• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Financial Panther

A Lawyer Side Hustling Towards Financial Independence

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Side Hustle Reports
  • Best Credit Card Offers
  • Gig Economy / Side Hustles
  • Student Loan Strategy
  • Resources
  • Archives
  • Press
  • email-iconfacebook-icontwitter-iconpinterest-icon
email-iconfacebook-icontwitter-iconpinterest-icon
IMG_3252
Hi, I'm Kevin and I'm an attorney, sharing economy expert, and the blogger behind Financial Panther. I paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer. I started this blog to share all I know about personal finance, travel hacking, and making more money by side hustling. Click here to learn more about me.
As Seen On
Popular

The Dream of Barista FIRE

7 Best Cashback Apps That Everyone Should Use

The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses

See All
Side Hustle

The Ultimate List Of Gig Economy Apps

Latest Side Hustle Report

Monetize Your Life And Get Paid To Live

See All
Debt

Student Loan Refinancing Strategy

Paying Off $87,000 Of Student Loans In 2.5 Years

Secret To Paying Off Debt, Be A Weirdo

See All
Saving/Investing

How To Get a 5% Interest Savings Account

Simple Way To Start Investing

The Financial Panther Money System

See All
Get Exclusive Content Delivered
Right to your Inbox.
Latest Posts

The Dream of Barista FIRE

Last Updated on January 11, 2021December 19, 2017 51 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

The best job that I ever had was at a small, public golf course by my house. It was a pretty crappy golf course – poorly maintained, no facilities beyond a small putting green and an old pro shop, and a stupidly difficult back nine where I lost hundreds of golf balls.

I worked at that golf course every summer during college, as well as in the year between when I graduated college and before I started law school. The job paid minimum wage, but the money wasn’t really important to me back then. I lived at home during those summers, and other than buying food or drinks when I went out with friends, I basically had no expenses.

If I could, I would have worked at that golf course forever – for whatever reason, I just found that job super chill and very fun. Unfortunately, 8 bucks an hour or whatever I was getting paid wasn’t enough for me to survive on. Eventually, I had to move on and do something that could actually sustain an independent lifestyle, which is ultimately what led me to law school (and the $87,000 worth of student loans that I took out to do it). Even though I’ve worked plenty of good and prestigious jobs since graduating from law school, I still look back at that job with fond memories.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had jobs like this – these simple jobs that we just enjoy for some reason. Unfortunately, work like this typically doesn’t pay enough for most people to make it a long-term thing. And so, we end up moving on to bigger, better, and in all likelihood, more stressful jobs – the real jobs that we can talk about at professional gatherings or at family events. But a lot of you reading this are probably similar to me, thinking back to a simple job from years ago that you enjoyed. For those of us on the path to financial independence, getting a job like that is something that we can do – and probably sooner than we think.

It’s a concept that can be coined Barista FIRE – not quite FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), but perhaps just a step below it. At Barista FIRE, your lifestyle is almost funded, and all you need to do is to make a few extra thousand dollars every year in order to survive. You can do that pretty much by doing anything, even just working as a barista a few days a week. For people like me, Barista FIRE might be just as good as regular FIRE.

What Is Barista FIRE?

When people ask me about my FIRE goals, I typically say that I’m “soft” FIRE. That is, I don’t really have an end date in mind like a lot of the more hardcore FIRE folks in the community. I’m just saving as much as I can without sacrificing too much of my lifestyle. I’d be perfectly happy to be in a position where I’ve covered almost all of my living expenses from my savings and only need to earn $5,000 or $10,000 in a year in order to cover the remainder.

That’s where Barista FIRE comes into play. The idea of Barista FIRE is something that I’ve thought about ever since I started doing all of these sharing economy/gig economy side hustles and saw how much money someone could make in their spare time. It solidified as a concept in my mind during a recent podcast interview I did over on Fire Drill Podcast.

Basically, the idea behind Barista FIRE is simple – save enough so that you only need to make a little bit of income each year from work in order to fund your lifestyle. If you think about it, if you have enough savings on hand to cover the majority of your life, you only need to earn a little bit more in order to live.

Making a legit, full-time income is hard to do and might require you to do work you don’t really want to do. Unless you’re some baller, you’re also probably going to have to work 40 hours per week for most of the year.

