I Quit! No, not with the blog, I quit my job today. I will officially be unemployed as of the beginning of May. You have no idea how good this feels. But what is next? Well, there first will be the 9 week road trip, some home & rental property renovations and then I will start my new business!
Freedom
Albeit we are getting close(r), we are not yet FI, so cannot RE either. However, we are more “free” than we sometimes realise. Mainly because we do now have a pretty decent cash-flow income from real estate and dividend. Plus we have a nice stash of cash. With all this wealth we are now able to “buy” ourselves some extra freedom. Both literally and figuratively.
The peace of mind you get from have a nice pile of money and investments is amazing! The other benefit is the luxury that you get in making life choices. Where Mrs CF loves her work, I don’t. Now having the ability to say “F-you” to my employer, because I have a safety net, is a luxury position I only now start to grasp.
The interesting thing is, that even with just Mrs CF’s job I could have made this decision sooner. But there is something strange about quitting your job if you always had one. There is this fear of losing that steady paycheck. Even if you technically can easily do without. Emotions are a strange phenomena!
What’s Next?
Beside the fund stuff of travelling and doing renovations. I’m getting really excited about the starting of my own business. The scary part of stepping into the unknown and doing something completely new is very thrilling. I’m loving that feeling! As crazy as that may sound.
I’m not about to reveal my new business plan and business name (yet?). Mainly because I would loose whatever “privacy” I have here at Cheesy Finance. I’m not comfortable with that much exposure, especially as a lot of financial details are available on the blog. Perhaps this changes in the future, but for now I’m going to (try) to keep the two apart.
As my new business is completely different from what I (still) do in my daily life, I have a very steep learning curve ahead. I’m going to make lots of mistake, but due to the type of business the failures will have a limited financial impact. However, to limit the amount of mistakes I have already reached out to several more experienced people that could help out. All of these folks have their own business, albeit in wildly different fields. Funnily enough, they have very similar tips and tricks, guess there must be something to it? 🙂
Things that are on the “to do list” include:
- developing a business plan (actually revising it, as we already made one)
- registering the company, arranging insurance and website (latter is already up and running in basic form)
- developing of various products
- marketing
- getting my first paying gig
- How hard can it be? 😉
In future posts (as of Q3-ish) I will reveal more about how I’m going to start up my company, the mistakes I will make, the things that go well and if I actually will make any money at it. The plan is to make both passive and active income streams, the passive to pay “the bills”. The active because I actually enjoy doing it.
Any of you that are freelancers? What are the most important tips you have for me?
Congrats CF! We talked about it in Gouda and now you take the step. Nice to read! Enjoy the roadtrip.
Hey HJ, cool that you remembered, so far i’m not regretting the decision! The road trip is going well so far too 🙂
My first tip to people that go independent / start freelancing or a new company: don’t do it, statistics show its usually a bad choice 🙂
My 2nd tip: http://www.paulgraham.com/die.html
I’ve been always a marketing freelancer and after 5 years upgraded to web developer.
Ask me anything via whatsapp or on the 30th 🙂
Aren’t you the optimist 😉 I’m well aware of the statistics, and they are indeed not very good. Nice article too, couple of good points. But here is why this one is different, I don’t need to make a killing or be wildly successful. Even if I’d make a couple thousand a year, I’d be happy. Heck, even if I don’t make any money at all, but I have fun and learn new skills, I’d be happy. In the worst case scenario I stop after 2 years and go back to work to get the remaining wealth to be fully FI. Don’t forget that our savings rate is really high, so even on one income, we’d still be saving money and have the ability to invest. In short, we have nothing to lose really. Great position to be in.
Thanks for the offer to help, might need that too!
Oh didn’t know. Awesome. I’m having a different situation, still being paid 100%, but released of workduties for now. So I know the taste of freedom.
Isn’t it great?! I’m loving it 🙂 Good luck you too!
I think we all dreaming for the day of ‘I quit’ + the day of ‘9 weeks holiday’.
Good job, I wish you a good start of the new project in your life.
Thanks Claudia, it’s an amazing feeling! Glad we went this route.
Big congratulations on quitting! You’re going to love it. Hell, you probably love it already and you haven’t even left yet! 🙂
I see that your immediate travels won’t take you to the states and my international travels won’t take me near you, but I hope we can share a couple beers one of these years…
Hey Carl, finished my first week without work. Feel much happier already, more relaxed and less tired. But unlike you, I did like my job. So the feeling kind of makes sense. Planning to enjoy this for a whole lot longer 🙂
I have a feeling we will run into each other one of these days, still have some family in the states that we do need to visit on occasion. But otherwise you are more then welcome to drop by the Netherlands of course!
Wow congrats, slightly jealous 🙂
Thank Mr SLM, considering your dividend income, you should be there soon enough!
Good for you man! Really excited to read about your progress, thoughts and life now you have quit, keep us updated!
DI
Certainly will do DI, still not fully FI, so we have a bit more to go!
Congrats! And good luck!
Thank you Mr Tako!
