In the October 2008 issue of Money Magazine, Traci Higgins tells how she expanded her personal chef business.

Traci started off bringing food to clients’ homes and cooking in their kitchens, which is a common way that peronal chefs start out in the business. She spent hours driving all over town and going to multiple grocery stores every day, just to repeat cooking many of the same dishes at different clients’ homes.

To reduce the driving and the repeated effort of making the same dish in different homes, Traci rented a 600-sq-foot kitchen for a six month trial. She cooked a small number of dishes centrally and turned her business into a meal delivery business. The business took off, with revenue over $700,000 in 2007.

I really like how Traci gave herself a trial period for the central kitchen. She decided to try for six months and would re-evaluate the plan.

This is a cool way to (effectively) earn more: Negotiate to work fewer hours and keep the same pay.

Emma did just this when, once again, she did not get a significant raise at her annual review. Emma works in a small office with a total of four employees. Her boss (the owner) said that though she deserved a raise and could make more money elsewhere, he just did not have the money to pay her more.

Emma was disappointed (again), but a few months later she thought to ask for shorter hours. Now she works 9:30 to 4 instead of 9 to 5. This leaves more time for enjoying life and time for part-time work.

This reminds me of advice I got when applying for jobs – negotiate the total compensation package, not the salary. benefits, and perks could make a so-so job Salary is not the bottom line of a job, things like extensive vacation, a flexible work schedule much more appealing. If the salary cannot budge (think small businesses and non-profits), think about what is more flexible.

MFA or Bust shares her story of how she got more money for grad school by asking for it: Do not ask and you shall not receive.

A reader at Get Rich Slowly tells “How I gave myself a raise” by getting a competing offer and offering extra short-term work for his employer.

Free Money Finance gives advice that, though it may not work for everyone, the best way to earn more is to switch employers every few years:

If you’re simply looking to grow your salary as high as possible, then the best path is to work at different companies/organizations for 3-5 years, make a move, work 3-5 years there, make a move, and so on. If you have other objectives in mind (like living in a certain area of the country), then this probably isn’t the best option for you.

A friend of mine, who I’ll call Sydney, recently got a raise and a promotion. I asked her how she got it,
especially since she just returned from maternity leave.

Sydney’s job has a lot of flexibility. She is paid by a large grant from a private company, but she does not interact with them on a daily basis. Her predecessors took advantage of this flexibility and worked on personal projects, instead of in the interests of the company.

Coming onto the job, Sydney heard that her predecessors had not actually done the job, and she wondered if the job would be very boring and that is why they had not been involved in the project. That was not the case; she likes what she is doing, and it fits with her long-term career goals.

This might be one of the easiest ways to impress a new boss — take over a job that your predecessor did poorly. The flip side is to find out what your predecessor did well and be sure to keep up the same quality of work.

This summer, a friend of mine, who I will call Jenny, needed to make some extra money to cover her tuition in the fall. Inspired by a class she took on goal setting, Jenny set the specific goal of how much she wanted to earn in the summer. Her job offer though, was less than she had hoped for and would not be enough to cover her upcoming education expenses.

Jenny called her supervisor and said that she had hoped to earn $2,000 more over the summer. Her supervisor responded positively and later came back offering even more than Jenny had asked for.

When you are considering short-term employment, figure out how much you need to make, but do not necessarily rule out positions that pay less. It may be possible to negotiate a higher salary, especially if the extra money is for educational expenses.

Where I worked the past few summers, there is a “summer wage cap” determining the maximum amount a person can be paid during July and August. Last summer I was making less than this cap, so I asked for and received the difference ($2,800) with no hassle.

If there is a maximum amount you can possibly be paid, ask for the maximum.

I told several colleagues about this, and, as far as I know, everyone who asked for the full summer wages got the increased wages approved immediately.