Money Management

Being without a job can be frustrating and stressful when you have bills that need to be paid. Read on for some ways to bring in some income in the meantime. 

A loss of income while in between jobs can be stressful. As you seek a new opportunity, you’ll need money to meet your financial obligations. While a solid emergency fund can help you feel less financial strain, finding ways to bring in some income during this time can be worthwhile.

Here are a few things you can do to fill the gaps so you can continue to pay your bills and feel less stressed about your financial affairs despite being without full-time work.

1. Get a side hustle

A side hustle can help you make extra cash to pay your bills. The nice thing about side hustles is many of them are flexible, allowing you to work at a time that fits your schedule best. If you prefer to work remotely, look for side hustles you can do from home. The following articles may help you find the right side hustle that fits your interests and skills:

4 High-Paying Side Hustles to Look at in 20237 Side Hustles That Could Earn You $10,000 or More in 20238 of the Best Side Hustles for 202310 Side Hustles That Can Actually Make You Money4 Easy Side Hustles You Could Try in 2023

2. Sell items you no longer need

Extra items such as clothes, electronics, and furniture, can be sold to free up space in your home and bring in money. If you have belongings you no longer need that take up too much space, consider selling them for a profit. Online platforms like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are one option to explore. You may also want to list your unwanted items in online community groups for greater reach. It may take time to sell your stuff, but any extra income earned can help increase your checking account balance.

3. Find a part-time job

If your ultimate goal is to land a full-time job, you’ll want to leave room in your schedule to continue looking for one. However, it could be beneficial to get a part-time job, so you have the income to pay some of your bills. Depending on your experience and skills, finding a part-time job in your current industry may be challenging. But if you’re willing to learn new skills and are open to working in a new field, you may find paid, fulfilling part-time work.

4. Do consulting or freelancing work

Similarly to a side hustle, consulting and freelancing work can provide much-needed income while in between jobs. If you’re an industry expert or have unique skills that can benefit other companies, consider freelancing or consulting to make extra cash. Some people do so well with this type of work that they decide to start a small business of their own instead of returning to work for an employer.

5. Get a roommate

If you have an unused room in your home, consider renting it out to bring in extra money. While living with a roommate can be an adjustment, the extra money may help you feel more financially comfortable and could help you avoid expensive credit card debt. If you haven’t lived with a roommate before or it’s been some time since you have, consider how your life will change by inviting someone to share your home before making this decision.

Get creative in your search for income opportunities

Don’t feel discouraged if your job search isn’t going as planned. Finding a new role can take time. But there are ways to make money in the meantime. If you’re feeling stressed about the lack of income, don’t be afraid to get creative as you brainstorm ways to make money. Bringing in even a few hundred dollars a month could help improve your personal finances.

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No matter what type of insurance is being purchased, consumers must know these three terms to make sure they get the right protection. Here’s why. 

There are many different kinds of insurance that consumers may need to shop for at some point during their lives. Whether buying home insurance, auto insurance, or some other kind of policy, getting the right coverage may be complicated because of the industry-specific lingo used in the insurance world.

In order to make sure insurance buyers know exactly what they are getting, and how their finances will be affected, there are three key terms to know. Here’s what they are, and why they’re important.

1. Premiums

The first big thing to know is what the policy premiums will be. Premiums refers to the amount paid to buy the policy. For example, if an insurance plan costs $1,800 a year, then $1,800 would be the annual premium. Many policies are paid for on a month-to-month basis, so when shopping for coverage, the insurer might quote the policy as having monthly premiums of $150.

Premiums vary based on many things, including whether a consumer chooses to bundle coverage or to buy multiple types of insurance from the same carrier. For example, Progressive indicates that consumers average 4% savings by bundling coverage.

Other factors affecting premiums include the level of risk the policyholder presents. The more likely it is the insurer will have to pay out a claim, and the higher the potential payout, the higher the premiums.

There’s actually a lot of variation in premium prices between insurance companies as well. This is why any consumer who is shopping for insurance should think about getting several premium quotes so they can compare prices. The easiest way to do this is shopping online and getting quotes from several companies offering pricing within minutes after providing basic details like an address for home insurance or a VIN number for car insurance.

2. Deductible

Deductible is another term to know. The policy deductible is the amount of covered losses a policyholder is responsible for paying for when a claim has been made. Insured policyholders typically have to meet their deductible, or pay out their required amount, before insurers will pay the rest.

There are no deductibles for life insurance policies, but there are for other kinds of insurance plans including home and auto coverage. If a policyholder chooses a $1,000 deductible and then they suffer covered losses that require $5,000 to fix, the policyholder would pay the first $1,000 in repair costs and the insurer would pay the other $4,000.

