The Side Hustle Lie We Tell Ourselves

The fantasy: “I’ll make an extra $600/month driving for Uber!” The reality: After gas, car maintenance, taxes, and wear-and-tear, you’re making $6/hour while destroying your car’s value.

The fantasy: “I’ll start a drop-shipping business!” The reality: You spent $3,000 on courses, $500/month on ads, and any money you make for the first year or more in business is spent paying that off

The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About

Time Costs:

• Research and setup: 20-40 hours
• Learning curve: 50-100 hours
• Ongoing management: 5-15 hours/week
• Your actual hourly wage calculation: Total profit ÷ total hours = often less than minimum wage

Opportunity Costs:

• Sleep deprivation affecting main job performance
• Missing skill-building opportunities in your career
• Relationship strain from overcommitment
• Burnout leading to poor financial decisions

Financial Costs:

• Equipment and supplies
• Gas, parking, phone bills
• Self-employment taxes (additional 15.3%)
• Business licenses and fees
• Your sanity (priceless)

The Types of Side Hustles That Are Wealth Traps

1.  The Uber/DoorDash Trap

• Average reported income: $15/hour
• Minus gas, maintenance, taxes: $6-8/hour
• Plus: destroying your car’s value
• Better alternative: Use those evening hours for online courses that could boost your main job salary by $2,000-10,000/year

2. The MLM “Business Owner” Trap

• 99% of MLM participants lose money
• Average annual loss: $1,000-3,000
• Time invested: 10-20 hours/week
• Better alternative: Literally anything else

3. The “Passive Income” Course Trap

• Spent: $2,000-5,000 on courses
• Time invested: 200+ hours
• Actual passive income: $0-75/month
• Better alternative: Index fund investing (actual passive income)

4. The Freelance Feast-or-Famine Trap

• Inconsistent income creates budgeting chaos
• Racing to the bottom on pricing
• No benefits, no paid time off
• Better alternative: Develop freelance skills that lead to full-time opportunities

The Side Hustles That Actually Build Wealth

1. Skills-Based Side Work

• Tutoring/teaching: $15-75/hour
• Consulting in your expertise area: $50-250/hour
• Technical writing: $30-100/hour
• Why it works: High hourly rate, builds reputation, develops expertise

2. The “Promotion Prep” Side Hustle

• Learning skills your main job will pay for
• Industry certifications and courses
• Building a professional network
• Why it works: Investing in your primary income source without having to invest any of your own money – many companies will pay for continuing education

3. Asset-Building Side Work

• Creating digital products once, selling repeatedly
• Building an email list in your expertise area
• Investing time in real estate education
• Why it works: Time invested creates ongoing returns

4. The “Efficiency Arbitrage” Hustle

• Services you can systematize and scale
• Local business consulting
• Social media management with tools
• Why it works: Your time investment decreases as income increases

The YBWealthy Side Hustle Decision Tree

Before starting ANY side hustle, ask:

1. What’s my true hourly wage after all costs?
2. Will this enhance or detract from my main career?
3. Can I systematize this to reduce time investment?
4. What’s the opportunity cost of this time?
5. Will this create ongoing value or just trade time for money?

The $50,000 Question

Instead of spending 10 hours/week making $50/week on a side hustle ($2,600/year), what if you spent those 10 hours:

• Taking online courses to get promoted (certifications can increase your salary by 5-20%)
• Building relationships that lead to job opportunities
• Starting a small business with real growth potential
• Actually resting so you perform better at your main job

Action Steps for Current Side Hustlers

Week 1: Calculate your REAL hourly wage

• Track every minute spent and every dollar earned/spent
• Include taxes, expenses, and opportunity costs

Week 2: Evaluate the career impact

• Is this helping or hurting your main job performance?
• Are you missing out on networking or skill-building opportunities?
• Can the side-hustle that you’re putting time and energy into become a long-term career?

Week 3: Run the numbers vs. alternatives

• What could a 10% raise at your main job look like?
• What would investing those side hustle hours in career development yield?

Week 4: Make the call

• Double down on profitable, sustainable side work
• Quit the wealth traps immediately
• Redirect time toward high-impact activities

The best side hustle may be no side hustle at all; rather, optimizing your main income source. Your energy is finite. Make sure you’re spending it on activities that actually build physical and emotional wealth, not just fill your calendar.

The numbers listed in this post were found through Internet searches. They are for illustrative purposes only.