But imagine the flexibility you gain in your life when you only need to make $5,000 or $10,000 in a year in order to live. If you’re in a position like that, you can basically do anything you want.

Achieving Barista FIRE Is Easier Than You Realize

To understand the power behind Barista FIRE, you just have to remember how valuable making $5,000 or $10,000 in a year is for your FIRE plans. Using the standard 4% withdrawal rate rule, $10,000 per year of income is the equivalent of having $250,000 invested in your portfolio ($250,000 times 4% equals $10,000).

What this means is that someone who can or is willing to earn $10,000 per year will need $250,000 less in their portfolio in order to live. For many people, saving an extra $250,000 could take years of hard, grueling work.

Earning $10,000 from any job in a year though – that’s not a hard thing for most people to do. It’s only $833 per month of income – something I already do in my spare hours between work and this blog. Don’t forget, every $1,000 of income you can earn each year from doing ANYTHING is $25,000 less you need to save.

Just take a look:

Side Hustle Income Per YearValue To Your Nest Egg
$1,000$25,000
$2,000$50,000
$3,000$75,000
$4,000$100,000
$5,000$125,000
$6,000$150,000
$7,000$175,000
$8,000$200,000
$9,000$225,000
$10,000$250,000
$11,000$275,000
$12,000$300,000
$13,000$325,000
$14,000$350,000
$15,000$375,000

Over the past two years, I’ve had so much fun figuring out ways to earn a little extra money on the side with all of the different sharing economy/gig economy apps out there (things like Airbnb, Rover, Postmates, and Wag). I’m always surprised at just how much these gigs bring in. Last year I made over $14,000 doing these side gigs. This year, I’m on pace to make around $16,000. And this stuff doesn’t take me that much time (if I did, I wouldn’t be able to do it).

Beyond money, I also find these gigs fun too. Getting paid to bike around the city delivering food (especially on a nice summer day) doesn’t really feel like work to me and it’s something I’d do forever if I could. Reaching Barista FIRE is something that would let me do just that.

What Do You Want To Do?

For me, working at a golf course or doing bike deliveries on a more frequent basis are things I’d enjoy doing to fund my lifestyle. For you, it might be something else. You might want to be a bartender, or be a dog walker, or do anything else. I remember Miss Mazuma telling me at a recent meet up how she’d love to just be a waitress at some point – like me with my bike deliveries, waitressing is just something she enjoys.

You can have lofty dreams – and you definitely should. But there’s nothing wrong with aspiring to put yourself in a position where you can take that fun job that you just enjoy too.

I have a lot of friends who laugh at how much time I spend doing bike deliveries. From a monetary standpoint, I could earn a lot more doing something else with my time, that’s definitely true. But I find it fun, I need the exercise, and I like being able to get out there and explore the city on my bike. One day, I hope I’m fortunate enough where I can just do bike deliveries all day, every day. Or if I ever get back home, maybe I’d try to get a few days of work at the golf course.

So think about that fun job that you had long ago that you might want again one day. Or think about any fun job that you might want to try out. Sure, it’s not the corner office that most people say you’re supposed to have. It’s really the opposite, I suppose – going backward in your career. But I think it’s still a legit dream nonetheless. If you’re like me, Barista FIRE is something that you can aspire to attain.

financial panther

Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the sharing economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the sharing economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

  • Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps Kevin uses to track his financial accounts.
  • SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $50 welcome bonus if you open an account and fund it with at least $500.
  • M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
  • Dobot. This is a great microsaving app that monitors the cash flow in your bank account and saves away small amounts for you each week. It's free and you'll get $5 when you use it.

Feel free to send Kevin a message here.

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Reddit
Email this to someone
email

Related

Read More

Filed Under: Financial Independence, My Story, Top Posts

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. PeerlessMoneyMentor says

    December 19, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    I love the concept of Barista Fire! Btw, I enjoyed listening to you discuss your side hustles on Fire Drill.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 19, 2017 at 8:27 pm

      Thanks man!

      Reply
  2. Mack says

    December 19, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    This concept is my goal! I coach high school sports as a side-job and the pay is bare minimum but I LOVE it. I tell my spouse that I don’t want enough money/savings to quit working, just enough to quit my full time job and just coach.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 19, 2017 at 8:28 pm

      That’s exactly the type of thing that I’m thinking – perfect for a barista FIRE goal!

