It was hard, but I've managed to get my monthly expenses down to zero. That is $0 a month. 
That means no rent payment, car payment, insurance, cell phone, etc. It was hard, but I found my ways to do it. It took a lot of research.
Some Examples:
1.) Got rid of my cell phone and replaced it with Google Voice. If I get wifi I get free phone calls. In the process of getting a phone with prepaid minutes just for emergencies.
2.) Moved my ebook seller from a monthly payment (e-junkie) to commission based one (gumroad).
3.) Sold my car (no car payment, yearly taxes, insurance, or gas) and got a bike (I'll eventually get an electric one...cost about $0.20 a day to charge).
4.) Rent - I don't know if what I'm doing is technically legal (it is not immoral or harming anyone else) and if I write about it I'm afraid others doing it might cause me problems. Let's just say I live rent free in a very VERY nice situation.
The reason I did the above isn't so much that I'm a bum (okay maybe a little right now in my life), but because I want to practice minimalism. To me it is such a huge relief having no bills to pay (okay, okay, I prepaid my website hosting for a year, but I'm looking for free alternatives like blogger...hard but possible).
But I still have to eat and of course want money for other things (like going out and new clothes...I don't drink alcohol so that is a big savings). Here are my thoughts
Income:
Welfare & Food Stamps: NOT an option. I only cut expenses for minimalism. If I do food stamps and such, I've become a bum. But if you need it you need it. I'm just not at that point yet. But I found it interesting that a blogger (dawnofchange.com) mentioned he lives on the dole (that means welfare). I guess he plans on devoting all his time to his blog to make it big and start making money off it. And, yes, I am also hoping to start making money off my blog eventually.
Get an Hourly Job: I'm thinking something like being a grocery bag boy or something. Thing is I don't think I can work for someone anymore. I did that all my life. And the freedom of not working for someone is too valuable to me now. I had a prestigious job that required a masters. I think if one of my old coworkers saw me doing an hourly job, I would probably kill myself or at least be depressed for several months. They are the hyper competitive types who kick you when you are down. They would certainly throw it in my face if they saw me doing that kind of work. I know my inner game should be better than to let it get to me, but it isn't. So I might be open to it, but probably somewhere where I'm working in the back and out of the customer's sights.
Get Paid to Write Online: Problem with this is I'm fighting carpal tunnel just recently. It has been getting better. Working on my blog is doable, but if I start doing 6-8 hour days of typing I might be in trouble.
Sell Scrap Metal: Probably aluminum cans. I read one guy saying he can get as much as $100 a day doing it. I don't know if I'll be up for that, but definitely want to try it out.
Temp Manual Labor Work: Probably something with Labor Ready. But I tend to rub lowlifes (like construction workers) the wrong way. Might be a problem.
In the end, I feel like once I relocate (probably Vegas), I'll just have to talk to the locals to find some good ways to make money.
But I would like to hear any ideas you guys might have.
Thanks!
That means no rent payment, car payment, insurance, cell phone, etc. It was hard, but I found my ways to do it. It took a lot of research.
Some Examples:
1.) Got rid of my cell phone and replaced it with Google Voice. If I get wifi I get free phone calls. In the process of getting a phone with prepaid minutes just for emergencies.
2.) Moved my ebook seller from a monthly payment (e-junkie) to commission based one (gumroad).
3.) Sold my car (no car payment, yearly taxes, insurance, or gas) and got a bike (I'll eventually get an electric one...cost about $0.20 a day to charge).
4.) Rent - I don't know if what I'm doing is technically legal (it is not immoral or harming anyone else) and if I write about it I'm afraid others doing it might cause me problems. Let's just say I live rent free in a very VERY nice situation.
The reason I did the above isn't so much that I'm a bum (okay maybe a little right now in my life), but because I want to practice minimalism. To me it is such a huge relief having no bills to pay (okay, okay, I prepaid my website hosting for a year, but I'm looking for free alternatives like blogger...hard but possible).
But I still have to eat and of course want money for other things (like going out and new clothes...I don't drink alcohol so that is a big savings). Here are my thoughts
Income:
Welfare & Food Stamps: NOT an option. I only cut expenses for minimalism. If I do food stamps and such, I've become a bum. But if you need it you need it. I'm just not at that point yet. But I found it interesting that a blogger (dawnofchange.com) mentioned he lives on the dole (that means welfare). I guess he plans on devoting all his time to his blog to make it big and start making money off it. And, yes, I am also hoping to start making money off my blog eventually.
Get an Hourly Job: I'm thinking something like being a grocery bag boy or something. Thing is I don't think I can work for someone anymore. I did that all my life. And the freedom of not working for someone is too valuable to me now. I had a prestigious job that required a masters. I think if one of my old coworkers saw me doing an hourly job, I would probably kill myself or at least be depressed for several months. They are the hyper competitive types who kick you when you are down. They would certainly throw it in my face if they saw me doing that kind of work. I know my inner game should be better than to let it get to me, but it isn't. So I might be open to it, but probably somewhere where I'm working in the back and out of the customer's sights.
Get Paid to Write Online: Problem with this is I'm fighting carpal tunnel just recently. It has been getting better. Working on my blog is doable, but if I start doing 6-8 hour days of typing I might be in trouble.
Sell Scrap Metal: Probably aluminum cans. I read one guy saying he can get as much as $100 a day doing it. I don't know if I'll be up for that, but definitely want to try it out.
Temp Manual Labor Work: Probably something with Labor Ready. But I tend to rub lowlifes (like construction workers) the wrong way. Might be a problem.
In the end, I feel like once I relocate (probably Vegas), I'll just have to talk to the locals to find some good ways to make money.
But I would like to hear any ideas you guys might have.
Thanks!
