3 Ways Your Side Hustle Could Backfire Big Time

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Whether you want to earn extra money so you’ll have more to spend or you’re trying to pay down debt, a side hustle could be a great thing for your finances. Self Financial reports that 45% of working Americans have a side hustle, and roughly 19% of side-hustlers earn more than $1,000 a month.Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!
Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes. But if you’re not careful, your side hustle could end up becoming something that hurts you rather than helps you. Here are a few ways it could backfire — and what to do about them.1. It could interfere with and compromise your main jobIt’s not easy to take on a side gig when you’re working a full-time job. But if you allow your side hustle to impact your performance at your main job, you could put yourself at risk of losing it.How might that play out? Say you’re exhausted because you’re up late every night working your side gig. Falling asleep during morning meetings or making careless errors on weekly reports could hurt your career and put you at risk of getting demoted or dismissed.Instead of letting that happen, make sure you’re working a reasonable number of hours. And if you see your performance at your main job start to falter due to a lack of sleep or due to being distracted, cut back.One thing that might help is to find a side gig where you can set your own hours. If you’re working an evening shift at a local restaurant that has you there until midnight, there may not be much wiggle room.But if you work for a service like DoorDash where you deliver restaurant orders to other people, you can set your own hours. And on those nights when you’re exhausted, you can generally opt out of working without negative consequences (other than not making the extra money, of course).2. It could cost you so much that you’re barely making anythingSome side hustles require you to spend money to make money. But if the cost of your supplies is high relative to what you can charge for the items you’re selling, your side gig may not be worth it.Say you decide to make and sell custom cakes. If your ingredients cost you $25 per cake and you’re only able to charge $40 for the finished product, that may not be worth it if it takes you three hours to make and decorate each item and then another 30 minutes to drop it off. In that case, you’re earning a little over $4 an hour, which may not be worth your time. And if you’re only able to make two cakes per week at a profit of $15 per item, that’s just $30 a week you’re pocketing, minus what you need to set aside for taxes.One thing you may want to do is set an income goal first and then find a side gig that’s conducive to meeting it. So if you decide you want to earn $100 per week but you know that selling custom cakes won’t get you there, keep doing those cakes as a hobby — but find a different gig that helps you meet your financial goals.3. It could wreck your healthWorking a side hustle could impact you physically and mentally. It’s not easy to work constantly, and the nonstop nature of your schedule could take a toll on your mental health. And if your side gig causes you to constantly lose sleep, that’s not a good thing for your body, either.Instead of pushing yourself to work every waking hour, stick to a reasonable schedule. But also, set up a budget using one of our favorite budgeting apps and see how much extra income you actually need from your side hustle to pay your bills and meet your goals.It may be that you’re currently side hustling for 15 hours a week because you’re earning $30 an hour and you think you need an extra $450 per month to pay off your credit cards and cover your remaining bills. But if you crunch the numbers, you may find that an extra $300 a month gets the job done, in which case you can work five hours less.There’s nothing wrong with trying out a side hustle and seeing how much extra money you can earn. But make sure to avoid these pitfalls so your side hustle doesn’t end up becoming a bad thing instead of a good one.Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!
Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes. We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
Motley Fool Money does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from Motley Fool Money is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.”}]] [[{“value”:”

Whether you want to earn extra money so you’ll have more to spend or you’re trying to pay down debt, a side hustle could be a great thing for your finances. Self Financial reports that 45% of working Americans have a side hustle, and roughly 19% of side-hustlers earn more than $1,000 a month.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

But if you’re not careful, your side hustle could end up becoming something that hurts you rather than helps you. Here are a few ways it could backfire — and what to do about them.

1. It could interfere with and compromise your main job

It’s not easy to take on a side gig when you’re working a full-time job. But if you allow your side hustle to impact your performance at your main job, you could put yourself at risk of losing it.

How might that play out? Say you’re exhausted because you’re up late every night working your side gig. Falling asleep during morning meetings or making careless errors on weekly reports could hurt your career and put you at risk of getting demoted or dismissed.

Instead of letting that happen, make sure you’re working a reasonable number of hours. And if you see your performance at your main job start to falter due to a lack of sleep or due to being distracted, cut back.

One thing that might help is to find a side gig where you can set your own hours. If you’re working an evening shift at a local restaurant that has you there until midnight, there may not be much wiggle room.

But if you work for a service like DoorDash where you deliver restaurant orders to other people, you can set your own hours. And on those nights when you’re exhausted, you can generally opt out of working without negative consequences (other than not making the extra money, of course).

2. It could cost you so much that you’re barely making anything

Some side hustles require you to spend money to make money. But if the cost of your supplies is high relative to what you can charge for the items you’re selling, your side gig may not be worth it.

Say you decide to make and sell custom cakes. If your ingredients cost you $25 per cake and you’re only able to charge $40 for the finished product, that may not be worth it if it takes you three hours to make and decorate each item and then another 30 minutes to drop it off. In that case, you’re earning a little over $4 an hour, which may not be worth your time. And if you’re only able to make two cakes per week at a profit of $15 per item, that’s just $30 a week you’re pocketing, minus what you need to set aside for taxes.

One thing you may want to do is set an income goal first and then find a side gig that’s conducive to meeting it. So if you decide you want to earn $100 per week but you know that selling custom cakes won’t get you there, keep doing those cakes as a hobby — but find a different gig that helps you meet your financial goals.

3. It could wreck your health

Working a side hustle could impact you physically and mentally. It’s not easy to work constantly, and the nonstop nature of your schedule could take a toll on your mental health. And if your side gig causes you to constantly lose sleep, that’s not a good thing for your body, either.

Instead of pushing yourself to work every waking hour, stick to a reasonable schedule. But also, set up a budget using one of our favorite budgeting apps and see how much extra income you actually need from your side hustle to pay your bills and meet your goals.

It may be that you’re currently side hustling for 15 hours a week because you’re earning $30 an hour and you think you need an extra $450 per month to pay off your credit cards and cover your remaining bills. But if you crunch the numbers, you may find that an extra $300 a month gets the job done, in which case you can work five hours less.

There’s nothing wrong with trying out a side hustle and seeing how much extra money you can earn. But make sure to avoid these pitfalls so your side hustle doesn’t end up becoming a bad thing instead of a good one.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
Motley Fool Money does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from Motley Fool Money is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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