About the self-employed health insurance though, be sure that you don’t decline COBRA just in case you can’t get private coverage. It is *much* harder to qualify for it than most people realize.

If you consider the $ you are making now with your part-time activities then it’s hard to imagine that income being less if you are working full time on those endeavors.

Regardless, nothing wrong with waiting until the right time!

With your work ethic, intelligence and creativity, there isn’t a doubt in my mind that you will be able to work full time at free-lancing, consulting, blogging etc.

Mike

Congrats on your well-deserved expansion and growth. I took the entrepreneurial leap in Jan 09 and am loving it – though it is absolutely a massive amount of work. Seriously. But the daily challenges keep me on top of my game and I am much more satisfied than in any previous job. The flexible schedule is also a MAJOR perk.

Good luck!

Then again, since my husband has a steady income… I was planning on working part-time in my future “real” job anyhow and working on the freelancing stuff the other half of the time. (Gonna have to pay off SL’s with something, heh.) That way I’ll have a regular income that *should* be higher than what I’m making now part-time and would cover what I need it to while I hack it out on my own. If I do well, I can consider axing the part-time stuff, unless I like it. If I do bad, I can move to full-time or what not. Either way, it’s not so bad when I’m just starting out and the risk seems a bit lower than moving down in pay.

Either way, I’m stealing this when I graduate and get that “real” job.

I’m just trying to get a grasp of how much one can make with a site such as this. Could you just quite your full time job and blog? I know several guys with just 1,000-3000 readers who do quite well.

Even though I’ve decided not to put ads on FS, I will probably try to monetize after I get to an certain comfort level.

How about them Tigers?

Best

Second, office space can be a huge drain on your expenses. You need to work from home. When you have to meet clients you can meet them at their offices, coffee shops, or rent from one of those shared workspace places as a last resort. I have a home office and have never regretted it, even though I also have two young children hanging around.

Also, consider your wife’s potential earnings as a safety net. Should you not bring in any cash from your business she can always bring in extra money by working. I assume she has skills and education but even if she doesn’t there are part-time retail jobs, admin positions, etc. to be had. Many people forget about their stay-at-home spouse’s ability to earn an income when the finances get rough.

@Erica and Lisa: Thanks for sharing your perspectives. Erica, I know a bit about your story, and I think it is safe to say we’re starting our businesses in much different situations. A hungry spouse and two kids forces you to be a little more conservative with your plans. I’ll be rather choosy about my freelance opportunities (assuming I can afford to be) and see them as a chance to build my clip file and grow Frugal Dad. The money is (somewhat) secondary with regard to freelancing writing.

Definitely have plans to develop some type of ebook/newsletter/publication to expand on the content here at FD with the hope of generating some revenue from my own products.

Appreciate Erica’s thoughts on paying myself a flat salary. Maybe I’ll rethink that part of the plan, or at a minimum give myself quarterly raises as income increases.