Today’s economy is not the picture of health, and while these things have an ebb and flow to them, I think it’s safe to say that it’s unlikely the world economy is going to improve at some point in the near future. Things that many saw a guaranteed, things like being able to afford a house, live in a safe neighborhood, have a family, get a decent job, have retirement, are becoming more luxuries than expected.
However this doesn’t have to be the case for you. Now more than ever it’s going to pay to educate yourself about money and how it works. I’m not saying you have to become a hustler or anything of the like, rather just have good financial understanding and discipline. By having the financial understanding and discipline you can live your life in a way where money isn’t going to be a constant worry for you.
Like it is for the majority of people out there. So in today’s article we’re going to cover how to get out of debt, have positive cash flow, and advance in your career all at the same time. This is a pretty big topic that I’m not going to be able to cover all of but I want to hit all the bases so you can come away with at least a base level understanding of these things.
Let’s start with the first.
Get Out Of Debt
You can’t get rich from saving nickels and dimes, that’s not how it works. While it’s absolutely critical that you take in more than you spend, meaning your income needs to be higher than you expenditure. At the same time, skipping the Starbucks coffee or whatever the financial gurus tell you, isn’t going to end up with you being rich or even financially solvent. Saving a dollar or pound here and there doesn’t do that much for in the grand scheme of things, especially with the way inflation works.
So while you absolutely need to make sure you’re spending less than you earn, at the same time realize that small savings don’t do a whole lot for you in the grand scheme of things. What you need is income and lots of it. Income is the name of the game when it comes to getting rich. Which requires wider thinking and looking at things from a different angle.
Let’s look at debt. There are all kinds of debt out there car payments, house payments, student loan payments, and more, especially if you live in a debt obsessed country like the United States. The first thing you want to do when looking to get your finances right is get out of debt and the best way to do that is to figure out to leverage your income or make more of it.
Again income, not savings, is the name of the game. Though of course income doesn’t matter if you adjust your spending to it, which can easily be done.
Income Is The Name Of The Game
Now let’s look at income. Most of us would take a higher income job if we could get it, we just don’t see one available so we stay where we’re at. Doesn’t matter if we’re a six figure salaried employee or flipping burgers at the local burger joint. We have our job and if a better job comes up, we go for it, that’s about it. However this is the wrong way of thinking. Stop thinking single income and look at how to expand your income and the different types of income.
Here’s a broad overview of different income types. We have passive, build, and “quick”. First off understand those are relative terms and terms that I’m making up, mostly, to help understand concepts. When we look at getting out of debt and increasing our cash flow we need to address all three types of income.
So let’s do a quick overview of the three.
Passive
Passive income is income that divorces your time from your dollars earned. It’s not something that happens “automatically” rather, it’s just something that divorces the time/dollar relationship, which is what we want. Making money on your money, real estate, intellectual properties, these are all examples of passive income. Though obviously work is required to do each one and get it started.
Build
Build income is going to spread over into passive and vice versa. Build income is income that it takes a little bit to get going but that you can invest in and eventually it’ll start earning back what you invested and more. It’s an active investment. Here’s some examples of these, building a career as a copywriter or really any small business owner, building up real estate, and anything where your investment up front pays little but there’s a relatively high chance of it paying back in the long run.
Quick
Again quick is a relative term. Quick income is income that you can make right now. Sales jobs are a great example of this or if you’re specially trained at something that’s lucrative. This is a job that you generally don’t want to stay in forever but can provide you with decent cash flow in the moment. Obviously this has levels. Working at a car dealership could count as this, if you have a high powered sales job, or even something as simply as being a server can qualify as this as well.
Increase Cash Flow
The secret to getting out of debt and increasing cash flow, aside from spending less than you earn, is to leverage all these types of income. Sometimes they combine into each other, but sometimes they don’t. For example there was a time in my life when I was working on my own copywriting business that hadn’t been around that long, waiting tables, and writing kindle books in a bid to build passive income.
It was exhausting but in the end it paid off in skills earned and income acquired. I’m not saying you have to do that exactly or entirely. I’m just saying look to leverage things. For example with your income now what can you do to build it, to put it into a true investment that’ll pay you back in the future? An asset? And if you have no spare money, why? What can be done to change that? Don’t say nothing even if you feel that way.
There’s always something that can be done. Maybe it’s waiting tables on the weekend or offering your services for something else. You have to think outside the box and beyond a single job. What are you building towards and working towards. Twelve years from now will you have assets that are generating income for you? Or will you be stuck in the exact same situation that you’re in now?
Of the three incomes, how many are you working towards? If it’s just “quick” that’s going to be a problem. Generally you need more than just the income from your job to do anything in today’s day and age, especially in places like the United Kingdom, Australia, and of course the United States. Moving could be an option but it’s not the only one.
Ask yourself what you can leverage.
Setting Up A System
Here’s what I recommend. Find a way to address each of the tree “categories” of income we just talked about. Passive, build, and quick. If you have a job then you generally have quick covered but maybe there’s another job that’d be a better option. For example maybe the pay’s a little less but it frees up a ton of your time? Again this is going to be unique to you so you have to look for yourself but sit down and really think about this.
Getting your income right and set up in the right way is life changing. But back to the types of income. For passive what could you invest in? I’m not big on stocks but plenty of people are and is certainly an option. Certain retirement accounts and the like. Again not my cup of tea. I go for intellectual property on this front but find what works for you. Real estate? Owning part of a company? Selling artworks? I don’t know, find what works for you.
Then build. Of course one of the best things that you can build is your own career so what are you doing right now to do that? Are you training yourself in skills that are in demand and needed. Do you know how to network and schmooze with the best of them? Because nothing will accelerate your career faster than learning that. Again parse out what you’ll need to develop all three types of income and get yourself to stable ground in and increasing unstable world.
If you need more help with this then don’t hesitate to send me an email at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (d0t) com and I’ll be happy to help you with what you need, granted that you’re a member.
Until Next Time,
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
