Can Your Job Deliver Your Target Income— And What To Do If It Can't?

Remember that client I introduced in Part 1…The single mom, working two jobs, with big dreams for the future. She inspired this series with her question, “What do I need to make so that my kids and I can live comfortably?” That’s when we dove into finding her number: the real number her income needed to be to cover her immediate needs, her near future expenses, and fund her long term goals and dreams.

Now that we’re caught up with the story…let’s look at what we did next to see if her two jobs were delivering her number (aka income target).

I’m going to be bluntly honest here, once you know what your number is, it’s pretty simple to figure out if your take-home pay is hitting that mark. But…sometimes it takes a little bit of work finding your average monthly income. For example, if your job is hourly you may not have the same schedule each week and therefore not the same number of hours or income! You may also have an irregular income if you have a seasonal job, or a commission-based job. So, while I say this is pretty simple, it may still take some time to find what you actually brought home each month last year, and then figure out what the monthly average was.

One tip I usually give…budget based on your lowest income month, then when you make more there will be margin to save for the future.

Once you have that average monthly income in hand, it will be clear if your job is delivering or if there's a gap. For this client, this moment of clarity and seeing everything in black and white was not a surprise, and frankly, if you’re looking at a gap between what you need and what you’re bringing in, you’re probably not surprised either. Like her, you’ve already felt this in your core, and now you get to stare it straight in the face. This isn’t failure. It’s the point where you get to change the equation.

If you're new here, this post is a bonus to a 2 Part series I started in May. Start with Part 1 to find your income target: Know Your Number. Part 2 is where I share how the three levers work in a small business setting: Can Your Business Really Deliver Your Number.

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Key Concepts

The Problem: Your income may not be delivering your number — and even if you suspected it, seeing the gap clearly can feel heavy.

The Solution: There are three levers in personal finance — Grow Income, Lower Expenses, and Align Your Time. Working one or more of them helps you close the gap.

The Core Message: A gap isn't failure. It's information. And once you see it clearly, you get to change the equation.

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Deep Dive

Now that we have your average income and have determined whether there's a gap, let's look a little deeper at each of the three levers and see what they can do and how to utilize them.

Grow Income

Sometimes closing the gap means you need to grow your income. Looking honestly might mean asking for a raise, finding a job that pays more, or taking on a second job for a season. I won't sugarcoat it — if you're in a season of needing more income, it's probably not going to be easy. But it's doable, and it's temporary.

Lower Expenses

Lower Expenses means taking an honest look at what's actually going out each month. Most people think they've already cut everything, but subscriptions, streaming services, apps, and small recurring charges quietly accumulate. There's also the wants versus needs conversation — the daily coffee, the takeout, convenience purchases that add up. To really see the full picture, look back at the last twelve months. You might be surprised at what you find when you actually look. And here's the thing: lowering expenses is for a season. Once you get consumer debt under control, student loans in alignment, or you grow your income, then you can add some of these things back in. This is temporary.

Align Your Time

Align Your Time means looking honestly at your calendar and your job or jobs — how many hours are you spending there, and what are you bringing home? It means having real conversations with your spouse and kids about what this season requires and how you're all going to move through it together. The goal is to spend the least amount of time away from your other responsibilities while making the most money you can in that time. You're not trying to work every available hour — you're being strategic about which hours matter most.

Each of these levers can be utilized on its own. In fact, most of the time, we go to the first lever — Grow Income — to solve every problem we have with money. But it's only when we lower expenses that we also lower the need to grow our income. And that will help us align our time to honor the responsibilities and roles we have in our life. Sometimes in a season, we have to lower expenses, grow income, and increase the amount of time we're spending on income-generating work all at once. But those are only certain seasons. The aim is to have all of these work synergistically together to bring about the income we need, but also to provide the lifestyle we want.

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Putting It All Together

For my single mom client, using the three levers looked like leaning heavily into growing her income. She set her sights on finding a full-time job that paid more , which would allow her to work fewer total hours. That will mean more time with her kids — which is the real goal anyway. Her situation shows how the levers work together: growing income strategically can actually mean less time away from what matters.

This work — finding your number and testing whether your income delivers it — lives primarily in Stages 1 and 2 of the Financial Life Stages: Laying the Foundation and Creating Stability. (If you want to learn more about the Five Financial Life Stages, start here: Why You Feel Behind in Money)" These are seasons. They're not forever. They're the stepping stones that lead to the future stages where money becomes a tool for something bigger.

What matters right now is this: when there's a gap between what you need and what you're bringing home, there are multiple angles to address it. You don't have to solve it one way. The three levers: Grow Income, Lower Expenses, Align Your Time — give you that flexibility. They transform the stress you feel into a logical, mathematical approach. You're not ignoring the difficulty. You're channeling it into strategy. And that is the beauty behind using the three levers.

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What to do next

So now that you know how to figure out your number and how the three levers work. It's time to look at your actual situation, the gap, and figure out which lever or which combination of levers makes sense for the season you're in.

If you're being challenged by any step in this process or you just want some guidance and accountability along the way, let's talk. Schedule a free 20-minute consultation and we'll map out your next move together.