$1000 a month

Is it a good time to go full time

[kaymeis]

guys,
If you're making $1000 per month for 6 months, Is it a good time to go full time or should I wait a while?

[humblebeginnings]

That depends on many things.
For example, where do you live and is $ 1000,- a month enough to pay for the cost of living?

[kaymeis]

Your question suggests that I'm gonna have to aim a little higher

[jetteroheller]

That depends on all the factors, You did not publish.

If You live in a cheap country at Your parents,
You have to go full time immedeately.

If You live in an expensive country and have to support wife and 2 children and You have no savings, no chance.

All the ohter answers between a strict yea or no depend on Your situation.

[humblebeginnings]

Where I live, $ 1000,- a month is enough to pay the rent or mortgage for a 4-room apartment in the suburbs. Perhaps some money will remain to pay for groceries. So in my situation I would not go fulltime with $ 1000,- a month...

[kaymeis]

This means I'll have to aim for at leat $5,000

[voices]

If you are in the US the government is going to take a big chunk of that $1000.00 Then there is health insurance if you think you need it. I sure wouldn't quit my job for $1000.00 a month. I like having two incomes. Depends on your particular situation though.

[kaymeis]

I should have mentioned this, but I live in Ghana, West Africa, living in my parents house. I work at the Support and Information unit of the Univerity of Ghana's ICT Directorate. My salary is nothing to write home about. So I want to use Adsense to leave my parent's house and improve my salary situation.

[jetteroheller]

I should have mentioned this, but I live in Ghana, West Africa, living in my parents house. I work at the Support and Information unit of the Univerity of Ghana's ICT Directorate. My salary is nothing to write home about. So I want to use Adsense to leave my parent's house and improve my salary situation.

I already gave You advice.

Ghana is a cheap country,
You live at Your parents.

So You have to go full time, as I wrote in my first posting in this thread.

[mm1220]

When it's time to go full time is entirely relative and jeteroheller has pointed to some useful yardsticks. However these need not be adhered to rigidly as there's no hard and fast rule; many people will never go fulltime (even if they could easily afford to) and still continue to earn good money from adsense.

[kaymeis]

So I take it that most of you are still on your day jobs

[jema]

I was working full time on adsense in the UK will a profit well under $1000 a month, but the leap of faith is backed up by a partners income, being ahead on mortgage commitments, and a few other bits of income reliable and otherwise.
I could not practically do my adsense stuff if working, and whilst income from adsense is currently stagnating a bit I believe with effort it will be worth it.
Sometimes you just have to take the chance, and risk things.

[europeforvisitors]

I guess the most important question is what you'd do if the AdSense revenue stream dried up. Could you go back to your IT job or find a similar one?

You also need to think about how you're earning money with AdSense and whether it's something that can be developed into a career (not just a short-term opportunity). If your AdSense revenues dropped, or if you were kicked out of the program for some reason, could you use your site(s) to earn a living from other sources?

And finally, you need to think about whether you'd be giving up anything (besides a paycheck) by quitting your day job--e.g., valuable fringe benefits, social interaction with fellow workers, or the opportunity to learn skills that might be useful to you later on.

[TammyJo]

It depends.

Get your savings account to 6 months of anticipated living expenses (over estimate what you think you will need), then consider going full time.

If Google is your only source of income it is very risky. We had consistant income for 1 1/2 years...steadily growing, then they made a search change and we had lost 70% of our income from that site. It lasted 6 months then started to slowly grow again.

Just be aware that things do change and that if you have all your "eggs in the 1 Adsense basket" it is not always secure.

[kaymeis]

I'tell you this much. I don't believe I'm adding any additional skills so I don't think I'll be missing much.

[mm1220]

Will you be giving up any worthwhile promotion opportunities kaymeis?

[kaymeis]

I want a situation where I enjoy what I'm doing.

[Key_Master]

I make enough to enjoy a comfortable living off of AdSense and other sources of Internet income but I just can't get myself to quit my day job.

The problem is, I got old and somewhere along the way, responsibility kicked in. Besides, I like my job and the people I work with.

But if I were college age again, I'd be living it up Rodney Dangerfield style. :)

[incrediBILL]

I like my job and the people I work with

I found they can be replaced with bartenders and barflys.

All you need is a pub with Wifi and you're good to go!

[openmind]

If you work your site full time you have the chance to really get to know your limits. How can grow on a personal level because you have to rely on yourself rather than having other people telling you what to do. Working your site full time means taking full responsibilty for your decisions and activities. If you have a job, you are responsible for what somebody else is telling you to do. If you stick to the rules, you get paid. If you work your site full time, you have to create your own rules and stick to them.

[dollarshort]

I'm doing about 2k, but rent is cheap, I have health insurance provided by the VA, no car payments, no kids to support, I guess I'm doing ok. Its a great lifestyle.

[StuntasticAudi]

I wouldnt quit my 9-5 job for $1000 a month from adsense. I dont know about you but I wouldnt be able to afford living for $1000 a month. Also remember that you have to pay taxes on that so you're really not making $1k take home.

[jetteroheller]

I wouldnt be able to afford living for $1000 a month

You can not compare living costs in Gahna with Your expenses.

I do not know Ghana exactly, but somebody could live very good in Romainia with $1000

Also You must consider, what his salary is. I know in Romania a leading employee in a scientific institute with $300 a month.

[mm1220]

A rough method used by The Economist to compare the purchasing power of a currency (in this case, the dollar) in different countries is to compare how much a Big Mac from McDonald's costs. I know it's a crude method but I think it could prove useful here.

So kaymeis, how much does a Big Mac cost in Ghana?

[gamiziuk]

I work the midnite shift in a hotel in the USA. Its not a high-paying position, but it is "perfect" for me to bring my laptop along and use the slow time at work (about 90% of the night) to build my internet empire.

Between Adsense and my affiliate income, I have "matched" my hotel pay. Its not enough to go "full-time" on just yet, but it is a nice feeling to finally sock away some money in the bank. :)

Your mileage may vary.

[jetteroheller]

So kaymeis, how much does a Big Mac cost in Ghana?

This compare is nonsens.

For example, many people in Romania have behind the house a yard with own chickens and turkeys.

Buying a Big Mac is some sort of luxury.

[europeforvisitors]

mm1220 described the "Big Mac Index" as "a rough method used by The Economist to compare the purchasing power of a currency."

The purchasing power of a currency has nothing to do with whether people keep chickens or turkeys in their back yards.

[mm1220]

This compare is nonsens.

I beg to differ, the comparison isn't nonsense. I could ask how much does a loaf of bread cost on average but there are so many variables (type of bread, brand of bread, quality of bread) involved the comparison would be close to meaningless. With the Big Mac we have a product which is the same in every country in which it's sold. It doesn't matter whether it's a relative luxury or not.

[openmind]

I agree with mm1220, simply check wikipedia for 'big mag index' and you'll see what we mean.

[cleanup]

I would never go full time with adsense even if you can. A job is not just a pay check, but a career, security, pension and all the rest.

Adsense goes up and down, I started three years ago as just a dabble and was ticked when I started to earn 15$ a day. Within a year I had a run of a few months earning 1800$US and even one month nearly $US3000.

This year its about a third of that (for reasons discussed in other threads) not much I can do about it.

I would say NEVER give up your day job for something as fickle and out of your control as Google and adsense.

Bank the money.

When you have enough to live of the *interest* - then THAT is the time to give up your day job!