Leaving the Day Job: Are you Ready?

Having read a number of bloggers who have successfully escaped their day job to pursue whatever it is they want to do is something I admire and aspire to. JD at Getrichslowly, for example, has swung over to blogging full time as his only source of income. It takes a lot of courage and grit to make that leap, and I know I”m not ready yet, but I want to get there. It”s interesting that in some areas I think risk is part of the game and I happily accept it. My stock portfolio, for example, often sees steep fluctuations depending on the market”s mood and the economy”s direction, but I don”t lose sleep at night over it, it”s the nature of the beast.

When it comes to debt, however, my attitude changes completely. Why would I want to spend much of my life padding someone else”s pocket with interest (mortgage)? I hate the feeling of owing someone something, like when you borrow money from a friend and every time you hang out you think about it in the back of your mind. Having my student loan outstanding makes me cringe when I check the balance, if only because I want to have it paid off now, right now, and the end-goal is still months away. For me, I equate much of financial freedom to being debt-free, and that goes for all debt. There is no “good” debt, there is no “I”m free except for my mortgage.” You owe people money or you don”t. Perhaps this is a false dichotomy of my own creation, but I can”t shake that feeling.

When it comes to quitting my day job, it”s another area that I”m very conservative. I”d have to have enough income lined up to cover all of my current expenses before I quit my day job. I”d also need to find a source for insurance, and a sizable emergency fund due to the feast or famine nature of being a freelancer. Where as until you”re fired, you will be paid at your job regardless if there”s enough work to keep you busy or not. I”ve been making all Klarer du i tillegg a bli en VIP-spiller, kan du regne med a delta i en rekke spennende tilbud som ikke nodvendigvis handler om Casinospill – kanskje du ogsa far muligheten til a oppleve verden. sorts headway in this area. I”ve lined up freelance writing jobs, created a profitable portfolio of niche sites, and examined potential off-line ventures. At my current estimate, my ETA of leaving the day job is at least a few years off.

There are 3 major hurdles I have to overcome within the next 5-10 years to make the jump:

• I need enough alternate income to replace the loss of my salary, including new expenses like health insurance.
• I need to be entirely debt-free.
• I need to have low monthly costs in terms of living expenses. This includes a paid off car (August), house (?!).

I know I can get there, if given enough time, but my patience is hard to temper. I like flexibility, I like working hard on my own terms, I don”t like busy work..all of these things lead me to feel constrained or bored while doing the more mundane tasks associated with the 9-5 grind. Thankfully for me though I work with some great people and actually do enjoy my job in it”s entirety, so a few more years here would hardly be soul-crushing.

Tick Tock.

Alternate income for yesterday, May 28 : $10.38