Something amazing has happened in the past eighteen months. While I’ve been learning about personal finance — and sharing my knowledge with you — Get Rich Slowly has grown from a small site with a couple hundred readers into a real-life business. GRS currently has 35,000 subscribers and generates $5,000 in monthly revenue. It also takes most of my time. This is a blessing and a curse.
The Blessing
As my income from this site has grown, I’ve been able to achieve my financial goals more quickly. In two weeks, I’ll be debt-free except for the mortgage. I have an emergency fund. I’m maxing out my Roth IRA every year. Get Rich Slowly has also put me in touch with a lot of great people: readers, colleagues, and media contacts. Most of all, I’ve learned tons about personal finance. I’m still a novice when it comes to investing and retirement planning, but I’m a novice who knows how to find the information he needs, and who is willing to share it with others.
The Curse
As wonderful as this site has been to me, it’s not without its drawbacks. Chief among these is that it takes time. Kris and I used to do more things together. I used to have spare time to read books and to play games and to hang out with my friends. Though I still do these things whenever possible, more of my time is devoted to providing quality content. Writing Get Rich Slowly is literally like having a second full-time job.
The Decision
After months of deliberation, I’ve decided to quit my job at the family business.
Yes, having two sources of income provides a tremendous sense of security, but I cannot continue at this pace. Lately I’ve struggled to squeeze Get Rich Slowly into the cracks of life: evenings, weekends, down-time at the box factory. As the site has grown, so has the workload. In order to make Get Rich Slowly everything I want it to be, in order to provide the best personal finance information, this site must be my top priority.
Quitting the day job scares me. My web income can support my lifestyle, especially if I’m frugal. But I had developed grand plans of accelerated savings, of paying off my mortgage in just a few years, of traveling around the world. When I quit the day job, I’ll be sacrificing:
The second income.
An additional retirement plan (about $5,000/year).
Daily contact with co-workers and colleagues.
I’ll be trading these sure things for an uncertain future. What guarantee do I have that Get Rich Slowly can continue to produce enough income to support me? What guarantee do I have that I’ll still want to do this three years from now? There are no guarantees.
The Plan
And so I am making a leap of faith. Or, more precisely, several “hops of faith”. In order to provide myself and the business a smooth transition, I’m going to reduce my hours gradually over the coming year.
Beginning 01 January 2008, my Tuesdays will be spent working on Get Rich Slowly.
Beginning April 1st, I’ll drop Thursdays at the box factory.
On July 1st, Mondays will be spent writing.
Next October, I’ll be down to only Wednesdays at the day job.
Finally, on 01 January 2009, I will be an official real-life full-time blogger.
I’ve always wanted to be a professional writer. I just thought I’d write science fiction novels. Or the sorts of short stories you find in Harper’s and The New Yorker. I never imagined I would one day make my living by writing about personal finance.
The Preparation
Now that I’ve committed to taking this leap, I’m scared. I’ve become a master of the worst-case scenario. Yes, Get Rich Slowly has generated enough revenue to support me during the past few months, but what if something goes wrong? What if I run out of things to write? What if Google or FeedBurner cancel their ad programs? What if I lose my thumbs in a blogging accident? What if all these things happen at once?
I’ve had people ask me how to prepare for a potential job loss, or how to make the transition to self-employment. My answers have always been theoretical. Now that I’m facing this situation myself, however, I can tell you the sorts of preparations I made. I think all of these are important:
Crunch the numbers
There are many good reasons to track every penny you spend — potential job loss is one of them. Sit down and go over your records. How much do you spend on food every month? What do you spend on utilities? What could you sacrifice if needed? Run the numbers for a variety of “what if?” scenarios. I’m fortunate to have health insurance through Kris’ job — if I didn’t, the numbers tell me I couldn’t make this leap yet.
Manage your money
You should always be smart with your finances. But when you’ve lost your job, or are about to make a career change, this becomes even more important. I can’t imagine making the move to full-time writer if I wasn’t debt-free (except for the mortgage). If I still had spending problems, this transition would be even more frightening.
Embrace frugality
I’ve done a great job of developing frugal habits over the past two years. I need to maintain these. I need to make use of the library. I need to walk and bike on my errands instead of driving. I need to follow the tips I share with you.
Kill the lifestyle inflation
As my debt-free date approaches, I’ve begun to loosen the grip I’ve had on my spending. We’ve been dining out more often. I’ve been buying toys and gadgets. I had even begun planning to purchase expensive furniture for the living room. All of this lifestyle inflation needs to stopnow.
Bolster the emergency fund
I’m generally an advocate of smaller emergency funds — $500, $1000, $5000. But as I consider my upcoming transition to full-time blogging, I’ve realized I want to have more in savings. Much more. Though it seems like an impossible goal, I’m going to strive to save $20,000 by the end of 2008. (My mind boggles just to type that number.)
Seek professional advice
Consult with an accountant, and maybe even an attorney. There are tax and legal implications that come with starting your own business. Take the time to speak with somebody who knows the rules. Get things right from the start.
Pursue multiple streams of income
Most people have a single stream of income — their job. The more income streams you have, though, the more secure you are. My current situation is a perfect example. When I leave my job at the box factory, I need to pursue other income sources as well. I might consider a part-time job. I might pursue computer consulting work. More likely, however, I’ll start additional websites (such as Get Fit Slowly, which I hope to have ready for launch by the first of the year). The more sources of income I have, the safer I’ll feel.
Define goals
It’s always good to know which direction you’re headed. In the face of an uncertain future, this becomes even more important. I’ve thought a lot about this lately. Where will I be in five years? In ten? In twenty? I need to decide what my objectives are, and be sure that my other choices align with these.
Focus on what’s important
Because I’m placing all of my faith behind this website, I need to work to make it the best it can be. I need to provide more useful information, offer more tips, help readers find more answers.
The moment I decided to quit my day job, my entire mindset about money changed. It was as if somebody had thrown a switch in my brain. It’s more important than ever to practice what I preach. I’ve entered Ultra-Frugality Mode. I sat down the other day and crafted a new spending plan. I listed exactly what my monthly obligations are, and what my expected income is. The surplus is earmarked to boost my emergency fund as high as it can go.
It feels good to know that I’ve made some smart money decisions over the past eighteen months. These now serve as a sort of safety net. I don’t have a lot of fixed monthly expenses. I’ve eliminated my debt. I’ve developed the saving habit. These things will help me as I make the transition to working on my own.
The Dream
This decision has been difficult. The box factory is a safe, comfortable environment. It’s a sure thing. By leaving the business, I’m sacrificing stability.
On the other hand, I have to consider what I’m gaining: time. I’m going to gain time to exercise, time to actually respond to e-mail, time to research more extensive articles, time to begin writing the book I’ve had in mind for the past year. I’m going to have a chance to live the pastoral lifestyle I’ve always dreamed of.
I’m finally following some of my own advice: I’ve gathered the guts to pursue my dream. I’m glad to have you along for the ride.
In 2006, J.D. founded Get Rich Slowly to document his quest to get out of debt. Over time, he learned how to save and how to invest. Today, he's managed to reach early retirement! He wants to help you master your money — and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you reach your goals.
I’ve valued a life of spending wisely and being prepared. You’ve always come across as having a good head on your shoulders and your articles are top notch. Here’s to your continued success. Best of luck!
*applauds* Congrats on deciding to pursue your dream! Looks like you’ve made all the right preparations and are ready to go. It’s OK to be scared – I’ve been a freelancer all my working life, and whenever things slow down, I still get gripped by fear that I’d never get another assignment. You just learn to live with it, really.
Reading through this for the millionth time (I’ve proofed this post dozens of times over the past couple weeks), I realized that it might not be clear why I’m phasing out slowly instead of making the leap outright.
Though Get Rich Slowly is generating $5,000/month now, I worry that it cannot maintain this level. I know that it can maintain $3,000/month, but that’s not quite enough to live on. By giving myself a year to make the transition, I’m freeing up some time to do the things I need to do, while also allowing time for the income to stabilize (or increase). If things go more slowly than I expect, then I have a safety net.
Also, I want to point out that although $5,000/month seems like a lot of money, when you compute my hourly wage, it’s not that extreme. Now if I were making one post a week and generating that sort of revenue, that would be a lot of money! 🙂
Congratulations!! The plan is great. I wish you the best – which I’m sure you will achieve!!
We recently jumped in with both feet into achieving our dream as well, launching the business 3 weeks ago, at http://www.KangarooBoo.com YIKES is about all I can say right now. 🙂 I believe we will succeed, but the ride there is scary.
Wow, amazing news! I’ve been following your blog for about a year now, and it’s been inspiring. Congratulations and good luck pursuing your dreams. I’ll be reading and rooting!
Good luck! I’ve always likened these moves to clinging to a rock in a river, and letting go…and trusting that what is downstream is better than where you were…always a few bumps, but always worth it!
Congrats JD! I took the plunge a little over two years ago and it was the best thing I ever did. I remember being really scared when I finally did it, but I had several years of good experience leading up to it and I should have known it’d work out.
Andrea >> Start a consulting business says11 November 2007 at 22:59
JD, congratulations! In time, you’ll find a way to generate more per hour. I make around $125-150/hour from working on my blog. However, I have several other revenue streams that pay around the same and so I can mitigate risk.
Hey man, go for it. I did it 4 years ago and never looked back. You know, the time spend with loved ones and doing the things you love is more important than having loads of money and it’s also where real security comes from — from the people that love you and are willing to be there for you when you need them. If you insulate yourself with loads of money, you might never find that out. Good luck!
Wonderful story, JD! I’ve been a long time reader of you blog and I think it’s awesome that you decide to take the risk!
I hope you will make it big and inspire more people to follow suit and pursuit their own dreams. Cheers!
A couple of years back my husband took a leap of faith and quit his job as an office furniture installer so he could work from home as a computer consultant. He had recently finished earning two Associates degrees in computers and had been doing computer repair and troubleshooting on the side for a couple years, so it made sense. Although it was the scariest decision we had ever made, we look back now and are so glad we did it. Not only does he make a lot more money (he’s making $25-$100 an hour vs. $12 an hour), but more importantly, he is truly happy and content (which is priceless). Good luck to you in your endeavor as well – with hard work and dedication, you can make your dream happen… my husband is proof of that.
One potential way to both build the emergency fund and transition to a single income could be to throw all $ from the box company into your emergency fund. Or do it gradually, hopefully offset by an increase in $ from this site as you have more time for it – as you drop a day at work, try to put 25% more of each paycheck toward the emergency fund (i.e. Jan ’08 put 25% of each away, Apr ’08 put 50% of each away, et cetera).
However you choose to manage it, best of luck and we’ll be here cheering you on!
A lot of people make the snap decision to try and go pro, but you’ve put in the necessary work and preparation beforehand and based the decision on maths. I think you’re going to have heaps of success, and it’ll be great for us (and your family) to see more of you.
Awesome. And you have a great opportunity to slowly phase out the old job — I’m glad you can do that.
Also, with the whole ‘going solo’ comes a possible future series — the mechanics of establishing your own business, taxes, filings, etc. I’m thinking of creating my own business, but I’m at a loss for details to do it legitimately.
Best of luck going forward, you’ve done a fantastic job.
J.D., very sensible planning and also advice to others who are looking to jump into pro blogging. You’ve broken it down into very detailed structures and reasons to help realize your aim and I wish you all the best! If I had known more about this before I started, it’d have been a tremendous help!
