You have seen the stories before. You know the ones I talk about: “24 year old is retiring after eating ramen for 6 years and saving $ 1 million.” Or, “The couple worked 87 hours a week for 5 years, saving $ 2 million for retirement.” If you are anything like me you are both intrigued and easily worried about what people are ready to become millionaires. And if you are like me in any other way, you are a normal person too Student Loans, A bit too much Credit card debtand the longing for something better. So these stories have a certain charm.
I was in my mid 30s when I started questioning everything I had accepted about my life. I had lived in France before and I loved the way the French embraced life. They seemed to have so much time to enjoy life and my American life was completely different.
Like most workers, I commuted to work every day. I was fortunate to have a fantastic package of benefits, a great vacation and opportunities for professional development. But I always felt that I didn’t want to live to work. I wanted to work to live. I had other things that I wanted to do in my life.
At that point I was intrigued by FIRE or financial independence / early retirement. I felt like these people really understood what life was about.
The people at FIRE start out by figuring out how much they need to save to live annually in retirement. Then they invest, earn, and aggressively save the way to get that number faster. I discovered FIRE while my debt settlement journeyand I knew I was years away from getting my FIRE number because of my debt. So I decided to do something different. I decided to hug Slow FIRE.
Slow FIRE is simply the opposite of FIRE in two key areas. It is an affirmation that you do not want to take extreme measures to reach your ideal pension number, but that you now want to enjoy certain aspects of FIRE life. I didn’t want to eat bad food to cut my expenses, make a pinch of money, or become a thrifty cartoon. Instead, I knew I wanted to enjoy my avocado toast, buy my daily latte, and take the occasional vacation while focusing on my retired millions.
For me, Slow FIRE was an opportunity to redefine my life as I worked towards my financial goals. When I began the Slow FIRE journey, I began living the “retirement” life I had dreamed of years before I hit my retirement number.
I have already sacrificed to some extent to pay off my debts, so it was an easy task to sacrifice as part of my lifestyle reorganization around Slow FIRE.
I started my Slow FIRE journey by imagining my best life
I commuted to my previous job for 10 years. I had a lot of time to think about what my best life would be. This is what I wanted from my ideal life:
- Time freedom: I wanted the freedom to wake up naturally, to work when I felt like it, and to take time to self-care without asking for permission. I wanted to spend time with my friends and family without feeling guilty or having to sort that time out with someone else.
- Work flexibility: I fell in love with the idea of working online. At first I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, I just knew that I wanted to work in a way that wouldn’t limit my professional growth.
- How I would spend my days: I thought about it all the time. I imagined I was going hiking, biking, or sitting on a patio and hanging out with my mother. I also thought about being able to work from anywhere as long as there was WiFi access.
- Finances: I knew I had to keep working. I wasn’t a millionaire, far from it, so I spent quite a bit of time focusing on how to get on with my life, pay my bills, and keep making progress toward my financial goals.
Basically I created a Slow FIRE blueprint and made changes to live the life I envisioned.
Then I took practical steps to get there
Next, I made specific changes to live the life of my dreams French style.
1. I have cut my expenses
I spent a lot of time researching my expenses. I had to be honest with myself about what I wanted and didn’t want in my life. I started replacing services and products in order to pay less for what I wanted without affecting my overall quality of life.
For example, instead of buying a new car when my old car died, I started using a car sharing scheme. I pay $ 13 a month in membership dues plus the cost of using the car and gasoline for each trip. By using a car sharing service, I save thousands of dollars in transportation costs annually. I love having access to a fleet of cars without having to deal with all of the car ownership issues.
Another way to cut my expenses without compromising my quality of life was to live in a smaller house. Living in a small house is not for everyone, but my home is cheap enough to allow me to do business and not worry too much about my personal expenses. The great thing about my little home? It is in a wonderful part of my city.
2. I’ve found ways to earn more
Since I was doing business, I focused on getting as many clients as possible. I’ve made a lot of mistakes as an entrepreneur, but it wasn’t one of them. A full customer base meant there was always income flowing. I also found a sideline that paid off every two weeks and gave me access to fun experiences, saved me money, and allowed me to enjoy my life.
3. I have connected to my community
There are many people who focus on FIRE, but they are all at different points in the journey. I made sure to have frequent conversations with other people who stood before me on their own travels. It was also helpful to meet other women of color who were working towards what I was to be part of a community.
My methodical approach to FIRE has enabled me to “withdraw prematurely” in many aspects of my life, such as the decision to leave my traditional 9-5. I think it’s great that I can wake up without an alarm clock, travel when I feel like it, and go skiing during the week. I realized that retirement has multiple shifts and that you don’t have to stop working altogether to experience many of the benefits of retirement.
Looking back over the past six years
It’s now been six years since I accidentally did Slow FIRE’d, and I’m so grateful I did. The greatest reward for changing my life was the freedom I have ever experienced. I’ve spent more time with my mom, with friends, and even with myself, and it’s been wonderful. Indeed, living through COVID has confirmed that my focus on Slow FIRE was a wise decision.
I want to mention one thing. The most difficult hurdle on my Slow FIRE trip was finding affordable health insurance as a self-employed person. If there is one thing I would say to anyone thinking about FIRE or entrepreneurship in general, it is: take plenty of time to work through the types of insurance you need. You can choose to find a part-time job that will cover or subsidize your health insurance and that’s fine.
At this point, I am almost done paying off the majority of my unsecured debt and I will be investing very aggressively in the future. I am so grateful for the last six years of the accidental Slow FIRE and look forward to many years to come.