The reason why.
In short, because they’re in debt. They’re in debt up to their eyeballs. Who am I referring to? It’s the person you look at and think, “I wish I had that.” Whatever “that” is. They are living paycheck to paycheck and while they may have nice things, those things are creating mountains of stress as they try to determine what bills are going to be paid and what line of credit they can afford to use.
If this is your lifestyle and you enjoy it, then keep going. If this is your lifestyle and you are looking for a way out, keep reading. The goal of Not Mrs. Jones is to help those who are in the daily grind of living paycheck to paycheck who want a way out. We want to provide resources, materials and just general advice on how to make the change to not only better your lifestyle but create an entirely new lifestyle that helps you sleep at night and see a light at the end of the never ending tunnel.
My name is Not Mrs. Jones and I want to share my story in hopes of sharing my mistakes and keeping you from making the same. I woke up in my early thirties and wanted a solution. I didn’t want to continue working just to pay bills. I wanted to know there was more to what I was doing and a purpose to what I was doing. I searched for financial literacy and discovered Dave Ramsey. I had seen his material previously but never dug in. In 2017, I read one of his books and it changed the way I thought about money. But I wanted more. I continued to read and discovered the FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement and couldn’t get enough. The idea that I would be able to work and retire while my kids were still kids was mind blowing. It changed everything! Until I looked at a retirement calculator and thought “that isn’t early!”
It took several weeks to process what “early” was. Early, to me, meant I would only work a few more years. Early, to me, meant I could only work part-time for the next few years. Early, to me, meant it would be easy. Early didn’t mean any of those things. Early meant not 65. After that sunk in, I was motivated again. I didn’t want to waste 30 years of my life at a job I did not like. I wanted to spend that time with my family and doing the things I loved. I could do it in ten years. And that is where we begin.
When I first read about financial independence I had a car loan, credit card bills and over six figures in student loan debt. I was fresh out of law school and wasn’t able to make my first student loan payment without applying for an income based repayment plan. I slowly began to wither away at what debt I could. At the same time, I got married and merged a family. My husband and I embarked on this journey, somewhat together. He wasn’t as easy to coerce to the FIRE movement. I was happy to eat ramen and save and pinch every penny. He, on the other hand, provided the balance I needed to continue to live while paying down debt.
We slowly started to make changes. We traded in our new car for an older model that was much less expensive. We sold the boat we never used. We paid off personal loans that were used to consolidate. But we still had a dream, we wanted to buy a house. Why did we have this dream? Well, it’s the “American Dream” isn’t it? Go to college, get married, buy a house, have kids, buy another car and continue this perpetual cycle of working and spending until you’re roughly 65 to only be free to enjoy your life for maybe 15 years. If you have a high stress job, that longevity is even less.
15 years is why I wanted to be different. I refuse to wait until I’m 65 and my kids are grown to devote my time to them. I refuse to wait until my health is declining from years of sitting at a computer to enjoy the outdoors. I refuse to take on the “American Dream” to diminish my dreams. And that is where we begin, the refusal to keep up with the Joneses.
