How I made money on the side (and how you could make more)

Just out of college, I had a tremendously hard time making ends meet. I had a wage and hours that, as a college student I found appealing but as a college graduate didn't work. I had a boat load of student debt, and some months had a hard time paying rent. I was acutely aware of two things:

• I needed to earn more money
• I was pretty good at computers

It's amazing what perspective can accomplish. Looking back, I wanted to make hundreds of dollars a week working with computers. However, I never put a great deal of effort into building a clientele. Even so, just by knowing that I wanted to make money working on computers, and sharing that with friends, co-workers, and acquaintances, I started getting gigs. Not bad at all! $50 here, $150 there, and my wallet began to feel a little happier. The jobs were infrequent, which concerned me, but that didn't matter so much when I had the opportunity to make relatively easy money in a short period of time, all for a skill as natural to me as riding a bicycle, but as foreign to others as Mars and the treks of the Curiosity rover. Not that I was the best at fixing computers, but when you're starting at less than zero, anyone who has half a clue is probably better. Now, in my current career, I have no need to do computer work for side money. Still, looking back, I would do some things differently when looking for side income. Whether you're looking at fixing computers or freelance writing, these are things you may want to keep in mind:

1.  Time is money: Never is this more true than in the world of the entrepreneur. The time spent working on improving your web presence, or reaching out to companies, should be counted along with the time spent actively earning money. If you devote a total of ten hours a week, and you earn $200 for two hours of work, you've just earned $20/hour, not $100/hour. Still a good hourly wage, while being more accurate. This theory also works for students applying for scholarships: Search and apply for 20 hours to five different scholarships, and win one for $500? You just earned $25/hr!

2.   Budget side income just like regular income: There may be a lot of things begging for your side income's attention: Bills, entertainment, birthday gifts, and more. However, if you're budgeting to make ends meet or take some of the pressure off, make sure you're including it as a source of income in your budget. That way you're keeping honest. It may not be the most fun way to go about things, but you can still budget for nice dinners and do so without regret. If you've tried it the other way, you know you'll thank yourself later. Trying to figure out how to budget income when it's unstable? The best way is to average out your income. It's probably better to be conservative in your estimates as well. If you have excess, save it so that when you have a shortfall you won't be struggling to make ends meet!

3.  It never hurts to work on self-improvement: It may cost a little bit of money, but take a class! There are many free classes or affordable online classes that won't take much time out of your schedule, but if you don't have much knowledge about marketing, that could be a great place to start. And, of course, adding knowledge within your field is a good thing.

There are no ­­­­­­doubts many people with far more knowledge than me about the ins and outs of managing a successful side-gig, but just because you earn good money and have a good clientele doesn't mean you're managing your finances wisely. By not neglecting your finances, you will truly make the most out of your side gig, and avoid the mistakes I made in my side-income foray.