I design my lifestyle such that these three things, these three necessities, are as close to free as possible and such that I have no ability to change them except with long-term planning. As a result, I don\u2019t have to really think about the financial impact of \u201cfun\u201d and frivolous spending because by default, I spend so little on these three categories that it is almost impossible to spend too much recreationally!<\/p>\n
Related:<\/strong> The 5 Steps Necessary to Master Your Personal Finances<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n I think that these choices are repeatable for most 20-somethings, and I’d love to hear feedback on whether I’m over the top or not — I’ve heard it before.<\/p>\n When I say “small,\u201d I don\u2019t mean that I live in a run-down, decrepit building. Until I moved into my duplex, I lived in a clean, well-maintained facility. It was fine — just not in the greatest location and not very big. And I lived with a roommate. Between these decisions, I spent less than 13% of my income on rent.<\/p>\n As a 24 year old kid, the physical layout, neighborhood, and size of the unit I live in is totally immaterial to my happiness, as is sharing that space with a friend. I wouldn\u2019t want to spend a ton of time in ANY place that I lived in! I\u2019d rather be out playing basketball, going to my club sport practice (still a rugger), biking, and just generally DOING.<\/p>\n In 2015, I plan to continue to live in my newly acquired (also very small — 1,433 sqft in both units combined) duplex, rent one unit out, plus half of the unit that I live in, and live for free<\/a>. Not accidentally, this property is very close to both my workplace and downtown Denver. I believe that this purchase is the best possible investment in my future happiness and financial situation combined, and I think it is a repeatable strategy for many 20-somethings with similar objectives and a year or two of savings.<\/p>\n I really did a terrible job of commuting for the first half of 2014. I worked at a location that was 10 miles away from my apartment! I don\u2019t know what I was thinking!<\/p>\n But I learned.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t like commuting. I think it\u2019s horrible; I hate traffic, and I don\u2019t understand how we built a society around such a ridiculous concept. After reading this article<\/a>\u00a0by one of my favorite bloggers, I realized just how much this cost was kicking my butt. Assuming $0.50 per mile, my commute cost me well over $200 per month!<\/p>\n I had a twelve month lease at my apartment — moving was not an option — so instead, I started looking for jobs closer to home in March. It took me three months of networking and lunch meetings to finally luck into meeting Josh Dorkin and land this job at BiggerPockets (I know — I hit the jackpot). Maybe I got lucky, but BiggerPockets HQ was also 5 miles from my apartment. It wasn\u2019t an accident that I was looking for work in the area.<\/p>\n Upon starting here in July, I bought a bike, pannier, helmet, gloves, and some lights to begin biking to work. I\u2019ve biked almost every day since. I immediately noticed an improvement in my health, happiness, and productivity. And I\u2019ve noticed the savings. I went from driving close to 750 miles per month (I\u2019m appalled that I was driving that much and had no idea until I wrote this article and did the math — 9,000 miles over 12 months comes to 750 miles per month!) to less than 75 miles per month.<\/p>\n I can definitely do better. Because I\u2019ve bought a duplex and now live close to work and the area I like to hang out in, I\u2019m in the process of selling my car. I know that seems crazy, but I really don\u2019t think it is. See, truly bad weather and long trips occur at most twice per month on average for me. On the rare occasions that I do need to travel long distances or through unreasonable weather conditions, I\u2019ll take a cab.<\/p>\n My ability to sell my car is a direct result of planning my living situation around where I work and the things I enjoy doing. I simply don\u2019t need to go very far for anything!\u00a0 I\u2019ve yet to meet an unmarried 20-something who\u00a0doesn\u2019t have the ability to easily move within a few miles of his workplace or move his workplace closer to home. This\u00a0is not something that happened overnight for me, but over the course of 6 months to a year, I think it is repeatable for most.<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> 6 Lessons My Work Life Has Taught Me About Managing Finances<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n I think I must have been very young when I realized a hard truth: I have no option; I have to eat everyday. But it wasn\u2019t until earlier this year, when I began truly planning my lifestyle, that I realized another problem with food. Unlike living for free and commuting for free, growing my own food and eating for free is not really a reasonable option. Compounding those two problems is the fact that I really enjoy good, healthy food, and a LOT of it (biking everywhere = lots of food consumption).<\/p>\n Enter cooking.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t eat ramen noodles, I don\u2019t eat freezer meals, and I don\u2019t have PB&J for lunch everyday. I actually think I eat like a king! And I do it extremely cheaply.<\/p>\n I do this by shopping at the grocery store (Safeway), and when possible, Costco. I buy a lot of food, make it all in advance (usually in the crockpot —\u00a0here<\/a> are some delicious recipes) and eat my meals throughout the week. This has been extremely powerful for me in three ways:<\/p>\n When the opportunity to go to lunch or dinner at a nice restaurant with friends comes up, I don\u2019t say no — I go, and I have a great time. But by making cooking the default option, I avoid fast food, unnecessary purchases and ensure healthy habits on average.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not some well-behaved financial wizard over here. I\u2019m actually a pretty rough-around-the-edges kid who has no idea what he\u2019s doing. But in spite of my shenanigans and childish spending habits (just ask Brandon Turner about my \u201clegendary\u201d antics on his recent visit to downtown Denver), I think I\u2019ve put my financial house in pretty good order — and I think I did it without too much work or sacrifice.<\/p>\n For me, strong personal finance is not about discipline, self-control, or the\u00a0\u201cLatte Factor\u201d (\u201cIf you cut back on your\u00a0daily latte, you\u2019ll save thousands!\u201d). Nope, for me, Personal Finance is all about doing the big things right. Life, on the other hand, is about the little things. I won\u2019t cut back on Life now, but I also refuse to spend the bulk of Life in some cube. I’ll have my cake, eat it now, and keep chowing for as long as I live. Life is just too damn short.<\/p>\n Looking to set yourself up for life as early as possible and enjoy time\u00a0on your terms? Scott Trench’s new book <\/em>Set for Life, slated for release\u00a0April 23, 2017, is now available for pre-sale<\/a>! Whether you’d like to “retire” from wage-paying work, become less dependent on your demanding nine-to-five, or simply spend time doing what you love, <\/em>Set for Life will give you a plan to get there. This isn\u2019t about saving up a nest egg. It\u2019s not about setting aside money for a \u201crainy day.”\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Set for Life<\/span> is an actionable guide that helps\u00a0readers build the accessible wealth\u00a0they need to achieve early financial freedom.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n3 Lifestyle\u00a0Habits I Use to Better My Financial Situation<\/h2>\n
Habit #1:\u00a0By Default, I Live in a Small Space<\/h3>\n
Habit #2:\u00a0By Default, I Don\u2019t Use a Car<\/h3>\n
Habit #3:\u00a0By Default, I Plan or Cook All of My Meals With Reasonable Purchases From Reasonable Grocery Stores<\/h3>\n
\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/sfl_blog_image.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n