There are a handful of books that have made an enormous impact on the way I approach money and spending. The first, Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, made the memorable connection between purchasing and the life energy needed to sustain each purchase. In other words, it's not a $30,000 auto, it's six months, or 3,120 hours of your life energy to purchase it, and then another $5,000, or 260 hours of your life energy to maintain it when you consider the annual cost of gas, tires, maintenance and insurance. OK, so my maintenance assumptions may be slightly off, but I trust you still get the point.
The second was The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. Take aways from this book? Stop thinking of your home as a gynormous checking account! Pay it off and stay put, such as the majority of homeowners in Europe appear to do. Paying off a home is one of the most important "getting your ducks in order" steps to take pre-retirement. Not to mention the fabulous peace of mind it affords. Priceless!
And stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. As we all now know, the Joneses are broke!
My most recent little financial find was The Ultimate Cheapskate by Jeff Yeager. Aside from being hysterical, Jeff suggests that much of our spending is due to sheer boredom. Hmmm, so my little habit of going out to a bagel shop for breakfast when I had six perfectly good bagels chillin' in my freezer was because I was bored? Darned if he might not have a point! Jeff challenges his readers to go a full week without spending, other than gas and essential bills, offering that the average American household has enough food on hand to last a month, and enough unused or underutilized entertainment possibilites to last a year.
I took his challenge, and learned some rather surprising things about myself over the course of the week. As disciplined as I thought I was, I had urge after urge to go out and spend for no reason other than boredom. Here's a brief synopsis of how the week went-
- Saturday morning. Post six mile run I wanted to go out to breakfast "as usual." Because this wasn't an option, I instead made blueberry pancakes with a small amount of blueberries that were a day or so from becoming overripe, squeezed a small glass of O.J. from two oranges I found in the fruit bin, and scrambled a couple of eggs. Result? Fun! Delicious! Satisfying!
- Sunday afternoon. Resisted urge to go out to a $10 per person movie with my husband and instead put on bathing suits and walked across the street to the association pool and jacuzzi that we pay $120 monthly in HOA fees for. Result? Relaxing! Fun! A little decadent!
- Monday - Friday lunch. Came home and ate leftovers, saving about $40 in lunch spend. A sandwich out vs. a sandwich at home tastes pretty much the same. Result? Same satisfaction level as going out. Who knew?!
- Friday night. Made dinner at home instead of picking up take out or ordering in a pizza. Defrosted some chicken to BQ, made brown rice (always in my pantry), and microwaved a bag of frozen peas. I also took a look at my baking supplies and found enough items to make homemade brownies. Result? Hello Domestic Goddess!
Experiment ended, we did return to our normal life, but with a changed approach. We no longer go out to dinner "just because." It has to be planned ahead, and it has to be something we feel excited about. If the conversation about dining out starts off with "Well where do you feel like going?" than we know its a boredom decision, and we head for the kitchen instead. As Jeff Yeager so wisely pointed out - if we open our fridge and take a look in the pantry, we'll likely find a nice meal just waiting to be made up.
I got up early to run with my running club, something I'd felt too heavy of spirit to do for some time. We gathered at 7:00 AM for the usual ten minutes or so of chit chat, what I think of as my running fellowship time, before heading out to run six miles along beautiful dirt trails in and around a lake and back. I felt so light of spirit at the conclusion of the run, in spite of a rather memorable total body slide that occurred about one mile before the end. Nothing, I mean nothing, is more humbling than falling flat on your face in front of an audience. Of course, me being me, the first thing I checked was that my pricey running sunglasses were OK, which they were. I got a hand up from a friend and finished the run in much better condition, emotionally and spiritually at least, than where I'd started. Which is what I love so much about running.
I'm still 30 days out from tendering my resignation, but with my departure date firm, I wanted to focus some time today on volunteer options in my community, to ensure I have meaningful activities to step into right away. I found a wealth of opportunities available on the governmental website for my county, which was really exciting. I found and submitted volunteer applications to my local county government for three particular passions of mine; adult literacy, at risk teens, and state park preservation.
It felt great to be doing something so proactive.
I have been contemplating this for a couple of years now - is the pursuit of a "better" retirement worth the tradeoff in life years to get there? And what if the pursuit is sort of like a hamster running on a wheel - there really is no end, you simply have to take a breath, muster your courage, and just get off the darn thing.
I'm ready to get off.
Once upon a time I loved working, for many, many years in fact. I'm blessed with a wonderful job that can be as exciting and stimulating as I care to make it. Yes, it has it's share of, well, crap, as all jobs do, but it also presents endless opportunities. The problem is that I no longer find joy in what I do, it feels increasingly meaningless, and other aspects of life that do not involve a paycheck are calling to me.
I'm now at this early retirement crossroads due partly to luck, and partly to lifestyle choices. First the good luck part - we were in the right place at the right time when Company B bought Company A. Now for the lifestyle choices part - we have always been financially prudent. We have lived in our home for 20 years and it is paid off. We have two seven year old autos that are also paid off. We don't shop recreationally, so we don't have credit card debt. Our true joys in life come from being physically active together, and taking our tent trailer (paid for!) out on weekend and week long vacations. All together these pursuits are cheap at the very least, if not free. OK, we do like to travel somewhere "big" once or twice a year as well, but we pay cash and that's our only splurge, and I suspect the urge may be more related to job stress than I realize. It will be interesting to see if this changes in retirement.
The key is that we have always lived on less than one income. Note the "less than one income" reference. That will be key to succeeding in outliving our financial assets in the years ahead.
So, my timeline is as follows: Job notice given on March 4, effective April 15.
The Journey Begins!
