The title of this post is inspired by an Elite Daily article entitled If You Have Savings In Your 20s, You’re Doing Something Wrong.
Here’s what I believe in:
If You Are Living On One Income, You’re Doing It Wrong.
Everyone needs a hobby, a side hustle or a passion for profit project to do to be able to stay balanced.
Depending on just one source of income, like a typical 9-5 job, will make you insane. You will get bored, uninterested and stressed easily. Soon that one source of income, even though pays the bill, will not make you happy.
Working for four years and counting, I’ve met and worked with colleagues who after years of living on one income decided to finally pursue their passion.
Now they are working as freelance web designer, graphic artist, content writer, etc. and they seem to be a lot happier.
They say in life we either do what we love or learned to love what we do. Sadly, most of us (including me) fall on the latter instead, when it comes to employment.
And so that’s how this post idea came about. I wanted to encourage you to stop being controlled by your desk work. At the end of this post I hope you will finally do more of what makes you happy.
My Side Hustle Story
At 17, I started emceeing for Izza Glino Weddings and Events. It was my very first exposure on side hustling. In 2013, I decided to start my own blog, IzzaGlino, a beauty and lifestyle blog for frugal Pinays. Then came SavingsPinay, my YouTube channel and freelance content writing.
Pursuing each of my passion project became more of an easy task for me.
Why? Because I was doing what I love.
- I love hosting, organizing and planning weddings and events.
- I love blogging beauty and lifestyle stuff.
- I love filming and publishing videos online.
- I love writing for others.
It took me years to notice that the things I do on the side are becoming source of extra income already. My April 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report will attest to that. Far more than the money I make, my side hustles started to create a big impact in my life.
Here's why I urge you to stop living on one income and start having a side hustle:
If Your Financial Goals Are Too Hard, A Side Hustle Can Help
One of the 40 Financial Habits For Life everyone ought to know is the importance of goal setting. But you can’t stop by just writing your goals down. You need to invest financial discipline and effort to succeed. And some goals can even take years to achieve.
This is where side hustles come in handy. When you want to build your emergency fund, when you want to pay for a new home, when you want to get out of debt — A passion profit may help you. Having that extra income will help you achieve your financial goals faster.
One of my life goal last year was to celebrate my father’s 60th birthday with a party. I want it to be an unforgettable occasion wherein all of the Montes-Glino clan will reunite.
I wasn’t able to keep up saving for this goal until October 2016 when I got a freelance writing gig that pays well. I wrote 150-word resource article for $100 each. With that side hustle I achieved my goal in less than three months. I saved up 18,000pesos for my father’s birthday party. Cool, right?
So if you feel like your goals are too high and too impossible to achieve given your current salary, then maybe pursuing something on the side should be part of your goal too.
If You Can’t Find a Job You Are Passionate About, Do It On Your Own Instead
Lucky are those who are in a job that they are honestly passionate about. But let’s be honest. Not everyone end up #feelingblessed.
Writing for website is my ultimate dream. I love to create web pages, blogs, resource articles or any other type of content found on the internet. But back in 2013, web content writing wasn’t that big in the Philippines.
So I tried creating my own profile on Odesk (now Upwork). I also applied on small projects in Craigslist that really helped me learn more about freelance content writing.
And so if you can’t get hired to do what you want, then do it on your own. It is as simple as that.
If You Want To Build More Skills, Side Hustling is the Answer
I cannot emphasize enough on how each of my side hustle made me a better version of myself. If I did become contented living on one income, then I wouldn’t be who I am today. All of my side hustles helped me build skills for my betterment.
One of the most exciting part of having a side hustle (and the one I enjoy the most) is the amount of knowledge you are forced to learn. Because you are working for your own business, you get to learn new things associated with what you do. [READ: 7 Ways You Can Invest in Yourself]
As a blogger I learned a lot about Search Engine Optimization. How to create posts that will be on the first page of search engines. How it is really not about the quantity (number of posts) but the quality (value of post) that make you big in the blogsphere.
Aside from that I became more productive. I read a ton of posts on juggling a blog with a full-time job and I found out resources and tools to streamline my time. Time management is one of the hardest skill to master but I can pretty much say that the side hustling I do made me a lot involved in being productive.
Here are the list of things I learned outside of my desk job in six combined years of side hustling
- Creating a financial plan
- Creating a business plan
- SEO Content Writing
- Pomodoro Technique
- Batching my tasks
- Negotiating with client
- Pricing my skills
- Selling my talent
- Everything about Blogger and WordPress [READ: Your 2017 Guide on How To Start a Blog | SavingsPinay]
- Making money online
- Affiliate Marketing
- Investing in Stocks
- Investing in Managed Funds like mutual fund
- Writing an eBook
And the list goes on and on.
In summary:
[clickToTweet tweet=”A passion project is the best place to learn and to master your skills.” quote=”A passion project is the best place to learn and to master your skills. It is the perfect place to transform from being an employee to entrepreneur.”]
If Something Bad Happens at Work, You Have a Plan B
Bad things may happen at work. Too much politics, too much tasks to do and too much deadlines to work on will again, exhaust you. Living on one income will make you on a difficult situation once it stopped. That’s why it is nice to have an opt out option like a side hustle.
Job security is scarce nowadays. You might feel irreplaceable now like your company depends on you so much but that feeling won’t last. [READ: When to Quit Your Job and How To Do It]
When things go bad to worse it is nice to have a plan b to pursue. Making it easier for you to leave and to do what you really want once and for all.
If You Suddenly Lose Your Identity, Your Side Hustle is the Answer
Months ago I lost my job. I worked toward that job in the last three years. I was passionate about it and I let that job define me in some ways. My time, friends and activities revolve in that job.
Losing it too sudden and too extreme was hard. Losing your identity to what you do in life is hard.
I was literally crying the whole week.
It feels like a part of me have lost the battle. I felt like I can’t go on anymore and I started to question God, “Why me?”.
We live in a society wherein our job becomes your identifier. When we meet our friends and the first thing they usually ask is “Saan ka nagwo-work?”. That’s why when you lose that one thing you do for some time now, you can also lose your identity too.
And the feeling sucks.
What made me sane from that experience is doing what I really love to do — blogging, hosting, freelance content writing and making videos on YouTube. My side hustles gave me a stronger outlook in life.
I realized that I am more than my 9 to 5 job. And my desk job became less and less important.
And I guess this is the most important factor why you should stop living on one income. You need a life outside your desk job. You need that hobby or side hustle you can identify yourself with too. Now people knows me more as a host and blogger rather than a documentation specialist.
Final Notes from SavingsPinay
And so,
If You Are Living On One Income, You’re Doing It Wrong
You need a side hustle, a side business to open up endless possibilities on your own. You can never depend on your current job and your current salary.
If you haven’t considered making extra money through working on the side here’s my challenge for you.
- Write down what you are passionate about. Is it taking photos? Writing online? Doing yours and others hair and makeup?
- Find resources from web to actual people who have pursued the same passion and learn how they did it.
- Just do it. You don’t need technical skills to start a blog. Read my post 2017 Guide on How To Start a Blog to know how. You don’t need to think a lot on what side business idea to start. Here’s a list you start with. Just do it. Start doing what you really enjoy.
I know that many will contest that they don’t have much time to spend on another workload. You may have a ton of excuse to settle on being an employee. But I want to open your eyes in the reality that you need extra income too. We all have 24 hours in a day and it is what we do with our spare time that determines how successful we will be in the future.
Are you interested in creating a side hustle this 2017? Do you believe that one should not keep on living on one income alone?
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