Unlike nobody, I don’t like being told what to do. Who does? Maybe that’s why I hate Monday so much. The thought of going to work for someone else and ultimately being at their mercy rubs me wrong.
I Hate Monday
I want so badly to get my F-You stash built up to the point where I’m able to call all of my own shots. And the only thing I want more than a nice F-You stash is to be totally and completely financially independent, the point at which my investments generate enough cash to cover my expenses.
For years I’ve focused on ways to save a buck. Save $20 here, $40 there. Reducing expenses is an important, even vital part of the personal finance formula, but the real way to get ahead financially is to increase my income. The more I can save, the faster I can hit my magic numbers.
I’m frugal by nature, so I’ll always be on the lookout for ways to save money, but moving forward I’ll be spending more of my time looking for ways to boost my income. Paula from Afford Anything is a vocal proponent of this.
You don’t grow wealth by clipping coupons. You grow wealth by earning and investing.
— Paula Pant (@AffordAnything) March 19, 2016
My Plan to Make Mondays Irrelevant
So with that in mind, here’s a few thoughts on how I’m going to work on boosting my income in the short term.
Bust My Butt At Work.
I have a love/hate relationship with my employer. I hate Monday, but I love payday. As far as jobs go, I really don’t have any right to complain at all because it’s a good job that offers a flexible work schedule, has good benefits and pays well.
So until something major happens on the revenue front, my full time job is by far my biggest source of income. Better not screw it up.
So I’m going to focus on being a better employee with the goal of getting a raise, a bigger bonus, and most importantly, keeping my job!
Every Day I’m Hustlin’
Each weekend I try list a few things on eBay. Right now I’m piecing out an old baseball card collection. It takes me maybe an hour or so to list 5-10 items and it it brings in a one to three hundred bucks per month, which I’m using to not invest, but to pay off the last of my debt.
This blog is a side hustle. Kind of. I doesn’t make any money but one day I hope that it will. Until that time I’ll continue to work on and improve it. Just need to be careful that you don’t neglect your main hustle in favor of your side hustle. That’s short sighted.
I can’t wait for the day when all of the money I make is mine to keep, but until that day comes, my side hustle cash is going to pay down debt.
Seeking New Opportunities
In the past I’ve done a few off-the-wall things to earn a few bucks and I’m going to start actively looking for these opportunities again. In years past I’ve owned vending machines, soda machines, a real estate marketing franchise, and even a couple of ATMs.
I’ve even done the storage auction thing where you buy the contents of a storage locker and then try to sell the contents for more than you paid. Hardly passive income, but I did make OK money at it.
Monday Sucks … For Now
But for right now it’s still Sunday and I’m going to enjoy my evening with the wife and kids. Later in the evening I’ll start to get mentally prepared for tomorrow and the upcoming work week, where I’ll trade another week of my time for a paycheck, but in the back of my mind I’ll be looking forward to that glorious day when a paycheck is no longer required.
What’s the craziest way you’ve ever made a buck? I recently asked some friends this question and they surprised me with what they’d done: collecting night crawlers and selling them to bait shops; donating plasma; diving for golf balls then reselling them; one friend even sold day-old doughnuts door to door as a kid! Awesome – can you top that?