In the beginning of 2016, “How to earn more money” is a dilemma for many people. Improving your income is one of the best long-term investments you can make, and the time to begin is right now.
All of the key parts of personal finance were bound up in the single phrase, “Spend less than you earn.” In those simple five words, one can find all of the key ideas of personal finance.
There’s a call to spend less money by cutting back on one’s expenses, particularly the less necessary ones. There’s a call to have a “gap,” where one has money left over at the end of each pay period, and to do something smart with that money. There’s also a call in there to earn more money.
Most of the actions that people take toward earning more money do not have immediate results. You often have to invest a lot of time and effort into earning more money in order to see even the first small positive impact on your income levels.
Earning more can have a much bigger long-term impact on your financial state than the other options, but it requires time to implement and time to see the positive effects. You can’t just flip a switch and see results.
You need to take the long approach when it comes to earning more money. Plan ahead and put yourself in a position where greater income is a likely result, even if it means investing time and effort without immediate returns.
Need a game plan? Here are a few strategies you can implement over the coming year in order to improve your income.
Talk to your boss
In some cases your boss can be the best connection to earning more. Your boss can authorize a salary increase, which would mean more income for the tasks you are already doing at work.
So why don't you try talking to him or her at least? Such conversations tend to go best when you’re really prepared for them. Having a strong case that you have thought out in advance with some supporting evidence is going to help convince your boss much more effectively than wandering in without any preparation.
So, how can you prepare? First, sit down and review your significant achievements at work. What have you done to set yourself apart from other employees? What have you done to deserve higher salary? If you can’t easily answer that question, then you need to step up your game at work. Without being able to name real reasons why you deserve a raise, your boss has no reason to give you one.
It is very effective to be prepared to name the five achievements you have completed and to highlight the skills you possess that set you apart from others and to be able to reel them off without much hesitation. Without having that in mind – and without having the achievements or skills to do such a thing – it becomes much harder to make the case for a raise.
It is also effective to run through the meeting in your mind in advance and to visualize exactly how to present your case for a salary increase. So it will be easier to get better result.
