How Can a Fall Side Hustle Boost My Holiday Budget?

The holidays are sneaking up on us, and trust me, I feel the financial stress creeping in too! We’re diving into how to tackle that holiday budget without losing our minds or racking up debt. I’ve got some solid tips on side hustles that can help you boost your income just in time for all those gifts, travel, and festive meals we love. Think of it as getting your holiday hustle on while keeping the joy alive instead of drowning in stress. So, grab a cozy drink, and let’s chat about how we can make this holiday season a little brighter and a lot less financially scary! And hey—how can a fall side hustle boost my holiday budget? Let’s break it down together.

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The holiday season is creeping up on us like a cat on a laser pointer, and the financial stress that comes with it can feel like a punch in the gut. Ralph kicks off with a friendly reminder that, yes, it’s still August, but those bills are lurking just around the corner. He dives into the nitty-gritty of how we can turn that holiday dread into a budget-friendly celebration. With a dash of humor and a whole lot of practical advice, he introduces the concept of fall side hustles—those nifty little gigs that can beef up our wallets just in time for gift-giving season. Tune in as Ralph lays down some biblical wisdom on hard work and resourcefulness, encouraging us to be proactive rather than reactive in our financial planning. Let's face it, no one wants to be that person who ends up maxing out their credit card for a last-minute gift. By brainstorming side hustle ideas that match our skills and schedules, we can not only lighten our financial load but also pave the way for a more joyful holiday experience. So grab a cup of coffee, kick back, and let’s get ready to make this holiday season a stress-free one!

Takeaways:

• The holidays are sneaking up fast, and prepping for those expenses is key.
• Don't let holiday bills stress you out; there are ways to boost your budget.
• Side hustles are a great way to make extra cash for holiday fun and joy.
• Planning ahead can help avoid the dreaded credit card debt come holiday time.
• Tapping into your skills for a side hustle can align with wise financial stewardship.
• Brainstorming a couple of side hustle ideas can kickstart your holiday savings strategy.

Links referenced in this episode:

• financiallyconfidentchristian.com

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, listen, the holidays arejust around the corner. Yes, I know
it's August, but trust me,they're just around the corner and
so are the expenses. You know,those gifts, the travel and those
gatherings. So let me ask youthis question. Does the thought of
holiday bills fill you withdread and financial stress? But what
if you could effortlesslyboost your budget and approach the

(00:21):
season with financial peaceand not panic? Well, stick with me
because I've got some greattips on exactly how to make that
happen and I'm going to sharethose on today's show.
This is Financially ConfidentChristian, your daily dose of gospel
grounded insight and faithdriven tips to help you break the
cycle of financial shame with confidence.

(00:44):
Hey there and welcome back toyour daily Financially Confident
Christian. I'm Ralph and I amso happy that you've chosen to join
me as we celebrate Christmasin the summertime. Well, as we always
do, we're trying to answerthat big question and that's how
can I become a financiallyconfident Christian? And we're well
in our series of smart moneyfor back to school and beyond. So

(01:05):
today we're really talkingabout that beyond time. I want to
help equip you and your familyfor a thriving school year and also
start thinking about what'sgoing to happen at year end. Now
yesterday we talked about oneof those big year end things and
that was getting organized foryear end tax planning now to save
your stress later. So I hopeyou caught it. If you didn't, you
can check out all of ourepisodes at Financially Confident

(01:29):
Christian. Now today we'rebuilding on that by exploring a practical
way to boost your income.Yeah. As fall approaches and the
holidays loom, I'm going toshare some great ideas for fall side
hustles. Yeah. How to make alittle extra money. So today I'm
going to answer this question.How can a fall side hustle boost

(01:49):
my holiday budget? Hey, youknow what? If you're like me, you
got this feeling, you'realready starting to approach the
holiday season with somefinancial anxiety. You're thinking
about all the gifts and maybeyou've got some travel to do and
you know, you've got theseexpenses ahead of you for gifts like
I mentioned and maybe traveland those, those big elaborate festive

(02:09):
meals or hey, maybe thosedecorations. You want to really do
some over the top decorationsthis year. You know that stuff is
coming and you're starting tofeel that your current income just
isn't going to be enough tocover everything that you want to
do without derailing yourbudget or maybe Even worse, a lot
of us find ourselves in thisat year end piling on debt. And see,

