I welcomed 2023 with high hopes. But having high hopes does not mean everything will go smoothly. This year is a tough one. As a family man, as a student, as a minister, and as a man with many plans and wishes, pursuing your goals takes more than just willpower. With prices going up and our budget going sideways, we have to make an effort to increase our income and minimize our expenses. Also, we have to ensure that no funds are getting wasted. We have to be serious with our finances. ![Cat Stretch.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/devowriter/23tRxRvivMYM371TxVNGh7o8HWthbzUU3S45dQxV5cUrE9T6NJfWqFEWhPRsqjcD4iJ9e.jpg) Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash To do this, we agreed to have an extra source of income. I do have a side gig teaching in our Bible school. My wife also has teaching jobs on Saturdays and Sundays. These efforts do not give us much, but at least it adds up to the pool. She is also planning to apply for a freelance job since her schedule is more fitting for one. Inasmuch as I wanted to, my schedule no longer allows me. My full-time job, teaching load, and student schedules take up much of my time. But what I can do is sell more books that I co-wrote! From time to time, I offer my devotional books to people who are interested. Just so you know, I am one of the contributors to two published devotional books, and the third one will be released in a few weeks. If you are from my country and you want to purchase one, feel free to message me or comment down below! *shameless plug lol* I also tried Amazon KDP but there are no results yet. But I’ll keep on trying! Who knows 😊 To minimize expenses, I created a table of expenses and payables. I find Notion to be helpful on this. At least tracking our disbursements will help us avoid unnecessary leaks in our budget. Speaking of Notion, love the functionality of the app. It helps me to become more organized with my thoughts, schedules, lists, and tasks. I believe that the more organized you are, the more opportunities will come to you. Even so, being organized has its rewards. It is our goal to have a positive cash flow at the end of the year. We wanted to significantly decrease our loans. The good thing is that somehow, we are expecting some cash inflows in the following months. Though not enough to pay for everything, at least it can help. In the last four months of the year, we aim for the following: to have an extra source of income, to settle maturing obligations, and to minimize our spending. And to do that, we need to be more cautious in spending our money. They say that you will only learn the value of every drop once you carry your own water. This is true, and I’m learning it firsthand. I’m learning, and I’m grateful for the progress. https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/lucimorningstar/23tSMvzUnabh3w8jmFRpDvZ4Kk8an1pv5hDuNweVZUfX4sWHtWK6gXHRau695JTZRpss5.png Hi, I am Marts and I love to write! I plan on growing my readership as I work on improving my craft. I have so much room to learn! Even my grammar fails at times. But it doesn't stop me from dreaming of publishing more books that will add value to people. 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