Hopefully all of this hard work allows me to retire on the beach sooner.
I keep telling all of you that my goal right now is to increase my income and not cut too much more out of our budget. The only way from here is up! I choose not to cut from my budget anymore for a lot of reasons. I’m happy with my budget where it is now and eliminating items such as cable wouldn’t make me that much happier.
My budget is low and at around $2,100 a month. Our after-tax monthly income is over twice as much as our budget, so there is plenty of room for us to enjoy the things that we want. We do have a lot of mortgage and student loan debt though. Extra income would be helpful. AND it would allow us to potentially retire earlier.
Now, just because I say I won’t cut things, doesn’t mean that I won’t try to find good deals though! I’m still going to try and lower my cable bill. And I do kind of want to start couponing again, mainly because I like getting things I already use for free. 🙂
Now, there are many things out there that can be done for extra income. However, what is the point where I reach my limit?
Around a month ago, over at Punch Debt in the Face, he talked about when you give up the extra income for your freedom. This led me to wonder what my limit is.
I get paid salary at my job, so there is no paid overtime. The only way for me to make more income is to do something on the side.
Right now I am doing mystery shopping, surveys and making a little bit from my blog. Right now altogether this makes me around $500 a month, but once I graduate I’ll have more time to make more as well.
I’ve worked full-time since I was 16 (and have gone to high school, undergraduate and graduate school full-time at the same time). Right now I go to the office M-F of course and from around 8am to 5pm. Then of course when classes are in session, I head to classes for another 12 hours a week.
This all adds up quickly and leads to NO free time.
When I’m done with my MBA, I definitely plan on taking a long break, but eventually I know I’ll have too much time on my hands. There’s only so many months where I could come home from work and sleep everyday. Eventually that has to get boring right? Ok maybe not…
I could get a part-time job. This will help me pay off my debt even faster. There’s retail, waitressing, bartending, etc. that I could get into. I still don’t know if it’s all worth it though for the minimal amount that I’d be making.
What will I do with all of this free time? The amount that I could get from another side gig that I most likely won’t enjoy would be minimal, so when’s the point when I say no to extra income?
Would an extra $500 for a part-time job a month be worth it? I’ll have my degree and hopefully be making more, so I think I’d prefer my freedom more. Of course if we needed the money, I would get a part-time job, but at the moment I think I’ll enjoy myself.
When does money just become money and not worth risking happiness for you?
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