In financial coaching, we often get into discussions about how to reduce expenses in order to generate positive cash flow and have extra money with which to pay off debts. But there is another key component to being able to become debt free, and that is finding ways to make more money. Unfortunately, most people don’t spend any time thinking about how to increase their income. They assume that their income just is what it is — that it is fixed and there is nothing they can do about it. Nothing could be further from the truth.
One of my fellow coaches was working with a young couple to help them get out of debt. The young woman had a job, but it was not well paying employment. Her husband was a disabled veteran who was living on a meager government disability check each month. In one of their meetings, my friend asked the young man what he did to occupy his time while his wife was at work. The young man said that he enjoyed repairing firearms, that he was good at it, and that he had helped out a number of his friends by either repairing or reconditioning their rifles and pistols. My friend, the financial coach, saw a tremendous opportunity in his young man’s “hobby”. He suggested that they turn his hobby into a business — and within 6 months, the young man was earning $6,000 a month from doing what he loved to do.
If you stop and think about it, there are numerous ways to increase your income:
- Maybe you can pick up overtime or extra shifts at your current job;
- Maybe you can find an enjoyable part-time job doing something you enjoy;
- Like the example above, perhaps you can find a way to monetize one of your hobbies;
- Maybe you can start a home-based business that will grow and profit over time
The possibilities are endless if you take the time to get creative. All you have to do is begin asking yourself questions like:
- What skills do I currently have that I might be able to use in a different way?
