Live Like You’re Dying Day 16 – Thoughts

thoughtsWell it has been a awhile since I have updated, and it isn’t because I have actually died, but I have just been busy living life!  But that doesn’t mean this topic of living like I am dying hasn’t been on my mind.  When choosing to spend time doing something or planning something ahead (even those activities past November) I have wondered to myself “Is this something I would do if I am actually dying?”  If that answer is a yes, it is pretty easy to make that decision.

Some examples are a recent euchre tournament I participated in at my Aunt’s.  Got to spend some good quality time with family, and some of their friends.  Although I was soundly defeated at rank eight of twelve participants, it is a bit easier to forgo my competitiveness and just enjoy the moments.  I have also made plans to visit my friend in Ohio in November and to watch the Trans Siberian Orchestra this December with my parents.  I have also spent some time just chillin’ playing video games so I am not without an excuse as to not doing an update on this blog. Continue reading

Live Like You’re Dying Day 9 – Automation

automaticContinuing with this month’s theme of living like I were to die at the end of the month, I think it is important to try to setup your significant other for success.  And this leads me to think about automation and streamlining processes to help them.

Financially there are many things you can automate.  You can have automatic payments, automatic savings, and even automatic investing.  But you can use free tools such as mint to help track spending spending and growing their net worth when you are gone. Continue reading

Live Like You’re Dying Day 8 – Outsourcing

OutsourceHere we are on the eighth day of October already, 23 days remaining in this hypothetical scenario.  So back to some deep thoughts as to how to handle these final days.  Today I am thinking about outsourcing tasks.  You may wonder why I would outsource if I choose to work, but it is all about a return on time.  I would get over $400 an hour staying at work just for the group life insurance and I make no where near that amount of money now. Continue reading

Live Like You’re Dying Day 7 – Who Do You Tell

QuestionSo if you were dying, who would you tell?  Do you really want everyone to know that you will be dying or do you just want to spend time with everyone as you normally would?  It is not like I would go down the street and just be like, “Hi!  I’m dying!”.  But where do you draw the line?  Would you tell everyone who you know, announce it on facebook, twitter, your blog, or whatever else?

I am not sure who I would tell that I am dying, if I actually was.  Of course immediate family would need to know.  But what about more distant family and friends?  Would you rather just stop by, have a good time like how you are used to, or be burdened with constantly explaining to everyone.  Most things that kill you are obvious, but I am kind of going under the assumption that I would just cease to exist at the end of October for the theme.  Not that I would disappear, but that I am perfectly capable of doing what I do now throughout this theoretical experience.  So therefore, I would not appear to be any different despite the fact that I am dying.  So since it is not obvious, back to the question, who do you tell? Continue reading

Live Like You’re Dying Day 6 – The Weekends

LeisureOriginally I had intended to post every day throughout this month.  But I ended up not logging into the blog over the weekend.  It was nice just to spend time with my wife and enjoy our town’s festival which was going on that weekend in celebration of… red underwear… Not sure why they ever choose that, but I won’t say what they actually call it or it would be pretty easy to see what town I live in. Continue reading

Live Like You’re Dying: Day 3 – The Moment

tree colorBeing so busy with work and life in general, when is the last time you stopped to enjoy the moment?  I am constantly someone who feels like I must be doing something.  If I am waiting for dinner to finish cooking I am on the tablet or computer.  If I am eating I feel like I should be playing a card game with the wife or watching something with her.  I just feel like I need to be doing something.  I am not someone who just sits on a porch enjoying the moment.  I know that Jason at Dividend Mantra mentioned before, I don’t recall which post, but he is just happy being present.  Perhaps I should spend more time just being focused on what is now and enjoying it to the fullest. Continue reading

Live Like You’re Dying: Day 2 – Work

officeIn day one I talked about what how I believe I would take the news that I only have 31 days left to live.  Now it is on to making life decisions based on this news.  If I were actually dying in what, now less than 30 days, it would seem like the obvious choice to quit working.  But if I did so I could lose employer group life insurance coverage at just the wrong time.  Personally, my employer provides $40,000 in group coverage.  If I am dying because of a medical condition, I may be able to take all of that time off through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and keep my coverage.  The worst case would be if I am still able to work and cannot take FMLA time off.  Well I still have two weeks of vacation and 22 works days left on the calender. Continue reading

Live Like You’re Dying: Day 1 – The News

Grave

Kirsten at Indebted Mom posed an interesting challenge.  It is for 31 days and it is to live like you are dying.  Now you can’t actually do everything you would do if you were actually dying, because I have to plan as if I am not.  But I am interested in seeing if this challenge will change my perspective on life. Continue reading

Prioritizing

timeWe all know that there is only so much time in a day and because work takes up so much of your waking hours, we have to prioritize which activities we choose to do and which ones we choose not to do. For some reason… I feel like right now I just don’t have enough time. Maybe I am sleeping too much, maybe I can improve in some ways much more than I currently have, but I just feel like there is not enough time to do what I want to do while working full time. And until that full-time job situation is taken care of through financial independence I have to look at what it is I spend my time on and really how much time do I actually spend not just doing the activity itself, but the entire process of time I take in preparation or after the activity.  So really I need to take a hard look at myself and ask if I value how my time is spent.  With 168 hours to account for each week, I should be able to really look at this time at see if it is being spent wisely and if it truly is with what matters.  So if you are dying to know how I spend what I consider my most valuable resource, look no further! Continue reading

The Road to Financial Independence

Road

I have had a vague idea of when I would become financially independent.  Somewhere between age 46-50 was the general idea.  I can’t say when it will happen for certain, circumstances change, inflation happens, or life events.  But I can say if everything cost wise and lifestyle wise were to move in the same direction as where I am today, that I know when I can retire.  The good news is I am a bit of an optimist and I hope I can create a larger spread in savings, paying off debt, and make a little more income than inflation.  Who knows, if this blog starts to make a little money a couple years into the journey that is all money that will speed up this process.

After reading a detailed post from Big Guy Money on his journey to financial independence I thought maybe I should share my thoughts on the time frame for my journey here. So this post will kind of give you an idea of where I am going now and how I plan to get there.  Kind of like a travel guide subject to changes due to unforeseen circumstances. Continue reading