4 considerations to simplify your income

Happy Friday, Frugal Friends! 🤸‍♂️

We’ve been talking a lot about simplicity the last few weeks, so I’ll cut straight to the chase.

I am the queen of side hustles, and one too many side hustles combined with too many road trips this month has me feeling TIRED.

I’ve been on this financial journey for quite some time, and I’m finally feeling like I’m getting the basics a bit more under control—I’m budgeting, I’m realigning my spending with my values, I’m investing… but there’s still something missing from the equation. 

I have never learned to simplify my income. 

I grew up in a low-income family then spent over a decade as an underemployed and underpaid student, so I think I really leaned into the idea that more work, work, work would eventually pay off.

But I’m starting to realize that’s just not always the case (I won’t get on my soapbox about exploitation of labor and pay inequality, but y’all know I’m thinking it).

I’m never gonna give up all my side hustles because I do love the thrill of it all, but I am trying to be more intentional about maximizing and simplifying my income.

But how?

What To Consider When Simplifying Our Income? 💭

Repeat after me…

Simplifying my income does NOT mean making less.

When it comes to earning, we need to make the distinction again between simple and minimal. 

We think that wherever possible it’s great to increase your take-home pay and long-term wealth, as long as you’re are not hurting yourself (i.e., burning yourself out long-term, over-extending) and you are not hurting others (i.e., taking advantage of others as a means toward wealth building).

To manage our income well, and even increase our net worth, we can consider these four things:

♾️ Longevity. How long could I reasonably do this? What are the mental, relational, or physical demands of the job? What are the burnout rates for this field?

⏳ Investment of time. What is the true time requirement? Does it leave room for my other values and priorities?

💰 Compensation. From payment to benefits, is there reasonable monetary value placed on the role and my skill set?

💯 Satisfaction. Does this job/role/career/environment provide an outlet for my specific skills? Better yet, does it intersect with some of the things that bring me joy?

As we consider each of these, let’s also revisit the 80/20 rule.

Ideally we want 20% of our efforts to reap 80% of our return. 

So if we keep jumping into side hustles that end up being 80% of our effort for 20% of our return, it’s not simple and it’s not sustainable. 

Of course, I recognize it’s a privilege to be able to select a job that really aligns with all our priorities and values.

Many of us end up in jobs out of necessity, but where possible, these factors can be helpful when evaluating our job situations.

Our job situations can be evaluated quarterly, bi-annually, or annually, depending on the field we’re in, our current season, and what we want out of life. 

A couple questions can guide this evaluation:

• Is my income, how I earn money, as simplified as it could be or as I want it to be?

• Are there ways I can simplify how I’m earning money?

I’m still figuring out the answers to these questions myself.

I’d love to hear some inspiring stories. 💗

If you’ve made any realizations about simplifying your income, feel free to share by replying to this email!

Catch ya later,
Misti

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