Side Hustles For Feeding Passive Income Generators(PIGs)?

Search side hustles or passive income generation; the results are overwhelming. Trying to narrow down the search to side hustles I could use to feed my passive income generators, and the list grows smaller but needs to be clarified.

Feeding Your PIG's, Passive Income Generators.
Money from Side Hustles can feed your PIGs and grow them faster.

I had to figure out what I wanted to do and focus the search on matching my intended results.

I am in my 50s and realized I didn’t have enough money to retire early. Then the lock-downs occurred, and as a critical care nurse, I had my hours cut in the emergency room down, sometimes receiving no paychecks.   

Please don’t let me start discussing how we handled a healthcare emergency by laying off nurses.  

But this was a wake-up call for me; over the years, I’ve seen good nurses who worked hard just get burnt out and leave the profession, pre-lock-down even, also good nurses that got fired because management took words of patients over a nurse with several witnesses supporting her story.  

Nursing is not a guaranteed job, and if it is for you, your only choice is to work till you burn out, get hurt, or something worse happens.

So always focused on growing my favorite passive income generator(PIGs), I need to feed them with cash. I don’t have a pile of money large enough to live off the dividends yet, so I need to pile money in now or look at creating side hustles that generate cash and could become more passive with time.

So a quick search for side hustles I could do on my schedule, work, and family and I could walk away from occasionally. It continued to generate a flow of cash to feed into my PIGs. 

Maybe even becoming passive enough, the side hustle becomes an autonomous system that requires no hustle but still generates cash. A Unicorn!

A Side Hustles Search Event Back Story.

It’s 2020, and I left a hospital working as an Emergency Nurse for 5+ years. I watched as good nurses got fed up with patient care and took administrative jobs or just jumped into travel nurses to enjoy quitting a place every couple of months for a boatload of money.

I realized hostilities toward nurses(physical and verbal) over my years have not improved with lock-downs and are worse now, even after the lock-downs. 

So I figured I didn’t want to wait over a decade to retire as a nurse, so staying where I wasn’t an option; going back to school for more nurse education was out since I wanted a break from patient care, so sidelining into side hustles, and maybe directing some of that cash into early retirement should be a goal.

I have passive income generators (small stock portfolios, 401ks, IRAs, etc.). Still, most are only available for a few more years, and I might need more money to retire early. So I need to find another source of income outside of nursing to build my “EARLY” retirement options.  

This is where this search for side hustles to feed passive income generators comes from.

As you read, you understand my situation isn’t unique. Many of us grow tired of working and want to spend time with family. I am only working when we want to. I saw families lose their income by being forced to stay home. I was one of those. My bills continued, and any assistance I got was designed to carry me to the next day, not into retirement.

Please be inspired, and we can work together and help one another as we all strive to do more with our lives without worrying about money.

Let Me Get My Side Hustle Requirement List Here.

Feeding money into the growing PIGs  operation.
Take money to make money, well start making money! Fuel that PIG growth.

1.- It had to be a side hustle I could pick up and put down.

I still have children at home. Although my oldest was considering graduating high school, I wanted to avoid a side hustle that cut into the time I could spend with my kids. 

In my main job, I had no choice. I punched in and out, and I got a paycheck and health care very quickly.  

With a side hustle and growing my passive income generators, it might take a long time to see actual results. So being able not to sacrifice family time was critical.

2.- It had to be a side hustle with a return based on my effort.

I understand some side hustles that aren’t second and third jobs take time to grow. Still, if I don’t see results during that time, I might lose my motivation to continue with that side hustle.  

Seeing some gains, even small will help continue my drive to work harder.

3.- Had to be a side hustle I was familiar with, a hobby, or willing to learn.

I can learn new things; I’m on about major career change #5, I’m guessing—I lost count. 

However, if I can take the knowledge I already know or work on a hobby I am learning faster, I can shortcut some learning curve issues.  

So I can see returns on my efforts faster.

4.- It had to be a side hustle that could go passive and continue to make residual income.

I understand side hustles are not passive, but you put down your work sometimes, and unlike a job, the money should continue.

Even if it’s not money, there should be some growth. Word-of-mouth growth in customer base. Compound returns on work already performed.  

This might be a challenging requirement to meet.

5.- It had to be a side hustle that I could include my family in on.

Working a side hustle, even from home, can take your attention from your family. So finding one that allows me to include my family in, and will enable them to participate, even if just idea sharing, is essential.

6.- It had to be a no money to start a side hustle or almost no money.

Let’s face it; I’m doing side hustles not because I have a pile of money lying around but because I’m trying to build a pile of money with the side hustle.

I want to limit the start-up cost to almost nothing, to prevent any limitations in starting the process.

7.- It had to be a side hustle with limitless potential.

I’ve worked too many jobs being pigeonholed. I want a side hustle. If I excel at it, I can grow it to levels limited by my imagination.  

This is a goal, but it might be more a personal goal for how much I’m willing to invest myself into these side hustles.

8.- It had to be a side hustle that could Segway into another side hustle.

Let’s face it; we fail at things. If one side hustle fails, I want to start another, but this time with experience.

So having a side hustle not so specialized that skills learned can be applied to other side hustles is an ideal setup.

9.- It had to be a side hustle I could learn and grow with, becoming an expert.

Let’s face it, there are so many dead-end jobs out there we do not have a choice at the time to take, but even the most miserable one offers an opportunity to grow.  

Suppose I start working on a side hustle and become an ‘expert.’ In that case, I can help new side hustlers, and one opportunity to make more money is to become a paid mentor in helping others get out of the rat race.

10.- It had to be a side hustle that makes money(or saves money).

Not to be shallow, but my goal is to make money and then put that money to work for me.

Based on these goals, what side hustle ideas came up in the web searches?

I narrowed down the results, and here are the side hustle ideas:

  • Earn Affiliate Commissions
  • Write A Book
  • Sell An Online Course
  • Sell A digital product(stock photos, printables)
  • Create print-on-demand products(shirts & merchandise)
  • YouTube Channel Ad money
  • Blogging(ads and memberships)
  • Sell an online product
  • Drop-ship
  • Rent out car
  • Rent house/room Airbnb

Now some of these overlap, but there are some excellent ideas here.

I will break them down more and discuss ideas I decided to move forward on. If you are reading this blog, you know which side hustle I decided to try.

Please comment below if you have any tips or advice on working on a side hustle idea that a parent can do to feed some future passive income generators(PIGs).

Thank you for your time, and I hope you continue reading.


Related Side Hustle Reads:


Tom, Growing His Passive Income Generators.
Myself with an interesting Bull Sculpture.
Notice: No Lambo’s. :/
Hi I’m Tom, A Blogger And A PIG Farmer.

PIG Farmer as in I grow Passive Income Generators(PIG’s).

I’ve been playing with stocks, mutual funds, and options for decades, as well as always working on my side hustle stacks.

Unlike what you read online, I’ve yet to find a way to get rich quickly. Get Rich Quick isn’t happening for me.

My journey has been long and continues. I hope to have so many PIGs I can stop working at my current job and volunteer as a medical worker overseas. 

Still waiting, but getting there. I still am a family man, and while on this Journey of Growing PIGs.  

I wanted to share my adventures(ups and downs), hoping you will contribute with your feedback and comments.

Fun Fact: In my spare time, I am a Band-Dad!

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