Would it be OK if we talked about money?

Take a look around. It’s getting more and more common for people to start a side hustle. Something they do to earn a little or a lot of money outside of their job.

Whether its driving for Uber, renting out a spare bedroom through Air B&B or starting a business out of the house, these side hustles are everywhere.

Welcome to the Gig Economy.

If you’re not already working a side gig, you’ve probably thought about it.

I’m convinced that almost everyone should be doing some sort of money-making project on the side. Here are seven reasons why you should start a side hustle.

Earn more, invest more.

Reason 1. This isn’t your mom’s or your grandfather’s economy. Wages have been stagnant for decades. In terms of buying power most people are no better off now than they were 5 or 10 or 15 years ago.

At the same time, the cost of living keeps going up. If you’re even getting raises, they probably aren’t enough to keep up with inflation, much less help you get ahead.

Reason 2. A Safety Net. One of the lessons we learn as adults is that nothing is certain. Economies shift, companies close and jobs disappear. Having an income on the side can help cushion you from the unexpected loss of a job.

Reason 3. Get rid of your debt. Whether it’s car loans, credit cards or student loans, debt is a burden that weighs on you. Using the income from starting a side hustle can help you pay off your debts and more quickly get you free of that burden.

Reason 4. Money to build a retirement fund. Once your debts are gone, you’ll have more discretionary money from your paycheck and you’ll still have your side income.

You can take this money and start or accelerate an investment program to start building wealth.

The more money you can put aside and the earlier in life you can do it, the bigger that pile will compound to by the time you’re ready to think about retiring.

More skills, More friends.

Reason 5. Learn new skills. Building a business on the side could require you to learn new skills like sales, marketing, web design or who knows what that can make you more valuable to your job. This can lead to advancement, more responsibility and more income. It could even land you other job offers.

Reason 6. Meet new friends outside of work. You probably like most of the people you work with. If you’re like most of us, they’re also the bulk of the people you know.

Working a business on the side will give you opportunities to meet people outside of your work circle. You’ll expand your network, increase your influence and find new people to hang out with.

Reason 7. The chance to be your own boss. Who hasn’t looked at the people above us in our job and thought, I could do that job better? If you start a side hustle you can test that theory without risking your primary income. You make the decisions, you make the rules and you generate the outcomes.

In the long run, what starting a side hustle does is give you options. You have more money to invest and more money to enjoy the things that money can buy.

You’ll have the freedom to take a lower paying job that demands less of your time. Or a job that might not pay as well but is something you’d truly love.

You might even find that your side gig is so much fun that you decide to build it to the point where it replaces your job entirely. And that will give you still more options.

So where do you go from here?

If the idea of starting a side hustle sounds good, but you don’t know where to start, I’ve put together a list of dozens of ideas about side business you could start. No opt-in needed.