Great news, JD! Thanks for such an inspiring site–it has helped me through the dark days of credit-card phone calls, the possibility of bankruptcy, and much stress. I’m not out of the woods, but at least I am on a path now instead of wandering lost in the wilderness.
Congratulations! I’m hoping to start a blog in January and parlay it into a similar situation over the course of a few years. You, my friend, are an inspiration.
Congratulations on making the decision to go pro. This is my first visit to your blog, but I’ll be adding it to my favorites. What you’re doing is what I dream of doing, so thanks for writing this and letting everyone know that it can be done.
I had a long talk with some fellow comickers at a convention recently and one of the busier ones made that “one big income stream” vs. “having lots of small- to medium-sized clients/projects” comparison to a few of us w/ a full-time job. Sure, having a bunch of clients/projects took more fancy footwork, networking, and innovation than having your typical day job, and you had to get your own insurance and put together your own retirement plan, but that’s the price you pay for security. That conversation has stuck with me since then, and I’m now more focused on finding ways that I can make that happen in my own life.
I’m glad that you have a well thought-out business plan for making the leap from full-time employment to self-employment, and that the plan focuses initially on being frugal and not being dependent on raking in truckloads of cash in Month 1 to survive. That, IMHO, seems to be a much saner approach. Now, if you need to know about retirement plans or need frugality tips, there’s this great website called Get Rich Slowly that you should check out… 😉
First of all: Congratulations with your success so far. That hard work paid off. Congratulations also with your Big Decision! Lots of “box factory” workers envy you because they’re afraid to take the leap themselves.
Then: I am curious how you get that kind of revenue off of a (any) blog. I can’t believe it’s just from ads/referral links? It would be interesting to learn what works.
It’s great to see someone with a serious and professionally thought out transition plan. I wish you continued and progressive success. Hopefully many more will watch and learn from you, not just about finances, but about the realities of blogging for a living.
Right now, so many people seem to be quitting their day jobs left and right with stars in their eyes about getting rich immediately from blogging. It doesn’t help that there are so many ‘net marketers’ out there making unrealistic promises to the gullible about striking the motherlode.
I’m so happy for you! I learn something every time I come to this site. Thank you for sharing not only your goal but your step-by-step business plan. It’s interesting to hear inspirational stories about how people pursued their dreams, but it’s even more interesting to get to see the business plan and the pros and cons and the “real life” of it all. And let me tell you, there are risks involved with everything. I suppose you could lose my thumbs in a blogging accident :0) but it’s also true that accepting a full-time corporate job is not a risk-free path either. Nothing is risk-free but you’ve done your homework. Now go get ’em!
TheWebmastersCafe.net says12 November 2007 at 05:35
Good J.D.
I am pursuing more or less the same goal. I want to generate most of my income from affiliate marketing but I’d also like to generate some from my blog.
I’ve got to your website from a post made on problogger.com
Keep on the good work! I’ll subscribe to your feed!
Yeah, thanks for letting me be a little part of your dream.
As for the offers of helping out, GRS readers, one way you can help is to continue to provide feedback on the site and let the mod staff know what else you’d like to see.
You’ve taken a very sensible approach to everything. My view is if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything, so burning the candle at both ends isn’t wise. That will catch up with anybody. If worse comes to worse, which I doubt it will, can you get your old job back? I’m sure they would rehire you, as would many other places. Meanwhile, go for it. This is your reward for all the efforts you’ve made re getting out of debt & becoming responsible for your spending. Now you can follow your passions.
The climbing the rock wall metaphor, and why it’s difficult: “We focus on the foothold we’ve got rather than the handhold waiting up there for us. We concentrate on the things we’re going to have to give up, rather than imagining the satisfactions and pleasures that could lie ahead. Amazing things happen when we open ourselves up to an unknown future.” Go for it – take the plunge, and don’t get in your own way!
“Life is not about making money — money is about making a life…” Those words from author, Mitch Anthony, rang in my ears as I started my own investment advisory firm last year…
Don’t forget that finances are just part of “life planning.” When I stopped “working for the man” I found my creativity exploded and stress was tremendously reduced. My income has not yet reached peak levels but the “returns” I receive from self-fulfillment go far beyond monetary measure.
Gettting rich slowly is prudent only when money takes a back seat to your dream. Be happy and the money will follow…
My advice is to have plans for how to use that extra time, or it will just evaporate. Don’t just say, “Well, I’ll work on GRS more then,” because you’ll find yourself doing the same amount of work on GRS and filling the rest of the time with other, random things.
I’ve been reading GRS for more than a year and it has always been a steady source of motivation to keep me on track. There are so many good articles, and especially on the human side.
J.D., you have a talent to sum up books, link them together and show that there is not a simple, magical answer answer.
Have you thought to give seminars? Full day seminars on multiple financial planning strategy. Some people are struggling and need some strategy, some method, something that helps them make the first step. How about you give quality seminars on week-ends? That would be a new source of income.
Good luck with your hops of faith. A very wise strategy. I will keep reading your blog.
You really are taking things slowing, AND that is a good thing.
I can’t plan for what I need to do next month, less next year. Yet you have a detail plan that you follow up till next 2009. That’s patience.
I really hope you do well and not lose a typing thumb next year, or any other year.
Great news and good luck! I enjoy reading stories from someone who is where I would like to be in 18 months (okay, maybe 2 years). If you just had a kid we’d be identical twins!
J.D., that sounds fantastic. You definitely strike me as someone that possesses the necessary tools to make this a reality. Good for you! And thanks again for sharing GRS with us.
Manolo the Shoeblogger says12 November 2007 at 06:49
Ayyyyy! Good luck to the JD!
The Manolo made the similar leap the while back and has not for the instant regretted it. To be mostly in control of one’s own destiny is the greatest pleasure imaginable.
Great news! I’m a big fan of your writing, so if you end up starting a new site, I’d likely be a regular reader of that as well.
I’m envious that you know what you want to do. I’m content in my job, but it’s just not what I want to be doing….I just wish I knew what my dream job was 🙂
Good luck with it during the course of this next year, and big news on finally getting out of debt in a couple of weeks. That final debt getting cleared is a good feeling. Have fun!
Can you give us an estimate of how much time you spend working on your blog? How long does it take you to craft a post, including researching and writing it?
I realize that it can be hard to crunch blogging into life when you have a regular full time job, but I wonder how much time you will dedicate to your blog when it is your full time work. 5 hours a day, 6, 8? 5 days a week? Weekends? etc.
If you have any idea of these specifics I’d really appreciate it if you could provide some details. I’m interested in finding out if you plan to work as many hours blogging as you did working a full-time job.
J.D., you are an excellent role model for all of us, as you continue to contribute so much to making the world a better place. I’m excited for you and for all the great opportunities and adventures that now lie ahead of you because of this move you’re making. I look forward to saying, “I knew him when.”
Congratulations! And welcome to the club 😉
Reading about your journey is going to help me enormously. My main problem is conquering my fear of the “worst case scenario”. It is very hard to walk away from a secure, sure thing.
I think it’s a good decision for you not to have 2 full time jobs. Besides, you are quitting from a family business, which means, the way I see it, that you can go back there anytime you want.
Ramit (from I Will Teach You to Be Rich) and I were just talking about this the other day, actually. We decided it would be fun if we could add a new stat to each post: Preparation Time. We thought this would be useful for readers *and* for ourselves.
Most posts — even simple ones — take me several hours to prepare. Part of this is my own poor organizational skills. Trent (at The Simple Dollar) is able to produce similar posts in a fraction of the time. I don’t have that talent. My ideas come out in a jumble, and have to be organized in order to be presented to the world.
Some posts — such as this one — take days. There are probably eight hours in this post, though this time is scattered in bits and pieces over the last few weeks. I made three passes at this topic before spending 2-1/2 hours yesterday getting the final version done.
In general, my rules of thumb are:
* a links post takes about half an hour to produce
* a money hack takes about half an hour to produce
* an article summary takes an hour or two to produce (though if I’m really into it, it can take longer)
* a story about my personal experience takes a couple hours to produce
* a detailed how-to post takes several hours to produce
When I say “X hours to produce”, I mean brainstorming, writing, and editing. I figure editing takes about 50% of the time for every post, and even then I don’t do a good job. Editing is tough. On average, I probably spend five hours a day (seven days a week) writing. Again, this is squeezed into the cracks of life: before work, during down-time at work, after work (before Kris gets home), on weekends, etc.
Of course, there are also my other blogs, the GRS forums, and e-mail to worry about. That’s a lot!
In reality, what going full-time is going to give me is uninterrupted time. Interruptions kill me. They break my train of thought. I’ve done some test-runs over the past couple months during which I stayed home just to write. These days were awesome. I was able to produce content like a madman. There’s no guarantee that this will always be the case, of course, but I have my fingers crossed.
p.s. When you read “a detailed how-to post takes several hours to produce” and then you hear me talking about how little time I’ve had to write lately, you can probably figure out why GRS has been light on detailed how-to posts lately. 🙂
Congratulations JD! I read your blog every day and it’s helped me move forward with my financial goals. It takes courage and good planning to make the leap you did. I wish you nothing but success. 🙂
Good luck with the process of shifting to full-time. I’d like to make the shift myself. The income’s there but my biggest obstacle is standing out. I’m not such a great writer and will likely never attract the attention while there are increasing numbers of high-quality blogs in this niche.
MillionDollarJourney.com says12 November 2007 at 08:05
Congrats JD! You are living the dream. With your kind of traffic levels though, I expect that GRS is under monetized. Shoot me an email, maybe we can throw around a few ideas.
Congratulations! Your blog is one of my faves and now that I have my own (very weak) blog, I fully understand your need for time. I wondered how much time you good bloggers put in, and now I know. Wow! No wonder you’re successful!
I am quite happy that the link was posted on the ProBlogger site, or I probably would never have come across your site. I am subscribing to your blog and look forward to keeping up with your transition! Congratulations on your decision!!!
This is a huge development for you. I consider your blog the model finance blog – thorough, elegant looking, grammatically correct(!), well-written and well-edited. So your success is well-deserved.
I work for myself, which is essentially what you will be doing. A few pointers:
– it is essential to get dressed in the morning and “go to work”. On days when I am a pajama professional I never feel all the way focused or serious.
– it is very, very challenging to create enough human contact when you’re a solo worker. If I don’t arrange and schedule it, some days the only person I see is the UPS guy. Cyber-connecting fills a certain need for relating, but it’s no substitute for building up social capital where you really live, with real people. You’ll be surprised how much of that your day job provided.
– don’t worry about the frugality. Your expenses go down a bit, and you’ll have more time and energy to generate income.
– do you have an agent for a book deal? When you sell your book (and I mean WHEN, not IF) you should negotiate for a serious advance. If you already have 35,000 readers, a publisher will love you.
– enjoy your enhanced income. Trust that you won’t piss it away; give yourself permission to lighten up in a few areas without feeling anxious or guilty. If you need to tighten up again, you have the skills.
Fear always seems to accompany a change such as this. In 1992, I left everything so I live in Hawaii. I only had 500 dollars and a backpack. I was fearful up until the moment I landed in Hawaii. Everything just seemed so ‘right’, and everything worked out. I ended up living in Hawaii for twelve years before returning to he mainland to finish my education. I have no regrets, and I doubt that you will have any regrets for making this decision, which naturally involves fear. If you can accept the possibility of the worse-case scenario (in my case it was ‘death’), then you will be better off. Good luck.
