In 2008 our national economy went into a tailspin, and everyone was to be scrambling and trying to figure out what to do in what could be a very long economic meltdown.
Jobs and retirements were disappearing, and many were left without a good plan of what to do next.
My wife and I weren’t immune to the the market swings. We had to deal with possible layoffs for both of us, reduced hours and a whole lot of uncertainty.
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Tough Times Mean You Need To Plan Ahead
It has been tough, but we have been able to remain confident in where we’re heading because we’ve planned ahead for the long cold winter. We’ve set up an emergency fund (that we’re almost done funding with 6+ months of savings) and we’ve set it up so that we have multiple streams of income coming into our bank account. We’re not just relying on income from my full time job or my wife’s. We’re creating multiple smaller streams of revenue that in the long run are helping us to win!
Create Multiple Streams Of Income
Creating multiple small streams of income is a great way to diversify your income, and insure against catastrophe in event of a job loss or other emergency. Here are a few ways that you can create income to reduce your risk:
- Starting a small business (using cash of course)
- Hobby income
- Part time jobs
- Passive income from blogs
- Selling things online on ebay, craigslist or amazon.
- Interest income on savings
- Other online sources (like cashcrate.com or Swagbucks.com)
Those are just a few ways that you can create additional income in your household.
What Can I do To Make More Money?
How do you get started down this path? How can you find what additional income streams are available to you?
For me the best place to start is by looking at things you’re already doing, or the things that you enjoy, and try to make money from doing those things. For example:
- Enjoy crocheting or knitting? Turn that hobby into an income by selling your handiwork on a site like Etsy.com.
- Do you have an expensive Digital SLR camera and love taking photos? Make some extra income by taking portraits of friends, family and coworkers. If you’re ambitious enough you could even do weddings!
- Do you have a creative streak, and love doing design? Start up a web design company and get paid to create logos, gravatars, headers, and other graphics. Check out my design site here.
- Know a lot about blogs and blogging? Set up a blog consulting company and get paid to help others set up their blog!
- Have a passion for eco-friendly products? Setup an eco friendly blog or online store, or sell your products on Ebay and other online venues!
The point of this is, if you want to create some extra income for your family, all you have to do is be creative, and there are a million different ways to make a little surplus money.
My Diversified Income Stream
Since January of 2008 I have really been working hard at creating many different streams of income for our household. I’ve been able to build it to the point where my secondary income streams pay for our mortgage every month, in addition to having some left over to save! I’m proud of having been able to build it that far!
These income streams will continue to evolve over time, and I’m sure I’ll be adding more things to this list soon!
- Full-time job: I work full time at an advertising agency.
- Blogging: I run several blogs including this one, a fitness blog called QuickToFit.com, another personal finance blog called SmartOnMoney.com and other various side projects. I have a million ideas, and not enough time to do them all! All the sites bring in advertising and affiliate related income, although some bring in a lot more than others.
- Blog logo and design work: I do a lot of design work for other bloggers, ecommerce sites and social media users through my web design website at LogosForWebsites.com.
- Ebay, Craiglist and Amazon selling: I do some selling on Ebay, Craigslist and Amazon. I mostly sell things for friends and family, as well as selling things we don’t need around the house.
- Computer Consulting: I’m kind of the “computer guy” with family, so I do some freelance computer work for their businesses, helping them to upgrade their computers, troubleshoot miscelllaneous computer problems, create complicated spreadsheets and other things.
- Selling on Cafepress.com: I sell t-shirts in several online stores at cafepress.com. It doesn’t bring in a lot, but it does bring in enough to make it worth my while!
So those are some of the things I’m currently doing to make money, while making sure that things are diversified so that if one source of income dries up, the rest are still there.
Diversify And Succeed
One thing I’ve found while on this journey of income creation is that when you don’t rely on one source of income for all your needs, things are a whole lot easier in so many ways. You’ll feel a lot more secure in where you’re heading, and when times get tough (like they are now), you’ll be a whole lot better off than about 90% of the other people out there.
Diversify, create, succeed!
What are some ways that you’re diversifying and creating extra income for your family? Let us know in the comments!
Great post on diverse income! I try to mix it up a bit within my writing business. I do a little editing, write about different subjects and use AdSense to add a little diversity to my income. And I try not to rely too heavily on one client. I think you could also add some investments to your diversification list, like dividend paying stocks and P2P lending.
This is the only true way to achieve freedom regarding your income.
I cannot say this enough, so I’ll say it again here three times in capital & bold print:
Even if you don’t make any money at the onset, just keep finding ways to turn your passions into work, and eventually instead of the Monday morning blues each week…you could be waking to do exactly what you love day in & day out, with much greater job security.
Slow but sure progress leads to success. Get started today by asking yourself this question.
“What am I passionate about?”
DebtFREEk!
This is really a smart post and most people may not realize that diversification is the key to riding out the bumps along the way. But you have a unique spirit of entrepreneurism that is hard to find and you should consider yourself blessed.
By the way, I think those of us that are entrepreneurs are just too stupid to be afraid to branch out and try new things. LOL
Thank you very much for sharing this insight with us. Its often easy to get caught up in one stream and focus so much on it that we forget how important it is to HAVE other streams.
I am always bragging that I have 5 Jobs. I am on your blog post today trying to learn how to Biblically spread the concept to other believers.