Step 1: Reducing our need for money.
For a couple years before we set out on this journey both Alyssa and I went through a large transformation period with money.
Much of our money dependence came from our high standards of living, and what we set as the “minimum standard”.
We began by auditing these and analyzing how we could make adjustments to reduce expenses. What we discovered was that we could be happy with far less things and far less space.
By focusing resources on things that gave us energy and disposing of energy suckers, our budget was transformed and so was our life.
As an example, when we met, Alyssa was living in a modern, designer apartment with granite counters, hardwood floors and the full suite of appliances. Her expenses were nearly equal to her income.
Together, we learned to live in a much more modest space that was well laid out, very ergonomic and efficient.
In so doing, Alyssa reduced her rent from $1200/mo to $250/mo.
That’s a $950/mo savings! We did this with our entire budget.
Can you believe that Alyssa went from spending $2600/mo to keep afloat to spending $400 for her entire budget. Insane!
Alyssa's $1,200/mo apartment in Colorado.
The point here is that our income strategy isn’t just a “how to earn more money without a job” strategy.
It’s a “reduce our need for money, then earn only what we really need” strategy.
This, like our lifestyle, is quite contrary to “the norm” of “want more, need more, spend your entire life trying to get more”.
Step 2: Changing our life from money-centric to energy-centric.
With a reduced need for substantial income, we were able to focus our resources on things which fed our energy.
At the beginning of each day we would ask “What is my energy like? What do I want to work on today?” This was such a new and different question to ask!
Previously, work was work. Show up. Clock in. Don’t ask questions. Do work. Get paid. Most days we hated working for money. More money ironically didn’t make it better.
However, when we starting giving preference to our energy it was simply astounding the amount of work we could accomplish in a day, week or month.
Combine our efforts and it was like focusing the sun through a magnifying glass.
This strategy allowed us to work in short, intense periods followed by rest or recreation periods of varying length. At times we’d work for 6 weeks or more non-stop then rest for a couple weeks until our energy recovered.
Whenever we started getting the itch to work again we knew it was time.
From September 2017 to June 2016 we basically worked non-shop. Then, summer came and we were burned out. We spent four straight days by this river swimming and napping in the hammock.
Step 3: Changing our income from location-dependent to location-agnostic.
Expecting to live far out in the country and expecting a large amount of travel in the coming months, we needed to able to work from anywhere.
Commuting and being reliant on a local economy also wasn’t an ideal option.
As a backup plan, we knew that our income needs were such that if one or both us absolutely had to get a J-O-B we could cover our expenses.
We looked to move our income online. This would allow us to “plug in” and work whenever we needed to or had internet access.
This transition wasn’t smooth, but we jumped in head first and haven’t looked back.
We’ve been able to work from our cell phones, random coffee shops and home… wherever home might be at the moment.
We had to take the Subaru a couple hours south for servicing. We were able to be productive by working for a few hours.
Step 4: Changing work hours from fixed and rigid to convenient and flexible.
One problem most jobs posed for us was time constraints. Even with contract work done via self employment, we would be constrained as to when the work could be completed… deadlines for example.
Sometimes, we would be constrained to working during day time. This conflicted with our lifestyle. We needed work that could be done on our terms. If we needed to work at 3am on a Saturday from our car, then that’s what we needed.
Moving our income online helped us achieve this also.
As I’m writing, Alyssa is on her bed writing a guest blog post for another off-grid homesteading blog and it’s just after 9pm. It’s what works for us. If we needed to jump in the car and go we could…and would!
Alyssa frequently works in the trailer at night in her yoga pants and down booties.
Step 5: Changing our income from linear to passive.
The next challenge was not trading hours for dollars. We already don’t have enough time to get things done. We certainly don’t have time to trade for money.
Linear income is, by nature, bankrupt. You simply don’t have enough hours to trade with our lifestyle. You can’t get more hours either.
Our income needed to come in even if we weren’t actively working on it. Thus we focused on income streams that involved working once but would pay over and over again.
Step 6: Reducing taxation.
Most of my life I’ve had a lower income than many of my peers, but oddly, I seem to always have nicer things and more available money than them.
My motto is “It’s now how much you earn, it's how much you keep!”
Part of any good income strategy is keeping as much of it as possible.
To do this we employ good accounting practices by having a bookkeeper who keeps our records and a tax advisor to maximize deductions thereby reducing our liability. All within the law.
Step 7: Buy assets, use them to make money.
With a minimal income, you have to be strategic with how it’s spent.
From years in business I’ve often observed that successful (financially) and unsuccessful people often have all the same things.
It’s all in how they are used. We have cell phones, laptops, digital camera and internet. Sound familiar?
The difference is we use them to make money, not as retail therapy, hobbies or to collect dust. Since they are tools we invest in quality.
We use 15” MacBook Pro laptops for their speed, excellent battery life (very important when off grid) and excellent integration with our other technology like iPhones and Adobe Creative Suite.
We use 27” Apple Thunderbolt displays for their vivid workspace, energy efficiency and productivity.
Our Nikon D5200 DSLR camera and full Linco studio lighting set help us produce high quality images and video. Just to name a few.
We didn't mind buying this office setup because it makes us money on a daily basis. We don't simply use it to browse Facebook for hours.