Congratulations, J.D.! I am so happy that you’ve been able to go from saying that you wanted something to actually making it happen. I know that feeling well so it always makes me happy when I hear that my friends are reaching their goals in life and doing the things that make them most happy.
Patrick from IT-Proficient.com says12 November 2007 at 10:03
Congratulations, J.D. I know you will succeed for a long time. It’s all in the planning.
I am actually surprised that you still use adsense. Have you never been approached by a company that wants to sponsor exclusively on your site?
I mean you got so many visitors that appreciate your articles.
Nick - road2graduation says12 November 2007 at 10:21
JD, Great post and understand why you’re taking it slowly in the changeover. Think you maybe best to expand the ads on the site though – some 468×60 banners at the end of a post instead of an adsense ad?
Congrats on getting the courage to make the leap. I’ve enjoyed this blog for over a year, I feel like I’ve been there with you on your journey. I admire the decision to take a chance and jump. I have plans of doing something similar in the next few years and even though its far away I’m still scared to crap!
“Pastoral lifestyle” I hear you brother. Might I recommend Beethoven’s 6th symphony.
You also need to mention that now you are paying your own FICA, you give 14.5% more to Uncle Sam on your self-employed income vs. your income as an employee.
Anyway congrats. And if you seriously want tips on how to mitigate the risk of blogger injuries, I’d be happy to discuss.
JD, I’ve been reading your blog since *almost* it’s beginning, when I first became interested in personal finance. Your blog is one of the few I’m still reading today. You do great work, and the effort and love you put into it shows.
Congrats on taking the leap to quit your day job. My husband and I took the leap toward self-employment this summer. It was scary, but we’ve been having a great time. We live EXTREMELY frugally, so we can get by on very little. Time and flexibility have been wonderful assets.
Computer Consulting Kit says12 November 2007 at 11:16
Congratulations on deciding to make the move! I counsel a lot of computer consultants on how to leave their day jobs and become entrepreneurs starting their own businesses. The list you provide of steps you need to take is a good one to be viewed by those trying to start their own businesses. It’s a good example of a written-down plan that you can keep in mind as you move forward. There is definitely always an element of risk involved in jumping off the edge into opening your own business, but if you set realistic and reasonable goals for yourself along the way and get the support of friends and family (and of course, stick to the plan you put down on paper!) you can increase your chances of success and decrease the worry.
Long time subscriber, first time commenter. 🙂 This post (and your plan) is great! You have a lot of talent, and your readers appreciate your sharing that generously. I’m sure you’ll be repaid in manifold ways for what you do. Thanks.
Truly impressive JD, hope everything works out. GRS has always been a solid blog, and I’d wager it’ll continue to improve now that you’ll have more time to devote to it.
Best of luck!
I’m curious though, is healthcare coverage an issue at all in your calculations?
Regarding multiple streams of income, I did this for a while and realized that what I needed more was to diversify my income streams, not make multiple ones. The more separate your income streams, the more infrastructure needs they have that are disparate. So, your idea of starting another blog is a good one, because it relies on knowledge and infrastructure that is already built-in with your first one. Diversify the income streams and build wealth to put aside in case you need to multiply later because of some technology or market condition that threatens to make your stream obsolete.
With regards to the number of hours you work, seek out people who can ghost write for you and are well worth your investment to do so. Then, you can spend more time managing your diversified streams and less time doing grunt work. What you learn in one area automatically applies to the other, if they are in the same genre. If you hire people, just be sure to tweak their writing so that it appeals to your audience and still has your personal touch. I do freelance writing and I do this for a variety of different people. My income stream is diversified into blogs, ghost-writing, academic writing, and just about any writing that suits my fancy. If I want a project that is too large, then I sometimes team with someone else too. It helps people who are doing multiple online businesses and it helps me continue to support myself on a very flexible schedule. Even so, I have many time demands with a Master’s program but I can actually feel very secure knowing that I can generate income when I need it even with no part-time job because I have multiple customers and a diversified income stream.
This is a great inspirational story! Though my intention is not really to make money off my personal finance blog, it is nice to hear that your consistent great work is finding a way to make it worth your time.
It just goes to show that if you find a way to make the things you are passionate about provide value to other people, you’ll be rewarded in the end.
Well just waiting for Trent to make the same move.
Both of you have made a huge difference in the lives of my Wife and I. I can’t believe just a few short months ago we couldn’t save money if our lives depended on it, now, we’ve lowered our living cost alot.
Well just waiting for Trent to make the same move.
Bloggers like yourself and Trent can make a huge difference in peoples lives. Can’t believe just a few short months ago my Wife and I couldn’t save money if our lives depended on it, now I couldn’t imagine not having money in the bank.
Conrats! Making the transition to self-employed can be scary, but it so very rewarding! There’s nothing better than getting paid to do something you really love, and you are your own boss. It’ll probably take a while for you to relax in to your flow of income (it took me over a year), but it will happen. Also, the more time you have to write, the more you’ll likely end up making.
BTW – you can use your free time next November to participate in NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org) and write your novel. I’m doing it this year…
I am actually not surprised by the amount of time it takes you to write posts. Especially detailed how-to-posts. As you said you’re still ‘learning about personal finance.’ It certainly takes a fair amount of time to gather the facts before writing about them. And of course, your style of writing as a ‘student’ of personal finance, rather than a ‘teacher’, is what makes your blog so approachable and well-like by the broader audience. It would be interesting to find out if you become more efficient at blogging over time. Especially, uninterrupted time.
By the way when you become self-employed don’t forget to purchase disability and life insurance if you don’t already have them. Most companies provide these benefits, at minimal cost for their employees, but once you are on your own it’s vital that you purchase new policies.
J.D. Don’t forget to add the overhead time of running a blog which includes the administering of the system – database and software. (It seems that this site is misbehaving recently.)
Congratulations on your decision! I hope it works out well for you. If you don’t mind me asking, what platform does your blog run on? I like the way it looks and am curious to find out what platforms commercially viable blogs use.
Brenden Phillips-Garrett says12 November 2007 at 21:53
I congratulate you for making the leap! I’m a Peace Corps volunteer (former stock broker) in the republic of Georgia, working with entrepreneurs who are making the same leap you are. It takes a ton of bravery to take the leap to self-employment – I’m looking forward to reading about your experiences are you embark on the entrepreneurial path. Good luck!
This is a brave step! I know when I was silly enough to give up a good job as a Web Designer for a top UK company to become a teacher, I went on a major roller coaster of emotion… I hope you too will get more highs than lows!
I am in a transition myself right now and am wondering how you got this site going. From what I have read you have a good plan and I will probably use most of your advice next time I decide to quit a job on the whim.
Don’t worry. You’ll do great. I guess we should have faith most of all in our own capacity to make it work. If it’s not the web site, it will be something else. You can still be a science fiction writer! Anyway, the hardest part is to decide to take your life in your hands, and you did it.
There is no such thing as an average life. You either live boldly with passion or you might as well be dead because there will be plenty of gray mice to replace you. Good luck and congratulations on being courageous enough to live!
WAY TO GO! It’s nice to see good people obtain success. I like your plan to shift over slowly, it should make things a bit easier for you.
Might I suggest you don’t think of your $20,000 as an emergancy fund, but rather an income stablization fund. When your web income dips, you borrow from it, when it’s up you put some back. If it grows too big, start breaking off $5000 pieces to invest to obtain dividend income in a taxable account. This should provide some additional streams of income to help you out when you hit the low income months.
Or when you hit an extra $10,000 in your account perhaps it’s time for you to start your own publishing business with a GRS book.
Hey man…good luck! That is incredibly too cool. I’d love to be able to do such things, but my “generate intersting content skills” just aren’t there. (I’m going a different route).
I did notice you mention being an advocate for a “smaller” emergency fund…i was always under the impression that your EF should be whatever it would take to sustain your lifestyle from the time you lost your job to the time you found a new one (plan on 3 to 6 months)…
Very inspiring. I’m sure you’ve seen Darren Rowse, Steve Pavlina and other blogger big shots.. anyway these guys are pulling down something on the order of over $1000/day (last I checked.. much more by now).
$20,000 grand will mean something else to you in about 4 months of going full time (i’m sure of it).
Congratulations JD. I’m really impressed by your detailed planning, and you still say it’s a leap of faith! I suspect many people take the leap with much less idea about how things might work out.
As this is my first time on your site I don’t know whether or not you have children and if you do, or are planning them, how they fit into your time and financial planning. I have four and, delightful as they are, they completely mess up my time management.
Anyway, good luck. I will be checking your site again.
Sounds like you are in for an adventure.
I have primarily been my own boss for over 40 years and would have it no other way.
If you want to hit it big time pick one thing and do it well. If you want to hit it small time do lots of things so so.
I noticed you are quitting the family business which tells me you have a fairly well off family that would provide you a safety net.
Which takes some worry out of the leap.
Good Luck
Congratulations! It’s a big move, which I’m sure will be good for your fans.
As someone who transitioned this summer from a semi-stable FT job to freelancing, I can tell you there are some good challenges to not having the workplace and the associated expectations. I found it took a month or so to start using my new-found time wisely. I look forward to reading your thoughts on your new life of leisure.
I was more or less forced into a similar decision at a much less comfortable time, when I was laid off from a job and couldn’t find another (a few years ago). At that point, I dug in and found ways to make a living online. You can do it. There may be months when you don’t make enough to pay every single bill, but you’ll juggle them and get back in stride. You’ve already proven you have the ability. Just keep going. You’ll be fine. Congratulations and good luck!
Congratulations, JD. Another tough part of the process might be giving up ready-made health benefits and having to purchase your own outright. But it sounds like your health itself will actually improve once you devote yourself full-time to what you love. I’m looking to many more years of GRS!
Congrats on the jump! Was it simply too hard to micromanage a real job and blogging? You post quite frequently so it must have been tough. I hope I can maintain doing both for myself!
You are quite lucky that you worked for a family business. You can always put it aside temporary and come back whenever you want to since it’s a family thing. You can’t really do that with a regular job.
-Raymond
My husband and I just made the leap (you said “hop” – for us it felt like a *leap*!) to work from home full-time. It’s been an interesting adventure so far. We’re enjoying the ride, but it has definitely caused us to tighten the reins on our already frugal living style. Something about not having that guaranteed pay check really does that for you!
Multiple streams of income is by far the way to go – especially when it comes to internet marketing and blogging. The possibilities for earning revenue online are almost limitless so one is a fool to box themselves in to thinking there’s only a handful of ways to earn money online. Or that you should just stick with a few proven programs. Think outside the box, try new things, take a few calculated risks here and there, get creative, and see all those trickles of income from here and there start turning into streams, which turn into rivers, and then into waterfalls!
We look forward to seeing what new ventures and opportunities await you. Thanks for sharing from your wisdom and experience.
JD … thanks for the encouragement and reality check. How long have you been doing this and what is your estimated average output (word count) per week?
I definitely appreciate the fact that your posts are worth reading. That is, they are reasonably researched, sensible and well-written. That’s what I try to do on my blogs. We’ll see …
My reasonably new blogs seem to be getting some traction, too. Few comments, but about 50% return visitors and this month has already seen as many visitors as the whole of last month.
I was reading tonight that my posts are probably almost 3 times as long as ‘good blog practice’ would suggest as a maximum length. But I am seeing a little better than 8 page views per visit (8.29, to be precise although it beats me who only looked at 1/3 of a page ). I was also reading that the average time that a visitor stays on a site is only 96 seconds, but my readers are staying an average of 362 seconds. It would appear that some viewers are willing to stay longer … if we give them a reason to – as you do.
