As you noted, a lot of people are already out of time. I think of one of my family members. She's got two young children and a full-time professional job and she's exhausted all the time. She needs more sleep. She needs more money. She needs more help with the kids. She needs more help around the house. She drives an old car, keeps her (inexpensive) house cold all winter and makes most of her food from scratch to save money. She's falling a little further into debt every month anyway. Her vehicle could fail at any time and she can't possibly add a car payment. She had to get a master's degree in order to do the work she's doing, and she has little hope of ever paying her loans. They've been on hold for a while but it looks like she'll have to start paying again soon. She lacks about $200 per month being able to make it as it is now., so every month her balance goes up about that amount. When the loan payments resume, she'll have to put even more basic expenses on her credit cards. In her current circumstances, she will never, ever be able to get ahead. And she's providing an important service to society, is a licensed professional and worked hard to get her education. A side hustle is completely out of the question.