Poor and free OR Rich and shackled

There seems to be a correlation between wealth and freedom that goes like this:

More wealth and more possessions equals less freedom for better living

and

Less wealth and less possessions equals more freedom for lesser living

Somewhere in the middle would be nice...

I value the freedom to think, freedom to explore and freedom to enjoy life with family and friends. Somewhere along the way I noticed that as I accumulated possessions I gave up freedom in return. This made me reevaluate my goals. Do I really want to achieve the status of living in a huge house and having lots of money to give up the freedoms I value so much? Nope!

So the idea is to find a balance in lifestyle where the net value of life is high. Meaning earning enough to live but not so much to give up what I value.

Last year was the closest I've had to reaching that goal. It was stressful and demanding but the rewards were fulfilling. Since I left my full time job I took a massive pay cut but I'm still alive and I didn't accumulate debt.

In return I was able to travel, take five weeks off, and spend more time with people who are close to me. I also had the least amount of commuting ever in my career which was nice.

What I walked away with was the sense that it is possible to tailor my life with options I never seen before. These options weren't visible until I took that first step.

I have no intent to boast here. I'm just sharing my experiences. Here's the site I found today that encouraged me to post about it:

"Are you fed up with having to live by the rules that say you have to work really hard, make lots of money so you can buy a house with a big mortgage that you then have to work even harder to pay off, until you can finally retire with a nice little nest egg pension…and finally start enjoying your life?"

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