Three Things We Did To Increase Income On Our Debt Free Journey

Once you make up your mind to finally get out of debt for good, you want to get out of debt as fast as humanly possible. There are two main ways you can speed up your debt pay-off: (1) increase your income and (2) decrease your expenses. Ideally, you want to do both! Combining these two tactics yields the best success rate, kinda like diet and exercise. Sure you can do just one or the other, but combining the two gets you to your goal so much faster.

Here’s what we did on our debt free journey to increase our income.

1. Worked Lots of Overtime.

At our jobs, my husband and I both get the opportunity to work unlimited overtime. I often set goals for overtime each month to encourage myself to work as much as possible. But, our journey is estimated to take 3 years, and 3 years of working yourself to the death just isn’t sustainable. So, instead of working as much overtime as possible, I started doing every other weekend. And some months, I worked no overtime at all, giving myself a chance to rest. You can’t sprint forever. But, if any level of overtime is available to you, I encourage you to take advantage, at least every now and then!

If you don’t have the opportunity to work overtime, then try picking up a part-time job. Again, it doesn’t have to be forever. Maybe you want to work seasonally during the holidays, or just during the summer, or complete odd jobs here and there through Field Agent. No matter how much you decide to work, picking up odd jobs here and there will definitely help you reach your debt freedom goals faster.

2. Sold the Clutter from our Home.

This debt free journey has set me on the path to minimalism, as I analyze my spending habits and work toward finding extra money to pay off my debt. There is tons of money to be found in the things cluttering up your house.

Consider doing a mins game to help you find things to sell.

A mins game is when you get rid of 1 item the first day, 2 the second, 3 the third, etc. Continue for a month and you will get rid of 400+ items in your home. With a mins game, you can donate the item, trash it, or sell it, but the idea is to just get rid of it. Once you start playing this game, you will see how much useless stuff you’ve accumulated over the years. Play the game to help you find items you can sell. And then start selling!

Last year, we made over $400 selling random things from our home. We could have made much more, but I am so impatient when I declutter sometimes, I just want the items gone ASAP, so I donate instead of waiting around on a sale.

A few weekends ago, I went on another declutter rampage and made a quick $150 from home decor that was just piled up in a closet that I wasn’t using anymore. As the saying goes, “Look around you. All that clutter used to be money.” Well, turn it into money again!

I love using Facebook Marketplace for sales, but there are tons of other options, too, including eBay, Craigslist, and Poshmark.

3. Side Hustled

I started a blog.

After about 2 years into my journey, I began this blog. I didn’t start the blog solely as a means to earn income, but a blog is a great way to earn some extra money (though sometimes it takes a WHILE). Through this blog, I started offering personal financial coaching sessions and printables. I also earn ad revenue. Any income I earn from the blog goes straight to debt, with a portion set aside to pay for any expenses to keep the blog running.

I began using Ebates to earn referral income.

Another thing we did is signed up for Ebates. With Ebates, you earn cash back on qualifying online purchases. It’s not much, and honestly, I don’t shop enough to feel like this would be a real income generator. However, the best part of Ebates is the referral process!

When you refer your friends, they will get $10 off their first qualifying purchase, and you will earn a $25 referral bonus once they spend $25. TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS PER REFERRAL. Are you kidding me? Now that money ads up FAST!

I signed up for Ebates in December 2018, and I’ve already earned over $500 through this program. See that lifetime cash back balance up there? $511.34. That’s a good chunk of change to throw at the debt or to add to your starter emergency fund. And I didn’t have to “work” for it. Is there anything better than passive income? No, there is not.

Use this link to sign up for your own Ebates account to get your $10 bonus from me! And then, start using YOUR personal link to refer YOUR friends and family to Ebates to begin earning $25 on each one. Add your link to all your social media accounts for best exposure.

Other Ideas

If starting a blog or using Ebates isn’t for you, I have TONS of side hustle ideas in my saved stories on Instagram, so check those out. Yes, even ones for stay at home moms and ones you can do from home!

Have you tried anything new to increase your income while on your debt free journey? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!!