Make a game plan to earn more income | you financial goal for August | 12 Months to Get Good with Money

Hey reader,

Welcome back to 12 months to get good with money, a series of bite-sized steps to take over each of the 12 months of the year to get good with money slowly. Let’s recap the past few months:

In January, you made a budget.

In February, you made savings goals.

In March, you separated your savings accounts and learned about automation.

In April, you made a plan for your taxes.

In May, you learned the general concepts of investing and did research on the investing vehicles that are available to you.

In June, you created your investing plan.

In July, you made a plan to spend less and save more.

Now, we’re on goal #8 of the year, and this is something I love talking about. While last month’s focus was cutting costs, this month’s focus is the flip side of the coin: earning more. I don’t personally believe that we should ever talk about one of these big concepts and not the other. While you can only cut expenses to a very limited extent, increasing your income can provide you with so many more opportunities to reach your goals and also just spend more money on the things that add value to your life.

There are 3 main areas to consider when talking about increasing your income:

Raising your base income

1. Most people: negotiation
   1. Keep all of the positive feedback (especially written) that you receive
   2. Keep a running list of things you have done to add value to the company
      1. Where possible, collect data on the ways you were able to increase revenue
   3. Ask for a meeting with your employer in which you can discuss areas of growth for you in the company. Write down every piece of feedback you receive, and begin working on those aspects of your work. Keep track of your growth. Then, ask for another meeting where you can share the ways you have improved and talk about compensation
2. Teachers: Salary scale
   1. Education – Make a plan to get to the top of the salary scale. For some of us, we can knock this out ASAP. For others, you might want to make a more balanced, longer-term plan.
   2. Recurring stipends (NBCT; National Teaching License)
3. Everyone: changing positions or career fields
   1. For teachers, this might mean switching to a higher paying district or seeking an admin position, if it’s right for you.
   2. For everyone including teachers, this might just mean using your transferable skills to seek employment in another company or career field entirely.
   3. Whether or not you’re ready and willing to switch companies or career fields, always keep your resume up-to-date.

Side hustling

1. Everyone: dog walking through Rover, meal deliveries, ridesharing, tutoring, etc. These jobs outside of your employment can offer a great boost to your financial goals, but they can also be a lot of work on top of your normal career field. Consider wisely whether this is the best outside option for you, or if you’re side hustling to avoid making a more intimidating move, like negotiating or switching careers.
2. Teachers: Stipend positions (coaching, sponsoring a club, etc.). These are very different for every school, but can be great opportunities to earn more while inside the school building. These are great if you: aren’t consistently burnt out by your regular teaching job and are looking for ways to build relationships with students outside the classroom. These are not for anyone who’s already overwhelmed with their workload.

Starting a business

1. This could essentially be considered a side hustle for the early stages, but it’s reasonable to have the goal of going full-time in your business eventually.
2. I personally think that everyone who’s interested in doing this should start taking small steps right away. When I started TTM, it was called wrachelwrites.com and it was a small blog just sharing my experiences. It turned into a website, Instagram page, and YouTube channel that all look completely different than they did when I started. 
3. My point is, just start with doing something that you’re interested in and sharing it on an online platform. The need to start perfectly will probably stop you from starting at all, when in reality, you improve your content and products by actually creating them.

Your goal for the month…

So, your goal for this month is to create a game plan to earn more using one of these 3 pieces of the puzzle. A financial plan that only looks at cutting expenses and ignores increasing your income is an incomplete plan, so don’t skip this step.

🙂 Rachel

P.S.

None of these steps are possible without a budget! Don’t forget to get your free budget template.

If you want more guidance with goal setting, mindset shifting, and budget brainstorming –> Get Your Money Map Workbook