Tired of 9-5. What else to make $?

[biohacker]

My girlfriend and I are really getting tired. Very tired. We both have good paying jobs but we feel our souls being sucked out of us because it's not that we hate our jobs, but rather don't like being forced to work and never see eachother. We don't feel that being rich in life with materials, money etc. is important, but rather simply having enough money so we can be with eachother more and do the things we like to do. We've both hit a major wall, and need to do something within the next few years at least, so we need an exit strategy.

Being child free and commitment free (except for our jobs) we can pretty much do anything that we want right now, but unfortunately have no idea what we want. My idea was to move to south america, probably Costa Rica and enjoy the low cost of living, good healthcare, tropical climate, and living a pure life without any of the rat race. We have some savings, but not enough to sustain us into old age (mid life now).

So presently my thoughts are to make some income with blogging. Does anyone here have any experience with this, or other means of generating passive income streams? Looks like alot of videos on youtube show that it is possible but I do have some concerns about scams. But it seems like by shooting some short videos, creating a blog, writing articles, etc. can create some decent commissions to allow sustainability. Was thinking maybe a weed/vaporizer blog, doing reviews on new products, discussing and showcasing strains, etc. But i'm assuming this is over saturated? What about podcasts?

There HAS to be a way to make money online and from home. I'm not afraid of the work, but it would be alot more tolerable from home and with my loved ones. Just trying to think of ways of making my hobby a job that allows me to live somewhat comfortably.

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated! Life is too short to live like a slave. thanks!

 

[clukx]

i was in the exact same boat as you a few months ago
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/hard-life-decision-input.11154/
I quit my job and Ive been here ever since. with bigger and better plans in the midst

 

[Vicki]

I had my own business for a while, cleaning houses. I did it on my own schedule, and made great money. The only reason I stopped doing it was because I got sick of cleaning other people's toilet's.

 

[StickyShisha2]

good quote

Life is too short to live like a slave.

if i could go back a few decades to change things, i would be in a different line of work.

 

[equatorgringo]

If moving to Central America and you're not going to open up a business or work as a higher up in the corporate world, then you will definitely need to figure out some way to make money (online if that is what you want to do). In Panama, someone that has even a college degree starts out between $600-$1,000 a month (before deductions/taxes). One of our highest paid employees is fluent in 3 languages, studied and gained BA in computer science at state college in USA after graduating from high school in Panama, and we pay him about $900 plus small comissions and quarterly bonuses. We also have an in-house lawyer with 20 years experience in real estate law that we pay maybe $1,800 a month (we also let them do side jobs for others to earn extra $). But that's a full time lawyer.

One very common misconception is "low cost of living". Don't immediately think the cost of living is low, because that COMPLETELY depends on what your lifestyle choice is. My cost of living is pretty fucking hefty, because I don't want to live in the ghetto with a target on my back, wake up 3 hours before work to get in line to take crappy public transportation to the office, and have my diet consist of rice, beans, and meat of the day. I don't want to say it compairs to big city in USA...but groceries, gasoline (not diesel), electronics, cosumer goods in general are 10-20-30% more expensive here.

Think very hard and do a lot of research is all I can say. If you do not have kids then now is the time to try it out, but don't expect absolute serenity.

Also in regards to healthcare- medication is WAY easier to obtain here than in the states. So many meds that need a prescription in the states you can buy here OTC. Cheaper also. Not talking about narcotics which is a rareity even inside the hospitals.

 

[syrupy]

Blogging is tough to make any good money at, unless you have some content that isn't easily found elsewhere. Even then, it's more of a trickle than a flood of income. What was the idea of subject for the blog?

 

[clouded vision]

in the words of Drew Carey

Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so?
There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.

 

[JCat]

Get into software development?

 

[420time]

I had my own business for a while, cleaning houses. I did it on my own schedule, and made great money. The only reason I stopped doing it was because I got sick of cleaning other people's toilet's.

lol when i saw you say you had a business for a while, cleaning houses i immediately thought of the big white Russian or Polish people chick from "2 broke girls".

There are way too many vaporizer bloggers and videos now. so many of them getting sponsors and free crap they sell on their site.

 

[Adobewan]

The greatest gift we can give our kids is to help them find their passions.They will work with such commitment, that they will excel, build careers of them, and therefore never "work" a day in their life. But they can't blindly go into any field, e.g., if their passion is in labor, those jobs are unfortunately on the verge of extinction. We need to teach our kids to build, to create, to design, and to invent. There are many opportunities in the creative fields, in the tech fields, and the digital age brings a brand new set of career options(pre-2000, the idea of designing games for phones would get a lot of WTF?s)but the key is putting in the (often lonely)hard work up front. It is absolutely miserable in the beginning of any of these endeavors, and that's why many quit before they get their momentum going.
So applying this to you Bio, and your girlfriend, consider spending some committed time(not an hour!!) to determine what you would do with your life, if you didn't have to ever worry about money again(ok, when you're not vaping). It's in that/those answer(s) that you will find your best career. Then research, prep, and get that giant, heavy ball rolling. Keep at it and the ball will likely start rolling on it's own.

