Anyone Wonder Why We're so Obsessed with Earning Money Online?

I think I know exactly why. Because everything is rising except for wages. Homes appreciate every year, the price of new cars goes up every year, and we won't even talk about gas prices. Bread, milk, cigarettes, diapers - everything you can think of rises in cost every year, but how many of us get raises every year? Whatever happened to the cost of living increase? Have employer forgotten about it, or is just that health care costs are so high now they can't afford raises for their employees anymore?

The recent minimum wage hike is big news right now. Why? Because it's the first one in nearly a decade and they're STILL stretching out over two years before it jumps all the way from $5.15 to $7.25. Frankly speaking, it should be at least $7.25 an hour right now to be an even remotely livable wage in today's economy. And, there's no guarantee that anyone who makes more than minimum wage is going go see an increase in their salary just because the minimum wage was raised.

Personally speaking, the idea of a second job is almost unthinkable. Even if I had the energy to work another 4 - 5 hours after my first 8, there are very few places that can accommodate your schedule if you work until 5 p.m. And, the few that might consider it pay so little compared to what I make at my regular job that it's almost not worth the effort. Weekends, you say? How many weekend-only jobs have you seen in the paper lately? I'd much rather work seven days a way than 12 hours a day five days a week, but that doesn't seem to be an option.

So, that's what set me on the road to learning better ways to make money online. It's not always a guaranteed paycheck like a second job would be, but it's at least something I can do to keep up with the inequity in the American system of wages vs. costs. Making money online is something I can do while I'm at my day job, at night when I'm home, and as much as I want on the weekends. Once you have enough different types of residual income set up, eventually you'll have to put less hours in and you can sit back and collect your checks. I look at it as a long-term investment versus a quick fix. A second job would ease my immediate money problems quicker, but taking the time now to build up a stream of income earned online will help keep me balanced down the long road ahead.