We're bombarded with unrealistic images of work and spending—which leads to our own ideas of what we need or want being wildly out of whack with what we're earning.
This is so true. I've always managed to be financially independent and responsible, but it's certainly hard. I quit my last corporate job in 1990 and have been self-employed and now pretty much retired since. I stumbled into the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community in around 2010 in the form of http://earlyretirementextreme.com/. In 2011, I moved to Whidbey Island, and had been here less than a month when I met Vicki Robin, coauthor of https://yourmoneyoryourlife.com/. I adopted the 9-step plan in that book, and with modifications for a different financial era, follow it to this day. I even taught classes in Financial Integrity for a while. It's served me well. I've made other choices that have helped. I haven't watched TV since season 4 of the X-Files, and I live on a rural island with granola values.
This is so true. I've always managed to be financially independent and responsible, but it's certainly hard. I quit my last corporate job in 1990 and have been self-employed and now pretty much retired since. I stumbled into the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community in around 2010 in the form of http://earlyretirementextreme.com/. In 2011, I moved to Whidbey Island, and had been here less than a month when I met Vicki Robin, coauthor of https://yourmoneyoryourlife.com/. I adopted the 9-step plan in that book, and with modifications for a different financial era, follow it to this day. I even taught classes in Financial Integrity for a while. It's served me well. I've made other choices that have helped. I haven't watched TV since season 4 of the X-Files, and I live on a rural island with granola values.
Lots of good food for thought here Tara. Thank you.