One of the most difficult challenges for would-be untemplaters is money. If you’re not holding down a steady, 9-to-5 job, how are you going to pay your bills? Even if you’re backpacking on a shoestring through a foreign land, you’ll need cash for food, transport, and a bed every so often, right? It’s fair to say that in a commercialized world, most of us will need some money.
The potential of an initial drop in income can put a would-be untemplater off, but it shouldn’t. When I first considered dropping back my working hours to three days a week so I could draft a novel, a quick look at my budget showed that I could pay all my expenses on half my salary. No kidding. Okay, so I didn’t have much left over to play with, but once I’d worked at this reduced rate for a while, I found that I was much happier with more time to pursue my dreams, even if it meant less money in the bank.
Does Untemplating Equal Poor?
Look around the web and you’ll come across many untemplaters who have established their own independent incomes and are doing very nicely. Untemplating doesn’t mean destitution, but even if you’re particularly entrepreneurial, the early days can be tough financially.
I think the biggest financial question for the would-be untemplater is: how much do you really need? Beyond actually keeping the wolf from the door, income can be a status symbol, it may translate somehow to your own sense of worth or contribution, it may give you a sense of security. If you can let go of these superstitions, you’ll see your income for what it really is: dollars.
How many of those dollars do you actually need? Establish a remote working income, go to live in a country where the currency you earn buys more than it does at home, and suddenly you’ll increase your income’s value — and potentially, what you get out of life — substantially. Or march to the beat of the decluttering drum and simply spend less: look at the essentials in your budget, as opposed to the luxuries, and you might find, as I did, that you can live a more fulfilling, happier life on a fraction of your current income.
See Your Income Differently
Here, to get you started, are some less-conventional ways to look at income.
- All I need is enough to pay my expenses. I might work enough hours for someone else to cover those expenses, and spend my off time working on my own projects. Every so often, for a little more cash, I’ll do a freelance gig.
- I’ll work periodically — for instance, taking contract or seasonal work, to save money — then take time out to travel, pursue my own interests, participate in volunteer positions, etc. When the money runs down, I’ll go back to work for a bit to save enough to fund my next time out of the work force.
- I’ll establish a business, so I control the hours I work, and use that to fund my untemplated lifestyle. By earning remotely, or with clients I establish wherever I’m located, I’ll be able to fund the lifestyle I want.
- I’ll set up incomes from a range of different sources (casual work, my own business, an investment, and so on) and plan the associated commitments around my dream pursuits.
These are just a few ways in which income can fit into an untemplated lifestyle. How does it fit into your life?
Hey Mr. Samurai,
You bring up a fear that I think a lot of potential untemplaters share – “What if it doesn’t work out?”
It’s a good question to think about in order to put a back-up plan together, but I think a better question to continuously ask yourself is, “What if it DOES work out?” That question is a lot more fun to ponder and manifestation goes a long way. One of my favorite quotes was by Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.”
In the meantime, though, I think the #1 focus for any employed person looking to make a big change is to avoid lifestyle inflation at all cost. Don’t let new toys creep into your life just because you’re earning more.
I only worked 1.5 years after graduating before getting laid off and deciding to make a big employment change, but was able to save $50,000 by living that whole time, quite comfortably I would add, on little more than $1,000 a month.
When you keep your life’s overhead low, making a dramatic switch becomes a lot easier. Though I won’t be able to save much, I don’t have to make much to maintain my current comfortable lifestyle. And the savings I do have go a long way to keep my heart from racing whenever I think about money.
Wow, looking over these four options, I find that I’m using or want to use three of them.
Currently, I’m working a part-time gig to pay the bills. I am in the process of changing jobs to one that will provide me the opportunity to work on my business while on the job.
My goal is to start a business that will provide any required income to fund my untemplated life.
Once the business is up and running, I will expand it/start another mini-biz to diversify my income streams. Rinse and repeat.
Hi Georgina,
Thanks for your article. The biggest risk I see for untemplaters is that they wake up 10 years from now, they are in their mid 30’s, and they have not much in savings, and very little in retirement. Then what? Does that mean they have to work until they are 70?
On the flip side, the 10 yrs were probably a wonderful experience with its own ups and downs.
The problem is, if you ever want to get back in the regular work force, it gets harder due to latent age discrimination and the “what they heck did you do with your life” kinda attitude.
It’s all about balance imo.
I think that many people read UnTemplater and think “irresponsible” though this does not have to be the case. It is possible to live an untemplated lifestyle and still plan for the future. I put aside money every month towards retirement. When I figure my minimal monthly expenses, that amount is included.
I’d like to try another angle to this. From the perspective of getting back into the regular workforce – it’s all about how you position what you have done prior to applying for the job. I have hired many people over the years and I would gladly hire someone with worldly perspective and experience. It’s not to say that graduates don’t have anything to offer – but life skills, added to work skills, offers so much to any hiring organization. It’s all in how to present what you’ve done and what the benefits are to hiring you.
I am in my late 40s and, finally after years of life on the work treadmill, I am on the way to having a location independent life. I can’t afford to retire, but by cutting down on the expenses and applying the same principles Georgina has mentioned above – anyone can do it.
I know I’d be completely happy making $20k/year freelancing. I made $16k gross last year and managed fine, I don’t need a whole lot. 🙂 (The husband helps a lot!)
I will have some sort of regular income, I think, to pay off my studen loan debt. After that, all bets are off and how much I make, or don’t, is up to me. I’d rather live on less as a freelancer and dictate my own hours than lose the flexibility for more money.