A Few Simple Ways to Increase Your Cash Flow

Has the impact of the pandemic and current inflation caused cashflow issues for your family? Do you wonder what you can do to improve the cash you have on hand to pay ongoing expenses? There are a few things that you can look at to improve cash flow. 

First, where can you get additional funds? If you have a retirement plan, you may be able to pull out some money, although this is not ideal. But in dire straits, you can generally withdraw cash and use that to pay your bills. 

Is there an activity you can do to bring in extra cash? Dog walking, house sitting, selling products you make, or providing a needed service? Many do these types of things to bring in additional funds.

You might have some money stashed away in savings that you hadn’t seen for a bit and can use funds from there as well. You might also have a life insurance policy that has a cash value, and you could withdraw money and use it temporarily. Once you get enough cash to pay it back, you can reinvest into the insurance plan.

You might be able to open a home equity line of credit. Although not ideal, it would give you access to cash. Perhaps you have family members who are better off financially whom you could get a loan from for now and use the funds to keep you up to date on bills, and pay them back when your income has increased. 

Another thing you can do is to look at reducing your expenses. Are there any unnecessary things that you’re currently paying for that you can eliminate? Perhaps you can change your cell phone plan or reduce the subscriptions you have for Netflix or Hulu, or other discretionary purchases.

Can you renegotiate the costs for any of your bills? There are some things we can’t change such as utility costs, but even those companies allow an even payment throughout the year in many cases. Are there other services you use that you can alter the type of work done to reduce fees? Chat with your providers to see what options may be available.  

Hopefully, things will turn around soon, and you’ll be able to generate more income and be able to deposit back money that you’ve pulled out of 401(k)s or insurance plans. And if you can reduce your expenses while looking at additional income sources, that would be ideal.

If you need additional guidance, be sure to talk to a professional who can review your financial situation and make recommendations for how to improve your cash flow.