19: How I've supported myself financially without a 9-5

the ways I have handled not having a consistent paycheck since February

Living Room with Lilac Curtains and Blue Clematis, by Anna Archer, 1913. Oil on canvas.

May newsletter is here (on time for once)!

I’m slowly getting back into the content creation mood and it’s been really nice to work on longer-form content such as the newsletter. Without rambling too much, let’s get into it!

---

The appreciation corner

A space where I express five (or more) things I’m grateful for and appreciative of from the month before

1. blooming flowers: springtime is one of the prettiest seasons where I live because of the flowers in full bloom

2. healthy progress: I feel like I have finally come to a good balance between my nutrition and fitness - one day I’ll write about this in full, but I’ve never had the healthiest relationship with my body and food so I finally feel like I’ve found something that works

3. homemade bread: my brother has perfected his sourdough recipe and makes a loaf every single week. I am so blessed.

4. wedding activities: one of my best friends is getting married next year and we went wedding dress shopping for the first time - which was so fun and exciting!

5. sunny days: I have spent some nice breezy spring days outside walking in nature - it is making me extremely excited for hiking season now that I’m back in Canada!

---

How I've supported myself financially without a 9-5

A shallow dive (300-600 words) on a specific topic pertinent to the Researching Wealth brand such as personal finance, academia, travel, social media and lifestyle

Frustrated. Tired. Anxious

These are some of the three emotions I oscillated between in the month of April regarding my financial standing.

For context, I’ve recently returned home in Canada from living abroad and I’m currently in a weird state of temporal limbo: I am in Canada for less than 6 months before I move down to the US to start my PhD studies in environmental science and policy.

I’m technically not unemployed but I feel like I am because I’m currently a casual research consultant for an international organization and I still haven’t gotten paid.

researchingwealth

A post shared by @researchingwealth

For anyone who doesn’t know, many consultants for international organizations are only paid once they have completed their deliverable and it has been approved.

And since I am only doing this part-time (if you can even call it that), my deliverables are scheduled for April but most likely the end of May, end of July, and December.

So that means since February, I have been financially supporting myself while receiving $0 from a job.

How have I done this?

1. I saved up for it

In December, one of my colleagues from my job told me that they had an opportunity for me to support some research deliverables for an international organization. The working arrangement works perfectly for me because everything can be done completely remotely and it’s only for a few months. So I knew far in advance of my last day at work (which was in February), that this was going to be the case. With this in mind, I began aggressively saving toward a 2-3 month living expenses buffer, that is not my emergency fund, in anticipation.

2. I live at home with my parents

I think the biggest benefit to my wallet has been that I live at home which means I pay no rent and very little utilities. This is a massive privilege and I’m super thankful that my parents keep refusing to let me contribute (I keep trying to offer though).

3. I keep my expenses extremely low

Since I do not have rent or utilities to pay, it allows me to keep my expenses extremely low. While I don’t formally call this a “no buy” period, I have intentional guidelines in place to keep my expenses low:

1. I don’t go over $1,500 in one month

2. I need to contribute at least $200 a month to a moving fund

3. If there is extra money at the end of the month, it goes straight to the moving fund

Essentially, I only pay for food¹ ($350 - $450), car-related² purchases (~$300), subscriptions, bills, utilities (~$150), a gym membership ($100), and a CRA payment ($120) per month.

So ideally, I spend just about $1,100 per month (give or take) so that leaves me a bit of a buffer ~$200 and then the rest toward my moving fund. So far, I’ve actually contributed more than $200 a month which is fantastic.

4. I had some “lucky” money refunds

One thing that has kept me from a perpetual feeling of dread every time I open my banking apps is that between February - now, I have received money refunds for various things.

1. Reimbursements from recruitment weekends: Between February - March, I visited all 3 schools I applied to for doctoral studies, which required me to spend money on travelling such as food and transportation. While I did have to pay out of pocket initially for this, they paid me back in USD (even when I spent in CAD), which benefitted me due to the currency exchange between the CAD and USD. It isn’t much, but I actually ended up with an extra ~$50 and credit card/travel points since I paid up front, which is something!

2. I received compensation from an airline for a flight cancellation in December: I received £520 from British Airways due to a flight cancellation. This was finally paid out in March.

3. An extra salary payment: Even though I knew I was leaving my job in February due to my visa in the UK expiring, my university still paid me out for the paid vacation days I was not able to take (~3 days) and a redundancy fee which equalled ~£1,000 I was not expecting.

5. I’m doing some light side hustling

While I haven’t reaped any benefits from this so far, I am starting to invest a bit more time into side hustles. This primarily includes de-cluttering and reselling items I really don’t need or use, working during the federal election season at my local electoral office, and working on a digital product coming very soon: my graduate applications guide. I’m hoping this will be ready by the beginning of June.

I’m not expecting a bunch of money from any of these endeavours but I think it’s been a good way to make some extra money before I start a PhD since I will most likely not have a job on top of my studies.

---

This is definitely not exactly where I saw myself at 27. There are days where I feel like I am in the exact same spot I was at 18 when I first went to university with very little in my bank accounts.

But when I do reflect, the sacrifices I am currently making are allowing me to pursue my dream of doing a PhD in a field I am extremely passionate about. It’s not making me the 6-figure salary everyone my age is striving toward but it is fulfilling a drive within me to contribute a part in climate and biodiversity action - something that is more valuable to me than money.

Also, I am not the same person. I have a small emergency fund (covers ~2 months of expenses) and no consumer debt, which was not the case even 8 months ago. So I’m definitely making small, necessary steps toward building wealth despite not having a consistent paycheck.

But between you and me, I’m really hoping my paycheck comes in this month. Fingers crossed!

---

As always thanks for reading ♡. Where else you can find me:

Instagram: @researchingwealth

Pinterest: @researchingwealth

1. Groceries and eating out

2. This includes gas and parking when I go into the city