Surviving on One Income: Creative Adding

The other day we said that the first step of surviving on one income is evaluation. (See the bottom of this post for links.)

Each family is unique and there’s no cookie cutter solution to survival. Evaluation will show you the scope of your situation. Creativity will show you what you can do to improve the situation.

Creativity breaks down into two parts – adding and stretching.

Here are some creative ways that I’ve added to our income to make things easier.

• Read this article about legitimate work at home job possibilities. (These are legitimate companies.) A friend sent me this article in August 2007, which is how I found my job as a tutor with Tutor.com. I’ve worked for them for 14 months now and can honestly say that working at home is the best thing I’ve done for my family.
• Monetize your blog or website by adding advertisements. Join BlogHer, Logical Media, Google AdSense. You won’t get rich quick from these places, but an extra couple of dollars each month adds up over time. Plus you didn’t have those extra dollars before.
• Do odd jobs. Do you know people who operate their own business? Sometimes they could use an extra set of hands during a busy time. Before we moved to our farm, there was a huge ice storm. As a result our farm was filled with dead, seasoned trees. With a bit of labor, my brother-in-law started selling firewood to add to their income.
• Be willing to trade services. Don’t always demand money for those odd jobs. A friend of mine is a hairstylist. She has another friend come to her home twice a month to clean. In exchange, she gives that friend’s children haircuts as necessary. Trading services keeps your cash in the bank where you need it.
• Consider starting your own business. Have you dreamed of working for yourself? Can you offer a service that others would benefit from? If your evaluation from step one shows that you can survive a couple of months, take the leap of faith and pursue your dream. And, by the way, depending on what your dream is, you can start a business without a huge amount of money. In W.Va., I paid $125 for my licensing and was able to open for business. My work doesn’t require peripheral materials so I didn’t have a huge investment. What would it take to make it work for you?
• Use your talents. If you have the ability to make things, I know quite a few people who make a decent living selling through eBay and Etsy. If you’ve dreamed of being a writer, check out Associated Content, Suite 101, eHow and other sites that pay for articles. These are great sources that provide passive income (money that continually comes in even after the work is done).

In March 2007, I left the corporate world to start my own company. People thought I was nuts because I was our main (and only) source of income. But I wouldn’t have done it differently. I had skills and talent that I wanted to make available to others.

Honestly ask yourself if you or your spouse would benefit from working at home. The dynamics of our home totally changed the day that I quit my corporate job. Are things always easy? Definitely NOT! But the ability to control my own schedule, pursue things I enjoy, keep our home clean and organized, provide healthy home-cooked meals, and work in my pajamas make it all worth it!

In fact, after working at home for about 3 months, I turned down a job offer. If people didn’t think I was nuts before, they thought it then! The job paid in excess of $50K and was work I know I would have enjoyed. The downside? I wouldn’t have been home. Like hardly at all. I would control my own schedule, but traveling large portions of the state to work with the schools meant I would leave home early and sometimes spend the night in hotels. It just wasn’t worth it.

The key to surviving on a low income is to do what matters most to you. If you are performing a job that you enjoy, you will be happy. Things, including your bank account, look so much better when you’re happy!

Do you have any ways that you’ve added to your income?

Series posts: Introduction, Step One: Evaluation, Step Two: Creative Adding, Step Three: Creative Stretching, Step Four: Shopping Strategies

Related posts:

1. Surviving on One Income: Creative Stretching
2. Surviving on One Income: Evaluation
3. How to Survive on One Income
4. Surviving on One Income
5. Surviving on One Income: Shopping Strategies