Be different. The stress of peer pressure can change a young person. It can make someone do things they might never have planned, just to fit in with other people. The news story I was watching made me realize that I—and probably most of the FIRE community—do not fall into this trap (“it’s a TRAP”). We probably look at the Jones’ and think, too bad [insert: they must spend so much on…].

This does not mean we in the FIRE world do not have good stuff, maybe even “nice” stuff. I surely hope we make sure we enjoy our lives every day.  I hope our FI is the special secret that eases some, or much, of the stress you don’t have to face. Even better, I hope your FI allows you to resolve some of the stress that isn’t avoidable, but extremely manageable with your financial resources.

The news story made me think how I am different from so many peers:

Saver – even raises/bonuses were just an opportunity to grow my security. I NEVER once got a raise and used all of it to buy something. Maybe I took a chunk 10% or 25% of a bonus to buy something small as a token reward. But I never used the new money to increase my lifestyle, especially into some monthly payment plan.

Drive older cars– no bonuses/raises used for new monthly payment plans here. We learned to buy 3 year old cars and drive them 10 years. Yes, we have financed 3 cars in 20 years but both were special <2% interest rates for 2-3yrs. My thinking was to arbitrage my money AND show a different type of credit to help strengthen our credit scores. It seems like a strong credit score can help keep your car insurance low, mortgage rate low, and any future loan we may want to undertake.

Older small house– I’m not sure if our 20+ yr house ownership helped our FI more than avoiding tens of thousands lost to auto depreciation, and higher insurance rates, due to newer vehicles. I am 100% positive that if we had upgraded to a nicer house our hit would have been hundreds of thousands of future dollars to the bank. We love our house, our street, and deal with not having the newest of every feature (just like no Bluetooth in our cars). We did a little surface remodeling to get a new feel for the house, not for resale, but for our enjoyment. In the future, I will write about fixing up a Mustang right before selling it and not being able to enjoy the repairs yourself, oops.

Music – This has nothing to do with money but I don’t know anyone who listens to the same music as I do. I’m just different. It seems strange that growing up MILLIONS of people bought the hard rock music I listened to, yet today it’s super rare. I’m not saying I’m stuck listening to the same music from 20-30 years ago. I constantly find new bands creating the music I love, but their audience seems minuscule. Minuscule like so many reports claim of people’s savings totals. I guess one man’s treasure is another’s thrash.

Eat strangely – In my about post I mentioned I was a big guy who lost a lot of weight. Over fifteen years later I still eat almost the same as I did over my two-year weight loss timeline. That is pretty rare, but many people have this success. I feel I’m different from others because I have a nutrition framework. I try to have normal/popular foods, but mine are slightly different. Less cheese pizza, Mexican food-avoid the chips, cheese, sour cream, Asian food-limit the sauces or won tons, fried rice, etc. I’m not a salad freak or anything too crazy, but I’m very conscious of my calorie intake. Some days are lower, some higher, but I always have an idea where I’m at (I roughly track what I eat each day). I also eat a LOT, something every hour or two. I eat a lot of good food, fruits, some vegetables, whole grains, etc. Maybe because I exercise (get moving) most every day. I’m not like my peers. Though I wasn’t like my peers when I was a big guy in the 80’s or 90’s either.

Alcohol – To be honest, this difference may need to change. I have not had alcohol in 20+ years. No real reason other than driving safety. However, I’ve noticed how much wine costs at dinner, or beers would cost with the guys. Sure, I still get to hang out some with friends/teammates and do most of the activities without drinking, but the savings in my wallet has to be hundreds (or thousands?) of dollars per year, multiplied by decades. Just a strange perspective on money and spending decisions. Enjoy every day, Cheers!

Stay married – We hear about how many people do not stay married these days. Being a two person household can be great for finances. Dividing housing, TV, internet, electric, insurance, etc. by two people is equivalent to cutting costs in half. Unless of course, you buy a bigger home because there are now two people. For some magical reason, my wife still hangs with me and life if great. It is not me, but really because she is super great. Oh, this really requires two (or more) incomes to share the split costs. See the math working all by itself in my favor here?

Career – Finally something different from almost everyone I know: Working from home. Somehow over the last decade of my corporate career I became a full time (when not traveling) work-at-homer. This was not something that anyone did in my department. As our team grew to well over 200 people and large groups began traveling around the world for weeks/months at a time, we began to feel comfortable with communicating remotely.

