Been doing freelance stuff on nights and weekends for the past 6 months trying to make extra money. Thought it would help us get ahead but honestly I'm exhausted all the time now. My son asked me last weekend why I was always on my laptop and it hit me hard. The money is nice but I'm missing out on actual time with my kids. Might need to shut this down. Anyone else had to make this choice?
Six months in is when the reality hits that this isn't sustainable, right? I'd say give yourself a deadline to either make the side hustle actually profitable enough to justify the time or cut it loose. Your kids don't remember the extra money.
Man, I feel this. Been there with the side hustle grind and it just eats into family time like nothing else. Six months is a good run to realize it's not working, so at least you figured it out before burning out completely.
The money's never worth missing out on the moments with the kids. I learned that one the hard way too. Maybe there's a way to scale back to just a couple nights a month instead of dropping it completely?
I feel this in my bones. Been there with the side hustle grind and it's a trap. At some point you gotta ask if the extra money is worth missing bedtimes and weekend baseball games. Usually it's not.
How much extra are you actually bringing in though? Sometimes the math doesn't work out as well as we think it will when we start. Might be worth calculating actual hourly rate including all the family time you're losing.
The extra money isn't worth missing bedtimes and weekends. I learned that the hard way. What's the money actually buying you that's worth less time with your family?
You might need the income but be honest about whether the side hustle is worth what you're trading. Kids grow up fast and you don't get those nights back.
Sign in to join the conversation.
Six months of nights and weekends adds up fast. I did this for a year straight and basically saw my kids at breakfast. Not worth it long term.