This Week’s Real-Life Lesson: The Weekend Locums Strategy That Crushed a Family’s Debt

I’ve said for years that the most dangerous mistake physicians make is believing that employment is their only tool for achieving financial stability. But every once in a while, I coach a physician who reminds me just how powerful a micro-business mindset can be in real life—especially when you apply it to a very specific, very emotional, very universal problem:

Debt. The silent weight. The ever-present stressor. The thing physicians rarely admit they carry, but almost all of them do.

This week, I talked with a physician, let’s call him Dr. Lewis, who used a simple but brilliant combination:

• a micro-corporation,

• a weekend-only locums job, and

• the debt avalanche method

…to completely change his family’s financial trajectory.

His story is real. His struggle is real. And his transformation is exactly the type of entrepreneurial shift every physician deserves to experience.

Where I Was

I was sitting in my coaching office early on a Monday morning, reviewing weekend notes from my coaching queue. One message caught my attention immediately. It was from a client I’d been working with for several months, a family medicine physician with three children, a stay-at-home spouse, and a financial burden that had quietly grown unbearable.

Student loans. A mortgage. Credit card balances that ballooned during residency. A car loan that seemed “fine at the time.” Medical bills from a child’s unexpected surgery.

The total number wasn’t unusual for an American physician. But the emotional weight was suffocating him.

He wrote:

“Tod, I need a way out of this hole. I’m drowning.”

That was the beginning.

What Happened

As we unpacked his finances, something became clear: He didn’t have an income problem. He had a structure problem.

He was a full-time W-2 employed physician. Solid income. Decent benefits. Some retirement matching. But the structure kept him capped.

He couldn’t accelerate his income unless he took on extra shifts, and those extra shifts were taxed like regular income, with no business advantages, no deductions, and no strategic leverage.

So I asked him something that made him pause:

“What if you could earn extra income outside your W-2 structure—and have that income work 40–60% harder for you?”

That’s when we began exploring:

Job Stacking

Specifically: a Saturday-only or Friday–Sunday locums schedule twice per month.

And not just any locums— but locums run through his own micro-corporation.

The Debt Avalanche Strategy

Unlike the debt snowball (smallest balances first), the debt avalanche attacks the highest interest debt first. It’s not as emotionally satisfying early on, but it is mathematically superior, saving thousands of dollars and cutting down debt years faster.

Micro-Business Math

When you combine:

• tax deductions

• business write-offs

• mileage

• licensing

• CME

• S-corp salary + distribution savings

• pre-tax retirement contributions

• and targeted debt payoff

…you create something incredibly potent:

A weaponized income stream. A tool specifically designed to eliminate debt.

That’s what I taught him to build.

The Weekend Locums Revelation

The first time he worked a weekend locums shift through his micro-corporation, he was shocked by the numbers.

He sent me this text Sunday night:

“Tod… I made as much this weekend as I make in an entire week at my W-2 job.”

But here’s what mattered more:

After structuring it through his professional corporation:

• His take-home was 42% higher than he expected

• He deducted miles, lodging, meals, and CME

• He split his pay between salary + distributions

• He put $2,000 directly toward his highest-interest debt on Monday morning

This became a ritual.

Saturday shifts. Sunday shifts. Once or twice a month. Every dollar routed through a micro-business plan with intentional purpose.

And within four months:

• One credit card = gone

• Second credit card = gone

• Car loan = gone

• Emergency fund = rebuilt

• Student loan avalanche = underway

He told me:

“Every weekend I work is a weekend my family buys back our future.”

That’s when the emotional shift happened.

He no longer felt trapped. He felt empowered.

Because that’s what job stacking is: A mechanism of freedom disguised as work.

What I Learned

Every time I coach a physician through this, I’m reminded of something core to the PEA philosophy:

Physicians don’t need more income. They need more control over the income they already generate.

Job stacking works not because you work more. It works because:

• You decide when to work

• You structure your income like a business

• You target the highest return action (debt elimination)

• You build momentum faster than lifestyle creep can catch you

• You repurpose weekends into weapons of wealth

This is why I write so much about micro-business autonomy on The Independent Physician blog—including posts like:

👉 “Job Stacking for Doctors: Modern Medical Lifestyles”

👉 Locum Tenens Guide for Physicians

When you stop thinking like an employee and start thinking like an owner, you see income differently:

You stop working to survive. You start working to build.

And that changes everything.

The Surprising Micro-Business Insight

Here’s the insight that emerged from this story:

Debt steals your options. Micro-business ownership gives them back.

When your income is structured through a PC or PLLC taxed as an S-corp, you:

• Reduce taxes

• Increase take-home

• Deduct legitimate expenses

• Accelerate financial goals

• Build discipline

• Build margin

• Build momentum

Job stacking becomes strategic—not desperate.

In Dr. Lewis’s case, it became the tool that saved his family’s future.

Is This Deductible?

(Two-column block for your Kajabi layout)

This Week’s Question: Can I deduct my netflix membership

Short answer: No. Netflix does not have a distinct business purpose for your micro-corporation. Although it may be entertaining, it it is not deductible. Your home internet service, now that’s a different story.

Join the Movement

“Freedom is not the reward. Freedom is the strategy.”

Physicians across the country are breaking free through micro-business ownership, job stacking, and strategic financial design.

Are you ready to join them?

👉 Join the PEA Explorer Membership https://www.simplimd.com/PEAMembership

Begin your journey by scheduling a business strategy session with me and let’s discuss how you follow Dr Lewis’s example.