Most people teach that when you have financial problems or you are buried in debt that you need to eliminate all expenses and figuratively speaking curl up in a ball. I don’t find contracting my life an appealing way to live.
I have had business reversals and I have tried this method to get things under financial control, and it was hard on my kids and caused deep dark emotional chaos in my life. When you are already in a crisis, depriving yourself and your family of the good things in life for a very short period can be effective: but at what cost?
I had a business crisis when a Vice President of my consulting firm falsified some bank records and we had to live for a year with no income will incurring the expenses to finish the projects for four of the clients banks for free. We had a bleak year, a year in which we dealt with the loss of income using the prevailing wisdom. It was brutal for one of my children who was in the formative years. Her perception was that we were poor when she grew up, and she had to do without many necessities. Her older and younger siblings laugh at the premise but that was her perception.
I have had several reversals since and I have learned that it is much more inspiring to financially grow your way out of the financially tight times. After the hardships caused by my bank consulting business, I determined that I needed to develop a side gig that created a continual flow of income, and a couple is better than one.
Scrimping and saving every dime, not going out to dinner or a movie, or even taking vacation, does not inspire you to get up in the morning. And it certainly doesn’t do anything for your emotional health.
There is a scripture that says, “Man is that he might have joy.” Life is to be enjoyed, I don’t mean spend over your means or go into debt. I mean dream big and start a side gig that will create a flow of income to provide a great life style for your family and provide a path to a great early retirement.
Sure, there will be times when you can do bigger and better things with your family and some times when they are scaled back. But in my mind you should never make your family do without the opportunities to build strong lasting relationships through vacations and time together away from the daily grind.
My advice is to not wait to start your side hustle until you need the money. Get started on the research today and start building your personal security because mark my words: Social Security will not be there for you if you are under 45 years old.
You don’t have to put 40 hours into this side gig unless you are digging out of a big financial hole or have a big immediate need.
You can grow a second income stream that can give you security against any financial reversal with as little as 5 hours a week. The key is to spend, or more accurately, INVEST your time in something that will pay you over and over for the effort you put in today. Otherwise, you are just trading your time for an amount of money and that will not provide the good life today or a golden retirement tomorrow.
Look at my blog Side Hustles to see where to start.
