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Tell me the story of how you escaped the 9-5 grind!

Jellycrackers

Jellycrackers

Member
Oct 25, 2017
582
I've always been very interested in peoples' stories of how they got to where they are, and I find the tales of how people earned their freedom from the 9-5 grind (or found the 9-5 dream job!) super inspiring.

Do you work freelance? Maybe you have some other means of financial independence from traditional employment? Start a business? Found a regular job that is everything you could ask for? Tell me about it! I want to hear what you went through to get there and how things are going for you. No catch, I just think there are a lot of interesting people in interesting positions on ERA and I want to hear some cool positive stories! Maybe you haven't been able to launch yet, but you have big plans. I'd love to hear about those as well!

I'm a freelancing music composer/producer myself. It's not a super interesting story. Basically someone who works for a company that supplies reality TV shows with music found me on youtube and asked me to contribute to their catalog. So after 3 years of doing that on the side, the royalties from it eventually overtook my day job income and I was able to launch into music full time. There's all kind of weird detail I could go into about the music licensing business side of things, but that might not be interesting to many people so I'll spare it unless someone asks :)

Regale me with your tales of how you got to that ideal spot in your career or how you plan to get there!
 
ScoobsJoestar

ScoobsJoestar

Member
May 30, 2019
4,071
I became a novelist to pretend I had something to do after cryptocurrency gave me the actual means to do so
 
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
Got two part time jobs instead of one full-time.

Still a grind, but it's easier to keep from getting sick a job when you spend less than 20 hours a week doing it.
 
Nilou

Nilou

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,715
My "9am-5pm" , 4-5 days a week turned into 3pm-7am, 5-6 days a week almost, working in healthcare too no less. There so short staffed here and patients need care so most of us are working 12-16 hour shifts and having very few days off essentially working 80+ hours a week almost every week.

So in other words I kind of miss my previous 9-5 grind.
 
kiaaa

kiaaa

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,848
I got into construction and work 6-2. Never worked 9-5 in the first place, though. Had retail jobs with varying hours.
 
Cyanity

Cyanity

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,345
Just gonna say that anyone with extra money who wants to help me escape the 9-5 grind can DM me anytime
 
Larrikin

Larrikin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,739
Mavis said:
Became a house husband, supported my partner in her much better paying career.
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Yurrp. I still work part-time and get a little sump'm but my partner makes more than enough to support us both. We have a housemate who helps with bills, I keep the household running, and I typically make the 'big' or entertainment focused purchases (like holidays/appliances) while he does the remaining bills and insurance and health care and food and all the ongoing logistical stuff.
 
sirap

sirap

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,210
South East Asia
Broke up with my girlfriend and parted ways with my company. Had nowhere to stay so I had to live out of my car (not fun when you live in a tropical country).

I worked as a janitor at a gas station for a few months, then I stumbled on a Reddit post about writing and publishing smut on Amazon. I had nothing to lose so I went all in. A year later and I was making enough to retire lol. I still write, but not as much as I used to. A novel every month or so is enough to keep my pen name relevant and my back catalog takes care of the rest.
 
Hogendaz85

Hogendaz85

Member
Dec 6, 2017
2,820
sirap said:
Broke up with my girlfriend and parted ways with my company. Had nowhere to stay so I had to live out of my car (not fun when you live in a tropical country).

I worked as a janitor at a gas station for a few months, then I stumbled on a Reddit post about writing and publishing smut on Amazon. I had nothing to lose so I went all in. A year later and I was making enough to retire lol. I still write, but not as much as I used to. A novel every month or so is enough to keep my pen name relevant and my back catalog takes care of the rest.
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This for real?! Awesome if so, i always keep telling myself I'm going to write some stories but don't know how I can go about making money doing so.
 
Mavis

Mavis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,476
Blue Mountains
williamthegoat said:
As someone who wishes he was a house husband, how do you like it?
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Loved it, I have a much better connection with my kids than most of my male friends who work, and my wife misses spending time with them so is happy to take over when she's not working. The youngest is 14 now so I really should be looking at going back to work but I don't really need to financially and I'm currently an admin tax write-off so would have to earn quite a bit to make it worthwhile. I do think it's socially irresponsible to have two people working when it's not required financially. I understand it for people who need to, but there are enough unemployed who are just scraping by and that part time job someone takes just because they're bored and want to get away from the kids, could be life-changing for someone else.
 
Lactose_Intolerant

Lactose_Intolerant

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,752
Arizona
sirap said:
Broke up with my girlfriend and parted ways with my company. Had nowhere to stay so I had to live out of my car (not fun when you live in a tropical country).

I worked as a janitor at a gas station for a few months, then I stumbled on a Reddit post about writing and publishing smut on Amazon. I had nothing to lose so I went all in. A year later and I was making enough to retire lol. I still write, but not as much as I used to. A novel every month or so is enough to keep my pen name relevant and my back catalog takes care of the rest.
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Living the dream
 
whiskeystrike

whiskeystrike

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
629
Became an electrician and now I absolutely adore working "9-5." No more Sunday night dreading the next work week, no more bartering with my sleep schedule so I can have a bit more "me time," no more feeling like I'm just trying to pass the time till I get to my next spot of time with hobbies, etc.

My only regret is not shifting into this career as soon as I left the military instead of boring myself with studying comp sci.
 
SteveWinwood

SteveWinwood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,681
USA USA USA
sirap said:
Broke up with my girlfriend and parted ways with my company. Had nowhere to stay so I had to live out of my car (not fun when you live in a tropical country).

