Freelancing while working full-time

For as long as I’ve been a designer, freelancing has been a means to earn income. I work full-time as a product designer right now. It pays the bills but there’s always room for income.

I fund a family of four, two K9s, and a couple of mortgages–one being a rental property. Any little bit helps as expenses rise.

Long-term, my goal is to eliminate unnecessary expenses and live below our means while adding more assets to the mix. Add in saving aggressively and investing in my children’s future.

Freelancing helps get me there when the going gets tough. Unfortunately, it’s a true grind to do it.

Trading time for money

I hate trading time for money. Those that have amassed wealth do exactly the opposite. Their money buys them time and pays them while doing so.

The value of helping others with something I’m good at and passionate about is attractive no doubt. So I guess it’s a double-edged sword.

The time for money debate has always bugged me. Outside of freelancing and working full-time I’ve built software products. I’ve tried and failed many times to make those produce money without input.

It’s extremely tough. To see those successfully doing it makes those failures harder to swallow.

Hopefully, my time is ahead of me. I have even less availability than years ago thanks to family and other responsibilities. Any effort put towards it needs to be worth it.

Freelancing helps me add more assets to my portfolio and save money. What it does not do is give me time back to live my life.

That’s a hard pill to swallow.