Getting past a minimum-wage salary
I just got some insight from Theoderick’s latest video on how to go from a UMR salary (the regional minimum wage) to Rp 10 million a month. Not by working harder or putting in more overtime.
But by changing how you think about “where money comes in from,” and seeing why we’ve been stuck at the same number all this time.
The one-faucet economy
There’s one thing we often forget. Most Indonesians only have one source of income their whole lives: their salary.
If you do the math, from age 22 until retirement, that’s about 480 paydays from the same single door.
And the problem is, we don’t control that door. It can be shut at any time: layoffs, restructuring, a new boss, the company closing down.
Theoderick says we live in a “one-faucet economy.” All our needs, our installments, our dreams, our kids’ future: all of it hangs on the same single pipe.
If all we rely on is “I have to work harder here,” we’re putting our whole life on a single point of failure. That’s why the answer isn’t working harder. It’s adding more doors for money to come in.
Three ways to add doors
Raise your value in the job market
Common skills get common pay. Rare skills get paid very differently.
The difference between someone on a UMR salary and someone on a double-digit salary (tens of millions of rupiah a month) isn’t working hours. It’s how specific the problem is that they can solve.
The UMR person sells “I can do any kind of work.” The double-digit person sells “I can solve problem X, the one that makes or loses the company millions.”
So the question is: what expensive problem can you take on?
Build a side service that’s packaged up, not sold by the hour
Here’s the difference:
- Regular freelancing: “how many hours will it take?” The price follows the time.
- Productized service: “this is package A, it includes X, it costs Y, done in two weeks.”
The packaged one is easier to sell, the result is clearer, and the price can be 3–5x what you’d get billing by the hour. Clients are also more at ease because they know exactly what they’re getting.
Change how you manage the money you already have
It’s not about saving. It’s about allocation. Theoderick says to split your income into three buckets:
- Living bucket: the must-haves.
- Growth bucket: learning, tools, experiments.
- Safety bucket: emergencies.
What keeps people stuck is that everything goes into the living bucket. Nothing gets set aside to level up.
Build the second door while things are fine
There’s one question from Theoderick that made me go quiet for a while:
“If your main job disappeared next month, what would you still have?”
It’s not meant to scare you. It’s a check: so far, how many places has our effort been flowing into?
If the answer is just one, that’s not our fault. It’s just a sign that the second door hasn’t been built yet. And the best time to start building it is while everything’s still fine.
Theoderick also reminds us that adding income sources does not mean resigning tomorrow. It’s the opposite. The salary you have is the safest capital there is for experimenting.
Use your salary to cover your needs. Use your spare time to build a second way, slowly.
People who resign before they have a second way usually panic, and then go back to an office job in a worse position.
This is the pattern Theoderick often sees in people who make the jump from UMR to double digits:
- First 6 months: focus on one specific skill you can sell.
- Next 6 months: take 2–3 small clients for a portfolio and testimonials.
- Second year: raise your prices, choose your clients, or use your portfolio to apply for a higher-paying job.
It’s not instant. But it’s consistent and it has direction.
What I’m taking from it
The video’s point isn’t working harder. It’s not treating a salary as the only door, and adding ways for money to come in, one at a time.
Raise your value. Build a packaged service. Put your money where it helps you grow.
Theoderick’s full take is really worth following. Watch the video on YouTube (in Indonesian).