It Was An Extra Income I Was Missing

Thinking back to my time living in Vancouver, particularly in Gastown, I made note of how content I felt. I had my own place, a work from home job, access to beautiful forested trails, walking distance to the seawall, and close proximity to pubs/bars to meet someone on any random night.

There was something that kept holding me back from fully relaxing though. What was it, exactly?

It was the income part.

My rent was reasonable considering the area I lived in — you can find 1 bedrooms for $2,500/month in Gastown, but I had a micro suite for under $900/month.

I talk about my Gastown experience in a previous post!

You can check it out below if you like!

The main issue was my income. I had a great paying job, but like many positions I enjoy it wasn’t able to give me 40 hours per week. I knew I needed some sort of extra income, so I tried a few part-time jobs.

To me, an extra job should be chill with little drama. Both jobs I tried had unnecessarily high drama so I had to quit. I don’t expect smooth sailing everyday, but I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable going to work at a second job (or any job).

Okay, maybe I was being a little picky and was over analyzing certain scenarios, but I was willing to forgo the extra income for peace of mind. Which got me to try “low spend” and “no spend” challenges. Those did help, but sometimes things still add up.

The missing ingredient in my life was a good second income. I tried freelance writing in the past, but was scarred when one client refused to pay me for 8 hours of work followed by another client who wouldn’t pay not long after.

If only I knew about Medium back then.

There’s been months where I only needed an extra $50 or $100. If I can get up to a consistent $200/month that would be great. I know I can get there. I made $98 my first month on Medium!

The great thing is I have Medium now.

I’ve finally found that missing ingredient to my life. Particularly while I work full-time starting next week, it’ll be more gravy to save and put away.

I can live pretty close to the red, but these last few months showed me sometimes you can’t just get a job at the exact time you need one then you have to start relying on other people for help.

I am so grateful to those kind people for their help. Without them I would have been in a stressful situation like couchsurfing from place to place or possibly worse.

It’s wonderful when people can help us if we need it, but once you’re in a position to take control of your life again, it becomes your chance to make wiser choices and ensure you have enough resources to keep you afloat in the future.

Life can be unpredictable. That’s why we need savings and an extra source of income.

I’m returning to a period of saving after 5 months of not working (aside from one brief gig). I’m excited to return to more responsible financial planning and this time I’m going to stick with that plan.

I’m beyond thrilled that Medium gives writers a good opportunity to earn an extra income if they are willing to write a lot and interact with others.

It’s amazing how we can put some things off for so long. I heard people talk about Medium in the past, but I created my own barriers.

I used to think “I’ll have to build a whole new audience from scratch” and “I’ll have to pay another $100/year to write on another blog”.

Had I known how easy and inexpensive it is to get started and make some extra money, I would have joined 3 years ago.

Medium is a great tool if you are willing to use it. I’m so glad I finally have it.