Yet 2012 marks a big decision point for me going forward.  Do I try and run again for re-election this fall as a school board trustee or let the term close out and focus more on writing?  After much internal debate over the holiday season and planning I’ve made a big decision.

First off, I should provide some context for this.  Let me first say, being a politician at any level is likely one of the hardest jobs there is.  If you do your job right, things work well and you likely don’t get one ounce of credit.  Then other times you do the right thing in your mind and you might even come out looking like a villain in the media. Regardless of that, you also get to miss a lot of time with my family attending meetings. Not to mention you never had all the facts and frankly you often aren’t a expert in that area at all when you make a decision.  In a nut shell, there are significantly easier ways for me to earn money with a lot less stress.  In fact I can fill out one form at my day job and get an instant 10% raise for less time than I put into my board work.  So the following decision isn’t about the money.

Yet despite the public abuse at times, I feel like I did get some things done over my last 2.5 years on the board like finally get a focus on student achievement and I still have things I would like to finish.  As such I will step up and try to run for a second term this fall during the next election.  Even if this means a four year term this time, I will to serve if the public will have me.

Just after I signed for my mortgage, I ran into a serious cash flow problem. Some of my expenses went up (such as car insurance) that I didn’t expect when I was figuring out if I could afford to buy my condo.  I had already put in a request for a salary review and was waiting for the outcome of that. In the interim, my net pay covered my monthly bills not including food or any other “luxuries”. So I did the only thing I could think of to solve the problem, I took a second job.

In my day job, I rarely talk to the public, instead I deal with paper and numbers. In my “second” job, I’m on the front lines, customer service at a sod farm. The increase in hours that I worked and the money stress left me utterly exhausted.  This 40 year old body cannot handle 65 hour weeks like it could when it was 20. Sunday was my day off. I slept, ate, rested, napped, any thing to recharge my batteries for another long week. I got through it by reminding myself that it was short term, and by watching my emergency fund get replenished.

Being a seasonal business, the hours they needed me to work decreased at the end of June. I worked for 6 hours on Saturdays, and no evenings during the week. I cannot say I was disappointed. My main job income had been increased (in my industry we are lucky if we get an increase once every 5 years).  While I still have to watch every dollar, if I’m frugal with groceries, I can put extra payments on my debt, and not panic when I discover an unexpected expense (more on plumbing problems later).

At the end of September, the second job didn’t need me at all any more, and has asked if I’ll come back next year. This got me thinking about other times I’ve done the two job life, and the differences between then and now.

A plan needs to be in place. Previously when I picked up a second job, I found we would eat restaurant or store prepared food more, we would fight more about chores not getting done, and I always felt like I needed a holiday after I stopped (get rested, or rewarded for my efforts). But there was never any “more” money in the bank at the end to pay for that holiday, or for anything else.

This time, there was no “extras”. No eating out or “day-vacations”. The boyfriend helped wherever he could, whether it was making meals, doing my home chores for me, and generally making sure that I could put my full attention and energy to making that extra money, and keeping it. I feel that having a plan and support are crucial to the success of working extra to help get ahead.

Will I do the second job again next spring? I think I will (providing my support is there again), but I will definitely not work quite as many hours, maybe just Saturdays and 3 nights a week.

Have you worked a second job? Any tips to help make it successful?

I apologize for the drop in the frequency of posts and the quality of my writing for the last month or so.  I was little overwhelmed from the new day job and really needed a solid break from everything, which I did manage to do during my vacation in July.  Unfortunately this blog got the short end of the stick during it. By quirk of fate I was also reading a few books regarding life planning and doing lots of thinking about what do I want from life.  I was defining what is working, what isn’t working and what would I change next.

So while I’m not totally done that process yet I am getting closer to defining what I do want to keep and this blog is firmly in that camp.  So while I get back into the routine of writing more and paying attention to the quality of the writing I thought this would be a good time to ask you for your opinion.

