Fire to Wander

Follow along as I document my journey to early retirement and a nomadic lifestyle.

Increasing Income

First of all: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! The moon was amazing tonight! We even had a partial lunar eclipse! It was so nice! Too bad I couldn’t capture the wonder of the moon with my cell phone camera.

Anyway, onto today’s topic: Income!

I’m all for saving, but to be honest the best way to improve your situation will always be to earn more money.

I know you don’t want to work ‘round the clock. Who would? I don’t even want to work the 40 hours a week that is the “normal” workweek. I get it!

However, you must think of your goals and proceed as accordingly. You can always find something that you don’t mind doing or that will help further your career.

I personally did several side gigs in order to be able to afford to continue to travel. After all, I personally didn’t want to stop contributing as much of my paycheck as I could, but I also couldn’t stop traveling. That is the joy in my life!

Here are some ideas that I personally did in order to make some income on the side:

  • Promoted brands at events and stores
  • Create and sell digital products
  • Buy and resell furniture
  • Notarize documents
  • Translate documents
  • Interpret for people
  • Tax preparation

I also tried selling covered calls. While that one was also lucrative, particularly for the amount of time involved, I didn’t see the point. I couldn’t even tell you why I did what I did, that’s how little I remember. I remember I paid for a course to teach me how to do it and I made my money back, and a few times over, but I remember thinking it was better to just keep the stock rather than possibly having to sell it at whatever price I’d said I would.

If you’re looking for a side gig, I recommend that you make a list of your talents and abilities first and then find something suitable. Just because something is lucrative doesn’t mean you should do it. For example, one thing I really wanted to try is dog walking. It’s pretty lucrative and I’d get some exercise in! However….I really can’t stand dogs -_- Their breath and how overexcited they are to see you…ughhhhh. Gross. Perhaps I should have tried cat sitting? Nah, the fur triggers my allergies. My point is you need to make sure whatever you choose to do is somewhat enjoyable to you so that you have a better chance of sticking with it. Or at the very least, you increase the possibility of you doing a good job at it. Even better if you can find something that helps you at the same time. For example, many of the brands I promoted were liquor brands and as a result I always had a ton of free alcohol. Haha, that was actually more beneficial to my friends because I’m not a huge drinker.

Aside from having side gigs, I strongly recommend you make more money at your main job. No one wants to be doing side gigs forever, unless you truly like not having time to do fun stuff. (I can’t imagine that’s good for your mental and emotional health though.) You can increase your salary either by negotiating a raise or, my personal favorite: finding a better paying job. It doesn’t hurt to start looking around for opportunities. Even if you’re not 100% a match for a job you like, if you’re interested in doing it eventually why not start putting yourself on track to get it by picking up some new skills? The public library usually has some free online classes you can take to help level up your skills!

I often see people find a place they’re comfortable and then they just don’t want to leave, even if it means earning less than they’re worth. My job now is to coach people and help them move up in their careers, but yet I see a lot of people who are scared to jump up. They’d rather take it in baby steps even when they have people counting on them to provide. I don’t personally understand that because all I’ve ever done is strive for more, but I will continue supporting them and helping to motivate them to do better though.

This is likely to be the first year that I don’t do side gigs because I’m finally making enough to just live off of my main job. I can’t wait! I’ve already been a lot more balanced with my life since landing this new job. I’m really happy! However, even though I now have a decent job with a decent boss, I know firsthand how fast things can change so my goal is to invest as much as possible so I can be Financially Independent as soon as possible and no longer be at the mercy of a terrible boss! I might still end up doing taxes for friends and family though. I actually really enjoy that though! Haha, yes, I am weird.

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