Two weeks ago, I quit a perfectly good job. Well, not perfectly good. Among the downsides was getting yelled at once or twice a day by customers.
But this isn't the first job I've quit in the last few years. It's the fourth.
The lesson here is that I won't probably won't put up with the bullshit of any job – and they all have bullshit – unless and until I'm completely broke and in debt.
I wish to put that day off as long as possible, maybe even the rest of my life. So my new job is saving money. In other words, penny pinching.
The good news is I'm in a great position to do that: I have investments earning money and own my house outright. The risks are recessions and unexpected expenses.
The bad news is that I can't pare down much more. The home taxes are what they are, and there are no cheaper homes, except for remote, rural land. The homeowner's insurance probably won't go down as I live on a pier-and-beam house at 22 ft. altitude in a hurricane zone. Utilities are trimmed, including phone and internet. And the auto insurance is down about as low as it can go. (Giving up the van isn't something I'm willing to do.)
Fortunately, I found a way to get nearly free health insurance!
That leaves food and discretionary spending. Solution? Cooking at home from scratch (even mayonnaise and jams!), growing most or all of my food, and becoming Mr. Garage Sale and Mr. Fixit for the rest.
I already stopped eating out in any way, shape, or form – even the $1 corn dogs and $1 soda refills at Stripes. Just as well. Don't need that crap in my life. And restaurant food is almost always worse than my own cooking.
Even so, I'll likely need to make an extra bob or two for those unexpected expenses. Sooner or later, I'll do some kind of little microbusinesses. Not sure what. Plenty of ideas.
Maybe the lifestyle I'm describing sounds extreme. Maybe it's not how you'd like to live. But Man, I sure prefer it to a job. They suck the life right out of me. Plus they cost the one thing I value most in life – time.
