Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we're no longer traveling globally and our daily routine looks a lot different.
We used to work a combined 100 hours a week. Now my husband and I work about 40 hours a week total and earn about the same income. Despite earning over $150,000 annually as a family, we knew that rent and childcare costs could easily add up to $45,000 a year if we stayed in Los Angeles, where theI had a hypothesis: If we could become remote freelancers, we could potentially live somewhere more affordable and, even if we made less annually, we could more easily break even or possibly net out ahead.
As a freelancer, I avoid the kind of work that involves too many meetings, projects with short same-day turnaround times, or the expectation to be "always on" email or— duties that would keep me tied to a desk and wouldn't allow the flexibility to get out and about on my family's schedule. Independent, project-based work on the other hand, allows me to work at nights, during my kid's naps, and over the weekends.