How We Quit Our 9-5 Jobs and Built a $1,000,000+ Online Business to Reach Financial Freedom

One of my favorite things about running Making Sense of Cents is getting to share real stories from people who started right where many of you are now – feeling stuck, in debt, and wanting more freedom. Kelan and Brittany found my blog years ago when they were dreaming of a better life for their family, and they decided to give blogging a try. Since then, they’ve gone on to build a seven-figure online business and create a life where they get to work from home, spend as much time as possible with their kids, and it all began with earning their very first $50 online. In today’s guest post, Kelan is sharing their story, what they did to get started, and how that small first win helped change everything for them.

I still remember hanging up the phone after turning down the opportunity I thought I had worked my entire life for – an offer to move onto the road as a police officer.

At the time, I was working as a jail deputy, the job that was supposed to be my stepping stone into law enforcement. But instead of feeling excited, I felt crushed. I sat in my car and cried, knowing I had just walked away from the career I had spent years chasing.

My wife Brittany was teaching full-time. We had $40,000 in student loan debt. And now I was questioning everything.

But deep down, I knew I couldn’t stay. Working in the jail left me depressed and hopeless – it felt like I was doing time with the inmates.

That moment of breaking down was also the beginning of our breakthrough.

Fast forward: Brittany and I now run a seven-figure online businesses, with our brands The Savvy Couple and The Savvy Mama. We’ve been featured in Forbes, paid off our debt, and built a life of complete freedom where we homeschool our kids, travel when we want, and live life on our own terms.

And it all started with $50.

Related content:

The Spark: Michelle’s Income Report Changed Everything

After leaving law enforcement, I took a huge pay cut to work as an office manager at a college – dropping from $30 an hour to $13.

From the outside, it looked like a step backward. But I knew I needed that space to find my purpose again.

Around that time, Brittany and I stumbled across Michelle’s Making Sense of Cents income reports. Seeing her share openly about blogging income changed everything. If she could do it, maybe we could too.

One night at the dinner table, we had a heart-to-heart: this life isn’t working. We wanted more freedom. I was done with 9-5 jobs – I knew I wasn’t built for them. I needed to be my own boss and in control of my time.

We’d always been obsessed with personal finance. Our family and friends constantly came to us for money advice. So we decided to launch a blog – The Savvy Couple – to share what we knew.

We were so excited. Nights, weekends, holidays – every spare moment went into building it.

Nine months in, after countless late nights, we finally earned our first $50 online.

I must have refreshed PayPal fifty times that day. When it cleared, I sprinted downstairs, grabbed Brittany, and we danced in the kitchen like we had just won the lottery.

To some people, $50 is nothing. To us, it was everything. It was proof we weren’t crazy. It was the spark that gave us hope.

Two weeks later, I quit my job at the college. It was the last job I would ever quit.

If you’ve ever thought, “$50 isn’t much,” let me tell you: your first $50 online can change your entire life.

Freelancing to stay afloat

Without a paycheck, I had to figure things out fast. I turned to freelancing – teaching English on VIPKid and doing digital marketing. Upwork was an incredible resource for finding freelance work. 

Within two months, I had replaced my income. Meanwhile, The Savvy Couple kept growing.

Brittany wasn’t fully convinced the blog would succeed, but she had complete faith in me. That faith carried us through the messy middle.

Finding My WHY

Not long after, our first daughter was born. Brittany went back to teaching, and I became a stay-at-home dad while running the business.

Every morning, I’d kiss her goodbye as she headed off to school. I cherished those moments, but I also felt the weight of them. Brittany was missing milestones with our baby. I was missing my best friend.

She’s been my best friend since 9th grade, when we first started dating. My heart hurt every day she was gone for so long. We wanted this business to give us freedom, but I realized I didn’t just want my freedom – I wanted hers too.

That’s when I got the vision. I had already quit my job. What would it look like if Brittany could quit hers as well?

So I started writing two simple letters on our bathroom mirror: RB.

RB stood for Retire Brittany.

It became my promise. My why. The reminder that every late night and every sacrifice had a purpose.

And every time I saw it, I knew exactly what I was fighting for.

Scaling: Six Figures, Then $46,000 in One Month

By 2018, all that consistency paid off – we hit six figures.

In 2019, the business exploded past $500,000. That was the year Brittany finally left teaching to join me full-time.

We had made a deal: if we could hit $10,000 each month for six months straight, she’d leave. It was a tough decision – teaching came with stability, benefits, and a pension.

But then the month before she was set to resign, we made $46,000 – more than her entire year of teaching.

We took it as a sign. Brittany handed in her notice, and we’ve never looked back.

That same year, we paid off our remaining $25,000 of student loan debt in just five months. Cutting our lifestyle by 40% and attacking debt with everything we had gave us the freedom to take bigger risks.

Forbes Features and Seven Figures

In 2019, our story was featured in Forbes for the first time, and that exposure helped our business explode.

By 2023, both The Savvy Couple and The Savvy Mama were generating over $100,000 per month in semi-passive income (Forbes feature here).

Then in 2025, The Savvy Mama, Brittany’s brand helping moms simplify life with home systems, was featured in Forbes again.

