While I will readily agree that handling expenses is a majority of the equation, making an extra $10-30k a year could improve my financial situation in just a few short months. The question is, am I prepared for the intensity?
Since there are two of us in this equation, both of our incomes are in consideration. Right now, my wife is working semi-full-time (there's some downtime, but she's pretty much busy all day), and I'm working full-time with a little overtime here and there (but I'm salaried, so overtime doesn't directly affect my paycheck).
So, right now, the only options for increasing our income are:
- One or both of us finding additional hours at another place of employment (evenings and weekends)
- Revenue from our respective blogs (this amounts to nearly nothing, especially since the readership on both blogs is currently limited to a very few readers)
- A home-based business startup
- I've taken a few photos to put on some stock photo sites, but that amounts to nothing and doesn't even seem worth the effort. I don't really know enough about pictures to qualify as an amateur, and my camera isn't but a very entry-level Digital SLR anyway.
- My wife is a phenomenal organizer and our apartment is a reflection of her skills about 90% of the time, I just don't know how tangible or profitable that business will be.
I'd like the ability to increase the earnings, but I enjoy the free time that I have as well - part of that free time is why I'm able to maintain this blog, as well as read other blogs, but I'm not sure if the encouragement from writing and reading personal finance blogs is as beneficial as making money doing some mundane job.
Perhaps a job at Wal-mart could accomplish several things - allow me to earn extra income as well as help cut expenses through the employee discount. I hesitate to apply back at Best Buy or some other really cool store, due to the fact that the temptation to take advantage of the discount overpowered my desire to get out of debt last year.
I'm also not aware of very many places that will allow me to work 3 or 4 nights a week, maybe a weekend or two per month, and that's it. With our weekends consumed with visiting family (or them visiting us), and then our church attendance being of no small importance in my mind, I'd really rather not cut into our weekends too much.
There has to be a solution, but what? Or do I just need to buckle down, and take the hit to my "personal" or "free" time, and go get 'em?
Okay, my personal thoughts on this... the blog can earn you money, but in order to do that you have to network. That means (I've learned recently) that you need to get yourself noticed. One of the best ways, I have read, is to comment to other bloggers so they know you are out there. If you are working a second job, you wouldn't have much time to make the blog a priority. There are a lot of blogs out there that show us how to make money... I guess it just depends on how much you like writing, and if you have the endurance to keep up with it. One thing is for sure, you can blog in your PJs and you don't have to spend gas to do it. I have recently heard about stock photo sites and wondering about that, too. Your wife's organizational skills could be very profitable, in my opinion!! Oh, and don't forget if you make more money, you may shoot yourself into a higher tax bracket and end up paying more money in taxes. Lots of factors to take into consideration. Good luck with whatever you all decide to do.
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