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Mid-Year: Time to Start That Side Hustle
Inflation’s not slowing down—time to bet on yourself.
Dollar Dad
July 09, 2025
Welcome Back, Fellow Parent
We’re halfway through 2025. If your grocery bills feel like rent and your summer budget’s already toast… welcome to the club.
A year ago, I might’ve told you to double down on cutting costs. But now? I’m more convinced than ever: The best way to fight inflation is to earn more.
That doesn’t mean working 60-hour weeks or launching a startup with investors and pitch decks. It just means getting scrappy and starting a side hustle that fits your life.
Here’s how I tell people to get going:
Step 1: Spot your unfair advantage
What are you already good at that people ask you for help with?
What do you enjoy doing even when you're tired?
That’s usually where your best side hustle lives.
It might be baking custom cakes, helping other parents set up after-school routines, organizing messy garages, or designing flyers for local businesses.
Take stock of what you have fun doing. The goal is to find the cross-section between your interests and what the market has a demand for. For example, if you enjoy making toys for iguanas, and there’s only four people in the US who own iguanas, it’s likely not a good idea.
But let’s say you make high-protein cookies for body builders using only natural ingredients. You’ll serve a niche with purchase power and interest in what you’re selling.
If you need help figuring it out, I “vibe coded” a really cool tool which will help you find your perfect side hustle.
Step 2: Keep it scrappy
You don’t need a business plan or website.
Just test your idea with three people.
Offer your service. Ask for feedback. Improve.
Most people wait months to “launch” something perfect. But the truth is, your first $200 will teach you more than any amount of planning.
Take it from me. I spent way too long starting Knocked-up Money. I wasted countless hours with branding, systems, website design, etc. I should have simply started writing.
Step 3: Make it real with a goal
Pick a number. $200 this month.
$1,000 by the holidays.
Then reverse engineer what it takes.
How many clients? How many products?
Block time in your calendar and commit like you would to a dentist appointment (I actually like the dentist, but that’s just me). Because your family’s financial future matters.
If you’re toying with an idea, check out this article I wrote earlier this year. It’s full of helpful tips.
And hey, if you need more guidance, I recently created my second email course which is all about launching your side-hustle. It’s 100% free and covers:
Find your money-making skills (you already have them—you just need to see them through a money lens)
Validate your idea fast so you don’t waste time building something nobody wants
Create an offer people actually want to buy (without needing a website or a brand deck)
Launch soft and scrappy—using what you already have (DMs, posts, convos)
Set up a repeatable system that earns you money every week without taking over your lifeThis is your mid-year reset.
Check it out below and let me know what you think. I always love feedback so I can improve the content for the rest of our parent community.
And as always, feel free to hit reply if you need help with anything. Here to serve and happy to provide any thoughts if it helps you in your journey.