I work 25 hours a week remotely as freelancer (although I'm available in slack more or less all the time) and earn nearly twice as much as during my PhD. Only that in more than 3 years I never really got into demotivated/frustrated phases. During my PhD I often felt depressed when sitting in the office all day, never getting a bit of daylight... And paying 300€ a month to have someone walk my dog.

I have lots of time for learning new stuff and also teach a course twice a year at a local college for some extra cash.

Started when my daughter was born and never stopped ;). Couldn't be happier and I really hope I can somehow keep it that way.