Find a new job

1. Manage Your Expenses

It helps to be thrifty if you wish to avoid employment.

However, searching for methods to save money does not have to imply abandoning anything vital. It may be a method to have more of what is really important.

So, if you want to live a wealthier lifestyle via frugality, pay attention to how you spend your money.

And when it comes to living without a regular income, you don't always have to squeeze pennies.

You just need to manage your spending such that you spend less than you earn. You'll be alright if your income doubles and your spending doubles, right?

We had a home cleaner when my wife and I had a larger salary, but as our income reduced, we gave up that luxury.

On the other hand, even when we were earning six figures, we lived in a tiny home that was inexpensive to heat and maintain, since certain expenditures are more difficult to remove rapidly. Here's a crucial guideline to remember:

You'll be able to weather the ups and downs of irregular income if you keep your fixed costs (those you can't lower or eliminate fast) low.

2. Diversify Your Earnings

It is advantageous to have many sources of income so that the loss of any one of them does not leave you scrambling for work. You may write for content websites, sell secondhand books, rent out rooms in your home, or collect returnable cans and bottles to get money.

My wife and I had more than 20 sources of income last year, as we did the year before, and none of them contributed for more than 25% of our overall revenue. We could have lost any one of our income sources and yet been OK since we managed our costs and lived on approximately 75% of our income.

You should also strive to diversify your sources of income.

Here's an example of something we've done in the last few years in each of the four sorts or categories:

1. Business (including freelancing): I earn a little money from my websites, I write for blogs, and we both make a little money from book royalties.

2. Investments: We lend money to home flippers, invest in Lending Club loans, have rental income, and have successfully flipped a condo. We just gained money twice in three years by selling our house and purchasing a cheaper one.

3. Money-Making Projects: We've had a couple of successful garage sales, I earned $4,000 last year from credit card and bank sign-up bonuses, and I've sold items retrieved from a trash on many occasions.

4. Temporary Employment (more on this later): My wife periodically finds employment teaching adult education courses, and I worked temporarily four years ago.

Many more methods to generate money may be found on The Penny Hoarder, including 32 ways to make money at home (yep, I'm writing this in my pjs).

Of course, unless you have a "regular" and profitable company (which seems like a job to me), all of the examples shown so far produce fairly erratic revenue.

This is why you should...

3. Always have some money in the bank.

Income fluctuations are less significant if you have adequate money saved.

A few years ago, Google search algorithm adjustments caused our website revenue to decrease in half in one day, and it has since continued to fall from more than $10,000 per month to under $200 per month.

To be honest, I was worried about that "little" shift in our life. However, we had saved money throughout the good days.

You must determine how much is sufficient for you, however I would be concerned if we did not have enough money to cover our expenses for a year or two.

And, even when we have money in the bank, my wife and I don't wait for one source of income to dry up before acting. Instead, we...

4. Continue to look for new sources of income.

I refurbished and leased the other half of a duplex we purchased (we lived in the other half). It produced roughly $400 in cash flow every month.

Now I'm thinking at discounted closed-end municipal bond funds as a means to earn 6% or more on other investments.

You shouldn't be too concerned about it, but you should keep an eye out for methods to supplement your income.

In reality, although this essay is on how to survive without a job, there are instances when you should consider obtaining a salary. That is why I will sometimes...

5. Think about "Employment Projects"

I prefer to think of occupations as short-term projects. Aside from when you have no other option for paying your expenses, you may utilize them in two ways:

1. To supplement your income while you sort things out.

2. To plan for future revenue opportunities.

When our company's revenue dropped like a rock, I panicked and went to work as an electric tram driver, then as a security guard. At one point, I even worked full-time for two weeks.

Working and earning even a tiny wage allowed me to rest while I sorted out what to do next.

It was even enjoyable... However, after a few months, it became tedious. I resigned those occupations and started freelance writing and other forms of income.

Working for an investor that flipped properties was one of the other ways I earned money. I was only paid $100 every day in cash, but I found that I like painting.

That, along with other skills I gained later, assisted me in flipping a condo, repairing our next house (which we subsequently sold for a profit), and renovating our duplex rental unit. We also earn a 10% annual interest rate on the money we lend to the investor.

Use employment to get useful experience and create relationships. A job may also serve as training towards starting your own company.

If you utilize your jobs correctly, they will only be temporary.

6. Maintain Only Good Debt

"Bad debt" refers to money owed for consumer goods or anything else that does not enhance your financial status.

"Good debt" is debt that generates revenue or saves money, such as borrowing for education that enhances your capacity to produce money, borrowing for rental real estate, and even borrowing for your own house if doing so genuinely saves you money over renting.

My only debt at the moment is about $10,000 on a number of credit cards, but it's good debt. I'm in the zero-interest trial period, and the money is in bank accounts paying 5% yearly interest. Even though it will only contribute around $500 to our income this year, every little bit helps.

If you wish to survive without a regular work, aim for only excellent debt.

7. Prepare for Changes

When you intend to say goodbye to your employer, you know you'll be losing money. To prepare for this, read my tutorial on how to leave your job.

Prepare for unforeseen revenue losses as well. For example, if we relocate and sell our duplex, I have a list of prospective income replacement options.

If I can't keep up with my freelance writing (I'm bored of looking at the computer — and that revenue is already down 50 percent), I'll look into alternative methods to make money.

Make contingency planning for any revenue source that may suddenly slow or dry up.

What will you do if you are wounded and unable to work for an extended period of time? What will you do if one of your money sources disappears? What if you sell an investment? What will you do with the proceeds?

You'll be less stressed when life occurs if you ask yourself the appropriate questions and develop a few contingency plans.

If you do that and follow the other tactics listed here, you will be able to ride the income ups and downs without ever having to work a 9-to-5 job.