A lot of people start web development as an escape route from the corporate work. They want to leave the doldrums of a 9-5 job and have the freedom of being their own boss. I am one of those people. Some day I would love to leave my cubicle and run my own business. Eventually I want to use online earnings to fuel a brick and mortar business.

So what would it take for me to quit my job? How much money do I have to make online in order to survive?

For a single guy maybe 18 years old or so, it wouldn’t take much money to survive online. If you can make $115/day for 365 days a year, you will gross nearly $42,000. Subtract 30% for taxes and that leaves you with about $30k. Some of you might think $30k isn’t a lot, but for a single person with modest spending habits, $30k could do just fine… that is unless you live San Francisco or New York City. It would be hard to save depending on your rent situation and insurance, but it could be done.

I am not single though. I’ll be getting married in like 8 months (ya the time is flying by). That means I have more responsibilites. I can’t just quit my job the second I start making $115/day online like an 18 year old could do.. $115/day won’t cover it in my situation. After sitting down and crunching some numbers, I’ve determined that I would really need $160 or more/day in order to survive without my current 9-5 job.

$160/day for 365 days a year is $58,400 a year. Whoa that seems like a lot…but after taxes you’re looking at only $40k left. Well you say “Hey, $40k ain’t bad either”. Well no it’s not, until you take out something like $2000/yr for health, dental, and eye insurance. So now you have $38k. Cough up another $1k for life insurance…down to $37k.

By the time your done subtracting everything from your gross, let’s say your left with $34,000. That’s a solid net income, but would still not a high income. Although the happiness you get from being your own boss and working on your own business is WELL worth a paycut in my opinion. Lucky for me, when I’m married we’ll have a nice double income household. These are the power earning years for a young couple…that is until kids come along.

So $160/day is my target income so I can quit my everday 9-5 job. A lot of you are definitely making $160/day and more, so I know it can be done. It will take a lot of work, and a lot of smart investing to reach that level, but it can be done…especially if I buy a couple of big earning sites.

How close am I to that $160/day you ask? Well, I’m not giving out specific numbers anymore, but let’s just say I’m on my way to achieving my goals.