      Reply
  3. freddy smidlap says

    December 19, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    the most interesting and rewarding thing i’ve done in the past 5 years, aside from investing, has been training our adopted dog who had a touch of fear aggression. he’s a boxer so it was important that he learned to relax around dogs and live his best dog life. i was thinking of a pet sitting service type thing where i would also volunteer to take the dog to the group classes, as i don’t feel qualified to market myself as a trainer.

    i was also a new orleans bartender in my mini retirement about 18 years ago. a substitute gig i think is the way to go as it would be flexible time wise for other interests. it was a great way to meet people, especially if you move to a new town. all you have to do is be nice and get to know some people in charge and they’ll hire you.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 19, 2017 at 8:32 pm

      Thanks for sharing Freddy! Those are definitely some interesting things to do in Barista FIRE. Seems like one is a business you’re thinking of starting, while two others are more chill gigs that are just interesting or fun to do.

      Reply
  4. Dave @ Married with Money says

    December 19, 2017 at 2:29 pm

    I’m a huge fan of this – even if not being a barista, of just cutting down to part-time work.

    The work I’d like to pursue is probably a bit more intensive, but I’d like to consult for ~20hrs/week, 3-4 months out of the year, once our nest egg is about where we want it and the house is paid off. Realistically that’ll be 50% or more of what we need annually, and I’d happily do that for 2-3 years (or just do half-time work for a solid year) to help ease into retirement.

    The nice thing about being ‘Barista FI’ is that you can just hopefully live off that income, or at least that plus some investment income, and watch your portfolio grow. I love the idea of coasting to retirement after a point 🙂

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 19, 2017 at 8:49 pm

      Consulting is definitely something that I’m sure a lot of people with certain skill sets can do – definitely higher paying than the gigs I’m thinking about. But yep, a big advantage if it’s something that can fund your lifestyle even more so that you don’t have to touch your nest egg.

      Reply
  5. gofi says

    December 19, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    Way to go — I love that FI allows the ability to do what we want to. And Barista FI shaves a few years off even that –

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 19, 2017 at 8:59 pm

      Exactly right! Put yourself in a position where you only need to make 5k or 10k a year and you can do anything!

      Reply
  6. Mrs. Kiwi says

    December 19, 2017 at 4:25 pm

    I think I’m already at the barista-FIRE level, but I’m a little nervous to pull the trigger! That’s the goal for sometime in the next year or two!

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 19, 2017 at 9:00 pm

      That’s awesome!

      Reply
  7. Tom @ Dividends Diversify says

    December 19, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    Totally agree. Loved those types of jobs back in the day. Now I’m a part time teacher doing it a different way. Tom

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 19, 2017 at 9:02 pm

      That’s great! You are doing a path that I’d love to be able to follow one day.

      Reply
  8. Mrs. Adventure Rich says

    December 20, 2017 at 6:00 am

    Yes! I have several jobs (including waitressing!) that I would love to pursue as part of a “Barista FIRE someday. I also could see myself coaching youth sports (running, biking, skiing). It is exciting to think of all the ways one can FIRE without necessarily having a complete “never bring in income again” nest egg.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 20, 2017 at 9:41 am

      Seems like coaching is something that a lot of people are into! It’s definitely something that seems fun to do – you get to interact with people, pretty low-stress, and probably get some exercise too if you’re running all over the place. The waitressing is an interesting thing too – again, interacting with people, get some exercise. I wonder why folks like us are so into these types of jobs.

      Reply
  9. Colleen says

    December 21, 2017 at 8:31 am

    I was just thinking about this the other day. I love to play tennis, so I’m hoping that one day I’ll retire and work the front desk at a tennis club. It would be low stress and something I enjoy, I’d get a little money, and hopefully get a reduced or free court fees/membership. It would be a win-win for me because I’d get a little extra income and reduce some expenses while still having an activity to do in retirement.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 21, 2017 at 10:49 am

      That sounds exactly like my golf course job! That’s what made the golf course so good – free golf!

      Reply
  10. Cubert says

    December 22, 2017 at 7:23 am

    Or you could marry someone rich! 😉

    My thing is that no matter what your circumstance, if you plan to retire early you’ll still want to find ways to be useful and add value to society. To your point, it’s easy to earn 5 or 10 grand a year, but firing up a business (like an Airbnb, or Etsy shop, or profitable blog) could easily yield you much more than your local 20-something coffee slinger.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 22, 2017 at 2:14 pm

      For sure – do what makes you happy is what I’d say! For me, just being a lowly delivery man/blogger dude works.