Go Cheesy! Good luck in your endeavours!
Thanks DGI!
Inspiring it is! Keep up the goodwork! Sounds like you’re already “yolofied”!
Nice blog name! Love the contradiction, and yet it’s not there too. So yep, we seem to be pretty “yolofied” indeed 🙂
thanks for the visit.
Congrats, you’re certainly setting the right priorities!
Hi Mel, I think so too, took some time to realize this is the right way to go……
Congratulations 🙂 Enjoy your road trip and your new business!
Thank you Sir, very much looking forward to the “new life”!
Congratulations! Enjoy your road trip 🙂
Thank you, enjoying the trip we most certainly will!
Congratulations on quitting your job! I’m delighted for you guys! It’s totally true that a large pile of income producing investments gives incredible peace of mind – but as someone who isn’t there yet, it was great to hear it from you.
I think you’ve made the most important steps already in starting a business – getting a mentor (or a few) is a tremendous help. Between my professional mentor – we talk regularly – and my accountant – we talk less often! – I feel far more confident running my business than if I were doing it alone.
I hope the 9 week vacation goes well!
Thank you for the well wishes. The funny thing is that I now talk to my accountant more than my mentors, but I’m married to her so that makes a difference 😉 I still have a lot to learn, so it makes sense to look for people that know more than I do. Since I’m an extrovert, it’s not hard to do this. That being said, I lack skills in many departments as almost everything is new, so it will take time to get settled in this new “role” and get comfortable.
Yeah, great move! Might follow your example in the no-so-far-away future.
Cool! Curious to see what you have in mind and what the plans are.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity! This will work out!
Very nice decision Mr. Cheesehead
Where do you get all these nice little nuggets of wisdom? Love it! Now, about that preparation…….
Congrats! First of all: Enjoy your road trip! 9 weeks sound like a lot of fun..i’m kind of jealouse. Looking forward to read/hear about your plans for your busines/ Keep us posted!
Hello Gelddromer, thank you! Certainly will keep you all updated on developments.
Whaaaaaa!!! Great news. I hope you will enjoy it to the max.
The fun indeed has already started, it feels good!
Congrats Cheesy! I’m excited for you! This is a huge step!
Good luck! 🙂
Thank you sir, very excited about this. If all fails, I can always to back to work, so nothing to lose! Well, except maybe FIRE a couple of years later.
Congrats, exciting times ahead for you and the family! Looking forward to reading the journey ahead.
Exciting times indeed, but there is no financial pressure, which makes this decision a whole lot easier!
Gogogo…!
Yesyesyes!
Congrats! Hurray for this new phase in your life. let’s hope it is a lot more fun and exiting as the previous one (work wise of course …)
I have no doubt in my mind that it will be! It’s kind of sad how much passion I lost in my current profession, it started out so well……
Congrats on taking this big step! I have to say I’m very curious what your own business is going to be ;-).
I might tell you over a beer one of these days 😉
Awesome dude – congrats! I’d rather be pushing that rock up the mountain than on the Jetsons treadmill. Both are had but at least you see progress with the rock. You can actually get to a different place!
Man, you are good with your metaphors 😉 Let’s move that rock around, shall we?!
Congrats! That must feel awesome. I just registered myself as an entrepreneur in the Netherlands this morning, but I’ll be staying in my full time job while I see how that goes 🙂
Thanks and well, you are one step ahead of me already! I have not registered, might still do before we head off to travel, albeit there is no rush either.
Congrats, great to see you do it
I surprised myself on this one 😉
Congrats for making the jump! Will closely follow your journey, and if you need any help with marketing… let me know!
No worries, will certainly take you up on that offer 🙂
Congratulations on that bold decision. As a person who was voluntarily unemployed for about an year, I must say that was really a wonderful time because you have the whole 24 hours allocated in the way you want and need. Despite that, my advice would be to have at least a rough schedule what should be executed and when throughout the day. Otherwise, there is a risk your motivation and focus to drop at some point.
Hey Hristo, that is perhaps not a bad idea to have some sort of a schedule to maintain focus and set goals (especially for the business side of things). First I will relax during the road trip, after that I first need to educate myself on the options!
Well done, you took the leap of faith! I know the utter feeling of freedom when you have arranged a financial safety net to rely on. Enjoy!
Thanks Lonneke, very curious to see how it all works out.
Congrats Mr CF, this blogpost is very inspiring….great to read this! I’m currently working as freelancer, not sure what tips you’re looking for but I love to show my clients how much I enjoy their business and try to optimize their processes. I want them to know when they hire me, they get great value and commitment. If you want to chat in private you know where to find me 😉
When the dust settles and I have some specific questions, I might take you up on a chat over a coffee!
Yeah !!!!!!!!
Enjoy the big ‘nothing’ 🙂
That “nothing” sounds very appealing, at least of a little while 🙂
Congrats! Even though I am in the ‘love my job’ camp myself, I am very much interested in your journey!
Thanks Opa, will keep you posted 😉