As I head into my last week of work before setting out on my own I have to admit that I am nervous as hell. There is a lot to get done this week and it’s not easy to focus when I still have to go into an office every day and put in twelve hours. On top of all this I have another certification to get so I can make sure to reach my full earnings potential.

A couple of good things that have come up in the past week. First, after doing some market research I realized that my initial pricing was too low so I’m giving myself a raise before I even get started. Another good thing that happened is that I made an agreement with a local business to refer people to me. It doesn’t cost me anything and they will keep some of my business cards on their countertop. In turn they have someone that can service their clients when needed.

The worst part of having a start up are the up front expenses. I’ve had to pay out of pocket for certifications, licensing and supplies. I know that compared to other types of business start ups I’m getting off cheap, but it’s hard to watch money going out the door when I don’t have a revenue stream yet. The good part is that some of this will be tax deductible which is a nice perk of being self employed.

A big topic of discussion in our home has been further cutting back on expenses. For now we are going to keep our extra vehicle as I will need to use it to create some cash flow while I build my brand. The plan is that once the business gets rolling we will sell this vehicle and I will use our other car since everything will be relatively local. This will save us a few hundred dollars a month for the car payment plus the insurance and registration costs.

We have been much better on our discretionary spending but I still feel we can do better. Not having to go into an office every day is going to help as I won’t feel pressured to go out to lunch with people daily nor will I have to be a part of the never ending office contribution fund. Having lunch at home will be a welcome change of pace and save us some money. Additionally, I will save money on fuel costs since I won’t have to commute over 30 miles each way.

Since we don’t know what our income is going to be it is important for us to adjust our lifestyle until the picture becomes more clear. In the long run this will be a great exercise because we are forcing ourselves to live with less and be smarter with our spending. When I get to the point of replacing my current income through the business we have discussed the need to maintain this mindset and spending level so we can increase our savings rate and speed up our journey to reach FI. I would love nothing more than to get our savings rate up to the 50% range which would double our current savings rate.

We will see how this next week goes. I have a lot of things to check off my to do list and not much time to get them done. I know there will be some exciting moments, like filing a DBA and opening a business account, that I’m looking forward to. Those are two things that will really make this whole journey and process a reality. On the other side of the equation I will have to say goodbye to some good people which is always tough to do.

Thank you as always for taking time to read our blog. We appreciate you following our journey and any feedback you might provide in the comments.

If you are not currently following us please click the follow button. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram by click the icons to the right.

More to come soon……………….