Ways to Get More Money

Since I recently analyzed how to cut costs in our budget, I thought I should also consider ways to increase our cash flow.

Increase Our Income
I do plan to ask for a promotion later this year, so hopefully my income will increase at the same time. If not, I'll probably begin a job search in the new year.

My fiance has been looking for work for a while, but due to the economy, has come up empty. In addition his hours were recently cut at work. Since he's paid hourly, this negatively effects his take home pay. (Although it does give him Saturdays off, which means we have the weekend together now, which I do love!)

Start a 2nd Job
I'd really like to start a home based business to start earning some extra income. I'm still not exactly sure what it is I'd be doing yet. I have a lot of passions and things that I think could make money, but I know I'll be most successful if I can decide on a niche. This has been holding me back some. Once I actually sit down and figure out what to focus on, I think it would be good for us. Sure, the business may take away from some "us time" for a while, but it may be necessary to help dig us out of debt quicker. A home based business would enable us to write off part of our home as an expense for the business, which would be an added perk come tax time! (Which I sorely need this year, but maybe I'll get to that in another post!)

Sell Stuff
Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a pack rat. We're not talking that TV show Hoarders or anything, but I do keep my fair share of items longer than I should. I'm going to make it a goal to start going through our stuff and selling some of it. It will be a bit challenging for me, as I tend to think that I may not need an item right now, but possibly could in the future and it would likely cost me more to re-buy it later. I'm willing to try though! Honestly, as I get older, I am finding that it's a bit easier to let things go. Maybe it's because we move a lot and I'm getting tired of lugging all of our stuff from place to place. That's probably it! Although we may not make a lot of money, we'll end up with fewer non-essential items (aka - CRAP!) and a cleaner place.

Question : How have you increased your income or found creative ways to get more money? Any suggestions to share?