Three Ways to Fatten Your Paycheck

It's easy to find budgeting advice, including all those stories that imply skipping your daily latte -- and putting that $3 a day into your 401(k) -- will put you on the road to millions. And in truth, budgeting is a good idea. But what if you're brown-bagging your lunch, drinking that sludgy office coffee and investing every penny you can, but still not making sufficient progress toward your financial goals?

In that case, you need to find a way to make more money. That can be tricky these days; in fact, right now most Americans are making less money than they did back in 2000. Since then, real, or inflation-adjusted, household income has declined by 2%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Don't despair. In this three-part series, we'll look at three ways to give your income a boost.

The first approach is the most obvious: Increase your take-home pay. There are three ways to do that. Get a raise (perhaps accompanied by a promotion), move to a new employer or change careers.

Get a Raise

"Prove to your employer that the firm can't afford not to give you a pay hike," says Patti Wilson, founder of Monte Sereno, Calif.-based Career Company. "Clearly define your contribution to the organization. Why is it worth the company's while to keep you and help you grow?"