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Why I’m Happy I Made The Decision To Leave My High Paying And Secure Job For Blogging

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 88 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Blogging As A Career After Starting Your Own BlogStarting your own blog can lead to many positives in life, including possibly blogging as a career.

That’s exactly what happened to me. Almost two years ago, I left my high paying and secure job so that I could blog full-time.

However, let’s rewind a little bit. Before I started full-time blogging and running my online business, I worked as a financial analyst at a small investment/valuation firm.

It wasn’t the greatest job on earth, but it was stable, the income was good, the bonuses were great, and there were benefits. Plus, my employer told me from the very beginning that it would be a “lifer” job, so I knew as long as I kept on improving that I would have a job for a very long time and that one day I would be running the company.

However, that just wasn’t for me.

My job was very stressful yet still extremely boring at the same time (further described below).

Now, most of the above probably makes it sound like I had a great career and that I’m just a complainer. Due to this, I am often asked why I left my “good” job to become a full-time blogger and online business owner.

Some even tell me I’m crazy for blogging as a career.

Others say I’ve made a big mistake.

However, I don’t care what anyone says. I’m happier than ever as a full-time blogger and online business owner and I could never imagine a life different from the one I’m currently living. If starting your own blog, earning a living, and blogging as a career makes you happy, then you should go for it as well!

Below are some of the many reasons for why I’m happy that I left my secure job for blogging as a career.

 

My income potential has no limit.

One major reason for why I’m happy that I left my secure job for full-time blogging is that my income potential has no limit. I can work as hard or as little as I want – it all depends on me. I also love what I do, so being able to earn a living from it is a no-brainer.

It’s also no secret that I make a good living as a full-time online business owner. My income is now over double what I was earning in 2013 when I left my day job and I project that it will continue to grow well into the future.

 

I enjoy being my own boss.

Being my own boss is another reason for why I’m happy that I left my secure job for blogging as a career.

I’ve been my own boss full-time for around two years now and I never see myself going back. I enjoy blogging as a career and being in control of everything that has to do with my business.

I enjoy deciding what I will do each day, creating my own schedule, determining my business goals, handling everything behind the scenes, and more.

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I love what I do.

Like I said above, my old job was not absolutely horrible.

However, it was stressful dealing with mergers and acquisitions, valuing companies, analyzing contracts and agreements, and more 24/7. It was not fun and there was not a single task I enjoyed at my day job.

Now, I love each and every service I provide, and here’s yet another reason for why I’m happy that I left my secure job for blogging as a career. There’s not a single thing I do not enjoy (except for maybe taxes and dealing with health insurance…).

Running an online business may not be for everyone and it may not be understood by everyone, but it’s something I enjoy.

If you are interested in starting your own blog, I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, starting at only $3.49 per month (this low price is only through my link) for blog hosting. In addition to the low pricing, you will receive a free blog domain (a $15 value) through my Bluehost link if you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting. FYI, you want to be self-hosted. This is essential if you want to monetize your blog as you will appear more professional and this will help you monetize your blog tremendously. My blogging income did not take off until after I switched to self-hosting.

 

Location independence allows me to work from wherever.

My online business allows me to work from the comfort of my home and it also allows me to be location independent. It’s great to be able to work from wherever.

I can travel wherever I want and right now we are even debating getting an RV. This wouldn’t be nearly as possible without my online business and it’s another great reason for why I enjoy full-time blogging.

 

I have a better social life.

Many often tell me that I must be bored out of mind since I work from home and I must have no one to talk to. That is far from the truth though!

At my old day job, I was one of the only females in the industry and everyone was at least 20-30 years older than me. That doesn’t make much room for friendships right there so I often spent most of my time in my office without speaking a word all day long, unless I was speaking to a client.

Nowadays, I talk to people all day long and it’s another plus that full-time blogging has over my old day job. I have Wes working alongside me each and every day, I see and talk to people when I do activities outdoors each day, I talk to my friends and blogging buddies every day, and more.

 

My flexible schedule is amazing.

I know that it’s just life, but working from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with just a few weeks of vacation each year was just not for me.

What I love about what I do now is that I have a flexible schedule and I can schedule my day for when I work best.

I can wake up early in the morning and work a little, enjoy the daylight hours by doing something outside, and work again later at night. Or, I can switch it up and do whatever. Whatever I decide to do each day, it’s nice to be able to have a flexible schedule and have more options.

I look forward to working each and every single day as a full-time blogger. It’s almost an addiction now.

Do you love what you do? Why or why not? Would you ever leave a stable job so that you could do what you love? Is starting your own blog and then blogging as a career something you are aiming for?

