6 Simple Hustles You Can Start To Create Financial Freedom
By: Josef Cruz
Tags: Travel, Money, Life, Saving, Freedom

1. Eliminate or Reduce Unnecessary Expenses Budgeting

The first step I had to take was to reduce my spending and lower my standard of living. I needed to do this for a few different reasons.

First, I needed to save for travel expenses. I also wanted to adopt a lifestyle that would be possible to maintain without traditional employment. Finally, I wanted to give myself the freedom to make choices in my best interest and aligned with my core values, not decisions driven by money.

Can you maintain your current standard of living and still live the lifestyle you’ve dreamed up? If you’re like me, probably not. I wanted to quit my job and travel for an extended period of time, which meant I would need to learn to live with less money.

By reducing my standard of living a year before I left my job, I was not only able to save money, but I was able to ease myself into the lifestyle I would have without a full-time income.

Start with reducing spending or budgeting. Look at your spending for the past 3 months and break it into categories (many online banks’ software and credit card statements will do this for you).

Assess where your money is going and begin to think about making small changes to reduce that spending.

2. Lower your standard of living and save more

To travel, I needed a chunk of money. I also needed a buffer in case my other ideas to make money fell through or if something went horribly wrong. So after adjusting my budget and lowering my standard of living, I was able to begin saving more. Once I was ready to travel and sold off my stuff, most notably my car, all of that money went into my savings as well.

After you’ve budgeted and lowered your standard of living, you should be able to set aside more money. For some, this money will go into a travel fund. For others, it’s a safety net in case their business flops. Either way, assess your goals and determine how much money you need to feel comfortable before making a big change or taking a risk.

3. Create independent income

If you’ve saved enough, you likely could achieve your goals by using your savings. I met plenty of people who were traveling solely off of their savings.

I met people on the road who literally did not have money to buy their flight home and worked odd jobs to raise enough funds. That is not me. I will never be comfortable with that way of life. I’m a planner, and I like to feel that I am ready for anything thrown my way.

Finding a source of independent income and, more specifically, location independent income was significant. I developed some of the ways to earn money independently, including selling my stuff and handmade goods on Etsy, eBay, pet sitting, and renting my spare bedroom out on Airbnb.

Some of these are truly location independent, while others are remote, but they helped me sustain myself during and after quitting my job. Whatever the case may be, jot down a list of all the ways you think you can make money.

If you’re having trouble, try to think of how you can provide value to others using skills you already have or look at other people who have the lifestyle you want and find out how they support themselves.

4. Make a Plan

Making a plan sounds obvious, but for me, it was actually really, really difficult. I knew I was going to leave my job and travel, but when or where? I questioned myself, my abilities, my motives, everything. That’s why finding the answers to these questions and developing a plan is so important.

To make a plan, what helped me was something as simple as writing out a chart. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do first, so I came up with 3 options and wrote them down. My chart looked something like this:

Travel now or Work & Save for 9 months, then Travel or Move somewhere & get a job

Your choices might look different. After weighing the pros and cons, I chose option two: save for 9 months and then travel. I didn’t yet feel comfortable with the amount I could save, so I wanted to work a bit longer somewhere new to save a little more. I found an awesome beach town with a lower cost of living to move to, I found a job, and 2 months later, I quit my job and moved.

5. Garner Support

This is an important step — one that I didn’t realize just how important it was until I was forming my plan.

If you’re doing something that goes against society's norms, there are going to be a lot of people who give you strange looks, question your decisions, or, even worse, tell you you’re making a big mistake.

Hopefully, by this point, you’re confident in your game plan, but even the most confident person can be shaken by people questioning his or her choices.

So find the people who support you. I was fortunate enough to have my family by my side, which made a huge difference because we could support and encourage each other.

If you’re having trouble finding people to support your goals, you’re not alone. Most of my friends didn’t understand what I was doing and were less than stoked that I was quitting a job I had worked for years to reach and when traveling abroad.

6. Take action on your plan

Following through with your plan is the hardest, scariest part.

I have a special trick for this: Take the decision out of your hands. Pick a date that is comfortable in the future and hold yourself to it. For me, choosing a date I felt comfortable with was the best way to force myself to follow through with my plan.

Taking action on your plan is super scary, and you’ll probably never feel completely prepared, but if you’ve done the steps listed above and have a plan to support yourself, you’re as ready as you’ll ever be. Set the date or whatever you need to do to hold yourself accountable and go for it!