Boulanger's unrelenting schedule of teaching, performing, composing, writing letters etc. started to take its toll on her health; she had frequent migraines and toothaches. She stopped writing as a critic for "Le Monde musical" as she could not attend the requisite concerts. To maintain the living standard for her and her mother, she concentrated on teaching. This was her most lucrative source of income. Fauré believed she was mistaken to stop composing, but she told him, "If there is one thing of which I am certain, it is that I wrote useless music."