Building Wealth Without a Six-Figure Salary

When we were younger, we all had an ideal vision of our future. Some wanted to become teachers, others astronauts, but we all dreamt about living comfortably, be it in a nice house or a cosy apartment. However, once we grew up, we realised that all those things that seemed easy to obtain are out of reach for many. It’s challenging to build wealth when this is your reality. If you’re in that stage of life when you’re slowly realising that a side hustle is no longer an option, but rather something mandatory, here’s how to get there realistically.

Start Saving as Little or as Much as Possible

Saving money is unavoidable. Now, many believe that you have to set aside hundreds of dollars for it to matter. But even loose change is a good start if you’re making ends meet. On days or months when you can set aside more, do so, and keep track of how much you’ve saved. Even if you don’t invest it in your side hustle or your future business, this extra money will be good for emergencies.

Some people do savings challenges or ask friends to hold their money. Challenges are an excellent way to start, as they give you dopamine as an extra reward besides extra money. In 2025, 55 per cent of adults participating in a Federal Reserve survey said they had set aside money for three months of expenses in case of emergencies. Once you reach this goal, you can slowly cover other areas as well, saving for supplies for a side business, for example.

Don’t Upgrade Your Lifestyle the Moment You Start Earning More

At some point, you’ll start making more money, whether through getting a raise or starting a new job or a side hustle. You’re going to feel tempted to suddenly upgrade your lifestyle. You’ll start buying more skincare or treating yourself to more coffee, or you’ll want to invest in an upgrade for your car.

All those things are tempting, and by all means, you should occasionally treat yourself. However, if you keep yourself in the same financial loop where you now have better things but are still making ends meet, you’ll keep yourself stuck living this way of life forever. While an occasional splurge is more than okay, don’t upgrade right away. Remember, you want to set money aside so that you can start something new. Once you have multiple streams of income, spending more on yourself won’t be an issue.

Consider Options That Might Feel Challenging or Impossible

You’ve probably stumbled on an amazing opportunity at least once or twice, but chose not to pursue it because you thought you weren’t qualified enough. If you want more money, you need to start applying for jobs that offer more money. That doesn’t mean applying for options that are truly out of reach. You can’t work as a surgeon if you don’t have a degree that says otherwise. But there are a plethora of new jobs that require you to improve a skill or learn something new in order to be the dream candidate.

This applies to other opportunities as well. If you’re currently considering dabbling in real estate, start with something low-risk, such as investing in DHA rental properties. Rent is guaranteed and backed by the Australian government, so you won’t have to worry about vacancy periods. You can use that rent to pay off the mortgage, or save for a deposit for another property.

Learn How to Sell Your Skills

There’s at least one skill you can monetise. You might be good at explaining English grammar, so you could start teaching online. You could be a good painter, so maybe play with the idea of starting an artsy YouTube channel or a social media profile.

When you go online, you can see that people with no particular set of skills have already monetised their online presence. The only difference is that they were brave enough to start.

Pour Time, Energy, and Resources Into Your Side Hustle

Be it real estate, English lessons, or baking sourdough bread from the comfort of your home, your side hustle is going to become a decent chunk of your monthly income. That is, if you pour time, energy and resources into it. Your side business can’t pour from an empty cup.

Before you start anything, figure out the logistics. Learn who to talk to, contact suppliers, and calculate the costs. Start preparing months in advance if needed. Automate tedious and repetitive tasks and learn how to use AI to your advantage. Nurture your side hustle like everything depends on it because, in a way, it does.

Conclusion

Most of these tips won’t help you build wealth unless you learn how to save and manage your money. They will help you bring money in, but you need to learn how to delegate where money goes. And give it time; building wealth is not something that delivers noticeable results overnight.