I worked as a janitor at a gas station for a few months, then I stumbled on a Reddit post about writing and publishing smut on Amazon. I had nothing to lose so I went all in. A year later and I was making enough to retire lol. I still write, but not as much as I used to. A novel every month or so is enough to keep my pen name relevant and my back catalog takes care of the rest.
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i want to be you
 
samoyed

samoyed

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
15,191
sirap said:
Broke up with my girlfriend and parted ways with my company. Had nowhere to stay so I had to live out of my car (not fun when you live in a tropical country).

I worked as a janitor at a gas station for a few months, then I stumbled on a Reddit post about writing and publishing smut on Amazon. I had nothing to lose so I went all in. A year later and I was making enough to retire lol. I still write, but not as much as I used to. A novel every month or so is enough to keep my pen name relevant and my back catalog takes care of the rest.
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Chuck Tingle is that you?
 
Birdito

Birdito

Member
Oct 30, 2017
980
Joined the post office. Lost weight/gained muscle, and only have to deal with coworkers for maybe an hour or two a day. Fresh air, exercise, and pretty solid overtime pay if things get slammed.

I was tied to a desk for years before, got really tired of it. Timing worked out perfectly, never been happier in my job.
 
sirap

sirap

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,210
South East Asia
Hogendaz85 said:
This for real?! Awesome if so, i always keep telling myself I'm going to write some stories but don't know how I can go about making money doing so.
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Yep! I'm not sure if my posts from the old place still exist, but I made a ton of posts about my progress and earnings. I did get lucky with my timing though, I jumped in when Amazon first launched Kindle Unlimited and they were practically throwing money at you lol.

samoyed said:
Chuck Tingle is that you?
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lmao, I wish I was as creative as Tingle. We did start from the same Facebook group though.
 
Hogendaz85

Hogendaz85

Member
Dec 6, 2017
2,820
sirap said:
Yep! I'm not sure if my posts from the old place still exist, but I made a ton of posts about my progress and earnings. I did get lucky with my timing though, I jumped in when Amazon first launched Kindle Unlimited and they were practically throwing money at you lol.



lmao, I wish I was as creative as Tingle. We did start from the same Facebook group though.
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Nice! Did you write prior to this? I have trouble simply starting, which of course means I'll get nowhere if I don't step up.
 
Charcoal

Charcoal

Member
Nov 2, 2017
7,514
Dr Campino said:
Joined the post office. Lost weight/gained muscle, and only have to deal with coworkers for maybe an hour or two a day. Fresh air, exercise, and pretty solid overtime pay if things get slammed.

I was tied to a desk for years before, got really tired of it. Timing worked out perfectly, never been happier in my job.
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What's the ballpark salary for a mail carrier?
 
sirap

sirap

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,210
South East Asia
Hogendaz85 said:
Nice! Did you write prior to this? I have trouble simply starting, which of course means I'll get nowhere if I don't step up.
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God no, not even fanfiction. English isn't even my first language but I was desperate. I think it helped that I started out with shorts and worked my way up to full novels. If you have trouble with direction, consider using beat sheets or try outlining with the snowflake method. It's really fun!
 
Birdito

Birdito

Member
Oct 30, 2017
980
Charcoal said:
What's the ballpark salary for a mail carrier?
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Now of course I'm in Canada, but it starts at $45k and has structured raises in our collective agreement. Going by our current deal, by year 7 I should have a base pay of $27/hr, but it of course depends on some things (owning a route vs relief). OT is calculated daily, so from hours 8-10 worked it's 1.5x and hours 10+ are 2x pay. Last Christmas season I had some back-to-back 12-hour days, but they can be worth it.

It also helps that I love my job, and I'm not one of those 20+ year grumps.
 
Walter White Walker

Walter White Walker

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,537
I worked in an insurance agency for 20 years. The agent that owned it was old school and, unlike almost every other single insurance agent out there (seriously, they all lack a moral compass), refused to sell evil bullshit like indexed annuities, whole life insurance and all that. He refused to sign some new contracts that would have forced him to do so and was like, "Nah, I'm good." I knew when he retired I was going to leave the industry so for the last 5-6 years of working there I saved over 50% of my income almost every single month and invested it.
When he retired about 3 1/2 years ago, I started working from home for myself doing various things. I'm now a writer, mainly doing marketing stuff for HVAC companies, but also travel guides, articles about insurance and so on. I'd like to increase my income some but whatever, it's fine. And I have ton of flexibility in when I work, which is nearly priceless when you have kids.
Also, the rule is true that it's 10% of your customers that cause 90% of the problems. I "fire" those fuckers because life is too short and I don't need the aggravation. Can't do that when you work for someone else.
 
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Kayotix

Kayotix

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,312
9-5? What's that?

Work for railroad so it's usually 12+ and I'm on call 24/7 365. Pays great and benefits make it worth it.

Most of the time I really enjoy what I do. Let's me support my family and gives us a comfortable life.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,876
Frisco, Tx
Became the boss of my department and changed the rules (with my VP's permission) dropped everyone to 30 hours a week and 2 work from home days (this was before covid). After that I transitioned us to a 30 hours OR till all projects are done for the week schedule (meaning, some weeks you wont even put in 20 hours, but everyone is salary so pay doesn't change, and we all are on call, so some weeks will be 80 hour weeks, but i keep crunch time like that limited to one time a year when possible, usually conference week)
 
Jack Bauer

Jack Bauer

Banned
Jun 14, 2019
860
Moved to Yellowstone National Park. Worked at Old Faithful one summer.

Kept bouncing around parks (Glacier, Grand Canyon), then went to Alaska this past summer.

Unfortunately thanks to COVID that avenue is dead for awhile. But lots of interesting jobs and opportunities available in our National Parks.
 
Jedi2016

Jedi2016

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,648
Honestly, after working directly in call centers with flexible schedules, weekend hours, and after-hours on-call, I was quite happy to move into a M-F/8-5 position.
 
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