(02:30):
the problem is if you don'tstart to plan for that now, like
most people, you're going torely on credit cards for holiday
spending. And that's trulygoing to sacrifice other financial
goals like paying off debt orsaving for retirement or building
up that emergency fund thatcreates this massive pressure of
holiday spending withouthaving adequate funds. And unfortunately

(02:54):
for many of us, it turns atime meant for joy and generosity
and into a financial strainand a time of financial regret. But
here's the thing. Fall alsooffers some unique side hustle opportunities.
Hey, there's a bunch ofseasonal needs. There's people that
need help with holiday prep.So I thought as I was preparing for

(03:14):
the show, what about engagingin a side hustle to be proactive
in creating some financialmargin? Because truly this is an
act of diligent stewardship.So let's talk about some of the biblical
principles surrounding thisbiblical principle number one. Hey,
if you don't understand this,in the Bible, the Bible calls us
to hard work and specificallyhard work brings profit. Look at

(03:37):
the book of Proverbs, chapter14, verse 23. It says it as clearly
as can be said. It says this,all hard work brings a profit. But
mere talk leads only topoverty. Hey, listen, if you listen
to my show every day, youknow, I talk about intentions are
great, but it's action thatmakes a difference. So that's exactly

(03:57):
what this is saying. All hardwork brings a profit. But mere talk,
hey, if you're just talking,you know where you're going to end
up. As the Bible says, you'regoing to end up in poverty. Well,
more practically, you're goingto end up in debt. You're not going
to meet your financial goals.So that's the first biblical principle,
hard work brings profit. Let'slook at this one. Principle number
two, and that's multiplyingtalents. Now this is talked about

(04:18):
in the book, the parable, thetalents, Matthew, chapter 25. I'm
not going to cover that. It'sa big long verse and I've talked
about on the show. But it'sall about that idea of investing
and multiplying what's beengiven you. So those are really the
two core biblical principlesthat I want to talk about today.
Because the impact of this,the true impact of this is wise stewardship.

(04:39):
And you all want to strive forthat wise stewardship. So the benefit
here, by doing this, it'sgoing to generate some extra income
that can Fund that how theycheer and listen. Here's the best
part. It can do it debt freeand really align with generosity.
And the outcome of this, ifyou're able to do it, is going to
reduce your stress during ahugely demanding season. Many people

(05:01):
have told me, ralph, theholiday season is a stress season
for a lot of reasons. So nowyou're saying, ralph, this is great.
I love this idea. But, but howdo we make this happen? How can I
transform this financial dreadof holiday spending into a place
of peace, into a place of joyand truly savvy spending? Well, I've
got a single solution for youtoday. I'm going to encourage you

(05:23):
to just identify one or tworealistic false side hustle ideas.
Look at your skills and lookat your available time and commit
to taking an actionable stepto explore or start one of those
to proactively boost yourholiday budget and create your own
financial margin for theholiday. So here's your one action
step for today with the goalof boosting your holiday budget with

(05:45):
a. With a real strong falseside hustle. First thing I'm going
to encourage you to do isstart with just a brainstorming session.
Just think about those falseside hustle ideas. Hey, it doesn't
have to take a long time. It'smaybe five or ten minutes. Think
through your skills. Think ofthe things that you really have a
passion for. Maybe it's somehobbies that you like to do. I, I
came up with some for the showtoday. Maybe tutoring. Maybe you

(06:07):
like to tutor people. There'sa great side hustle. Hey, school's
back in. Kids need thattutoring help. That would be a great
side hustle for this time ofyear about baking. Maybe you like
to bake some cookies or cakes.It's not my area of expertise, but
a lot of people do that. Hey,here's a great one. Think about the
holidays and all those craftfairs coming up. Maybe you're a crafty
person. Hey, this is the kindof thing that you can do once the

(06:29):
kids go to bed at night orwhen the kids are out playing in
the yard. You can build somecrafts that you could resell in time
for some extra money for theholidays. And hey, here's a couple
others. How about organizing.Help people organize their clutter.
I did a show about that theother day about how decluttering
can help your life. How aboutsome pet sitting or, or maybe some
fall yard work, cleanup, maybeyou're a pretty handy person and

(06:50):
you could out there and helpthem rake up those leads or get their
houses in order for the fall.So just take a few minutes and just
think about those seasonalneeds, that decorating needs or maybe
gift wrapping or maybe evensome shopping assistance. One of
the things I'm going toencourage you to do is think about
some online opportunities.There's a whole lot of those, maybe
in the area of transcriptionor in virtual assistance. So just

