How much do you want to earn each month?

You do not need somebody else’s income goal. You need a number that would make a difference to your life, and a way of working you can sustain.

Start with what the money is for

Write down what you want the extra income to cover: a regular bill, a family day out, savings, or more choice about the work you do. Give it a monthly amount in your own currency. Keep your first target separate from your longer-term ambition.

For a business, decide whether your target means sales or money left after costs. This guide uses profit after business costs, before personal tax. That is not the same as take-home pay.

Look at the time you actually have

Use an ordinary week, not your most productive week. Include childcare, work, appointments and rest. A few reliable hours can be a better starting point than a plan that depends on finding time every evening.

Some hours will go into learning, customer conversations, marketing and admin. The planner starts with half your time available for delivering paid work; change that assumption to suit your situation.

Work backwards

Suppose your monthly profit goal is 300, your fixed costs are 30, each project sells for 100 and costs 10 to deliver. Each project contributes 90 towards fixed costs and your goal. You would need four paid projects: 400 in sales, minus 40 in project costs and 30 in fixed costs, leaves 330 before personal tax.

These are example numbers, not suggested prices or expected earnings. Whether anyone will buy your offer still needs testing.

Try the income planner with your own numbers.

Pick one route to explore

• Pocket money: one small offer or occasional paid project.
• A side income: a repeatable service alongside your current responsibilities.
• A new direction: building evidence for a career move or your own business.

Make the next step small

Write one sentence: “I want to earn ___ each month by helping ___ with ___, within ___ hours a week.”

Then test the offer with a real person. Before buying tools or building a full app, ask what they currently do, what causes a problem and whether they would pay for the result you can deliver. Find your first customer walks through that conversation.

Review the goal after your first project. Use actual hours and costs rather than keeping the original guess. Personal tax and local business requirements depend on where you live and how you operate; check those separately when working out what you can spend.