Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but having a clear direction of where you’re headed financially is pure bliss.

My kids are my reason I get up every morning to go to work, why I budget, why I save, why I’m trying to invest. I realize I’m starting out with less by having my children earlier in my career, and I guess in some way I’m trying to make up for that.

I’ve been pretty successful so far. Since starting my current position in January, I’ve been able to save almost $10,000. That’s not bad for a 22-year-old, right? A lot of the lessons I’ve learned have been through trial and error. Let me share what I’ve discovered so far.

1.) Get a piece of paper and write down everything you spend. Or pay for everything using your debit or credit card and track your purchases online. You can’t save money if you don’t know how much you’re spending and how much is available for you to save. Do this for about three months and you’ll get a pretty good idea of your expenses.

2.) Once you know what you’re spending money on, calculate your income. Maybe you have one or two jobs, or maybe you have a side hustle (see my latest post on side hustles from last week) that brings in additional income. Tally up how much you bring in and subtract your expenses from that. Get a good idea on how much you have left over each month.

3.) Once you know your income, your expenses, and your surplus (here’s hoping you have a surplus!), put things on autopilot. If your cell phone bill is the same every month, have it automatically deducted. Have your check direct deposited and a certain amount (perhaps all of your surplus) deposited into savings.

4.) Most importantly: PAY YOURSELF FIRST. If you wait until all your other bills are paid off, and then you decide to save some money, you’ll probably end up saving less than if you made paying yourself a priority. Decide on a certain amount that HAS TO go into savngs each paycheck and then pay it first.

5.) Evaluate ways to save more. Once you’ve determined how much you can save, try to save 10% more, just to challenge yourself. Say you save $100 each month – after a few months of successfully meeting that goal, bump it up to $110 a month. Look at your expenses – do you need to go out to dinner every Friday? How about if you get your hair done every three weeks instead of every two? Start slow and see how much you can save.

6.) Research different savings accounts. You don’t have to settle for a dismal 0.5% interest rate anymore. Open an account with an online bank, such as ING Direct or HSBC, and get rates up to 3.5%. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to motivate you to keep saving.

So what do you all think? How are you trying to save money?

Thanks for reading Part 2 of my “Side Hustle” series. Here’s Part One. If this goes well, I might just make it a regular post, highlighting new or interesting ways to make money on the side. Whaddayathink?

But for real, before I dive into the list of ways to make extra cash, I have to say that I started this post as a way to help out my fellow young moms. But I got a startling look at some parenting statistics today and now my post feels more relevant than ever.

Since a lot of my readers (and young moms) are single parents, I found these statistics to be particularly sobering, discussing the link between single mother households and poverty. While I don’t necessarily believe that a child born to a single mom is destined to be poor, I do think that it is harder, and therefore requires more work, to be a single mom who with excellent kids. I hope my blog helps you in some way.

So without further delay, here’s my list to help you make extra money quickly:

Five side hustles to help you increase your cash flow:

1) Become a niche blogger. Now, I know this isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it IS possible to make money as a blogger. (As I will soon be able to share with you.) You might not be making six-figures right away, but at least at first, you’ll make enough to afford a night or two out each month. To get started, think about what your expertise is and what you’re good at. Like to bake? Start a food blog. Got a knack for finding the best deals on any item? Start a shopping blog and share your secrets. To get started, I recommend you start with the new book by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett, ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.   It’s packed full of info you need to know to get your blog started right.

2) Clothes designer. No, you don’t have to go to fashion design school to make and sell clothes! Lots of online shops, like Cafepress, allow you to design your own T-shirts and other products and sell them! Let your creative side emerge and see how much you can make!

3) Ebay hustler. Shop at thrift stores and see what bargains you find. A friend of mine found some Rock & Republic jeans (normally retailing for around $300) for $5 in the bargain bin, tags still on and everything. She could easily turn around and sell them for $100, making a nice little profit in the process. Make sure you hit up thrift stores in specific areas, however. Not every thrift store is going to have steals like that.

4) Become a writer. I know, I know. The first side hustle also had to do with writing. But, if writing is your thing, there are a ton of avenues you could go into. Freelancing, for one, would be a good option if you have the dedication and the passion for what you’re writing about. Contact online sites and read publications like Writer’s Digest, which give you tips, advice, and help improving your writing. Get started with its list of “Top 101 Websites for Writers.” You can also write e-books, which cost nothing to write and $0 to publish. Check out Self Made Chick’s e-book on building a freelancing business. She regularly makes $6,000 a month just from writing alone. If you come anywhere close to that, I’d say it’s worth your time.

5) Memory maker. Do you know how big scrapbooking is? It’s easily a $3 billion a year industry, with tons of people just looking for new and creative ways to preserve their memories. With online sites like Shutterfly and Snapfish, it’s easier than ever to upload photos, add some decorative touches and voila! There you have your own digital scrapbook, hardbound like a real book. But people don’t have a lot of time to gather the photos, upload them all, test different designs, add captions, etc. That’s where you come in. Offer your services to people you know are busy. New parents are perfect for this. We spend all our time taking photos but then never get around to putting them in albums. Online photo services charge around $30 for one of these books, add in $15 or so for your time and you’ll be providing a huge benefit to people.

So, let me hear in the comments if you have a side hustle and how much it makes you each month.