Side hustles are a great way to bring in extra income. They're great for paying off debt, expenses, or just keeping extra cash in your pocket. The coolest thing about side hustles is that you can do them on your own time. While side gigs are very helpful for bringing in extra cash, Time Management and Money Management are two helpful things to keep in mind for effective side hustling.

Time Management:

Time Management helps you set boundaries with your time, keeps you from being burnt out easily, creates order in your weekly schedule, and helps with managing the income you bring in from side gigs.

Choose a consistent weekly schedule:

When picking up ongoing side gigs it's helpful to choose a consistent schedule.

This can be as little as working 3 hours a day, 2 days a week. The hours do not need to be long; your schedule just needs to be consistent.

Money Management:

After creating a consistent schedule, you can then effectively manage the money you bring in from side gigs.

Here is how I manage my gig income for example:

• Making a schedule: I typically work about 2 hour a day, 5 days a week Monday through Friday (Delivery gig). Although you can set your schedule around any type of side gig.

• Calculating Your income: Within 2 hours I know I will make on average a minimum of $15 a day. I may make more but for a more accurate budget I keep track of the “minimum” I typically bring in each day. (also, minus any gas expense)  I then take my $15 a day and multiply that by the 5 days a week that I work, that’s $75 a week that I bring in from side hustles based on my schedule.

• Apply the Income to your budget: If I multiply my $75 a week, by the 4 weeks in a month that’s about $300 a month I bring in from side gigs.

• Applying Income to expenses: Now that I know how much I bring in each month, I can properly allocate those funds to the expenses in my monthly budget. For Example: if my car note is $300 a month, I would know that I have $300 a month coming in, that can be applied towards my car note each month.

Time Management helps bring in a more consistent cash flow. Money Management helps allocate those funds.

You would need to work your schedule a few times to get a feel for how much you would typically bring in each week.

Working Overtime on your side gig:

If I need more than $300 a month due to an emergency. I still try and set boundaries on my overtime. My regular schedule is Monday thought Friday between 3:30 and 5:30p. If I need overtime, I know that I will only work between 8am and 3p on Saturdays for overtime hours; and I will not pick up an order past 8p Monday through Friday if I need to work overtime. Setting boundaries even when you need overtime is helpful for effectively bringing in more money without burning yourself out and without getting in the way of other important activities. In emergency situations sticking to boundaries is not always possible depending on the situation, but setting those boundaries for yourself can be helpful. Working my overtime hours allows me to make an extra $700 monthly minimum in less than 25 hours a week, when working my Instacart delivery gig, while still setting boundaries on my time.

Treat Your Gigs as just "Side Hustles": Unless you have no other options, you should always treat side hustles as just "side hustles", it should not be treated as your main source of income. If your side gig requires using a vehicle, your vehicle could break down, causing you to lose all income. You could also burn yourself out, as side gigs can require more work to cover all expense than having a permanent job; and work availability is not promised.

Side Gig Resources:

• Craigs List – I’ve picked up gigs at the State Fair, Comic Con, and Monster Jam just by looking at the gig section on craigs list. While I’ve had some positive experiences with this platform. I recommend that you always do your research and watch for scammers on this platform.

• InstaCart – Allows you to shop at grocery stores and retailers for residence in your area. This is one of my favorite side gigs and during my overtime schedule allows me to bring in about $700 monthly minimum in less than 25 hours a week. however, work may vary based on your area.

• InstaWork – I enjoy this app for picking up gigs at baseball and football stadiums, but Instawork offers other work such as warehousing, event staffing, general labor, and more.

• Shiftsmart- Offers work in customer service, call center, warehousing, and more.

• Hampr – This app allows you to do laundry for residence in your area.

• Fiverr – This app can be helpful for providing freelance services.

• DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats, Bite Sqaud, and Postmates: These are all popular delivery apps for delivering food from restaurants to residence in your area.

This is just a limited list of side gig resources. You can potentially find other gigs based on your area of expertise. Check your local app store for other side gig opportunities.

How do you like to make extra money on the side? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Discipline is always key 🗝️

#KeepMoneyNow