Increasing Your Shovel

Everyone remembers growing up and that first job you took. Whatever it was, it did not matter, you were looking forward to the chance to make some of your own money, that first step towards independence. The best part about it is that most likely you did not have to pay any bills. Just your basic taxes and the rest was yours to spend as you wished. Mine was in a restaurant, as a busboy at the restaurant on the left, eventually a waiter, and then moved on to a shoe store (Famous Footwear). While some of these were enough at the time, I never had any intent to stay there long term, I always looking towards the future, which meant a larger paycheck.

Increasing our pay and growing in importance, is a bit of the American dream. Unfortunately for many that increase just seems to disappear. We make more, we spend more. Each time we get a small increase, we spend more, whether it is a bigger house or just spending more on groceries, eating out, or just about anything.  

Regardless of where you are at in your career journey, how much debt you have, or what you are looking for, there are only 2 ways to increase your margins to get out of debt and I'm going to focus on the one that is the most important, increasing your income or your shovel.

1.  What is it that you do and are good at? This is a key question and will help you find ways to gather more income. Are you a teacher? A programmer? A crafter? A baker? A Musician? You can use what you do to work on a side job that can bring in additional income and help get you closer on your path to paying off debts.
   

2. What do others around you need? Where you live might be a key need here that you can use to help find some additional income. Think about your neighborhood or town. What do they need? When I was 14 years old I put flyers out there to weed, take care of animals, and just about any odd job I could think of. After school and on weekends I used to do these jobs to make money to pay my golf cart fees on the weekends. It was a great start and got me down the path of earning my own money.
   

3. What can you sell? What is it that you have lying around the house that once had some value that you no longer use? There are plenty of ways to sell things and this is a great way to bring in some extra income. I know last year I think I sold about $500 worth of stuff, whether it was old electronics or other odd items, I would list them and sell them. Believe it or not, other people want your stuff.
   

4. Get another job! Most people do not want to consider this option. After all for many people 1 job is more than enough. Or maybe you have kids and cannot work due to daycare constraints. I ask you, what can you do? I'm sure if it is important you can find the time to get another job. Most places are paying $15 an hour and are more than willing to take whatever hours you can give. You just have to be willing to make some sacrifices and put in the necessary time for a season till you are past the struggle. If you are still having a hard time with it, put it on paper, and figure out how many hours or days you are going to need to work until you can fully meet the target you have in mind.

Those are just a few ideas. When you are trying to build up savings or paying off debt creating that additional margin is key to helping you. The best way to do it is by increasing your shovel. Think differently about it and figure out the fastest way towards freedom.