Everyday I am working toward living a different life

I live my life largely "against the grain." I do things a lot differently than most people, I take different risks, and have very different goals. I am making slow, gradual changes in my habits, spending, and even my own thought processes to stay the course. In short I am hell-bent on getting what I want.

What do I want?: I want to stop working and travel, volunteer, and be free.

In order for this to happen I have to achieve quite a few goals that are going to take a long time. I have to remain focused and not sway off course with all the curve-balls that life loves to throw at us. I have to be stubborn almost to the point of tunnel vision to get there. Most of the time I am doing this and sometimes I falter. It's just part of being human. We make mistakes. All the time.

As it stands today what do I need in order to meet this goal?

  • 100% Debt free. I need to have $0 monthly loan payments of any kind. I have come a long way here by getting down to my very low interest student loan and mortgage.
  • I need passive income. I estimate that I need enough income to cover at least 75-80% of my financial needs each year. Today I estimate I am under 5%. 
  • With the above two achieved I have freedom. I don't have to work full time (or even at all for a good stint) in order to live. I am free to roam the globe, work on projects, and do as I please for the majority of the time. I will probably still have money-making projects but they won't be as vital. 
  • I need to button down more. I admit that I am spending more than I should on certain things such as going out, food, and a couple others. I am slowly paring this down so I don't feel like I cut cold turkey and then feel trapped. I need to pair this with increasing my income and savings rates. This is the most important. If I can nail this the other requirements of this goal will fall into place!
This is my roadmap that I follow each day. I constantly remind myself that every dollar I save instead of spend I get $1 closer to being truly free. All of those baby steps add up to big steps and big gains for the future me where I can do as I please most of the time. I now have this top priority goal and nothing nor no one will get in my way. You only get one life!

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