7 Student Income Mistakes I Made So You Don't Have To (2026 Edition)
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7 Student Income Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To
Let me tell you about the time I lost $500 trying to make money online.
Junior year. Saw a YouTube video about dropshipping. Guy was making $10K/month. Showed his Shopify dashboard. Drove a Tesla.
I thought: “I can do that.”
Spoiler: I could not do that.
Spent $500 on inventory, ads, and a Shopify subscription. Made $80 in sales. Lost money on every single order after shipping and returns.
That was mistake #1. I made six more after that.
Here’s what I learned the expensive way so you don’t have to.
Mistake #1: Chasing the “Big Money” Opportunities
The dropshipping disaster taught me something important.
The opportunities that promise the most money usually require the most money to start.
What I thought: “If I can make $10K/month, spending $500 to start is nothing!”
Reality: Most “big money” opportunities are:
- Expensive to test
- Require skills you don’t have yet
- Take months to see results
- Have a high failure rate
What I should have done: Started with something that cost $0 and paid within a week.
Like freelance writing. Or virtual assistant work. Or literally anything that didn’t require buying inventory.
The fix: If an opportunity requires more than $50 to start, skip it until you’ve made money from free opportunities first.
Mistake #2: Trying to Do Everything at Once
After dropshipping failed, I overcorrected.
I signed up for:
- Upwork (freelancing)
- Fiverr (gig work)
- Rev (transcription)
- UserTesting (website testing)
- Respondent (research studies)
- Amazon Mechanical Turk (micro tasks)
All in the same week.
What happened: I spent so much time managing profiles and checking for work that I barely did any actual work.
Made $120 that month across all six platforms. Would’ve made more working at Starbucks.
The lesson: One platform. One income stream. Master it. Then add more.
What worked instead: I picked Upwork. Spent two weeks learning how to write good proposals. Landed three clients. Made $800 that month.
Focus beats hustle every time.
Mistake #3: Underpricing My Work (By A Lot)
My first freelance writing gig: $15 for a 1000-word article.
Took me 4 hours to write. That’s $3.75/hour.
I could’ve made more donating plasma.
Why I did it: Thought I needed to be “competitive” as a student with no experience.
Reality: Cheap clients are the worst clients. They demand more revisions. They’re never satisfied. They don’t respect your time.
The turning point: I raised my rates to $100 per article. Lost the cheap clients. Found better ones who actually valued my work.
What I learned: Your rates signal your value. Price like a professional, get treated like a professional.
If you’re not sure what to charge for your skills, tools like our quiz to find your side hustle can show you market rates for different types of work.
Mistake #4: Ignoring Taxes Until It Was Too Late
Made $3,200 my first year from freelancing. Spent it all.
Tax season came. Owed $800.
Didn’t have it.
What I didn’t know: Self-employment income is taxed differently. You pay both employee AND employer taxes. About 25-30% total.
The panic: Had to borrow money from my parents to pay the IRS. Embarrassing.
What I do now: Every time I get paid, I immediately move 30% to a separate savings account. Don’t touch it until tax time.
The rule: If you make more than $400/year from side income, you need to report it and pay taxes. No exceptions.
Mistake #5: Saying Yes to Every Opportunity
A client asked if I could design a logo.
I can’t design. I’ve never designed anything. I use default PowerPoint templates.
I said yes anyway.
What happened: Spent 12 hours watching YouTube tutorials. Created something that looked like a 5-year-old’s art project. Client hated it. Asked for a refund.
Lost the client. Lost 12 hours. Lost my confidence.
The lesson: Saying yes to everything doesn’t make you versatile. It makes you mediocre at everything.
What works better: Pick 2-3 things you’re actually good at. Get really good at those. Say no to everything else.
My three things now:
- Technical writing
- WordPress fixes
- Content strategy
That’s it. I turn down everything else. Make more money. Do better work. Way less stressed.
Mistake #6: Not Having Contracts
Client hired me to write 5 articles. We agreed on $500 total.
I wrote all 5. Sent them over. He said “These aren’t what I wanted” and refused to pay.
