2916: Don’t Sweat Petty Stuff, and Don’t Pet Sweaty Stuff by Dave of Accidental Fire on Financial Independence

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_01]: This complex financing talk is very challenging. Do I get my depot ever?

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[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep?

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep.

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_00]: And these affirmations aren't just comforting. They can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

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[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't sweat petty stuff and don't pet sweaty stuff.

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_00]: By Dave of AccidentalFire.com

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Merriam.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: This podcast is actually one of multiple shows in our network, covering different topics like personal development, health and relationships.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you like narration style podcasts, be sure to search for Optimal Living Daily wherever you're hearing this and check out our other shows.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: But for now, let's get right to today's post as we optimize your life.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't sweat petty stuff and don't pet sweaty stuff.

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: By Dave of AccidentalFire.com

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: In my journey to fi, if I've learned one thing, it's that the big stuff will kill you.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is true across many aspects of life.

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Objects falling from the sky.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Bears and moose.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you can finish this four pound cheeseburger, you get it free offers.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to expenses, what's the big stuff?

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: For me, the big stuff boiled down to how much I paid every month for a roof over my head and wheels.

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I came out of college with no student loans.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Hoorah for state school.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And I have no children.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Of course, your results may vary.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, before you protest, I realize many folks have other big stuff expenses that include ongoing medical costs or caring for an ill family member.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I understand that.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_00]: But for the purpose of this post, I'd like to discuss the two things that virtually every American needs.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: The roof and the wheels.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Wheels being very arguable if you live in an urban area with great mass transit or can bike around.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: But roll with me here.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Drink up.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Many assume a frugal lifestyle lacks joy.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: No morning cappuccino.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: No dinners out on the town.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: No thanks.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd like to offer that my path to Phi had plenty of those things and many more.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Like beer and bourbon.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So the Phi community is now asking, how did you become Phi while violating those core rules?

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Or I knew it.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: You're a trust fund kid.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Nope.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_00]: No trust fund here.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I did it by focusing on the roof and the wheels.

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I saw in my early 20s, through a quick evaluation of simple math, that the roof and the wheels were taking up most of my budget.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: My underdeveloped brain told me that if I could save the maximum amount on those two things, I'd be in the winning column.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: It's that simple.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Sure, saving $60 a month by quitting the cappuccino habit is great.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: That's $720 a year.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: But not having a $450 car payment every month in perpetuity saves $5,400 per year.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Edumication taught me that $5,400 is greater than $720 by a lot.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: That made my cappuccinos taste even better.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And as time went on, the BMWs and Audis of the world kept looking uglier and uglier to me.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Why?

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Because they took the virtual joy of the cappuccinos out of my brain.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And for that, I would not stand.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It's about choices.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I made mine based on the size of the mathiness involved.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's talk about the house.

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Sure, I had some luck.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I bought in an upward market.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: But here's the key.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I stayed in it as my career progressed and I kept making more money.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't lifestyle inflate.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't try to keep up with the Joneses.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Cause I hate the friggin' Joneses.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I refinanced three times to minimize my costs.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was content.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I love my home.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: It's my little sanctuary.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: At 1,400 square feet,

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I realize it's smaller than the walk-in closets of many new suburban McMansions.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00]: But that's fine by me.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Call me a stoic.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Call me a minimalist.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I call me happy and content.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And I buy boutique bourbon.

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And I also call me financially independent.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Largely because of this one choice.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: My monthly mortgage is way less than it was 16 years ago.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: While at the same time, I make way more money.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_00]: I've been saving the difference of course.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And putting those employees, my money, to work for me.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Turns out those little buggers breed when you put them in the right fund.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: If I bought a new house in my area now, any new house,

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: my mortgage would be well over twice what it is now.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Why would I do that when I'm content with my house now?

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_00]: A place to live is personal.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to get into the own versus rent debate,

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I won't take you up on that.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Much has been written about that.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: But the bottom line is that some things can't be measured quantitatively.

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Like a sense of home or community.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I see both sides of the debate and can totally see myself renting in the future

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: when the time and circumstances are right.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_00]: For me, 16 years ago, buying was the right thing to do.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm thankful I followed my hunch.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Simple rough math tells me that I've saved over $180,000 of my own money

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: in the past 16 years by not upgrading to a bigger, more lifeless,

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: less cozy, and totally unnecessary house.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: That's a conservative estimate.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And since that money has been invested the whole time,

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: diligently working away like army ants,

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: a decent estimate is that this one choice in life

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: has banked over $400,000 into my net worth.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Mic drop, walk off.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: As for cars, don't get me started.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: That's the next post.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't Sweat Petty Stuff and Don't Pet Sweaty Stuff

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: by Dave of Accidentalfire.com

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Buy low, sell high.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: It's easy to say, hard to do.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: For example, high interest rates are crushing the real estate market right now.

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[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: This and other information can be found in the fund's prospectus

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[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a paid advertisement.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I like that this article emphasizes a focus on the big changes that are going to make the biggest difference in one's finances.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to optimizing your expenses,

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: if you focus on the big three of housing, transportation, and food,

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: you really don't have to sweat most other small purchases.

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_00]: This has worked out so well for my family

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_00]: that we no longer budget or stress about tracking every dollar we spend.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Our mortgage is $600 per month because we live in a lower cost of living area,

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and I bought a house well below my means.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_00]: We drive two fully paid off reliable cars

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and have set up our lives in a way that we don't do all that much driving.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I cook most of the meals we eat, mainly because I enjoy it,

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: but also because it allows us to eat better than we would if we ate out all the time.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And as an added bonus, it saves money.

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We also have the benefit of not being very materialistic, which certainly helps.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But I think our focus on optimizing our spending on the big three allows us to not really think about the rest of our spending.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_00]: We certainly have moments where we feel like we're going a little crazy.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So we take a look.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And without fail, we see that our net worth has continued to increase

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_00]: because we don't have debt dragging us down,

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and most of our money is making more money in the stock market.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But that's a wrap for another Monday show.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Have a great rest of your day and start to your week.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.