Why I Made the Choice to be Frugal: My Epiphany

If you’ve read the last couple blog posts, you may be thinking, “If I make all these spending cuts, life’s gonna suck!” I’ve actually heard people say it, that living within your means is boring; they’d rather enjoy life now while they’re young, and worry about the debt later. Making the choice to live a lifestyle that’s in direct contradiction to probably 75% of your neighbors, friends, and family isn’t an easy choice. You’ll get comments like,

“What you’re doing isn’t sustainable,” “That’s stupid, you’re going to make yourself miserable and live like a hermit,” “What’s the point? The only way you can get rich with frugality is by putting all of your money in the stock market, and then it’ll tank and you’ll lose everything”. As the saying goes: Haters Gonna Hate! At least, that’s what Taylor Swift says. Just ignore it and continue on, watching as every little dollar you save puts you one dollar closer to being financially free. Free to live the life you choose, on your terms.

So when did my frugality epiphany hit me?

Pretty much the day after I started working full time. Up to that point, my life had been so busy with family and college that my mind was focused on one thing… graduating and getting an Engineering job. My “long term” thinking extended about 4 months into the future (the length of a college semester). My amazing wife worked her tail off supporting the family while I locked myself in our room for hours on end studying. Before I knew it, my Bachelor degree was completed and being the sucker I am, I signed up for graduate school. You know, because 4 years of intense math wasn’t enough. Finally, the day came and I had that hard earned, very expensive, piece of paper saying that I can now build things and probably not kill people. I gave myself a pat on the back, moved the family out of our home state, and went to work.

The "American dream" was within reach.

We immediately purchased a home ($0 money down), got a dog, two cats, some fish, and started settling into what could likely be the next thirty years of middle class employment. And that’s when it hit me. I didn’t want to work 7-5 for the next thirty years, hoping that by the time I reached 65 I’d have saved enough cash that between it and social security, I would be able to retire and finally have the freedom to do the things I wanted to do.

I didn't want to be 65 years old and finally saying, “Honey, let’s go visit the Great Wall of China, but hold on, let me get my wheelchair cause my knees probably won’t hold up on the long walks”.  No Thanks.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the work I do, and I’m absolutely glad I went to college. But, as I started thinking about what makes me happy, being away from my family for 11 hours a day didn’t fit the bill. To tell you the truth, having the house, cars, electronics, bunches of new clothes, and eating out all the time wasn’t what made me happy either. I’d gladly give it up to have more time to go on hikes with my kids, be there to walk home with them after school (you know, when they’re in high school), explore the National Parks around the country, travel overseas, and see more of this amazing planet we live on.

Making a list of things that make me happy didn’t include the newest IPhone, a brand new snazzy car, or any other material item that would probably be obsolete or otherwise useless within a year. In fact, my happiness list looks something like this:

• Spending time with my family
  
• Reading at least one book a month
• Working on cars and someday learning to wood work
• Traveling to new places
• Playing guitar (because I’m a music fanatic)
• Working out (which generally means doing P90-X)
  

That list is what keeps me motivated every day. Just those 6 items already take more time than I have available. So for me....

My number one priority is time.

While I can’t yet do those to the extent I’d like, I have a goal that’s burned into my brain. I plan to be financially independent before I’m 45. Which means I have roughly 9 more years to finish accumulating what could ultimately be 40 years’ worth of retirement cash needs. It’s not going to be an easy feat. I know I’ll fall off the wagon (so to speak) and buy things I don’t necessarily need. I know unexpected events will occur in our lives that could derail this goal. I don’t care.  It’s the goal that matters. It’s putting a chart on my wall each month comparing where we need to be to reach this goal at 45 to where our net worth currently is, and adjusting as needed to keep us on the right path. Through sheer determination, I’m confident we’ll succeed in this endeavor.

This blog provides the opportunity to share my successes and failures along the way, and to provide a forum for others on a similar path to come together.

So for you readers out there, I urge you to make your own happy list. Write down where you want to be in 10 years, tape it to your wall, and refer to it every day. Figure out what will ultimately motivate you to change your spending habits and pursue a future of financial independence. 

You’ll thank yourself later.