How to make more money: And stop yourself getting into debt

By Kathryn Main

In 2022 we had eight petrol price increases, three interest rate hikes, a huge rise on food prices and our annual 10% price increase on most of our monthly expenses. This has left many working class families in a financial bind.

More than 70% of income earning adults in South Africa are living on credit cards and store cards to make it through the month. When we spend more than we earn we very quickly get into debt. So if you do not have enough money to make it through the month what can you do to stop yourself from getting into debt?

Well, it’s easy, make more money.

Before you decide how you can make more money you need to understand why you need more money. What will more money give you and enable you to do?

Ask yourself this question: What is not taking action costing you? How much more debt are you willing to incur before you take action and change your financial situation?

Why are you not taking action? It could be:

• Fear of failure

• Lack of time

• Lack of resources

• No money

• Partner/spouse/economy/boss

• Don’t know where or how to start

• Starting a business scares me. I don’t know enough.

• Work more than working at my job? I never thought of that.

These are all just EXCUSES!

We are not empty vessels. We are all good at something.

There are so many ways to make an extra income these days. The power of digital and online opens up so many more opportunities. With platforms like www.udemy.com you can learn most skills at a very low cost.

Let’s unpack some of the options available to you to make more money.

1. How can you turn your passion into profit?

We are not empty vessels. We are all good at something. Maybe you make the best chocolate brownie or are a whizz at mathematics? We all have skills. How do you spend your free time? Can you monetise it? I was chatting to an Uber driver the other day, he asked me, “How can I monetise my favourite pastime, watching Netflix?” I said, “That’s easy, set up a YouTube channel and start reviewing movies and series. I know I would watch those reviews. I hate spending hours looking for something to watch.

2. Build a product and sell it multiple times.

With automation it’s pretty easy to build a product once and resell it multiple times without any human intervention. You can automate the social media posts, payment processes and your sales and marketing efforts. This is called “passive income” and it makes you money while you sleep.

What are some ways you can make passive income?

• Forex trading algorithms

• Crypto currency mining

• Savings (interest)

• Investing (dividends, capital growth)

• Rental income (Airbnb)

• Affiliate programme/ product re–seller

• Grow a large social following (YouTube, TikTok etc.)

• Build an app

• Create a course once and sell it online (Udemy)

• Write an ebook – sell online

• Peer-to-peer lending (interest)

• Brand your car

3. Join an affiliate marketing programme

Affiliate marketing is the process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another person’s or company’s products. The affiliate simply searches for a product they enjoy, then promotes that product and earns a piece of the profit from each sale they make. The sales are tracked via affiliate links from one website to another.

Do you have a large network? Do you have a decent social media following? How can you leverage your contacts/ networks to make money? This can be done at a low cost with all the support you need. There are so many options to choose from, including:

1. HubSpot

2. Nu Skin

3. LeadSquared

4. Fiverr

5. Coursera

6. Teachable

7. Shopify

8. Amazon

9. Wix

10. eBay

You see, it’s not that hard to make extra money. There are so many options available to you. The time is now, if not now, when?

#getmoneysavvy

Kathryn Main is the CEO of MoneySavvyGroup. Get in touch with her at kathryn@ moneysavvyhumans.co.za or visit www.moneysavvyhumans.co.za