Higher deductibles mean lower insurance premiums, since an insurer isn’t taking on as much risk — the insured pays out a big portion of most covered losses. But, they come with more unpredictability, since a policyholder has no way of knowing when a loss will happen and they’ll have to pay out thousands.

For most people, it’s best to choose the highest deductible they can comfortably afford. This way, they benefit from more affordable premiums. It’s smart to save the money to cover a deductible using the savings that come from lower premiums.

For example, a policyholder who saves $40 a month by choosing a $1,000 deductible instead of a $500 deductible would want to set aside the $40 for 12.5 months. Then, they would have enough to pay the extra deductible should something happen. If no covered loss occurred, they can keep that money ready to go to pay for potential future losses, while continuing to enjoy the $40 a month savings going forward.

3. Coverage limits

Finally, policyholders need to be aware of what coverage limits mean and how their policy limits impact them. Coverage limits are the maximum an insurer will pay. So, if a policyholder had a maximum of $50,000 in liability coverage and caused more than that amount of losses to others, they might have to pay out-of-pocket for any damages above $50,000.

Think about how much risk to take on when deciding on coverage limits, and err on the side of caution. A person with a lot of assets who is vulnerable to being sued for causing substantial damages would definitely want to opt for higher coverage limits on their insurance plans.

By knowing these three terms, insurance buyers can make the smartest, most informed decisions about what insurance coverage to buy. It’s worth the effort to learn them, as an insurance purchase is a very important financial decision.

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Credit cards come with generous benefits, including rewards and purchase protections. Here are some of the benefits I’d never want to live without. 

There are many different opinions in the personal finance world about credit cards. Some people, like Dave Ramsey, think there is no benefit to them — but many other experts recommend using credit cards wisely.

I fall squarely into the latter camp. I love the benefits that credit cards offer and there are numerous advantages to being a cardholder. In fact, here are four credit card perks I’d never want to live without.

1. Credit building

For me, the single biggest benefit of having credit cards is that my cards have helped me earn a great credit score. I have a credit score of 810 (although it fluctuates a little here and there), and that’s largely thanks to my cards since I don’t do much other borrowing.

My credit cards have helped me build credit because I pay my bills on time, so I’ve developed a positive payment history. I also keep my credit usage to well below 30% of my credit limit, which is another important factor in the credit scoring formula (using more than this amount of available credit is seen as a red flag that you may be getting out of control with debt).

Thanks to my great credit score — which is mostly great because of these borrowing behaviors — I had my pick of mortgage lenders when I bought my home and I was able to get a loan at a very competitive interest rate.

2. Credit card rewards

Credit card rewards are another perk I absolutely would not be willing to live without. One of my favorite cards offers me 5% cash back on the purchases I make at my favorite places to shop. This means for every $100 I spend, I get $5 back to shop with. That’s a huge savings and in many months, I’m able to entirely pay for some purchases with my rewards.

I would be spending this money even if I didn’t earn these credit card rewards, so the fact that I do is awesome because I’m literally getting free money back and saving on future purchases.

3. Insurance coverage

Travel insurance is another benefit my credit cards offer that I wouldn’t want to pass up. I travel often, and I like knowing that if my trip is interrupted or my luggage is lost, my credit card will cover the associated costs.

Of course, I could buy standalone travel insurance, but this would get expensive. The average cost of travel insurance is usually around 4% to 12% of the total amount spent on the trip. Why not just rely on my credit cards? After all, they provide free protections for most of the common things that could go wrong, like being unable to go on a planned trip or medical evacuation in case an emergency happens while I’m away.

4. Purchase protections

Finally, the last benefit I wouldn’t be willing to live without is the purchase protections I get when I charge items on my card.

I’ve had all sorts of problems in my years of shopping online, including the time a cabinet I ordered arrived cracked. The merchant didn’t respond, but my credit card company stepped in and I got my money back. Otherwise, I would have been out over $250.

These four cardholder benefits have been awesome for me, saving me money and making my life easier. I would never want to give them up so I intend to keep using cards that offer them forever.

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This writer traveled through 23 countries with $8,000 for roughly 600 days. Read on to learn how he did it. 

Between Dec. 29, 2014 and Aug. 20, 2016 I traveled around the world from Atlanta to Atlanta by way of 23 countries, including Ireland, Poland, India, Cambodia, New Zealand, Chile, and Brazil.

Such a lengthy time on the road could easily run up to between $60,000 and $120,000 for European trips, which would come out to about $100 to $200 per day, or between $20,000 to $30,000 if you’re traveling where the dollar is stronger. Instead, I spent $8,000 — $8,300 if we count my preparations (baggage, hiking shoes, books).

