A testimony from Susan from Frugalouis
On a date night shortly before my husband’s computer programming contract ended, we got to musing. What if he just took time off after this contract instead of trying to jump right into something else? What if we were purposeful and set aside a period of time to invest in our own business? Could we do it?
My husband Ed wrote and sold software long before we married. This business brought in a very part-time income for us, but not nearly enough to support our growing family. If we ever were to get to the point of being fully self-employed, we both knew his software needed to be available on the web.
And so “Project GROW” was born: Get it Running On the Web.
Seven months for a family of four to choose to live on little-to-no income, with the goal of being self-employed and flexible down the road.
Here’s how it worked for us:
- That night at the restaurant we hammered out a detailed schedule for our family. Included in each week was about forty-five hours of time set aside for Ed to work on Project GROW. We knew that this way if (when!) things ate into his time, he was still likely to get in at least forty hours a week.
- We made sure to schedule in time for date nights and our family. With other things being tight during this time, we wanted to maximize time with Ed/Daddy.
- We set goals and a time-line. This included how long we were planning to devote and some markers to guide us toward completion.
- Our budget became our friend. Since we were blessed to go into Project GROW with a fully-funded emergency fund, we knew we had the resources at our disposal to live without income for several months. However, we were not guaranteed that Ed would find work immediately after Project GROW was complete. With this in mind, we set a budget that was significantly less than our spending prior to Project GROW. This budget amount became our “income” for each month.
- Money-saving became serious business around our house. While I had been couponing and following MoneySavingMom.com for about a year prior to this, now we really needed to stretch the bucks. Our commitment to using cash increased as Project GROW progressed. While we had gone into the project paying off our one credit card in full each month, by the end of our seven months we chose to be completely credit card-less.
- We knew we were in this as a team. I think this was a crucial piece of the equation. Together we came up with the name “Project GROW”, which ended up being a great “handle” for all the times we referred to this huge adventure our family was on. We started out dreaming about Project GROW together, and we planned our schedule together. And most importantly, together we prayed about this undertaking.
- My husband knew the skills he was learning and refining would make him more marketable regardless of how our new product sold. In many ways this was our “safety net” for investing so much time and money.
What happened is that we only made about three months’ worth of transfers out of the savings account. God provided in amazing ways, including a small inheritance and simply making our money stretch.
The year before Project GROW, we had the largest income we’d ever had as a couple. Living frugally during that time of plenty helped us prepare for this chosen time of drought.
Our seven months of investing full-time in our family business are now passed. Project GROW is mostly complete, and the web-based version of our product will be debuting soon. We realize that it will likely take years for us to get to the point of self-sufficiency. But imagine what it will be like when we do!
As a couple and a family, we’re glad that we stepped out and took a calculated risk toward financial independence. Instead of wondering and wishing, we did it, and now we’re excited to see what’s around the next bend.
Susan lives in St. Louis, is married to Ed and stay-at-home mom to their two little ones, ages one and three. She blogs at Frugalouis, “a frugal St. Louis Mom’s guide to the city”.
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We are working on paying off our car, washer and dryer, and wedding ring right now! I married a spender (while being quite the spender myself) and we have both decided to work hard to pay off our debts. But of course God is good and we have a nice chunk of money coming back to us from our taxes, which is helping us jump start our frugal ways early! =]
Inspiring post.. I wish you success in your work
Thanks for your post. My husband and I are doing the same thing! We do currently have the product online but it has not begun generating revenue yet. We are still in that in between stage but it was encouraging to read your post!
That’s exciting that you’re doing something similar, Erica! I wish you and your husband well!
Nice entry. I particularly liked that you set a schedule to work on your business. It seems that being online or running your own business could just take over your life time wise if you are not careful.
What did you do for health insurance during the time your husband was unemployed?
My husband does contract work even when he is employed, so we are always self-insured.
Susan,
Your post was encouraging. I work at a college and have my summer months off from my responsibilities. I have been thinking about taking that 2 months to start and build my blog instead of getting a part time job. You offered some great tips to help me in my decision.
Thanks
Have you always had a good experience with MyPoints? Is it scam? Should you set up a separate email account for this website?
Susan, thank you for sharing your encouraging story! I was especially impressed the part you included near the end, “Living frugally during that time of plenty helped us prepare for this chosen time of drought.” It must have been tough, sticking to a frugal plan like that, when it would be easy to justify a little fun spending when there was plenty of income. I hope your new business venture continues to bless your family!