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says

    Congrats Michelle! That must have surely tested your decision-making skills. Me? I am still looking for courage to leave my job and do what I love to do, blogging also. I think I would still settle with this set-up (working on my 9-5 job during weekdays and blogging during weekends).

    Reply

  2. diane @smartmoneysimplelife says

    Interestingly, I just read an article last week stating that the next employment trend is self-employment. So, you’re well ahead of the trend!

    I’ve always wanted to work for myself and tried a couple of different options before finding blogging, so it seems I’ve taken the scenic rather than the direct route. It’s all still very new to me but thankfully, I feel like I’m heading in the right direction now.

    I just wish I’d found it earlier!!! Better late than never…

    Keep up the awesome work Michelle – it’s very inspiring.

    Reply

  4. MyMoneyDesign says

    You make it all sound so wonderful! If I ever get creative enough to come up with enough activities to replace my current income, I’d gladly join you as a fellow full time blogger!

    Reply

  5. Chonce says

    I don’t think you made a mistake by choosing to blog as career. You’re making good money and as long as you love what you’re doing that’s what matters most.

    Reply

  6. Enn says

    I love what you do, Michelle. I also quit a great corporate job to run my own business 2 years ago. It’s product based and I work from home.

    Now that it’s successful and providing a stable income, I’ve recently decided to start blogging. I’m really enjoying it and hopefully I’ll be able to make it a success as well. Your posts keep me motivated. Thanks Michelle!
    ~Enn

    Reply

  7. Amy @ DebtGal says

    I love what I do (part-time): working with college students in a career center. I also teach resume-writing and interview-prep classes a couple of times a year, but to a much broader audience. I’ve thought of trying to teach classes and offer similar individual services on a freelance basis, but college students are my favorite “audience” to work with, so I need to work for a college career center. That being said, because I work part-time for one school, I could add another part-time role at another school, if one popped up. For now, though, I prefer to work p/t so I can be home for my daughter’s bus in the morning and afternoon.

    I don’t know if blogging as a full-time business is for me. The more I learn about it, the more I realize the huge amount I have to learn. It’s pretty over-whelming!

    Reply

  9. Richard says

    I turned self employed some years ago to run an online business (which eventually folded, I should mention) and I found one of the biggest struggles was staying motivated without a boss breathing down my neck. What techniques do you use Michelle?

    Reply

    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      This is a GREAT question! I’m definitely going to turn this into a blog post if you do not mind.

      Staying motivated can be difficult without a boss, but having a to-do list and a schedule for each day/week can do wonders.

      Reply

  10. [email protected] says

    Michelle, I can totally relate to all of this! I like the flexibility above all else. The money is nice too, but the best thing about self-employment is being able to live my life on my own terms.

    Reply

  11. Shan Walker says

    I am working at this lifestyle as well and love every second of it. Your posts encourage me to work harder. Thanks for sharing all that you do.

    blessings,

    Shan Walker
    The How-to Guru

    Reply

  12. Aldo @ MDN says

    I’m so glad that blogging is working out for you so well that you can do it for a living. That’s my ultimate goal, but right now it is not producing nearly enough for me to stop my 9-5. Some day though, some day.

    Congrats and enjoy the freedom!

    Reply

  14. Tiffany Melvin says

    I totally think you should get an RV. But I am a little biased. lol. If you do get an RV are you planning on living in it full time to travel? We live in an RV part time and our sailboat the other part. Our ultimate goal is to live on our sailboat and travel. I am glad blogging has worked out so well for you. You inspire all of us small bloggers to get better! Thank you.

    Reply

    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      Sounds like you have an awesome life Tiffany!

      We are unsure if we would live in it full-time or not. We have a lot of stuff, so we would either need a HUGE storage locker or we were thinking about getting a small rental to put everything in and to use as a home base.

      Reply

      • Tiffany Melvin says

        Those are both good ideas. We’re very minimalist now. Which is not for everyone but we love it. When we moved into our RV we sold everything we owned to put towards our savings to eventually be able to travel on our boat. It is a little scary not having an actual house to come back to but I figure if we needed to we could always rent a house and slowly refurnish it. I think it’s great that ya’ll have an open mind to possibly go full time in an RV. Good luck with your decision. Be free and live your life!

        Reply

  16. Stockbeard says

    Great read. I wish I had the courage to quit, but I’m trying to grow my online business in parallel, to guarantee some sort of financial security for my family. I think the niche I’ve chosen doesn’t have that much room for growth, so I need to tread carefully. I envy you Michelle, but soon I’ll get there 🙂

    Reply

      • Stockbeard says

        It is a subset of the video games niche (I can’t be too specific here because I don’t want my personal FIRE goals to be tightly linked to my online business, and the niche is so small I’d be easily identified by giving more details). The problem is that there is no “product” to sell, affiliate marketing is almost non existent so the revenue relies mostly on advertising.

