Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Side Hustles vs. Relationships: My Experience
I gotta thank my girl DoOrDebt for her post "Side Hustles vs. Relationships" that she posted earlier this week. It really resonated with me in thinking about HOW much I've been side-hustling lately.
In the past year I have...
Helped Amy with Little Bright Studio
Helped Shawn with Pixel Party
Worked at a curios shop in Ketchikan
Dog-sat
Tested wares at Ketchikan Dry Goods
Worked at Saturday Market for Karina
Sold soap
And mooore!
That's a LOT of side hustles and I'm not even naming all of them. DoorDebt's post is about her struggle between needing to pay down her debt and spending time with her partner. She turned down a $20 an hour job to stay in for some much-needed down time. She comes to the realization that she would rather foster her relationship with her partner than earn the money. Her take is that, while she needs the money, there are only so many moments in life and she is tired of their conversations being short nuggets of information and her coming home when he is sleeping and vice versa. I totally respect that, but what if you're me and you have a really expensive trip to Antarctica coming up?
For me, I would have taken the job BUT only because my trip is so much closer. I have a LOT of money I need to be earning (like $10,000+) before my trip starts in January. And that's just paying for the trip. It's not even counting the amount of work that I will be missing out on for three weeks. (I think I will have two weeks of vacation time then?)
Yes, working a ton on alllll these side hustles means I have less time to spend with friends and family. It makes me slightly neurotic sometimes to think of how much money I need to save so that I have to take less money out of my do-not-touch savings. (I already realize there would have to be a miracle for me to earn all the money I need in this amount of time and I have been slaving my butt off.) I would sometimes just like to buy something I don't need just because I want to. I would love to go out and have dinner and drinks with friends sometimes and not worry about spending the money.
It's only temporary.
That's what I just have to keep telling myself.
I am working my butt off and I would love to spend some time at home, but until my trip is over I need to keep my head down and eyes on the prize. I'm thankful that Jonathan is so supportive of this trip and my dreams and whatever I need to do. It also helps that we both really value our alone time and we're not co-dependent on each other.
The take-away from this? When I am on a five week trip of a lifetime I'm going to be SO thankful that I worked so hard for 2+ years. It's going to be totally worth it. Will I spend this much time earning money in the future? I don't know. It IS kind of addicting to have a bunch of money in savings. My stocks are doing good and it would be nice to put a bunch more $$$ in them. I don't know if I could ever be one of those people that is able to retire when I'm 40 or something, but it would be kinda neat. ;o)
What would you do if you were in my situation?
P.S. I found a trip to the North Pole that is "only" $24,999! But it includes helicopter and hot air balloon tours, so it's totally worth it, right? :oD Anyone want to buy it for me??
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I just always tell myself that each little time in your life is a chapter you'll want to relive again at some point.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you do it, but at the same time, I am envious of your freedom and adventurous spirit.
It's all worth it, and I think that you'll look back after your trip and totally feel like it was worth every ounce of any life you missed while saving and working so hard. I'm proud of you!!!!
Yaaaayyyyy! Thank you, friend! Well, I love hearing about YOUR life and you have your own new adventures coming up, as well! ;o) Yaayyy for friendsies! <3
Delete"Side hustle"--great term!! I am often drawn to those because it seems like a good hourly rate and like it would be fun, but these days I'm keeping so busy with my day job and personal (not so consistently paid) blog goals that I think I need to keep my sanity and turn some of them down! Very cool that you have a big goal you're saving for, though! It will be amazing!
ReplyDeleteI think I first heard the term "side hustle" from J Monday at Budgets are Sexy and was like, "YES! That's exactly it!"
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