Maybe I am getting some traction and can someday join you and those other “7 figure” bloggers (Hint, judging from the appearance of their blogs and their content, it looks like some of them might be counting the four figures to the right of the decimal.)
My newest post, which I completed just a few minutes ago, is provocatively titled “Dark Suit Syndrome” and is available via my name-link above.
Great info on your post here. One thing my wife talks to me about is, the less we spend, the less we ultimately have to work. Many times while shopping I ask myself “do I really need this?” and the answer usually comes out to a big NO.
Also, and this is highly controversial and we have done it (yet), but we as taxpayers pay into Planned Parenthood whether we like it or not. Most people associate PP with being an abortion clinic (which yes they do offer this), but it is actually a lot more than just that. Since we PAY TAXES into this why not make use of it? Here’s why…
I, too, work for my family business. Health care prices just keep increasing with less and less service for the money. We recently changed our policy here at my job from $15 co-pay to $30 co-pay, $1500 deductible and my wife just read the plan only covers 30% of female related things.. and thats a PPO plan too, which is supposed to be better than an HMO.
Not only do most of us healthy people rarely reach $1500 in medical bills a year, but now they (Blue Cross of Calif.) dont even cover female related stuff! So we keeping paying into this Blue Cross and they keep cutting the service, and by God, if we ever needed to use our insurance for something serious, they’d probably end up dropping us.
Here is where the controversial PP idea comes in. My sister doesnt have a lot of money after buying a new car. Shes struggling now in fact. She recently went to the doc for some simple female stuff like a PAP test, etc. Her bill was something like $5000 for running some tests! She is healthy and fine and received NO treatment. These costs were just from testing. She now has to pay approx $2400 (70% costs minus the deductible). She is shocked and worried now. Luckily my parents are bailing her out of this one and we are searching for other health care providers, but this is ridiculous.
The plan? Here goes… getting your PAP and your GYN tests and even birth control pills at a Planned Parenthood clinic. Its all free becuase we all pay taxes to fund PP. Why not make use of it? It would have saved my sister $2400 (or my parents actually).
Its an idea to save money… maybe not something everyone would do (we have reservations becuase these places perform abortions, but, money is money).
This is just one idea for making use of free stuff out there. Id love to know more. Here in southern california there is a huge influx of chinese immigrants and they seem to also know many free things too. One time in a grocery store an immigrant flashed a card (it looked like some sort of club card) and her $156 dollar grocery bill was instantly reduced in half. My mistake by not asking what that card was and how I could get one too.
Just last week, a chinese immigrant with a 7 figure salary asked a teacher friend of ours how to fill out a form for free student lunches for his child. The teacher was taken aback becuase she knew this family was rich rich rich, but by law (her in southern CA anyhow), the parent does not need to list salary. I admit, I was a bit shocked when she told us this story, but think about it. I pay the taxes to fund these lunch programs, so why not make use of them? Its obvious to me that some immigrant communities have booklets, etc on how to make use of the public system thats in place. Why not make use of it? We pay for it!
First off… Congratz JD. Sounds like you have a good plan to follow.
Next… have you looked into optimizing some of the ads from this website? Patrick Mckenzie has some great articles on how to optimize your site for generating the desired result (in his case, it’s downloading a trial product… in yours, it would be getting the ad click). Here is his website: http://microisvjournal.wordpress.com/
Definitely worth reading some of the articles. The heat map stuff, and the google optimizer might be a good thing to look into.
Fully working on your dreams and doing what you like are the ideal things of life.
Many people have the chance to make the leap, embrace frugality, make dream as money machine and run towards the fredoom, but they don’t have the guts you have to do it.
Hey JD congrats.You are brave.
It takes some guts to quit the job and go full time blogging. I am a student, and i totally agree that interrupts are a curse for dedicated bloggers.They really take the juice out of the story at times….
Cheers,
i can’t wish you less than SUCCESS.
Congratulations! I just recently started a personal finance blog similar in context to yours and when I read Ramit’s post (I’m a regular I Will Teach You To Be Rich reader)that you were going to be a full-time blogger I thought there had to be something great about your site. I’m glad I checked it out.
I hope to one day be able to help as many people with their personal finances as you have been able to thus far. You’re an inspiration, truly.
Wow, what a refreshing blog! I came across this via http://zenhabits.net/ and I just wanted to congratulate you on managing to get out of the 9 to 5.
I love the message that it’s important to take your time and plan. There are so many sites out there these days that offer people the false hope that they can get rich quick and escape the rat race in 10 minutes.
You’ve done amazingly well – I noticed a few fears and ‘what ifs?’ in your post. Have courage that you will always know how to make a living on ‘the outside’. You’ve already started something from zero and built it into a 5000 dollar a month business. You’ll always be this resourceful!
I am totally inspired by you today. Keep on trucking!
Reading through your comments about preparation time, I thought you might appreciate some of Jerry Weinberg’s thoughts on writing. Mr. Weinberg has written about 40 books, he managed the Mercury project (first US man in space), and has accomplished a lot of other exiciting things in life. One book he wrote was the Weinberg on Writing, which uses the metaphor of building with fieldstones to teach about the process of writing. Most poignantly, his approach talks about how writing fills in the cracks, dealing with interruptions, etc.
I’ve been using his method for my writing, as well as my software development. It works very well in the rushed life we’re all faced with.
1916home.net, I understand the whole insurance mess. We recently started the switch to a HSA so now WE will control what we pay for and where we pay for it!
JD, I stumbled across a book at the local library by Charles Long “How to Survive Without a Salary” and it has motivated me to keep on keeping on. Our society has been molded to work “9 to 5” in a specific occupation. It leaves little room for freedom. You are on the right track to making money without relying on a salary to survive.
Congratulations. Good luck on your future endeavors, blogging and otherwise.
A great post. I think the post will be eye opening for those who previously believed blogging generated “passive” income. Like anything that generates high income, successful blogging takes significant time and effort 🙂
When J.D. figures out that “getting rich” is not the right mindset, and that a blog can easily become just another “box factory”, he’ll be pointed in the right direction. Right now, he’s turned 180 degrees the wrong way.
How did you increase the traffic to your site, especially in the beginning? Are there books or other sites you’d recommend? I’m looking to promote a site about project management.
I love your blog, and I read it every day on my Livejournal friends page.
Go for it, J.D.! Although it can be nerve-racking to leave a steady paycheck, the beauty of running your own blog full-time is that the sky’s the limit. One of my main frustrations about the day job is that it takes a tremendous time commitment not only to do the job, but to commute back and forth (2 hours) to the office. Without the time burden on your back, you can devote all your energy and resources to your blog and reap all of the benefits of building your own business.
Ms. No Single Mama Drama says01 January 2008 at 19:50
First, congrats again!
Second, it sounds like you have a plan–and it’s a gradual one, so that you’re not completely jumping in feet first!
Also, you did mention a part-time job. Consider one with the perks of a full-time job, such as medical and dental benefits. One of my friends works at FedEx as a package handler (inside) and only works about 3 hours a day @ about $12/13 dollars an hour–not much, you say, right? Well, she gets medical, dental, vision, vacation, tuition reimbursement, retirement, and discounted flight benes (and more)–to top it all off. When you consider her total compensation packaage, I’m sure it’s worth getting out of bed in the wee hours of the morning (she generally works 4 a.m. – 6 a.m., which would leave you enough time to EXPAND your blogging empire!
Good luck again! And, don’t worry, you’ve got everthing working in your favor!
It is not that hard at all to live on less than $3000 a month. I earn less than that. I own a home. I have no credit card debt. My student loan debt has been paid off. I have an emergency fund of close to $20,000. I have a Roth IRA account and a 401(k). It is very hard to believe that a frugal person like yourself wouldn’t be able to do it.
I originally found your site via this post. Love the content. Because of my interst in creating blogg based income I am curious though how you generate the $5000 from the site. I dont really see a lot of monetization methods that are usually visible on other sites. Adsense, Ads, affiliate offers, – How do you do it?
i see this article was written a while back, you now have over 57,000 feedburners, double what you had before. Congratulations! You are living my dream!
I am so glad to see that you are doing this. Ever since I started reading your site about a year or so ago, I have taken your advice and I have also started going after my dreams. You show all of us that it is possible.
Congratulations from the bottom of my heart. Good luck and you better keep us updated. 🙂
Congrats with the career change and good luck. It’s very commendable that you’ve taken the steps, sacrificed, and gone forward with something you enjoy.
I would also like to know how one makes money blogging. It seems like a very interesting line of work. Though my writing skills are par at best, it’s something I would certainly be interested in doing. Can it be done part-time? I have a career now that I LOVE, but would also like to supplement the income with all the “down” time I have.
Matt Caldwell - 15 Minutes to Riches says12 November 2008 at 07:49
Thanks for giving us a realistic look at the work-from-home life. This will definitely help with planning the transition, when I’m finally able to consider such a thing (hopefully soon). 🙂
This post is great. I’m about to pursue a part time job when I move city so I can work full time on my blog. You prove that it is possible. Cheers mate.
Leverage the sucess you already have, don’t be fearful of loseing what you have, but rather be fearfull of missing out on opportunities. 80,000+ subscribers and hundred of thousands of readers puts you in a very nice position. Be creative!
Thanks, JD! This is such a great post. I’ve been able to decrease my time working at my day job to a couple of days a week. The extra free time has given me the flexibility to do things that make me happy. It wasn’t surprising that my stress level has decreased and my life satisfaction has increased. What was surprising to me is that my job satisfaction has really increased. Now that I’m getting closer to decreasing my work days even further or even quitting my day job, I’m filled with sadness and even dread — instead of feeling overjoyed. Your blog post has helped me understand why I’m feeling this way and what I can do to transition myself better. Thanks, again.
Erik from Retire on Property says17 June 2009 at 00:44
JD, very inspiring!
You posted this in November 2007 and in 2009 people are stillleaving comments, that just goes to show how you give people hope and inspiration to go after their own dream. As for myself, I have just started my own site and blog on using property to fund an early retirement (www.retireonproperty.com) and hope to turn this into a full time venture in the next 3-4 years.
I have only recently discovered your site but have now subscribed. Ever since reading The Millionaire Next Door I have had a bit of a passion on ‘getting rich slowly’ by living below your means and avoiding excessive consumerism…
I know it has been some time since this post was made, but I wanted to congratulate you on the move. I’m hopeful I can do the same in the future to support my travels. In the mean time, thanks to finding your site, I’ve been led to Dave Ramsey’s teachings and between the two, I’m getting my financial life on track.
Thanks for everything you’ve done and continue to do. I’m a reader for life.
Hi J.D., You have a great income in your blog. That makes sense to be full-time and leave your co-workers physically. We really need to make choices and sacrifices to make our lives better. I am glad you can share your stories and experiences as well as your effective and strategic planning. It’s really nice to read post like this.
That was a great experience you got and I am sure that people who gets to read your blog will be inspired too, thank you so much for posting this one. I came across a video that talks about the how-to transition from your day job to your dream business from Marie Forleo. http://marieforleo.com/2011/06/transition-day-job-dream-business/
It’s hard enough with one day job – but two? Not an easy decision to quit your day job, but at least this way you’ll be able to dedicate all your time to this wonderful blog, and helping us get rich slowly with great tips!
There are 177 comments to "Quitting the day job: Finding the guts to pursue your dreams".
Wow, big news. Good luck with the transition! As always, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Congratulations from a traditional journalist in Sydney. I have been reading and enjoying GRS for a long time. Keep on following your dreams!