No contract. No written agreement. Just messages on Upwork.
What I learned: People will absolutely screw you over if there’s no contract.
What I do now: Every project gets a simple contract that includes:
- Exactly what I’m delivering
- How many revisions are included
- When payment is due
- What happens if they don’t pay
I use a free template from Bonsai. Takes 5 minutes to fill out.
The rule: No contract = no work. Ever.
Mistake #7: Waiting Until I Was “Ready”
This was the biggest mistake.
I spent 3 months “preparing” to start freelancing:
- Built a portfolio website
- Created sample work
- Took online courses
- Read books about freelancing
Made $0 during those 3 months.
What I should have done: Started immediately with what I had.
My friend started the same week I started “preparing.” He had no portfolio. No website. No samples.
He just started applying to jobs and figuring it out as he went.
Three months later:
- Me: Perfect portfolio, zero clients, zero income
- Him: Messy portfolio, 5 clients, $2,400 earned
The lesson: Done is better than perfect. Start before you’re ready.
What I’d Do Differently
If I could go back and start over, here’s exactly what I’d do:
Week 1: Pick ONE skill I already have. Not one I want to learn. One I have right now.
Week 2: Find 10 people who need that skill. Offer to help them for a fair price.
Week 3: Do the work. Get paid. Get a testimonial.
Week 4: Repeat with 10 more people.
No fancy website. No perfect portfolio. No waiting until I’m “ready.”
Just: Find problem → Solve problem → Get paid → Repeat.
The Opportunities I Wish I’d Started With
These require zero money, pay within a week, and actually work:
Virtual assistant work: Manage someone’s email and calendar. $15-25/hour. No experience needed.
Proofreading: Fix grammar and typos. $20-40/hour. If you can write clearly, you can do this.
Data entry: Boring but pays. $12-18/hour. Anyone can do it.
Transcription: Type what you hear. $15-25/hour. Just need fast typing.
Social media management: Post content for small businesses. $200-500/month per client.
All of these:
- Cost $0 to start
- Pay within 1-2 weeks
- Don’t require special skills
- Can be done around your class schedule
The Real Cost of My Mistakes
Let me add it up:
- Dropshipping loss: $500
- Time wasted on multiple platforms: ~40 hours ($480 at minimum wage)
- Underpricing my work: ~$1,200 in lost income
- Tax penalty: $150
- Bad client with no contract: $500
- Time spent “preparing” instead of earning: $2,400
Total cost: $5,230
That’s a semester of rent. Or a used car. Or a really nice laptop.
All because I didn’t know what I was doing.
What Actually Works
After all those mistakes, here’s what I’ve learned works:
Start with free opportunities: Don’t spend money until you’ve made money.
Focus on one thing: Master one income stream before adding another.
Charge what you’re worth: Better to have 3 good clients than 10 cheap ones.
Save for taxes: 30% of everything goes straight to savings.
Get contracts: Every single time. No exceptions.
Start before you’re ready: You’ll learn faster by doing than by preparing.
Say no to bad fits: Not every opportunity is worth your time.
Six Months After My Mistakes
I finally figured it out.
Now I make $1,200-1,800/month from:
- Freelance writing (3 regular clients)
- WordPress maintenance (2 retainer clients)
- Content strategy consulting (1-2 projects/month)
I work 15-20 hours/week. Around my class schedule. No inventory. No ads. No complicated systems.
Just: Find people with problems I can solve. Solve them. Get paid fairly.
The Advice I’d Give My Past Self
Stop overthinking it.
You don’t need:
- A perfect plan
- A big investment
- Special skills
- Months of preparation
You need:
- One skill people will pay for
- The courage to ask for money
- The discipline to actually do the work
That’s it.
Final Thoughts
I wasted $5,000 and 6 months making these mistakes.
You don’t have to.
Pick one simple opportunity. Start this week. Charge fairly. Get a contract. Save for taxes.
You’ll make mistakes anyway. Everyone does.
But at least they’ll be NEW mistakes. Not the same ones I made.
Learn from my expensive lessons. Start smarter than I did.
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