5 Ways You Can Make Money When You’re Injured and Can’t Work
If you’ve ever found yourself hurt and unable to work, you know how scary it can be. Not only are you in pain, but you also have to worry about your family’s financial situation.
What, if anything, can be done?
Try These 5 Money-Making Options
In decades past, a debilitating injury meant you were out of luck until you recovered and were able to return to the job. Today, there’s a lot more flexibility in regards to how you can generate income.
Here are several money-making options:
- Work With an Attorney to Get Compensated
Before you focus on ways to generate income, you need to make sure you’re pursuing any and all legal options if your injury is due to someone else’s negligence. For example, if you were injured on the job or in a car accident, you should explore whether it’s possible to be compensated for lost wages, medical bills, etc. This can relieve a lot of the pressure you feel to replace your pre-injury income.
Compensation for injuries can be tricky, so make sure you hire an attorney to review the details of your case and make sure you follow all of the proper steps to having your claim processed.
- Apply for Benefits
Another step you can take is to apply for Social Security Disability Benefits and Unemployment Benefits. While it can take some time to get these benefits – and it probably won’t be enough to live off – having some short-term disability in place can help offset some of the financial pressure and allow you to focus on getting better.
(Note, if your injury is work-related, you will not qualify for disability. The injury must be unrelated to the job.)
- Move Into a Remote Position
The first recommendation is to speak with your current employer to inquire about the possibility of temporarily shifting into a remote position. In some cases, this is as easy as grabbing your laptop and resuming your normal work duties from your living room sofa.
In other situations where your job requires you to be physically present, your employer will have to agree to let you temporarily take on a new role or suspend certain responsibilities in lieu of other tasks that you can do remotely.
- Launch an Online Side Hustle
The explosion of the gig economy over the past five years is something that we should all be thankful for. It opens up a world of opportunities for expanding your income through side hustles and additional businesses. And as someone who is suffering through a debilitating injury, it’s possible that an online side hustle could save your finances. Common options include:
- Copywriting and blog writing
- Photography
- Graphic design
- Accounting
- Administrative assistance
- Social media management
- Consulting
- Counseling
- Selling physical products
- Selling digital products (e.g. online courses)
There are literally thousands of options to choose from. Find something you know a little bit about and mold it into a monetizable product or service. Use a website like Fiverr or Upwork to find customers (or leverage your own social media profiles to reach people).
- Rent What You Have
You might not have the time, energy, or desire to start a business. Sometimes you just need something super easy and convenient that allows you to focus on rest and recuperation. This is where you can benefit from the “sharing economy.”
The sharing economy refers to businesses where you rent out things you own but aren’t currently using. For example, you could rent out a spare room in your home. Or, since you probably aren’t driving at the moment, you could rent your car. You can even rent things like backyard swimming pools, lawnmowers, and tools. You probably won’t get rich doing this, but the income could help keep you afloat for a few months. And in situations where you’re renting a spare bedroom, it could cover most of your mortgage/rent payment.
Keep Paying the Bills
Don’t let an injury kill your income and sink your finances. While you might not be able to return to work right away, there are plenty of options when it comes to making money.
Some require a little more creativity and effort than others, but options exist regardless. Use this article as a starting point for protecting your finances and staying afloat while you recover.
