50 Benefits of Having a Side Hustle
What’s the biggest benefit of having a side hustle? There are more answers than you might think for this question. Many professionals will agree steady pay is a huge benefit while others may say side gigs allow you to be creative, gain experience and even get some much-needed time away from looking at screens all day.
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GOBankingRates headed to several Reddit forums to find out what Reddit users working side gigs have to say about the perks of these roles. Read on for a list of 50 benefits that come with having a side hustle.
1. Anyone Can Have a Side Hustle
Whether you’re just getting started in college or have years of experience, you can start a side hustle.
“I started building websites as a side hustle about five years ago,” wrote Reddit user Plenty-Gift-8311. “I strongly believe it is something anyone in high school or college is capable of doing.”
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2. Many Side Hustles Are Low Maintenance
“I sell t-shirts and mugs on Etsy,” jayohem said. “I buy designs from other people on Etsy and other marketplaces, create mockups and list them on my Etsy store.”
“I average about $600 to $700/month (make roughly $10 profit from each shirt and $3.75 for coffee mugs) doing that and it’s really no maintenance involved. I log in once a month for about an hour to make sure everything is looking good and call it a day.”
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3. It’s a Great Learning Experience
Reddit user schrik started building and selling web components as a side hustle around nine years ago.
“At first I would just build stuff that I found interesting/cool but that didn’t really work as there was no market for it. I then decided to scout the market for products that had customers and find a product I could do better. That did work and got me on the right path,” schrik said.
“It took me a bit to find my footing but I’ve been doing this full time for the past four years. Income is now above $20K per month, which is nuts.”
4. Acting as a Second Set of Eyes
Recondo86 said their side hustle line of work is being a “digital handyman.”
“Helping with website issues, sourcing designers, writers, etc. Being a second set of eyes before they [the client] hire a contractor for anything related to web dev or marketing.”
5. Ability To Find Solutions to Problems
Those who work side hustles can tap into their entrepreneurial side via problem-solving.
“Obviously I am oversimplifying it, but I’ve always noticed that if you find a need that doesn’t yet have a solution, you’ve struck gold,” Roanoketrees said.
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6. It’s Rewarding To Help Others
Reddit user serifoblique said they are a freelance designer-developer who works full time.
“You’d be amazed how many struggle with configuring an email account or setting up a router or printer. It’s usually simple stuff but they are super happy which is rewarding in itself.”
7. It’s Fun!
Reddit user wildcat12321man wrote that they flip grills for their side hustle.
“It will never scale to be a real business, and it will never come close to my consulting executive salary. But there is a quiet satisfaction to flipping a grill and using the money to buy some tomahawks or wagyu with the profits and sharing my love of grilling with friends, family, and buyers.”
8. Good Income
Many people, including commandsupernova, agree that working a side hustle is a great way to earn extra money.
“I’m a part time college professor on the side in addition to full time sys admin,” commandsupernova wrote. “I can teach IT courses for a few hours a few nights per week. The part time teaching pay works out to about the same hourly rate as my sysadmin job – adds up to roughly 10k per year.”
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9. No or Low Stress
A now-deleted Reddit user wrote that they do court report proofreading as their side hustle.
“I’ve always been a quick reader, so I can read 100 pages easily throughout a day while I’m at school or my other job. I get paid anywhere from 30 cents to 50 cents per page so throughout a week I can pick up an extra $250 or so. It’s nice and really low stress.”
10. Create Your Own Schedule
Many side hustlers enjoy the freedom that comes with working a flex schedule.
“I have a small pickup truck and I make deliveries, move stuff, and haul away junk for people,” TinderSubThrowAway wrote. “I did this full time when I was in between jobs a couple times, but it’s mostly nights, weekends and lunch hours that I do stuff.”
11. Hands-On Work
One Reddit user, ih8karma, specializes in woodworking.
“After a long day looking at a screen there is something satisfying about making something with your hands,” they said.