      Reply
  11. Financial Samurai says

    December 27, 2017 at 9:54 am

    I thought about this too when I was in my 20s and didn’t have as much wealth. I was actually strongly considering going back to Hawaii when I was about 25 years old and living a simple life working at cold Stone creamery. In Hawaii, if you work 20 hours a week you get healthcare, and then I could live at home.

    But then I realized I was going through a quarter life crisis and to stop daydreaming! I’m glad I worked until 34. No regrets!

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 27, 2017 at 4:01 pm

      The great thing is, you can do all of that now! I believe you do the tennis coaching, although you’re in full FIRE and don’t need that income at all.

      Reply
  12. Michael says

    December 28, 2017 at 10:21 am

    My goal has always been to retire and get a part time job at a golf course/ski resort/pro shop (I had a very similar job in college and loved it). Its my goal to be fully FIRE and just do something like that to keep me busy and be around things I really love. My dad actually toyed with the idea of getting a job at Home Depot/Menards/Lowes because he loves tools and will seemingly spend hours there just walking around bs-ing about tools/projects; ultimately he did not do it because he figured he would spend all his time bs-ing and not enough selling, which would obviously be a problem for the store.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 29, 2017 at 9:57 am

      You and I have similar dreams. People think we’re crazy to like jobs like this, I have no idea why. It’s just fun and it’s hard to explain what it is about these jobs. I have a friend that’s living the dream now – he’s a manager at my home course now, retired about 10 years ago and is just chilling at the golf course.

      Reply
  13. Matt Spillar @ Spills Spot says

    December 31, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    Love this concept, this is a Rockstar quality post! There are so many different paths to follow for fulfillment and freedom.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      December 31, 2017 at 3:36 pm

      Thanks Matt! Definitely agree with you there – it’s just a huge world out there of things to do!

      Reply
  14. Amy @ LifeZemplified says

    January 10, 2018 at 9:03 am

    Great post, FP! My husband and I’ve been discussing this for a couple years. He’s thinking Home Depot 😉

    Reply
  15. @luxthrift | Reforming spendthrift says

    January 10, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    I’m also pro barista FIRE. In fact, I’ve even scouted at least one place I’d like to work when I do it. An outdoor equipment shop in Vienna. I also have a hankering for physical labour. Working on a farm or vineyard. Doing something that means that I truly appreciate my shower every night. I might be able to achieve it on a mini retirement in 4 years but if not, barista FIRE will bring forward my retirement from sedentary days.

    Reply
  16. Sara @ The Graduate Investor says

    January 24, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    This reminds me of the parable of the rich lawyer and the island beach bum. (Maybe I saw it on biglaw investor?) Essentially that the beach bum worked all day as a bartender and/or touring the island, making just enough and no more. The lawyer vacationed there and asked the beach bum why he didn’t buy more boats for tours and hire people to help him. The beach bum was like “I don’t need extra.” The lawyer ended up working his whole life in order to eventually retire to the beach and be a beach bum.

    But yes, the idea of being able to survive on less is tantalizing.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      January 25, 2018 at 10:45 am

      I love that parable. It’s pretty much the way a lot of us think – but it’s funny that for a lot of us, we could get to that “beach bum” level pretty quickly, if we wanted.

      Reply
  17. Grant @MillennialMoney says

    January 28, 2018 at 5:42 pm

    Great Post. I think a lot of people don’t realize how little money it would take to live a life they really love or they don’t know what they really love. Chasing money and status is the default status quo. It’s always easier to try and defer your dreams than to actually try and live them today. We live a culture that is so obsessed with more, bigger, and better and most people are just afraid to stop. Or they are afraid to take a job that they would really love for less money.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      January 30, 2018 at 12:05 pm

      A lot of lawyers for sure fall into this trap of constantly need more and bigger and better things. It’s a prestige factor that plays into it. We can’t stop chasing that prestige.

      Reply
  18. Angela @ Tread Lightly Retire Early says

    January 31, 2018 at 11:26 am

    Barista FIRE might be my favorite term yet. There are so many fun low paying jobs that are worthwhile, but don’t keep a roof over your head by itself. I personally think about the possibility of working 3-4 months at a time and then taking a month or two off, which is totally feasible with seasonal park ranger/naturalist jobs, which I’ve done in the past.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      January 31, 2018 at 5:26 pm

      That would be awesome! Park ranger jobs seem amazing – basically get paid to be outside.