That makes three Forbes features for Brittany so far. I’ve got one more to catch up to her. 😉

What Financial Freedom Really Looks Like

Freedom isn’t about yachts or private jets. It’s about choices. It’s about being in control of your most valuable asset, TIME. 

For us, it means:

• Waking up without alarms
• Homeschooling our girls
• Midday workouts
• Spontaneous family vacations
• Empty calendars

Looking back, it’s surreal: from “doing time with inmates” to living every day as a gift.

We didn’t get here by accident. We followed a process that anyone can use.

We now call it the FREED Method.

F – Find Your Vision

Your vision has to be bigger than your fear.

For me, it was two simple letters on our bathroom mirror: RB – Retire Brittany. That vision pulled me through the hardest days, the late nights, and the moments I doubted myself.

For you, it might be traveling the world, working from home so you can be with your kids, or finally paying off that last student loan. Whatever it is, you need a vision that excites you so much it drowns out your excuses.

Action step: Write down your vision. Get super specific about what you want your life to look like. What would your ideal day consist of? How would freedom change the way you wake up, spend time with your family, or end your workday?

My first vision was quitting my job and making money from home. Then it grew to retiring Brittany so she could be home with our family. And eventually, it became reaching financial freedom in our early 30s.

Your vision will evolve as you grow, but the important part is starting with one that’s strong enough to carry you through the scary first steps.

R – Reclaim Your Time

Even reclaiming just 5 hours a week adds up to 260 hours a year, and that’s over six 40-hour work weeks you could put toward your freedom. Imagine what you could build with that kind of time.

Action steps:

1. Track your time for 7 days. Be brutally honest – where are the leaks?
2. Cut 1–2 hours of wasted time daily. Netflix binges, endless scrolling, hitting snooze – it all adds up.
3. Reinvest that time into your freedom project. Use it to learn, create, or grow something that moves you closer to your vision.

Tool tip: Use Google Calendar, RescueTime, or even a notebook – what matters is tracking and reclaiming those hours with intention.

E – Eliminate your money stress

Eliminating money stress isn’t about becoming rich – it’s about creating mental space to dream again. When every dollar has a plan, you stop lying awake at night worrying about bills and start asking bigger questions: What do I actually want my life to look like?

Action steps:

1. Create a zero-based budget. Give every dollar a job so you’re in control, not guessing where your money went.
2. Build a $1,000 emergency fund. This small buffer turns everyday surprises into minor speed bumps instead of financial disasters.
3. Attack one debt aggressively. Pick the smallest balance (snowball method) or highest interest (avalanche method). Small wins create momentum fast.

Tool tip: Rocket Money, YNAB, Google Sheet. Just get started. 

E – Explore Income Streams

Here’s the truth: flipping items and surveys can give you quick wins, but if you want freedom, focus on scalable income streams.

4 Proven paths:

1. Affiliate marketing – Michelle showed us it’s not about being salesy – it’s about helping people. Quick start:
   • Sign up for Amazon Associates (5 minutes, free).
   • Create content about 3 products you already use.
   • Add links, publish, share.
2. Digital products – Create once, sell forever (ebooks, courses, printables).
3. Content creation – Blogging, YouTube, or social media that builds trust.
4. Bonus: Marketing agency – Package skills like SEO, ads, or social media and help local businesses.

Quick win goal: Make your first $50 online. It can change everything.

D – Design Your Escape Plan

Don’t just dream of freedom – design it. Dreams stay fuzzy. A plan gives you a clear path forward. The more specific you get, the more inevitable your freedom becomes.

Action steps:

1. Set income milestones. Aim to replace 25%, then 50%, then 100% of your current paycheck. Each milestone proves you’re closer to walking away from your 9-5.
2. Build a 12-month roadmap. Break it down by quarter. What needs to happen in the next 90 days to move closer to your goal?
3. Review and adjust monthly. Life changes – your plan should adapt with it. Track progress, celebrate wins, and reset the course when needed.

Tool tip: Use Trello, Asana, or even a simple whiteboard to track milestones where you’ll see them every day.

The Cost of Waiting

Here’s what I wish someone told me: the hardest part isn’t building – it’s deciding to start.

If you wait another year:

• Your kids will be a year older
• Your debt might grow
• Your dream will feel further away

But if you start today, a year from now you could be celebrating your first $1,000 month. Or even handing in your resignation.

How We Quit Our 9-5 Jobs and Built a $1,000,000+ Online Business to Reach Financial Freedom – Summary

When I turned down my law enforcement dream, I thought I was losing everything. But this was making room for something bigger.

We started with $40,000 in debt, a laptop, and $50 that gave us hope.

Today, we have financial freedom, time freedom, and memories we’d never trade for a paycheck.

Your freedom story starts with a decision. Make it today.

Author Bio: Kelan & Brittany Kline are the founders of The Savvy Couple, a family finance and lifestyle brand that helps people break free from the 9-5 and build a life of freedom. After paying off $40,000 of debt and leaving their traditional jobs, they scaled their blog into a seven-figure business and have since launched The Savvy Mama. They’ve been featured in Forbes multiple times and are passionate about helping others design their own escape plan. Grab their free Financial Freedom Starter Guide today – the exact roadmap we used to go from $40K in debt and stuck in a 9-to-5 to building the life we once only dreamed about. It will take you from feeling overwhelmed to knowing the exact first steps to create your escape plan.