Financial Independence
I was going through some old emails and stumbled upon this Op-Ed piece I wrote for a financial blog back in 2018. Enjoy!
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My father has played an integral role in my financial outlook from an early age. When I was younger, he said he didn’t want to lend me money after the age of 13. I’m 31 now, and I am proud to say, that I have succeeded...much to my dad’s relief.
When I started my first job, running a paper route, I became enamoured with the idea of running my own business and being my own boss. When I got my first pay check it was better than a sugar high, I tasted freedom for the first time. After a few months had passed my dad and I were out shopping and I asked him to buy me a backstreet boys sticker book. He had asked, ‘what are you doing with all your money?’ I said, I didn’t know. Safe to say, he didn’t buy me the sticker book, but he did hand me a copy of David Chilton’s The Wealthy Barber.
I was too young to understand most of it, but I did like the concept of paying yourself first. As a 13 year old, I didn’t have any bills, but my obsession with the Backstreet Boys was becoming an expensive hobbie. When they came to town, the only way I could see them, was if I saved my money to see them live. So for every pay cheque, I’d put a little bit away for my future wedding to Brian Littrell. Before I learned about credit cards, interest, or debt, I knew that saving my money was the only way to achieve my dream of potentially marrying a Backstreet Boy.
Years later, when chasing after celebrity crushes became childish, I picked up The Wealthy Barber again. Even though I was saving some money, I wasn’t paying attention to where the rest of my money was going. I thought about what my goals were, and I made a budget. A real budget. An honest budget. Yes, I was saving, but could I be saving more? Obviously the answer was yes. Luckily, I was responsible enough to realize that one person does not need a closet full of heels you’ll never wear because you’re 16 and don’t have anywhere to wear them. Once I started being honest with myself and putting everything on paper, I set a goal and made a plan. The goal being to follow my dreams by having the financial freedom to do so. Let’s keep in mind, that even though I knew what I had to do then, it still took a few years for me to properly implement it.
When I turned 18, I had gotten to the point where I was ready to see the world. I was working at an ice cream cone factory, an extremely hot environment where I worked for long hours, constantly on my feet. A normal day at the cone factory consisted of two 15 minute breaks, no lunch, and between those breaks you would work on one of three machines. The most mind numbing of the three was the one I got to frequent, the flip cone machine. This is a conveyer belt where I stood and watched ice cream cones go down the line - when an ice cream cone passed in front of me, I would flip it over so it would stack into the ones at the end, and that’s all I could do for hours was just stand and flip, and flip, and flip, and flip. Not only that, but the main shift leader’s body ouder wafted all over the factory because he would stand in front of the main fan to air himself out. I have never been able to eat a cone since.
In order to get through the stink and sweat and sore feet, I was thinking about my next creative pursuit, I knew this job was only temporary because I was destined to become an artist. Some of my coworkers had been working there for over 10 years, and I couldn’t fathom a life like that for myself. I had to make some serious moves.
I worked weekends and overtime and saved enough money for my first trip to Europe. After three months, I was finally free to explore outside of the city I grew up in and expand my creative horizons. I had amazing experiences in Europe, but I came home with no money and went back to living at my parents’ place. My dad reminded me that this was only temporary, and I needed to focus on what I wanted to do with my life. As depressed as I was to be ‘starting over’, back at my parents place, while my friends were in university, I did what I always did, set a goal/make a plan.
I knew that I wanted to be an artist, but I also understood that it would be difficult to make a living in such a cut throat industry. I didn’t want to fall in to the trap of becoming a “starving artist”. So, I made a budget. I broke down what I would need for the lifestyle I wanted and not the lifestyle I had. Again, I was reminded to pay myself first. My dream has always been to travel and work for myself, so I made a goal that I would accomplish that within 3 years.
I became an apprentice, and because apprentices don’t make money, I got a second job in the service industry. During the day I would be in the shop answering phone calls, booking appointments and drawing, and by nights I was cleaning up puke in the bar washroom. After a year of that, I finally got my first opportunity to travel to British Columbia to work as a full time tattoo artist. I doubled down in my second job, saved extra money, and made the cross country move by myself. Another plan made, another budget written, another dream accomplished. After that first move, and first taste of real freedom, I started travelling and working heavily. I went from British Columbia to Toronto, to Turks and Caicos, to Australia, and back. This was all funded by networking, making connections, and putting myself out there to find opportunities to make my living abroad.
Often when I speak to my peers, I hear them talk about their goals or dreams, but they don’t give themselves permission to achieve them. I find a lot of their reasons are merely excuses and when I hear excuses I hear fear and uncertainty. We have a bad habit of convincing ourselves that our goals are unachievable. Goals are the end result of small steps to get there. When I write a plan, I start with the goal in mind and I work my way backwards. What are the steps that are going to get me there? Who do I need to call to help me? Who has done this better than me? What can I learn from them? These are important questions to consider before you start deeming your dreams unattainable. So my question to you is, Why all the negative self-talk?
I wasn’t sure if I would be able to see the Backstreet Boys, to travel the world, or to become self-employed. But I set my goals in a realistic manner and figured out what I had to do to get there. I truly think this is something we can all do. It didn’t come easily, it took a lot of hard work. But when I look back on the things I achieved, I’m really proud of myself! (And I know my dad is, too.)
