Thanks to Matt at MomandDadMoney for sitting in the driver’s seat today!
Hang out in the world of personal finance blogs long enough and you can really run the gamut of emotions. I’ve laughed. I’ve cried. I’ve spit my coffee at my computer in disgust. And at times I’ve even been inspired to reach heights I never before knew existed, such as when Joe recently publicized the huge amount of income he’s making here at Stacking Benjamins. The report looked something like this:
$0 from blog income of any sort
My reaction was something along the lines of this:
Ok, so maybe inspired wasn’t the right word. But it did get me thinking about all of the extra income I am also not making and why I’m not making it. Let’s work through some of that together.
Why I want to earn more money
The more I earn, the more I can save. The more I save, the more choices I have with my life. It’s really that simple. With ample savings, I could afford to take a chance on a new job that comes with excitement and promise but also a good amount of risk. My family could decide to move simply because we liked the new location better. My wife and I could choose to work as much or as little as we want, fitting our money-making ventures in between our kids’ soccer games instead of the other way around.
Money is a powerful tool when used correctly. The better I am at earning it and the more of it I have coming in, the more flexibility I have to spend my time the way I truly want.
Proceeding with caution
With all of that said, I do have some reservations about earning more. The biggest one is the sacrifice of time now for time later. In a sense, this kind of sacrifice is very much ingrained in our culture. The status quo is to work 40+ years in order to accumulate enough money so that you can have some free time near the end to enjoy yourself. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this strategy, but I’d like to approach things a little differently.
I don’t want to miss my son’s first steps because I’m working hard in the hopes that I can play catch with him later. I don’t want to neglect my wife today with the promise of endless dates and romance when we’re 60. And I certainly don’t want to trade watching Tom Brady’s glory years right now for watching Tim Tebow play catch with the ground five years from now. So there’s a balance involved. I’d like to earn more today so that I can have flexibility tomorrow, but I’d also like to be able to enjoy my time now.
On that last point, the thing I have to watch out†for is not letting it be an excuse to do nothing. It’s very easy to justify not striving to do better because you “want to enjoy today”. While balance is good, laziness is not.
Ideas for earning more
Since finishing college, I have earned money in two ways: my salary and my investments. Nothing too fancy. So how do I diversify and/or increase those earnings? There are a few possibilities.
Get a raise. This is probably the quickest option, and the one that potentially requires the least effort. If I can document my achievements at work and present them in a compelling manner, I could immediately start earning more without a significant increase in responsibilities. Talk about a double win!
Start a business. This is actually something I was considering as I started my blog. I’ve had an interest in financial planning for a number of years and would love to be able to run a small part-time practice helping new parents organize their finances. I like to manage money and take advantage of software like financial applications from Workday and other accounting programs. Starting a small practice is a relatively significant endeavor, but the potential rewards are pretty great as well.
Freelance. Having a blog opens up numerous freelancing opportunities. I could write for other blogs. I could help people start their own blogs. Or I could take some advice from Pauline at Make Money Your Way†and use pretty much everything in my life as an opportunity to find some extra cash. There are endless ways to be creative and make some money on the side. It just takes a little thought and a little work.
So what’s the plan?
Honestly, I’m not totally sure what my plan is going forward. I want to keep an open mind to opportunities as they arise, and of course make sure that whatever path I choose to pursue aligns with my goals for building a better life tomorrow while still enjoying my life today. Earning more money can be a great tool, but it’s not an end. It’s only useful as a means for achieving the things we really care about in our lives. If I keep that in mind, I think I can find a healthy and profitable balance.
Matt is a proud father and husband and his site†Mom and Dad Money†is dedicated to helping new parents build financial security for their families. You can also find him on†Twitter†and†Google+.
I agree there has to be some balance. I don’t want to work all the time either but I do want to work hard on the things I enjoy now so that I am not stuck at a day job that I hate and makes me miserable. Life is all about the trade offs.
