This blog is about achieving financial independence while still checking off all those superficial desires along the way. It is not about making more money but rather how to make the most out of the money you make. The fact is if you live in the US or Canada (or most of the first world) and are reasonably well educated, financial independence is very much achievable and at a young age.

Part of my inspiration for writing this blog has been hearing how surprised people are that I am taking 2 months off for paternity leave. The surprise only increases when they find out it’s the second year in a row I am doing this and that I am not taking a dime from the government to afford this. I wanted to spend this exciting time with my entire family including my wife and the Canadian government only pays for one person at a time. Therefore she’s living on EI and I’m taking two months off unpaid.

I work in a very well paid industry and yet make less than the industry average. The people most surprised at my freedom make far above the average Canadian or Toronto wage and double what I make, and yet still live paycheque to paycheque in such a way that taking 2 months off unpaid seems like an unattainable luxury. I started to genuinely wonder why that is and this led me to a very inspiring community of bloggers.

The other part of my inspiration for this blog has been discovering and reading all the awesome frugal living blogs out there on the internet (Mr. Money Mustache, Mad Fientist, Early Retirement Extreme, Financial Samurai etc.). These amazing people prove saving lots of money for anyone in a developed country is not only possible but relatively easy if you know how. I have nothing but respect for all of them. While much of what they’ve written is what I’ve been unknowingly following myself I did notice a difference between my own approach and theirs that is subtle but I think important.

In this blog I will try to hit a middle ground between the completely self-reliant approach most of the other bloggers advocate and the mainstream consumerism that most people follow. Instead of focusing on what purchases should or should not be made I will instead focus on how to achieve the things you want at a far lower cost to your future. This blog is not so much about anti-consumerism as much as it is about smart consumerism. It’s very much about looking a bit deeper into those desires and finding a way to re-frame them in a financially responsible way. 

Through my blogging I hope to show how actions often considered frivolous, such as buying a fast fuel inefficient car, travelling while young, renting an apartment or paying people to renovate your house rather than doing it yourself can actually be completely rational and financially sound decisions.

I really believe you can get everything you want out of life, even some of those seemingly irresponsible and vapid things, and live financially worry-free anyway!