If you are finding yourself short of cash by the time your next pay comes in, the fastest and often easiest way to improve your situation is to ask your employer for a pay rise.

To assist you in your quest for more money, it will pay (excuse the pun) to do a little homework before talking to your boss. Here are a few things to get you started:

Remember that the worst thing that can happen is that your boss simply says no, but chances are that if they see that you know what you are talking about, they may well agree to a modest increase in your salary/wage.

Of course, if your boss doesn’t come to the party and ou feel you could earn more elsewhere, then by all means apply for other positions and see what you are worth on the open market, you might be surprised!

Most of us want the good life that wealth brings, but just how do we go about getting there? There are no magical instant solutions but there are certainly strategies to follow.

Part one: earn more
Get a pay rise

When you talk about earning more, a pay rise springs to mind. But most employees are lucky to get a pay rise each year in line with inflation. If you think you’re worth more it’s up to you to convince the boss.

Take time to put together the best case possible.

Have a clear idea of how much money you want but have a fallback position. To come up with this figure you really need to do some research to determine your “market worth”.

One way to do this is to find out what people in similar roles are paid. CEO of Link Me, Campbell Salabank, says you can look both within the company and externally.

He admits it’s hard to find out what people within the same company are getting paid, but “a bit of a quiet chat in the kitchen might help”.

Externally is easier

Here is a very simple principle that can be put in to practice quickly and easily, and almost anyone can do it.

Each week day, simply put aside $2, and at the end of each week, put this $10 against the debt that has the highest interest rate (usually your credit card or store card). At this rate, you’ll be paying an extra $520 per year against this debt on top of your regular repayments. Even better, you’ll have saved an additional $63.83 in interest.

If you don’t have $2 per day to put aside, take a look at your daily spending habits and maybe go without a newspaper or coffee each day.

Making a commitment to this simple plan will set you up for long term success as the saving will become habitual. Once you have mastered the $2 per day principle, move on to $3 per day for the next year!