Today concludes my first week after quitting my 8 to 5 desk job. It was completely amazing. I’ve spent almost all day each day with my toddler twin boys and my husband, and I have already completed some projects that have been bugging me for months! I feel very, very blessed and completely refreshed.
My last several weeks at my job were filled with congratulations. Almost every young woman with children just poured her heart out to me about her guilt for not being home with her children. I was so lucky I’m able to do it, they’d say. “Unfortunately, we just can’t afford it.”
Oh, how they’d laugh if they knew my life. You see, I don’t have some wonderfully secure life perfectly set up for my choice to quit my job and work from home. My husband hasn’t worked in three years, and my job was the only income we had.
Our budget was incredibly tight. When each month began, every dollar was accounted for. Things like q-tips became an unaffordable luxury. I haven’t seen a movie in the theater for 9 months. The registration and inspection stickers on our cars have gone unrenewed for upwards of six months. I drank water instead of juice. Those were all things we simply couldn’t afford.
I haven’t bought conditioner for my hair in six months. Same thing with lotion. One time I ran out of contact solution in the middle of the month and had to wear my glasses for two weeks because the $6 bottle of solution could not be squeezed into this month’s budget.
A couple of weeks ago we received a blessing. My husband got a teaching job! So with two incomes—his teaching and me working parttime from home—it seems that we will be set for the kind of life we want. But what most people don’t know, including the young women at work, is that I turned in my resignation almost two months before there was any word of my husband’s job offer.
I was quitting my job—our only source of income—on the hopes that my freelancing from home would provide us with enough income for what we needed. Need is the key word. I knew we still had lots of luxuries we could give up in order to do the thing that made me happy.
Ideas kept popping into my head about ways to save even further. For example, we were saving money by renting movies from Netflix, but that was still something we could do without all together. I already make snacks for us from scratch, but if I’m home I can make food like bread too! It’s funny the more you do away with things, the more things you find you can do without!
So what am I trying to say? I guess I just want people to realize that you can do what makes you happy. You really, really can. I know you think you can’t. You have bills, right? Well, you really don’t have to have them—at least to some extent.
You always have a choice.
The envious women at work are right—they can’t afford to be at home. I’ve been to their houses and I’ve seen their cars. They simply have to have two incomes to pay for all that. But all that…stuff…is a choice. It’s not a requirement.
My friend Rachel lives in one room—a combination of kitchen, living room and bedroom. She doesn’t even have a bed—she sleeps on the floor! And I can tell you that she is not any less happy than anyone else I know. She’s chosen a simple life so she can do the things she wants to do.
Another of my single friends recently took a two-month road trip with a friend throughout America. She heard the same thing from her peers—she’s so lucky…they could never afford to do that! But my friend saved for years by living very modestly—taking the bus, riding her bike, and growing her own food—to be able to do it. The luxuries were a choice—and she decided that they weren’t worth trading for a trip she dreamed of.
For the majority of us, we always have a choice. Luck has nothing to do with it.
Personally, I’ve chosen to forgo the stuff and stick with what truly makes me happy—family and autonomy. And I’m very much looking forward to the future! (and hopefully will have a lot more time for blogging!)
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
You inspire me. Really, you do.
Woo-hoo! I got a blog mention.
And I am pretty freaking happy, but I’d say not as cool as you because I still use Q-tips (or whatever they call the generic version).
Lovely post!
But on a more serious note, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. While I agree it is an adventure to discover what one can live without, I often let myself get stressed about not having a safety net should anything go wrong. Do you struggle with that?
Not following you. Like what?
Well, who knows, maybe you do have the safety net that I don’t. For example, if I were to have an unexpected medical issue, I’d be screwed. And what’s not unexpected (like getting my wisdom teeth out) has to wait a lot longer than I’d like. But I survive.
Medical issues definitely suck, but honestly I really don’t think about them much. It’s not like I feel like I’m never going to have problems, but one of the reasons I focus on a healthy lifestyle as much as I do is so I won’t HAVE to worry.
But, accidents happen. As you know, the only way I’d be caught in a hospital or doctor’s office is after something like a terrible car wreck. In that case, I have emergency-only insurance that’s pretty cheap.
But if some emergency came up that required lots of cash, I do feel like we’d be ok. You’ve done a great job of getting rid of stuff. I, on the other hand, have focused more in the last 3-5 years on not accumulating more of it rather than getting rid of what I’ve got–I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I still have stuff from “before” my lifestyle change that I could sell in an emergency. Don’t get me wrong, this stuff isn’t super nice and there’s not a lot of it, but I feel like there’s enough there to help us out if we need it.
Also, I try to put my money into things that hold their value. We own our house and the value has only gone up, so that’s a great security net. On the other hand, nice cars, to me, are not a smart place to put your money. Like my poor friend Brandie knows, when someone totals your car and you’re upside down on your payments, you’re screwed. My car is 15 years old and isn’t even worth a grand, so I don’t have to worry about that!!
And I’ll probably never buy a new car, unless they come out with an affordable electric.
Don’t worry, my dear. If something happened, you can ALWAYS come and live with us.
I just found your blog, I love it. We live in Baird (near Abilene) and I heard Slowpoke Farms had grassfed milk, so I tried to google it and got a link to your website. It’s good to see another real food person is in the vicinity. Do you still get raw milk? I am hoping to find some or at least some grass fed cow or goat milk.
Hi Tracee! Thanks for the comment.
Yes, Slowpoke has grassfed beef. They are always at the Farmer’s Market selling on Saturdays, but not sure how much longer the Market will be going on. I do go and get milk every 3 or 4 weeks. Not sure how far Baird is from Abilene, but I’d be happy to pick up up some when I go. I can put you on the email list that notifies people when I’m going.
We’ve got a natural living group that meets once a month. Not sure if you’re interested in coming. Let me know if you are and I’ll put you on the list for that too!
Sheila
Yes, let me know when and where the natural food group meets. I would love to come.