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12. Side Hustles Can Pay the Mortgage
“I have an Airbnb near the beach,” Lowley_Worm wrote. “It turns a profit, but most of that is invisible to us since it’s paying off the mortgage.”
13. Many Side Hustles Become Small Businesses
“When I first started in IT on a help desk, I used to get a lot of users asking for work on their home systems,” ibanez450 wrote. “I started doing that – and created my own company LLC for somewhat of a liability barrier.”
“It’s been 10 years since I started that company – my career and the company have both grown together really. Instead of fixing computers on the side now, I do website building/cyber security and technical consulting for other businesses. My day job I’m no longer on the help desk, I lead a team of a dozen system admins doing work for the DoD.”
14. Opportunity To Scale
Difficult_Ad_3136 said their side hustle is a part-time gig as a Sharepoint administrator.
“The intent is to scale this side hustle and add clients until it can compete with the salary of my full-time sys admin role,” they said.
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15. Not Time Consuming
“I do watercolor renderings of peoples’ homes,” wrote banksta89 in a Reddit post. “It’s all run through an instagram account and email. I can knock them out in about two hours now.”
16. You Get To Be Creative
Schrankwand83 said their side hustle involves writing and proofreading texts for magazines and websites. They said they also write scenes in a novel.
“My friend gives me a plan of what should happen and I let my creativity do the rest.”
17. Higher Returns in the Long Run
For RaivoAivo0, having a side hustle provides a return on investment for their professional plans.
“I’ve found spending that extra effort on improving yourself at your main career of choice, ends up paying much higher returns in the long run,” they wrote on Reddit.
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18. Potential For Early Retirement
A truly successful side hustle not only provides personal and professional growth. You might even get to retire early because of it.
“A friend of mine started a side hustle and within 12 months it retired him,” GanacheImportant81864 wrote.
19. Being Your Own Boss
There are many side hustles that give you the opportunity to act as your own boss. Reddit-adm6 recommended gigs like offering beginner guitar lessons for those who wish to be their own boss.
20. Choose Your Own Clients
Some freelancers and side hustlers have the ability to pick and choose their own clients.
“I’m a freelance proofreader,” Celda wrote. “I only choose to take on clients whose books I actually enjoy.”
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21. May Be Able To Quit Other Part-Time Jobs
If you work several part-time jobs, a side hustle that pays substantially offers the opportunity to quit roles that pay much less.
Reddit user epraider said they do driving for food delivery apps. They said they make about $20 an hour on average and were able to quit their other part-time job because of it.
22. Ability To Work Remote
While some side hustles require being able to do the work in person, other gigs may be worked remotely.
IlluminationRock said they tutor math and chemistry while studying engineering full time.
“It’s not insane money by any means, but I can charge up to $25/hr for private tutoring sessions. I also do Skype tutoring as well,” they said.
23. Low Effort
“I have a super casual gig at an IV infusion spa,” DeLaNope wrote. “People come in, pick out whatever fancy-nonsense bag of fluids and additives they want, I stick them and hang the bag. That’s all. It’s $35 an hour, but it’s very low key/low effort.”
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24. It’s Fulfilling
One Reddit user, 2ofSorts, said they did photography and graphic design all through college. They continued to keep pursuing their photography side hustle as a post-grad.
“Weirdly enough, now that I am working full time I have more time to dedicate to it,” they wrote. “With a full time job and a side gig where I make my own rules, I find it incredibly fulfilling.”
25. Ability To Generate Positive Word of Mouth
“I’m a freelance cartographer and data analyst,” Zeniaaa wrote. “I started as an undergrad, and basically grew my business by word of mouth. Being friendly, detail-oriented, and responsive to feedback are important parts of succeeding in freelance work. In the past year, I’ve made about $7000 from this work.”
26. Doing What Others Don’t Have Time To Do
RevEnFuego said their side hustle is editing other people’s podcasts.
“They send me the audio file and I make edits, slap on the intro and outro (that we previously agreed on) and either send it back to them or post it up on their site,” they wrote. “It’s pretty easy, but I know a lot of people who want to create audio but don’t have the time (or knowledge) to do the edits. I just have them send me the timestamps on what they want edited out, and clean up the audio (by doing some processing and vocal leveling).”
