Living on a disability income is very much like living on a fixed income. And if you have experience with any of the two mentioned incomes – you would know that it is not a great situation to be in. I can honestly make this statement because this is the way I have lived for the past four years.
Social security disability payments might not be able to cover your monthly expenses and unfortunately, you might not have a lot of opportunities to find work to supplement your income.
While it might seem impossible to live on such terms – I am here to let you know that you can take action to relieve your financial pressure.
Down below, I will show you how to cut down some expenses, get additional help in covering your living expenses, but also how to create an additional stream of income online!
Living on a Disability Income is Hard
When you are living on a disability income – unfortunately, you cannot work anymore because you no longer can seek employment.
There is an exception to this (a 9-month trial work period), but other than that – you are left to live with the income you get each month.
And if this income were good enough – you would not be reading this post and this post would not even exist!
If you are already living on a disability income – I do not need to tell you how hard it can be. But if you are about to start living on a disability income, I do not mean to scare you, but it will get tough.
On the bright side, you have access to my website where I will be sharing my experience, tips, and ways to improve the situation.
So as long as you are ready to take action to improve your financial and living situation – there is always away!
Down below, you will find out some of the biggest issues of living on a disability income – but also some of the actionable ways you can take advantage of to improve your situation and even supplement your income!
Biggest Issues of Living on a Disability Income
Everyone is experiencing different issues when living on disability income. However, through my own experience and by listening to others – I realized that all of these issues can be categorized under two of the biggest issues.
These two issues are:
- The fixed income of a disability income
- Larger expenses than the income
It is extremely hard to live a comfortable lifestyle, and even if you cut down the expenses to the bare minimum – you still might not live worry-free.
Expenses can even vary from state to state and it is quite common to see people who live on a disability income move to another state to lower their living expenses.
There are a couple of things you can do to ease the financial pressure – however, I believe that it’s always a great idea to start supplementing your income online (and that’s what I’ll show you about below!).
How to Ease the Financial Pressure of Living on a Disability Income?
There are a couple of ways to ease the financial pressure and make your lifestyle a bit more comfortable. Here are the options I recommend!
Budget & Cut Down Expenses
Budgeting is important for everyone and if you are not budgeting yet – I highly recommend you check out my review on how to budget when living on a fixed income.
It is important to list your expenses and know where your money is going. Once you are in control of your money – you can try to cut down some expenses.
Even though this might not help a lot – it is still something that could ease things. Believe it or not – these things add up and, in a month, or two, you will notice the difference!
Try to Use Coupons / Collect Store Points
When you create a budget – you will see that food and living expenses are among the top of the
expenses on your list.
If you did not try and use coupons yet – you should definitely give it a go. If you are a regular customer of a certain food store, use the available store card to collect points.
This will add up and you will eventually save a significant amount of money this way. Again, this will be noticeable in a month or two – but you should act right now!
Check out Income-Based Housing
If you are living on your own or you are still renting your home – checking out income-based housing is not a bad idea.
Income-based housing can help you pay no more than 30% of your fixed-income towards the housing.
And since most of the time housing is the biggest expense that causes the biggest financial pressure – it is a smart idea to adjust.
Work on Creating a Second Income Stream (Online)
If you have tried implementing almost everything there is to cut down your expenses and you are still struggling – then it is the right time to start working on the second income stream.
I am a big fan of the internet because of the opportunities it provides.
You can easily start creating a second income stream from home, only using your laptop/computer and the internet connection.
Even if you are not particularly good with technical things – here is a list of a couple of things you could do:
- Freelance any skill you possess
- Get creative and create a product you could online (start an online store/eCommerce)
- Learn about eCommerce (print-on-demand or drop shipping) business and act
- Create a blog, grow it, and monetize it
- Create an online business with the help of a website and affiliate marketing
I believe that the best way to create sustainable income online that will supplement your disability income very well is the last option.
It takes time to learn how to create an online business, but it goes all the way back to basics and you can learn everything from building a website to growing it and acquiring traffic/monetizing your site on an educational platform such as Wealthy Affiliate.
I have been a member of Wealthy Affiliate for a long time now and their training is suitable for everyone. It is even suitable for someone who does not have a lot of experience with computers as well!
Conclusion
Living on a disability income is not great – but it is not the worst thing out there. I know that it can seem like that at times though.
I always like to look at things from the positive side. And with this one – I like that you at least you have enough time to learn something new and act on other things.
With the help of educational platforms on the internet, you can easily start your own online business and supplement your income.
I highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate (as I am a long-term member as well) so I highly recommend you check out my Wealthy Affiliate review post (and video). And if you ever decide to join – I will see you on the inside!
I would really like to hear your thoughts regarding living on a disability income? Are you presently living this way? If so, do you find it hard to manage? I know I do. You may leave your thoughts comments and questions in the section below and I will be happy to respond.
All the best,
Barbara
Founder/Creator: Living On Lean Means 💰
2
0
20
With the training here at Wealthy Affiliate, you can earn an income that can help you or put you in a position where you don’t have to live from paycheck to paycheck. This system teaches how to make passive income which I think is so amazing.
People no longer have to live on lean means, they can take control of their finances by following this training program for success.
Hello Norman,
First I would like to say, thank you for stopping by and reading my article on Living on a Disability Income.
You are certainly correct about Wealthy Affiliate giving you the tools to create an online income stream.
However, it does not keep people from living from paycheck to paycheck. As we all know, it takes a great deal of time and hard work to be successful in developing lucrative income streams or a business through Wealthy Affiliate. I am a person who lives on a disability income. I am also a single income household, so I rely on that one amount to spread across the entire month. If you haven’t seen my videos, I invite you to view them to see what I am all about and to understand what I am trying to do with my website, Living on Lean Means.
All the best with your garden of eden garden center business.
Barbara
This is very informative and detailed knowledge that will assist folks with disabilities. Since I do some non-profit work with people with disabilities I share much of this with my clients. Your information is important because many people with disabilities who do not have a support structure in place do not know much of this information and resources. Thanks for getting this info out there.
Hello Joe,
Thank you for returning to check out another one of my articles. This one on Living on a Disability Income. I am glad that this article can resonate with you because of your work with people with disabilities. I very glad that you found the information important. I would truly appreciate it if you would share this article and my website Living On Lean Means with those individuals you feel it would help.
Have a great weekend!
Barbara