The Lies You Have Been Told About Side Hustles & Multiple Streams of Income - How Money Works

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The Lies You Have Been Told About Side Hustles & Multiple Streams of Income - How Money Works

2025-06-30

HowMoneyWorks

lies

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told

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side

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hustles

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multiple

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streams

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income

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money

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works

What’s a Side Hustle Anyway?#

Think of side hustles as ways folks make cash on top of their regular jobs.
The big promise? Extra money for:
- Treating yourself (maybe a vacation!)
- Saving for something big down the road.
- Just making daily money stuff less stressful.
They come in all shapes and sizes, from flipping things on eBay to driving for Uber.
Some even seem like they could bring in some really decent money.
Plus, there’s that dream: turning the side hustle into your full-time job. This is super tempting if it’s tied to a hobby – getting paid for something you’d do for fun? Sounds amazing!
It’s a catchy idea, and no wonder interest in side hustles has blown up recently.

Let’s Be Real: Nobody Wants a Side Hustle#

Okay, let’s be honest. Nobody really wants a side hustle.
Picture this: You get home after a long day at the office. Do you think, “Yay! Time to drive drunk folks home!” or “Awesome! Can’t wait to handle complaints on my eBay store!”? Nope.
People often need side hustles. If they’re lucky, they’ve managed to convince themselves they don’t completely hate them.
You’ve likely heard sayings like:
- “To be successful, you need multiple streams of income.”
- “Nobody ever got wealthy off a nine-to-five.”
These ideas totally push the concept of doing more work beyond your main job.
Side hustles and the whole “hustle culture” thing might seem harmless. What’s wrong with motivated people working a bit extra for more cash?
Maybe some can do good, and don’t worry, we will look at some examples later that actually make sense.
But, as is often the case on this channel, the main goal is to maybe “ruin a good thing” a little bit.
Let’s explore why this big push to make side hustles seem normal and awesome might be something we shouldn’t get too hyped about.
So, it’s time to learn how money works…

How This Video (and My Channel) Gets Made#

This video, and the channel, is made possible by Storyblocks.
They are, seriously, the best place online for creatives to get high-quality videos, photos, and audio tracks.
All my videos? Made with Storyblocks.
Without their easy website, I’d be stuck:
- Spending hours searching the internet for the right clips.
- Then spending more hours trying to contact clip owners, hoping they’d maybe let me use their stuff.
Storyblocks takes all those hours and makes it super simple – just type what you need into a search bar.
Here’s a great part:
- Other places might charge hundreds of bucks per clip.
- Storyblocks gives you unlimited downloads with a subscription plan that’s incredibly affordable.
Want to step up your own creative stuff? There’s a link in the video description below. Check it out and see how much easier your next project could be.

What Makes a Good Side Hustle? (The Four Parameters)#

Ideally, a side hustle should tick these four important boxes:
1. It Has to Make Money: If not, it’s just a hobby!
2. Doable Outside Regular Hours: It needs to fit around your main job.
3. Requires Your Expertise & Resources: You should have what it takes to do it.
4. Potential for Full-Time: If it does all this… why not consider making it your main gig?
These four points are actually a handy checklist. Before you jump into a side hustle, ask yourself these crucial questions!
(But first, let’s dive into the reality, starting with that first point.)

