Almost a year ago in November of 2010  I decided to take the plunge and get out of debt for good. I did not have ample amount of debt, but it still was an eye sore. Debt is still debt at the of the day, no matter how much you have. I got into debt due to the consequences I made in my early years of adulthood. I’ve been a home owner for little over a year then and was out of college 6 years  and onto my second professional job, so it was long overdue. I was earning a decent salary, while paying my bills on time and debt at a very slow rate. I simply was not happy with the progress. I found I would get sidetracked, because it’s not a big friggin secret that paying debt back is a painful journey. Never the less, I wanted to change my situation and eliminate my debt for good.

Money was already tight with my current salary. Sure I was living pay-check to pay-check and managed to own a home, car and nice clothes, but deep down inside I didn’t feel happy with the debt. So I came up with two logical solutions:

1. Become a landlord by renting the condo and move back home to save cash/pay debt

2. Embark on a journey to earn more moolah

I knew cutting my expenses would only take me so far, but I did it anyways. I slashed my expenses drastically. Called up my credit-card provider and got a lower interest rate. Talked to my cellphone provider and negotiated a lower monthly plan. Eliminated unnecessaries, such as speciality TV channels and switched to a cheaper Internet provider. Most importantly I created a budget and used it as my go to guide onwards.

Still though I was not happy with the debt elimination progress.

I worked the numbers over and over, but to not avail I pointed back to needing more money. I knew I WANTED to get rid of my debt sooner than later. I was sick and tired of being in debt and who really enjoys being in debt? I know that I do not.

Decision Time

Now that I’ve embarked on my debt elimination journey (almost two months into it) and approaching the new year, I knew I wanted to make a drastic change. Start the year off with a bang. Use the whole year (2011) as a measuring tool, towards setting higher goals for 2012.

I concluded on three ways to earn more money:

1. Get a raise or find a new job

2. Start a business

3. Get a part-time job or two

Eventually through time I would do all three., but I started with #3, which became part of #2 and eventually accomplished #1 as well.

I found that #3 was the easiest to get started in. There are tons of low-paying evening, part-time and weekend jobs. You can even get straight cash for most of them if you negotiate right.

To make a long story short, I picked up an office cleaning job. Five days a week. Every evening for about 1 hour. This would translate into an extra $900 month. Since I got my dad involved as well, we decided to split the income evenly, leaving me with $450/month. Not bad, that works out to roughly $22.50/hour.

That was good, but I wanted more.

Eventually the month of April (2011) came around and it was time for my annual review at work. Leading up to the review I prepared for it like no other time before. I researched my market and my own personal value on the market. Included all the pros and cons. In detail came up with a list of what value I bring to the company and the new ‘tasks’ I took on within the last year.

This preparation, four meetings and two months of negotiations later I was able to land a $6,000 salary increase. Talk about putting in a  good effort and believing in your self would net you a cool salary increase. And I took it and never looked back.

More Moolah

While all of this was going on I just started Finance Fox a few months prior. I was the new kid on the block. Did not know much about writing or what to even write about. I was akward. I would write a post every now and then. I knew I wanted to use the blog as an outlet to speak about my out of debt journey. I was anonymous.

But like anything else in life, time changes everything. Eventually I started getting into a groove with writing. Eventually I would remove the anonymity and I started to write  more frequantly. Comments followed and eventually some ‘media’ mentions too. Six months into it I started getting offers to write for others while getting paid and offers to advrertise on financefox.ca.

I took each and every offer. Made the best I could of it. Money was not too bad either. I was not earning any significant income from blogging, but I was happy with what I was earning. A coupled of hundered bucks here and there has turned into a modest part-time income on monthly basis. On top of it all my readership has expanded and my akwardness is dissapearing.

While I was writing more than ever, working full-time and part-time, wheels were still turning. And the opportunity came. The guy who’s office I cleaned offered me other locations. I mulled it over and two days later my commercial cleaning business was born. I guess I sort of fell into it with some luck of course.

Now I have three income streams and a small, yet successful business that I am proud to call my own. I am eliminating debt at a rapid pace. I don’t feel sabotaged by it anymore. There is breathing room now. And most importantly I have a great life.

What If?

Had I not made a decision to embark on a journey to eliminate debt and earn more money, things would probably be something like this:

1. I would be quite unhappy.

2. In more debt.

3. No Savings.

4. No plans for the future.

5. Not have a life.

There you have it. The long and short of how I started earning more moolah. It’s not brain surgery. I am not bragging about it. I am simply sharing my journey. Maybe you as the reader can take something from it. Maybe it will inspire you. Or maybe it’s just too dull for you. Whatever it is for you, it is my journey in the end. It has worked for me. And it could work for you.

If you are willing to get serious and commit to your self, your possabilities are endless. It all starts with a commitment. You owe it to your self and no one else.

 

Eddie