In the UK, contracting here (in London at least, for Java, Ruby, Grails and similar day rate gigs) pays enough that you can afford to work for a few months, the

In the UK, contracting here (in London at least, for Java, Ruby, Grails and similar day rate gigs) pays enough that you can afford to work for a few months, then take a few months off from paid work to concentrate on your own projects. YMMV depending on your family/dependents situation. The goal is to work yourself to a point where you shrink your day-to-day expenses small enough and grow your side projects' income large enough so the contracting work is no longer necessary.