If you haven’t read Part I: The Early Years, you may want to start there first before jumping into Part II as we continue our story of life after discovering the financial independence movement.
Actions We Took
As we left off from Part I, we were stoked to begin our journey to Financial Independence (FI) as 2018 came to close. Due to the clarity and confidence around our financial goals, a pretty cool thing happened. We were able to take seemingly small, quick actions early on.
A Job Change
In early 2019 I left my HR Director position to work for an HR consulting company with more earning potential. I was back in an individual contributor role, and excited to work with a variety of clients and apply my knowledge to different industries.
Yes, you can actually leave a leadership role. Read more here.
Reviewing, Cutting, & Tracking Expenses
While we’ve always been anti-budget, we began tracking every expense via Empower (free!), formerly Personal Capital. Now, you may read that and cringe.
Every expense?!
Yes, every expense. I know it sounds tedious (and it is!), but we’d always been data nerds. To us it was an exciting challenge. We knew we needed our full financial picture, especially our spending habits. Using a tool like Empower actually made it pretty simple to track our expenses.
One of the biggest actions we took was intentionally cutting things like gym memberships, cable, and massage memberships. We replaced some of these items with cheaper memberships, like Planet Fitness and Peloton using our own equipment. Before the pandemic we built a nice home gym, complete with a squat rack, to fully eliminate the gym membership. We split streaming services with family.
The “we earned it” mentality really reared its head when it came to our nice dinners out on Fridays and Saturdays. Through discussion, these meals were the main way we spent quality time together. We didn’t want to give them up, but understood this was an area where we could make more intentional choices. So, we swapped cheaper restaurants, such as our favorite local Mexican joint (we may be there most Fridays…). Notably, this did not feel like deprivation or sacrifice. AND, we maintained the original purpose: spending quality time together! At the end of 2019 we were most proud of our reduced restaurant spending compared to 2018.
Monthly Expense Reviews
To further earn a reputation as data nerds, we began monthly expense reviews. After all our expenses were logged in Empower for the month, we sat down and reviewed our spending in each category (mortgage, restaurants, etc.). Note: you can add as many categories as you want. This helped provide an opportunity to “gut check” how we felt about the month’s expenses. This was yet another strategy to ensure more intentional spending. We geeked out over these monthly review sessions, excited to see where our spending was for the month.
Actions Led to Experiments
Through a series of tweaks and adjustments we saw progress to our financial goals faster than we expected. Once the ball got rolling, we were able to see and feel our progress.
The deep dive into our financials had other benefits, too. It helped us identify where we wanted to spend money, like travel. We no longer had to question where we should “dial up” or “dial down” our spending, or feel guilty about our decisions.
Because we knew we had a significant financial cushion, we were empowered to start experimenting more with our interests and things we felt drawn to.
Is RV Life For Us?
Our interest and the “pull” we felt to the RV lifestyle grew during 2019. We binged watched YouTube channels like Keep Your Daydream, and imagined living life on the road. Was that lifestyle as amazing as it seemed? The only way to know was to try it out!
Our first experiment with RV life came when our good friends invited us to camp with them in 2019. We used this invitation as an opportunity to rent our own RV (a Class C). The outing was a success, and felt like we were heading in the right direction.
In mid-2020 we purchased an F-150 truck, and then rented a travel trailer for 4 nights in Mammoth Cave. That experience sealed the deal. We knew an RV was in our future, but figured at least a year or two out.
In early 2021 though we decided we couldn’t wait any longer, YOLO. In March 2021 we pulled the trigger. The remainder of 2021 was full of short weekend camping trips, and a couple longer trips to Michigan and North Carolina. We fell in love with RV travel.
Working Less & a Leave of Absence
Our financial cushion allowed us to examine how much we were working, and make adjustments. In September of 2021 we realized our (first) dog’s health was declining rapidly (a incurable brain tumor, we would later find out). We endured the heart-breaking process of saying goodbye to him after 11 years together. Ironically my HR consulting role had ramped up and I was working nearly full-time during this time. As we struggled to juggle vet visits as his condition worsened, I wasn’t able to spend as much time at home as I wanted.
Looking at our financials we decided it made sense for me to cut back my hours at work. Spending more time at home with our dog in his final month was more valuable than the income I would have made during that time.
Fast forward to early 2022, when I made a bold move and requested a Leave of Absence (LOA) and was able to take 60-days off work. During this time we spent an entire month traveling in our RV, and confirmed a month on the road felt great. In fact, we were sad it ended!
Following the LOA I returned to HR consulting on a very part-time basis (5-10 hours per week). I wanted space to explore other interests and give myself a break from a stressful career that wasn’t lighting me up like it had in the past. Eventually I decided it was time to quit my job.
Starting a Business & Real Estate Ventures
Meanwhile, my husband was pondering how to get into real estate. We had considered buying local rental property to bring in passive income. So far though, nothing felt right.
In July 2022 we decided to go ahead and open an LLC. There wasn’t a defined plan for how we would use the LLC, but we felt we might need it in the near future.
Our timing on opening the LLC was fortuitous. In August 2022, after listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast, my husband decided to enter the world of real estate by investing through our LLC into a real estate syndication. Soon after we invested into a second one. It felt scary to contribute chunks of our hard-earned cash, but it also felt right. Sometimes you just have to take the leap, and that’s what we did.
FI Venturers is Born!
As I enjoyed more space from work, the tiny spark of an idea I’d had for years to start a blog was growing. We had a very loose vision, and already discussed a name. Finally in June 2022, I went to Bluehost and bought the domain. FI Venturers was born!
We had absolutely no clue what we were doing, using WordPress and trying to figure out themes. But, step by step we figured it out. Actually, there were quite a few one step forward, five steps back…
At the end of June, I wrote my first blog post. By the end of August, we somehow managed to put together a logo via Fiverr. We were official, although a bit rinky-dink.
Pursuing FI Provided Options
You may be wondering if the actions and experiments were simply because of our decision to pursue financial independence.
We could have decided to do any of those things individually, right? Yes, but…
Discovering the FIRE movement was a reality check for us. It helped us clarify and focus on what is most important to us. We had to answer hard questions.
Why are we working so much when there are other things we could be enjoying?
What’s the purpose of spending and saving money?
What do we want our money to do for us?
Are we using our money in a way that aligns with our goals?
Through examining these questions, we decided we wanted to live more intentionally. We realized our money could be a tool to experiment and also make bold moves and in our lives.
How cool is that?!
What Will I Find on Your Blog?
Now that you know more about who we are, what will you find on our blog?
Although we acknowledge this defies SEO best practice, you will find a smorgasbord of content on our blog. When we thought about the blog content we decided:
- We would share what we’ve learned and experienced from our amazing travels (including photos). While I love trip planning, researching, and cataloguing our days, we know it can feel impossible and overwhelming for others.
- We would offer offer unique insights regarding mindset and career, especially given my psychology background, 15+ years in Human Resources, and our roller coaster career experiences.
- We would share more about our journey to Financial Independence, despite the taboo topic of money.
- We would share what we’ve learned from traveling in our RV, and how this travel style may be more doable than you think.
Importantly, we know when things seem overwhelming or impossible, we often don’t even start.
With the blog we want to make it easier for you to say, “This isn’t so hard. I can do this.” This way you can start:
- Learning about cool places and create amazing experiences
- Feeling empowered to take charge of your career and mindset
- Thinking about your finances and how money can be a tool for you
- Learning more about the RV lifestyle
Some topics may or may not be a fit for you. Use what you can!
We hope to inspire you to start, no matter what is is!
This is your one, wild and precious life. We want to help you make the most of it!
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