Intentionally think about and design your life to improve your lifestyle
Most people will find this post after they have already made important life decisions.
You already have a place to live.
You already have a job.
You already have transportation.
And once decisions like those are made, they seem to gain a certain amount of inertia.
They seem to be hard to change.
If you've found this after you have already made those decisions, or if they've been made for you:
I understand.
But you will still find value here.
Even moreso if you manage to read this before you make those decisions!
What is "lifestyle"?
If you could design your lifestyle, what would you choose?
A life with extra money?
Freedom to choose how you spend your time?
Good relationships?
The way your live your life is determined by these factors.
The size of your house is the #1 predictor of your expenses.
If you want to have a life that costs you a ton of money, buy a big house.
Or rent a big apartment.
Go ahead.
You know how impressive it looks to have a big place.
But who are you trying to impress?
Do they even care?
Do they think about your big house all the time?
A big house costs a lot to keep.
It costs a lot to insure.
It costs a lot to heat and cool because there is so much air inside to "condition."
That's a lot of electricity, natural gas, and water.
Big houses also require more landscaping, more maintenance, and more security.
Large houses also create a much stronger-than-normal psychological pressure to
Keep Up with the Joneses.
And that sickness spreads like a cancer into other areas of your life.
It makes you want to have nicer cars, which are expensive to buy, maintain, and insure.
It makes you feel like you have to have a boat, like your expensive neighbors do.
It makes you feel like you have to get the jet-skis too! The list just goes on and on.
All those expensive things require that you earn more in order to have them. That means you have no choice but to work harder, to take that job you don't want, to give up on your passion because it doesn't pay enough, to take the promotion or transfer that you don't want, or just to work more hours - all just because you need the money!
By signing up for all those expensive things, it requires that you give up your own agency - your own free choice! - to determine anything else about how you live your life; your lifestyle.
Do not yoke yourself with the burden of expenses that are not deeply important to your living the lifestyle you desire!
Killer Commute!
For Richer or Poorer....It's your choice.
Plan to live close to work.
That will reduce or possibly even eliminate the need for a car and its contingent expenses.
Fuel, wear and tear, routine maintenance, insurance, etc. All of these costs are directly impacted by the length of your commute! Not to mention the psychological and possibly medical harm caused by the stress of commuting in heavy traffic and sitting for lengthy periods of time.
If you can walk to work, that's wonderful!
If you cannot commute by bike, carpool/rideshare or take mass transit!
The best way to do this is to find a place to live
after you've found the job that you want!
That way, you have the job you want, and you can project how much income you might earn from it.
Knowing that amount of income will help you select a place to live that fits your
budget and which is really, really close to your work.
If possible, live East of work so any traffic that you must deal with is minimized and the sun is not in your eyes when you are commuting. (Assuming that you have chosen your job during "normal" hours.)
Your commute and your mode of transportation have a direct impact on how much you spend and how much time you spend not doing something else that you would rather do....
Do you love to sleep in?! Would you rather do that instead of getting up early in order to commute?
Would you rather be spending that time with friends or family?
It is your choice.
You just have to choose, intentionally, to configure your life to support your desired lifestyle.
Hobbies, Diet, and Exercise
Each of these things should bring you pleasure and they shouldn't be too expensive.
Everyone should have a hobby. But be mindful about how much money and space you dedicate to it.
Perhaps you can find a way to incorporate your hobby into your work? And keep the equipment for your hobby there? That frees up a perceived "need" for space for your hobby equipment that puts pressure on you to choose a bigger, more expensive residence. Just be intentional about this area of your life so that it lives in concert with the other areas of your lifestyle design plan.
Your dietary and exercise choices will have a huge impact on your life. Invest a little time in planning them out so that you can have what you want with ease.
A lot of very high achievers swear by eating the same breakfast everyday.
Some even have the same lunch every day. This frees them up from having to spend mental energy and willpower on small decisions which they can largely automate - or at least have it feel like it is automated.
Plan your meals ahead and cook/prep ahead of time. This will save you a lot of energy and time, but especially it will save you money. Too many people pay extra for the convenience of going out to eat too often. Going out to eat should be a treat, not your default option.
I have a package of
Bel-Vita bars for breakfast with home-brewed coffee. (Sometimes I have two packs of Bel-Vita bars.)
Similarly, your exercise choices can be a drag on your lifestyle or a synergistic support.
Many people buy large, expensive, heavy exercise equipment.
It seems like the "normal" thing to do.
Chances are though, that if you live close to work, you also live close to a gym. If you do, you can pay the gym a small fee on a monthly basis and have access to a much broader array of equipment than you would if you warehoused all that stuff yourself, at your own residence.
If there isn't a "real" gym nearby, there is probably someone with a pretty nice one in a garage near you. And they're likely hoping that someone like you would come along and offer them some money to use their stuff and their space. You might be their first customer as they build their small business!
If there is no acceptable gym or yoga studio or otherexerrciseboxthingthatyouliketodoforexercise that is within walking distance, then you can workout at home.
Craigslist can be your friend as you find cheap ways to get the equipment you need.
It is never okay to drive to the place you exercise.
It would be better to go for a run or a walk around your neighborhood and then
turn a park or playground into a gym.
You know what else is expensive?
Kids. Kids are expensive.
They're also optional. Children also divide a family's wealth as it is passed down.
How many will you have? One? Two? Three? Four? None? It is up to you. Be intentional with your family planning. It will have a direct impact on how big a home you think you need and how much income you feel that you need to earn.
But kids are really cute, too. Totally worth it.
Pets too, are expensive. And optional. They cost a surprising amount to keep and their medical expenses can be a lot. They also create a demand for space and may lead you to choose one (usually more expensive) residence over the other because of them.
Pets also require planning and they limit your spontaneity and travel. You have to plan for their care.
It's gonna be okay.
Ending up with the lifestyle you want is all about the decisions you make.
If you don't have the lifestyle that you want, start making reasonable changes to get it.
You do not have to change everything. And you don't have to do it all at once.
Start looking for a new place to live that is closer to your work.
Maybe you want to start looking for a less expensive mode of transportation.
If you want to go crazy, look for someone to buy all your large, heavy, expensive exercise equipment and get a gym membership. Decide if you can you rent the equipment you need for your hobby instead of buying it and storing it yourself.
It really all comes down to understanding that every decision you make has an impact on your lifestyle forever (or until you consciously re-decide to do something else).
Every dollar you earn gets assigned a job,
either on purpose (through intentional lifestyle design),
or by default.
The more you spend on your shelter, transportation, hobbies, eating out, etc, the less you have to save and invest or to spend on the things that make you happiest at a deep level.
Conversely, if you are saving and investing every dollar, you are trading for the future utility of that dollar and not being able to enjoy some thing or experience that you could be using it for, now, at the present time.
Simply realize that every dollar is an inherent tradeoff.
Use that as a thought to guide your design of your balance of saving, investing, spending.
Realize too, that every minute is irretrievable, and that perhaps you don't want to spend too many of those minutes commuting.
