Everyone needs money to live, but it’s equally important to set aside funds for the future, whether that’s a home, emergency fund, or just savings for a vacation. Luckily, there are a few ways you can increase your savings by using technology. It starts by using the internet to manage your income.
Saving the Money You Earn
You need to be wise with the money you have coming in each month. The great thing is that there are many people who also want to use their computers or smart devices to do the same thing. So, you have a lot of apps and online banks that allow you to save as much money as possible. Consider using an online bank, which is often smaller than a traditional bank. Sometimes, these smaller banks offer apps that offer a better user experience. A few of these apps allow you to divide your savings into certain categories.
For example, you may allocate some toward a down payment on a house, while other portions might go toward your retirement fund. With the right app, you can lay out exactly how much you want to spend in each category. Other savings apps will give you a breakdown of your spending history so you can create a more realistic budget. You can see where you might be able to save money and what areas require more funds. And if you prefer to use your computer to manage your funds, you can find many kinds of software as well.
Make Debt More Manageable
If you want to put as much money as you can toward savings, it’s important to deal with debt. For example, if you have credit card debt, it’s a good idea to pay it off since it can come with high interest rates. If you took out loans to send your kids to school, now is a good time to make them more manageable as well. For example, if you have a Parent PLUS Loan, you can refinance with a private lender to save money on Earnest.com each month.
There are a couple of ways this might work. First, if your credit score is better, you might qualify for a lower interest rate. Second, you could decide to extend the loan’s term. This could mean that you’re making payments for a longer time, but it also means that each payment won’t be as high. That can shave a lot off your monthly expenses.
Publishing Online Books
Saving money is great, but you need to have enough coming in if you want to set any aside. One method of earning money is by publishing an e-book. In the past, publishing a book meant creating something in print. But today, technology has made it possible to create and market your book entirely online. Some websites allow you to self-publish an e-book. You can upload the book and either send it to print or have it turn your copy into an e-book. You can then list it online where people may purchase it.
It takes some work in the beginning, but it allows you to create a source of passive income. If you have a great idea for a marketable book, consider this strategy. It doesn’t cost a lot to do, and the real investment is your time. You most likely already have the tools you need to create a book, including a computer and a program to write the book in.
Affiliate Marketing
If you have a blog or website, you might consider monetizing it using affiliate marketing. The idea is to partner with businesses or brands that offer services and products that align with your content. For example, if you have a website devoted to gardening, you may partner with a company selling gardening tools.
If you mention using a certain tool, you could link to the tool using an affiliate code. And whenever someone makes a purchase using that link, you’ll get a small commission. You could also look into affiliate networks, which offer many opportunities in one area. You can then determine what works for your site and which products your visitors are the most interested in.
Freelance Writing
Your creativity and writing skills can lead to an online job, which is a viable source of income. You might want to keep your full-time job and use freelance writing to supplement your income. As you get better and gain more experience, you might be able to charge people more money over time. At some point, you may be able to do this full-time if your dream is to work online. Once you’re established, you might decide to teach others how to be successful writers as well.
You might decide to charge a fee to do this to further supplement your income. You can do this by creating an online course, and if you create a quality course, you might be able to turn that into a passive stream of income. The trick to being a successful writer is to determine what niche you want to specialize in. Then form relationships with potential employers and always offer quality content. There are many job boards where you can start looking for leads. But don’t neglect professional social media sites either, as job boards often charge a fee to people posting jobs. That means you might not get as high of a rate as you want.
Social Media Management
Nearly every company has at least one social media page if they want to be successful. Bigger companies often have a department for managing their social media, but small to medium companies can’t do this on their own. Instead, they choose to outsource these tasks to people who might have a better understanding of them.
A social media manager knows that it’s possible to get good feedback from clients, and they do this through a company’s social media. They’re also responsible for creating new posts and interacting with visitors to the page. This is something you can do from home.
