4 ms·

FWIW, I do, and I do essentially the same thing as OP. Your comment implies that the two are incompatible: why do you think that is the case?

by tspike 11y ago

robotkilla 11y ago
Mind if I ask where you get your contracts? Mine have almost all been recommendations from past clients / colleagues. I also joined gun.io a while back but haven't been able to drum up work from it.
- tspike 11y ago
  It's similar for me. Pretty much every quality contract I've had has come from friends or former colleagues.
colechristensen 11y ago
Not incompatible, but less compatible. When you don't have dependents you can afford quite a bit more risk which goes hand in hand with a less structured work life.
- tspike 11y ago
  I can imagine it would be extremely stressful to lose an income stream with high expenses, but we have gone to great lengths to reduce (financial) risk. We live in an apartment on the lower level of our house and AirBnB the upstairs, which more than covers the mortgage. By contracting part-time at higher rates, I have more free time to devote to spending time with my son, which I think lowers other kinds of more meaningful, less quantifiable risk. If the contracts dry up, it's no big deal - we're saving heavily while the getting's good and I use the dry spells for professional development and to go do the things we enjoy.
wslh 11y ago
I also have kids and a company but I can recognize the risk I am/was taking. Without kids I can live in 2 square meters, eat cheap, be healthy, etc. With kids I pay the best education, the best health plans, etc. Not the same.
- tspike 11y ago
  Yeah, I certainly understand the drive to provide the "best X, Y, and Z" for kids, but I'm pretty satisfied with reducing expenses and providing "good enough X, Y, and Z" for my son in exchange for not being stressed out and being able to spend more high-quality time with him.
  - robotkilla 11y ago
    I feel the same way - and that's no judgement on the other end. If a person is capable of dealing with the high stress and feels that quality time is less important, or is able to maintain a good balance and can provide that quality time regardless of FT employment, then I think it's an excellent choice for their life. I don't think there's a one size fits all option for this sort of thing.
- robotkilla 11y ago
  Kids plural is much hard than kid singular as well I think. My daughter is already in a much better place than i was at her age. I was homeschooled until college (yes, my family are a bunch of hicks) and I didn't have insurance until I was 22. I was also raised in an incredibly restrictive religion which I have since abandoned for science and reality. I'm not saying I don't want a better education and better insurance for my daughter than she currently has, but she's on a better path than I was on by a long shot (she gets As in science for starters... hell, she has a science class!).

FWIW, I do, and I do essentially the same thing as OP. Your comment implies that the two are incompatible: why do you think that is the case?

by tspike 11y ago

FWIW, I do, and I do essentially the same thing as OP. Your comment implies that the two are incompatible: why do you think that is the case?

robotkilla 11y ago

Mind if I ask where you get your contracts? Mine have almost all been recommendations from past clients / colleagues. I also joined gun.io a while back but haven't been able to drum up work from it.

tspike 11y ago
It's similar for me. Pretty much every quality contract I've had has come from friends or former colleagues.

colechristensen 11y ago

Not incompatible, but less compatible. When you don't have dependents you can afford quite a bit more risk which goes hand in hand with a less structured work life.

tspike 11y ago
I can imagine it would be extremely stressful to lose an income stream with high expenses, but we have gone to great lengths to reduce (financial) risk. We live in an apartment on the lower level of our house and AirBnB the upstairs, which more than covers the mortgage. By contracting part-time at higher rates, I have more free time to devote to spending time with my son, which I think lowers other kinds of more meaningful, less quantifiable risk. If the contracts dry up, it's no big deal - we're saving heavily while the getting's good and I use the dry spells for professional development and to go do the things we enjoy.

wslh 11y ago

I also have kids and a company but I can recognize the risk I am/was taking. Without kids I can live in 2 square meters, eat cheap, be healthy, etc. With kids I pay the best education, the best health plans, etc. Not the same.

tspike 11y ago
Yeah, I certainly understand the drive to provide the "best X, Y, and Z" for kids, but I'm pretty satisfied with reducing expenses and providing "good enough X, Y, and Z" for my son in exchange for not being stressed out and being able to spend more high-quality time with him.
- robotkilla 11y ago
  I feel the same way - and that's no judgement on the other end. If a person is capable of dealing with the high stress and feels that quality time is less important, or is able to maintain a good balance and can provide that quality time regardless of FT employment, then I think it's an excellent choice for their life. I don't think there's a one size fits all option for this sort of thing.
robotkilla 11y ago
Kids plural is much hard than kid singular as well I think. My daughter is already in a much better place than i was at her age. I was homeschooled until college (yes, my family are a bunch of hicks) and I didn't have insurance until I was 22. I was also raised in an incredibly restrictive religion which I have since abandoned for science and reality. I'm not saying I don't want a better education and better insurance for my daughter than she currently has, but she's on a better path than I was on by a long shot (she gets As in science for starters... hell, she has a science class!).