Renai
Congratulations! I’m proud of you that you’ve made such a big decision and have the courage to go through with it.
I was wondering if you have a plan on what you’re going to do with all your extra time or are you going to figure it out as you go?
I’ve valued a life of spending wisely and being prepared. You’ve always come across as having a good head on your shoulders and your articles are top notch. Here’s to your continued success. Best of luck!
Rock on, JD! I had to give up blogging for now due to the time crunch. It was either my steady income and MBA, or blogging.
I especially love the “lose my thumbs in a blogging accident” comment. Bring it!
Congratulations and good luck!
Congratulations! VERY happy for you!!
Wow, I can identify with your fear–I’m retiring from my job at the end of THIS YEAR, to pursue my dream of full-time retirement.
I enjoy reading your blog and look forward to reading your future posts about what it actually FEELS like to be living that dream!
*applauds* Congrats on deciding to pursue your dream! Looks like you’ve made all the right preparations and are ready to go. It’s OK to be scared – I’ve been a freelancer all my working life, and whenever things slow down, I still get gripped by fear that I’d never get another assignment. You just learn to live with it, really.
Say, whatever happened to Casey Serin?
Reading through this for the millionth time (I’ve proofed this post dozens of times over the past couple weeks), I realized that it might not be clear why I’m phasing out slowly instead of making the leap outright.
Though Get Rich Slowly is generating $5,000/month now, I worry that it cannot maintain this level. I know that it can maintain $3,000/month, but that’s not quite enough to live on. By giving myself a year to make the transition, I’m freeing up some time to do the things I need to do, while also allowing time for the income to stabilize (or increase). If things go more slowly than I expect, then I have a safety net.
Also, I want to point out that although $5,000/month seems like a lot of money, when you compute my hourly wage, it’s not that extreme. Now if I were making one post a week and generating that sort of revenue, that would be a lot of money! 🙂
Congratulations!! The plan is great. I wish you the best – which I’m sure you will achieve!!
We recently jumped in with both feet into achieving our dream as well, launching the business 3 weeks ago, at http://www.KangarooBoo.com YIKES is about all I can say right now. 🙂 I believe we will succeed, but the ride there is scary.
Strap in for the fun ride!
Congratulations, I’m glad to hear it!!
It is apparent you have thought about it a lot and I wish you luck as you move towards your dream!
Wow, amazing news! I’ve been following your blog for about a year now, and it’s been inspiring. Congratulations and good luck pursuing your dreams. I’ll be reading and rooting!
Congratulations JD. Your blog has been instrumental in my journey as a recovering spendaholic. I hope your new career brings you joy, and blessings.
Good luck! I’ve always likened these moves to clinging to a rock in a river, and letting go…and trusting that what is downstream is better than where you were…always a few bumps, but always worth it!
Congrats JD! I took the plunge a little over two years ago and it was the best thing I ever did. I remember being really scared when I finally did it, but I had several years of good experience leading up to it and I should have known it’d work out.
JD, congratulations! In time, you’ll find a way to generate more per hour. I make around $125-150/hour from working on my blog. However, I have several other revenue streams that pay around the same and so I can mitigate risk.
Good luck, JD.
Hey man, go for it. I did it 4 years ago and never looked back. You know, the time spend with loved ones and doing the things you love is more important than having loads of money and it’s also where real security comes from — from the people that love you and are willing to be there for you when you need them. If you insulate yourself with loads of money, you might never find that out. Good luck!
HUGE news, JD. Congratulations! And welcome aboard!
(And, fwiw, I think you were clear that it’s a transition out.)
From Poland, from beneath 3 feet of snow – congratulations! I’ll keep my fingers crossed and follow the news eagerly – as ever.
Well done.
Thank you for documenting your plans for “mental freedom”.
I have long wanted to be free, but the fear of losing my crutch of the monthly salary has kept me back.
You have given me and, I am sure, many others renewed inspiration.
I shall continue to follow your blog avidly.
My very best wishes as you work towards your self laid milestones.
Spectacular, J.D.!
That’s really excellent news. I wish you good fortune for the transition, and beyond.
Wonderful story, JD! I’ve been a long time reader of you blog and I think it’s awesome that you decide to take the risk!
I hope you will make it big and inspire more people to follow suit and pursuit their own dreams. Cheers!
Congrats and good luck. I know it take a leap of faith and lots of gut to do it, coincidentally I’m doing it myself right now.
A couple of years back my husband took a leap of faith and quit his job as an office furniture installer so he could work from home as a computer consultant. He had recently finished earning two Associates degrees in computers and had been doing computer repair and troubleshooting on the side for a couple years, so it made sense. Although it was the scariest decision we had ever made, we look back now and are so glad we did it. Not only does he make a lot more money (he’s making $25-$100 an hour vs. $12 an hour), but more importantly, he is truly happy and content (which is priceless). Good luck to you in your endeavor as well – with hard work and dedication, you can make your dream happen… my husband is proof of that.
Congrats and good luck!
One potential way to both build the emergency fund and transition to a single income could be to throw all $ from the box company into your emergency fund. Or do it gradually, hopefully offset by an increase in $ from this site as you have more time for it – as you drop a day at work, try to put 25% more of each paycheck toward the emergency fund (i.e. Jan ’08 put 25% of each away, Apr ’08 put 50% of each away, et cetera).
However you choose to manage it, best of luck and we’ll be here cheering you on!
A lot of people make the snap decision to try and go pro, but you’ve put in the necessary work and preparation beforehand and based the decision on maths. I think you’re going to have heaps of success, and it’ll be great for us (and your family) to see more of you.
Awesome. And you have a great opportunity to slowly phase out the old job — I’m glad you can do that.
Also, with the whole ‘going solo’ comes a possible future series — the mechanics of establishing your own business, taxes, filings, etc. I’m thinking of creating my own business, but I’m at a loss for details to do it legitimately.
Best of luck going forward, you’ve done a fantastic job.
J.D., very sensible planning and also advice to others who are looking to jump into pro blogging. You’ve broken it down into very detailed structures and reasons to help realize your aim and I wish you all the best! If I had known more about this before I started, it’d have been a tremendous help!
Great news, JD! Thanks for such an inspiring site–it has helped me through the dark days of credit-card phone calls, the possibility of bankruptcy, and much stress. I’m not out of the woods, but at least I am on a path now instead of wandering lost in the wilderness.
Be sure to check out Yaro at http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com –lots of great advice for the multiple-stream blogger!
Congratulations! I’m hoping to start a blog in January and parlay it into a similar situation over the course of a few years. You, my friend, are an inspiration.
I really enjoy your content and point of view.
Keep up the good work!
Congratulations on making the decision to go pro. This is my first visit to your blog, but I’ll be adding it to my favorites. What you’re doing is what I dream of doing, so thanks for writing this and letting everyone know that it can be done.
I had a long talk with some fellow comickers at a convention recently and one of the busier ones made that “one big income stream” vs. “having lots of small- to medium-sized clients/projects” comparison to a few of us w/ a full-time job. Sure, having a bunch of clients/projects took more fancy footwork, networking, and innovation than having your typical day job, and you had to get your own insurance and put together your own retirement plan, but that’s the price you pay for security. That conversation has stuck with me since then, and I’m now more focused on finding ways that I can make that happen in my own life.
I’m glad that you have a well thought-out business plan for making the leap from full-time employment to self-employment, and that the plan focuses initially on being frugal and not being dependent on raking in truckloads of cash in Month 1 to survive. That, IMHO, seems to be a much saner approach. Now, if you need to know about retirement plans or need frugality tips, there’s this great website called Get Rich Slowly that you should check out… 😉
First of all: Congratulations with your success so far. That hard work paid off. Congratulations also with your Big Decision! Lots of “box factory” workers envy you because they’re afraid to take the leap themselves.
Then: I am curious how you get that kind of revenue off of a (any) blog. I can’t believe it’s just from ads/referral links? It would be interesting to learn what works.
Rock on!
Go JD! And definitely start up Get Fit Slowly… I’d be a dedicated reader!
Huge congrats, JD.
It’s great to see someone with a serious and professionally thought out transition plan. I wish you continued and progressive success. Hopefully many more will watch and learn from you, not just about finances, but about the realities of blogging for a living.
Right now, so many people seem to be quitting their day jobs left and right with stars in their eyes about getting rich immediately from blogging. It doesn’t help that there are so many ‘net marketers’ out there making unrealistic promises to the gullible about striking the motherlode.
I’m so happy for you! I learn something every time I come to this site. Thank you for sharing not only your goal but your step-by-step business plan. It’s interesting to hear inspirational stories about how people pursued their dreams, but it’s even more interesting to get to see the business plan and the pros and cons and the “real life” of it all. And let me tell you, there are risks involved with everything. I suppose you could lose my thumbs in a blogging accident :0) but it’s also true that accepting a full-time corporate job is not a risk-free path either. Nothing is risk-free but you’ve done your homework. Now go get ’em!
Good J.D.
I am pursuing more or less the same goal. I want to generate most of my income from affiliate marketing but I’d also like to generate some from my blog.
I’ve got to your website from a post made on problogger.com
Keep on the good work! I’ll subscribe to your feed!
Awesome! How about getting those precious thumbs of yours insured?
Like Nickel said, if you’re looking for any help, shoot us an email.
JD,
Yeah, thanks for letting me be a little part of your dream.
As for the offers of helping out, GRS readers, one way you can help is to continue to provide feedback on the site and let the mod staff know what else you’d like to see.
You’ve taken a very sensible approach to everything. My view is if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything, so burning the candle at both ends isn’t wise. That will catch up with anybody. If worse comes to worse, which I doubt it will, can you get your old job back? I’m sure they would rehire you, as would many other places. Meanwhile, go for it. This is your reward for all the efforts you’ve made re getting out of debt & becoming responsible for your spending. Now you can follow your passions.
The climbing the rock wall metaphor, and why it’s difficult: “We focus on the foothold we’ve got rather than the handhold waiting up there for us. We concentrate on the things we’re going to have to give up, rather than imagining the satisfactions and pleasures that could lie ahead. Amazing things happen when we open ourselves up to an unknown future.” Go for it – take the plunge, and don’t get in your own way!
Thanks for sharing, I hope one day I can follow you lead.
Jay
Seems like you’ve been puzzling over this one for a while, congratulations for making the leap!
Wow! Congratulations! I’m so jealous- but in a good way. 🙂
I’m sure your blogging income will increase exponentially as you have more time to devote to it. Best of luck!
How exciting I think with this well thought out plan your ‘hop of faith’ into the pro-blogger field will be a smooth transition.
Good luck with this! Since the box factory is a family business, will it still be an option if the blogging doesn’t work out in the long run?
“Life is not about making money — money is about making a life…” Those words from author, Mitch Anthony, rang in my ears as I started my own investment advisory firm last year…
Don’t forget that finances are just part of “life planning.” When I stopped “working for the man” I found my creativity exploded and stress was tremendously reduced. My income has not yet reached peak levels but the “returns” I receive from self-fulfillment go far beyond monetary measure.
Gettting rich slowly is prudent only when money takes a back seat to your dream. Be happy and the money will follow…
My advice is to have plans for how to use that extra time, or it will just evaporate. Don’t just say, “Well, I’ll work on GRS more then,” because you’ll find yourself doing the same amount of work on GRS and filling the rest of the time with other, random things.
Congrats!!!! I wish you the best of luck and I am sure this will work out wonderfully for you.
