#011 – Do you want to get out of debt as fast as possible?
In this episode, Mayra tells us what she and her husband did to earn extra income during their debt-free journey.
She also gives us ideas on how we can earn additional income to move the needle faster and accomplish our debt freedom goals.
Transcription
[0:00] Let me guess, you’re tired of being in debt, you want to become debt free as soon as possible. Well, on today’s show, I’m going to tell you how you can accelerate the process, starting now.
[0:16] Welcome to Debt Free Latina, the podcast where you can finally realize your dream of being debt free and feeling peace about your financial future. And now your host, Mayra Alejandra Garcia.
[0:35] Hola, hola. Thank you so much for being here. I get this question a lot of, how can I become debt free as soon as possible? And the answer is different for everyone in that the process, the time it takes to get out of debt, is different because everybody has a different debt situation. Everybody has a different income. And the debt to income ratios vary per family. Now what do I mean by debt to income ratio? Well, if you have a bigger income, you’re able to throw more at the debt when you limit your expenses. If you do not have a high income, and you have a lot of debt, then that debt to income ratio is smaller, so you have a smaller amount to throw at your debt. Now, there are two ways to attack debt. And when you use both, then you maximize and accelerate the process.
[1:46] So one is, of course, getting on a budget. Now, it’s really hard to get on a budget when you don’t know what to do to get started. It’s kind of like riding a bike. The first time you rode a bike, you probably had somebody right next to you, holding your hand and walking you through the process, coaching you and directing you, and maybe even holding your hand or the bike, as you were taking the first couple pedals. Now, same thing with budgeting. You need someone on your corner that is coaching you, that is at least supporting you and keeping you accountable, and guiding you in the process because you might fall off the bike. You might get off the debt freedom journey, and it’s really hard to get back on the bike when you don’t have support. So I’d like for you to consider booking a coaching call. You can go to debtfreelatina.com, go over to the work with me, and you can find the options for personal or business coaching. Now, you can limit your expenses by having a budget and getting organized, and knowing exactly what you spend, making choices in advance of where you’re going to spend your money. After you pay bills, what do you do with the leftover money? Do you just leave it in the bank and say I have this much to spend and it’s free for all, or do you plan that leftover money, what I call a disposable income, and either attack debt or save it?
[3:50] So, the flip side of that is you can make more money. You can always make more money. And on this episode, I’m going to tell you a couple things you can do to earn some extra money quickly. I want to tell you a story about how, when we were in our debt free journey, and we were trying to do everything we could to maximize our money, we made some decisions.For example, I learned how to coupon. I was not an extreme couponer by any means, but I did learn a lot about how to navigate that whole system in the country. I was very organized with the coupons, I would plan my meals around what was on sale and what deals I could get with coupons. I learned how to stack coupons, where you could use more than one for an item, and it was for me a thrill. I would get super excited when I would get to the checkout. And I would say oh my gosh, let’s get how much I’m gonna pay out the door. And it was a fun experience where at the same time I was able to save money for my family, and still get some necessities like toiletries. That was my main focus. I didn’t focus so much on food. I wanted to be able to buy detergent and toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, things like that, at a very low cost, and I was able to accomplish that. I had somewhat of a stockpile in my home and that was really helpful. So that was my way of contributing extra income. By learning the skill, because it is a skill and it’s very hard, and it takes a lot of time. I didn’t keep up with it, because again, it took a lot of time and a lot of organization. And when we were debt free, I was able to be like, that’s it, I’m not doing this anymore.
[6:20] My husband, on the other hand, he decided that after his day job, he would go and deliver pizzas in our neighborhood. So, he went to local pizza. He worked for Domino’s here in Levine, and he would deliver pizzas after work. And so he would end his job about 4pm, his day job, and then he would start delivering pizzas at 6 here, again in our neighborhood. And what I liked about that was that he was always close by. If for any reason I needed him to help me, or there was an emergency, I wanted him close. And at the time in 2010, we had a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old, so I had little kids at home that needed help with homework, and so it was important that one of us was home with them, and that the other one was at least close by. When we accomplished that freedom, we were able to give up the things that we didn’t really enjoy, but we did because we made a choice to earn extra income or to help the family out and accelerate the process of this debt freedom that we really wanted. And we knew that if we accomplished that, we could really then decide what we wanted to do with our time. And so, again, we decided that we would give up the second job, so my husband gave up the pizza delivery and I stopped couponing.
