six months to freedom

SIX MONTHS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM
Most of us have fantasized about leaving the rat race. The never ending drudgery of going to work and sucking up to the boss and paying a never ending stream of rental payments or mortgage payments. Always making a car or a mechanic payment. Never having enough paycheck until the end of the month. Wondering which credit card to use to pay off which bill you can’t afford to pay. Wondering if you can afford to send the kids to college. Hoping all the stress doesn’t get you sick enough where you need medical care which you can’t afford. This is most of us. It means you are normal. It also means you are a nice wage slave, much to the delight of our masters, the bankers, politicians, corporate titans. You have been brainwashed into thinking this is necessary and normal. You need to decide to be a little smarter than the average bear.
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First off, the only thing required from you is determination. That is it. No skills, no money, nothing but really, truly making up your mind that what you absolutely want to do is break free from the treadmill. It will be a tough six months, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Six months is a small price to pay. Just think about all the times that you barely noticed six months go by in a blur of ten hour work days, chores and errands, weekends sitting numbly in front of the TV trying to shut off your brain so you don’t go crazy. Breaking free of the rat race is simple. Can you work hard for six months to drastically improve your quality of life forever after? It is really a no brainer. We all fear the unknown and strive to avoid it. And we all do not wish to diminish our lifestyle. But as survivalist you should know that we will face that prospect in the future anyway. Voluntarily simplifying your life now eliminates a lot of stress and gives you the financial ability to prepare for societies Big Flush. You will still be working, but with a lot less stress and no debt.
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First off, we need to jettison all middle class paraphernalia. The car you buy on payments. The nice house with a thirty year mortgage. All credit card debt. Repo everything. If you must, declare bankruptcy. It might not be moral to discharge your debts, but the credit card companies are some of the same people who devalue your dollar every year by at least seven percent, the Fed. Screw the bankers. Go to a lawyer that gives a free consultation. See what needs to be done. The essence should be to allow yourself to be fired and take a job earning less than the median state income. And give up all your positions of any real value. But check with the pros first. Second, start living on a lot less. You can do without cell phones and cable TV and two cars ( just one of you work, or at least one get a job close to home.
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If you are single or just a childless couple, live out of a van. Have a normal size van and block out light from all windows. Now you can park a lot of places an RV would be kicked out of. Put in a mattress, buy your groceries daily, use a pee bottle and a five gallon bucket with seat, trash bags and cat litter. Shower at a gym where you have a membership. Spend as much time as possible out of it, such as at the park or library, to avoid cabin fever. If you have kids, buy a cheap travel trailer. Now pack everyone in. Try to get everyone out of the place except for dinner and a few hours at night. Go to work, send the kids to school or to friends, try to avoid staying in their too long together. Think of it as a hotel room for sleeping. This is going to suck. Know this before hand. Everybody needs space away from each other. Tough it out. It is only for six months.
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While you are living like sardines, save every extra dime. Spare no means to save. Squeeze every penny until Lincoln screams like a little bitch. The more money you save, and the quicker you save it, the quicker you can escape this restricted lifestyle. Even making a small amount of money, in six months you should have enough money saved for a piece of land. A crap piece of land, to be sure, but it is paid for and all yours. Now move the van or trailer on to it. Take the same amount of money you had been saving for the land and build or buy a better home. Used mobile, larger trailer, add-ons to the trailer, cabin, whatever. Build it with cash. No debt. Sure, you might still have debt from discharging your debts through bankruptcy, but you longer have a mortgage or car payment or credit card debt. You still have to work but at least you can keep most of what you make. You are no longer in a life time of debt. You are living a lot more simplistic life, but you have a lot less stress. You can work a job with a lot less stress, a lot less chance of being victim to corporate downsizing, layoffs or outsourcing.
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The kids will hate you. Perhaps. Maybe after prying them away from the concrete jungle they will come to love living in the country. My fondest memories of childhood were roaming the woods when we lived in the country. The wife will hate you. If you are just a paycheck instead of a life-mate. Take the extra time to explain how you are free from the danger of losing high paid jobs and everything that goes with it. You are no longer living paycheck to paycheck. You might have a lot less things but you are also free from the responsibility for them and the danger of losing them in an economic downturn. You have more security with a bought piece of land than a mortgage. A smaller home is easier to heat and cool when energy prices skyrocket. You might just have to turn your marriage from a democracy ( at the best ) or, more likely a Fem rule to a benevolent dictatorship with you at the helm so you can force these changes. If divorce and losing the children are a threat, well, that is where you alone decide. You might just have to stay the course and sink with the ship. Good luck to you.
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All this is a tough choice. Keep your creature comforts and high stress, or leave it behind for a stress free life of genteel poverty. Each has its pros and cons. Only you can decide. But be honest with yourself. If you do nothing and stay in the same trap, are you better off or are you just buying a little more time before you have to give it up anyway?
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