What started out as a hobby for Anna Claridge is now a secondary source of income.
Claridge, whose primary focus is her job as a music teacher at Lakeview Elementary School, appears with two event bands performing locally. And in the summer, Claridge spends her time out of the classroom working at a golf course.
"At this point, the income from the gigs and everything is almost necessary," said Claridge, who married in 2018 and bought the couple's first home in March. "The extra cash helps."
Whether it's driving for a ride-sharing company, delivering pizzas or belting out cover songs for a local band, side hustles — as they've become known — are a common way for people to bring in extra money outside their primary source of income.Â
Eric Thompson, director of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said he thinks some people who have more than one job do so to fulfill multiple interests.
People are also reading…
"People want to be able to bring in extra money, and many choose to do that with their other interests outside of their primary job," he said.Â
Thompson said people working multiple jobs is positive for the economy, especially with growing opportunities for second jobs in the technology age.
"Uber is a prime example of how technology allows people to bring in extra money," he said. "Also, with such a low unemployment rate, employers are more willing to work around schedules to make sure they have employees."
Claridge, who teaches Monday through Thursday at Lakeview, appears with Downtown Collective and Diamond Empire, local bands with gigs typically on Fridays and Saturdays.
"It started out as a hobby because we were just jamming," said Claridge, who first joined Downtown Collective in 2015, when she was studying music education at UNL. "Then I started getting connections for gigs, and now I have the best of both worlds because I get to teach as well as perform."
She plays at least two gigs a month for Downtown Collective, and appears at least once a month with Diamond Empire.
And since she wasn't teaching in the summer, Claridge started working as a bartender and beverage cart attendant at Holmes Golf Course to earn extra money.Â
"I wanted to do something that involves working with people, but I also was able to make fast cash," she said. "It was a nice job to have, because I don't need to have anything ready for work, like lesson plans for when I'm teaching. I can just get up and go and don't have to worry about bringing work home at the end of the night."
Still, there were long days last spring when she was teaching, performing at gigs and working at the golf course in the same week.
But, Claridge said, it's worth it, because she gets to do what she loves. And in a way, her side hustles help make her a better teacher.
"If you don't practice, you can lose it," she said of her singing voice. "That's why I like to be able to do the bands but still be able to teach."
Her job at the golf course, too, keeps her engaged in the community. And it helps to pay the bills.
"It gets hard balancing everything, but I think it's worth it in the end."