      Reply
  19. Jacq says

    January 31, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    I’d love to work at a winery or distillery, pouring for tastings, giving tours, etc. I also figure for the early part of FIRE, if I make enough to fund a Roth or Solo 401k, that wouldn’t be bad either. 🙂

    Reply
  20. Nicola says

    September 3, 2018 at 12:00 am

    Thanks so much for writing this post. My husband and I are Barista FIREd. We moved to a fabulous place with low housing costs but few employment opportunities. I work 3hrs a day in a cafe, doing all the baking and some cooking for the day shift. It’s great, and combined with a couple of other things, it makes my half of the $24000 we need to live on, for now. Pensions will kick in as we age, and then we can work or not. As I like what I do, I would probably continue in some form. Currently considering building a donut business, just for fun :-). Now, when someone looks at me strangely when I try to explain our version of FIRE, I will just point them here!

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      September 6, 2018 at 9:49 am

      You are living my dream! That’s what I’m talking about – we can all work some chill, fun job. It’s amazing just thinking about the flexibility you have in your life knowing you only need to make a few thousand a year to live.

      Reply
  21. GreenDollarBills says

    October 27, 2018 at 3:26 am

    I love this idea. I think mine would be working in a coffee shop – so genuinely a barista…however, I’d like it to be my own coffee shop!

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      October 29, 2018 at 1:49 pm

      Oh, that would be like the ultimate Barista FIRE, haha.

      Reply
  22. Financial Mechanic says

    October 29, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    I had the same first job as you– minimum wage at the local golf course. What is it about those jobs that make them so chill?! I got free range balls and golf cart access so we would often play nine after work. The good ol days 😎

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      October 30, 2018 at 9:34 am

      Golf courses are basically the ultimate retirement job. Free golf, chill people. Something about walking into work at a golf course that makes you happy.

      Reply
  23. Mr. SoS says

    November 13, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    I saw the term Barista FIRE on twitter today, googled it, and it brought me here. It is just what I imagined it would be, but your post goes into more detail than I expected. Thank you for the education!

    My idea of Barista FIRE would be to own a little hotel/bar on a beach. I could manage our investments on the side, tend bar, rent surfboards, and meet vacationing people from around the world. That is my idea of a great retirement.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      November 13, 2018 at 9:45 pm

      Thanks Mr. SoS! I’m glad you found your way to the blog and that the post was helpful.

      Sounds like a good version of Barista FIRE you’ve got in your mind. I have this theory that, deep down, everyone wants to be an innkeeper. That’s why Airbnb is so popular!

      Reply
  24. Amy says

    February 15, 2019 at 3:56 pm

    This is our current plan! I’m a radiologist and my husband is in finance. We have a monetary goal we want to get to (hopefully in 3-4 years) at which point I’d like to go part time in my practice with plenty of days off and ability to travel and enjoy life with our kids. We’ll just live off the money I make and let the rest of the money continue to grow until the typical retirement age. I’d love to scale back even more and get a truly fun barista fire job, but the thing that has me most nervous is health care costs and having excellent health insurance in place in case we need it. What are your plans for health insurance? Sorry if you’ve covered this elsewhere – I’m new to your site after seeing your interview on POF. Glad to find another blog to follow. 🙂

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      February 21, 2019 at 11:01 am

      Thanks for stopping by Amy. Sounds like a great plan to me to just work less and enjoy life. Time is the most precious resource we have!

      Health insurance is an issue I admit, and it’s such a shame to me that health insurance in the US is seemingly arbitrarily tied to our employers. My wife and I are actually in a weird situation where we’ll always have to pay for our health insurance. My wife owns a practice, so as the employer she’s just paying the full cost of her health insurance. My current job, which I’m actually in the process of leaving, only pays for my health insurance and anyone else that joins my plan I have to pay full price for.

      So, to be honest, for me and my wife, we’ll likely always have to cover our own health insurance costs anyway, which will just mean that we’ll either need to save more money or make sure that we can earn enough income each year to cover our health insurance costs. I think either are doable for us.

