Three Ways to Earn More Money Now
Walking away from my income was one of the scariest aspects of launching Driven Wealth Management. A lot of people have asked me how I am handling such a dramatic change, so I thought I would share a few of the income generating activities that have helped the most.
I left my previous firm at the end of April, 2018 and officially launched Driven in July. Roughly three months without any income. First, as a planner, you are right in assuming I planned well in advance for the huge change our family would be facing. As my wife and I discussed the idea of launching the firm, we started saving aggressively to increase the amount of money we would have available to tap into for living expenses or emergencies.
This increase in savings was helpful, but I quickly realized repeatedly using this savings would be emotionally taxing and financially unsustainable as I got up and running. I had to find some income that would offset my regular expenses and allow me to extend my savings as long as the launch would require.
This process made me realize there are several options available to drive income if you are willing to put in a little time and effort. Whether you’re starting grad school, a business, or simply looking for extra income on top of your full-time job, these have been the three platforms I have found the most rewarding in order of my preference:
1) Wyzant – a tutoring app. Sign up and select your preferred subjects. The app will have you take an aptitude test (about 30 min) to ensure you are knowledgeable about the information. Set your own rate ($39/hr seems to be the sweet spot) and choose whether you want to work locally or in person. I’ve done both, and found the platform easy to use and convenient.
2) Rover – a dog sitting app. We have a French bulldog and he loves having another dog to play with for a few days. With Rover, you can also set your own rate and specify which dogs you will/won’t accept, whether you want to provide overnight services, walking services, or in-house sitting. We do overnight and charge $35 for the night. If someone is interested in having you dog sit, you schedule a meet and greet to ensure it’s a good fit. I highly recommend doing the meet and greet. The only awful dog sitting experience we’ve had was the one time we skipped it.
a. Rover is also the perfect opportunity to test how you will do with a dog. A lot of first time dog buyers would probably be better starting with dog sitting to get a sense of the responsibility. Let’s face it, what’s better than having a dog whenever it’s convenient for your busy schedule?!
3) Lyft/Uber – I signed up for Lyft because they were running a solid promotion that gave a bonus to new drivers. They are essentially identical services. Especially in California, if you don’t have a fuel-efficient car, I think it will be hard to see any return on time spent. The luxury is that you can drive completely on your own schedule. You also meet some interesting people and it’s an easy way to learn how to get around a new city. The promotion helped drive the short-term dollar figure higher, but the average long-term rate is more like $15/ hour after factoring in cost of gas, and that isn’t accounting for wear and tear from the added miles to your car.
These three services provided a healthy sum that allowed me to avoid dipping into savings while launching a business. Long-term, it would be very difficult to live off of any or all of these as a main income stream, but taken as a supplement, all of these are powerful opportunities to add extra dollars to your wallet. Using one of these services could help provide you with extra spending money for the weekends, or add stimulus toward achieving your major goals more quickly. Whatever your situation, I recommend trying them out and seeing if you enjoy the flexibility, control and added income they provide.
What flexible work have you taken on to pad the wallet? Anything significant I am missing and members should know about?
Talk to us if you are ready for a plan that helps you reach your goals faster.
