Having a full-time job is usually enough for most people. For others, there is a need or desire to make more money on top of the income from their full-time job. Increasing your income and making more money can help pay down debt, build up your emergency fund or invest, or help you make purchases that you otherwise would not be able to afford.
The good news is that there are a seemingly unlimited number of things you can do to make more money if you already have a full-time job. I’ll start with the most obvious: getting a new or better job.
Get a new full-time job
Depending on where you currently work, whether it be as an accountant at a large corporation or a cook at Burger King, there is almost always opportunities to get a higher-paying job. If you work at a lower-paying service job, you may want to consider getting your degree and starting a career where average salaries are higher. If you already are on a career track, you can do things like get an advanced degree or look for opportunities within your company and other companies for higher-paying positions. This may require going back to school for an advanced degree or spending nights and weekends developing your skills and qualifications for higher-paying jobs. It also might require taking on more responsibility – and potentially putting in more hours – at the office.
The disadvantage of focusing solely on increasing your income from your full-time job is that it does not diversify your income further. You still have no fallback if your company downsizes and you are laid off. Additionally it may cost you a significant amount of money and time to attain your masters degree. Recently I’ve had to deal with trying to decided whether to pursue my MBA or not. It’s not a decision I take lightly because of the impact it will have on my finances and time.
Work a second job
Working a second job can immediately provide additional income. This can include working in retail, the service industry, or really anywhere that you can work on nights and weekends. When I worked at pizza places as a teenager, there were a number of individuals who delivered pizzas only at night and on the weekends who also had full-time jobs. The extra income helped them get out of debt, save for emergencies, and purchase things they otherwise would not be able to afford. Overall I would say working a second job is a good choice if you need money immediately or want to be able to check-in, check-out, collect your paycheck and be on your way.
Make side income owning your own business
Owning your own business is the ideal way to make more money if you already have a full-time job. One thing to note is that the income may not start immediately and it’s a more long-term approach to making additional money. For example, when I started this website I did not really make any money the first five or six months. The small amount of money I did make I ended up using on expenses for the site. Now, though, I have been making somewhat consistent income for most of 2013. I pursue side income other ways as well.
The main advantage of owning your own business is that it has potential to turn into a full-time income. This has happened for a few other website owners I know, and certainly can happen for just about anyone willing to put in the time and effort. Of course, it’s difficult to own your own small business when you already have a full-time job because most of the “work hours” during the day are already accounted for from your full-time job. There are also a lot of pesky administrative things that you won’t be able to outsource until you are making consistent income, and they can take up a significant amount of time.
I cover a few ideas of how to make side income in this post. There really are an unlimited number of ways to make money in pretty much any industry, though, so don’t be limited to other people’s ideas. Even within the music industry there are many ways to make money.
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Something to keep in mind is that pursuing additional income does require some sacrifice. Then again, if you need the additional income, sacrificing some of your “free” time shouldn’t be asking too much. Making more money can help pay down (and eliminate) debt, help you build up an emergency fund, or allow you to go on that awesome vacation you’ve had on your mind.
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Pursuing additional income is great, but – as you state – it does require sacrifice. A lot of times, you aren’t getting as much sleep, you have to cut down on your hobbies, etc. That is why blogging became such a great option for us; we were able to turn a hobby into a source of side income. It is something we enjoy and can make a little money at…finally.
GregatClubThrifty You guys seem to be doing pretty well for yourself. I like your husband-wife duo, but I’m not sure my wife and I could do it to the extent you do. She does put together the giveaway posts and writes posts from time-to-time, but this is my baby and it’s easier having sole say over the site. Actually maybe you guys could write about how that dynamic works with your site and whether it is ever a source of conflict ;)
Great post! I always love posts about side hustles and making more money of course :)
SenseofCents Yes you seem to be quite fond of this topic ;)
It would have to be something I enjoy at this point. Cooking at Burger King would not be my first choice, although flame broiling does smell good.
Eyesonthedollar I think I’m in the same boat where I will only do something I enjoy if I’m going to do it on top of my full-time job.
Like Kim said, it would have to be something I enjoy to take it on at this point. Thankfully I enjoy blogging and the extra income is nice to get. But, like you said, there is sacrifice required depending on the level you want to take it to.
FrugalRules You can definitely go all investment banker on it and blog 80-90 hours a week, but it requires giving up basically everything else. It really depends what your goals are and how you plan on balancing your full-time work, side work, and the rest of your life.
