How to Pay Off Your Student Debt with Side Hustles

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By Jacob Maslow

If you decided to study, you most probably left university in considerable debt. If you want to get a degree, debt can be your reality.

Starting your life with a student loan doesn’t sound great. You need to pay tuitions and fees that are very high. However, with some side hustles, you can improve your financial situation.

Even if your debt is enormous, you can solve the situation and not give up on the thought that you’re always going to live with it. Here are some of the side hustles that can help you improve your financial situation.

Become a Friend with a Word Gig

The number of people who are non-employers, yet still provide some goods, is continuously growing. You can find gigs in almost any industry. Think about your best skills and try to use them as a freelance job.

These extra jobs can help you with paying off your student loans. Some of the most common side hustles that people choose are:

  • Uber, Lyft, etc. drivers

If you have a driving license, you can use it to earn some extra cash. The hours are flexible, and you can work at night or during the evening as well, so it might be easy to connect this side gig with your day-to-day job.

  • Selling Crafts

If you like DIY and are crazy about creating handmade things, you should try to sell them, whether it’s knitting, macramas, pottery, or anything else. Set up your Etsy page and open your little shop. This way, you can connect your passion with gaining some cash.

  • Walking Dogs and Cat Sitting

Nowadays, a lot of people decide to get a pet. Yet, they do not always have enough time to give them the required care. You can gain some money because of that.

Put an announcement in the newspaper or on social media, walk dogs, or sit cats to get closer to financial freedom.  You can also register through online dog walking sites such as Wag , Rover or PetBacker.

  • Become a Tutor

If you gained some particular skills during your life, for example, you are a statistics expert or know how to write an excellent essay, you can offer tutoring. Search for pages through which you can get clients fast, for example, Craiglist.

  • Offer a Unique Skill

If you are an expert in something that most people don’t know about, you can become an instructor in a community college or online platforms such as Udemy.

  • Get a Part-Time Job

You might be lucky enough to get additional, part-time work in a local coffee shop or other business where you can work during the weekend. That way, you can have a more stable income.

  • Get Rid of Some of Your Stuff

Decluttering spaces is now in fashion. According to some, it helps you to become calmer and more balanced. Also, it can give you some extra money.

Check out all the things you have at home, starting with clothes, through books, to your old computer that you might sell for parts. Then offer them at a good price on Facebook groups, eBay, Craiglist, etc.

Step by Step to Financial Freedom

It might take a bit of time and extra work to pay off your student loan and become financially independent. With proper budgeting and an additional gig or two on the side, you can do it.

As most side hustles are flexible, you don’t have to worry that you’re never going to have free time. Take a break whenever you feel too overwhelmed, and go back to your hustle whenever you’re ready.

A side job can be your solution for paying off a part of your debt and a lesson on how to get financial freedom in the long run.

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