What I’m Actively Doing to Build Alternate Income Streams 2026
1/11/20263 min read
This post is real shit, done by real people in the real world. It’s not about overnight success, passive-income fairy tales, or “quit your job in 90 days” nonsense.
It’s just the thoughts and actions of a regular dude, juggling the complexities and struggles of life like everyone else while wanting a bit more juice out of the lemon.
This is about what I’m actually doing — right now — to build alternate income streams while working a normal job, raising a family, and trying to not completely burn myself out in the process.
Some of it’s boring. Some of it’s slow. Most of it isn’t glamorous. But it’s real.
What I’ve Got on the Go (Right Now)
Here’s the current setup — nothing fancy, just a stack of small bets spread across different lanes:
Property
I own four properties, all currently negatively geared.
They’re not cashflow darlings (yet), but they’re long-term plays:
Leverage – using the banks money to buy more assets “good debt”
Time doing its thing – “time in the market not timing the market”
This is very much a “plant now, harvest later” strategy.
Put simply: borrow some money, buy assets, hold them for a long time and the value goes up.
Superannuation
Boring? Faark Yeah.
Powerful? Also, Faark Yeah.
This is the mandatory/forced discipline bucket. I can’t touch it therefore I don’t obsess over it (I think I look at mine once a year?). But I respect compounding and let time do the heavy lifting.
ETFs (exchange Traded Fund)
A small but growing ETF portfolio.
This is my:
“I don’t want to stock-pick every night”
“I still want market exposure”
“Let me sleep” investment
Simple. Boring. Effective.
FYI – If you don’t know what an ETF is, I highly recommend you research in to it. Even if you don’t buy any it will help you understand more about investing, markets and expand on your financial literacy. No more saying “Why didn’t they teach us this in school”. Schools in session now, so go and learn and teach yourself.
Crypto
Small holdings. Mostly Bitcoin and Ethereum.
This is the asymmetric upside play.
I’m not betting the house, but I also want some exposure in to the potential upside of this asset class – to the MOON baby.
High risk. High volatility – but small allocation.
Job (The Engine)
The job funds everything else.
It’s not sexy, but it:
Pays the bills
Buys me some options
Allows me to invest instead of speculate
This is the base layer. No shame in that.
Side Hustles & “Little Things”
This is where curiosity comes in:
Reselling
Small bits of gold
Writing blog content (this included)
Testing ideas without pressure
Nothing here needs to “make me rich.”
They just need to teach me something.
YouTube (On the Horizon)
Not live yet — but coming.
Why?
Leverage
Creative outlet
Evergreen content
Skill stacking (writing → speaking → storytelling)
No rush. No pressure. Just another brick.
Why I’m Doing This (The Real Reasons)
Let’s keep this simple.
1. My Family
Everything I do runs through this filter first.
Time. Stability. Options.
That’s the goal.
2. I Want More Out of Life
More freedom.
More creativity.
More autonomy.
I don’t want life to feel like a countdown to weekends – F that!
3. I Don’t Want to Have to Work Later
I’m not anti-work.
I’m anti-being trapped.
I love working but I want the ability to choose work that feels more like play — or at least work that actually matters to me.
And yeah, side note:
Being broke later in life would absolutely suck.
So instead of wishing for a better future like a loser, I’m trying to build one.
How I’ve Managed to Get Here
I’m lucky — and I’ll own that.
Decent jobs that I always put my best foot forward with.
No wild lifestyle inflation and I gave saving a proper crack early on.
That margin has created some options.
From there, it wasn’t about going “all-in” on one thing.
It was about spreading effort across systems and letting time + consistency do the work.
What This Blog Is Really About
This blog isn’t here to flex numbers or pretend to be something I’m not.
It’s here to:
Document what I’m trying
Share what’s working (and what isn’t)
Show that progress is usually boring and unsexy
Keep myself accountable
If it helps someone else along the way — even better. Peace!