Be careful of those thumbs, though. 😉
O.o wow!
I’ve been reading GRS for more than a year and it has always been a steady source of motivation to keep me on track. There are so many good articles, and especially on the human side.
J.D., you have a talent to sum up books, link them together and show that there is not a simple, magical answer answer.
Have you thought to give seminars? Full day seminars on multiple financial planning strategy. Some people are struggling and need some strategy, some method, something that helps them make the first step. How about you give quality seminars on week-ends? That would be a new source of income.
Good luck with your hops of faith. A very wise strategy. I will keep reading your blog.
Take care from Canada!
You really are taking things slowing, AND that is a good thing.
I can’t plan for what I need to do next month, less next year. Yet you have a detail plan that you follow up till next 2009. That’s patience.
I really hope you do well and not lose a typing thumb next year, or any other year.
I think your plan is great! I read your blog everyday and I can’t wait to see Get Fit Slowly! Best of luck.
Great news and good luck! I enjoy reading stories from someone who is where I would like to be in 18 months (okay, maybe 2 years). If you just had a kid we’d be identical twins!
J.D., that sounds fantastic. You definitely strike me as someone that possesses the necessary tools to make this a reality. Good for you! And thanks again for sharing GRS with us.
Ayyyyy! Good luck to the JD!
The Manolo made the similar leap the while back and has not for the instant regretted it. To be mostly in control of one’s own destiny is the greatest pleasure imaginable.
Best of the Wishes!
Manolo
Rock on JD! Good luck!! 😀
Great news! I’m a big fan of your writing, so if you end up starting a new site, I’d likely be a regular reader of that as well.
I’m envious that you know what you want to do. I’m content in my job, but it’s just not what I want to be doing….I just wish I knew what my dream job was 🙂
Good luck with it during the course of this next year, and big news on finally getting out of debt in a couple of weeks. That final debt getting cleared is a good feeling. Have fun!
Hey JD —
Can you give us an estimate of how much time you spend working on your blog? How long does it take you to craft a post, including researching and writing it?
I realize that it can be hard to crunch blogging into life when you have a regular full time job, but I wonder how much time you will dedicate to your blog when it is your full time work. 5 hours a day, 6, 8? 5 days a week? Weekends? etc.
If you have any idea of these specifics I’d really appreciate it if you could provide some details. I’m interested in finding out if you plan to work as many hours blogging as you did working a full-time job.
Thanks and congratulations!
J.D., you are an excellent role model for all of us, as you continue to contribute so much to making the world a better place. I’m excited for you and for all the great opportunities and adventures that now lie ahead of you because of this move you’re making. I look forward to saying, “I knew him when.”
Great plan. It would work for anyone who is considering working for themselves and leaving a secure income.
Keep up the hard work – and thanks for sharing.
Congratulations! And welcome to the club 😉
Reading about your journey is going to help me enormously. My main problem is conquering my fear of the “worst case scenario”. It is very hard to walk away from a secure, sure thing.
I think it’s a good decision for you not to have 2 full time jobs. Besides, you are quitting from a family business, which means, the way I see it, that you can go back there anytime you want.
@One Frugal Girl
Great questions.
Ramit (from I Will Teach You to Be Rich) and I were just talking about this the other day, actually. We decided it would be fun if we could add a new stat to each post: Preparation Time. We thought this would be useful for readers *and* for ourselves.
Most posts — even simple ones — take me several hours to prepare. Part of this is my own poor organizational skills. Trent (at The Simple Dollar) is able to produce similar posts in a fraction of the time. I don’t have that talent. My ideas come out in a jumble, and have to be organized in order to be presented to the world.
Some posts — such as this one — take days. There are probably eight hours in this post, though this time is scattered in bits and pieces over the last few weeks. I made three passes at this topic before spending 2-1/2 hours yesterday getting the final version done.
In general, my rules of thumb are:
* a links post takes about half an hour to produce
* a money hack takes about half an hour to produce
* an article summary takes an hour or two to produce (though if I’m really into it, it can take longer)
* a story about my personal experience takes a couple hours to produce
* a detailed how-to post takes several hours to produce
When I say “X hours to produce”, I mean brainstorming, writing, and editing. I figure editing takes about 50% of the time for every post, and even then I don’t do a good job. Editing is tough. On average, I probably spend five hours a day (seven days a week) writing. Again, this is squeezed into the cracks of life: before work, during down-time at work, after work (before Kris gets home), on weekends, etc.
Of course, there are also my other blogs, the GRS forums, and e-mail to worry about. That’s a lot!
In reality, what going full-time is going to give me is uninterrupted time. Interruptions kill me. They break my train of thought. I’ve done some test-runs over the past couple months during which I stayed home just to write. These days were awesome. I was able to produce content like a madman. There’s no guarantee that this will always be the case, of course, but I have my fingers crossed.
p.s. When you read “a detailed how-to post takes several hours to produce” and then you hear me talking about how little time I’ve had to write lately, you can probably figure out why GRS has been light on detailed how-to posts lately. 🙂
Congratulations JD! I read your blog every day and it’s helped me move forward with my financial goals. It takes courage and good planning to make the leap you did. I wish you nothing but success. 🙂
You will not be sacrificing your “Daily contact with co-workers and colleagues.” … we’ll be here and in touch with you anytime of the day!
Congratulations on following your dreams! Your plan is as bullet-proof as it can get … any more and it will become a dull life 🙂
Good Luck!
Good luck with the process of shifting to full-time. I’d like to make the shift myself. The income’s there but my biggest obstacle is standing out. I’m not such a great writer and will likely never attract the attention while there are increasing numbers of high-quality blogs in this niche.
Congrats JD! You are living the dream. With your kind of traffic levels though, I expect that GRS is under monetized. Shoot me an email, maybe we can throw around a few ideas.
Congratulations! Your blog is one of my faves and now that I have my own (very weak) blog, I fully understand your need for time. I wondered how much time you good bloggers put in, and now I know. Wow! No wonder you’re successful!
congrats JD.. i had no idea the site was bringing that much income.. wish you well!
Wow!
Your article was an inspiration!
I am quite happy that the link was posted on the ProBlogger site, or I probably would never have come across your site. I am subscribing to your blog and look forward to keeping up with your transition! Congratulations on your decision!!!
This is a huge development for you. I consider your blog the model finance blog – thorough, elegant looking, grammatically correct(!), well-written and well-edited. So your success is well-deserved.
I work for myself, which is essentially what you will be doing. A few pointers:
– it is essential to get dressed in the morning and “go to work”. On days when I am a pajama professional I never feel all the way focused or serious.
– it is very, very challenging to create enough human contact when you’re a solo worker. If I don’t arrange and schedule it, some days the only person I see is the UPS guy. Cyber-connecting fills a certain need for relating, but it’s no substitute for building up social capital where you really live, with real people. You’ll be surprised how much of that your day job provided.
– don’t worry about the frugality. Your expenses go down a bit, and you’ll have more time and energy to generate income.
– do you have an agent for a book deal? When you sell your book (and I mean WHEN, not IF) you should negotiate for a serious advance. If you already have 35,000 readers, a publisher will love you.
– enjoy your enhanced income. Trust that you won’t piss it away; give yourself permission to lighten up in a few areas without feeling anxious or guilty. If you need to tighten up again, you have the skills.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person! Can’t wait to see what full-full-time GRS blogging will bring!
Also, does this mean no discount box deals on the site?
Fear always seems to accompany a change such as this. In 1992, I left everything so I live in Hawaii. I only had 500 dollars and a backpack. I was fearful up until the moment I landed in Hawaii. Everything just seemed so ‘right’, and everything worked out. I ended up living in Hawaii for twelve years before returning to he mainland to finish my education. I have no regrets, and I doubt that you will have any regrets for making this decision, which naturally involves fear. If you can accept the possibility of the worse-case scenario (in my case it was ‘death’), then you will be better off. Good luck.
Congrats and best of luck! You are now officially a role model.
Just wanted to offer some more congratulations!
Congratulations, J.D.! I am so happy that you’ve been able to go from saying that you wanted something to actually making it happen. I know that feeling well so it always makes me happy when I hear that my friends are reaching their goals in life and doing the things that make them most happy.
Yeah! a leap of faith.. with plans. Good for you. grab your goals and go. and believe in yourself.
Exciting and Scary!!! but mostly exciting, I wish you much luck.
Congratulations, J.D. I know you will succeed for a long time. It’s all in the planning.
I am actually surprised that you still use adsense. Have you never been approached by a company that wants to sponsor exclusively on your site?
I mean you got so many visitors that appreciate your articles.
JD, Great post and understand why you’re taking it slowly in the changeover. Think you maybe best to expand the ads on the site though – some 468×60 banners at the end of a post instead of an adsense ad?
Congrats. It sounds like a very well-researched and thoughout plan. Way to go!
Congrats on getting the courage to make the leap. I’ve enjoyed this blog for over a year, I feel like I’ve been there with you on your journey. I admire the decision to take a chance and jump. I have plans of doing something similar in the next few years and even though its far away I’m still scared to crap!
Good luck
I’ve only been following this blog for the last three weeks or so, but I wanted to stop and congratulate you on such an impressive accomplishment.
Way to go!
“Pastoral lifestyle” I hear you brother. Might I recommend Beethoven’s 6th symphony.
You also need to mention that now you are paying your own FICA, you give 14.5% more to Uncle Sam on your self-employed income vs. your income as an employee.
Anyway congrats. And if you seriously want tips on how to mitigate the risk of blogger injuries, I’d be happy to discuss.
Congratulations, JD! You completely deserve this opportunity. What a fantastic blog.
🙂 Some kind of awesome. Congratulations and hang on for a great ride!
JD, I’ve been reading your blog since *almost* it’s beginning, when I first became interested in personal finance. Your blog is one of the few I’m still reading today. You do great work, and the effort and love you put into it shows.
Congrats on taking the leap to quit your day job. My husband and I took the leap toward self-employment this summer. It was scary, but we’ve been having a great time. We live EXTREMELY frugally, so we can get by on very little. Time and flexibility have been wonderful assets.
Congratulations on deciding to make the move! I counsel a lot of computer consultants on how to leave their day jobs and become entrepreneurs starting their own businesses. The list you provide of steps you need to take is a good one to be viewed by those trying to start their own businesses. It’s a good example of a written-down plan that you can keep in mind as you move forward. There is definitely always an element of risk involved in jumping off the edge into opening your own business, but if you set realistic and reasonable goals for yourself along the way and get the support of friends and family (and of course, stick to the plan you put down on paper!) you can increase your chances of success and decrease the worry.
Do/did you really work at a box factory? I thought that only existed as a Simpson’s plot line.
Long time subscriber, first time commenter. 🙂 This post (and your plan) is great! You have a lot of talent, and your readers appreciate your sharing that generously. I’m sure you’ll be repaid in manifold ways for what you do. Thanks.
Wow!
Truly impressive JD, hope everything works out. GRS has always been a solid blog, and I’d wager it’ll continue to improve now that you’ll have more time to devote to it.
Best of luck!
I’m curious though, is healthcare coverage an issue at all in your calculations?
Congratulations, and some advice for you.
Regarding multiple streams of income, I did this for a while and realized that what I needed more was to diversify my income streams, not make multiple ones. The more separate your income streams, the more infrastructure needs they have that are disparate. So, your idea of starting another blog is a good one, because it relies on knowledge and infrastructure that is already built-in with your first one. Diversify the income streams and build wealth to put aside in case you need to multiply later because of some technology or market condition that threatens to make your stream obsolete.
