Rebecca Sowden

Its time for me to do another money challenge, and this time my focus is on increasing income. I’m on a budget, and I don’t excessively shop, my top priority is reaching savings goals that are impossible to achieve without leaning on additional income. Which means I not only need to earn side hustle income, I need to save all of it. Of course, this is not going to be easy which means we need an appropriately strong “why” to keep us on track.

Challenge Prep Questions:

1. What do you want to save for?

For me its Travel, New Technology, Making Moves, Health, and a Future Pup.

2. How much at minimum would you like to save? How much at most would you like to save in the next 3 months?

3. Look at what you have currently saved towards these goals and subtract them from your Minimum and Maximum totals needed.

I currently have $2,680 saved toward these savings goals, so…

Minimum = $9,000 – $2,680 = Need $6,320

Stretch Goal = $12,000 – $2,680 = Need $9,320

This means my savings goal for the next 3 month is $6,320 – $9,320

More Money, More Savings Plan:

Month 1: 25% of Savings Goal

The first month of this challenge we are going to focus on acquiring a side hustle. I suggest pursuing 2-3 different options to see what sticks. In the meantime, our main source of additional income for this first month can come from a good temporary fallback: Declutter and sell.

Remember that not all side hustles have to be small business based. When I got my first office job I continued working at my retail job on the weekends for additional income.

If you’re like me and you already have side hustles, use this time to hit the ground running, maybe try expanding on what you have. For me, this means my Month 1 goal is moving onto other social media platforms.

Month 2: 35% of Savings Goal

Settle into your side hustle. This is when we are likely going to be out or running out of things to resell so we want our side hustle to really start picking up some of the weight this month. If you make it to the halfway mark and you’re not getting anything out of what you’ve chose, consider trying something else.

Remember, many things truly just take time, so if you don’t want to give up on what you’ve originally chose that’s okay! Consider adding to your roster of side hustles if you have the time and the drive. If you’re side hustles are going well, keep it up!

Month 3: 40% of Savings Goal

At this point we have a pretty good idea of what it means for us to have a side hustle. We know how much money we have remaining to earn, and we know the likeliness that we reach our threshold. Stick to your side hustle and really try to maximize the amount of money you are able to save from it. Our goal is to just keep on going, this is like a 30 second sprint at the end of a long run.

The thing about side hustles is the timeline is extremely variable for how long it could take to do any of these 3 steps. If you already have side hustles, or you set it up really quick. It might not take the full 3 months to hit your goal. On the flip side, you may need more time and that is okay too!

When the month is over, or when we reach our goal, reflect on if having a side hustle is worth it for you. You may decide you love having a side hustle, or this may have solidified that you are happy with what you have.