I think finding happiness in everything that you do is important. If your day job makes you unhappy, then it certainly makes sense to work hard to find something that makes you happier. Giving yourself options is a great thing.
The “make more money instead of living frugally” crowd has always been a pet peeve of mine. As I waited for the night shift to arrive (an hour and a half late) at the end of my 12 hour shift on Sunday, I thought with frustration that this was what those people say I should be doing. But given the choice of leaving my house at 4:30am to get back home at 9pm or cutting down on dining out and going to the movies, the choice is obvious. Especially because with those house, I wouldn’t have time to do those things anyway!
Now I know why you don’t comment on my blog…haha just kidding, but honestly it’s something I need to take into consideration more. I am definitely in the “make more income” crowd, but for some people this doesn’t make sense for their long-term (or short-term) goals. I might have to think about this a bit more and see where I truly stand.
I didn’t mean to present it as an either/or situation. And I certainly don’t think that there’s any generic “should”. I think both earning more money and learning to live more frugally are powerful options that will each have their own strengths and weaknesses for each person. But I’m with you, I don’t want to be working 17 hours a day either. Finding the right balance is part of what I’m struggling with now.
I think earning more is a good way to achieve many things. You can only save so much and cut down costs, so the next obvious step is to earn more. That being said, I feel the same as you Matt. I want to watch my son grow up. I only work on side projects after he is asleep. If I can’t finish it then, then I will work on it later. I am not driven by money anymore, I am driven by experiences.
I haven’t really been working while my son is up either. I’ve actually been putting my phone away when I get home from work so I’m not even tempted to look at it until he goes down. But then I struggle with making sure I have time for my wife too. It can be easy to give time to my son only to short-change my wife, and I have to make a conscious effort not to do that. It’s certainly not an easy balance, but I think it’s one worth finding.
Thank you Matt for the shout out! It is a worthy sacrifice if you have a plan for later. Say, I will work 3 years like that and then I can relax. My cousin is a trader and his plan was always to retire mid 30s. He is now 40 and still working like a mad man, and will never stop. He loves it but barely sees his kids.
That’s kind of the cycle I’d like to avoid. I think the “later” mentality is a dangerous one and that the lifestyle we create for ourselves now is more likely than not to be the one we continue later. It’s certainly not a hard and fast rule, but it’s definitely something I keep in mind. Besides, it’s not like my son will be more fun in 10 years than he is now. I want to experience all of it.
Living frugal doesnt mean buy cheap and save money. It is just to save money at the same time get a good deal for better product. Simply spend money wisely or smartly without compromising quality. Yeah why not I want to save money that way so that I can retire by 40 or 45
Great discussion about work and home life balance. With a new baby, I definitely understand more clearly how precious time is. I do want to work hard to earn more to provide for my family and to possibly reach financial independence, but I wouldn’t spend so much time where I’d miss valuable time with family.
Yep, having a child definitely made me think even more about this kind of thing. I want it both ways, which is not always easy. My wife and I have started talking more seriously about what financial independence means to us and it definitely involves tradeoffs between how much free time we want now vs. how early we’d like to be independent. There are no right answers.
Matt – This was extremely timely for me. The blog has started to take up a ton of my free time, and it has come at the expense of spending time with my wife. I keep telling myself that it’s to build a better future for us, to open up new money-making opportunities, to pay down our debt before we have kids, etc., but honestly I might need a little more balance in my life. Definitely an issue I have been dealing with and it’s tough with no one “right” answer.
I can be very future-oriented as well, and it takes some work to bring myself back to the present. But the reality is that the “future” never gets here, so if you can’t learn to enjoy the present as well then all the work is really for nothing. At the same time, planning for the future is definitely important. In the end, we just have to find what works for us.
Like DC, I am trying to learn how to balance between spending time building income streams and spending time enjoying life. I don’t want to go overboard, but there is value in giving up a bit of your free time now to have more free time later.
