5 Signs You Need to Earn More, Not Spend Less

5 Signs You Need to Earn More, Not Spend Less5 Signs You Need to Earn More, Not Spend Less Spend less than you earn - thats a timeless and essential piece of financial advice. However, even among money experts, theres disagreement about which side of the equation to focus on earning mora money or spending less of it.Unfortunately, the income side of the equation often is neglected. If you dont earn enough, you might be cutting costs and micromanaging your budget, but you still might notlage see the desired results.Here are five telltale signs that its time to put away the budget spreadsheet and focus instead on growing your paychecks.Cutting costs can be a smart way to start managing money wisely. Too many people tend to overspend on things they dont need and might not even want.But every budget has a point at which it cant be cut anymore before you hit your bare nadir of expenses. Living costs eat up huge portions of your budget , but expenses such as rent or mortga ge, food, and childcare often arent negotiable.If youve already nonessential expenses and still are struggling to scrape by, its a sign youre not earning enough money in relation to your costs of living.If youve come close to missing one or more debt payments in recent months because you couldnt afford them, thats a big problem. Missing a payment can have some harsh consequences beyond the initial late fees and or a penalty APR.A missed payment also can put a derogatory mark on your credit report and cause your score to drop. It usually can take more than a year for a credit score to recover from making a late payment.You can try to manage debt through options such as refinancing your student loans or consolidating credit card debt, but it can be tricky. If youre in danger of missing your payments, you might not have the income or debt-to-income ratio needed to qualify for refinancing. Instead, it might be more effective to focus your efforts on raising your income.Are you being pai d what youre worth? Its an important question to consider, but one that can be tricky to answer. Youll likely need to review your compensation and research average salaries by industry to be sure.First, you might want to review your income growth in recent years. If your income has been stagnant or hasnt risen recently, its likely that your wage isnt keeping up with market increases in pay.You also can use income-tracking sites such as PayScale to see if youre being paid fairly for your area, job title, and level of experience. Or you can use job-hunting sites such as Glassdoor to compare salaries in your company to make sure youre not making less than what your coworkers do.Money has long been a major source of worry for Americans, with 62% of people surveyed selecting it as a top stressor in theAmerican Psychological Associations 2017 Stress in America survey . There are plenty of causes of financial stress , from too much debt to high living expenses.Most money worries, however, can be resolved if you have more resources available and manage them responsibly. If your debt is stressful, for example, you can pay off a loan balance to get rid of a monthly payment. If your budget stresses you out, earning more could mean you wont have to agonize over every expense.In these cases, increasing your income can be an effective solution to the problems that are stressing you out the most.Even if youre doing well with your budget and income, you might be interested in growing your income. After all, having more money at your disposal will help you work on reaching financial goals faster .Whether you want to get out of debt, start saving for retirement, or invest money, youll need to have the funds available. Earning more now will mean youll reach those financial goals sooner.Increasing your income is easier said than done. Unlike being able to cut expenses, you dont always have direct control over your income or see immediate results from your efforts. But there are s teps you can take to boost your earning potential and bring home bigger paychecksIt can take a while to see the results of focusing on growing your income, but the payoffs can be huge. While theres a limit on how much you can cut costs, theres no limit on how much you can earn.The key is to get started. Consider the above steps on how to increase income, choose one thats a good fit for your skills and needs, and take action.This article was originally published by Student Loan Hero . Reprinted with permission.