With regards to the number of hours you work, seek out people who can ghost write for you and are well worth your investment to do so. Then, you can spend more time managing your diversified streams and less time doing grunt work. What you learn in one area automatically applies to the other, if they are in the same genre. If you hire people, just be sure to tweak their writing so that it appeals to your audience and still has your personal touch. I do freelance writing and I do this for a variety of different people. My income stream is diversified into blogs, ghost-writing, academic writing, and just about any writing that suits my fancy. If I want a project that is too large, then I sometimes team with someone else too. It helps people who are doing multiple online businesses and it helps me continue to support myself on a very flexible schedule. Even so, I have many time demands with a Master’s program but I can actually feel very secure knowing that I can generate income when I need it even with no part-time job because I have multiple customers and a diversified income stream.
Claire
Good luck, man!
I don’t see how you’ve been able to do it. I dream about getting a “hobby” to turn into an income stream, but it seems like there is never any time.
Hi JD,
This is a great inspirational story! Though my intention is not really to make money off my personal finance blog, it is nice to hear that your consistent great work is finding a way to make it worth your time.
It just goes to show that if you find a way to make the things you are passionate about provide value to other people, you’ll be rewarded in the end.
Keep up the great work!
Ryan
Congrats. You are an inspiration. Keep it up! 🙂
Santosh is right. We’re your colleagues now.
Well just waiting for Trent to make the same move.
Both of you have made a huge difference in the lives of my Wife and I. I can’t believe just a few short months ago we couldn’t save money if our lives depended on it, now, we’ve lowered our living cost alot.
thanks for everything
Well just waiting for Trent to make the same move.
Bloggers like yourself and Trent can make a huge difference in peoples lives. Can’t believe just a few short months ago my Wife and I couldn’t save money if our lives depended on it, now I couldn’t imagine not having money in the bank.
Keep up the great work
Conrats! Making the transition to self-employed can be scary, but it so very rewarding! There’s nothing better than getting paid to do something you really love, and you are your own boss. It’ll probably take a while for you to relax in to your flow of income (it took me over a year), but it will happen. Also, the more time you have to write, the more you’ll likely end up making.
BTW – you can use your free time next November to participate in NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org) and write your novel. I’m doing it this year…
Good luck!
Congratulations!!! I wish you the best!
JD —
I am actually not surprised by the amount of time it takes you to write posts. Especially detailed how-to-posts. As you said you’re still ‘learning about personal finance.’ It certainly takes a fair amount of time to gather the facts before writing about them. And of course, your style of writing as a ‘student’ of personal finance, rather than a ‘teacher’, is what makes your blog so approachable and well-like by the broader audience. It would be interesting to find out if you become more efficient at blogging over time. Especially, uninterrupted time.
By the way when you become self-employed don’t forget to purchase disability and life insurance if you don’t already have them. Most companies provide these benefits, at minimal cost for their employees, but once you are on your own it’s vital that you purchase new policies.
J.D. Don’t forget to add the overhead time of running a blog which includes the administering of the system – database and software. (It seems that this site is misbehaving recently.)
Congratulations to a man who certainly deserves to get “out of the box” (factory)! Looking forward to following your journey over the next few months.
Im started my own blog. so far only $30 a month.
Congratulations! We have certainly learned a lot from you, and we hope to continue to do so.
Good luck!!!
Congratulations on your decision! I hope it works out well for you. If you don’t mind me asking, what platform does your blog run on? I like the way it looks and am curious to find out what platforms commercially viable blogs use.
I congratulate you for making the leap! I’m a Peace Corps volunteer (former stock broker) in the republic of Georgia, working with entrepreneurs who are making the same leap you are. It takes a ton of bravery to take the leap to self-employment – I’m looking forward to reading about your experiences are you embark on the entrepreneurial path. Good luck!
This is a brave step! I know when I was silly enough to give up a good job as a Web Designer for a top UK company to become a teacher, I went on a major roller coaster of emotion… I hope you too will get more highs than lows!
I am in a transition myself right now and am wondering how you got this site going. From what I have read you have a good plan and I will probably use most of your advice next time I decide to quit a job on the whim.
good luck
Don’t worry. You’ll do great. I guess we should have faith most of all in our own capacity to make it work. If it’s not the web site, it will be something else. You can still be a science fiction writer! Anyway, the hardest part is to decide to take your life in your hands, and you did it.
JD, Congratulations on this career move, and I wish the best of luck to you!
Congratulations and best of luck. Seek advice but make all your own decisions.
There is no such thing as an average life. You either live boldly with passion or you might as well be dead because there will be plenty of gray mice to replace you. Good luck and congratulations on being courageous enough to live!
JD,
WAY TO GO! It’s nice to see good people obtain success. I like your plan to shift over slowly, it should make things a bit easier for you.
Might I suggest you don’t think of your $20,000 as an emergancy fund, but rather an income stablization fund. When your web income dips, you borrow from it, when it’s up you put some back. If it grows too big, start breaking off $5000 pieces to invest to obtain dividend income in a taxable account. This should provide some additional streams of income to help you out when you hit the low income months.
Or when you hit an extra $10,000 in your account perhaps it’s time for you to start your own publishing business with a GRS book.
Just some ideas. Best of luck.
Tim
Hey man…good luck! That is incredibly too cool. I’d love to be able to do such things, but my “generate intersting content skills” just aren’t there. (I’m going a different route).
I did notice you mention being an advocate for a “smaller” emergency fund…i was always under the impression that your EF should be whatever it would take to sustain your lifestyle from the time you lost your job to the time you found a new one (plan on 3 to 6 months)…
Other than that man…go go go
Quitting your day job? A dream come true.
Very inspiring. I’m sure you’ve seen Darren Rowse, Steve Pavlina and other blogger big shots.. anyway these guys are pulling down something on the order of over $1000/day (last I checked.. much more by now).
$20,000 grand will mean something else to you in about 4 months of going full time (i’m sure of it).
Awesome awesome awesome. I can’t wait to here about his whole venture on your blog.
Congratulations JD. I’m really impressed by your detailed planning, and you still say it’s a leap of faith! I suspect many people take the leap with much less idea about how things might work out.
As this is my first time on your site I don’t know whether or not you have children and if you do, or are planning them, how they fit into your time and financial planning. I have four and, delightful as they are, they completely mess up my time management.
Anyway, good luck. I will be checking your site again.
Sounds like you are in for an adventure.
I have primarily been my own boss for over 40 years and would have it no other way.
If you want to hit it big time pick one thing and do it well. If you want to hit it small time do lots of things so so.
I noticed you are quitting the family business which tells me you have a fairly well off family that would provide you a safety net.
Which takes some worry out of the leap.
Good Luck
great game plan. I’ve seen a lot of people who want to do similar things but are no where near as planned as you.
Congrats, JD! All the best for the future.
And then, on January 1, 2008, everybody suddenly stopped reading this blog.
Congratulations! It’s a big move, which I’m sure will be good for your fans.
As someone who transitioned this summer from a semi-stable FT job to freelancing, I can tell you there are some good challenges to not having the workplace and the associated expectations. I found it took a month or so to start using my new-found time wisely. I look forward to reading your thoughts on your new life of leisure.
I was more or less forced into a similar decision at a much less comfortable time, when I was laid off from a job and couldn’t find another (a few years ago). At that point, I dug in and found ways to make a living online. You can do it. There may be months when you don’t make enough to pay every single bill, but you’ll juggle them and get back in stride. You’ve already proven you have the ability. Just keep going. You’ll be fine. Congratulations and good luck!
Congratulations, JD. Another tough part of the process might be giving up ready-made health benefits and having to purchase your own outright. But it sounds like your health itself will actually improve once you devote yourself full-time to what you love. I’m looking to many more years of GRS!
Congrats on the jump! Was it simply too hard to micromanage a real job and blogging? You post quite frequently so it must have been tough. I hope I can maintain doing both for myself!
You are quite lucky that you worked for a family business. You can always put it aside temporary and come back whenever you want to since it’s a family thing. You can’t really do that with a regular job.
-Raymond
Congrats on the leap– may the net always be there!
Way to go! How exciting!
My husband and I just made the leap (you said “hop” – for us it felt like a *leap*!) to work from home full-time. It’s been an interesting adventure so far. We’re enjoying the ride, but it has definitely caused us to tighten the reins on our already frugal living style. Something about not having that guaranteed pay check really does that for you!
Multiple streams of income is by far the way to go – especially when it comes to internet marketing and blogging. The possibilities for earning revenue online are almost limitless so one is a fool to box themselves in to thinking there’s only a handful of ways to earn money online. Or that you should just stick with a few proven programs. Think outside the box, try new things, take a few calculated risks here and there, get creative, and see all those trickles of income from here and there start turning into streams, which turn into rivers, and then into waterfalls!
We look forward to seeing what new ventures and opportunities await you. Thanks for sharing from your wisdom and experience.
Congrats JD! I admire that you take action and follow through! I look forward to reading more articles!
Wow, it is really a hard decision to make.
So, do i do it?
JD … thanks for the encouragement and reality check. How long have you been doing this and what is your estimated average output (word count) per week?
I definitely appreciate the fact that your posts are worth reading. That is, they are reasonably researched, sensible and well-written. That’s what I try to do on my blogs. We’ll see …
My reasonably new blogs seem to be getting some traction, too. Few comments, but about 50% return visitors and this month has already seen as many visitors as the whole of last month.
I was reading tonight that my posts are probably almost 3 times as long as ‘good blog practice’ would suggest as a maximum length. But I am seeing a little better than 8 page views per visit (8.29, to be precise although it beats me who only looked at 1/3 of a page ). I was also reading that the average time that a visitor stays on a site is only 96 seconds, but my readers are staying an average of 362 seconds. It would appear that some viewers are willing to stay longer … if we give them a reason to – as you do.
Maybe I am getting some traction and can someday join you and those other “7 figure” bloggers (Hint, judging from the appearance of their blogs and their content, it looks like some of them might be counting the four figures to the right of the decimal.)
My newest post, which I completed just a few minutes ago, is provocatively titled “Dark Suit Syndrome” and is available via my name-link above.
😉
Hi, I’m a newcomer to your site. I just wanted to congratulate for such a great success.
And one more thing… you said you wanted to be SF writer… well for me as blog novice all this sounds as pure SF!
So, I suppose, you can tell you succeeded in that one too!
Sanja
I just wanted to chime in to wish you much luck, not that you’ll need it! I look forward to reading about how the transition goes 😀
Wow! It’s so exciting to see a blog which I’ve read from the very beginning scale such terrific heights.
Inspirational, as usual.
Congrats JD, you are living the dream us smaller bloggers only hope to achieve. Great info in the article as well!
Full time blogging….*sigh* someday…
Great info on your post here. One thing my wife talks to me about is, the less we spend, the less we ultimately have to work. Many times while shopping I ask myself “do I really need this?” and the answer usually comes out to a big NO.
Also, and this is highly controversial and we have done it (yet), but we as taxpayers pay into Planned Parenthood whether we like it or not. Most people associate PP with being an abortion clinic (which yes they do offer this), but it is actually a lot more than just that. Since we PAY TAXES into this why not make use of it? Here’s why…
I, too, work for my family business. Health care prices just keep increasing with less and less service for the money. We recently changed our policy here at my job from $15 co-pay to $30 co-pay, $1500 deductible and my wife just read the plan only covers 30% of female related things.. and thats a PPO plan too, which is supposed to be better than an HMO.
