Bring In More Money, With a Plan to Match

Earning More Starts With Knowing Your Number

Maybe you opened your banking app this week, looked at the balance, and closed it again. Maybe you know the number by heart and wish you didn't. Either way, you want more coming in, and some idea of what to do with it when it arrives.

You're far from alone. In a July 2026 survey by CNBC and SurveyMonkey, 63% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck. (Source: CNBC | SurveyMonkey Quarterly Money Survey, July 2026.)

Get It is the stage about the money coming in. It has three parts: deciding to look, working out where you stand, and then growing your income on purpose.

Taking Control Starts With Looking, Not With Earning More

Here's a belief worth questioning. Planning is for people who have money to plan with. It works the other way around. The less room you have, the more each decision counts. A plan is just those decisions made ahead of time, instead of in the moment.

Money you don't look at still moves. Bills come out on their dates. Fees land whether you check or not. Looking doesn't change the number. It changes who decides what happens next.

If looking feels hard, notice the two pulls. One is to keep not looking. The other is to grab the first fix that promises to make the problem disappear fast. Both feel like relief. Neither one puts you in charge of the money.

So the first step is small on purpose. Pick a time this week. Sit down with your accounts and look. You don't have to fix anything in that sitting.

Know Your Net Worth and Your Monthly Gap Before You Make a Plan

Your financial picture has two parts: what you have, and what moves each month.

The first part is your net worth. Investor.gov, the SEC's site for everyday investors, puts it simply. List what you own. List what you owe. Subtract what you owe from what you own. What you own includes cash, savings, and things you could sell, like a car. What you owe includes card balances, loans, and anything else you're paying off.

If the answer comes out below zero, it isn't a verdict. Investor.gov tells readers not to be discouraged by a negative net worth, because following a plan can help turn it around. It's simply where you start.

The second part is your monthly flow. For one month, write down everything that comes in and everything that goes out. Give savings its own line, even if it's zero for now. The same Investor.gov page makes a point worth keeping in mind here: small everyday spending adds up faster than you'd expect. If you want help trimming what goes out, the Keep It articles cover budgeting.

Put the two parts together and you have your number. It's how far short you come up each month, or how much is left over. That number does more work than any other on this page. It tells you whether you need a small fix or a bigger change. It turns "I need more money" into an amount you can aim at.

Then set one goal you can reach. Write it down. Give it a dollar amount and a date. Divide the amount by the months you have, so you know what each month has to do. Say it's January and you want a $600 cushion by the end of June. That's $100 a month for six months. If the $100 isn't there yet, the goal isn't wrong. It's telling you how much more needs to come in.

Grow Your Income Through Your Pay, Your Skills, or a Side Income

Once you know your number, you can choose how to close it. Income usually grows along one of three routes, and you only need one to begin. Still short after cutting back? Our article on living paycheck to paycheck explains why the money-in side deserves a look.

Your pay. This route needs nothing but preparation. Before you ask, write down what you've taken on since your pay was last set. Add what that work has made easier for the people around you. Then decide on the specific number you're asking for. A specific number gives the other person something to say yes to. If you work for yourself, the same preparation applies to the rate you charge new clients.

Your skills. Sometimes your work is worth more somewhere new. That move starts with how you describe what you do. On a resume or in an interview, results say more than duties. "Handled scheduling" says what you were given. "Kept a twelve-person crew booked with no gaps" says what you did with it.

A side income. This is something you start alongside your job, usually a service you can already do. You can begin without money if you sell before you buy. Offer the service to people who already know you. Spend on tools only after someone has paid. It can stay small. A side income doesn't have to replace a paycheck to shrink your number.

Set Aside for Tax Before You Spend Side Income

The IRS says side income has to be reported on your tax return. That holds when the work is part-time, when you're paid in cash, and when no 1099 or other tax form arrives (IRS Gig Economy Tax Center).

Three more US federal rules are worth knowing before your first payment. All three are from the IRS, as of October 2026:

• You're taxed on profit. That's what came in minus your business expenses (IRS Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center).
• Self-employment usually brings its own tax. Self-employed people generally pay self-employment tax, for Social Security and Medicare, as well as income tax. If your net self-employment earnings are $400 or more, you have to file a return.
• You may need to pay during the year. People who expect to owe $1,000 or more when they file generally have to make estimated tax payments (IRS Estimated Taxes).

None of this is a reason not to start. It means what you earn and what you keep are two different numbers, so plan for both. For what applies to you, a tax professional can tell you.

Start With One Number This Week

You don't have to work on all three parts at once. This week, find your number: what you own, what you owe, and how far each month comes up short. Everything else in Get It builds on it.

The questions below take a few of these steps further. And if you'd like the free lessons, starting with Get It, the sign-up is further down this page.