What would you like to see from this blog?  Please feel free to name topics, posts you would like to see an update to, excel tools or even short ebook ideas.  Heck I’m even open to the idea I should just finish switching this blog over to a group blog by picking up a few more regular writers since we are half way there already.  Frankly feel free to ask for the moon if you like, I may not be able to do it, but you can ask for it.  Or if you find it easier feel free to outline what isn’t working for you on this blog.  I’m open to any and all feedback that is constructive.  You can either leave a comment on this post or send me an email at candian.dream.free.at.45[at]gmail.com.

Thanks again for your patience during this period.

Tim

Being broke is the simple state of being without money.  It might be right before your next pay cheque, so while you are without money you are not without hope of more money.  Being poor is a completely different mind set, you don’t have any money, but you also don’t have any hope of more money.  So at that point worries of having a place to live or having enough to eat come forward.  So I have experienced the first state of being broke, but I’ve never been poor.

I grew up firmly in the middle class (or upper middle class depending on your definition).  So I never went to bed hungry (unless I had been a stubborn idiot and tried to say I won’t eat supper because I didn’t like it).  I grew up always having that security behind me, so I didn’t worry about going hungry or having a place to sleep.  This carried forward even during my broke times as a student.  I always knew if push came to shove I could always beg for some grocery money from my parents and get it (not that I ever did it).  Yet this background level of security has marked me with my approach to money.

I’m not afraid of living on a low amount of spending.  I don’t equate a low level of spending with being poor or a lack of security.  As such my retirement plan can contain a modest level of spending ($27,000/yr) that might scare the crap out of others, but I’m fine with it.

You see money really isn’t just money.  Money is also your hopes, dreams, fears all wrapped up in the guise of numbers at your bank or bills in your pocket.  Your childhood can mark your relationship with money, so if you have ever been poor that will affect you greatly and likely for life.  That desire to never been poor again can drive people to odd savings targets that are really too rich and they can often fall into a cycle of never having enough money or things.  I know I will never be that way, but I do understand how that can drive people in their retirement planning (I’ve had several long discussions with people who have been poor).

I’ve a bit of the opposite of that since I don’t equate a lower level of spending as risky.  Actually I would argue the opposite is true.  A lower level of spending in your life actually allows more savings and thus better security at a much younger age than others.  Also by leaving work while you are younger allows you more time to earn money at other opportunities, that might not exist when you get older and have poorer health.  So while I’m planning an early retirement that might scare you, I would argue I’m going to be better off than most people at that age.  I won’t have to work, so layoffs won’t be a worry, food will always be at the table and I will never be forced to move out of my home by the bank or a landlord.  I just might spend my entire like never knowing the feeling of being poor.

So how about you?  Have you ever been poor or broke?  How did the experience change your relationship with money?

At the end of 2007 our second child was on the way and I started to notice a difference in my perception of the world.  In the beginning of my early retirement journey I fell into the trap of a lot of people that I thought about early retirement as a solution to a better quality of life, but then I started to realize that there is more to life than just savings.  You can do things now to improve your life that yes do cost money, but often can lead to a better balance now and in the future.  So after our second baby was born in the spring of 2008 I had arranged to have a seven week parental leave to help out at home.  This was despite the fact my wife was taking a year off with no income since she was self employed.

It was one of the best things I have ever done.  I loved those weeks off at home and so did the rest of my family.  I helped out a lot with the baby and also demolished our old deck with my oldest son.  It was again one of those periods in our lives when we didn’t have much extra money, but we enjoyed ourselves at lot regardless.  I’ve noticed that in my life.  A lot of my most happy periods I had little to no extra money.  Perhaps this is why I find the concept of retiring early on a small income not something to be afraid of, but rather looked forward to.

I also got some perspective on my work during that time off and decided that my job at the time had a  fatal issue with it.  I liked the work and the people, I just disliked the highly variable workload that goes with working at a consulting firm.  So in late 2008 I moved on to another job for an increase in pay, but more importantly generous time off benefits and I was hoping a more steady workload.  The steady workload did occur, which made me very happy with my new workplace.

Yet after two kids I was starting to notice and care about more larger scale issues and I began to get involved more with following and being involved with politics.  So when I noticed no one was running for the public school board for our subdivision  in late 2009, it seemed like a good time to test the waters and I filed my nomination papers.  Much to my surprise I was acclaimed to the position for a three year term.  I also found out it happen to pay fairly decently with a salary of $23,400 a year.