I started working at home on Wed, then Tue/Thu, then Mon/Wed/Fri, and within a few months to full-time from home. I never asked for permission. I assume because I did a great job, kept my customers, peers and my leadership happy, there was no reason for my boss to change anything I was doing. I always said yes when asked, and often found issues early and resolved before my boss was affected.

I learned leaders love low maintenance employees who are productive, proactive, positive and communicative—especially when they have the knowledge/skills required for success in their role.

The point with my career is, I did something very different in my career than my peers. This made me keep working an extra 3 years because work was great. (I banked nearly all of my income these “extra” years as we lived at our “FIRE spend level” as practice. Yes, we did a couple home projects and trips with this “extra income” that was in out “future planning.”

Different? – I feel like my mentality is a little off kilter from most everyone else I know. That’s not really a bad thing because I fit in well when I hang out with others, but they know I have a strangeness. I truly believe my independent thinking—and actions—helped layout my future, which is now my present and beyond. Want proof you’re different, do you have a Schetchle, or what do you do? The answers to these questions will prove you’re different.

BE YOURSELF, THE BEST SELF YOU CAN BE. It’s one small step at a time, always pushing to combine those steps forward.

Can you pick out the person in the crowd that is not like the others? Is there a person in the crowd that thinks nothing like the masses they’re surrounded by? What specific thoughts am I talking about? I believe people who are SUPER financially responsible must be 1 in 100, maybe just 1 in 50. So, if you are surrounded by a small crowd, or in a large group, and you are actually super financially responsible, you may be the only one. Yes, these abnormal creatures do exist, but I feel we are extremely rare.

Of course, there are people who will tell you they are good with money. They’ll say they pay their bills on time (mortgage, car loan(s), credit cards) without worry. Many will be in a “retirement savings plan” at work and save every paycheck, maybe even $100 per check, umm.  Those who truly believe they are crushing it, may even have an “investment account.”

I definitely believe all three of the above positions are extremely valid toward financial responsibility. What I feel makes some of us abnormal creatures is the fact that we plan ahead, WAY ahead. We set goals with targets along the way. We track and measure how we’re doing. We consider our purchases with respect to our plan. If we are smart, we make enough purchases to enjoy life, while staying on track. No need to become so frugal you waste your youth—“youth” being your previous younger self.

One major characteristic defining these abnormal beings is delayed gratification. By waiting for something, you increase the desire, you possibly think through various usage/spending scenarios better, and may even get better pricing.

I didn’t realize that I grew up with this strange concept. The concept of waiting for Christmas or my birthday for a gift seemed normal in my family. Thinking back, I saw many friends get “stuff” whenever they went to the mall with their parents, or when they wanted something. I usually picked out what I wanted and waited. I can tell you I know many people who are in debt, or worse have filed bankruptcy. I don’t know all the facts, but they definitely have/had more/nicer “stuff” than I do. I just feel there should be a balance, not deprivation.

Recently I’ve heard multiple podcasts and read blogs about delayed gratification. These creators make me feel great knowing I’ve lived a smart path, and that others are sharing this foreign concept to help new people pick up on this amazing idea for financial positioning.

Be strong in yourself when surrounded by commoners. Be proud that you’re probably the only alien in the group. Be aware that you may be in the 1% of financial wisdom. Be sure to find balance and enjoy your life through working/earning and in FIRE.

YOLO! You Only Live Once. Of any fact in the universe, it sure seems that we are definitely living now, right here in the present. I’m assuming this isn’t some sci-fi imaginary life. So this may be our one and only lifetime. I know there are afterlife and previous live ideas, yet I don’t really know much about those.

Based on my narrow focus of living this current lifetime, I would like to have the very best life possible. This entails many goals such as: enjoying my time, being a good person, being good to others, helping others, etc.

Having just traveled to South America and witnessing huge areas where people seem to have VERY few possessions, I can’t help but think about what I have in my life. I think about what those around me have as well. So many of the people I met while traveling seemed quite happy. Everyone I encountered was friendly.

This is not something I can say from my daily experiences in the US. Is it possible we have built up a higher level of desire/needs thereby creating a lower threshold before we start to get anxious or upset? Take a couple minutes to think about what upsets you. How can you lessen those feelings, or even better, turn them around and find happiness?

I’ve tried for a decade to “find the positive.” How I wish I could become much more zen. I’m getting better, but I still have a LONG way to go. This takes me a lot of constant effort.

