Cat Rocketship

1. Set goals. My husband Scott and I have known since college we wanted to work for ourselves. I majored in art, so it was pretty clear I was going to have to be working for myself — and that required me to start learning skills I knew I’d need later: accounting basics, tax information, basic marketing skills, and more. Since I knew the general idea of where I wanted to go (“I want to work for myself so that I don’t have to wake up early and I can drink beers at work and swear on Twitter and also because I am a curmudgeon.”) I have been able to better identify skills I need to cultivate. 
2. Reduce costs. THANK YOU IOWA. I totally do covet the big city lives of many of my friends — but we found a city we loved that we could afford to make a go in, and it’s worked out well. Our mortgage is low, food is inexpensive, fun is cheap, and drinks are affordable. We also spend very little money — we’re definitely still in the building phase of our careers and our budget may continue to be touch and go for several years. It’s helped a lot to cultivate very good friends and very inexpensive hobbies. Other ways we’ve enabled our bohemian lifestyle: we only have one car. No cable (SO MUCH INTERNET, THOUGH!). We cultivate our savings accounts in case of emergencies (or work drought). Learning to cook well so we don’t miss going out to eat has been HUGE. Gardening! Eating vegetarian! LEARNING TO DARN SOCKS! Embracing free entertainment — podcasts, public radio. LIBRARIES.
3. Take baby steps. We’ve had setbacks. Scott got laid off in 2008. I had a nasty accident and spent most of 2009 recovering. I got let go in 2010. We closed a business in 2010, and another in 2011. Scott got laid off again this December. Happily, each time we’ve learned a little bit more — the most recent layoff has barely been a blip on our radar, relatively. However, it’s definitely the case that each time we take two steps forward, we take one step back again. It’s important to understand that building a lifestyle like this will take time — and that’s where stuff like making sure you’re investing in savings (and not carrying a huge credit card bill!) can be make-or-break. 
4. Start projects. I’m sure I only have my job at Offbeat Home because I started Hipster Housewife for fun and could point to it as a non-mainstream home-related blog I’d been able to consistently update when I applied. I also run stuff like Market Day — which, in its third year, actually pays me, too! But even if it didn’t, it taught me loads of skills and showed other people I am a Responsible Adult Who Gets Shit Done. Scott got his last job because we started a creative coworking space so we could create a studio workshop with our friends. Starting lots of projects for yourself helps you know what you like to do, what you don’t, what you want to hire other people to do FOR you (accounting. All the stuff my assistant Riane does.)
5. Never avoid the hard stuff: You still owe taxes, even if you don’t want to do them. If you want to work for yourself, you have to put big kid pants on and embrace all your duties with courage and vigor, or it just sucks. 
6. Cultivate other sources of income. OKAY. This is the key: I make money from 6-7 sources any given month. They’re related (lots of writing) so it’s not overwhelming, but I certainly didn’t expect to be singing for my supper to that many “bosses”. But it’s great! I love it! 

Next post I’ll give you the run-down of those actual sources of income — all the ways I’ve found successful for creating income.