For those of you lucky enough to have quit your J.O.B....

[sree94]

How much money did you have saved away before you took the plunge?

[mpruben]

About 3 months living expenses, but I didn't quit working for the man until my online income was almost as high as my regular day job.

[markshields]

My reccomendation is pretty much what the last post says you really should not leave your day job untill you have replaced your income in my opinion

[George Wright]

Same as mpruben,

I think the important thing for me was to have some cash flow from my IM. However I really didn't "quit" my job for IM. I quit my job because I hated it, and then got another job working for a much nicer boss. ME

George Wright

[Damien Roche]

'Lucky' - nothing lucky about it >> pure hard work and determination.

[sree94]

Originally Posted by Damien Roche

'Lucky' - nothing lucky about it >> pure hard work and determination.

I meant that they're lucky not to have to go to work for "the man" anymore

[WealthyBlogger]

I quit my day job December 2000. I was pretty nervous about it.. but I had set a goal the year before that by January 1, 2001, I'd be the master of my own time.

That year, I managed to pick up some clients and save some dough. I had about three months of savings in the bank that could cover the expenses should it all fall apart, and an income that would cover my basic living expenses which at that time, was my rent and my child support. As long as I had that covered, I felt comfortable.

[sree94]

Well, matching my J.O.B. salary is not a problem for me at all. And saving up 3 months expenses isn't a problem either

Just nervous about taking the plunge since my income comes from Adwords, and I am terrified of the Google slap

But I am miserable at my job working the graveyard shift... and I really have a hard time finding the motivation

[Damien Roche]

My honest advice? Make sure google can only slap one side or your face at a time, if they insist. As in, before you take the plunge, ensure google doesn't determine your income, alone.

Sorry about my other post, that was mainly for the newbies, not directed at you personally. Some people just expect everything will be handed to them.

[WealthyBlogger]

Originally Posted by sree94

Well, matching my J.O.B. salary is not a problem for me at all. And saving up 3 months expenses isn't a problem either

Just nervous about taking the plunge since my income comes from Adwords, and I am terrified of the Google slap

But I am miserable at my job working the graveyard shift... and I really have a hard time finding the motivation

I can't say for you, but at the time back in 2001, what I did - having the three months of savings and a guaranteed contract worked for me. Most will tell you that you should have six months of savings as a reserve and that's probably a good guideline. You now have six months to diversify and build up, and increase what you have.

Maybe the answer to the question is "You will know when you know - if you are still wondering, it's not yet time to quit."

[tim_buchalka]

I just quit about one and a half years ago with very little in savings to do the Internet Marketing gig full time. I just refused to entertain the possibility of ever going back to a J.O.B. or in my case my own company working as a programmer. I was sick to death of programming, and know it was the right decision. Love the freedom this gives me

[Hamida Harland]

I made my first proper money in March 2007 (something like $1000 from Niche Marketing On Crack sites), and I went full time by July. I hated my job and it's likely I would have left it even if I hadn't been doing okay online. I know it's not very sensible, but at the time I didn't have a cent to my name - we'd built a 5 bedroom house over the previous two years and it had cost way more than we had bargained for (or the bank would give us). I actually started off IM pretty heavily in debt. I have NO regrets though, leaving my job was the best decision I've ever made.

[KatyaSenina]

Originally Posted by markshields

My reccomendation is pretty much what the last post says you really should not leave your day job untill you have replaced your income in my opinion

But you have to deal with lots of exhaustion

Work 9 to 5 (wasted time), then come home and work on your online business for the rest of the evening...

[Mangozoom]

Yes it sounds like you need to spread your risk by using more than one monetary system. If you have enough earnings in place to match what you currently make working full time ... your time might be better spent working on your Amazon, Clickbank and Adsense earnings.

[KatyaSenina]

Originally Posted by tim_buchalka

I just quit about one and a half years ago with very little in savings to do the Internet Marketing gig full time. I just refused to entertain the possibility of ever going back to a J.O.B. or in my case my own company working as a programmer. I was sick to death of programming, and know it was the right decision. Love the freedom this gives me

Your story proves that you don't need a lot of savings, just a burning desire to succeed!

[Rob Maggs]

I didn't have any money, I had lost my job due to severe alcoholism and major depression, and I was suicidal at the time. I was spaced out on antidepressants and life looked very grim indeed. I fought for time on a shared computer and started to learn about self-help,so that I could overcome my depression and alcoholism.

As I started to learn more and was able to heal, I used the techniques I'd learned to create Brain Entrainment software and audio,believing that as these techniques had helped me then they could help other people. I started selling CDs on Ebay and was making about $40 a week.

I now had enough money to start paying for Web Hosting and set up websites for my products too. I also placed Google Adsense on these websites and was soon making an additional $20 dollars a week from advertising.

I wrote some articles and submitted them to Ezinearticles and started getting more sales from my websites. I purchased PHP Autoresponder and set up optin lists, I soon had a couple of thousand subscribers interested in my products and discovered that many of these people would purchase my products.

I now was making anything from $200 to $400 a week (sometimes that much in a night) and the only investment I'd put in was my time, $47 for PHP Autoresponder, and the cost of purchasing new domains and paying for webhosting.

I automated all of these processes as much as possible and purchased MYDD to automatically deliver digital downloads. I'm now at the point where I have the opportunity to use paid advertising and I'm wondering how much that will boost my income.

So to sum up I had nothing and gradually built up multiple sources of income. I can't say it was easy and I don't imagine I'll become a millionaire, but give me a laptop and an internet connection and I'll get by, I know I'll never work for anyone else again