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27. Can Earn Twice as Much Money as a 9-5 Job
One massive benefit of working a side hustle is many are lucrative enough to pay more than a traditional 9 to 5 role.
“I consult on machine learning projects for smaller companies,” krukson said. “I make twice as much from half the work than at my regular 9-5 data science job for a big corporation.”
28. Good Way To Pay Off Debt
It’s not uncommon for many professionals to work a side hustle to pay off debt, like student loans or credit cards.
“I make right at about $15,000 a year on a rental property that I haven’t seen in two years,” larkerpong wrote.
“I bought the house to live in three years ago and took a job back in Nashville shortly after. I moved out, the renting family moved in. They take care of all maintenance and their money is automatically deposited in my rental bank account each month. My loan payment is auto drafted from the same account. I have literally done nothing in two years and haven’t touched the account.”
29. Dual Income Life
One deleted Reddit user said they work in IT as their day job and pursue a side hustle of doing wedding hair and makeup on the weekends.
“I couldn’t have planned it better. I basically lead a double income life and still have all my evenings open for relaxing/fun,” they wrote.
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30. Long-Term Clients
Aside from choosing your own clients to work with, many side hustlers also benefit from having long-term bread-and-butter clients.
One Reddit user, chrissyteiganswings, said they manage social media.
“At my peak I was running accounts for 20 clients/month, most of which had long term contracts, and I charged each a minimum of $600 a month all the way up to $1500.”
31. No Need To Quit Your Full-Time Job
The good news about a side hustle is you generally don’t need to quit your full-time job to work in it or explore working in it for a short while.
Systauroo said their side hustle is making wedding invitations. However, they were recently able to make it their main job this year, but only because they said they’re married to someone with steady income.
32. Your Side Hustle Can Be Your Emotional Outlet
Grey_lavender said they started a podcast as an emotional outlet.
“I ended up setting up a Patreon when it gained more listeners. I’m by no means making a lot of money but for the amount of effort (or lack thereof) I put in, I’m pretty amazed,” they said.
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33. Good Way To Generate Passive Income
“My husband and I like to doodle all the time and discussed selling shirts with our designs,” CatCairo wrote. “We discovered websites that let you upload your art and will print your designs on shirts, mugs, rugs, pillows, etc.”
“We have a relatively new shop and are still gaining motion, but we’ve made $50+ in passive income in the first few months, and all from art we were doodling anyway.”
34. Opportunity To Become Extroverted
If you tend to be a little shy, your side hustle may allow you to build confidence and come out of your shell.
“I teach classes at a gym,” Bemymacncheese wrote. “I like to work out anyway so instead of doing it on my own, I lead a group which I find very fun even though I am naturally introverted. I teach between four to eight classes per week and I have consistently made about $10k a year doing this, plus a free gym membership.”
35. Good Outlet for Relaxing
Freevoulous said their side hustle is working on historical crafts such as blacksmithing, woodworking pottery and basket weaving.
“You can do most of it on a lazy afternoon, and it is a great way to relax after a week at the office, staring at a screen,” they said.
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36. You Can Have Several Hustles
As long as you have the bandwidth for it, you can work more than one side hustle. Millhows wrote they have several side hustles including a photo booth they take to parties, birthdays and corporate events, work as a PediCab and selling vintage clothing.
37. It Pays the Rent
Whosa_Whatsit said they flip motorcycles. To date, they have flipped 46 bikes.
“I’ve never made less than $250 on a flip, and those are usually the ones where it’s a $300 bike,” they said. “It paid my rent in college.”
38. Variety
“I write a magazine column for $275 a pop every two months and I do some one-off consulting for industry,” Alytia said. “I’m a vet so I’ve signed up to deploy to emergency disease outbreaks. Oh, and I do some teaching assistance at uni as well. I really enjoy the variety actually, I can’t imagine doing the same thing every day for years and years.”
