Step Two: Rearranging My Life

When I quit my job life became interesting. All of a sudden my old lifestyle was no longer possible financially. However, my general happiness increased. I was able to spend time with my daughter. My life-partner and I were getting along better. There were serious income issues, but we learned to live a more modest lifestyle.

We both became interested in the idea of a minimalist lifestyle. I was the first to start purging. I had been looking into the tiny house movement for years. The idea of being able to own a small house outright, rather than spend thirty years paying a mortgage appealed to me. However, there was no way I would ever fit everything I owned into a small house. First to go was my clothes. I gave away half my wardrobe. Then I started to cut down on my movie collection, my book collection, and even my technology. This took about two months, but I had lots of time on my hands.

As I got rid of my excess belongings I could feel myself getting better. I kept hearing this quote over and over as I cut out the excess shit,

"The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything." Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk. 

The freedom I got by getting rid of my unneeded belongings was real. That was the easy part for me. The hard part was adjusting to a more modest lifestyle.

We had grown accustomed to eating out several times a week. I loved going to bars and wouldn't think twice about a $20 bar tab. There were simple solutions, but at the time felt very hard to change. I've always been a good cook, and since I had time on my hands I started cooking dinners again. Side-note, my life-partner swears I make the best sandwiches, so we have those for lunch often. With that changed we were saving loads of money and eating better. Both in quality and in the food being better for us. When it came to the beer, I started buying local craft beers. So, once again I was saving money and getting better quality.

This trend of getting more out of life for less money would continue and lead to Step Three: Earning Less While Living Better

Check out the previous post, Step One: Readdressing Priorities if you're new to the series.

Step One: Readdress Priorities

I've quit my career to pursue my dream of turning my writing into a full-time profession. Needless to say, this was the hardest step. For years, I tried to balance a career, family, and writing. Others have been able to make it work, but I could not. Thus, I cut out the career, and now I have the time for writing and my family.

I have a four-year-old daughter who needs, and deserves a father. I grew up without a father and lost my mother when I was twelve. The last thing I want is to be an unavailable dad. Also, my life-partner and I can always use more time together.

I was working nearly sixty hours a week as a Store Manager. The job paid well, but the hours were intense. The people I had to work with on a daily basis were stressing me out. So after six months of nightly conversations about the situation, we agreed that it was time for a change. She told me to just quit my job and we would figure it out.

Being a published author had always been a dream of mine. I knew since University that I wanted to be an author, but my skills in sales kept pulling me in a different direction as I chased the money. However, after five years of chasing money, I've learned one valuable lesson. Money is pointless. What I want is intellectual fulfillment, a good beer each night, and to be sure that my family is secure. Those goals don't require that much money. And that's what lead to Step Two: Rearranging Your Life.