Photo Credit: Ponsulak
Over the past year and a half I’ve been working on increasing my financial stability. I’m happy with where I’m at but I still feel like I could be doing a little more.
I find that sharing my financial goals and progress keeps me more accountable. Here is how I’ve been increasing my financial stability one step at a time.
Pick Up Extra Jobs
While it’s really important to try and cut your expenses that’ll only get you so far.
If you live on a bare bones budget like I do then earning extra income is essential to growing your wealth. I took two extra jobs this month to give my income a boost. I definitely don’t want to work 24/7 but I feel that seeing as these are both freelance jobs, I’ll be able to get into a better routine as I go. Initially there will be a lot of extra hours in my work week, but with time I’ll get into a groove.
I understand that it’s easier for me take extra jobs since I’m freelancing but if you need to earn more money consider starting a side hustle.
Avoid Consumer Debt like the Plague
I don’t think all debt is bad. I am 100 percent okay about taking a reasonable amount of debt out for a home or an investment property. Pretty much anything real estate related I’m okay with. (Especially if I can make money by using opm.)
But when it comes to credit card debt and car payments I steer clear. To me there was nothing worse than having a car payment. And I learned about credit cards the hard way. I maxed out the first three credit cards I ever received. And when they were paid off I swore off credit card debt.
Some people want to avoid debt altogether. I think that’s great too, but ultimately you have to do what’s right for you.
Allocate Specific Money to Invest
This year I created a goal of investing my money rather than just saving it.
Since I already have a healthy emergency fund and virtually no debt I wanted to try and make my savings grow a little faster.
I decided to get my feet wet a month or so ago and decided to buy a few individual stocks. I’d say I made the initial rookie mistakes by thinking I was going to double my money on penny stocks. Unfortunately those penny stocks that I bought are now worth about half of what I had initially invested. (Although at one point one of them had seen a significant increase – then it fell fast.) The bright side was I only had around $100 invested and I learned an important lesson.
At the time I had also invested $200 into a more established company that pays dividends. Which I think was the right way to go.
Anxious to learn more (and earn more) I allocated a certain income source to being invested. So last night I put another $200 into my investment account.
By picking a specific income source that doesn’t make or break me financially I am able to invest my money with peace of mind. I’m hoping over the long term that this will help me grow my wealth.
What steps are you taking to improve your financial stability?