Developing an unconventional life towards financial freedom
Flickr image "Bungee" by jgraham
The more I experience the journey towards financial freedom, the more I realise it is to live an unconventional life.
Why unconventional?
Conventional wisdom teaches us to pursue materialism, to benchmark our success by seeing how big our homes are. How much income our careers generate and how are we keeping score in the game of “keeping up with your neighbours”.
Think back at your previous family gathering during Christmas, Lunar New Year, Deepavali or Hari Raya Puasa. Were the family discussions about how to live a meaningful life aimed at pursuing your life goals or was it a comparison of who is in what job, drawing what type of pay and living in what type of home?
There is nothing wrong with such topics, it is expected of the mindset of people living in Singapore Inc. But such conversations doesn’t help you discover more about yourself, more about what motivates you in life and more about how you can go about being financially free to pursue your dreams and passions.
How’s Life?
I once asked a neighbour of mine, “how’s life” and was floored by his honest answer. “Not so good” was an understatement. His unborn child didn’t make it to full-term and he lost his job around the same time. Yet, he could tell me that he was okay and still taking it one step at a time.
That brief conversation reminded me of what’s truly important in life. It is our relationships with family and loved ones. It is about health and happiness of ourselves and our loved ones. Financial freedom is an enabler but not the ends in itself.
I am thinking more about, “what next” when I’ve achieved my target of being financially free. This leads me to consider my life list more. Chris Guillebeau, whose blog “The Art of Non-Conformity” shares his own life experiences in travelling to more than 100 countries of the world and about not having a regular ‘9-5′ job for most of his adult life. He shares his latest manifesto “279 Days to Overnight Success” about how he manages to live an unconventional life in terms of writing and consulting to earn his living while freeing himself to continue on his quest to travel all the countries of the world.
The experiences shared by Chris has really triggered my own search for my own project to live an unconventional life. In some regards, I’m living an unconventional life in that I’m not carrying a mortgage and own the home I live in. I do have a regular job and a car loan to be paid but I’ve managed to live within my means for most of my working life.
I count myself blessed with a daughter and experiences volunteering in a non-profit organisation as well as my five year involvement with toastmasters. Each of these experiences has transformed me into a better person with new skills acquired through those volunteer engagements and they have brought me to where am I now…the unconventional road towards financial freedom.
To be financially free is to be unconventional
I believe that if you are serious about being financially free, you have to shake free of some of the unconventional attitudes towards money. Some of these include learning about personal finance and knowing how to manage your own money. Being disciplined to track and understand where you income and expenses go to. Understanding that the more you consume now the less you have to build up your investible savings for tomorrow. Realising that the balancing act between enjoying life now and deferring spending later requires understanding your own motivations in life.
To carry on this journey towards financial freedom is to see that we have the means to determine the direction our finances go through acknowledging that we can make sacrifices now and then by spending less on consumption and saving more. We can enjoy life more in seeing fulfillment and joy in the simplest of things that doesn’t cost much money.
Share with Panzer what ways you are conventional or unconventional in your journey towards financial freedom?
Be well and prosper.
If you truly don’t bother how people look and think of you, your journey towards financial freedom probably will be smoother and easier as you may avoid spending on those expenses that made you look better in the eyes of others.
createwealth8888’s last blog post..Trading appears deceptively easy
Hi Createwealth8888
Couldn’t agree more with you. Ever notice people who like to wear gold chains, expensive watches and other obvious displays of wealth are not that wealthy if you examine their personal net-worth.
I see no need to tell people how well I’m doing financially. So long as I can provide for my family comfortably and I am able to steadily save and invest for more passive income, I’m happy.
Be well and prosper.
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I feel that Singapore is not a good environment for employees. When there is economy downturn, older or expensive employees get retrenched. If that employee is in his 40s, his children is going to university and parents are very old, a lot of money is needed from him. The last thing that he needs is losing his job. And when a guy loses his job in his 40s, that could be his last well-paid job. The next job that he find could be a 70% or 50% pay cut but his expenses do not decrease. That will be very tough for him and his family.
I think in Singapore, it is better if you could be self-employed. Setup a business, grow your brand name. Of course not everybody is suitable to be an entrepreneur, you have to access this yourself.
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Hi Brendan
I couldn’t agree with you more. Singapore is a place for businessman/woman to do business. Employees are the resource to be used when needed and discarded when not.
We have to find our own way towards financial freedom and running your own business is one way to go. There are risks of doing that. Being an employee is also risky, i.e. we have to continue to keep our skills relevant to the demands of industry or face extinction like the dinosaurs. Remember, welfare is a “dirty” word in Singapore.
Be well and prosper.
1. Never borrow $ unless for running a business or can,t be help for taking a loan buying a house. If you can, pay up the loan as fast as possible, so that you can have ’spare $’ for investment.
2. 100% agreed with creatwealth8888 April 22nd, 2009 at 10.10 p.m. If you don’t have to “spend money” you are getting richer day by day. And at certain times when you have to “spend money”(especially for a good cause), you are ready because you already have the “means”.
3. In conclusion, always live below your means no matter how much money you have.(Always envy people who drive a Lexus or BMW and yet still look like living below their means). For living below your means, it’s very sad in Singapore, I just can’t do it even if I want to. Because I am a taxi driver.
i would love to have Financial Freedom by owning a real estate related business. my dream business is to own several unit of apartment for rental.
i wish to have Financial Freedom in the next 5 years or so. i was able to establish a small internet retail store last year. i am hoping to gain enough profit from this store.