Once you put together your vision, as discussed in this post, and decide that it’s truly important to you to have the ability to get away, when you want, without having all of your affairs fall apart, then you are confronted with the question of HOW to make it happen. The single biggest thing that people say is holding them back from experiencing that kind of a free and joyous lifestyle is???
MONEY
Yes…Money. People have succeeded in burdening their lives with so much stuff, and so much debt tied to it, that most people don’t see a way to get out of that vision that society has for their lives. That is, the concept that more things must equal more happiness. I would argue STRONGLY that more things inhibit your quest for freedom and happiness. It doesn’t cost money to buy items, it costs precious hours of your life that you trade away for those items. If you’re going to trade time for dollars, doesn’t it make sense to then trade those dollars for things that will bring you joy, and not those items that don’t, and may even cost you more in terms of maintenance?
How Much Does Society’s Vision Cost?
We live relatively frugally. We’ve been working on reducing our debt load, and our monthly expenses, over about the last decade or so. If you REALLY want freedom, there are things that you need to cut out to start to reduce your monthly burden. When I work with people through this the biggest and easiest gains are made by addressing their cable/satellite TV use and their telecommunications plans. Most people could drop $150-200 per month by modifying these. What do I mean by this? I mean dropping cable/satellite (which you can replace by utilizing the internet and the public library, or just saving yourself a bunch of time by not sitting down to watch all the crap on TV), and adjusting your cell phone plan to one which is much more cost effective like Republic Wireless or Ting.
Now, let’s just envision that for a second. You make modifications to these items, and find some ways to save a little bit on a monthly basis on other items like underutilized memberships or subscriptions, eating out too much, smoking, drinking, fru fru coffee habit, etc. You manage to cut back on low hanging fruit, items that won’t truly impact your enjoyment of your life, and you save $200 per month. What does this really mean for you? It means that, for all intents and purposes, you have given yourself a $5000 per year raise. $1 saved is worth about $2 earned, when you take in to account taxes and withholdings. Would you look at modifying a few items to earn a $5000 per year raise? What kind of a difference would this simple modification make in your life? If you’re already doing some of this you won’t actually realize this full savings, but these are just a few examples.
This is all in addition to society’s vision for your life that includes the house, cars, and other items that are supposed to bring you the all important ‘status’ in the world. Let’s address some of that now.
Let’s Get Radical!!!
You may think what I’m going to discuss next is crazy. This is, more or less, the direction that we are headed.
How much does it cost for your shelter and your maintenance, upkeep, and utilities associated with it? While on our travels I determined that it cost us, in our very basic home, for the house payment, house insurance, property taxes, and all utilities approximately $1550 per month. This does not include repairs, maintenance, yard and sidewalk work, etc.
Now imagine this scenario…
If you sell your house, and net $0 on the sale, what could your monthly shelter expenses look like? For this example we’re going to talk about living in your camper 6 months of the year where you are, and 6 months a year in a warmer or cooler climate. I have found a couple of options that allow you full water, electric, and sewer hookups for about $400-500 per month total. Imagine doing that for 6 months here and 6 months elsewhere, for $400-500 per month. Now, you still have the costs of the camper. Say you buy a decent used one for $25,000 (This assumes purchasing one made in this century…). If you finance it then your monthly cost would be approximately $300, including your insurance. So we are now at $700-800 per month vs $1550 per month, and you have the flexibility to travel.
Bonus Benefits
Now, please consider some of the other time and energy benefits. How much time is spent each week/month in cleaning, mowing, shoveling, repairing, etc. a house? With a camper you’ll still have some work to do, but how much time does it really take to keep a 200-300 square foot space clean?
But what would your friends and family think? What would society think? Do you really care what they think, or are you more interested in freedom and happiness? THAT is something that you will have to determine for yourself. If you spend time putting together the vision for your life, like we discussed 2 weeks ago, then it becomes much easier to go against the societal expectations and live your own life.
In a couple of weeks we’ll discuss the income side of the equation, while having the flexibility to have a life.
Get Connected
As always, I’m going to be spending alot of time in my Facebook Group trying to help people with this in a relatively specific nature. Although I’ll answer some questions in the comments here, I really want the discussions to happen in the Facebook Group. Please sign up for that here and engage in the conversations and start to change your life.
If you want to do some of what we’re doing, you can do it. Please join our Location Independent Living community in our Facebook Group, and let us help you through the journey.
If you are in the Twin Cities area please feel free to come out to our new Location Independent Living Meetup Group meetings here.
March 13, 2016 at 5:25 pm
Telecommuting has been a hot subject for many years now, but I don t see much evidence of companies allowing people with technical skills to do that unless they low ball themselves to India levels. I m curious about how people would do consulting in location independent manner is the communication done via Skype or such? How about the billed hours?
March 17, 2016 at 4:39 pm
Well, ultimately it comes down to the same thing in all of your business dealings. How much value are you bringing to the organization relative to your cost. If you add twice the value of the next best person within the office for the same price, and you request to work remotely, would they do it? Some will, some won’t. It’s almost all about the value. That being said, there are some companies that just won’t let you do it. Period. Then it won’t work…with that company. If you add that much value though you will have options.
Concerning consulting, I know a number of people who bill by the job, not the hour. Even if you bill by the hour you can do that remotely. You don’t sit in your Accountant’s or Attorney’s offices while they work on your projects, so you can do the same if you are providing a service. If you give great value for the cost it’s not an issue. That being said, communication via email and phone/skype are imperative anytime you are out of their sight. You can’t just get the project and have no communication with your client for weeks/months. That’s just a good business practice.