So now I was doing some work that helped in my desire to improve the world for people and making more money, but after six months of working both jobs I realized I was doing too much.  My family was suffering and so was I.  My wife was even trying to take a self directed course during this time and we found that was hard for me to support.  If I kept this up I would likely just burn out sometime before the end of my term.  So I had a great meeting with my boss where we discussed some ideas and I proposed dropping down to 80% time.  I was pleasantly surprised when he agreed and we started a six month trial which would become permanent after that time (if we both agreed it was working).

From my perceptive the change has been worth every penny of pay I lost going to reduced hours.  It’s also if anything made me more loyal to my place of work than any raise they could have gave me.  (Note to all HR departments: the new coin of the realm isn’t money, but rather flexibility.)  It has also allowed my family to streamline our week together to place common appointments on Friday and then leave more time on the weekend to be together.  My wife even enjoys the situation as it has allowed her time to take another course and complete a certification for her daycare.

Then if that wasn’t enough positive change to our lives, I had the opportunity to write for the Toronto Star early this year and fulfill one of my dreams of getting paid to write something.  It was a lot of work, but I did enjoy the experience overall.  It also provided my the motivation to push ahead with my book project in 2011.

Now of course going after some of these dreams of ours it has made our  lives more enjoyable now, but also helped us out financially.  In three years we have increased out net worth from just over $200,000 to over $370,000, but even more impressive is we have paid off almost $60,000 of our mortgage and increased our investments from about $47,000 to $117,000.  That’s an average reduction of debt and investment increase of about $43,000 per year.

So in my last success post I focused on the fact you can defy the odds and early retirement is possible.  I still agree with that conclusion, yet I would also point out you don’t have to wait to retire to pursue you dreams and have a better quality of life.  The two goals are NOT mutually exclusive.  Dare to dream to have it all, you might be surprised on what you can do.

1. There are three writers on this site: Tim, Robert and Dave (see the About page).  So don’t assume everything is done by one person, the majority of the posts until the last year have been done by me, Tim, but after that you will have to watch out who you are asking the questions to.

2. The Math Behind Freedom 45. The actual numbers on how I plan to retire early are in a series of posts called “Retirement Calculations” located under the Popular Posts sidebar (here is the link to the first one).  Before you start asking questions I suggest you read that five part series which will likely answer the majority of the obvious questions on how much I plan to save and what I currently spend each year.

3. Questions? Feel free to ask any questions you have on any post, but I would encourage you to leave questions regarding the series for Moneyville either on that site or on this post.   For our regular blog readers here is the link to the first Moneyville article.

Enjoy the site and if you want more please subscribe to the blog.

You see Moneyville.ca is the new personal finance site recently launched by the Toronto Star and includes some excellent writers including James Daw, Ellen Roseman, Bryan Borzykowski, Krystal Yee (of Give Me Back My Five Bucks fame) and…me.  How did that happen?  Well the story goes a little something like this.

I was contacted in late May by the editor of the new site, Adam Mayers.  He asked me if I would be willing to write a freelance article for the site.  For a blogger, being offered direct pay for article was a great gig (since we are used to producing free content).  The fact the article was for the largest circulation paper in the country had the feeling of a lottery win.  So I wrote the first article and submitted it.   Adam like it (after some heavy editing since paper writing is significantly different than blog writing) and then asked me to provide a few other story ideas which I sent over.

Then things really got interesting when I was asked to write not just one more article, but another four.  So suddenly I spend a lot of my summer writing a five part series on early retirement and the implications of reaching my goal of ‘freedom 45.’  The series should be out later this month.  I’ll keep you all posted on when it goes up on the website.

So that is how I ended up with the third job of freelance writer over the summer.  Ironically I’ve been working towards early retirement to allow me to do more writing including freelance, but I’ve just started doing now rather than later.  The universe apparently has a well developed sense of humour.

