Cutting back on hours and freeing up time on a minimum wage salary

[Rudimentary]

Hey all I am a 24 year old guy from california who has been trying to figure out how to apply the principles from 4HWW to my situation. I currently am working 40-45 hours at a coffee shop making 9 dollars an hour plus tips which comes out to roughly 10.50 an hour. I would love to be able to pursue my ideas of starting a company that retails online but I just want to be able to cut back my work time while still being able to afford to travel in the mean time.

I have goals of being able to afford a trip to europe with hopes of being able to support myself from what I earn selling my venture idea while pursuing other ventures. My main questions are:

1. Should I cut back on work time to save up for my end of summer move or cut back on time worked to pursue my venture?

2. Any good links to product design/ creation freelance sites?

keep in mind that I have almost no expense beyond 300 - rent & 40 - utils because of my foodstamps

[dking]

Hey all I am a 24 year old guy from california who has been trying to figure out how to apply the principles from 4HWW to my situation. I currently am working 40-45 hours at a coffee shop making 9 dollars an hour plus tips which comes out to roughly 10.50 an hour. I would love to be able to pursue my ideas of starting a company that retails online but I just want to be able to cut back my work time while still being able to afford to travel in the mean time.

I have goals of being able to afford a trip to europe with hopes of being able to support myself from what I earn selling my venture idea while pursuing other ventures. My main questions are:

1. Should I cut back on work time to save up for my end of summer move or cut back on time worked to pursue my venture?

2. Any good links to product design/ creation freelance sites?

keep in mind that I have almost no expense beyond 300 - rent & 40 - utils because of my foodstamps

Your forgetting the around 28% Federal Tax, added to what I think is a 9% California state tax. That 10.5/Hour is much less than you think it is.

My advice is to get a better handle on your finances; Your not going to understand the Euro dollar and what that means for you in USD if you donot understand the basics in your home country.

[Rudimentary]

Your forgetting the around 28% Federal Tax, added to what I think is a 9% California state tax. That 10.5/Hour is much less than you think it is.

My advice is to get a better handle on your finances; Your not going to understand the Euro dollar and what that means for you in USD if you donot understand the basics in your home country.

I know that I get taxed on my income. I stated my earnings with the understanding that everyone has foreknowledge of income tax. Im not ignorant and I do understand USD conversion rates to euro.

Thanks for the helpful advice

[TimW]

Don't take it too personally...there have been many instances of folks who come here freakin' CLUELESS about anything having to do with running a business.

It's good that you're looking to improve your situation...many folks talk, but few act. I include myself in that, as there are things I've wanted to do, but haven't due to mental inertia.

Now, I am unsure of your situation, but it appears to me that trying to do two major projects at once, moving to Europe AND trying to start an online business, might be such that you end up enjoying neither. I am sure you'll agree that the idea is to actually enjoy life :D so trying to do both at the same time could end up jeopardizing both.

[webgal]

Hey rudimentary. We do have some members who are "cut to the chase". It's just a reaction to some recent clueless and spammy newbs and you got caught in that wave. (not implying you are spammy or clueless.)

[final_id]

I recommend "Your Money or Your Life" by Dominguez and Robin. Another way of looking at things, and a lot less directed toward the entrepreneurial and info-worker side of the coin. They tell an inspiring story of a chamber-maid immigrant worker who managed to RETIRE after nine years of working -- but working "correctly".

[read]

I don't know if this would help you travel to Europe, but if you're interested in traveling all over the world, you might consider getting certified to teach English as a Second Language. You'd probably be able to do some of this work in California -- and certainly overseas, depending on where you go. That way, you could get paid to travel.

I don't know what the rates are right now, but they'd probably be at least (and likely better) than what you're making now--

[TimW]

In some countries you may not even need a literal certification, though it can't hurt. When I taught in Japan, all the schools wanted was that you were a native speaker and had a college degree. Yeah, I know that this doesn't nearly qualify someone, what with the language and writing skills of many/most graduates in America today, but there ya go.... :)

[final_id]

Beware of scams involving "recruitment" organizations and schools for teachers of English as a second language. You can get into a really good situation, especially if you have a TESL certificate of some sort, or an advanced degree in English; or you can get in a weird "company shop" situation in which the terms of your visa for international travel and work end up requiring you to flush all your income right back into the housing apartment and grocery store owned by the school which is supposedly "employing" you. I don't know which outfits are good guys or bad guys, but there are some of each, so ... do your research! :)

[camdengirl]

I'm doing some other maths - so you are working 45 hours a week? Let's call it 50 when you build in commuter time, and I'm guessing as those are full time hours, that you work Mon-Fri?

So you could get up an hour earlier to work on your idea for 5 hours a week? (And as we all know Tim only works four hours!!).

Or you could not watch TV (this really works for me!) and reclaim that time.

Or you could skip that last JD and coke on Friday and get up on Saturday morning (yes they do exist!) and work on your idea then?

There's 168 hours in each week, you're working 50 of them, sleeping 56 of them, there's another 62 to play with!!!