finding freelance work is easy, depends how much and what kind of work you want to do. fiver to upwork & freelance...
but you will miss exploring new stuff.
but side project will turn you into a machine, if you don't find something interesting or aligning with your interests. Must charge more than normal day time.
I do it just for fun and don't charge much but i only do it to buy stuff online as my bank account doesn't support buying books, games & apps online. (i don't take more than an hour work)