So go ahead and check out Moneyville.ca, beyond the interesting articles and blogs there is a contest to win $10,000. Are you still reading this post? Go try to win some money already!

I’m open to just about any idea with the following restrictions (other than those mentioned above):

• No I won’t give it to you
• It can’t be something illegal
• No one should get hurt

Otherwise feel feel to suggest anything and if I really like your idea I might just spend the money the same way.

I personally have tried to ensure I have a well rounded set of interests to support a meaningful life when I leave the world of full time work.  As such here are a few things that I will continue to build capacity in:

1. Volunteering.  I have to admit after doing the school board trustee job for a while I rather like doing some  meaningful work in my life.  I can see helping out in various organizations as I have the time and using my skills to support the work they do (I’ll have to shop around and find out who’s work I like the best).
2. Reading.  I continue to read a lot regardless of how busy I become.  I also try to keep expanding my sphere of interest by trying new topics.
3. Gardening.  I’m not a good gardener, but I keep trying to get better at it as I learn more from others and library books.
4. Writing.  Beyond keeping working on this blog I’m going to try to working on a couple of manuscripts that I have going.  I will also expand into the publishing side a bit by trying to self publish at least one book.
5. Physical activity.  Including yoga, roller blading and I’m thinking about buying a bike (I haven’t owned one for years) since my oldest has now learned to ride a bike.
6. Wine Making.  An old hobby of my that I could easily spend more time doing in the future.
7. Building Things.  I enjoy fixing things and in the next couple of years a couple of family members will be building new cottages so I intend to help out and expand my skill sets in construction, electrical and plumbing. I’m also thinking about doing a furniture project as I can’t find a new desk that I like.
8. Politics.  I’ve also been a bit of political junkie so I might spend more time supporting a party or running for a different office in the future.  The other side of the coin would be to do more on the activist side for a particular cause.
9. Family and friends.  I could easily spend more time keeping in better contact with people.  This is one of my week spots at the moment as time has been tight lately.

Of course this isn’t every I could do, but rather some ideas for building capacity in various interests.  Over all I’m not even worried about filling my time.  I think at least on that side of the coin I’m ready for early retirement when I get there.  So do you try to expand your interests and try new things?  If so what have you tried lately?

I keep a small black moleskin notebook with me most of the time to write down random ideas for blog posts. Everything from noting an interesting survey on TFSA’s where 92% of people didn’t get all five questions correct to wondering if the decay of the financial standing of the US will lead civilization’s downfall.  Perhaps at best half of the ideas get used.  The other half are often too short of a post or get lost in the idea bank.  I consider writing for the blog more habit than difficult and generating ideas take no effort at all. Yet I will go out of my way and invent things to do avoid writing other things, but I will always write for the blog (unless I’m sick).    Somehow I find the other writing more stressful than blog (even including the book based on the blog, ironic eh?).

To warm up some days for some writing I’ll open a file and just type what ever happens to come into my head for ten minutes.  I often have a candle lit near me because I find the smell and the motion of the flame soothing.  I prefer to write early in the morning because I enjoy the quiet of the house.  Yet I can also write with the kids less than 10 feet away and playing.

I’m terrified at times at having success with my writing, like some how having a huge blog or a decent selling book would create expectations that I couldn’t live up to.  I often wonder if I’m a fraud for having the readership I currently do on this blog.  It’s like the feeling that you, the readers, can’t possibly be interesting my opinion of personal finance.  I’m just some guy from the prairies with a wife, two kids and a crazy dream.  I have often doubted that anything I’ve ever written was even good, despite the assurances of many others that at least parts of it are good.

I get downright bitchy if I don’t have some time to myself each week and it will even show up in my writing if I fail to get away for an hour.  The post/page will lose a certain readability that occurs with my better writing.  Interestingly enough I can handle negative feedback fine at work on my writing, but are more sensitive about my other writing.

So that’s a snap shot of my neurotic head.  So if you have any doubts, yes all writers, including bloggers have their habits and odd beliefs around their work.  It just comes with the job.  So if you do any writing, what are your habits around it?  Do you have a chair you love or an item near by when it do it?  Or can you write on post it notes in the bathroom?