The following guest post is contributed by Mark Macaluso, who writes on the topic of Masters in Accounting Programs. He welcomes your comments at his email id: mark.macaluso985<@>gmail<.>com.
It’s a dreaded word that no one likes, yet must adhere to if they want to avoid consequences that are worse. I’m talking about “budgeting” and “being in debt” – if you don’t budget and stick to your budget, you’re definitely going to sink deep into the black hole of debt, unless you make millions and have a perennial source of money that is. The problem with a budget is that it ties you down; and because it is restrictive, it induces a feeling of helplessness and despair, especially when you want something badly yet cannot afford it. If you give in to temptation and splurge, guilt combines with debt to make you even more miserable. So you’re in a no-win situation either way – you’re stressed if you stick to your budget and stressed even more if you stray from it.
But if you’re a little clever, you’ll realize that if A-B comes up with a negative result, you can convert the answer to the positive in two ways – by decreasing B or by increasing A. And since cutting down B is tiresome, why not look for ways to boost A instead? The solution to budgeting woes is to increase your income – when you have enough to spend, you don’t have to stress out about money all the time. So how do you go about making more money?
- Take on a second job: Moonlighting is a very good way to bring in more money, especially if your primary job is not too taxing and you have enough time on your hands. You not only earn two incomes, you also use your time more productively. However, the added responsibility of another job could become too hard to handle – you could end up running yourself ragged and fail at both jobs. So unless you’re very sure you can manage another job, don’t commit yourself to anything strenuous and which demands effort and time.
- Make money off the Internet: Lots of people have done it, and many are still doing it; so why not take advantage of the accessibility and omniscience of the Internet and use it to make some money? If you own a blog or a website, you can earn revenue through advertisements. You could also use your free time as a freelancer if you have online marketable skills like writing, web designing, we development, graphics designing, proof reading, tutoring and so on. Various online job sites have hundreds of projects and assignments listed, so create a resume, build your profile, and get started on your online venture immediately.
- Find money in what you own: Most of us don’t realize that we have money lying all around the house; we only need to make the time to find it. You could earn some extra cash by holding a garage sale of all the things you don’t use and which are still in good condition – you’d be surprised at how much money these impromptu sales bring in. You could also make money off recyclables – paper, aluminum cans and empty bottles are worth money. So instead of throwing them in the trash, store them separately and you can sell them every month or so.
It’s much more fun to make more money than to spend less, so use your brain, apply yourself, and lead a satisfactory life.