For those who haven’t heard, I mentioned goodbye to SAHD FIRE and Howdy to Gig FIRE. I’ve 2 causes for doing this. One, I need to spend my time a bit extra productively. My son is getting older and extra impartial now. He’s in school from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. That’s numerous idle time for me. That is probably the most free time I’ve had since I turned a SAHD. I want one thing to do. Two, I need to elevate $30,000 to construct a seaside cabin in Thailand. My household has a small piece of land close to Hua Hin seaside. The seaside is simply okay, however the seafood is scrumptious and really reasonably priced. My dad needs to stay there in the course of the burning season. It’s manner too smoky in Chiang Mai from February to mid-April. I’ve at all times wished to stay in a seaside city as nicely.

Anyway, I’ll attempt varied methods to earn cash and write an replace often. In the present day, I’ll write about my long-time odd job – Running a blog.

Running a blog

I began running a blog in 2010. Wow, it’s been 13 years! In a number of years, I’ll be a blogger longer than I used to be an engineer. That’s nuts. Running a blog utterly reworked my life for the higher. I used to be at a low level, and running a blog lifted me out of that funk. It gave me a objective by letting me concentrate on enhancing my life as a substitute of blaming circumstances for my issues. Running a blog helped flip damaging vitality into creativity.

Again in 2010, the FIRE motion and running a blog have been each rising. It was a good time to begin a weblog. Additionally, I wished to make a bit cash on the facet. I wished to depart my engineering profession and I used to be prepared to attempt something. Happily, I used to be in the precise place on the proper time. Retire by 40 grew tremendously over the primary few years and it gave me the arrogance to retire early. By 2012, our web price met the 4% SWR rule, however I in all probability wouldn’t have stop engineering if I didn’t have any facet Revenue. The running a blog revenue permits us to delay withdrawal and make investments.

Running a blog Revenue

I used to be very lucky to begin running a blog once I did. The tide was rising and it lifted all boats in 2010. The primary 12 months was the one 12 months I misplaced cash. After that, running a blog generated a pleasant revenue.

Here’s a chart of my running a blog revenue over time.

It’s unbelievable. Running a blog generated over $400,000 of revenue for me over the past 13 years. I by no means thought it’d make that a lot once I began. I simply wished a bit revenue to assist pay the payments. I’m extraordinarily grateful for all of the readers over time. After all, many bloggers have been extra profitable. A number of have been in a position to leverage their blogs into books, consulting gigs, YouTube, and varied different companies. It’s an ideal stepping stone. I wasn’t artistic or hungry sufficient to develop the enterprise. It stays a weblog and I’ll proceed so long as I can. That’s the extent of my ambition. In any case, I need to take pleasure in my stress-free semi-retirement. I don’t need to work an excessive amount of.

SAHD’s ranking

Right here is my ranking for the running a blog as a SAHD facet gig. It labored out very nicely for me, however that’s because of numerous luck and perseverance. I began on the proper time and I saved at it. Your mileage could range. Most blogs don’t final very lengthy as a result of they couldn’t get sufficient traction.

Flexibility – Running a blog could be very versatile. I used to weblog at evening once I was an engineer. Again then, I may keep up late… I used to publish 3 posts per week and spent a ton of time writing and researching. Once I began, I spent over 20 hours per week on this facet gig. Now, I spend about 5-10 hours per week on it. One other beauty of running a blog is that I may do it from anyplace. I spent 6 months away from house in 2022 and was in a position to hold the weblog going.

Cash – My running a blog revenue has been nice over time. The primary 12 months was tough, although. I didn’t make a lot cash till the 2nd 12 months. Most individuals stop early as a result of they don’t see the results of their arduous work. It takes numerous persistence to work 20+ hours per week for no revenue. Sadly, I believe running a blog is dying. The tide goes out and even established bloggers are making much less cash nowadays. It’s manner more durable to generate revenue from running a blog now than once I began.  

Potential – Running a blog nonetheless has good potential. You possibly can leverage a weblog into many different companies. For those who’re industrious, you may make it work. Running a blog is a stepping stone now. You don’t need to concentrate on simply running a blog. That’s a useless finish, IMO. My running a blog revenue is lowering yearly and I don’t suppose it’ll come again.

Enjoyable – I nonetheless take pleasure in running a blog. It’s enjoyable to analysis a subject and write about it. Running a blog offers me an opportunity to focus my thoughts. That’s factor.

X issue – Running a blog has many advantages. I weblog about FIRE and it motivates me to enhance our funds. We’re doing so a lot better than once I first began. It additionally gave me a bridge to full retirement. I’ve an LLC and I’ve been contributing to my particular person 401k. If I hold running a blog till 2028, I can shut down the enterprise and withdraw from my 401k penalty-free. I’ll be sufficiently old to make use of the rule of 55. It’s an effective way to entry a few of my retirement funds early.

General – Running a blog labored out extraordinarily nicely for me. I used to be in the precise place on the proper time and I benefited vastly from beginning a weblog in 2010. The revenue is lowering, however it’s nonetheless a lot better than another odd jobs I’ve tried. I plan to maintain running a blog till 2028. After that, I’ll re-evaluate the state of affairs and work out what to do subsequent.

In conclusion, I believe running a blog isn’t facet gig anymore. It’s too arduous to achieve traction and the promoting revenue is trending down. Nevertheless, it’s stepping stone. You should utilize a weblog to catapult your entrepreneurial spirit into different companies. That’s price your time.

Alright, that’s it for this replace. Let me know when you have any questions.

For those who’re excited about beginning a weblog, right here is my information. Learn how to begin a weblog and why it is best to.