Over the past 6 months I started up a side business that now covers my monthly expenses, this allows me to save all the income from my day job, and thus build the stache faster. I am about 2-3 yrs away from full ER. I can also continue with the side business for fun and profit after ER.
earlyFI, if you're comfortable sharing, could you tell us a little about your side business? I love to hear about what people are doing.
Would love to share...
My side business is selling on online sites (Read: ebay, amazon, etsy, Craigslist etc.). I have a sister who for the past 5 years has made her living selling items online. She was kind enough to mentor me, I think I saved about 2-3 years of "learning the hard way" by learning from her. I still call her if have questions or run into problems I have never seen. I wanted to quit about 50 times, but told myself I had to try it for 1 year. The trick is knowing what to buy, or what will sell. Even though I was mentored I still made a lot of mistakes at first, buying things that wouldn't sell, or wouldn't sell for much, but I have steadily learned by trial and error, and now I feel more confident about purchasing items and have a sense for what will sell or not sell.
My goal at first wasn't to cover my monthly expenses, just to make some side money. I didn't expect to be able to cover my expenses for a long time, that happening quickly came as a pleasant surprise. In less than a year the money coming in was enough to cover my business expenses, plus my living expenses. (I admit my living expense are low) The money that comes in varies each month, some months are higher than others, but for the past 4 months I have been able to cover my living expenses after an initial investment to buy items (This took about 6 months)
I know this isn't for everyone. I had help, I have interest, I live in an area where there is a lot of opportunity for this type of business. I like being my own boss, I like thinking about how to make the business better, I have room to store inventory, etc. I have never had a job where I could control how much I made by working harder ...so this is exciting. This job does take time (buying, listing, shipping, etc) But it is like a hobby for me, I enjoy the work (for the most part).
The best part is that now I can save more money each month to build the stache. I have also found that I try to keep my expenses lower to make sure they are covered by the incoming funds. I also try to be more creative (like selling something I have, to get something I want).