Like all FI users and hustlers out there, I too had some passive income. It started from an advice I had received from a friend. He advised me to always have a side hustle and not be reliant on the main job for income.

So long long ago, I started a website which over a period of time went on to bring one fifth of income as my main job. It’s always a great feeling to have some extra cash.

Initially when I started saving, I’d sponsor my travel from the income from this website. I could have been half way through my financial goals had I saved that money but I don’t regret my travels. I’m typically an introvert but my travel stories save me at office parties. I finally have something to talk about.

Anywho…

I ignored maintaining the website and eventually the income dwindled. At its height, the website used to receive 100k visitors per month. I could have leveraged the traffic and gotten few sponsorship and earned more on top of the ads money I was earning.

About two years ago, I started with a job that I really like and I ignored the website. Eventually the traffic started slooooowly decreasing and ads money also dried up. Right now I’m fetching less than $20 from the website. It still covers my hosting and domain charges and so I don’t plan to shut it out.

To bring more traffic I will have to spend more time rejuvenating new content. Now that shouldn’t have been a problem but the website content is such that updating new content would require a lot of research since a lot has changed since I last updated its content.

I thought about it and I feel like I would earn more if I put hours into my full time job. While not true at other jobs I’ve worked through but at the current job I feel that I would progress more if I put in those extra hours at the full time job. I am not talking about overtime money, we don’t have the concept overtime anyway at work. I’m talking about actually climbing the ladder and thus earning more.

Last year I received a 30% hike which is unheard of unless you jump jobs. I know 30% is a lot and I’m not expecting similar hike this year if it’s 5% more than inflation, I’ll accept.

If I had instead poured my attention into the website, I wouldn’t have received as much the hike. I’m able to save more than I would have been able to save from my website income.

Letting existing employees rise and thrive is actually beneficial for companies. If a dedicated employee doesn’t feel appreciated they might leave. It costs more for the companies to hire and train a  new employee. They’d rather pay more to an existing employee who doesn’t need training, is already up to speed and is dedicated.

So instead of doing a side hustle spend more time at your regular job, do better and climb the ladder.