This week, I had the pleasure of reading a fantastic article about saving for financial independence and early retirement that was written by Mr. Tako of www.mrtakoescapes.com***. In this magnificent article, Mr. Tako discusses his surprise that anyone would view his choices as “hardcore” on his pursuit to financial freedom. By following his own plan, Mr. Tako was able to retire on his own terms. What some may view as hardcore, others may view as tweaks. It’s all in the eye of the beholder!
While I loved his article, my take-away was slightly different. I was simply happy to know that every small step makes a difference. Sometimes, it feels like saving and investing is a treadmill that’s going nowhere. The destination is so far away, and why can’t I just win the lottery and be done with it already?!?!?! However, articles like Mr. Tako’s remind me that there is an endpoint and that every little step I take gets me closer and closer to it.
Unlike Mr. Tako, I haven’t had many bad jobs nor many bad bosses. For the most part, my career has a many great attributes. I work with very smart people. My work is mentally challenging. I have autonomy over how my tasks get accomplished. I have a nice office filled with natural light. My office plant is big and beautiful, healthy and happy. I’m even happy with my salary since, without debt, my paycheque is more than sufficient to meet my needs.
Still…
At the end of the day, I want to retire and the sooner, the better. When I’m not at work, I’m much, much happier. It’s as simple as that. I have a great circle of friends – I love my family – I’m a bit of a homebody when I’m not travelling. Working gets in the way of that, despite all of the really great facets of my job. When I work, I’m on someone else’s schedule. I’m doing things that mean little or nothing to me. I’m attending meetings that have little palpable purpose. Despite all of the good things that I listed earlier, working means that I have to sell my time to someone else in order to survive financially. If I can find a way to retire early, then I get my time back.
Much like Mr. Tako, I’ve taken steps over the years to find ways to save on daily costs so that I can retire sooner.
At this point, I’d like to fully acknowledge that there is no one plan that will work for every single person. Each of us has to figure out what we’re willing to do in order to achieve the financial freedom that we want for ourselves.
The first big step in the right direction was my decision to take transit. I gave up the daily drive to work way back in 2001. I’m not a huge environmentalist, nor am I troubled by rush-hour traffic. The commute is the same whether I’m behind the wheel or a passenger on the bus. No – my main reason for choosing transit was so I could save on my commuting costs in order to invest money for early retirement. I’m fortunate to live in a location that has excellent transit service for commuters. For nearly two decades, I’ve driven to the park-n-ride, shown my bus-driver my pass, and have happily ridden in safety back and forth to work.
This one small decision 18 years ago has saved me thousands of dollars because I don’t pay hundreds of dollars each month for parking. I fill my tank every 10-12 days. My insurance premiums are lower, and the wear-and-tear on my car is less that it would’ve been with a daily round-trip drive to work.
The second step in my march to financial freedom arose due to a health concern. A sensitivity to caffeine required me to cut down on coffee during my work breaks. Many years back, I went to my doctor and complained of a racing heart. She asked how much coffee I drank. I told her that I had coffee with breakfast, at my mid-morning break, and during my afternoon break. She told me to cut back to one coffee a day and see how I felt. My doctor’s a miracle worker! Within a week, my heart had stopped racing. The upshot was that I was also saving money to be re-directed to my retirement.
Step #3… In 2016, I took the big plunge and cancelled my cable subscription. Again, this wasn’t a strictly financial decision. It wasn’t a money decision at all! I simply got tired of paying for garbage, so I decided to stop. But whatever would I do with the additional money each month that wasn’t going to the cable company? You guessed it – I funnelled the extra money into my investments!
Finally, in 2018, I made another commitment to myself which has positive financial results. I decided to start taking my lunch to work more often than not. Again, it wasn’t really a money decision. Fast food and restaurant food doesn’t taste as good to me as my own cooking. It suddenly struck me one day that I was paying for food that I didn’t enjoy. Taking my lunch to work earns me a double-whammy: good food to eat and more money saved for financial independence.
Like Mr. Tako says in his article, these small steps don’t feel extreme. They feel normal. I didn’t try to do everything all at once. Knowing myself as I do, that’s a challenge that I would have failed. Instead, I added these changes gradually until I reached my satisfaction point.
How about you? What steps have you taken in pursuit of funding your own dreams?
(***Update 2024 – sadly, this website is no longer available.)