In 2014, I graduated from college and spent 15 months traveling the world.

Id often stop traveling for a few months to work side jobs and earn enough to travel more.

Whenever possible, these jobs were in theater, my dream career.

In just a few years, Katherine Pomerantz went from living below the poverty line to owning her own successful bookkeeping business.

Photo courtesy of Katherine Pomerantz

Unfortunately, we moved to a rural state without enough paying theaters to keep me employed full time.

Instead, I worked 60 to 80 hours per week at whatever jobs I could find.

I was hospitality staff at a golf club.

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I assisted a wedding planner.

I was an office manager.

I worked summer camps.

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I worked after-school programs.

I continued to take whatever theater jobs came my way.

Undeterred, I decided take my art part-time and began looking for a second career.

I scored zero interviews in almost a year of job searching.

By 2016, I was depressed, worn out and lucky to make $300 a week.

I was slowly realizing a hard truth: I knew nothing about money.

I felt if I could figure that out, then life would get better.

Thats when I started reading The Penny Hoarder and learned aboutwork-from-home opportunitieslike Ben RobinsonsBookkeeper Business Launchprogram.

Our team has compiled alist of creative waysyou can fatten your bank account this week.

This is a long list, so dont get overwhelmed.

Well keep it updated as offers changes or expire.

Money Doesnt Have to Trap You

Im not alone in desiring nontraditional employment.

The rise of the gig economy shows that many are choosing to work outside the classic 9-to-5 schedule.

If done well, the opportunities to grow your income are staggering.

Yet so many entrepreneurs fail.

Many side hustles never pay off.

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Well, I almost didnt.

I finished Bens bookkeeping program in 2016.

My team also offered tax services, financial strategy and consulting.

But for the first eight months I was in business, I didnt have a single client.

All that incredible growth was crammed into four whirlwind months.

What changed in month eight?

Except I didnt fit in very well with traditional business.

Of course, they didnt hire me!

My new financial skills, and past theatrical experience helped these people the most.

Ironically, I had trapped myself in a dead-end job of my own creation.

I thought the money was best in one area, so thats where I tried to work.

Once I aligned my work to that purpose, I enjoyed it more and I made more money.

If youre going to start a business, remember you cant sell something you dont love.

My husband and I spent the first year of our marriage belowthe poverty threshold.

Even working 80 hours per week, we lived on less than halfthe average American salary.

Then, I quit my jobs because I didnt have enough time to grow that business.

And I didnt have a single client.

So I was very selective about spending time with certain friends during those hard months.

I also did everything possible to be around other successful business owners.

I went to conferences.

I bought into expensive masterminds.

So much so that I continued to shrink our debt.

I never missed a bill.

I budgeted like crazy, and I prioritized our emergency fund.

Thats the only reason we survived eight clientless months.

These good habits allowed me to feel like an overnight success.

When the money started rolling in, I had already cleaned up many of our financial messes.

Quality of Life Matters

With success came a whole new slew of challenges.

There is a lot of pressure on businesses to perpetually grow.

Added to this pressure were the bad habits I developed in my early adulthood.

Because I was used to a 60-plus-hours-a-week schedule, I worked too hard and suffered periods of intense burnout.

I doubled, and then tripled, my salary.

But my fears of becoming poor again meant the pressure for more money never went away.

I needed to learn when I had enough.

I needed to separate my success from a dollar amount.

What did I enjoy doing?

How did I want to fill my time morning, noon, nightandon the weekends?

How much income would this life require?

These lifestyle goals are much more attainable and much more fulfilling, than any income goal Ive ever set.

Obtaining them makes me feel powerful and successful.

In turn, I am a better business owner even if Im not obsessed with growth.

I needed to be honest about the kind of work I loved doing.

I needed friends who could help me experience the life I wanted.

And I needed to shape my habits, and mindset, to fit my dream life.

Her financial expertise has been featured by Buzzfeed, Discover Card, IncFile and the Popcorn Finance podcast.

Connect with her atwww.bookkeepingartist.com.

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