        But video game sites suffer from the highest rate of “adblock users” (42% people block ads on my site), so as a result, one needs extremely high amounts of traffic to get by. Since I already pretty much cornered the niche (I have by far the biggest site in that specific niche), I don’t see much growth potential.

        One could say I chose poorly, but it is my passion and that’s what matters the most to me 🙂

        Reply

  17. [email protected] says

    You are such an inspiration! I am looking forward to the day where I can blog, vlog, and pod full time and make an income while doing so. Right now, I’m working a 50-60 hour per week and sometimes nights and weekends salary job. Plus, teaching fitness classes a few times per week (which I will continue doing). While I love what I do, I enjoy reaching an even bigger audience through blogging and vlogging covering the same topics the way I want to. I’ve only been blogging since November and vlogging since May, but since successful bloggers like you are so willing to share information, I’ve learned SO much since then and I really feel like I’m on the right road to success. Thank you! I have subscribed to your newsletter so I will continue to follow you to help me grow and to live my goals and dreams.

    Reply

  18. [email protected] Confident says

    Self-employment sounds like such a dream come true. For all of my adult life, I thought that I wanted a steady 8-5. But now I’m beginning to realize how limiting it can be, especially when you mentioned that there’s no limit on your earning potential. That right there is pretty motivating for me to try to figure out my own path towards self-employment!

    Reply

  19. Jesse Gernigin says

    Michelle I love that you make a living at it and you do it by being organized and consistent! This post is something you could package and sell. Your success is beautiful because it is repeatable for anyone just about anywhere!

    Reply

  21. Kelby says

    Michelle, thanks for sharing this! I’m in the planning stages of blogging as a career and have already started getting the questions about ‘why I would want to leave a stable income for blogging?’

    Maybe it’s just me but I don’t see a job (with one source of income) ‘more stable’ than having an online business (with unlimited income) as more stable. And that’s not even considering all of the other benefits you’ve mentioned. This post has definitely reinforced my belief that I’m heading in the right direction!

    Reply

  22. Millennial Money Man says

    I recently quit my job to start my own company (my blog is a big part of what I’m going to be doing). I love helping other young people with student loan deb, and it turned into my passion when I started blogging. I got the same stuff: I’m crazy, probably a bad idea, etc. People that stay employed in situations they don’t love are afraid to take risk. I never want to look back and say that I should have been bolder or taken more chances in life. Congrats on your successful business!

    Reply

  25. Dividend Mantra says

    Michelle,

    Couldn’t agree more. I left my middle-class, but secure, job in the auto industry last year to pursue blogging full-time and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. My end goal is financial independence, but blogging full-time allows me a lot of the benefits and flexibility that I find so attractive in financial independence anyway. So it’s like I achieved my dream eight years faster than I set out to.

    Keep up the great work!

    Best regards.

    Reply

  26. Sarah says

    That’s awesome! I’m hoping to eventually make some income from blogging, someday. I don’t need a full time income, but I would like to break even on expenses at the very least.

    Reply

  28. Isaiah says

    Great call Michelle venturing out on your own. The buck now stops with you so to speak and your income is entirely dependent on you. Good article.

    Reply

  29. Meagan @ okay now breathe says

    You’re actually one of the main reasons I’m pursuing my passion right now. I work full-time in retail as a department supervisor, and let me tell you I absolutely hate it. Not only that, but I can’t even make a livable income on it so there is no motivation whatsoever. But I love writing, and I love helping people. I want to travel the world, and the possibilities with me being my own boss are endless. The most motivational thing for me is that I want to live a life that I don’t need to take a vacation from.

    Reply

  31. Kim says

    I would leave a steady job to do what I loved IF I knew what I loved could pay the bills. Luckily, I get the best of both worlds with being able to work part time and still do my online side jobs. I would have to think those people who think you’re nuts don’t read your blog and see how much money you make!

    Reply

  32. Thomas @ i need money ASAP! says

    It sounds great Michelle! I totally agree with you. But of course as a fellow blogger you could say I’m a bit biased 😉
    I’d love to run my websites full time. I hope to do it eventually. I love all the reasons you mentioned but especially the location independence and flexibility. I also never considered the income potential since its so hard to increase your income in both situations but I guess its true that owning your own business has a higher potential income, even if its not very likely at least its a possibility.