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39. Good Way To Evade Feeling Bored
If there’s one thing you’ll never experience with a side hustle, it’s feelings of boredom.
As a nurse with a research background, cdsfh said they do side work for about 10 to 15 hours a week pulling relevant info from clinical trial protocols and entering it into an electronic system.
“It may sound like work, but I actually enjoy doing it and I often don’t have anything else to do, so why not make money!” they said. “It keeps my brain working too, sort of like a Sudoku that pays.”
40. Keeps You Busy
Deadpools-unicorn wrote that their side hustle is selling honey.
“I just got my first beehive and I am working on getting another one. Local honey sells for about $15 for a 14 oz container. I’ll hopefully have some honey this fall and then I will likely have plenty of honey next summer,” they said.
“It’s a long-game side hustle but it’ll keep me busy beyond my regular work schedule and it’s something I enjoy.”
41. Keeps You Out of the Office
If you truly do not want to work in a corporate role, it’s worth it to pursue a side hustle.
“My 9 to 5 was b2b sales. I went to school for finance and econ, but hated being in an office,” wrote a since-deleted Reddit user. “My side hustle is lawn care. My company does $400k a year.”
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42. Having a Side Hustle Can Help Build an Emergency Fund
Your side hustle can be put toward more places besides paying off debt. If you don’t have an emergency fund, a side hustle can help build one.
Anna_Mosity wrote that their residential rental property generates enough income to pay for its own mortgage, insurance, maintenance and emergency fund.
43. Good Way To Get in Shape
Adam_n_ali wrote that they use about half of their 20 vacation days from their desk job each year to work half-days on Fridays at a local brewery.
“It’s dirty, but a great workout! I’m slinging 161.5lb half-kegs and skids of 55 lb grain bags around. Do that for a few hours every Friday and you will be JACKED,” they said.
44. Ability To Do Low Maintenance Work
Your side hustle doesn’t need to save the world. PanicWithMeItsGreat said they run a handyman business, but one where they try to take on small jobs only, such as changing out light fixtures and tearing down old sheds.
“Stuff that only takes a few hours max. I charge $50 an hour and can work as little or much as I want.”
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45. Many Side Hustles Can Be Worked If You’re Recovering From an Injury
LiaCross wrote that they teach from home in their spare time.
“I got started when I was injured and the future of my career was uncertain. It was comforting to have this backup because it could pay all my bills if I needed it to,” they said.
46. Good Way To Earn Money During The Holidays
CarneyVorous said they’re a dogsitter through the Rover app.
“I have a dog anyway so I’m not doing anything I wouldn’t already be doing and I earn a nice little hustle on the side, especially over the holidays,” they said. “Plus, hanging out with cool dogs is a great perk.”
47. Most Side Hustles Can Be Done From Home
Want to keep your WFH job? This is very possible to do if you work a side hustle.
“I mark mock exams for my profession and teach courses in my field… am almost at a point where I’m making about 50% of my regular income on my side hustle,” Everynameistaken2000 wrote. “It is a significant amount of time being spent though but luckily most of it I can do from home.”
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48. Pursuing What You Love
LongLiveAlex told Reddit they’re a guitar tech.
“I can clear up to $1000 a week after materials depending on the jobs and how many hours I have free outside of my regular job. The reason why I do it is because it’s more of a hobby for me than anything else. I love guitars and the added bonus is when they come into the shop I can play different ones that I do not own.”
49. You Can Accept the Work You Want
“I bake cakes and macaroons,” ayihc wrote. “I charge what I want and only accept orders that are quick/ interesting. If I can’t do it quickly, I just say no.”
50. Don’t Know How To Do Something? Learn on YouTube
In the event your side hustle requires you to do something you don’t have a grasp on yet, it’s possible to learn the ins and outs through YouTube tutorials.
Reddit user ayihc said baking cakes and macaroons as a side hustle means many customers want fancy cakes because of what they see on social media. It is possible to make them, too. “Everything you need to learn is online.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 50 Benefits of Having a Side Hustle
