You are probably asking, “When Should I Quit My Job? “, for various reasons. Maybe you are not growing in your company, or the management sucks. It is possible that you are not physically or mentally able to continue working. It could be you just want to have a different lifestyle. Or you are not getting paid reasonably.
Whatever your reasons are, you should start at least ask yourself the following questions to get an idea of how soon you can quit:
- Do you have a savings big enough to cover your expenses while you are unemployed?
- How much are your expenses and are you willing to make necessary changes for it to fit your new monthly income?
- Do you have other sources of income?
- Do you have financial responsibilities?
- Do you have debt, how much and is your monthly income post quitting your hob going to be enough?
Well, keep reading as we explore how soon you can quit your job!
When Should I Quit My Job?
Determining when to quit your job is quite straightforward actually.
All you need to consider is your expenses should be smaller or equal to your income. If you can do this, then congrats! You can hand in your resignation now!
Understand that your income doesn’t necessarily have to be coming from work.
It can be from selling on eBay or other online marketplaces, profit from digital advertising, revenue from a brick and mortar business or even from an allowance or government support!
Basically, an income is the money you receive every month regardless of its source (hopefully legal and honest).
In terms of expense, anything that you need to pay for is an expense.
Theoretically, all you need to do if you want to quit your job ASAP is to cut down your expenses to zero. Of course, this is close to impossible because even the most extreme minimalist still needs to worry about shelter, food, heating, water, and taxes.
Anyhow, if you are itching to quit right now, at least ask yourself,
“Is my monthly income will be greater than my expense?”
If yes, then go ahead.
For now, let me present to you different financial scenarios and I will give some advice on what to do on each scenarios.
Quit now if…
You have other sources of income
Do you know what separates the 1% of the population from the 99%?
The number of sources of income.
Rich people don’t rely on just their job (if they have to) to make money. They try out many things and they are not scared to put financial investment on opportunities especially if they know the system works.
In today’s age, creating extra sources of income is now quite easy, thanks to the internet. Unfortunately, most of us don’t take advantage of this technology quite well. It really boggles me why many people do almost everything online except for leveraging it to create an income!
I get it. Many people use the internet to scam people, but that doesn’t mean every money-making opportunity you see on the internet is a scam.
Hint! An internet money-making opportunity is probably a scam if the product promises you that their product or services will give make you rich in just a couple of days if you follow their strategy by the dot.
Let’s us not focus on the scam though and let us explore how you can create other sources of income.
Here are some of the things you can do to make money online
- Answering Surveys
- Starting an e-commerce business, e.i. selling on Amazon, eBay, Shopify
- Online Freelancing
- Affiliate Marketing
Speaking of affiliate marketing, I suggest that you subscribe to a FREE Wealthy Affiliate starter account if you want to learn, to start, and to profit from your very own affiliate marketing business!
I learned how to write a blog and got all the tools and services that I need to write a blog from Wealthy Affiliate so for me, it is the best way to get started on your affiliate marketing.
You have access to free food and shelter
If you want to quit now, then you should at least have an income (not from work) big enough to cover at least your food and shelter expenses (includes property tax, heating, and water)
OR
Find someone who will give you free food and free shelter plus they are willing to pay all other house expenses…hmmm #lucky #parents
Wait! Before you quit your job, make sure you can live a very minimalist life! It is not easy to live that lifestyle especially if you are used to living a first-world lifestyle.
Your spouse’s income is enough for both of you and/or for your family
Ahhh.
Probably best scenario to be in!
If your spouse is making big enough to sustain both of you financially, then you might be able to quit your job. With your spouse’s permission of course.
And please, if you are in this situation, don’t just stay at home and be a bum. Use your time to grow and develop yourself and to give back! If you have kids then make sure to take care of them.
Quit later if…
You don’t have savings
There are times when you want to quit your job because it is sucking the life out of you.
Before you quit your job, make sure that you have savings to cover at least 3 to 6 months’ worth of living expenses.
If you don’t then I suggest you look for another job while holding your current job.
That is probably an easier and safer way to get out of the job that you don’t like.
You are still not making money from your online business/ side-hustle
As I said earlier, I am a member of Wealthy Affiliate, an affiliate marketing solutions provider. Wealthy Affiliate taught me how to set up my affiliate marketing website (this website) and it is providing me all the resources that I need to succeed in my online business.
When I was just new at Wealthy Affiliate, I had the eureka moment. I realize that Wealthy Affiliate is legit and it can help me make money online!
At that point, I am ready to quit because I keep telling myself that it is only a matter of time.
Here is my tip for you.
Do not quit your day job yet until your online business/ side-hustle is making consistent money and until it is bringing enough to replace your current income!
Delay your “retirement” until you are sure 100% that you will make enough to replace your 9-5 job income!
You can’t live a minimalist lifestyle
If you can’t live a minimalist lifestyle, then you can’t quit your job right now because you need your work income for you to buy your wants.
If you quit now and continue on with your minimalist lifestyle, then you will be bankrupt in no time!
Of course, if you have an extra source of income or a hefty monthly allowance that can cover both your basic and luxurious expenses, then you are blessed to be in this situation.
Go ahead, say bye to your boss.
Don’t quit if…
You have financial responsibilities to yourself and/or to your family
If you have mouths to feed, then tough luck, but you should not quit your job.
There are others who are relying on you and you need to sacrifice a bit/ a lot for them.
If you are supporting other people though, make sure that they actually need help. You need to understand that giving them money doesn’t necessarily mean you are helping them. Sometimes it is a bigger help to make them earn money for themselves
You are in debt
Remember our small principle on when to quit your job? The “make sure your expenses are smaller than your income”.
Well, if you have a debt, then you are automatically disqualified because you are on the negative in your personal budget.
I strongly suggest not to quit your current job until you pay off all of your debt.
You are just emotional
Well, if you want to quit just because you had a really bad day at work, then my advice to you is “NO” don’t quit work!
Maybe take a day off at most, but you can’t quit your job because you are having a bad day.
If containing your emotion is hard or you easily get affected by what is going on at work, I suggest that you read the book, “Emotional Intelligence by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves”. This book will help you understand how your emotion works therefore, you will be able to control it to your advantage.
What is your financial scenario?
Just wondering,
Did any of the financial scenarios describe yours? Which one?
If it is not there, let me know in the comment section so I can include it!
For now, I hope this article added-value to your life!
The materials written in this article are very useful for someone who wants to quit his job without having evaluated the consequences.
It explains that a person has to calculate how much his expenses are and also find out if his income ( after he quits his job) is sufficient for his expensed and it is not , he can not quit his job.
The bottom line is that one has to match his income with his expenses on weekly basis and never quit his job if his expenses are higher than his income
Hi,
You got that right.
Truthfully, the math behind When Should I Quit my Job is straightforward. It is the heart that makes things complicated.
Regards,
JG
Great informative article John. I like the financial scenarios you presented. So many people would like to quit their jobs but don’t have their “ducks in a row” to do it properly. I was always told to have at least 3 – 6 months savings in the bank but that is hard for a lot of people. By looking at our lifestyle, our income vs our debt will certainly give us an idea of if and when we can quit our jobs. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi,
That is good to hear. Yes, saving up 3 to 6 months’ worth of expenses is a bit of a challenge, but if you manage to do that then I am pretty sure you have the skills needed to live off from just your online business. I believe that being able to quit your job is not just about making huge income from a business but a lot of it also depends on how well you manage your finances.
Wish you luck on your financial independence life.
Regards,
JG
This is a very common question when i want to start my own business, thus all the evaluation is a big obstacle to start. But now we can do it in parallel to growth the income source first before i can resign from my regular job.