On a typical morning, I roll out of bed at 5:45 a.m. to have a quiet coffee and do Wordle before I wake up my four kids, ages 18, 17, 14, and 11. I gently attempt to wake my middle schoolers, jump in the shower and slap on some makeup, wake the middle schoolers up again (a bit less gently this time), record a quick review video, and take the kids to school.
Then, I rush home, take the dog for a walk, and head into a three-hour shift at the airport. Some days I also have to squeeze in additional errands, like running to the bank and shuttling my daughter to physical therapy before I head home again to check emails, start writing an article for one of the outlets I write for, and throw some dinner in the instant pot.
I work multiple jobs so we can afford the extras
My oldest kid is in college, and I’ll state the obvious — tuition is expensive. One of my kids has a chronic illness, so she is homeschooled and goes to various therapies three times a week. The other two play multiple sports and are both in choir and orchestra. It is a lot to manage.
My family is lucky; my husband has a great job, and we can pay the bills with his salary alone. But I didn’t want to give up the extras: travel, home improvements, dinner with friends. So when my youngest started school seven years ago, I started a blog, which opened the door for paid writing opportunities. I now have four side hustles that keep me busy, but my schedule is flexible enough to drop off and pick up my kids, take them to appointments, attend sporting events, and make extra money.
I write, review products, work at the airport, and manage our investment property
Writing is my passion, and I’ve been doing freelance work for about six years. This is my favorite side job; I love getting my ideas out into the world. The pay and frequency are all over the place, but if I break it down, I probably make $75/hr. I don’t have a steady gig; I pitch to various outlets, and if they say yes, I have a job.
My next side hustle is reviewing Amazon products for a commission. I took a class on becoming an “Amazon influencer,” where I make review videos. I make a commission if someone buys the product after watching my video. So fark I make around $250/month. I’ve been doing it for around six months, and the income isn’t steady, but when I’m consistent, it pays off. I try to post at least one or two videos daily, depending on the day. I average around five hours a week doing this.
I also work at the ticket counter at the airport, checking people in and taking their luggage for around six hours a week. The pay is paltry ($15/hr), but I make my own schedule, and my entire family gets free flights on the airline that I work for. I love to travel and do a lot of travel writing, so this is a huge perk. Also, it’s a low-stress, fun job.
Lastly, we have an easygoing tenant in an investment property that we own and I manage. I schedule repairs and collect his rent. After all is said and done, we make around $200/month.
Working a full-time job didn’t work for me
I am always hustling, just like every other working mom I know. Personally, working a full-time job didn’t work for me. I felt like the house was never clean, I was tired all the time, and I never had time for my friends. I was also always missing my kids’ basketball games and concerts, and whenever I did take time off, my boss was grumpy about it.
While working multiple part-time jobs hasn’t solved all of these problems — I’m still often tired and the house is still messy — having a flexible schedule means I don’t miss my kids’ events anymore, and I don’t have to worry about making my boss mad. I’m basically my own boss. Cobbling all these jobs together makes for a full, beautiful, and busy life.
