chilts.org
Andy Chilton
Guest Post on Lazy Man and Money
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Firstly, welcome to all the Lazy Man and Money readers wandering over here to take a look round. Remember to subscribe to my RSS feed so you can keep coming back. And to all my readers, go and take a look at Lazy's blog (yes, he doesn't mind being called that) - it's a great read.
Short Term Sacrifices for Long Term Gain
My post over at Lazy's blog was originally called Short Term Sacrifices for Long Term Gain but in conjunction with Lazy we changed it to Sacrificing the Little Things for Early Retirement so his readers could get more of a taste of my background, why I started all this and where I'm headed.
I wrote the post in response to a comment I had on a previous blog post of mine, called Seeing the Old Me. Concetta put the idea in my head when she commented that by doing a four day work week, I was actually treating myself, all the time! I hadn't realised this at the time (though it makes perfect sense now).
I'd mentioned that I had been buying take-away coffees and treats for myself in reward for working too hard which brought back memories of the old me again. Working hard, playing hard but spending all of my money whilst doing it. Then I mentioned that I had to sacrifice things if I wanted to do a four day work week (oh, and retire early, mustn't forget that) - and by not spending my money on those 'extras' I could also afford to drop down a day at work. It turns out though that she was right and that having the extra day off is a huge treat, week in, week out.
If other people think that by not going to the movies that often or not having the flashiest car is a sacrifice, then that's fine with me. Neither of these things are that important to me and instead I'll make some fresh pasta, go out cycling or enjoy a bit of gardening instead. Better health and less outgoings.
Therefore a few small sacrifices gets me a much bigger reward - as always, judgement is in the eye of the beholder.
And funnily enough, these are also the same people who say "...and you can afford that?" when they hear you're working a 4 day week. Pretty funny, isn't it?
Thanks
So thanks again to Lazy Man for hosting my guest post and I hope you enjoy my article over there if you haven't read it yet.
Labels: saving, retiring, working
Inserted: 2009-02-28 08:40 (2 years, 11 months ago)
3 Comments
1. April
Excellent post. Many people don't equate their daily spending (coffee, lunch out, etc) with the reason that they are working so many hours at a job they need to "reward" themselves to work at. Like you, I would rather reward myself with an extra day for myself!
Inserted: 2009-03-01 14:28 (2 years, 11 months ago)
2. momstheword
I totally get the "I deserve this" reward concept. I've done it. I still do it sometimes. But I also realize that all those little things add up to help us reach our goals. You can nickel and dime yourself into debt, and you can nickel and dime yourself out of debt if you keep at it. They will add up.
Inserted: 2009-03-02 19:22 (2 years, 11 months ago)
3. Morgan at TheDebtDance.com
The biggest savings I have made is to stop using credit cards and pour all I can into paying them off. The interest I pay each month is hundreds. I want zero! Thanks Morgan
Inserted: 2009-03-18 07:17 (2 years, 10 months ago)