I would say that when I pursue extra income in the form of staff writing, it doesn’t really feel like a sacrifice because I LOVE it so much. There’s nothing in the world I’d rather do than sit at my computer and write fun posts, etc. That being said, I do get tired because I work late after my full time job. I know I can’t sustain this pace forever but now while I’m young and I don’t have kids, I don’t have to pick one or the other. :)
BudgetBlonde Agreed! I have been going pretty hard the past year at my full-time job, plus running this site, plus doing some small spreadsheet work, PLUS buying a house and working on that….but like you said, if I’m going to do it, NOW is the time!
asking for a promotion or moving company would be the very first move if I had to make more with a full time job. Or reducing to strict 9 to 5 hours and going for freelance income. a second job sounds complicated to schedule life around.
RFIndependence Those are two great options, and definitely the route that most people should take. I do know someone else (she blogs full time at DINKs) who works full-time, then does writing on the side (she’s the sole writer over there, but she doesn’t own the site just writes), and then she works at Victoria’s Secret on Sundays. It CAN work, it just depends what your goals are.
These are great ideas, but I probably would only do #1 or #3 just because normally part-time jobs don’t pay particularly well and there is a ceiling on your pay. Even though having your own business may not pay off for the first few months or year, it could eventually add quite a bit of income (or take over your full time job like you said).
CommonCentsWealth Agreed. I definitely advocate #2 though to people who need money now or do not want to deal with running their own biz.
Perhaps I should look into a late night pizza delivery gig! Being a delivery guy in NYC seems to have the added perk of exercise because most of them ride bikes. Hopefully, I can be like you and make my writing profitable. It’d be nice to have something I enjoy so much start to bring in some revenue.
BrokeMillennial I have no doubt in my mind you can make your writing profitable! I’m making just enough to motivate me to continue to put in the hours each week : ) Blogging is a lot of work. Freelance writing would be nice since it’s guaranteed money, but for now I like working on my own site.
The quickest way to earn more money on top of your regular job is to get a second, part-time job. This will bring in cash quickly. If you don’t need the money immediately, then you could start with an online venture, like freelancing.
DebtRoundUp Absolutely agree!
Great post. I am working on side income. I also need to get a new full time job. The university that I work at hasn’t had a raise in five years. I shouldn’t have to have a cap on my income.
jbutler1914 5 years? You kiddin’ me??? Let me guess, they raised the tuition ten percent each of those years as well?
DC @ Young Adult Money I’ve only been there a year and a half but they will be raising tuition for the second time in August.
When I worked at a full-time job there were only a few times when I did work outside of that job. And at that point it wasn’t because I needed to but because they were things that I enjoyed doing. Now that we are working at home I feel like I am constantly juggling different work, just to earn as much as possible.
TacklingOurDebt You seriously are an inspiration to anyone who wants to work from home full-time! Love how you have incorporated that into so many of your posts. Also excited to see where Tackling Our Debt goes over the next year, seems like you have some big plans ;)
I love making side income, but you’re right. Sometimes I also miss more free time. I suppose balance is needed but that’s not always possible.
With the possibility of a new venture in store, free time may be on even shorter supply. But I hope that it ends up paying off.
With a family a second job can be really tough… Blogging is a ton of work, currently it pays peanuts!
I think a good way to make more is to make good long term investments. This year, I sunk an extra 5 grand into a 10% student loan (ouch), and maximized my roth IRA. Though, I wish I had more to purchase a house and build equity at the same time. Nonetheless, reducing a $25k loan @ 10% interest to under 10k in 2 years has most likely netted me alot in savings in the long run! Since mortgage rates are so low, though, I’m wondering what the opportunity cost is in putting my money into the student loan vs. a down payment on a mortgage for a home that, ideally, would also increase in value over time.
This is assuming that you have the money upfront though.
Good thoughts. I would like to add to the benefit of starting your own business. Potentially starting a business on the side, though it takes a lot of work in the beginning and reap benefits in the end when you create a system that you can invest time into once and continue to draw benefits from it.
However, with full-time or part-time jobs, you will always be limited at how much you can make. Even if you become really good at what you do, you still are limited by time. When building a business and are able to remove yourself from it you can focus on building another business. This compound to were you have multiple businesses running and you do hardly any work. You worked really hard to get them there, but now you enjoy the benefits.
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