Good old DIY days

Many friends look at my life filled with travel, leisure, and free time, and they wonder how I manage to live on a tropical beach without a job for over four years, while they’re stuck in an office with barely $5,000 in savings.

It’s getting pretty clear that big companies want you to stick around for 45 years or more and will do everything they can to keep you from leaving. The government, too, wants you to keep paying income taxes. It really takes a lot of strength to break out of this system.

Fifty years ago, your grandparents lived simpler lives in the country or small towns. They did most things themselves. Your grandma cooked from scratch, and your grandpa repaired the car and house, maybe even building an extension for the kids. She sewed the family’s clothes and cut everyone’s hair while he chopped firewood. Their days were filled with chores, and even at night, while listening to the radio, she polished silverware while he greased the entrance door.

As a result, they needed very little money. One income could pay off a mortgage in 10 years or less, not because they earned more or houses were cheaper, but because they invested a larger chunk of their income into it. They had no other debts and would save up to buy a car or refrigerator. They kept their furniture for life, buying quality items that lasted for decades. They didn’t buy on whims or impulses.

A crisis or job loss was tragic but often not fatal. The family grew their own food, mended their clothes, and received strong social support from their church and family. When you’ve built your house and chopped your firewood, you can work just to cover the cost of food.

But what did this mean for manufacturers? If you bought a table when you got married and didn’t need another until you died, how could they turn you into a repeat customer? By flooding you with a wide array of consumer goods—sofas, clothes, ready meals—that were always changing, making you feel the need to keep up with trends. With more products, companies made you work harder to earn more money to buy more stuff. Now, a second spouse had to work to pay for the American dream, the two cars, the 5,000 sqft house, and a fridge upgrade every five years.

Note: I fully support women joining the workforce, but when I see people like my sister working minimum wage jobs, I wonder if the household wouldn’t be better off with her at home. She would pay less in taxes, eliminate the need for a second car, no childcare costs… work-related expenses are higher than her salary, but she doesn’t see it that way. Unless both partners have high-paying jobs, the lower earner might be better off staying at home.

Another related trend was that money started buying more conveniences. Instead of chopping firewood to cook and heat your house, you could work a couple of hours at your desk to pay the electric bill. So if you lived like your grandparents, limiting your needs and being self-sufficient, you could either:
1. Save an incredibly high percentage of your salary—over 50%—leading to financial independence in 10 years or less, or
2. Enjoy a lot of free time if you stopped working once you had enough to cover your bills. Some people define financial independence as having enough to live on with minimal work. If you limit your needs to $1,000 a month, you can work part-time, cover your expenses, and still have plenty of free time.

And with free time, you have time to do self-sufficient tasks and consume less. Make more and spend less? That sounds like bad news for big companies. So what do they do to keep you wanting more? They offer TV, amusement parks, laptops, movies, malls… anything to keep you from thinking about freedom. Instead, you need to work more to pay for it all.

They make it easy by giving you a credit card. You can pay it back later in “convenient installments” at 29.9% APR, essentially chaining yourself to another year or two with the company just to cover the advance.

And if that’s not enough, they have drugs, social media, alcohol, and Vicodin. Anything to keep you sitting there, producing, and making them richer.

Should you go live in the woods and hunt for your food? Absolutely not. Enjoy the fact that one hour of your labor can buy so much more than before. Use your hard-earned money to buy things that offer more value than the energy you spent to earn them. Early retirement isn’t for everyone, but consumer debt shouldn’t be for anyone.

This post was featured on Financial Uproar. Thank you!