Adding to your monthly income is an important step in a quest to reach financial freedom. Increasing your income is far more important than cutting expenses. I always prefer finding ways to add $500 to my income rather than cutting $500 from my expenses.

Increasing my income increases my opportunity. I invest the money I make so that it returns more money. I can use the increase it to pay off debt or save it to start a small business.

Sure, I am mindful of saving money. And you should be too. Save as much as you can, but put your time and energy into finding ways to increase your income.

Here are a few ideas to help you get started.

Freelance

If you are a working professional chances are there is an opportunity for you to find side work related to your day job. It doesn’t matter what you do, you probably can find work as a freelancer. If you are a programmer or web designer then the opportunities are limitless. If not, there are still many other opportunities for IT workers, accountants, consultants and marketers.

If you don’t already have a professional skill set there are opportunities in freelance writing, virtual assistant positions, customer service and odd jobs. Odesk and elance are two great sites that you should take a look at. There are tons of jobs posted there and if you have the time, you can earn plenty of extra cash.

Take up a part time service job

If freelancing isn’t your thing then consider starting up a part time service job on your own. Don’t go work for someone else when you can build your own business. The obvious choices are things like lawn care, house cleaning, babysitting and other service related jobs. Don’t stop there.

Consider what you know, and leverage your talents. If you have handyman or construction skills, you can start picking up small projects. If you know computers, you can do computer repair, network setup and odd projects. Or if you have a hobby, think of ways to create things people want and sell them; you can sell them locally or online. There is a place to sell anything online, read on for more info.

Work online

Working online really means working from home. It can include almost everything, so take advantage of it. Here are a few to get you started.

Blog. This is widely popular and very common. Many people start a blog with the hopes of writing great content and building a large audience. Most blogs fail because it takes a lot of hard work to reach success. Most bloggers burn out around 6 months and their blogs fade off into the abyss. Don’t let this happen to you. There is endless potential to earn money blogging. Pick a topic you are genuinely interested in, and go for it. If you can find other writers to join you, it will increase your chances of succeeding.

Marketing. You’ll usually hear this called affiliate marketing, and its scope is HUGE. Basically, you get paid a commission to promote other peoples products.

Sell a product. People do not care about what you’re selling unless it helps them in some way. I own a membership website where members pay a monthly fee to have access to useful premium content. It’s a valuable service for the members and it’s a great way for me to build recurring income. You can do the same by finding out what people need, and developing a product, service, or content that will meet that need.

Creative people make and sell their products at places like Etsy or Cafe Press.

Plenty of opportunities to earn extra money are out there if you have the time to find them. One tool I use to learn about increasing revenue is the Shoemoney Sytem. It costs $197 a month for training, and I believe it’s the best training out there. Everyone can find a way to earn extra income if you really want to. Keep digging until you find a niche that works for you, and when you find it, run with it.