How to Side Hustle Your Way out of Debt

To pay the bills that are out of reach for an ordinary 9-5 job salary, having a side hustle can provide the perfect income boost to meet the needs of your finances.

Side hustles on the internet have evolved into a gig economy of people working multiple jobs to make more money on the side of their fulltime work.

But there is another benefit that the side hustle has to the working class, and that is to help pay off personal debt. Debt is the biggest inhibitor to building wealth. If you’re in debt make it your priority to pay it off.

The faster you pay off debt, the faster you will achieve financial freedom. Having a side hustle can increase your income substantially. This income boost will allow you to pay off debt faster and secure yourself a ticket to financial freedom.

How to Pick a Side Hustle?

Your day job is the main bread and butter that supports you and your family.

For the most part, your fulltime job is enough to pay for rent, food, utilities, and transportation. For many people paying debt means sacrificing any money left over after all bills are paid. For this reason, debt repayment can be a slow and tedious process. However, adding another few income streams into the mix has the potential to change that.

To start side hustling, begin by making a list of what your main skills and interests are, then list them in order of employability from top to bottom. For example, if your interests are sports, cooking, and fixing computers; you should put fixing computers at the top since it’s more likely to help you find work.

Once you’ve categorized your main interests, start thinking about how you can potentially monetize them. Do your research and familiarize yourself with what other people are doing in that field.

Lastly, begin to organize your schedule and start working on your side hustles. Try to make time in your day to work on them: the best hours to work are either early in the morning or late at night.

How Much Can You Make with a Side Hustle?

The amount of money you can make through side hustling will vary depending on what you do. Some side hustles will take longer to monetize than others.

The time and effort you put into your side hustle will determine how fast you start seeing money come your way.

A good rule of thumb is to treat the process as a part-time job and dedicate at least 20-25 hours a week to work. Let’s say, for example, you decided to pick up some work as a part-time freelance writer.

The average part-time freelance writer can make anywhere from $500-$3,000 a month. Now say you already make $50,000 a year with your 9-5 job. $50,000 annually is roughly $4,166 a month before tax. With your freelance writing side hustle, you have the potential to bump up your monthly income to $7,166.

Before-tax, a monthly income of $7,166 is around $86,000 a year. With one side hustle, you have successfully increased your annual income by more than 60%!

Pay Off Debt with Your Side Hustle

Now suppose you have a total of $80,000 in student loans, $5,000 in car loans, and $500 in credit card debt.

In total, you are $85,500 in debt. With your annual income of $50,000, paying off a total debt of $85,500 can seem arduous. Yet, with the income boost given to you by your side hustle, your annual income now exceeds total debt.

Suddenly accomplishing a debt-free life doesn’t seem as difficult anymore and it can be done quickly if you follow a strict budget plan.

• Find the cheapest housing possible.
• Don’t eat out, buy essential foods only.
• Avoid car payments.
• Consider cheap entertainment.

The quickest and easiest way for you to pay off debt is by using the debt snowball method. By utilizing this method, you will pay off the smallest debt first, then make the minimum payments for the other debts until you’ve finished paying the biggest one.

If you do everything correctly your student loans can be paid off in a little over 2 years. This is a far cry from the amount of time it would have taken you with just your 9-5.

The best part about this is that you aren’t limited to only one side hustle. Some people juggle 2 to 3 side hustles at a time; the internet allows for the flexibility to establish numerous income streams.

There are a few side hustles that will pay you the most money for the time that is required to be put in.

The Most Flexible Side Hustles to Pay off Debt

Blogging

Writing a blog on the side of your day job is not only fun and convenient, but it can also be turned into a massive personal brand. When you first start your blog won’t have a lot of traffic, but if you keep publishing quality content you will naturally start attracting readers. Once you have a loyal audience you can monetize your blog in so many ways.

• Put ads on Your Blog– Maybe not the most favorable anymore, but Google ads can be completely passive and lucrative if you receive a ton of traffic. It’s a good idea to build your audience first, then put ads once you have their trust.
• Affiliate Links-Affiliate links earn you a commission every time a visitor clicks on them. These are another great way to passively earn income.
• Sell Courses– If you feel that you have a skill at something, then feel free to sell your own courses. People are willing to pay for high-quality courses online, especially if you can give them results.
• Sell Books– Becoming a published author may seem like a stretch for most people, but you could self-publish your own books today without going through a publishing company. The only thing you need to do is market your books so it can reach the ideal reader.

Related: How to make money blogging

YouTube as a Side Hustle

YouTube is another great way to earn a little extra money online. YouTube is a website that welcomes all types of content creation. From influencers to gamers, to gym enthusiasts; there is a place for everybody on YouTube.

Pick a topic that you love talking about and make start making videos on it. You can make money by doing this and it will be through discussing something you’re passionate about.

You can then monetize your YouTube channel using ads, selling merchandise, streaming, and patreon.

You may also read: Online Side hustles that can enable you generate extra income

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is one of the most lucrative gigs on the internet today. With the millions of businesses looking for writers online today, there is an abundance of content waiting to be published. If you were to start freelance writing, you could easily make around $1,000 a month.

Depending on what you set as your rate you could make up to $3,000 a month freelance writing part-time. Doing this type of work can also lead to other positions related to writing and internet marketing.

If you’re looking for a job in anything marketing or communications-related, adding that you’re a freelance writer to your resume can make you a desirable job candidate.

Related: Over 20 sites that offers opportunities to make money online

Sell Merchandise Online

You can start immediately making more money online by selling stuff. Websites like eBay and Amazon offer exclusive deals for web sellers willing to operate on their platform.

These websites take a commission from your sales, but they offer you all the marketing and technical work by allowing you to use their platform.

Another option is for you to start your own website and sell items on there. You can keep 100% of the profits this way and can abide by your own rules instead of other websites.

However, you will be competing with the bigger brands in your industry, meaning that your store will have to fight for SEO and marketing initiatives. This may be something that would pay off in the long run rather than earn you money right away.

Also read: Side Hustles You can Start From Comfort of Your Home

The Bottom Line

The world today is full of many different avenues available for someone to make money. If you go back 50 years, the only side jobs available were server and dishwasher positions. Now people are making a substantial income from their own homes.

Unfortunately, however, today we have a lingering problem with personal debt. Student loan debt is especially something that is severely hurting the younger generations. Yet, this can be counteracted by increasing your income and organizing your budget. Boosting your income and keeping your expenses low increases the likelihood that you will remain debt-free. By being debt- free you can finally use your money to invest in yourself and sculpt the model of your financial future.

About the Author:

Alex is a personal finance blogger. He has been blogging about finance for the past year now and loves writing content that helps and inspires people to succeed.