How I Survived On 1/3 of My Former Salary

This is a true story about me and how I survived on 1/3 of my former salary.

In April 2018, I left my six figure job. I hated the job from the time I started working there in 2009. The fact that the job enabled me to save and would allow me to pay for my daughter’s college education was a motivating factor for me to stay.

Day in and day out I developed survival tactics to stay. The best survival tactic was me looking at my retirement accounts increase was well as my emergency fund. The fact that I could pay for private college tuition for my daughter made me happy. But working at this job wasn’t enough.

It took the life out of me and almost destroyed me mentally.

I’m typically an early riser. I generally work out about 5 am. Most days I would get home from the gym by 6:30 am. My job was 3.5 miles from my house. It would take me an entire three hours to muster the energy to go into work.

I had always wanted to leave the job but I thought I would wait to do it two years after my daughter graduated from college. I figured this was enough time for me to recoup some of the money I had spent for her college education.

Fortunately, God interceded and I left April 2018.  Also, because of my diligent saving, I had $15,000  in an emergency fund so I had a cushion but clearly I still needed to work in some form or fashion.

How I Survived on 1/3 of My Former Salary: I Started Working Contract Attorney Jobs

I am a licensed attorney but I had no real idea of what I wanted to do. Although I didn’t have a great deal of expenses, the $15,000 I saved wasn’t going to be enough to last for a great deal of time. A friend of mine suggested that I sign up with some companies that hire contract attorneys.

Working as a contract attorney entails what is known as “document review.” For $24 to $28 an hour, depending on the company, I could review documents and make money. Fortunately for me, and because my expenses were so low, I could survive on this pay. The only problem is I was doing contract work which meant if I didn’t work then I didn’t get paid.

My first project lasted for three months and I was also able to get over time and time and half one holiday weekend. For the first three months of working, I didn’t have to touch my emergency fund. I could pay all of my bills on what I made doing that work. However, that contract ended and I moved onto other projects at other companies.

In the contract attorney world, a company can tell you the project will last for two months and it may only last for three weeks. Therefore, there is down time of which you are waiting on someone to call you to start another job. Fortunately for me, I signed up with about four agencies including Robert Half, Special Counsel, Beacon Hill Staffing and Counsel on Call. I searched for document review jobs on both Indeed and Craigslist.

At $25 to $28 an hour, I was averaging a gross salary of about $1,000 and a net salary of about $850. My new salary covered my expenses. Because I had been so aggressive at paying down my debt I didn’t have a lot of expenses, however, I really couldn’t do a lot because I didn’t know when a contract would end.

How I Survived on 1/3 of My Former Salary: People Hired Me to Do Small Projects

I told a couple of people that I had left my job. A friend of mine contacted me about a relative having an issue with his deceased father’s estate. He hired me as a legal consultant to help with through the process of his inheritance. While I didn’t charge him a lot, this helped keep me afloat, too.

I Stopped Shopping and Barely Went Out To Eat

While I was transitioning, I stopped shopping and barely went out to eat.  I started cooking my own food and bringing it to work. If I did have take out, I restricted it to no more than $10 a week. This enabled me to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, Mellow Mushroom, on an almost weekly basis.

I also bought only a few pieces of wardrobe for the summer and worked with what I had. As I look in my closet now I wonder how I made it. Everything looks so sad and worn, and trying to look very professional on a reduced income is hard.

My expenses were the same as when I was making six figures. I have a mortgage and utilities for my home. My car loan is low due to me paying an extra $90 a month. I didn’t stop this even with my low salary. Car insurance for me and my daughter was $388 a month, and our cell phones were $250 a month. My daughter has a part-time job and the reason she didn’t contribute to expenses that covered her is another story for another day.

What Money Couldn’t Replace

While I lost a good portion of income when I left, I gained my peace. I spent too many sleepless nights consumed about my former job. When people say you can’t put a price on peace they aren’t lying.

My income wasn’t where it used to be but I smiled and laughed more. I slept throughout the night. I didn’t feel that at any moment I was going to have a panic attack. The bald patches in my head grew back. I was able to get back to me and be able to determine what my next step would be.

I survived on 1/3 of my former salary by doing the exact same thing I tell others: Create a budget. Don’t spend and cut back. If I still had a six figure mindset while living on a mid five salary I would have never survived and I wouldn’t have this story.

I have not worked since December 7 and that is because I am about to embark on a new career. I still have about $6,000 of my emergency fund so I’m living on that until I head into my new future.

2019 is looking bright!