Here are three ways to get out of the rat race. Now, getting out of the rat race is simple,

but not necessarily easy to escape. All you need is monthly income from a source other than

your job that exceeds your monthly expenses, right? Simple, but not always easy. I'm Nick Loper.

You're listening to The Side Hustle Show, where we've been making day jobs optional since

2013. In this episode, I'm breaking

down those three most common rat race escape routes, including the one at the end that got me

out, the pros and cons of each, and how to choose the right path for you. So remember that freedom

equation is non-job income that is exceeding your monthly expenses. The three most common ways

to generate that income are

traditional investments, real estate and entrepreneurship. These are in contrast to, and probably

more realistic than the other paths that some people bank on like an unexpected inheritance,

lonely Nigerian prince, or winning the lottery. But what's maybe even more surprising is most

people don't really seem to have much of a plan at all. They're just going through life day to day

with the assumption and hope that someday they'll retire, but it doesn't really work that way.

And if you're not steering your own ship, I'm not sure you're going to ever get to where you

want to go. The first step in escaping the rat race is to figure out your actual monthly expenses.

What is your lifestyle cost? This isn't going to be a lecture on extreme frugality, but at the very

least, spending with intention has got to be a part of your rat race escape math.

I mean, why set the bar unnecessarily high?

And if you've never calculated how much you actually spend on a monthly basis,

it's worth taking a minute to figure that out.

This was an exercise that my wife and I did last year.

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