Now, having said all the above, I still LOVE my life. I actually have a t-shirt that states “I love my life.” I am thankful every morning I see the sun. Obviously, it’s much better than the alternative(s). I find great things in every day. I know I am blessed. I do still struggle with “bummers” each day, but they don’t slow me down.

I definitively have plenty of ideas on living a good life for myself. The term “myself” being of primary concern since I can only control myself. Of course, I do have the ability to extend beyond myself and try and give to others. I know giving is a core foundational happiness trait of so many people. Giving must be a way to be bigger than yourself.

Quick thought: Forget the bucket list, make sure you’re enjoying life now, every day. Start working on collecting experiences now. These experiences can include the experience of giving to others.

Your Net Worth doesn’t lie. Net worth is your report card, your score sheet, your scale, a thermometer—all of this in one number. So is your net worth where you should focus the most energy? I believe yes and no. I know this info is everywhere, but I have to share my thoughts because it is YOUR foundation.

Tracking your net worth over time is extremely important to see your financial trajectory. Those reading this probably already have a tendency to see an upward trajectory of net worth. The trajectory may have started at zero, or may have started at -$10,000 or -$20,000 or lower. What matters is the direction of net worth. Surely we all want our financial situation to show improvement, no matter what the Y axis is currently.

Net worth doesn’t care how much your salary is from year to year. The change over time will show you how you manage your spending/saving in relation to your income. So by ignoring your income stream(s) and simply viewing assets vs. liabilities, you get a black and white grade.

What can you do with your current grade? It will let you determine if you are financially sound. It will show you if you are preparing for the future. The “future” could be 30+ years from now, or it could be 8 months away when you have an emergency expense.

The long term goal of your net worth may be to aim big for Financial Independence. This could be defined as the point when your assets generate enough income to support your financial needs. At that point, you don’t need to “work” for money—though many people who are financially independent still work in many different ways. I can tell you that it’s truly much easier to go to work each day when you know you don’t have to work, but instead, continue working because you enjoy what you do. Many people give their time, energy, effort to causes they believe in. Don’t believe this is not “work,” it’s just not for a salary. This is the “no” part of focusing your energy from paragraph one. At some point you do not need to concentrate and track your net worth, but instead, live your life. Give to others as you can.

I believe the ONLY goal of net worth is to strive to increase the amount each review period. It doesn’t have to be a huge increase (especially if you start early), it just needs to improve quarter after quarter, year after year. Hopefully, a plan with a goal in mind.

The key component of a growing net worth is a positive cash flow. Not spending all of your income is a very important component to an easier life. Keeping spending under control, or increasing your income to offset your spending will only help your net worth grow.

Tools: How did I make this process less torturous (though I’ve learned to enjoy the process immensely)? I love using the wonderful tools from Personal Capital and Mint. Much has been written about these websites and assuming their security is top notch, there is NO reason not to let their dashboards show you how you’re doing. You can view everything from a high level, or dig into the details (macro vs. micro—to those of us nerds).

Tip: start your tracking—setup your accounts—as soon as possible. You want to get a longer historical reference as you grow your net worth. I really wish these tracking tools were available a decade ago because they are so much better (and easier) than my historical spreadsheets. Quicken/MS Money were not my favorite tools.

No matter what shape your finances are in, it will only help for you to start tracking your net worth. It might not feel great, but it will help you.

Something special happened to me one night at 2am when I looked at my alarm clock. Something that had never occurred in my past. On this night, I didn’t think “oh good, I have 4 more hours to sleep.” I realized there is no reason when waking up, to think how long until the alarm goes off. None!

I realized it doesn’t matter if it’s 2am and I have 4 hours left to sleep, or if it’s 4:00am and I have 2 hours left to sleep. Don’t stress, just close your eyes and relax. It’s your body’s time to rebuild itself for the new day. Soon after, on multiple mornings when my alarm went off, I remembered how I chose to relax after my mid-night waking (waking?) and noticed how I felt less tired the following morning.
It wasn’t that I slept more, but I believe the quality (relaxed, rebuilding) of my sleep was much better. There was actually less stress or anxiousness during the night.
There had been numerous stretches in my life where I would wake up at 2, 3 or 4am and accidently start thinking about life things. Sometimes I feel like I’m either on or off, and in that quick waking moment, my brain started to turn back on and take off. It wasn’t insomnia to me, rather it was some kind of brain activeness. Please don’t think it was one of those don’t-look-at-your-cell phone FOMO moments because I never worry about MO. It was simply my mind starting to get in gear when it should have been idling. That’s one good behavior on my side, some inherent drive I must possess.

