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You’ve cut back on your budget to afford the rising costs of living, but it’s not enough. What can you do as well?

Cutting back on your budget is only going to get you so far when it comes to saving money. In today’s economy, you need to find a way to add more to your income.

And I know what you’re thinking “there are no jobs.” It’s an employer’s market right now, and that sucks. I have a friend who was laid off back in February and only just found a job at the end of March. It was a hard slog.

That doesn’t mean you can’t add to your income. I believe everyone should have a side hustle. And I mean everyone. Those who work for themselves, those who are full-time, those who are students; everyone needs to have a side hustle or two.

You can only cut back on your budget so much

The truth is you can’t cut everything out of your budget*. As the costs rise, you will want to find ways to save money, but what about when you’ve done that? What about when you’ve cut out all the luxuries like Netflix, the coffees, your Spotify? Eventually, you end up with just the basics.

You can’t cut back on your rent or mortgage without moving, and that’s going to cost money to do at first. While you can limit your electricity use, you can’t cut it out completely. There’s only so cold you can let your house go without being miserable. In the broader context of building efficient homes and offices, the focus often shifts towards how energy is managed and utilized within these spaces. Using reliable and durable electrical components can significantly improve the efficiency of any system they are part of. This is especially true for installations where energy conservation and sustainability are priorities.

Then we get to groceries. You need to eat. There’s only so much you can not buy, but the grocery stores continue to put prices up for their profits without caring about the people out there struggling to feed their families. Remember, the Kellogg guy thinks everyone should eat cereal for dinner if they’re struggling to feed their families.

So, you can’t cut back on your budget completely. You need to start adding more income.

Side hustles will help you add to your income

There are side hustles that you can do without spending money. Now I hate the TikToks with the “broke and lazy” side hustle options. The people in those TikToks don’t go into all the details. They don’t tell you that Amazon takes a commission when you sell planners. They don’t tell you that Etsy takes a commission when you sell printables. These are things that you need to factor in.

What they also don’t tell you is that a lot of the options are getting over saturated and you need to find ways to stand out. You need to learn SEO to make sure your descriptions stand out to those reading but also show up in the search engine results.

These “broke and lazy” side hustles aren’t get rich quick schemes otherwise everyone would do them. They will take effort, and I recommend that you do put the effort into them. Treat them like a business you’re building.

There are side hustles for everyone who can’t cut back on your budget* anymore. If you’re into photography, you could sell your photos on stock photo sites. Just take a look at the types of photos that are selling and make sure you have some great descriptions with the right keywords to get found. If you like writing, eBooks could be a way to go.

Printables, planners, stickers, T-shirts, and much more are out there. You just need to put the effort in to make the business model work. If you’re lazy and you want to throw something up and forget about it, you’re going to miss out on a side hustle.

MORE: Why you need to monitor your credit score

What are you struggling with in your budget? Get in touch to see how I can help you.