I quit my day job two months ago and I was both scared and excited at the thought of being able to stay at home and work on my writing business full time. It is one of those dreams that most people can’t even start to think about until they have a contract with a major publisher and a best seller on the New York Times list. Many of the authors on that list are still working a day job. I’m not.

I don’t make a lot of money from my books, in fact, I don’t make enough between all of my writing projects to cover what I was making in retail–just a cut above minimum wage. I do have some secret weapons though that provide me with a level of security.

I have a husband who may have a serious mental illness, but he loves me and values what I value and allows me a lot of control to protect us from his tendency to overspend. He trusts me enough to talk to his doctor when he is feeling fine, but I’m noticing behavior that worries me. He trusts me enough to put off making major decisions when I don’t feel that he’s stable enough to make them. And I don’t use that against him–if I actually feel that he’s stable, but I don’t like a decision, I argue my case the same as anyone else does and we come to an agreement. I don’t always have to win just because I’m stable. I’m not always right.

I have just enough money coming in from my own resources that I can do the things that are important to me. I have multiple income streams–I have my book at several different bookstores and get paid regularly by Amazon, Smashwords and Lulu. I recently started a copywriting job that will get more fun and more interesting as I learn more about it. I am always looking for freelance opportunities and am willing to do other types of odd jobs to make money. It seems like there’s always another check coming in soon.

I have decided that God must be in favor of this arrangement because I have received several unexpected checks in the mail at times when I needed just about the amount of the check. I never got random checks before, but received three unexpected checks and got a refund when we originally had determined that we’d owe on income taxes–we found that one magic deduction. I don’t know any other explanation.

And finally, I had written a book several years ago about living on a small income, something we’d done when the boys were young and Troy was having trouble keeping a job. I am quite skilled at being able to do without or to find ways to get what I need without spending a lot of money. I have been meaning to dig this information out and make a new book out of it, and having to live on my own earnings is giving me a chance to practice the tips in the original book and come up with a few new twists.

I’m two months into living on Troy’s income paying the regular bills and mine paying the groceries and other shopping. I worried that he’d be spending more on the road than we could afford and that I’d be working a day job within a month. I worried that we’d have something come up and not be able to pay the basic bills. I worried that Troy would have a melt-down and stop working. I worried that he’d resent my being at home. I worried too much.

I’m learning that there are bumps, that every day is a risk. It’s not about avoiding the risks, it’s about dealing with the problems when they come up and moving on from there. Everybody has risks. I’m just more aware of mine. I think that’s a good thing.