As I tried to take this concept from sleeping into my daytime life, where I try not to let my brain race off into full-speed-ahead processing, I’ve found life somewhat calmer and possible to focus what’s happening around me more. I’m still not zen, not at all, but I sure do find the ability to enjoy the right now.

To wrap this up, don’t let thoughts jump into your head that are out of your control, they may cause you stress for no reason, and may put you into a time crunch unnecessarily. Maybe you can focus on the thought you’re having and the stress it’s creating, and see if you can let it go, and if not, then think about a plan to resolve the issue and eliminate the stress. At 2am, the stress of an upcoming alarm is resolved easily by going back to sleep while thinking…”ah, many more hours of sleep to be had.”

One quick thought, as you become FI this gets so much easier at 2am. Once you gain RE, this becomes almost non-existent at 2am. Independence is very calming, and “retirement” is even more freeing.

Thespian, I am not. Creative, nope-not that either. Mathematical and logical-yes, that is me. Yet somehow, about 10 years ago I realized the story of my life had been divided into three acts just like a play.
Act 1 school – The painful hours, days and months sitting in classrooms watching the clock was agonizing. This could be where I developed my fixation to control my own schetchle. I developed other skills in school, such as understanding how to get an A (highest level of graded achievement) in the easiest most efficient manner. Optimizing and efficiency will serve you well in life. I set my school goal, usually at 91% and determined the requirements for achievement. I figure out the assignments required and points possible, I strategically calculated what questions may be on the tests (often what the teacher talked about-with a couple sneaky, dig-deeper-into-the-book items) and grabbed the main points of the chapters (often first sentence of each paragraph). I did fine in school. I made the Dean’s list most semesters in college with just enough effort. TIP: I learned early on in college, “go real hard through the first exam to baseline with an A from the beginning of the semester, since it’s easier to maintain an A, than try and pull a B or C up to an A. So, start early, then cruise. Sound familiar? “Compounding” anyone?
Act 2 work– Now this is where my level of effort changed quite a bit. I was no longer scored against a standard 100 point scale. I knew I was compared to my peers on each project and for each annual review. I grew up being pushed towards being a perfectionist on tasks—the skill of not having to go back and fix/redo something. Rework not only wasted/doubled my time, but would surely irritate an employer or worse, upset a customer. Being a great employee allows you to maximize your earning potential. Increase your human capital.

I continued my setting-a-goal-and-reaching-it mentality month after month which served me well. In 18 years in corporate America, I went through at least 6+ Reductions In Force (layoffs). Usually, someone in my pod of 4 cubes or the neighboring cubes would disappear one day. Towards the end of my corporate life (2008-2014) the RIFs claimed more, in 2014 we lost two out of four people in a pod of four cubes through job elimination/shuffling. I was never laid off, but worse for me, I was not able to self-nominate myself for a voluntary exit/layoff package because I was one of about 20 out of 300+ employees deemed critical. Strangely, I had no super special tech skill! I just believe that I was always customer focused, I always said ”yes, I’ll take care of that,” and more importantly, I resolved many issues before they ever reached my boss or bosses boss. Proactive and near perfection each day.

Yes, I loved my job. Yes, it was easy to love working from home for years, working with people across the world every day, and most importantly, the last 3+ years of work were of my own accord (FI). I hit my “number” years before RE and worked only because I wanted to, not because I had to. Financial Independence at each level (no debt, then emergency fund, then after “the number”) is so amazingly freeing. You should try it.

Act 3 not working – This has been the best, and hopefully will be the longest Act in my life. I called it “not working” (or “no longer in corp. America”) because it seems more accurate than “retired.” Somehow, both my wife and I still seem to stumble into some working opportunities. Often a couple days a week to do some consulting or teaching when we aren’t traveling. It’s actually less than part-time of partial-time—a couple days per week, a couple weeks per month. The point is, we own our schetchle, we choose to do any amount of work, we definitely don’t mind our skill based part-time “playchecks.” Some special purchases or projects have been funded just by working a little—trading a little labor. “Work optional” is probably a great description for FIRE for some people, especially younger people.

If you think of life in phases or play Acts, you may be better able to handle the ups and downs you will face in the dramatic script that is your life. Make goals, track your progress towards your goals, manage the pitfalls, and succeed. I wish you the best in all the new goals you will be setting and attaining in your future. Driven people NEVER stop setting goals.