[8:06] Now, there are so many different things that anyone can do, even from home and don’t require the need to leave the house. So if you’re a stay at home mom, or want to stay home after a day job and not leave again for a second job, it’s really important that you consider a couple things I’m about to mention. Now, it really accelerates when you’re able to control your spending, to spend on only things you need, and have extra income on top of that coming in. That’s what gets the ball rolling, that’s what really accelerates this process. And I cannot stress enough how when you do this, when you actually control both ends, you are able to just take your process and accelerate it so much. Can you earn more money and not control your expenses? Absolutely, you definitely can earn more money and not control expenses and still get out of debt fairly quickly. When you do that, when you have more money coming in, you can spend it just as fast. So you have to be able to control, or at least know where your money is going and make some choices in advance. It’s super important to do that.
[9:37] I want to go over a couple of ideas that anyone can do from home. One, is you can make a list of things around your home that you can sell and join apps like Offer Up, Poshmark, or even Facebook marketplace. These are great ways to maximize your dollar and sell locally, so that you don’t have to deal with shipping, and meet people in your neighborhood at a nearby grocery store and exchange things for money. Now, it’s really interesting how some people have actually made a career of this. I follow a specific person on Instagram that actually goes to Goodwill and secondhand stores and buys and focuses on things that are name brand or are things that are very good condition. And then resells them on these apps and she specifically uses Poshmark. And she resells clothes and shoes and different items. And it’s just so interesting how she is earning, I belive a full-time income, doing this. Now you could do this part-time, take some organization, you’re going to have to… you have to enjoy selling clothes or maybe you do it for a short time. You don’t have to love it, but maybe this is something you can do out of your home.
[11:24] Another idea is to provide house sitting or dog walking services. This is a great idea for anyone, any adult or even a young adult, that is maybe in high school or just getting out of high school, in college. I mean this is, this is something that a lot of people can do and the age group that could benefit from providing this service is pretty much unlimited, so as long as you’re a teenager and up, can provide house sitting and dog walking services. And one of the things that I have seen these things advertised in his Facebook groups. So here in my neighborhood, we have a Facebook group that’s just specific to our neighborhood, to our actual one mile radius, and we have also a community city Facebook group, where all of Levine talks about what’s going on. And sometimes you’re able to advertise. I believe like once a week, you’re able to advertise services that you provide for your neighbors. So it’s a really good way, I would say check Facebook and see if there’s a way that you can get the word out that you provide house sitting or dog walking services. And you get to meet your neighbors, you get to provide a service, and you can make some really nice money.
[13:12] The third thing that you can do is offer tutoring or crafting classes online. This can be done through zoom, where you can stay at home, and partner with people either in your neighborhood or even across the country or the world, that would like to learn a skill from you. So whether that’s crafting or painting or even providing some sort of tutoring service, where you’re teaching math or reading or anything, and provide these services at about $20-50 an hour. I know a couple people that are making significant amounts of money just teaching their craft. And this is a little harder to do, only because it takes time to build an audience. But if you know people, or you have already a small business, and you can incorporate this as a service, it’s really good. And maybe you can even offer some services, like if you do crafting, you do lives on Instagram where you show a small craft and you can ask people to book you for private parties. And if you enjoy this type of community and teaching, it’s a great way to earn some extra money.
[14:49] The fourth thing I want to mention is that if you have a skill that is web-based, for example, you know how to create a website, or you’re a graphic designer, or maybe you know how to navigate social media, and you want to become a social media manager, there are websites like Fiverr and Upwork, that entrepreneurs go on to buy these types of services. And it takes a while again to build an audience there, but it is really booming and people need skillful workers and are willing to contract you and do project-based hiring.
[15:35] I want to mention a few things. If you are willing and able to leave your home and you want to make some extra money, and maybe working overtime and asking your employer for overtime, may be an option and sometimes it’s not. I want to also mention things like Uber and Lyft. It’s really easy to go through the verification process there, it takes a few days. And once they run your background, I believe it’s fairly quickly for you to get on the road and offer your driver services to anyone in your area. There are also services like Uber Eats and Grub Hub, that you can pick up food for people in your area, and you can make really nice tips, and you’re close to home, and allows you to make extra income. So if you are interested in any of these, if any of this was helpful to you, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you. I am on Instagram @debtfree.latina, and I’d love to receive a message from you and just say: hey, I listened to your podcast, and I really liked your ideas of how to earn extra income, and it was helpful to me. I’d love to hear from you.
[17:22] Thanks for listening to Debt Free Latina. Make sure you hit that subscribe button so you can take Mayra with you on your journey to become debt free as you build financial wealth. Looking for more? Follow Mayra on Instagram @debtfree.latina, on Facebook @debtfreelatina, and online at debtfreelatina.com.