And if all you want to do is be around cannabis:
-Buy a small farm and perfect some excellent boutique strains, not unlike a vineyard.
-Learn how to produce clean, high end concentrates
-Study electronics and design a new vaporizer
-Learn to blow glass
-Hook up with local farmers and create a respectable delivery service
-Start a dispensary(I wouldn't, but it's a possibility for some.)

If you guys are healthy and smart, you have a good chance of creating a future you won't get tired of.
Peace and best of luck Biohacker!

 

[biohacker]

wow, I am moved by some of your great responses and truly appreciate your help and advice. After more reflection, we don't really have it all that bad. I love that drew carey quote because it's so true!

I think I may re-think this plan to work for the next several years, then retire YOUNG. I hate hearing stories of people working until retirement age and then kicking the bucket. Damn life is a trip... thank god for vaping, because no matter how bad shit is, I swear vaping always makes everything better and tolerable. I actually remember how shitty is was working labor jobs, but with a little herb it actually made that shitty labor job enjoyable! lol

I have also learned that perception is everything. You can look at labor as "hard work" and "back breaking" but if you change that tape in the brain, you can think of it as an incredible work out, way to stay fit, and good honest work.

I'm also starting to realize that i'm lazier than I thought...seems to be as I get older, I get lazier. I guess reality is just starting to hit me. Possible mid life crisis. Quick solution - VAS!

PS. There are some incredibly smart people on this forum, and I thank you all so much for contributing. I think I feel more connected on this forum to you guys, than some of my acquaintances!

 

[bcleez]

First off I apologize for the short summary but its an overall quick perspective. I would go Panama over Costa Rica - Lived in Panama City for a short stint. Life is difficult for a gringo in Latin America - you need to speak conversational Spanish or you will get crushed. The best opportunity is entrepreneurship - for example in Panama Web Development and Mobile Advertising are about 10 years behind the US. I am sure EquatorGringo can provide better information, but I think they would agree that there is an opportunity to serve other gringos down there is a huge opportunity in food and service in general. Americans have had success opening coffee and bagel shops in Cangrejo and Casco Viejo. I have heard about Americans opening up Pizza parlors and having success. Simple things work because they just don't exist. However Panama has wonky laws for employing locals. Many people get around this by incorporating in the USA. A hostel could be a great job. Service is a joke in Panama and the Food is pretty bad too. If you could open something like Moes or Chipolte down there you would be rich. They love fast food.

Lots of things in these countries do not exist yet or are in their infancy. Getting things done, such as paperwork are very difficult, you think the DMV is bad... you haven't seen anything yet. Panama McDonalds - fast is like 5-10 minute wait for a burger. Take vacations first.

I think your response above is spot on. I loved Panama, but it will make you appreciate the United States so much more. Shit actually works here. Like electricity, water, traffic. Plus you know the rules here, people fight to get into this country. The economy here has been shit for 5+ years along with the job market.

Buy this book Bogleheads Guide to Investing and have fun getting to retirement.

 

[biohacker]

Huge thanks bcleeze! I have given this alot of thought and pretty much have self reflected and decided that i'm basically just whining, and don't have it all that bad. No matter how hard this fight in life, someone somewhere is fighting for theirs. Have just basically bought some building land and will be putting up a custom house and flipping it after a year and make some big cash, and then do it again and hopefully after a few of those I will be in a much better position.

I started out a bit late in life, but sure had some good times in my 20's that I will NEVER EVER regret.

You guys are all simply awesome. If we all put our collective minds together from this forum and got together, I bet we could all retire sooner! lol

 

[Lo]

Read this: http://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/0471730335

Start saving/investing so hopefully you can exit the rat race early at least. I love me some Vanguard funds.

 

[ichibaneye]

Get off the grid, become self sustaining/sufficient.

The same robber barons that sucked the life from from its people own my country now.

By becoming more self reliant my gf and I are saving loads of money and what we do have goes much further.

Less stress, less illegal taxation of my dollars, better health. It may be hard at first but that's just because whether if you realize it or not you have basically been indoctrinated/brainwashed into knowing nothing but being a cog in the system.

Fuck big brother and little sis! Put that in your data base NSA...lol. Time for a treat.

Cheers!

 

[Silver420Surfer]

I thought this might go with the overall thread theme.

In 1969, publisher John Martin offered to pay Charles Bukowski $100 each and every month for the rest of his life, on one condition: that he quit his job at the post office and become a writer. 49-year-old Bukowski did just that, and in 1971 his first novel, Post Office, was published by Martin's Black Sparrow Press.

15 years later, Bukowski wrote the following letter to Martin and spoke of his joy at having escaped full time employment.

