What side hustles or jobs helped you provide for your family when life gave you no choice?

Being the only man in your family it’s not just a role; it’s a weight. Especially when you’ve got three younger sisters depending on you and a mom who’s trying her best to hold everything together. She fights every day to give us a better life, but sometimes, her strength alone isn’t enough. And as a man, something deep inside you refuses to just sit back and watch your family struggle. It’s like a primal instinct screaming, work harder, fight harder.

Last year, I started working in my free time. Balancing school and work wasn’t easy, but helping my mom financially felt amazing and made it worth. For a while, life seemed to make sense. But then, 2024 hit, and everything started to unravel.

In May, I found out my mom had breast cancer. Treatable, but expensive so expensive that we nearly went bankrupt. We borrowed money at insane interest rates, and I had to work extra hard just to keep the lights on. My life became a blur, stuck in a zombie-like state for four months, barely surviving.

I wanted to quit school, sacrifice my future for my mom and sisters, but then one night, my mom said something that shattered me. With tears streaming down her face, she whispered, “You are the hope for your sisters and my hope too. I will clear every obstacle in your path if it means you’ll graduate high school and college. Please, don’t give up.”

Her words hit me so hard. Since that day, my mom and I have been fighting together, pushing ourselves to the limit to survive. I had to find a way to make money while studying for exams, and that’s when I discovered something called FOREX.

For the first two months, it felt like magic—I was making $100 a day, buying little treats for my sisters, and for once, life seemed okay. But life, being the cruel joker it is, had other plans. Last week was the worst week of my life.

I found out my mom’s cancer had progressed to stage 3. That same day, I ran into my dad, drunk and abusive as always cursing me and my mom. We fought, and he broke my nose. The stress, the pain, the exhaustion it’s been eating away at me for years. And in a moment of recklessness, I made risky trades in the market and lost everything “two months’ worth of hard earned savings” gone in a blink.

Everything was fine, and then, in just one week, my entire world collapsed. I won’t lie I’ve thought about taking the easy way out. But I can’t. I can’t do that to my mom or my sisters. I don’t want my mom to blame herself or cry wondering what she did wrong.

Today was no better. I got into two fights one with a friend who made a cruel joke about my mom, and another with my manager, which got me fired. I’m at my breaking point, but I decided to write this because I needed to let it out. I don’t have anyone to talk to, and if I kept it bottled up, I might’ve done something I could never take back.

So here I am, asking for advice. I don’t want pity; I just need help. What side hustles or jobs helped you provide for your family when life gave you no choice? Thank you for reading.