@AuditAce wrote:
All these income reports are useless unless someone adds whether they're counting gross income or net income after expenses. And do their expenses include a $-per-mile deduction? You can easily lose money if you use the IRS mileage rate of $0.58 per mile.
I feel like I'm probably repeating a post from the last discussion on income, but considering the above, the fact that it's very difficult to accurately calculate expenses in the industry, the varying costs of living and the fact that the job itself can alter your lifestyle expenses, a number is not going to be helpful for most people.
Isn't the question @colleeny25 really asking, "Is it worth it?....and can it be successfully done F/T without destroying my sanity/marriage/lifestyle/etc.?"
And the frustrating answer is that it's different for everyone. $50k for some is a lot of money, and for others it's not enough to live on. $50k is also probably only achievable if you are on the road at least part time, so this really becomes about lifestyle choices.
For me...F/T shopping wasn't a good lifestyle. I know it is for others. Same with scheduling and editing. Others are OK to do it for a living, but not me. I also have a career outside of MSing and so doing it as piece work on the side creates the best lifestyle for me. If you live in an urban area with good employment opportunities, that's always going to be my recommendation for how to make MSing work. If you are a stay-at-home parent in a rural area, it's going to work differently. If you are retired, or just out of college, it's going to work differently.
The best advice I can give to discern the lifestyle you want for yourself, and then go about creating it, seeing how MSing can fit into that.