The truth is — $8,300 was actually a lot for the kind of traveling I was doing, and I met numerous travelers who had figured out how to survive on much less than my savings.

I don’t know how they did it — though I suspect fewer showers might have been involved — but here are a few things that helped me travel for 20 months on what could now last me roughly three.

1. I volunteered on farms and homesteads

I could not have done what I did without two platforms: WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms) and Workaway.

These platforms have some differences (mostly in cost structure) but they’re similar in one way. They present opportunities to volunteer on organic farms, homesteads, and other agricultural projects in some of the most remote and beautiful places in the world. Each opportunity is different, and you can choose which ones best match your skills and interests. But in each one you will work roughly four to six hours a day, five days a week, in exchange for accommodation and three meals (two of which are prepared for you).

Let me emphasize: if you’re willing to work as a WWOOFer or Workawayer, you do not have to pay for accommodation or food. And while working on farms to travel might sound like an unorthodox vacation, I’ll say this — I had some of my best life experiences in the hands of Workaway and WWOOF hosts.

The platforms are easy to use: Once you purchase a membership, you can browse thousands of opportunities from over 100 countries. And it’s not just farms, either. You’ll find everything from hostels to beekeeping to animal sanctuaries. When you find an opportunity that interests you, you reach out to the host. You’ll mention your skills, work experience (if you have any), why you think you’d be a good fit, and how long you want to stay. If your hosts accept you, they’ll slot in their calendar.

In most cases, I stayed two to three weeks (sometimes upwards of eight) with my hosts and learned a variety of skills I would have never developed otherwise. I trained horses in Ireland and took part in an art project with an Icelandic-based painter. I gathered carob pods in Sicily and built ukuleles in Tasmania. I tended to a garden just below Machu Picchu, built adobe bricks for a community in Thailand, laid the foundation for a “bothy” on an isle in Scotland, and roofed bungalows along the Tatai River in Cambodia.

In this way I only paid for my travel (airfare, buses, TukTuk) and the occasional “side trip” to places like Angkor Wat or Torres del Paine. Very rarely did I spend money while I was WWOOFing or Workawaying, as my hosts would often keep me entertained, sometimes even taking me to local sights and paying for my entry.

2. I kept a strict budget

When I left Atlanta, I had roughly $8,000 in my checking account, which I had saved over six months from my first job. I was 23 and had no experience handling what was to me then an enormous sum of money.

It’s absurd now — with all the budgeting apps available — but I documented every expense in a palm-sized Moleskine notebook with grid paper. I put the date to the far left and left the spaces to its right for purchases. It looked something like this:

Now, I realize now this is inefficient and might come off as obsessive (I kept track every day, even when I didn’t spend money). But it made me feel I was in control of my finances. Since I only had $8,000 — and I wanted to travel for as long as I could — I needed to see where my money was going and what, if anything, I could cut to keep myself traveling longer.

Additionally, I was also charging every expense to my travel credit card, which in the end helped me pay for my flight from Sao Paulo to Atlanta. And while I kept some of my money in my checking account for easy access, I also had a high-yield savings account to earn a little extra on interest.

3. I roughed it

Make no mistake: This trip wasn’t easy. Calloused hands from digging and chopping wood aside, my 20 months around the world led me to practice a lifestyle that was austere, solitary, and, for the sake of saving money, self-disciplined.

I didn’t spend much on myself and rarely paid for an accommodation that wasn’t a bunk bed in an eight-person room. When I did spend money on tourist experiences, it was usually because I knew I would never return to that part of the world again and wanted to see important sites before I left.

For transportation, I often hitchhiked, or, when I could, walked. In fact, at one point I had walked so much, I had worn the sole of my shoes down to the foot and began getting holes in my socks.

I also had a tent and would, when I couldn’t find work, sleep in it. This I did primarily in Australia and New Zealand, where there were several free or low-cost campsites and the sheer volume of WWOOFers and Workawayers at that time led me to camp for several weeks.

I understand this kind of traveling isn’t for everyone — working on other peoples’ farms in countries whose cultures are already foreign to you can be a learning experience and requires an openness to adapt without certain comforts. It might also challenge your consumption habits. Many of the homesteaders I encountered lived on what they grew, which wasn’t much, and they treated grocery items with a mindfulness that most of us might find difficult to adapt to.

It’s not for everyone, but if you can make it work for you, this kind of traveling can lead to transformation. Not only will you encounter new cultures, but you can come into deeper contact with yourself. And while volunteering on a farm might not earn money for your retirement, you’ll give your retired self much to reflect on once the journey is done.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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