Definitely agree that there’s value in spending time today to make tomorrow better. It’s the same concept as saving money. It can reap big rewards, but as you say it’s important to remember not to go overboard.
There is always a balance, but it’s not black and white. It’s hard to turn down fill in work even though my goal is to only work three days a week now. I tell myself it’s to take more time off later, but do I actually do that? Unless you are independently wealthy, I think there are several years where you have to work quite a bit. If you are frugal (not cheap) with how you spend your money and make sure to invest and save first, you’ll get to the point where you do have more options. It’s still hard to turn down money when you have an offer. I’m not sure I’ll ever get it 100% right, but you do the best you can and try not to have regrets.
I think it depends on what your goals are and what the timeline for those goals is. We could stick with our current income and likely get to a pretty comfortable retirement at the normal age of 65. Or we could make some efforts to increase our income and accelerate that. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer, but there’s certainly a range of work that would “work”, even though we haven’t reached independence yet. Deciding where to sit along that range is the challenge.
I’m in about the same spot as you. Being that I don’t have kids yet, I’m totally fine with trading some time now for money later, but I know I won’t want to do that nearly as much when I have kids. I think that finding a balance can be difficult, but it’s possible. Hopefully I can find that balance when I’m trying to juggle having a family.
It certainly doesn’t get easier. But I don’t think there’s ever an easy time. It always comes down to priorities. Some people would argue that the time before kids is when you can use that freedom to do things like travel the world, live on less income, etc. Not that you necessarily can’t do those things with kids, but there are more considerations. So even without the family obligations, there are still choices to make.
I’m definitely interested in earning more, and I’m considering many of the same ideas as you are, Matt. But I’m wondering how necessary it is for us to earn more. We’re on a relatively short timeframe to FI (hopefully). When it comes to income, there is a point when you have “enough” and your time, in the present, is worth more than the income potential. Who knows what that enough point is, but it must exist, right?
Still, I’m not exactly burning the candle at both ends right now so I have time for a side hustle. I’m trying to view this opportunity for extra income as a chance to build new skills & pursue different kinds of interests, while just-so-happening to make some money in the process…
Good post, as always!
I like that approach a lot, especially if the income itself is not that important. There’s no point to chasing money just for the sake of money itself. If you can learn something and enjoy yourself, then maybe money follows. But if not, at least you’re still enriching your life and spending it in a positive way.
I had the same though in mind when yesterday my friend who does private coaching for beach volleyball asked me to teach these two kids while he was going to be traveling. At first I said no, thinking A) it would be hard and children scare me, and B) would it be eating up too much of my time and make my life overwhelming? It’s that stuff you have to weigh. In the end I decide to take it on on a day to day basis, meaning if my schedule was too busy I’d just say no for that day, but at 100/2 hour lesson I need to face my fear of children and suck that part up. So….any advice how to communicate with a 7 and 9-year old? 🙂
I think this is a great example of not letting fear make the decisions to not pursue something. It’s something I struggle with as well, but the fact that something seems like it might be difficult isn’t a reason in of itself to avoid it. Sounds like you made a good balanced decision for how to approach it.
As for relating to the kids, the best advice I can give is to treat them like adults but expect them to act like kids. In other words, talk to them like you would if you were giving an adult a lesson. The lesson might be simplified, but the communication can be similar. But also expect them to only pay attention for so long, maybe need some extra breaks, test your boundaries, etc. They’re not being bad, just kids. But you can still hold them to a standard and hold them accountable. I’m sure you’ll be great. Good luck!
I want to earn money please help
think earning more is a good way to achieve many things. You can only save so much and cut down costs, so the next obvious step is to earn more. That being said, I feel the same as you Matt. I want to watch my son grow up. I only work on side projects after he is asleep. If I can’t finish it then, then I will work on it later. I am not driven by money anymore, I am driven by experiences.