    Reply

  33. Allison @ Frugal on the Prairie says

    You are spot on with this post, Michelle. I love working from home and being my own boss, but the real perk is that the “career sky” is the limit! My old workplace was very controlled in regards to how far up you could move. My position was very dependable but you knew right away that you could only make so much in so many years. Ugh.

    I know money’s not everything but being challenged is what gets me up in the morning. Blogging is the perfect job to always be intellectually challenged and strive to do your best work. I love it! And you obviously do too cause, girl, you are killing it on the web!! 😉

    Reply

  34. Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life says

    Love the title of this post. It’s funny because I’m having the reverse experience. I’ve never had a high paying or stable job, but my blog has opened up a lot of opportunities to have one and I keep turning them down. Sometimes I think I’m crazy for saying no, but like you said, I love how there’s limitless opportunity and flexibility when you’re the boss of the biz.

    Reply

  35. Kristin says

    These posts are so inspiring. I’m in the midst of trying to figure out how to make this transition, and posts like these are always so encouraging!

    Reply

  36. Ki says

    These are all the reasons I’d love to blog for a living. I’d add another one – more work life balance. You touch on it above, but with kids in the picture, it’s important to me to be able to be there for important things at school. I don’t want to miss a track meet.I don’t want to not be able to be class mom or whatever the girls want from me. Working for someone else means I will, eventually, have to make a decision between work and home life.

    Reply

  38. Abigail @ipickuppennies says

    I definitely don’t love my full-time job BUT I love my boss, who is the owner of the company. He’s great and pays me far more than what my work is worth. He’s been flexible when I’ve had to take time off.

    I like blogging as a side thing, but I don’t know if I could grow my brand enough to make real money. And I don’t want my blog to become the a source of stress, constantly worrying if income dips down or I’m not getting enough hits, etc.

    Reply

  39. Redeemed Finance says

    Hey,
    Wow Michelle, those are absolutely fantastic numbers. I’m sure hubby is very happy in your decision to work on your online businesses. Although it can be long hours at times, the free time and flexibility that online income offers is amazing. ((Never would have figured Bluehost is that lucrative)) In college I did much the same as you are now, building websites for various niche topics and monetizing them was absolutely a blast to do. Hitting $100/day in Adsense was my goal back then and it happened ever so briefly right as I was almost done with school (6-7 years ago). This post is great motivation to dig back into making profitable sites and focus on building multiple true income sources.
    I look forward to reading lots more of your posts,
    -Rich

    Reply

  41. Sheila says

    Michelle, your story motivates me so much and my dream is to be like you one day. Right now I am in college and it consumes so much of my life that its so hard to dedicate my time to my blog. Oh, and the sweet 8AM-5PM schedule makes it worse. I most definitely would leave my job to be a full time blogger if I had the choice. Its actually my dream to do so!

    -Sheila

    Reply

  42. Sonia says

    I couldn’t agree more with this article. Being my own boss, setting my own hours and being there for my family are all blessings to me as a WAHM. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one feeling this way! ?

    Reply

  43. Jeff Stephens says

    Congrats! This is awesome! I’m in a similar situation. Blogging is so enticing and I love doing what I do online, but I’m also holding down a very nice corporate job. I’m not quite ready to make that leap yet so I’ll continue to try to balance both. Always refreshing seeing those that do make the jump and live the life they want. Love it!

    Reply

  44. Chloe says

    I am considering taking the pep of faith as I write this comment. I am also in a high paying, secure and stable job. I am not happy in my work and I am disengaged. My significant other is against me leaving my career and so is my family. However, I have always love writing and it is the one thing I am never bored or tired of. I look forward to writing in my journal every night. I recently started a blog and then stumbled upon your blog. All the steps you’ve mentioned in getting started, I’ve taken. Glad to know i’m on the right path. There is fear in having faith in what I cannot see but I know that I will be wildly successful. This post has inspired me even more.

    Reply

  45. Julia Maria Santos says

    Congratulations on the initiative, thank you for sharing your experiences with your blog, I myself have this expectation of being able to live with a work at home, anyway is to run behind your dreams, Congratulations, hug

    Reply

  46. Mahesh says

    Very much happy for you. However, I am in the same boat too. My job was very stressful & boring. I can’t imagine myself doing that for the rest of my life.

    Being an Indian, Indian societies are very conservative about jobs.

    It is considered good if you have a private or a government job. As I hate both of them, I took my final decision & quit my 9-5 job & started full-time blogging.

    It’s been 3 months since I am blogging & started earning some decent income. But the happiest part is that I can live my life on my own terms & I am very happy with my life right now.

    Finally, I wanna say that “we should work to make our dreams a reality rather than working for someone to make their dreams a reality”.

    Anyways, thanks for this post as I got more motivated. Take Care

    Reply

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