As you may have seen on Twitter, I made a very big life decision in the past few weeks and I have quit my job!

It has always been my goal to be earning enough from blogging, freelancing and other ventures to be able to give up my job. After much deliberation I have finally decided to take the plunge and leave my job in biotechnology. At first I was going to leave in 2016, probably August, then I decided to leave in December 2015. Then I realised that actually, once I had made up my mind to embark on this journey, I didn’t want to wait, so I handed my notice in immediately. I am still working through my two month notice period, meaning that December will be my first month fully self-employed.

I am so excited for what this means for my future!

The Time

Right now there are over 50 drafted blog posts, there’s an almost finished e-book and about 5 pages of to do lists that I never get around to doing. Things that I know will either enhance my life or earn me extra cash – both things I am extremely keen to do! I am looking forward to having time to see my husband more, time to spend with my family, time to complete both personal and professional projects. At the moment I commute for two hours a day, do a full day’s work and then come home to do another 3-5 hours of work. I cannot wait for evenings to be my own again.

The Lifestyle

The idea of being my own boss excites me! Being in charge of my own destiny is something that I really believe in – time and time again I have set myself a financial challenge (such as affording our dream wedding) and time and time I have surpassed it. I am looking forward to working when I want and where I want – if I’m awake at 3am and I want to test a website then I can without worrying about the lack of sleep impacting my day job; if I find a last minute holiday deal then I can go for it instead of worrying about my holiday entitlement.

The Opportunities

The number of opportunities, both professional and personal, that I am having to turn down due to being tied to a job is getting bigger and bigger. I am looking forward to having time to attend meetings, meet up with other bloggers, go to more events and see my friends more!

The Savings

There are so many savings to be made by going self-employed. The biggest one is my fuel and car costs to get to and from the office – over 50 miles a day. This is a massive saving that amounts to over £2,000 saved per year by not commuting! There are so many other ways that we can save too – did you know that gym membership goes down to £15 per month if you can go between 1-4pm instead of the usual £50+ per month? I will have time to cook more meals from scratch, shop around for great deals and get back into couponing.

How am I going to earn money?

For the most part I am going to keep doing what I’ve already been doing. You saw how in July I made over £2,100 and matched betting has already earned me over £3,000 in just two months. I am, of course, hoping to increase my online income, but if this doesn’t happen then I would still be happy with my current earnings! It is a scary time but also an exciting time. I’m excited to take this leap of faith and I just hope that it pays off. Using the right contractor payroll solutions can help me to retain more of my income as a freelancer – in fact, I could be 31% better off by utlising their services. I won’t be resorting to selling anything to make my income – no Avon, Younique or Betterware.

I am a mixture of excited and apprehensive – I’ve used “excited” a lot in this blog post, but that’s what it comes down to. I can’t believe that I have reached this stage already. I remember sitting in a room with dream wedding, Savvy Annie & Miss Thrifty in November 2013, being interviewed for Savoo’s UK’s Smartest Shopper 2013 and telling them that I was going to be self-employed eventually, and here I am.

***This post contains a sponsored link***