When I met my wife, I thought mostly in the short term. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was doing all the “right” things – we were both working and going to school full time, I bought a new car, moved into a new apartment, and was an excellent consumer.
However, the daily grind started to take its toll as we moved in together and found all of our time occupied with simply surviving alongside each other. Each day we would wake up, spend an hour plus commuting, work all day, endure an even longer commute on the way home, and hurriedly cook dinner so we could enjoy homework and studying for the few remaining hours before we got too little sleep just so we could start the whole process over again.
It was exhausting, and seemed unsustainable; why were we doing this? So we could retire when we’re 60 something and finally get to enjoy each other, our lives, and some travel?
Around the same time, money was starting to pile up in my savings account, with a pittance of a savings rate (due to getting a raise and not inflating my lifestyle: no magic there). I figured, even with relatively low inflation, I am losing value. What do I do with this money, so that it doesn’t just lose value but actually grows?
This confluence of events led to me stumbling upon the FI/RE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) community, which is where everything began to change. I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, and that tunnel wasn’t a soul-crushing 60-year monster. To paint the picture even brighter, it even included traveling and doing more of what I want now, while I’m still young, but in a way that wouldn’t put off retirement or financial independence significantly. Life is about living, right?
Since then, by making small, sustainable shifts in perception, habit, and action, and educating myself on these topics, we’ve been able to shift into spending more time together, spending less and saving a significant portion of our income, and generally enjoying life much more. What’s more, after only a few short years, our planned retirement isn’t far off!
This blog is my attempt to share as much of this change in perspective as possible with you so that instead of being trapped by money, we can all use it as the tool it is to invite abundance into our lives and focus on what we truly enjoy in life, whatever that might be for each of us (hint: it’s not money).
Cheers,
(Your) Wallet