      Reply
  25. Joyce @ Financial Impulse says

    March 8, 2019 at 3:15 pm

    Couldn’t agree with you more about the idea of “Barista FIRE”! I definitely envision working part-time even when “financially independent”—it would be great to pursue some passion projects that generate income but aren’t focused on paying the bills. I think this concept also really illustrates that FIRE goals can be viewed as a spectrum; it’s not just about going big or going home.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      March 10, 2019 at 10:21 pm

      Exactly right. Totally a spectrum. There’s this idea that you have to hit your number, but I agree, you don’t need to get exactly there.

      Reply
  26. Matt says

    December 31, 2019 at 9:09 pm

    Hello There, I’m a operating room nurse. There is a shortage of nurses in my line of work and lots of flexibility. My wife and I are working toward FI and have accumulated a nice mid 6 figure portfolio.
    Please bare with me as I explain my situation…
    I guess my question is, how long do I have to continue to fund my portfolio at the existing high savings rate we pride ourselves on as FI community members IF I can easily work just a few days a week and cover our total monthly expenses. I wasn’t thinking about stopping working until we reached close to 25 times our annual spend. But maybe I can dial back my work load and just make enough to cover our monthly bills and not touch our savings/portfolio. We wouldn’t be saving anymore but we wouldn’t touch it either. Please give me your thoughts.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      January 1, 2020 at 2:26 pm

      If you can work a few days a week, enjoy your life more, and still cover all of your bills, why wouldn’t you do it? Worst case, you just go back and start working full-time again, right?

      There’s this thing in the traditional FI movement where you’re supposed to just be miserable until you can quit your job and never work again. Even saving 50% of your income takes you 17 years until you’re FI – and that’s assuming everything works out right.

      Work takes way too much of our time to be miserable for any extended amount of time. I wouldn’t trade 10 years of my life being unhappy with anything. just to be maybe happy later.

      My advice is cut back if you think that’ll make you happier. Then fill the other time with something else that you think can make you income and that makes you happy.

      Reply
  27. Brokeist says

    July 19, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    Love this concept! My favorite job ever was working as a waitress. There’s something about being on your feet, moving all day and interacting with people that just energized me. Nowadays I spend way too much time on mentally-draining work and would love to trade that in one day for a gig as a barista or waitress.

    Reply
    • Financial Panther says

      July 20, 2020 at 12:04 pm

      Yeah, it’s kind of funny how these simple jobs are often the most fun.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Primary Sidebar

Close
Side Hustle Income(View Reports)
chart-icon
$120,870
Get exclusive content delivered right to your inbox.
Most Commented
Popular
  • Insight Card: A Step-By-Step Guide to 5% Interest(688)
  • Netspend Account: 5% Interest Savings and $20 Signup Bonus(589)
  • The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses(135)
  • Bird Charger and Lime Juicer – Side Hustling As An Electric Scooter Charger(124)
  • My Postmates Review: Getting Paid To Bike Around Town(76)
  • I Quit My Job – Rejecting The Clear Career Path And Going Out On My Own(73)
  • The Dream of Barista FIRE
  • The Reverse Latte Factor – How You Can Side Hustle Your Way To Financial Independence
  • Where To Get 5% Interest Savings Accounts Now That Insight Is Gone
  • Monetize Your Life And Get Paid To Live
  • The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses
  • Over 600,000 Miles Earned In One Year – A Recap Of My First Year of Travel Hacking

Footer

Top Resources

Get Started Travel Hacking

Automate Your Savings

Get 5% Interest On Your Money

How To Set Up a Solo 401k Account

Refinance Your Student Loans

Recent Posts

  • Once You Hit Coast FIRE, Things Become Much Easier
  • February 2021 Side Hustle Report – $619.69
  • Bank Novo Review 2021 – A Free Business Checking Account For Small Business Owners
  • Lessons Learned From Watching Food Truck Videos
  • Watching Others Move Forward When You’re Still Figuring Things Out

Categories

  • Side Hustle
  • Saving
  • Investing
  • Side Hustle Reports
  • My Story
  • Financial Independence
  • About
  • Blog
  • Side Hustle Reports
  • Best Credit Card Offers
  • Gig Economy / Side Hustles
  • Student Loan Strategy
  • Resources
  • Archives
  • Press

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Copyright © 2021 FinancialPanther.com. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy * Disclaimer * Affiliate Policy* Contact Us