Increasing Your Income There are many ways to increase your income. I cover the three that worked best for us. 

1. Selling things. 

You probably have a lot of stuff you didn’t even realize you had. I admitted that I had more stuff than I thought and when I actually let go I decided to get rid of things. We sold everything we could, from furniture that wasn’t necessary, to old computer monitors, to our kayak. When you can start to let go of the excess stuff you own, you can start to feel better. You feel more organized, and you feel like you are in control of things. As you downsize, it’s important to show appreciation for what you do have. There are so many people with much less, even if you are living paycheck to paycheck. Taking old things and donating them to Goodwill or friends in need may not help your budget, but it will help your mind. Giving during a time of scarcity is a great experience.

2. Increase your wage at your current job. 

I know the economy isn’t great, but if you are providing a lot of value to your employer, it doesn’t hurt to ask for a raise. I remember I was only three months into working at my company, and even though I was making more money than I ever imagined possible before, I asked for a raise. I even asked for a big raise. I’m not usually someone who enjoys risk, so it seemed a bit out of character for me. However, when I looked at the risk logically, I realized the worst they could do was say no. They had loved me as an employee so far. In fact, they hired one of my friends from college based on my recommendation. If they said no, then they would at least see my eagerness to improve. Although I was very nervous when the words came out of my mouth, just a few short days later, they said yes.

If you want to ask for a raise, here are a few tips: Make sure you are going above and beyond your current job description already. Employers love to see eager workers and know that they have people they can count on. They don’t want to lose people who are willing to go above and beyond. Make sure there is no ultimatum implied. When asking for a raise, it may sound like you aren’t happy with your current salary or that you are unhappy with your job. To keep things peaceful, make sure you validate that you appreciate your current situation, too. You can alienate your boss or company if they think you dislike the work and just want more money to justify it. Go in prepared and use numbers. Make sure you go in knowing what you are asking for. Don’t just say, “I want a raise.” Your employer needs to know how much you are looking for. Use numbers to show how much value you are delivering. If your job has any direct relation to creating gross revenue, make sure you explain how much you are bringing in. If you have had a direct impact and have created happier customers or fewer problems with software, and so on, make sure you back up your claim with numbers. You want to make it a no-brainer for your employer to give you a raise, even if they don’t have the funds to pay you now. This will give you a good chance to show how valuable you are. If you don’t feel like you have anything to show them to justify a raise, then go create more impact in your company before you ask for one. If you can’t show your value to an employer, then don’t ask for a raise. If your company is holding you back so you can’t show your value, then ask them for more responsibilities!

3. Starting a business. 

If your goal is to start a business, start it now as a side hustle. The next few chapters go over finding a solid idea and how millionaires started their businesses. Ahead, you’ll also find help with goal setting and creating a three-month action plan. You want the side hustle to start now so you can start to learn a lot about business while you have the security of your job. It also allows for more income so you can pay off your debt faster. That way you can set yourself up financially to quit your day job.

The Eventual Millionaire: How Anyone Can Be an Entrepreneur and Successfully Grow Their Startup

You have to understand why you’re deciding to spend money on something today, which you’ll need to work for years to pay off in the future. You have to understand those decisions, especially when the item you’re purchasing is beyond your means and becomes a depreciating  

When we allow debt to run our lives, it doesn’t matter how much income we can generate. It doesn’t matter because the debt can merely cancel out the income.  

Without understanding why we do the things we do, we can never truly tackle our debt. If we do tackle it temporarily, it will only be racked back up again at a later date because the true emotions and feelings weren’t dealt with in

By dealing with the psychological aspects of debt, you can help to eliminate it once and for all. 

Make the decision to understand your emotions, and retrace your thoughts, and you will feel remarkably better. You’ll realize that it’s not as bad as it seems because knowledge is power. Once you have the knowledge, you have the power to fix your situation. 

This is an important part of understanding your psyche, because when you can understand the inner wrangling and shed light on it, you can work to fix the problem. 

Remember, fear and anxiety are the body’s warning signals. It’s trying to warn you that something is wrong, so you have to go digging. Don’t just sit there and allow yourself to feel uneasy. Try to understand what’s truly bothering you. Try to unearth those thoughts and trace them back to their origins. This can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Pay very close acute attention to your emotions and your thoughts.

A clear understanding of why you make the decisions that you make when it comes to money and spending, is critical for achieving success.

So, if you’re serious about succeeding financially, the first thing you need to do is create a lay of the land so to speak. You have to outline your present debt and income situation. How much debt do you really have? What are your total monthly expenses? How much are your interest rates for each of your revolving lines of credit? You have to take a close and detailed look at these. You can’t choose to ignore them any further if you’re serious about succeeding with the millionaire method. If you’re serious about achieving your financial goals, you have to first take an honest look at your present financial situation, and go from there.

Your debt and your exact monthly expenses are not things that you can guestimate. If you don’t have the exact numbers, overestimate, but you have to start somewhere. You have to start by outlining your present situation, no matter how bad it may be. You have to look at your financial picture from a very honest perspective, and spell it out for yourself. Lay it all out in front of you. How bad is it? If it’s really that bad, then you really do need to do this. You need to shock yourself into realizing just how bad you’ve allowed things to get, because if you don’t do this then you’ll continue along on the same path, and things will only get worse.

The Millionaire Method - How to get out of Debt and Earn Financial Freedom by Understanding the Psychology of the Millionaire Mind (Inspirational Books Series) by R.L. Adams