We are in the age of hustle. The 90's worried about selling out, but that was a long, long time ago. Today, we have a million ways to make money and you better believe we're taking the opportunity. With inflation rapidly rising and cost-of-living going through the roof, we, now more than ever, need all the help we can get to get a livable income. Take a look at our top tips for creating wealth for the family.
Consider a side business
If you're looking for a side business, there are a lot of ways you can go about it. Check your contract and see if freelancing is permitted or even mentioned. If it isn't mentioned, you should be free to go about doing extra jobs without your employer even needing to know. However, then there is tax to think about.
A side business, however, where you are doing something entirely different, needs no input from the boss. If you want to sell drawings of your dog online, go for it. Your accounting boss has no say.
The most popular side business right now is starting an affiliate marketing blog, because it's effective. Once you pick the demographic for your blog you post content around products and services that you are paid to promote. Depending on your following, this can be very rewarding. Because it's based on commission, as long as your audience is clicking the link to the target website, you're getting paid a rate that can vary. But it can mean you're earning as much as a month's minimum wage pay for a couple of hours of work.
Consider investing
Investing as an amateur takes care and studying, but it's possible. Wall Street might have you thinking you're not smart enough to not lose all your money, but as long as you read up on what you're doing you should be alright.
A good tip is to start with company shares. They're simple. They're easy to understand when it comes to trading, and safe if you go with big, well-known companies. The way you know the company is a safe investment is to look at whether or not they are distributing their profits as dividends. Is the company making enough to cover any debt obligations? Do you think they're still going to be there in 50 years? If so, you're good to go.
Rent out an apartment
It's easy to see where the appeal of real estate investment comes from. You are buying a small piece of property, keeping it maintained, and gaining an income of profit every month from the tenant.
Due to the simplicity and the ongoing nature of the income that comes from renting out a property, the idea has become very popular. There are a number of ways you can go about getting a hold of a property, and they're more affordable than buying your own home. Some involve the help of government grants, partnerships with corporations, and there is even a crowdfunding option. Take a look at these real estate investing options for more information.
However, it isn't to be taken lightly. A lot of landlords seem to think they just have to hand over the keys and watch the money come in. Part of the contract between you and your tenant is the agreement that you are responsible for the maintenance of the property, and that failing to do so is against the rights of the tenant. It seems obvious, but how many people have you talked to that are just living with a broken cooker or out of date smoke alarm because the landlord isn't doing anything?
Rent out a room
Playing host to AirBnB isn't a new idea, but the fact that it's still an idea people will take you up on years after the concept went mainstream should tell you something of the industry.
Be warned, however, it's not an easy thing to jump into. Hosts have been well documented complaining about unruly AirBnB guests, to the point that parties have recently been officially banned from AirBnB globally. That's not to mention, you're being a hotel for one corner of your room. There are standards to meet and they vary from guest to guest.
All that being said, you're a hotel with one room to look after, if you were to do it from your own home, which would take a lot of the legwork out of it. If everything is kept intact when the guest leaves the room, aside from power to wash the sheets and products to clean the room, that's pure profit.
And there is demand for it no matter where you are. If you have invested in an apartment in the city, people will rent it out to see the city, especially on high traffic days like Christmas holidays or events like music festivals. And if you're in the country, no doubt you've got all year-round appeal from people who want to get back to nature, but not so much that they forgo a bed and a shower.
