Let's Get Frugal - Early Steps Towards Financial Independance*

One of the key parts of our journey is aiming for enough financial freedom to let us make different choices about how we live day-to-day. Soon after we switched to Drifting Towards Simplicity, we began taking steps to evaluate and improve our finances. In this post, I'll share what we're currently doing, our future plans, and what the journey has been like so far.

Step #1 - Brainstorming

It might seem simple, but this was where we started. What can we cut out, change, or live without? This brainstorming made us focus on cutting back on eating out (Door Dash is our weakness), shopping, and subscriptions—easy and obvious places to save. Not as obvious was when I started calling our utility providers to try and lower our bills. It didn’t always work, but I managed to reduce or restructure a few.

Step #2 - The Low Hanging Fruit - Unused Subscriptions

This one was a shocker. We were wasting hundreds of dollars each month on unused or duplicate subscriptions. It happens so quickly, and sometimes we didn’t even realize we had multiple versions of something or forgot to cancel a free trial. Two Prime accounts, Microsoft subscriptions for devices we no longer use—this step helped a lot.

Step #3 - Reaching Out to Our Financial Advisor

It was as simple as sending an email, explaining to our financial advisor where we were at and asking him to prepare some scenarios for us. What if we boosted our savings, lived on one income, and saved the other? What if we sold our home in a few years and moved to a place with a lower cost of living—what kind of income could we get from our investments? He got back to us right away, excited and supportive. This is the kind of support everyone needs from a financial advisor!

Step #4 - Budgeting

We haven't started detailed budgeting yet, but it's next on our list! I want to make sure our expenses make sense across key categories (Wants, Needs, & Savings). I'll be looking for templates, tools, and advice to get started in the coming weeks.

Step #5 - Should we start a Side Hustle?

My husband and I need to start thinking about ways to replace some or all of our income with digital, flexible, and remote options. What if we could build a business we could take anywhere? What if we could support our family from anywhere?

DISCLAIMER - My family and I are fortunate and do not face financial insecurity. We can cover our monthly expenses and contribute to our 401(k) plans, among other savings.