I hope y'all don't mind me sharing this, I just want to talk this out and I like being able to discuss this with people who are like-minded in wanting to save more money and retire early.
I posted about getting laid off last Friday. I've been really hustling the last couple of days applying for jobs and wrangling up some freelance work. In just a week's time I have managed to get together at least two months of guaranteed full-time freelance work. I also expect to be interviewed for a couple of full-time salaried positions based on the feedback I've received from the hiring managers about my resume, cover letter and portfolio. I have two big potential contracts for freelance projects that could lead to an indefinite amount of ongoing freelance work.
Now that I'm doing the math, I'm realizing I can easily replace my salaried position with only four hours of billable work per day. This means I could potentially cut my work week by five to twelve hours and end up making like (at minimum) $500 more a month even after accounting for increased costs of no more employer paid cell phone, increased health insurance costs through my husband's plan and my increased payroll taxes as a self-employed person.
I guess I'm trying to figure out if I should even bother taking on a full-time job. Freelance income isn't guaranteed but it's very unlikely I'll be able to match my earning potential as a freelancer with a salaried job.
I've done the full-time self-employed thing before and I know I can do it. The difference between this time and last time is that I'm now able to command a considerably higher hourly rate than before. Also this past week of working from home has been amazing. I feel like this crushing weight from being miserable at my job has just been lifted from my shoulder's. I didn't realize how much stress working for a mismanaged company and this looming fear of lay-offs was causing me until I wasn't there any more. I thought I'd been happily putting up with it in exchange for the steady paycheck and fairly good compensation.
Obviously some of this is putting the cart before the horse. I haven't been offered a salaried position yet and don't know what the pay would be. But I can't keep myself from thinking about this stuff in advance.