As I mentioned in the budgeting post, it is known that the average millionaire has 7 streams of income. The wealthy in America are in a small percentage for which their expenses do not have to equal their income to afford basic life necessities. As a solution to our need for basic necessities, we can adopt some of the multiple-income-stream principles in order to not only meet our need, but to acquire income for a legacy to follow.

In 2019, I was finally able to secure 7 streams of income, after years of building. With these 7 streams of income, I am able to pay my bills and afford luxury experiences without debt. From my experiences and those of people close to me, I propose the following options for additional streams of income for the average working adult with a 9-5. These options can maximize your income while still giving you time for yourself at night. Also, I tried to pull from jobs that aren't found in YouTube side hustle videos.

Please Note: I am just giving ideas. I am no expert. Each of these suggestions require your own research.

The first thing, monetize something you already do. This idea goes hand and hand with the basis of Uber and Lyft, but take it a step further. If you already cook, sell a few plates. If you go to the laundry mat, charge to wash a neighbors load. If you have to help your child with homework, tutor a few of their classmates as well. Contingent upon your leasing/housing options, rent out a room. This is small scale, but adds big value for little to no effort, because these are things you already do.
Monetize a skill you have. This is along the same lines as the above idea, but may require some set up. If you’ve recently graduated from college, tutoring face-to-face and/or online are both lucrative commodities that require you to access old materials and help someone else. It requires some set up, and possibly a business license (depending on your scale), but makes at least $20/hour (on the low end). Along the same lines, start a lawn care business. Start a hair braiding business (depending on the state, no license required). Monetize your social media (if you have a large following already). Start a company that grocery shops for the elderly. Join a company that offers companionship for the elderly. Offer music lessons. Play music for events. House sit. Become a nanny. Detail cars. Teach a language. Write and scrub resumes. Create a smart phone app. Give financial advice. Teach dance lessons. Write a book. Paint personal portraits. Sell art. Become a consultant. Do people’s taxes; etc.
Start a Company. Again, this goes off of number 2, but expands the thinking and the scale. You can start a blog. Start an Etsy company. Depending on your access to a commercial kitchen, start a meal prep company. Start a bakery (depending on your state guidelines you may be able to start out of your home). If you have the equipment, start a photography business. Start a cleaning/decluttering company. Become a personal chef, etc. The sky is the limit.
Work for established flexible companies and/or pick up a second job. These are the typical ones: online teaching, door dash, goods delivery, virtual assistant, waiting tables, customer service representative, security guard, etc. Pick up another job you already do, but for another company: ex. If you’re a nurse, pick up a shift somewhere else.
Get back to the basics: babysit, dog sit, dog walk, pick up animal waste, etc.

Also, if you add a little capital behind a side hustle, you can start product/clothing lines; get certifications to allow you to do cybersecurity work, IT work, website engineering, fitness instruction; bartend; become a massage therapist or a nutritionist.

These are some excellent ideas for increasing your income to balance your budget, but discipline in budgeting is what yields the lasting results. In tomorrow’s post, I’ll be sharing some systems I put in place to help with this discipline in budgeting.