Today I’m happy to share a guest post! Pauline is a personal finance blogger who left the 9-5 seven years ago to live life on her own terms. She is currently based in sunny Guatemala, where she runs a guest house, a little education project, four blogs, and other short term projects. She is passionate about helping people hustle hard so they too can have the lifestyle they dream about. You can find more of her story at Reach Financial Independence or her writings at InvestmentZen.
Back in college, I had up to half a dozen jobs at a time. My main one was working three days a week for a company that paid my tuition and gave me a small stipend. It was nice, and covered my basic living expenses, but I wanted more. I wanted money to travel, to sleep soundly at night knowing emergencies would not put me in the red, to prepare my future and become financially independent. So at night, I’d tutor kids and teach the piano. On weekends I’d waitress at Disneyland and scoop ice cream at a parlor. I would occasionally babysit kids or take telemarketing assignments. I never said no to side hustling. My hiring pool would grow with every job I took, and people would often call me back for a week long gig, to which I’d say… yes!
My main short term goal was to graduate with enough money to travel the world for a year (around $12,000). That kept me crazy motivated. I did such a good job, I had over $25,000 when graduation came, and bought my first rental property. Then went traveling with the rent money. But we are not here to pat me in the back.
Hustle to boost your savings rate
What I would like to talk about today is how hustling extra hard allowed me to save a ton of money and prepare for a bright financial future early on. The average saving rate in the US is around 5%. Meaning it would take almost two years to have one month worth of living expenses in the bank. Not glorious if you ever want to retire. If you make $2,000 a month, you are currently saving $100. The good news is, you are living below your means, so great job. What if I told you there was a way to double you savings rate?
We could try to look into your spending, and reduce your allowance for nights out, clothes or gadgets. But first, you can only reduce your spending so far, and then, the whole point of life is to have little pleasures. So instead, let’s try to make $100! There are tons of ways to make an extra $100 or more every month.
A few of the ways I managed to hustle on the side included:
- Asking friends and neighbors if they need an extra hand (painting, moving, dog-walking, babysitting,…)
- Joining temp agencies and waitressing at events like weddings and corporate conventions.
- Putting ads online to tutor, teach languages or music.
- Putting an ad at school to pick up kids after school, supervise homework, and get ready for bed.
- Being a substitute teacher at my old primary school.
- Helping around at my university and promoting my business school at conferences. We’d get a travel stipend, travel on the cheap and save the rest. Plus free travel!
Opportunities are everywhere
I see opportunities everywhere, and am conscious they are more difficult to identify for some people. My process is simple: when people tell you they’re very busy (at work or at home), see if there is any way you can take some of their load. Then charge them. People will happily have their lawn mowed, their errands run, their houses cleaned… if that means more free time for them. The same way, if you have a skill, whatever that is, you can probably market it. A friend of mine is a gifted baker. She made a beautiful cake for her son’s birthday, and the dozen of moms at the party asked her to make their kids’ birthday cake as well. I speak three languages, that has allowed me to make money teaching, translating, blogging, and freelance writing.
What do people say you are good at? You can probably market that. Even better, something you are good at is probably something you enjoy, so you will have fun hustling on the side.
Hustle your way to Financial Independence
Now that is where it gets interesting. Just a few hours of your time here and there open the door to many possibilities in terms of saving and investing. One hour of tutoring per week at $25/h is $100 in your pocket every month. Not a big deal, but invest $100 every month and let it compound at 8% from age 25 to 60 (a realistic return if you invest in index funds tracking the S&P500 for example), and you will have $232,300 saved for retirement! Saving a million dollars will require over four times that effort, at $430 per month. That is one $100 client per week. Can you do it? Certainly! You can find four $25 clients, or raise your rates as you gain more experience, and get two $50 clients, or even just one that is willing to pay $100 for your skills.
I for example started teaching French for $40 per hour. I found my first clients online via an ad board. Then I got in touch with language schools that trained executives before they became expats. My rate jumped to $70. A few months on, I found a mother who wanted a group class with her two kids. I offered to come to their place and stay for two hours for $150. I was providing value since they didn’t have to drive to school, saving their half an hour each way. And I charged for the privilege.
One such class every week would have more than covered the $430 a month needed to save a million dollar by retirement. A little extra money can have a huge impact on your nest egg. Because you are already used to living on your main paycheck, you can use 100% of your side hustle money to save and invest for the future.
How I approached it was by defining short and long term savings goals. I wanted a new pair of fancy shoes, fine. I could have them after saving $10 a week. Yes, I could have gone to the store at the end of week one, but that would have meant not saving for other things. And it made the purchase more appealing.
I had mid term goals, such as saving for a holiday, or a car. Then the long term goals of buying a house and saving for retirement and financial independence.
With every stream of income bringing more power to my side hustle snowball, I was able to save much faster than expected and leave the corporate world at 29. That was seven years ago, and I haven’t stopped hustling because I really enjoy what I do. And since I don’t need the work, it makes things even better.
So what are you waiting for to start
hustling and investing?
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really interesting post thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you Giulia!
I love this post. There really are opportunities everywhere. I hate when people say that they can’t make side hustle money.
I know, right? I often offer solutions to friends complaining but they really just want to complain. Like a fat guy would complain to a coach but never take his advice to go running 🙂
This is a great article Pauline. There are certainly a ton of ways to sidehustle for extra cash. I found that I could be quite successful with tutoring as well. I was able to charge $40 an hour with a two hour minimum. If you find the right niche and market/area, the sky is the limit!
Good that you had a guest post, Pauline! Hustling is a great to increase saving rate.
Side hustles are a great way to make a little extra side money! Also it can be fun and easy! Loved the post!