Why Making Money (Even on the Side) is Tough#

Truth is, most side hustles are just tiny businesses. And making money in business? It’s way harder than you think. There’s a reason so many fail.
The “Easy” App-Based Option (like Uber):
- You can pick something seemingly easy, like driving for Uber.
- You’re pretty much guaranteed some income if you take rides.
- But, there are problems:
  - A big chunk of your earnings goes to the company (Uber) that connects you.
  - Even if you drive a lot in your spare time, the money you take home is probably less than a regular job after you figure in:
    - Extra insurance costs.
    - All those extra miles wearing down your car.
- (I’ve actually done a whole video about the downsides of starting a business with apps like this, so we won’t spend too long here.)
Self-Driven Side Hustles (No Middleman):
- What about things you do yourself? Flipping stuff online, consulting, or doing chores like gardening? These are popular ways to avoid the app companies.
- Let’s take a simple one: mowing neighbors’ lawns on the weekend.
- Does it pass the tests?
  - Make Money? Yes, it can. (Test 1: Pass)
  - Doable Outside Regular Hours? Yep, weekends work. (Test 2: Pass)
  - Expertise/Resources? You might think it’s easy, but you’d be surprised!
    - Lawns only need cutting about every two weeks. For a consistent hustle, you need more than just a mower and some lemonade!
    - You have to go door-to-door asking people if they need their lawn mowed.
    - This sounds easy, but going door-to-door selling anything is absolutely terrifying for about 99% of people.
    - Even if you’re brave, it’s surprisingly hard to find enough people who will say yes to make your wasted weekend worth it.
    - (And yes, before you hop in the comments: I did do door-to-door sales for three weeks in college. Please don’t hate me!)
The “Full-Time?” Question for Successful Side Hustles:
- Okay, let’s imagine you are tough enough, you build up your weekend lawn mowing gig, and you’re fully booked. Great!
- Now you must ask: Why aren’t you just making this your full-time job?
- Scenario 1: You make more at your regular job.
  - Maybe you’d be better off just doing overtime at your main job (if that’s an option).
  - If overtime isn’t a thing, perhaps finding a part-time weekend job in your main field would be better.
- Scenario 2: You make more mowing lawns.
  - Maybe your answer is you just plain don’t want to mow lawns more than one day a week. That’s fair!
  - But then… why are you doing it at all? If you like mowing lawns less than your day job, you’ve basically signed yourself up for some well-paid torture.
Focusing on Value & Specialization:
- There’s a solution: focus on where you add the most value in your hustle.
- In the lawn example, if you didn’t hate the door-to-door part (the sales!), maybe you should focus on pursuing a career in sales. That way, you focus on what you’re good at without pushing a mower all weekend.
- (Again, this is just one example. Don’t take this as detailed advice for your future lawn care empire!)
- The point is, most value comes from specializing in one thing and doing it really well.
- An awesome salesperson who spends most of their time pushing around a lawnmower is not going to make as much money as an awesome salesperson who focuses on closing deals.
- A website developer will on average make more money building websites all day than they would by building their own website to try and sell socks online.

Let’s Talk About That “Seven Streams of Income” Thing#

All that stuff I just said about specializing? It sounds totally different from the common saying that most millionaires have “seven different sources of income.” So, what’s the real story?
This idea usually points back to a 2002 study by the IRS.
What the Study Looked At:
- It tracked 6,053 wealthy people who passed away between 1996 and 2002.
- Researchers looked at their tax returns.
- They found these millionaires had seven different types of income listed:
  - Investment income
  - Earned income (like a job)
  - Rental income
  - Royalty income
  - Capital gains profits (from selling assets)
  - Interest income
The Problem with This Interpretation:
- Right away, you see the issue: most of these income types are things you get because you’re already rich, not from hustling extra jobs.
- The study also showed that most of these people built their wealth by focusing on one business or one high-paying career. They used that main income to buy assets that then generated the other income streams.
The “Seven Streams” Claim is Misleading:
- Saying the “average millionaire has seven streams” is really stretching what the report said. It’s almost a lie.
- Only 29% of millionaires in this study reported five or more income streams.
- The majority had just three.
- Three is still cool, but it’s pretty normal for a wealthy person to have:
  - A job.
  - Get some dividends from stocks.
  - Earn some interest in a savings account.
- This reality is way less exciting than the “grind hard on six side hustles!” picture some folks paint.
- Honestly, nobody really gets rich by juggling half a dozen jobs.
Another Big Problem: Selection Bias
- There’s another common issue with drawing big conclusions from this study, which pops up a lot on this channel: selection bias.
- The study looked at people who died between 1996 and 2002.
- Most people die when they’re old.
- Older people, especially wealthy older people, have had way more time to build up assets and spread out their income sources beyond their main job earnings.
- Hopefully, most of you watching are a long way from that point!
- And 99% of people who get seriously rich when they’re young do it by:
  - Going all-in on one massive income stream.
  - (Or, you know… inheriting a boatload of cash. That works too.)

