How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I know that many of us aim to be able to sale our items fulltime.

How much would you have to make in order for you to feel comfortable doing this?

When do you think you would know your ready, when you have a certain amount of money to fall back on, or once you have a solid client base, etc?

I've just been thinking about this a lot and I would love to get some feedback from you all.

-B

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34 Replies

Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

Sorry u all I didn't see that my post went through this is a duplicate.
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

Considering I currently have about $90,000 in student debt, far more than I'm every likely to make on here.
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

Lol, I def feel u on that note.
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lippybrand
Inspiration Seeker

Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I dont have a day job. But Im excited for my husband to finish school and get a good job so I can go back to sewing for fun, for my kids, and gifts! This wee bit of income has allowed me to stay home rather then getting a part time job in the evenings.
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I don't have a number, but probably a lot. I have to keep my day job for my health insurance (which I am thoughly using currently) and because things are so SLOW, it's also paying for my supplies. The moment I make enough money to quit I will be sure to tell you all though.
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ElectronicGirl
Inspiration Seeker

Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

+1 at Ashley

yep a lot. :(
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I am still desperately searching for a day job, so definitely more than I'm bringing in now!
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I would have to pay off my car, buy a house and pay that off, finish paying off student loans. If it were only me to think about - no problem. But I have a child and he costs a lot of money.
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

Hi!
I'm working hard towards the same goal and am currently at my day job 25 hours a week. I paint after our daughter has gone to bed and on weekends when my husband takes over. It's a crazy schedule but it's starting to pay off and I'm trying to save as much as I can while keeping track of sales and looking for any opportunities to display and sell my art.

I'm hoping to save 6 months of my day job income, if not more. With a mortgage, student loans and daycare costs I have to be careful. Before I do quit, I am hoping to purchase about 6 months of supplies as well, I think this will help a lot.

Looking forward to reading others advice and best of luck to you!
-Leanne
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AtelierniShasha
Inspiration Seeker

Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

i'm such an avid QYDJ reader i'm probably more excited to see a new article in the series than see a listing sold -- kidding! But, yes. I've been thinking about it so much I really need to dish out a plan.
I don't have student loans as i've worked hard to pay most of my college fees. However, over the past 10 years after graduation, i accumulated a bunch of loans that for now, it is not yet practical to quit my day job. When my loans are gone (which the last one will be paid off june next year), and I build a good 1 year's worth of emergency fund, that's when quit this 9-5 job and totally work on my stuff full time.I now have a family to raise so i can't just jump on the bandwagon easily. But I really wanted to focus on my craft, so I need to follow that simple plan.Sorry, such a long post...
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I would have to make $1000 a month. That's after cogs, taxes and funding. I know I'll get there one day!
I don't really have a day job, though. I nanny at night part time. But I have a low mortgage (bought a foreclosed home in Midwest ), no car payment and no credit card debt
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

This is my full time job now, but to make the same as I did when I had a "regular" job, I would have to sell 50 pieces a week. It's nice to dream :)
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I have no day job. I was pregnant when I got here, so getting a day job was kinda hard. I've been making $1000/month lately (gross) and that's still nowhere near enough to pay the rent and our monthly bills.

Maybe someday.
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I would be happy if I could have half of my current salary. In order to achieve that I need to sell about 70 items /month....
Dreaming is the elixir of life!
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I don't have a set amount as of yet but I think that it would be a combination of the two: enough money to support myself for a few months in the "rainy day" fund and enough regular sales where I won't have to touch the rainy day fund until I can't sell anymore (for whatever reason).
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I didn't open my shop until I had already quit my day job to stay home with my new baby. We waited to have kids until we could afford for me to stay home with them, so I don't count on my shop to pay our bills. So far, I have put all the money I've made back into my shop, so I don't really get a paycheck out of it anyway.
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I JUST did quit my day job. I managed to get my part time Etsy sales up to about half my teaching job income. (Sad how little teachers get paid too isn't it?)

Basically, planning for kids had something to do with it. If I was still teaching when we have kids, the other half of that income would go to daycare anyhow, so I'd be pretty much breaking even with the current income.

Now I can focus on the business full time, hopefully grow it back to my regular full time income instead of half (I mean I have an extra 50+ hours to work with a week now and all) and be able to work from home.

I offset my online income with art show sales and some wholesale account though too, have another jewelry shop, a small vintage shops and plans to open a photography / graphic print shop. So yeah, I'm a workaholic.
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

My advice would be to study up on thrift (I did so by reading "The Complete Tightwad Gazette", and attack debt as if it's cancer. When you don't need to make very much money, it makes it so much easier to make a living selling here.
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I would think about what it's going to take to get started in any full-time business. Premises, utilities, display/photography, marketing, clerical stuff (an accountant?), supplies/equipment replacement and maintenance, loss of the time you used to have and THEN the cost of living you think it really takes.

For myself and many others a home based business doesn't mean the premises are free. At least one room is going to be devoted to your business. If you decide on a brick and mortar store double your expenses. For me, utilities are high. Gas and electric add up. When you decide to get serious a professional photography setup is a must, preferably attached to someone who knows what to do with it. How much does printer paper and ink cost? A whole lot if your hard drive or motherboard crashes. It's going to happen. Plan. Supplies and equipment - supplies are thankfully pretty stable right now, but if I want to go full time I need a new torch and kiln and tanked or compressed oxygen so I can produce enough to pay for everything. Ka-ching. I work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I pay myself for about 4 hours a day. You can't do that if you plan to make a living at it. Health insurance. Not going there. Can't wait to see what Obamacare winds up costing me. Judgement against me? Take a number. Just plain cost of living: every month I sit down and figure out what I spent on groceries, rent, gasoline, clothes and incidentals. Every month I vow to live on breakfast cereal (without milk) and live like a hermit.

If you are serious about quitting your day job, do it. Not because you're going to make what you need online. Have a family you need time for. Have health problems that prevent you from working (God forbid) but don't do it because you think you'll be able to strike it rich online.
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MilkThreads
Registered Buyer

Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I have to bring in an amount equal to or more than my day job, before I can quit. Guess I've got a long way to go.
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I believe it has to be a number that you feel comfortable with and makes you happy. Everyone is different and has different situations! I think you will know when it is time to make that decision.
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I went back to work full time and soaping part time so I could get health insurance after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I always think "ooooooh I'm getting close" but then I realize that I still have to pay taxes. All my Etsy money goes in a separate bank account and I don't spend a penny of it for anything that isn't business related.

I have another job that I do not enjoy. It is remote and I find it very very VERY hard to get any of it done because I spend the time Etsying (as in right now).

Once my boyfriend asks me to be his wife and he gets a sick promotion (he's in the ritzy land of finance) I am hoping he will support me in jumping into Etsy full time. I just don't have the time to do half the things I really want to, and wish I could give it my 700% attention.

Such is a dream!
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Former_Member
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Re: How much $ to Quit Your Day Job?

I am lucky I work from home so I am able to do a few things during the day on Etsy..
To leave my job I would need to sell a lot (I haven't even made one sale :) ).

The economy is very difficult and unpredictable and with unemployment on the rise here in OZ best I keep it as a hobby :( .
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