8-12-86

Hello John:

Thanks for the good letter. I don't think it hurts, sometimes, to remember where you came from. You know the places where I came from. Even the people who try to write about that or make films about it, they don't get it right. They call it "9 to 5." It's never 9 to 5, there's no free lunch break at those places, in fact, at many of them in order to keep your job you don't take lunch. Then there's OVERTIME and the books never seem to get the overtime right and if you complain about that, there's another sucker to take your place.

You know my old saying, "Slavery was never abolished, it was only extended to include all the colors."

And what hurts is the steadily diminishing humanity of those fighting to hold jobs they don't want but fear the alternative worse. People simply empty out. They are bodies with fearful and obedient minds. The color leaves the eye. The voice becomes ugly. And the body. The hair. The fingernails. The shoes. Everything does.

As a young man I could not believe that people could give their lives over to those conditions. As an old man, I still can't believe it. What do they do it for? Sex? TV? An automobile on monthly payments? Or children? Children who are just going to do the same things that they did?

Early on, when I was quite young and going from job to job I was foolish enough to sometimes speak to my fellow workers: "Hey, the boss can come in here at any moment and lay all of us off, just like that, don't you realize that?"

They would just look at me. I was posing something that they didn't want to enter their minds.

Now in industry, there are vast layoffs (steel mills dead, technical changes in other factors of the work place). They are layed off by the hundreds of thousands and their faces are stunned:

"I put in 35 years..."

"It ain't right..."

"I don't know what to do..."

They never pay the slaves enough so they can get free, just enough so they can stay alive and come back to work. I could see all this. Why couldn't they? I figured the park bench was just as good or being a barfly was just as good. Why not get there first before they put me there? Why wait?

I just wrote in disgust against it all, it was a relief to get the shit out of my system. And now that I'm here, a so-called professional writer, after giving the first 50 years away, I've found out that there are other disgusts beyond the system.

I remember once, working as a packer in this lighting fixture company, one of the packers suddenly said: "I'll never be free!"

One of the bosses was walking by (his name was Morrie) and he let out this delicious cackle of a laugh, enjoying the fact that this fellow was trapped for life.

So, the luck I finally had in getting out of those places, no matter how long it took, has given me a kind of joy, the jolly joy of the miracle. I now write from an old mind and an old body, long beyond the time when most men would ever think of continuing such a thing, but since I started so late I owe it to myself to continue, and when the words begin to falter and I must be helped up stairways and I can no longer tell a bluebird from a paperclip, I still feel that something in me is going to remember (no matter how far I'm gone) how I've come through the murder and the mess and the moil, to at least a generous way to die.

To not to have entirely wasted one's life seems to be a worthy accomplishment, if only for myself.

yr boy,

Hank

Link to page where I found this
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/10/people-simply-empty-out.html

 

[Zookeeper]

100% good advise honest answer: Get into consessions. Learn to make kettle corn, pork rinds,etc, and start with the cheapest booths you can get (flea markets,swap meets)

With a minimal amount of professionalism yoiu can make a profit in the thousands every weekend.

In no time flat you can be the most loved vendor at the awesomest festivals.

 

[equatorgringo]

First off I apologize for the short summary but its an overall quick perspective. I would go Panama over Costa Rica - Lived in Panama City for a short stint. Life is difficult for a gringo in Latin America - you need to speak conversational Spanish or you will get crushed. The best opportunity is entrepreneurship - for example in Panama Web Development and Mobile Advertising are about 10 years behind the US. I am sure EquatorGringo can provide better information, but I think they would agree that there is an opportunity to serve other gringos down there is a huge opportunity in food and service in general. Americans have had success opening coffee and bagel shops in Cangrejo and Casco Viejo. I have heard about Americans opening up Pizza parlors and having success. Simple things work because they just don't exist. However Panama has wonky laws for employing locals. Many people get around this by incorporating in the USA. A hostel could be a great job. Service is a joke in Panama and the Food is pretty bad too. If you could open something like Moes or Chipolte down there you would be rich. They love fast food.

Lots of things in these countries do not exist yet or are in their infancy. Getting things done, such as paperwork are very difficult, you think the DMV is bad... you haven't seen anything yet. Panama McDonalds - fast is like 5-10 minute wait for a burger. Take vacations first.

I think your response above is spot on. I loved Panama, but it will make you appreciate the United States so much more. Shit actually works here. Like electricity, water, traffic. Plus you know the rules here, people fight to get into this country. The economy here has been shit for 5+ years along with the job market.

Buy this book Bogleheads Guide to Investing and have fun getting to retirement.

Pretty spot on. There are people from all over the world coming here to create or expand their business. It is the ripe time and place for it.

Panama has gotten a lot better and continues to grow, however the service in almost every single industry is still at the same stand-still level. It is deep rooted in the society and would only see a change if the disgustingly corrupt politicians would let the education system advance and grow. Then, and maybe only then, after an entire generation's cycle could there be some change.

 

[Jeremy Driscoll]

There are many ways to make easy money. Ofcourse I only know one way, and it is not legal. If you want to know what it is pm me. It is not a secret, but it is also not something I brag about.

In the end if you and your gf do not agree with me, I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it.