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into a source of income. If you have a spare room, a lodger could live there and pay you rent. Or you can find out whether a local college needs temporary accommodation for overseas students; this could be an additional revenue source. And if you have the time, energy and temperament, being a foster parent would also bring you more money, although this option is certainly not for everyone.

Finally, I'd like to mention a way of increasing your salary that might not have occurred to you yet. What, after all, actually matters more to you, the amount of money that lands in your bank account each month, or the amount that you get to keep, after you have paid your rent or mortgage, your bills and living expenses? I'd be willing to bet that it's the latter.

12) So here's my last tip - work out all the ways in which you may be wasting money each month, and how you could save that money for the important things. For several weeks, keep a money diary in which you keep track of your daily outgoings, no matter how trivial. This will give you an insight into how you could make big savings in the long term. If you go out to a cafe every working day and drink two or three cappuccinos, cutting out these frothy treats might add up to the equivalent of a pay rise, over a whole year. Making and bringing in your own lunch, walking or cycling to work, switching to a different cell phone tariff - these are all potential ways to add to your salary, in real terms.

These are challenging times. We could all do with extra cash in our pockets and funds in our bank accounts, and it can often seem very difficult, impossible even, to make much of a positive difference to the income we have, after deducting all the bills and expenses we must meet, every month of every year. But with diligence, with hard work, with smarter management of our time and resources, with creativity and maybe a little lateral thinking - I believe we could all make that difference, and increase our salaries accordingly.

Learn more about this author, Alex Cull.
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