This Beverly Hills steakhouse server says she made $2,500 in just one week — working part time. 3 simple ways to boost your income without having to change careers or beg for a raise

Create actual passive income

This usually means one of two things: investing or renting.

Investing would be identifying strong stocks that provide dividends, which can be used to reinvest back into your shares, creating more savings.

As for the renting option, you don’t have to have an extra home or even an extra room to become some type of landlord. Think creatively — you could rent out parking spaces, your garage, even tools.

And if you want to combine both options, you might consider investing in real estate, either through a real estate investment trust (REIT) or a platform that makes investing in real estate possible for regular retail investors.

Read more: 3 big mistakes people make with cash back credit cards that cost them every time they swipe

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Work smarter

One of the best ways to boost your income is to simply work more. If you have a passion or skill that others find valuable, you might consider turning it into a profitable side hustle.

Of course, if you’re working a day job, you might not have much left over at the end of the day to devote to starting another part-time project.

If that’s the case, why not start small? Through sites like Upwork or Taskrabbit you can sign up for small gigs or tasks like data entry, transcribing or assembling Ikea furniture (one of the hardest jobs out there). As you take on more tasks and build a niche for yourself.

You can also try to switch jobs. This may be easier said than done. For some jobs, like a doctor or lawyer, working with a certain organization for over five years can be vital for career growth.

However, you might have more leeway with other fields. A February 2023 study by Zippia revealed that the average salary increased by 14.8% when switching jobs. This is an average across all industries, with "leisure and hospitality" being the only category with negative growth: -1.3%.

Stop giving so much to the government

We’re not encouraging you to stop paying your taxes — that would be illegal. But that fat tax refund you receive each year? That’s extra money you gave the government, which is just making its way back to you.

Wouldn’t it be better to have that money to spend, invest or prevent you from going into debt before April the next year?

The way you can do that is by adjusting your tax withholdings with a new W-4 form. It might take some math to figure out the exact amount your employer should be withholding from each pay, but it also means you’ll stop giving the government what are essentially mini-loans.

Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey’s blog actually ran the numbers: assuming you were working with 2022’s average tax refund of $3,039 (according to IRS data) and a bimonthly pay period, you could’ve brought home an extra $127 per paycheck over the year.

And he's not the only expert to point this out. Suze Orman has called taking a tax refund "one of the biggest mistakes" you can make.

While you’re digging into your paperwork, you might also look into some ways to lower your tax bill over the year.