Or the compounding effect of marginally good financial decisions/The nice effects of unconscious frugality
I’m working on another post in the Tough Shit series, and man has it spun out of control. I’m like 3500 words deep in the thing, and not even half done with it. Hammering that one out, and then editing into something less blathering is going to take some time. In the meantime, here’s a post I wrote almost two years ago before I even started this blog:
A few words about this blog and its purpose: I’m trying to helping people align spending with happiness -or- stop spending like an idiot and therefore be happier. Why am I the one writing it? I seem to have less worries about money than my peers, and I have amassed a comparatively large amount of scratch despite working as a public servant; all without receiving any windfalls, inheritances, or lottery winnings.
It could sound impressive that I’ve worked what many would consider a somewhat low paying job, and still managed to pay off a house, and collect 25some X my living expenses. It would be a more relatable story if I just was ambling about my merry way, making stupid financial decisions like most of the world, then heard about FIRE and immediately changed my life and accomplished everything in short order of concentrated work.
Alas, this was not the case. As I look back, I realize that in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve got some explaining to do.
Financial win 1:
I’ve been employed since I was 10, and being a natural saver I squirreled much of it away. I worked 2-3 jobs at a time until joining the army. Nothing with big income, but so it was. By the time I graduated college, I had a few thousand dollars to my name. I felt rich. I never went more than a few months without a paycheck. I always felt that I didn’t have space to not be earning money(probably some money related insecurity issues there). When I graduated college, many of my friends refused to take low paying jobs they were now overqualified for. I continued to work crap jobs until the police thing came along 6 months later.
Financial win 2:
I didn’t get student loans.
My first semester my parents helped me pay for tuition, and I washed dishes in the dorm cafeteria to cover room, board, and expenses. The university even reduced my fees because I worked for them. I hated the idea of my parents paying for anything(something to do with independence and being hard headed) so I quickly snatched up a few minor scholarships. I joined the National Guard that first semester, and continued to work part time. The GI bill, plus constant pay from various jobs covered all my schooling, my living expenses, and wherever I happened to be living.
Financial win 3:
I didn’t spend all my deployment money. I was a lowly enlisted man when I went to Afghanistan. The army paid me about $40K for over a year’s work in a combat zone. Which as I say that, seems ridiculously low for what I was doing. BUT-I had no expenses while I was in-country. I lived in a hut, tent, or on the ground, and meals(despite their lack of quality or scarcity) were provided. Seem to remember spending a total of 1500 bucks that year. About $1000 was on random crap whenever we happened upon a PX(like a military convenience store). Stuff like Maxim magazines, redbull, and chew. The other $500 I blew during my two weeks of leave. You can guess what a 21 year old with a 14 day stateside break would spend money on. When I got back home for good, I was a junior in college. I knew I’d need money for living expenses, and I figured if I made that $40K stretch I wouldn’t have to work many minimum wage jobs. I could instead spend my newfound free time doing what I loved; drinking and being totally fucking awesome(or so I thought, god I hope I’ve grown since then). Friends from the same deployment used their saved up cash to put a down payment on a hummer or corvette. I bought a new compact 4 door car for $15k, a dual-sport motorcycle for $5k(because being awesome?), and put the rest in a savings account.
Financial win 4:
Forced savings through servitude. Before and after my deployment, I regularly spent 1-6 months at a time on active duty for various reasons. Training, state activations, odd short term active duty gigs. Most of these provided room and board. Yeah, I might be sleeping on the ground and being forced to starve on 1000 calories or less a day, but it was free. Whenever I was on active duty, Uncle Sam sent money to my bank, and I’d have little opportunity to spend it. When I’d get done with whatever ridiculousness they sent me through, I’d blow a couple hundred bucks on a night in a hotel with room service. But I still came out way ahead.
Financial win 5:
I didn’t fall into the consumption trap. After graduating from the police academy(which was almost exactly like the movie-seriously-I hummed the theme song every day during PT), most of my peers bought big flashy vehicles (kind of like my Army friends after a deployment, huh..). I still had a perfectly good 4 door compact car, and I figured I was going to be pretty busy juggling a brand new job along with still being in the army and would have little time to enjoy something shiny. When I had saved up double the money for a small 2WD pickup a few years later, I finally traded in the compact car. At the time I wasn’t tracking my expenses or anything fancy; just figured if I had twice the amount I’d probably be good to go if the job went south.
Financial win 6:
I bought a house right after the crash. Total luck on this one. I was living in a cheap working class apartment complex, and had been on the job for a few years. I was trying to decide between getting a nice apartment downtown(which would have been triple the rent) or buying a house. Lady I was dating at the time suggested I buy a house, because her friend flipped houses and could get me a deal. He was having issues selling one, it being 2009. He sold me below market value, and I got the $8K tax credit for new house buyers. Thanks Obama. I knew absolutely nothing about mortgages and houses, but my mortgage was barely more than my current rent, and I vaguely understood that unlike rent I would somehow get back some of the money I paid every month.
Financial win 7:
I married my wife. Biggest one here. When we got together, she was more frugal then me. She introduced me to Dave Ramsey, which led me to paying off that first house, and buying the next one for cash. She introduced me to budgeting, which led to my love of spreadsheets. She still does YNAB for both of us. Every time I hear a co-worker talk about how their spouse spends money faster than they can make it, I say a quiet thank you to the universe and do a little dance. I’m a lucky guy.
Financial win 8:
I’m kind of weird, I know it, and I therefore feel little need to do what everyone else is doing. When I was a kid I remember all my friends started getting into watching sports when we were a certain age. It didn’t make any sense to me; why would I want to watch people play when I could actually go outside and play? So I didn’t watch sports. Still don’t. People think I’m weird for that, but I still don’t comprehend the draw and refuse to do something everyone else is just to fit in better. Money is much the same way. Kind of related to number 5. Much of the consumer-keeping up with the Joneses-spend money because everyone else does it-lifestyle just seems inefficient and not enjoyable to me. Downright stressful really. So I don’t do it. I’ve gotten used to people looking at me like I’m weird. So much so that if they don’t, I start thinking I must be doing something wrong.
So there you have it. I wish(not really) I could say I used to live a typical consumer lifestyle, then found the glorious path of FIRE and now everything is amazing. Rather, I’ve been lucky, my life has been mostly good along the way, and FIRE helped turn it up to 11. I’d like to show you that maybe it could do the same for you.
