This weekend I will speak at CampFi Rocky Mountain. They will hold two different Rocky Mountain events and I am very fortunate to speak at the first one. For me it is a great opportunity to meet new people, to have conversations about F.I.R.E. and to reenergize my financial energy in-person while socially distancing and sitting outside. In today’s episode, I wanted to share 10 lessons learned from my accidental slow F.I.R.E. journey as well as 14 tips to consider as you consider your F.I.R.E. journey. My goal was to shift the perspective on F.I.R.E. I hope you enjoy this episode and here it goes!
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Show Notes
I thought it would be important to share some of my backstory before getting into the meat of the episode. In 2014 I was dealing with extreme burnout. I’d thought about quitting my job before but I didn’t because of so many reasons.
- I was afraid
- I had over $60,000 in unsecured debt to various entities
- I had no idea what I would do professionally
- I lived in my hometown and didn’t plan on moving because I loved my city and state (even though it’s expensive)
But, it was becoming increasingly clear that how I was living my life wasn’t working. Does any of this resonate with you?
- I had an extreme commute. I lived in Denver and worked in the city of Boulder, CO. The commute time doubled due to traffic and a massive construction project on the road. Ironically, that road would develop a massive sink hole 5 years later.
- I was working with 600 clients at any given time who spoke varying levels of English and had the typical problems that adults had…while living in a foreign country.
- I was beginning to want to do different things professionally that were being roadblocked
- My mental health was deteriorating and it was becoming an issue.
- I wanted to spend more time with people. I wanted to go for coffee with my mom, visit my grandma outside of peak travel season, etc.
I kept thinking about how I wanted to live my life and commuting, dealing with other people’s bullshit, and the constant grind, wasn’t it. I decided to take “The Leap.” I should mention that I’m single and don’t have kids. HOWEVER, this list is relevant to everyone. Here are the 10 lessons I learned from almost 6 years of accidental slow F.I.R.E.
Lesson #1-Life Isn’t Guaranteed
Many F.I.R.E. folks are focused on what they want to happen once they invest to their retirement number. What if that takes you 5, 10, 0r 15 years to do? What if a black swan event happens? Like a pandemic? What if you get ill? Basically, you have to live in the current moment while planning for the future.
Lesson #2 Rethink Your Expenses
Go through your budget and really understand the following:
- What you value
- What it’s worth
- How to get the same quality at a fraction of the price
- Look at the big expenses!
- Housing
- Food
- Car
- Clothing
- Self-Care/Vacations/etc.
It’s 2020 there are so many ways to save money on the majority of your expenses:
- Live in the awkward place in a great location-My place is awkward and I’m about to put a lot of work into it. But, I only pay $525 a month. Yep, that’s what I pay on my mortgage. New town homes are being built on my block. They are starting at $700,000+ did I mention that I live in a phenomenal location?
- Use a car share. If you live in a big city, instead of having two cars, have one and a car share. I use only a car share at this moment and I love it!! I will spend around $800 this year on transportation-that includes several road trips. That saves me $3200 a year if I averaged around $4,000 a year on a paid off car=gas/insurance/maintenance/etc.
- Use a shopping app like Ibotta to save on groceries and booze.
- Change your cell phone service-I currently use MINT Mobile, but I’ve also used and liked: Republic Wireless and Cricket. I used GoogleFi, it’s not as good. Change my cellphone service saved me almost $1100 a year. I was paying around $1500 a year on phone service around 2012/2013. That’s a European Vacation. Now I pay $400 a year.
- Use a clothing subscription service like Rent the Runway to build in a set amount of spending on fashion or ThredUp which is an online clothing consignment store that I shop frequently.
- Vacations-I stay in super posh hostels. Seriously, I do. That include breakfast.
Lesson #3 Rethink Your Profession or Where You Work
People are way too loyal to their jobs. Your #1 loyalty should always be to yourself (in an ethical way). Change jobs more often and build up significant raises into your annual wage each time you leap.
Lesson #4 The Big Expenses Move the Needle
Focus on the big expenses first, then spend time looking at your smaller expenses. The big expenses make all the difference.
Lesson #5 Stop Focusing on the 32 year old F.I.R.E. Retirees
The story about the 32 year old is a distraction when you’re 42. But, if you’re 42 years old and focus on F.I.R.E. you still could potentially have 40+ years of financial freedom. Don’t let your age be a distraction. Start today.