Why You Still Hear About Side Hustles (Even If the Myth is Busted)#

Okay, so if that whole “multiple income streams” thing isn’t the secret to getting rich for most people, why do you see it everywhere?
The cynical part of me thinks a lot of folks pushing this idea are trying to sell you something – like a course on building your next income stream. And yeah, that’s definitely part of it.
But honestly? I think many people repeating this stuff are people who genuinely need to believe it’s true.
Modern Job Reality: Younger workers today haven’t experienced the level of job security, career path clarity, or opportunities that previous generations had.
Having a backup income source in case you suddenly lose your main job? That doesn’t sound like preparing for the end times anymore. It sounds like smart, careful planning.
I also know full well there are people who need multiple jobs just to support themselves and their families because their main income isn’t enough.
But let’s call it what it is: working multiple jobs.
Calling that a “side hustle” is really just trying to make a tough situation sound nicer than it is.

So, Can Side Hustles Ever Make Sense?#

Okay, after all that, I don’t want you to completely ditch the idea of side hustles.
My point is to make sure you’re asking those key questions before you start, so you don’t waste your time just making some online guru or big tech company richer.
So, what would a decent side hustle look like?
(I’m sure some of you are already commenting on how I’m talking about side hustles on a YouTube channel that is my side hustle!)
But I try to live by what I say. I did ask those questions before starting these videos:
- Does YouTube have the potential to make money? Yes. It’s definitely not guaranteed, but if you work hard and get really lucky, it can pay off.
- Is it doable outside my regular working hours? Yes. I can make videos whenever I have the time.
- Do I have the expertise/resources? Yes. I work in banking, so I know about the stuff I talk about here. Plus, I took some online courses to learn video editing.
- Why not make it my full-time job? Good question! I want to, and hopefully, I will be able to do this full-time this year.
Here’s the key difference: I didn’t start this just as a side hustle. I started it because I wanted it to become my primary business.
Building a business while you still have your regular job is a really smart way to test things out.
It gives you a taste of what running a business is like.
It’s way less risky than quitting everything and hoping a new business pays the bills.

An Example That Does Make Sense: Credit Card Churning#

Okay, but what if you do plan to keep your main job long-term? Are there side things that make sense then? Yeah, a few!
Here’s an example: credit card churning.
How it works:
- You sign up for new credit cards.
- You spend money you already planned to spend on normal living stuff to meet the minimum spending for sign-up bonuses.
- Then, you turn those bonus points or miles into cash or travel rewards.
Why it can make sense (as a Side Hustle):
- Anyone with decent credit can do it.
- Filling out applications only takes a few minutes.
- Some bonuses can be worth thousands of dollars.
(Yes, there are folks who try to make this their full-time gig – I even did a video about a guy who did that last week!)
But (for a Side Hustle): Unless you find a really clever way around the rules, you’re mostly limited by:
- How big the sign-up bonuses are at any given time.
- How many credit cards banks will actually approve you for and let you keep open.
Credit card churning is just one example of a side hustle that actually makes sense. I’m not saying it’s the best for everyone, but it shows the point:
If you ask those key questions before starting something new, you can avoid getting stuck doing work you hate just because some random person online said you need to be “grinding 120 hours a week” in your twenties.

Wrapping Up#

So, instead of always looking for ways to work more, maybe you’re looking for a reason to work less?
If that’s the case, go check out my video on the surprisingly strong arguments for a 3-day work week.
Thanks again to Storyblocks for making it possible for everyone to keep learning how money works!