4 easy ways to increase your finances

No matter if you work full-time or earn a decent income, everybody likes to increase his or her earnings for different reasons. Some people may be saving for a holiday, buying a house or to afford other luxuries.

However, if you don’t see a pay rise on the horizon or your day job doesn’t allow for an increase in income any time soon, many individuals can feel stuck and up against a wall. This can start to impact your work performance, mood and outlook towards the future.

Before you start looking for a better paying job, there are ways you can increase you income, even whilst holding down a full-time job. Sometimes all it takes is setting aside a few hours a week.

Freelance on the side

Most skill sets allow you to freelance on the sideline. For example, one of your skills could be writing. Using your writing ability to develop website content for people on the weekend or some other spare time is a way that you can earn income.

When it comes to freelancing you’re in charge. It’s up to you how much work you agree to take on, and agreeing on the terms and conditions. If you only have 10 hours to put aside a week for a project, make this part of your conditions. Unlike being an employee where you are tied to company deadlines and workloads, you can discuss with different clients what work will be done and in what timeframe. Most clients won’t mind when the work gets done, only that it gets done within a mutually agreed upon timeframe.

If your weekends are busy or you need your downtime, then you could even look at waking up an hour early each day and doing it then.

Make a list of your top 3 skills and see which ones will be able to work around your schedule. Looking for clients can be as simple as asking friends or family, doing a mailbox drop or contacting companies direct.

Package up a product

If you have specific expertise that many individuals or businesses would like to tap into, think about packaging up your knowledge into a DIY product. For example, you may have skills in project management. You cold create an e-learning course or step-by-step guide that people can purchase to up skill in that particular area.

Depending on your product offering, you could sell this for $50 to $500 per product. If you sell just 5 a month, this can add up to be a nice savings amount over time.

Become part of the sharing economy

Today’s transactional world involves a lot of peer-to-peer based purchasing of goods and services, and it is only growing. Some of the more popular platforms include Uber and Airbnb.

Even if driving or accommodation services aren’t right for you, nowadays there are many different platforms that allow you to leverage off an already established network. Think about what you enjoy or what your skill set can offer. Simply do an online search of sharing economy platforms in your chosen area and see if this is something you can make money out of.

For example, Uber driving for an hour or two on the weekends and after work has become a very popular way for people to make money on the side and not take up too much of their time.

Downsize your lifestyle

Rather than make more money by doing something extra, you can also increase your finances by minimising areas of your life that are costing you money.

Take a look at your expenses. Sometimes it’s good to look at the big expenses first. If you can eliminate even just one of these, this can sometimes be enough to allow you to save a significant amount each month. For example, do you really need your car? Do you really need home wi-fi? What you need and don’t need will differ from person to person, but really think about whether a cost is a nice to have or a must have.

 

So, before you look at quitting your job for a better pay bracket or thinking that you’ll never be able to meet your financial goals, look at ways to slowly increase your income each month. Whether it be freelancing on the side, packaging up your expertise, getting involved in a peer-to-peer based service or downsizing your expenses, there are ways that you can make hundreds a month whilst still keeping your day job.

Mike Smith
Mike Smith
Executive Editor at Best in Australia. Mike has spent over a decade covering news related to business leaders and entrepreneurs around Australia and across the world. You can contact Mike here.
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