At no cost to you, this site may contain affiliated links or ads to offset the expenses of operating a website. Please see the disclosureto satisfy your curiosity.
Free flow to financial freedom. That’s what I’ll say to myself as I’m pitched face-first into a no-spending spree for the next couple of months.
I got myself into this discounted pickle, so I have to get myself out, one day by one moment, at a time.
There is some financial anxiousness about the spot I’m in, I take heart that all the big stuff is cared for. It’s the small moments that need tending better than coffee on a Monday morning.
What is financial freedom?
Bing Chat, who scrubs the web faster than a car in a car wash, suggests, “Financial freedom means having enough money to live the life you want without worrying about money. It means being able to make choices because you want to, not because you have to.”
I think of it as not having to look at a price tag. From tots to travel, if I want it, my budget can handle it.
To have enough to not worry about the details of paying for life’s price tag.
If you’re wondering if I’m close to my financial freedom number, I’m not. My finances are fit enough to buy a lifetime of living for a free-range rabbit.
May the bunnies be ever in your favor.
Why invest in financial freedom when you’re young and in a career you love?
I’m not choosing financial freedom, I’m planning for it like health, life, and dental insurance.
I don’t choose tooth decay. I do plan for that possibility with insurance so I don’t have to pay $300 out-of-pocket after someone just spent 5 minutes poking my mouth with a tiny tool that looks like a prop out of a Barbie horror film.
As a public sector servant, I love my role and the people I work with. Just as the sun sets and rises, that will change.
At some point, the paperwork that’s a minor annoyance will become an epic annoyance, the best boss ever will retire, or interpreting will go from boon to burden.
No matter the reason, because the reason doesn’t matter, the only constant is change.
Instead of avoiding fate, I embrace it and allow the free flow to financial freedom.
My free flow to financial freedom, especially after a busted budget.
I managed to go a week before I busted my monthly budget. I broke my budget so hard that it will upend it for the next 2 months.
As all good intentions go, it was for a good reason. I had been watching and waiting for sales on an iPad.
I don’t plan on paying full price because, from gas to groceries, I avoid full price like a fire in a toaster.
As it happens when one watches and waits, the sale happened, when the budget was at a low. I bought the item with the full expectation the fallout for the next couple of months would be significant.
I did it with intent, not accident.
Even though it would crater my finances, I’m a well-worn warrior of free fun.
I’ve spent many months on no-spending sprees for one reason or another, this was no different.
I’ll spend the next few months nesting in with free fun which will look and feel like using all the things that have free versions of a paid version like:
The library;
Running;
Being excessively productive with a to-do list;
Learning how to play chess;
Participating in citizen science;
Meditating; and
Learning more about personal finance with online universities like edX.
All these hobbies have a paid version, instead, I opt for free which will help with this extended no-spending spree.
I have the funds, but not the will.
There is eno enough in my savings to cover the big bill and I could transfer the delinquent funds to the necessary account and have one less thing in a sea of things.
I chose not to.
I’d rather stay in the confines of my monthly spending limits instead of pilfering other areas.
Today, it’s an iPad. Tomorrow, it could be something bigger and pricer like an electric bike, a paddle board, or a dozen of cute kittens.
That’s why I’d rather slowly chip away at my busted budget than steal funds from a savings fund.
I’m not stealing savings, I’m stealing hope.
Happiness isn’t found in isles or styles, it’s found in the mind of the beholder.
Am I creating an artificial financial pinch? 💯
Just because I can quickly and painlessly fix my financial situation, doesn’t mean I should.
Instead, I like the reminder that my happiness doesn’t require a payment plan. There’s plenty to do even if it doesn’t involve spending money. I can still have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, despite financial constraints.
In this modern world with instant fixes, I’ll be okay. Even if it means putting my wallet on a timeout for 2 months.
