What could you do with another $250, $1,000, or $3,000 per month? How would another stream of income change your spending, saving, and/or investing habits?
For most of us, an uptick of a few hundred or few thousand dollars would fundamentally improve how we live. The challenge is figuring out how to bring in extra income while continuing to work a full-time job. There are plenty of options – you simply have to find and integrate them into your life.
What Makes a Good Supplemental Stream of Income?
There are hundreds of ways to legitimately earn supplemental income. However, not all of them are ideal for individuals already working full-time jobs. Here are some factors that make a supplemental stream of income worth pursuing:
- Flexible. Ideally, a supplemental source of income is flexible. In other words, you get to set your hours and choose when you want to work. This ensures your side gig never competes with your primary source of income.
- Scalable. Some streams of income are predictable, but it’s preferable if there’s an element of scalability to your side gig. This allows you to increase your income when you have more availability, while cutting hours when you’re busy. (If you find a truly scalable stream of income, don’t let it go!)
- Enjoyable. What good is a supplemental stream of income if you hate the work? Is it worth being miserable just to make some extra cash? Find a job that’s enjoyable. This will increase your willingness to keep going when friction emerges.
- Sustainable. If possible, find a way to escape the “time=money” equation. While there’s nothing wrong with hourly pay, it makes it difficult to generate serious income. Find a stream that eventually allows you to earn money even when you aren’t working.
- Low-cost. Avoid supplemental streams of income that require hefty upfront investments. There’s nothing wrong with paying a little bit of money to get up and running, but you need to be smart about it.
If you find a stream of income that checks off each of these boxes, you should give it a try. At the very least, it’ll afford you the opportunity to see how a little bit of extra income impacts your lifestyle.
4 Ideas for Increasing Your Income
There’s never been a better time to increase income while working a full-time job. Here are some different ideas to consider:
- Get Your Real Estate License
Getting your real estate license is easier and less expensive than it’s ever been. You can do it almost entirely online, which makes it the perfect option for busy professionals.
Once you have your real estate license, you can build a stream of supplemental income that works on your terms. Most people choose to become real estate agents – helping friends and family buy and sell homes – but you can also pursue avenues like property management and real estate investing.
- Become a Virtual Assistant
The virtual assistant industry is booming. (Businesses are discovering that it’s far more cost-effective to hire a virtual assistant (VA) than it is to bring on a full-time employee who requires benefits, office space, etc.) And while many VAs are sourced from foreign countries like India or Southeast Asia, there’s also a demand for American VAs who speak English as a first language.
If you have monetizable skills, you could eventually earn $30 to $50 working only the hours you want to work. Now that’s a good gig!
- Monetize Your Skills on Fiverr
As a VA, you typically establish some sort of ongoing work relationship with your clients. If you’re not ready to commit to such a long-term setup, you can always monetize your skills on Fiverr by selling one-off services. Fiverr is especially powerful if you have copywriting, graphic design, marketing, or development skills.
- Drive for Uber or Lyft
Not keen on spending all of your time working on a laptop in your home office? You can make some money and interact with people by driving for Uber or Lyft. You won’t get rich, but it will help you pick up some extra income on a schedule that’s convenient for you.
Give Your Income a Boost
Adding a supplemental stream of income isn’t about building massive wealth. It’s about enhancing your financial stability so that you can enjoy more of the wonderful things life has to offer on a recurring basis. Hopefully this article has given you a few ideas to move towards that goal.
