All The Ways I've Made Money - 2018 Edition

This has been my most productive year by far. From having a full time 9-5, and several gigs throughout the year, I’ve been able to make some income. There are many ways to make money, and these are the ways I’ve made money this year.

Full Time Job

This is my salaried 9-5, but really it’s more like 8-4:30 or some times 7-5 even. It’s my current cash cow, my sense of stability. Crossing the 2 year mark at my job this year was met with a lot of epiphanies. I started this position in 2016, and at the time, the thought  was to make it a 1-1.5 years of service and move on to the next thing. Well, that didn’t happen. A year into the position, I began making moves to expedite the career jump internally, but there are some rules and regulations that throttled that. This is a fortune 500 company. I don’t come from a prestigious educational background so I decided to take my time and really etch into my resume. Almost 2.5 years in, it’s become a good decision. There’s always a new challenges and I enjoy the camaraderie I have with my direct coworkers. If it wasn’t for these factors, I would have left to another establishment, but for now, it works. The 2 year plan is now a 5 year plan and I’m excited as it’s heading into the second half.

Bounce House Delivery

I’ve been doing this one for a lot longer than I would have imagined. Over 7 years of driving around, meeting interesting people and making families happy when they see the bounce houses go up. This position has taught me time management, customer service and above all, how to keep cool when there’s chaos. Not only do I deliver but sometimes, I have to be actually watch and make sure all the events go smoothly. This part is only enjoyable when it’s time to  cash the checks. This gig has made me miss a lot of summer and event fun events but it’s also allowed me to pay off one credit card with a balance of over $3,000 in a matter of months and allowed me to be able to afford spontaneous car repair bills. This is my sacrifice gig. I know I will miss a lot of life because of it, but the payoff lets me live better in the long term.

Digital Marketing for Brands

It’s always fun taking on challenges. This year, I’ve had 2 clients that I got to create and distribute content for. I optimized SEO for one which brought up their page to top 5, all the way from being pretty much invisible. Got to run ads on multiple platforms and help increase target audiences. This is something I really enjoy doing and hope to continue doing so. It’s great helping out brands and getting to learn from the market.

Beer Distributor Stocker

This one was an experiment. It was right before bounce house season really started to get going and I thought adding something else to my plate would be a good idea. Being a beer fan, It was fun getting to know the product and helping customers find their nightly/weekly nectar. Being an evening shift with some Saturday hours, I’d clock in after leaving the full time job. At $10/hour, it was above minimum wage, but less than my other 2 jobs. After 2 weeks, I re-evaluated everything and decided to quit. I hadn’t quit a job in a long time so it was tough, but needed to be done. Getting a cool little paycheck for the 2 weeks worked was enough for groceries. This experiment taught me the value in quality time spent personally and professionally.

Selling Things Locally

I had a bike, electronics, and other household devices lying around. I didn’t need to sell them but I figured getting some extra money for things I wasn’t using would be good. After a few months of adjusting prices and being patient, things sold significantly less than I wanted. With less clutter in the house and some gas money in my pocket I smiled everytime I sold something. Getting to practice more pricing tactics and negotiating techniques was also an added bonus.

Rental Income

I have a mortgage an 1 year into getting in the house, my friend moved in. The house is less than 1000 square feet so it’s not the perfect situation, but for 2 dudes who are trying to get out of debt, it’s just right. This income helps to cover a few incidents that happen to houses. This year was a roof repair and a sewer backup backup. I’m not a full fledged real estate investor, but having a roommate pay me while I have the mortgage is a big eye opener into the industry.

This has been the year of making income and learning along the way. As the year ends, I have another part time opportunity starting in Mid December. It will impact my full time and part time job. I don’t yet know how, but it’s exciting in a way that hasn’t been for other opportunities. can’t wait to see what I learn from it.