Lesson #6 Earning More is NOT Bad
And, earning money after you hit F.I.R.E. is smart.
Lesson #7 Diversify Your Income
Don’t have all of your eggs in one financial basket. I currently make money the following ways:
- Course Sales
- Affiliate income
- Events
- Speaking
- Sponsorships
- Freelance Writing
- Ebooks
- Coaching
- Webinars
- Investments
- Rental Income-Starting the summer of 2021
If I found an online position that was a work from home position, I would could do that as well. Diversifying your income is so important.
Lesson #8 Take the Trip
Right now Americans basically can’t travel outside of the US. I’m so damn glad that I took the trips that I’ve taken, even during debt repayment. I just reimagined the way that I took the trips.
- Looked for deals
- Paid cash
- Stayed in Hostels
Lesson #9 What Your Vision for Your F.I.R.E. Life??
I had a very clear vision for the life that I wanted to live not even because of F.I.R.E. just in general.
- I wanted a 4 day work week
- Waking up naturally
- Reading
- Spending more time with people
- Time to sit on patios to work
- The ability to enjoy activities when other people weren’t doing them. Snowboarding/Hiking/etc.
Lesson #10 Be Honest About Who You Are and What You Enjoy
This lesson takes some introspection and affects your planning. Here are some things to consider.
- Do you care about the following:
- Luxury travel?
- Food quality
- Certain types of entertainment/activities
Be honest about who you are because you will still want to enjoy what you enjoy during F.I.R.E.
Bonus-Lesson #11 Something Has to Give
Real talk, you’re going to have to do constant rebalancing of your values/budget/and interests. That nice car, that might be the reason why you can’t slow F.I.R.E.
Your all inclusive apartment may be why you have to work 70 hours a week.
Bonus-Lesson #12 What Does Your Significant Other Want?
14 Additional Tips
- Pay off your debt
- Know your values
- Manage your mindset
- Know your MONEY mindset
- Abundance or lack focused?
- Underearner? Earnings obsessed?
- Have vices what are they?
- Cars
- Clothes
- Pot
- Travel
- Shoes
- Lower your overhead as much as possible
- Don’t compromise on quality of life
- Safety
- Food
- Do a F.I.R.E. test run
- What’s your community look like? Local or extended?
- Who are you hanging out with? What do you do for fun?
- Me: I hang out with PF bloggers/people I grew up with or are from Colorado/Colorado blogging peeps/people that I used to work with they are in the education field so their schedules are pretty flexible/Meetup peeps (hiking/camping/backpacking/snowboarding)
- Pay full price as infrequently as possible on your way to F.I.R.E.
- Happy hour
- Wait for sales
- Use savings apps and Chrome extensions
- Have fun with the process
- Set goals that you have to push towards
- Reward yourself
- Constantly study taxes/investing/etc. (study money)
- Earn more money
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I especially appreciate #5 and #12.
5) People definitely get caught up in the details of a person’s FIRE path. We are all on our own path, and there’s nothing iherently “better” about doing it at 32 or 42. The end goal of FIRE is to have more time for happiness, excitement, adventure. Incorporating that in your pre-FIRE life can alter your course. I know we ended up a few years behind our “most efficient” FIRE path, but that’s because we did something we love–foreign travel, extensively, along the way. It’s not about a specific age.
12) This one is easily underappreciated. You and your partner really need to be on the same page. It doesn’t mean you have to AGREE to be doing the *same thing*, it means you need to have a clear understanding between each other of what you’re doing together and what that means. Working through all the details of life’s goals with Jenni took a lot of conversations, effort, and openness.
Thanks for sharing 🙂 Good luck at CampFI!
Thanks Chris for listening to the show (or, reading the show notes LOL!) If I got caught up in the idea that I should have done things at 32, I would have missed out on the past 6 years of the lifestyle that I designed. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Also, I’m single, but I’ve seen a lot of couples break up because they just aren’t on the same page about their dreams/goals/etc. and how to get there.
Having a passive income is an sure way to be financially free. The idea of working 9 to 5 is gradually going out of date. Its all about self development, time management and the leveraging on the Internet to earn a living.