(07:12):
start there, just list a fewideas, brainstorm, think about your
skillset and your pass andwrite just a few of those things
down. And then the next step Iwant you to do is really set a holiday
income goal. See, really thinkabout that. So you thought about
that, you brainstormed some,some ideas for work. Well, now start
to brainstorm your holidayexpenses. Start to think through
how much extra money that youreally need to earn. How much do

(07:34):
you specifically need forthose holiday expenses? And I'm going
to encourage you just like youwrote down those ideas, write this
goal down, put it on paper sothat you can see it, and then I'm
going to encourage you to justchoose one or two ideas and take
action. Like I said earlier,it's one thing like the Bible verse
said, mere talk's not going toget you there. So pick one or two

(07:55):
realistic side hustle ideasand then just commit to one small
actionable step today or thisweek to get started. Maybe that,
maybe that means you start byresearching how to get started. You
know, look at what are peopleare charging. Hey, look and see if
you need a license for this.Last thing you want to do is cost
yourself money down the roadand, and then create one simple online
profile or post an offer,maybe tell three people what you're

(08:17):
offering for the service andask them to sort of spread the word.
And then as you make thatmoney and listen, I have confidence
in you, you can do this. Asyou make that money, allocate those
earnings to a dedicated, I'llcall it the dedicated holiday fund.
Set those things aside andimmediately put those into that.
You know, that holiday fund,it's called sort of like a sinking
fund. I've talked about thaton the show before. Because we want

(08:40):
to ensure that that extramoney goes directly to its intended
purpose. You know, you'vethought about that side hustle, you
thought about how much moneyyou want to make. Then you just got
to set up, maybe you set up aseparate account for this or put
it in a separate envelope sothat it goes for that intended purpose.
Now you might be saying toyourself, ralph, that sounds great,
but is that really going tohelp me well, absolutely it will

(09:01):
because it's going to fightthat struggle and that stress of
holiday financial pressure.Listen, if you've been through the
holidays before, and chancesare, if you're listening, you've
been through the holidaysbefore, you know, this can be a time
of incredible financialstruggle and incredible financial
stress. And all the things Italked about today is really going
to empower you to be proactivein your income creation, to really

(09:23):
have a great time fundingthose holiday celebrations. And here's
the best part, doing it debtfree. And this will transform that
potential anxiety of theholidays into joy and into peace.
And, and at the same time, italigns your work and your financial
efforts with wise stewardship,which is the whole goal of the show.
How about we pray togethernow? Father God, we just thank you

(09:46):
for providing us with skillsand Lord, with opportunities to work.
And we have to confess thatapproaching the holiday season, Lord,
often brings financial anxietyfor so many of us. So please grant
us wisdom to identify somerealistic fall ideas, some side hustle
opportunities for us, Lord,and give us diligence in our work
and creativity in leveragingour skills and the talents that you've

(10:09):
given us, Lord. Guide us inour efforts to increase our income
for your purposes, Lord, andbless us to fund our holiday joy
with financial peace. And weask this in confidence, Lord, in
Jesus name, amen. Hey. A falseside hustle is a powerful way to
empower your holiday budgetand truly approach the season with

(10:29):
peace. So I'm just going toencourage you again, take that step
today to explore just onerealistic idea and start planning
your extra income. Becausehere's the secret. If you listen
to me every day, you aremoving towards true freedom. And
if this episode, it hasresonated with you, I want you to
consider sharing it withsomeone who might need to hear, hey,
there's a lot of people thatneed to start thinking about maybe

(10:52):
making a little extra moneybuilding that margin for the holidays.
You can find our resources atour website, that's@financially confidentchristian.com
and hey, if you've got friendsor people in your family that may
be feeling that holidaystress, and listen, it's only a few
months away. Send them a text,send them an email, just point them
directly to our website andsay, hey, Ralph's got some great
ideas for some fall andholiday side hustles. Now tomorrow

(11:16):
we're going to be talkingabout another way to bring joy and
peace this fall, and that'sthis. How to budget for fall fun
like festival sports andaffordable entertainment without
overspending and without goinginto debt. So I'm going to encourage
you. Don't want to miss it. Somake sure you join me tomorrow. Now,
let's all go out there todayand be those financially confident

(11:36):
Christians. You can do this. Ihave confidence in you. Have confidence
in yourself. Stay financiallysavvy. God bless you, and you have
a great day today.