How to Quit Your Jobs And Pursue Financial Freedom
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Dream of quitting your job, but worried about your finances? Learn how one couple pursued their dreams of financial freedom!
Quitting Their Jobs for Financial Independence
September is here which means this week we're nailing down what we like to do before 2018 closes out.
We have two big things on our list – finishing the basement and taking a family trip. We want to do both debt free.
Any kind of remodel means big bucks, so we’ve been extra focused on the budget. With the vacation, we’re looking for creative and frugal ways to have a fantastic time without breaking the bank.
How about you? What goal or two do you want to knock out these next few months? There’s still time to do something big.
Even though money isn’t the most important thing, it’s funny how much the numbers affect us.
Let’s take for example switching jobs or careers.
You may have an opportunity to make the leap to a new
You'd be making a real difference and contributing to something that's important to you.
After the initial enthusiasm, what starts to creep in?
Doubt, worries, and if you’re like most people – finances.
“How could we afford to stay here for a month?”
“We couldn’t afford taking the risk with work.”
According to Data from
That’s not enough to cover a basic month emergency fund of three months for most families.
And when the money is tight or you don’t have some sort of safety net, it’s pretty scary to make any kind of leap. Especially when you have kids.
But you can hit those big dreams, take the leap, and not ruin your finances.
You need a plan and a process.
Today Alison and Matt from Owen Your Future are here to break down how they’re pursuing financial freedom on the road after they quit their jobs.
Whether you want to pivot your career, travel more, or just want to have some more options in your life, there are some wonderful strategies and tactics you can use.
In this episode, we get into:
- Why they wanted to pursue financial independence (and what that means to them)
- The process and steps they took to save 70% of their income
- why they shifted and quit their jobs early, even though they did not reach their FI number
Let’s see if we can get you a few steps closer to your big goal. Hope you enjoy!
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Resources to Help You Reach Big Money Goals
If you two are ready to make some real progress on your big goals, here are helpful resources to check out.
- Couple Money Toolkit
- Best Budget and Money Apps: Personal Capital, Tiller, Mint
- Automatic Saving:
Qapital - Free 401(k) Analysis:
blooom - Why We Quit Our $250k Per Year Jobs
- Choosing Financial Independence and Family
- The Secret Sauce to Financial Independence & Early Retirement
- Working Towards Financial Independence Together
- This Couple Saved $600k in Four Years
And if you're looking for a community to swap ideas and encouragement, please join Thriving Families on Facebook!
Meet the Owens from Owen Your Future
Matt and Alli Owen saved 70% of their incomes for 4 years and are now enjoying a “mini-retirement” traveling the Americas in their self-converted bright red Sprinter van, Clifford.
While they haven't yet reached their “FI” number, they chose to leave their jobs early with the confidence that they will make up the rest with the skills they acquired through pursuing FI.
It is their hope to help more people to get out of debt and maximize their savings so that they can pursue their own version of financial freedom.
Download this checklist to follow the exact process they used to ramp up their savings in 10 minutes a week or less!
Special thanks to Alli and Matt for sharing their story. Please connect with them.
Defining Financial Independence
Being able to quit their jobs and travel full time wasn't an overnight thing. For Alli and Matt, it was a multi-year process that began when they were living in Bakersfield, CA.
They both had very financially prosperous jobs and were enjoying life with activities such as paint-balling, horseback riding, and eating out at all the local hot spots.
Soon though they realized that the path they were on wasn't what they really wanted.
I just felt like I picked the wrong career like completely and it wasn't anything to do with the job at all like my co-workers are amazing.
My boss was great and I was in a supportive environment. I just felt like I was not using my strengths and I was not using like my skills at all.
And I felt really dissatisfied in that and I felt like I wasn't living up to my potential.
Even though society externally I was doing amazing. I just couldn't be happy with that.
….you know it's like a curse in some cases because it's like you think of how many of you would kill to be in my position to health problems you know.
But I I can't like make my choices based on other people either.
Alli Owen [10:31]
Based on what Alli shared with Matt about others in the financial independence space, such as Mr. Money Mustache, they decided they wanted to simplify their lives and redirect that money towards financial independence.
But what exactly does financial independence mean? It's a popular term, but it can vary
Matt takes a more literal approach, he sees financial independence as having enough money to never have to work again.
For Alli it's about having enough margin in your finances so you can explore different options.
They both were looking to travel more and have more freedom with their schedule and location.
After discussing things the two decided they wanted to focus all of their energy towards their FI number.
Growing the Gap
Even though they were making fantastic income from their jobs, they were living in a high cost of living area.
They knew the key to financial independence was growing the gap between what they spend and what they earned.
They focused on big wins, including house hacking.
How does it work?
They bought a place and rented out rooms. It was enough to cover their mortgage, saving them some serious money.
They also transitioned to eating out to having friends over and cooking more.
They began going through all of their expenses and seeing there was a way to do it cheaper or eliminate it.
Pivoting Towards Travel and Financial Freedom
With life
The truth is when you simplify, pay off debt, and start saving and investing, you can pivot into new opportunities.
Matt and Alli did that. When they were four years into their FI plan, they changed course.
Why are we doing this?
… we have this large sum of money in investments and large savings that we've saved for the past four years.
And it's like so we can just put it off so we can reach you know you know thirty-five and or thirty-three and then have fun?
It's like well why can't
Alli [11:27]we you know start having fun now and enjoying life and trust ourselves that we will have the confidence to generate income in ways that are more satisfying to our souls?
Energized, they began exploring options and decided to buy a convert a Sprinter into camper van so they could travel for at least six months!
Takeaways from the Episode
Before we close up I want to focus on some key takeaways I got from them.
- Define your dream.
- Challenge every expense.
- Start an income stream.
So those were my takeaways I want to hear from you.
What ideas and inspiration did you get from A
We’re going to discuss this in our private Facebook group over at Thriving Families!
Support the Podcast!
Thank you so much for listening to the podcast!
- Spread the word! If you enjoyed this episode and think it can help a buddy get on the path to dumping debt and become financially free, please share.
- Leave a review. Honest feedback and reviews make a big difference and gets the word out about the podcast. Leave your review on Apple or Stitcher.
- Grab a copy of Jumpstart Your Marriage and Your Money. My book is designed for a busy couple to set up their finances in 4 weeks. Get tips and tools that have worked for other couples on their journey of building their marriage and wealth together!
Music Credit
Like the music in this episode? Our theme song is by Gentle Regime. Additional music by Lee Rosevere.
