Sorry Capitalism, But I'm Buying Freedom

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash

I began to devour books that introduced me to the concept of FIRE - Financial Independence Retire Early, as a teenager, long before it even became known as FIRE.

Over the years, I learned a lot of ideas and strategies, but what continues to fascinate me is the overarching philosophy and psychology of financial freedom.

You can read all the books, scour all the websites, listen to all the podcasts, do all the things, but until you internalize a couple of integral ideas, you will spin your wheels. Anyone can achieve this mindset shift, but some of us have to work harder to overcome conditioning.

Financial freedom is just a way of thinking that translates to a way of living.

It helps to start by defining what freedom means to you. It may look like:

• a life of travel

• time to spend with loved ones, work on hobbies, or pursue a passion

• the ability to work part time or stop work altogether at a young(ish) age

• just having options because you are not dependent on that next paycheque

Once you create a definition, you have something to shoot for.

More often than not, the most life-changing thing you can purchase with your money is your future freedom. 

Envision a future where you are not confined to a cubicle for 8 hours a day just to be able to keep body and soul together. When you get hold of this solid vision, day to day choices become simple.

Choices like these:

• Pay yourself first. On your payday, plow money into savings because your future self must be paid before any creditor or bill collector.

• Keep increasing the gap between what you make and what you spend. Find ways to make more or spend less or preferably both. If you spend every dollar you make, you have a serious problem today and a catastrophic problem tomorrow. Resist lifestyle inflation - as your income increases, so should your savings rate.

• Start to invest once you have an emergency cushion built up. Just saving is not enough.

• Overcome the conditioning that you are a consumer, solely existing to purchase more and more in order to compete with the Joneses and keep the economic machine grinding away. 

• Push back against marketing. Avoid advertising. Avoid malls. Don’t look at the flyers that come in the mail. Become immune to sales. Don’t go shopping - find other things to do with your time. Recognize that the entire purpose of marketers is to separate you from your hard earned dollars. Refuse to give in. 

• Reprogram yourself. Stop scrolling social media if all it does is awaken an appetite in you to consume. Stop worshipping celebrities - odds are good that you can’t afford to have the things they have, so stay blissfully unaware of trends.

Resisting consumerism is easier if you have a low materialism set point. 

A minimalist is hyper-aware of how aggravating it is to own stuff. Does the stuff contribute positively to your life or is it a bunch of clutter that you have to take care of, insure, maintain, repair, store, clean, move, replace, and dispose of? Becoming mindful of this will help move you in the right direction.

Less really is more.

However, given that I live in the real world, occasionally l need to purchase things. Here’s how I approach the acquisition of stuff:

• Think in terms of cost per use. If a pair of jeans is $100 but you will wear them 3 times a week for 4 years, the cost per use is quite low. If a book is $30 and you will read it once, then it will gather dust on your shelf, the cost per use may be higher than you want to pay. (That’s what libraries are for.)

• Eliminate impulse buying by enforcing rules such as not purchasing something worth more than $x on the spot. Give yourself a cooling off period of a few days or a week. You’ll be amazed at how many urgent needs fall by the wayside.

• Shop around and compare. Every dollar you earn comes from an investment of your time. You’re essentially trading your life energy in order to own this thing. Make sure that you actually need it, that you’re getting the best quality for your dollars, and that you’re paying the lowest price. Maybe you can borrow it or buy it second hand. Determine which is a better use of your money - to buy this thing, or to put money away for your future self to do the things she or he wants to do. 

A firm connection to your future self is key. If your vision of the future is hazy at best, then you tend to live just for the present. While you can’t sock everything away for a future you might not actually get to enjoy, there needs to be a healthy balance between living for the here and now and looking after your future self. 

Realize nobody’s coming to save you. You can’t count on a pension, the government, or even your significant other to look after you. Divorces happen, deaths happen, jobs get phased out, pensions get mismanaged, government programs get cut. The only one you can rely on is you. Do yourself a favour and take that job seriously. 

Starting early is a big part of winning the battle. But don’t despair if you missed that boat. 

Starting now is the next best thing.

We are the result of our choices, compounded over time. My teenage self started dumping part of her paycheque into investments as soon as she nailed down a job. And she just never stopped.

I could never thank that girl enough.

• How do you define financial freedom?

• How do you demonstrate your connection to your future self?

• What are your thoughts on consumerism?