For today’s professionals, it’s never a bad idea to step back, look at your income, and ask yourself how you can increase your earning potential. Even if you earn quite a competitive salary, there may be ways to boost your finances, so you can spend less time worrying about bills, and more time simply enjoying your life.
However, boosting your earning potential isn’t always as simple as it seems. After all, while anyone can ask their boss for a raise or look to opportunities for a promotion, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to make extra money this way.
So, how can you boost your income if a pay rise simply isn’t an option? Here are great options to consider.
Consider Switching to a New Company
If you’re happy in your role and you love the business you work with, speaking to your boss and asking them how you might be able to earn more could be a good idea. However, in some environments, opportunities for raises and promotions are difficult to come by.
If this is the case for you, then it might be time to consider starting fresh. Although reentering the job market can be daunting, now could be a good time to take the leap.
If you’re employed in an industry suffering from skill shortages, you could find simply moving to a new company not only increases your income but provides access to additional benefits too.
You might be able to find an employer who allows you to work remotely or provides extra support with things like pensions and health insurance.
Get a Degree or Certification
Another excellent way to increase your earning potential, and your potential in general, is to expand your education. Earning a degree or certification relevant to your field significantly increase the number of high-paying roles you’ll be able to apply for.
You can even pursue a degree in a different field and open the door to a brand-new range of job opportunities, more in line with your passions and interests. These days, it’s easier than ever to earn a certification offline, online, part-time, or full-time.
Plus, there are tools available online which can help you to search for and apply for scholarships, which assist you in paying for the costs of your certification.
Start a Side Hustle
Finally, if you have a little extra time, and an ambitious attitude, then you might be able to increase your income by pursuing a side hustle. A side hustle isn’t just another secondary or part-time job, it’s a flexible business opportunity you can manage in your own time.
The digital world has made it increasingly simple for professionals to make money in their spare time. Plus, you can explore a range of different opportunities in various landscapes, from part-time babysitting, to running your ecommerce store.
Or you can create digital products such as simple cleaning schedules or gratitude journals and sell them online passively. With a side hustle, you don’t just unlock new opportunities for extra earnings.
You can also pursue your passions, learn new skills, and achieve your personal goals too.
Find a Better Budgeting Solution
Often, people think that the answer to their financial worries is increasing their income. While that is a way to do it, take a look at your existing budget solutions and see if you can’t make some improvements there.
In some cases people can find money hidden in places that they did not even realize. Subscription services is a great example of this.
It can be easy to say yes to one, three, ten, cheap subscription services and then throw them on autopay, but the downside of that is that it can be very hard to track the over total that you are spending without even thinking about it.
This is where a new and improved budget solution can make a world of difference. There are many apps now that you can download to help you track every single dollar that you are spending so you can see at the most transparent level, where all your money is going.
Once you have a clear picture of this, you can work to revamp your budget to create more money for yourself each month from money that already exists.
Re-allocation is probably not going to produce a large sum of money in the way that a side hustle or a salary raise would, but money is money and every little bit extra helps.
Marissa is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist turned stay-at-home mom who loves sharing her tips, tricks, and ideas for navigating motherhood. Her days are filled starting tickle wars and dance parties with three energetic toddlers and wondering how long she can leave the house a mess until her husband notices. When she doesn’t have her hands full of children, she enjoys a glass (or 3) of wine, reality tv, and country music. In addition to blogging about all things motherhood, she sells printables on Etsy and has another website, teachinglittles.com, for kid’s activity ideas.