How to be Unbroke

I already addressed what unbroke means, but getting there can be a bit of a lengthy process depending on where you start. For my situation, unbroke was 5 steps.

1. Get one month of expenses saved up
2. Learn to budget
3. Get out of Debt
4. Build a Fuck Off Fund
5. Save for micro-retirements

The next few posts will be boring. They'll be practical and all about managing money, budgeting, and being honest about your financial situation. It isn't going to be fun, but it will get you to the point of having fun.

Today will be a fun post with a fun activity. Right now, grab a notepad (or your phone) and write down what you would do if you didn't have to work. If you were retired all of a sudden, what would you do? Make your list of 15 things and really think about how you would spend your days.

Retirement doesn't have to wait until arthritis and gray hair.

My List:

1. Fish
2. Run
3. Pursue artistic interests
4. Learn new hobbies
5. Read more
6. Cook and bake more
7. Visit friends
8. Spend more time with my family
9. Learn a new instrument
10. Go camping
11. Annual ski trip with family
12. Learn woodworking
13. Home projects
14. Travel
15. Write more

 Luckily for me, my list has lots of things that don't require a ton of money. While traveling, skiing, and a new home projects all can be expensive, most of the list I can do pretty cheaply. This is good news for my micro-retirements. Chances are, hopefully, your list doesn't just contain 15 things that cost thousands of dollar each. If it does, you'd better be willing to postpone your micro-retirements longer than me.

In just under a year, I've gone from having more debt than my annual income to my first micro-retirement. I have 13 weeks off with two vacations planned. The boring, tedious follow up posts will show the strategies that worked for me and what didn't and how to implement them. Trust me, it's worth it.