Not only do most of us healthy people rarely reach $1500 in medical bills a year, but now they (Blue Cross of Calif.) dont even cover female related stuff! So we keeping paying into this Blue Cross and they keep cutting the service, and by God, if we ever needed to use our insurance for something serious, they’d probably end up dropping us.
Here is where the controversial PP idea comes in. My sister doesnt have a lot of money after buying a new car. Shes struggling now in fact. She recently went to the doc for some simple female stuff like a PAP test, etc. Her bill was something like $5000 for running some tests! She is healthy and fine and received NO treatment. These costs were just from testing. She now has to pay approx $2400 (70% costs minus the deductible). She is shocked and worried now. Luckily my parents are bailing her out of this one and we are searching for other health care providers, but this is ridiculous.
The plan? Here goes… getting your PAP and your GYN tests and even birth control pills at a Planned Parenthood clinic. Its all free becuase we all pay taxes to fund PP. Why not make use of it? It would have saved my sister $2400 (or my parents actually).
Its an idea to save money… maybe not something everyone would do (we have reservations becuase these places perform abortions, but, money is money).
This is just one idea for making use of free stuff out there. Id love to know more. Here in southern california there is a huge influx of chinese immigrants and they seem to also know many free things too. One time in a grocery store an immigrant flashed a card (it looked like some sort of club card) and her $156 dollar grocery bill was instantly reduced in half. My mistake by not asking what that card was and how I could get one too.
Just last week, a chinese immigrant with a 7 figure salary asked a teacher friend of ours how to fill out a form for free student lunches for his child. The teacher was taken aback becuase she knew this family was rich rich rich, but by law (her in southern CA anyhow), the parent does not need to list salary. I admit, I was a bit shocked when she told us this story, but think about it. I pay the taxes to fund these lunch programs, so why not make use of them? Its obvious to me that some immigrant communities have booklets, etc on how to make use of the public system thats in place. Why not make use of it? We pay for it!
First off… Congratz JD. Sounds like you have a good plan to follow.
Next… have you looked into optimizing some of the ads from this website? Patrick Mckenzie has some great articles on how to optimize your site for generating the desired result (in his case, it’s downloading a trial product… in yours, it would be getting the ad click). Here is his website: http://microisvjournal.wordpress.com/
Definitely worth reading some of the articles. The heat map stuff, and the google optimizer might be a good thing to look into.
And keep us posted on how things go!
Congrats on that leap of faith!
Fully working on your dreams and doing what you like are the ideal things of life.
Many people have the chance to make the leap, embrace frugality, make dream as money machine and run towards the fredoom, but they don’t have the guts you have to do it.
J.C. Carvill
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.cosmosing.com/jeanclaudecarvill/index.php
Hey JD congrats.You are brave.
It takes some guts to quit the job and go full time blogging. I am a student, and i totally agree that interrupts are a curse for dedicated bloggers.They really take the juice out of the story at times….
Cheers,
i can’t wish you less than SUCCESS.
Congratulations! I just recently started a personal finance blog similar in context to yours and when I read Ramit’s post (I’m a regular I Will Teach You To Be Rich reader)that you were going to be a full-time blogger I thought there had to be something great about your site. I’m glad I checked it out.
I hope to one day be able to help as many people with their personal finances as you have been able to thus far. You’re an inspiration, truly.
Thanks, and Good Luck!
Congratulations on making the transition to full time blogger/writer and thanks for the advice on how to approach the situation reasonably!
Wow, what a refreshing blog! I came across this via http://zenhabits.net/ and I just wanted to congratulate you on managing to get out of the 9 to 5.
I love the message that it’s important to take your time and plan. There are so many sites out there these days that offer people the false hope that they can get rich quick and escape the rat race in 10 minutes.
You’ve done amazingly well – I noticed a few fears and ‘what ifs?’ in your post. Have courage that you will always know how to make a living on ‘the outside’. You’ve already started something from zero and built it into a 5000 dollar a month business. You’ll always be this resourceful!
I am totally inspired by you today. Keep on trucking!
Congrats JD, sounds like an exciting new time opening up for you!
Best of luck 🙂
Reading through your comments about preparation time, I thought you might appreciate some of Jerry Weinberg’s thoughts on writing. Mr. Weinberg has written about 40 books, he managed the Mercury project (first US man in space), and has accomplished a lot of other exiciting things in life. One book he wrote was the Weinberg on Writing, which uses the metaphor of building with fieldstones to teach about the process of writing. Most poignantly, his approach talks about how writing fills in the cracks, dealing with interruptions, etc.
I’ve been using his method for my writing, as well as my software development. It works very well in the rushed life we’re all faced with.
Warm regards,
David
WoW! Talk about a huge committement to us readers. These type of goals are what allows us smaller bloggers to take lessons from.
-Mike
Congratulations JD! I’m jealous. It sounds like you have a very well thought out plan. Best of luck.
-1MansMoney
1916home.net, I understand the whole insurance mess. We recently started the switch to a HSA so now WE will control what we pay for and where we pay for it!
JD, I stumbled across a book at the local library by Charles Long “How to Survive Without a Salary” and it has motivated me to keep on keeping on. Our society has been molded to work “9 to 5” in a specific occupation. It leaves little room for freedom. You are on the right track to making money without relying on a salary to survive.
Congrats! You are living proof that Tim Ferriss is correct. Quitting the day job and doing what you love to do and making money…what a combination!
Lol, oh the questions… chief among them: $5K/mo? Dang. That’s -more- than I make at my day job.
But, of course, congrats! I would love nothing better than to stay home all day and write, so you’re doing my dream for both of us!
J.D.,
Congratulations. Good luck on your future endeavors, blogging and otherwise.
A great post. I think the post will be eye opening for those who previously believed blogging generated “passive” income. Like anything that generates high income, successful blogging takes significant time and effort 🙂
When J.D. figures out that “getting rich” is not the right mindset, and that a blog can easily become just another “box factory”, he’ll be pointed in the right direction. Right now, he’s turned 180 degrees the wrong way.
How did you increase the traffic to your site, especially in the beginning? Are there books or other sites you’d recommend? I’m looking to promote a site about project management.
I love your blog, and I read it every day on my Livejournal friends page.
Go for it, J.D.! Although it can be nerve-racking to leave a steady paycheck, the beauty of running your own blog full-time is that the sky’s the limit. One of my main frustrations about the day job is that it takes a tremendous time commitment not only to do the job, but to commute back and forth (2 hours) to the office. Without the time burden on your back, you can devote all your energy and resources to your blog and reap all of the benefits of building your own business.
First, congrats again!
Second, it sounds like you have a plan–and it’s a gradual one, so that you’re not completely jumping in feet first!
Also, you did mention a part-time job. Consider one with the perks of a full-time job, such as medical and dental benefits. One of my friends works at FedEx as a package handler (inside) and only works about 3 hours a day @ about $12/13 dollars an hour–not much, you say, right? Well, she gets medical, dental, vision, vacation, tuition reimbursement, retirement, and discounted flight benes (and more)–to top it all off. When you consider her total compensation packaage, I’m sure it’s worth getting out of bed in the wee hours of the morning (she generally works 4 a.m. – 6 a.m., which would leave you enough time to EXPAND your blogging empire!
Good luck again! And, don’t worry, you’ve got everthing working in your favor!
Here Here for taking control of your life. Good stuff.
It is not that hard at all to live on less than $3000 a month. I earn less than that. I own a home. I have no credit card debt. My student loan debt has been paid off. I have an emergency fund of close to $20,000. I have a Roth IRA account and a 401(k). It is very hard to believe that a frugal person like yourself wouldn’t be able to do it.
I originally found your site via this post. Love the content. Because of my interst in creating blogg based income I am curious though how you generate the $5000 from the site. I dont really see a lot of monetization methods that are usually visible on other sites. Adsense, Ads, affiliate offers, – How do you do it?
i see this article was written a while back, you now have over 57,000 feedburners, double what you had before. Congratulations! You are living my dream!
mind sharing how do u exactly make money from blogging?
I am so glad to see that you are doing this. Ever since I started reading your site about a year or so ago, I have taken your advice and I have also started going after my dreams. You show all of us that it is possible.
Congratulations from the bottom of my heart. Good luck and you better keep us updated. 🙂
Congrats with the career change and good luck. It’s very commendable that you’ve taken the steps, sacrificed, and gone forward with something you enjoy.
I would also like to know how one makes money blogging. It seems like a very interesting line of work. Though my writing skills are par at best, it’s something I would certainly be interested in doing. Can it be done part-time? I have a career now that I LOVE, but would also like to supplement the income with all the “down” time I have.
Jumping into the ocean of entrepreneurship is not easy… good luck!
Thanks for giving us a realistic look at the work-from-home life. This will definitely help with planning the transition, when I’m finally able to consider such a thing (hopefully soon). 🙂
This post is great. I’m about to pursue a part time job when I move city so I can work full time on my blog. You prove that it is possible. Cheers mate.
Oh it sure is possible. It took me about a year and a half before I could quit my day job. I just quit in late January of this year 🙂
And now I’m earning 6.5 times my income!
Oh man, thats cool. I find this article very inspiring. Congrats! I really wish to be in your position in a few years time….
Leverage the sucess you already have, don’t be fearful of loseing what you have, but rather be fearfull of missing out on opportunities. 80,000+ subscribers and hundred of thousands of readers puts you in a very nice position. Be creative!
Thanks, JD! This is such a great post. I’ve been able to decrease my time working at my day job to a couple of days a week. The extra free time has given me the flexibility to do things that make me happy. It wasn’t surprising that my stress level has decreased and my life satisfaction has increased. What was surprising to me is that my job satisfaction has really increased. Now that I’m getting closer to decreasing my work days even further or even quitting my day job, I’m filled with sadness and even dread — instead of feeling overjoyed. Your blog post has helped me understand why I’m feeling this way and what I can do to transition myself better. Thanks, again.
JD, very inspiring!
You posted this in November 2007 and in 2009 people are stillleaving comments, that just goes to show how you give people hope and inspiration to go after their own dream. As for myself, I have just started my own site and blog on using property to fund an early retirement (www.retireonproperty.com) and hope to turn this into a full time venture in the next 3-4 years.
I have only recently discovered your site but have now subscribed. Ever since reading The Millionaire Next Door I have had a bit of a passion on ‘getting rich slowly’ by living below your means and avoiding excessive consumerism…
J.D.,
I know it has been some time since this post was made, but I wanted to congratulate you on the move. I’m hopeful I can do the same in the future to support my travels. In the mean time, thanks to finding your site, I’ve been led to Dave Ramsey’s teachings and between the two, I’m getting my financial life on track.
Thanks for everything you’ve done and continue to do. I’m a reader for life.
-Jeff
Hi J.D., You have a great income in your blog. That makes sense to be full-time and leave your co-workers physically. We really need to make choices and sacrifices to make our lives better. I am glad you can share your stories and experiences as well as your effective and strategic planning. It’s really nice to read post like this.
That was a great experience you got and I am sure that people who gets to read your blog will be inspired too, thank you so much for posting this one. I came across a video that talks about the how-to transition from your day job to your dream business from Marie Forleo. http://marieforleo.com/2011/06/transition-day-job-dream-business/
Looks like alot of fun
It’s hard enough with one day job – but two? Not an easy decision to quit your day job, but at least this way you’ll be able to dedicate all your time to this wonderful blog, and helping us get rich slowly with great tips!
Good luck!