On October 2nd, 2018, I was laid off. At the end of February, 2019, I will be re-entering the full-time workforce. It’s been an interesting few months, and an amazing learning experience. I took time to travel, I fully enjoyed the holidays, and I got a taste of the pros (and cons) of contract working. This is a breakdown of my funemployment period.
What I Did For Money
I was fired after only being at my company for two months. Despite my extremely short tenure, I got four weeks of severance (thank you, Canadians). My boss had negotiated an extra week of employment for her team members that were getting let go, which meant I got an extra month of health insurance on top of that extra week of pay. Score.
I tightened my budget, but not as much as I could have. That’s because I had a well-funded emergency fund, and personal investments I could withdraw from if things got dire. Over the course of this period, I borrowed $4,500 from my savings account that I later replaced (more on this shortly). Why so much? Ian and I frolicked off to Japan at the beginning of January for two weeks, and it wasn’t cheap.
Finding Additional Income
I’ve never been more grateful for my side hustle than when I no longer had a main hustle. Ian and I paid out an extra three grand to ourselves in December to help me with cash flow. Although we have a monthly income from this hustle, we don’t pay ourselves monthly. Since I know I’m not in dire need, the side hustle money is primarily for things like extra savings, big purchases, or obviously urgent cases like losing a job.
In 2018, our side hustle booked just under $30K in total revenue! This is before any taxes and expenses, but I took home $7K of that within the calendar year. For 2019, we expect our revenue to be slightly higher, since we’ve picked up two additional (albeit significantly smaller) contracts.
One significant source of income that I haven’t yet mentioned is that I started contracting for a previous employer. While I’m not allowed to disclose some of the payment details of the contract, it was one that was too good to turn down. From mid-November, I was allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours a week, but I could to so remotely and on my own schedule. My holidays included a trip to Mexico and of course my Japan trip, so this was ideal for me. The biggest downside was invoicing the company monthly, meaning my first paycheck didn’t come in until 60 days from my first day contracting due to the payment terms. Had cash flow been a bigger issue for me, this would have been a huge blocker. As is, my first paycheck from this was able to fully replace the funds borrowed from my emergency savings.
My Change in Net Worth
Since I lost the ability to contribute to my 401(k) and was not expecting a steady income, I expected my net worth to remain flat or even drop as I dipped into my savings.
May 2018 Net Worth: $112,796
Jan 2019 Net Worth: $135,039
Huzzah! Much of this is thanks to the market recovering somewhat after the big drop at the end of 2018, but I am delighted to see this number still growing even when, on the surface, my financial situation seems extremely volatile. A much larger share of this now is in cash compared to last year, as Ian and I prepare to enter the real estate market. One of the most exciting things about re-entering the workforce as a full-time employee is the ability to save regularly. I’m all about savings automation, and I’ll bump this $2.5K average monthly savings (Jan’19 NW – May’18 NW) even higher for the rest of the year.
The Worst Part of Funemployment
At the beginning, I had a hard time adjusting to the uncertainty of it all. I started applying to jobs immediately, but wasn’t excited about any of the opportunities I was interviewing for. It didn’t take long for me to realize I was better off waiting for the right opportunity instead of the first opportunity, and I’m glad I did that.
Afterwards, I primarily struggled with two things: productivity and health insurance. After my debacle last year where a series of non-urgent procedures and doctor’s appointments cost me $10K (which I finally appealed down to $2K after a 10-month battle), I knew I couldn’t go without healthcare for long. I eventually chose the cheapest plan I could find, but setting it up (and soon, canceling it) is not a process I enjoy.
Staying productive when I didn’t owe anyone my time was tough. In the first month of unemployment, I made plans to pick up all these important technical skills that I knew were missing from my resume. Fast forward four months, and I’m finally tackling one. Sort of. I also wanted to read more in this time, too, but I didn’t. One thing I didn’t do that I’m happy about was sink into the siren call of streaming TV. It could’ve been so easy… but I persevered. Fun fact – my apartment does not have a TV (which I believe makes it a little easier to avoid watching shows & movies). I’m trying to keep it that way for as long as possible.
The Best Part of Funemployment
The traveling. I’m going back to the days of submitting PTO, which sucks. Ian and I traveled through Japan for two blissful weeks, and I got to celebrate my brother’s engagement with the rest of my family in Mexico, all without worrying about jobs.
It’s not really fair for me to claim that this was all funemployment for me, because it wasn’t. I was truly jobless for just 6 weeks before I started contract working, and I had my freelance side hustle for the entirety of this period. While I don’t feel comfortable living off part-time and freelance work, there are many, many people who do exactly that. Having additional income streams made this 5-month period pass by relatively stress-free. True unemployment isn’t fun. Had I not received severance or had an emergency fund, I would’ve taken the first job I was offered. I wouldn’t have been willing to accept an extremely lucrative contracting gig for want of “an actual job”. I wouldn’t have enjoyed my travels the same way.
I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my career, but I can’t say I won’t miss the freedom of these last few months. I think this experience has become a benchmark for me, of sorts, of what can happen when you have enough eggs spread across a variety of baskets. One day, when I’ve created enough passive income streams and no longer need to worry about full-time employment as a means to live, this feeling will be what I try to recreate.
Comments
Sounds like you had a pretty great time being unemployed, all things considered. Not many people can say that! Congrats on the new job!
Yeah, I’ve been extremely lucky these last few months, having reliable contract work and also remote flexibility so that I could travel as well. I’m definitely going to miss it, but I’m pumped to be getting back to work full-time again!