If you had me told six years ago that I'd be out of the rat race before turning 30, I probably would have laughed at you. I was $40,000 in student loan debt and had just started a band directing career that would easily have me clocking 60-80 hours per week.
Truth be told, I probably wouldn't have even thought I was actually in the race at all.
I really enjoyed teaching music at the time and had basically set out on the career that I thought I would be spending the rest of my life in. The rat race seemed like it was for people that had jobs like the people in Office Space.
I was teaching music. I was free…right? (No.)
Before we go on, let's talk about what the rat race really is
There are a lot of people that define the rat race as having to work for money, or being stuck in the corporate ladder.
In my opinion, it's about the lack of options.
When I had my student loans, I literally had to keep my teaching job to keep the wheels turning. I didn't have any other discernable skills than teaching band, so getting another job would have probably been a losing battle.
THAT is the rat race to me. Not having the ability to make a significant change in your life because you have to have a job that pays a very specific amount.
There's nothing wrong with climbing the corporate ladder or banging out TPS reports in your cubicle if the pursuit of getting to the top makes you happy.
But if you're doing it because you have to and aren't happy, it may be time to drastically change your approach.
What is life on the other side like?
Slower. Waaaay slower. Also (and more importantly) happier.
Don't get me wrong, I work way more than I probably should. The key is that I enjoy it so much that it's hard to stop myself, which in my opinion is a pretty awesome problem to have.
But all of that really hard work is basically optional at this point. It wouldn't be that hard to set up a good chunk of my business to run on auto-pilot and still make more money than I was bringing in as a teacher before. It would certainly be enough to survive, even without my wife's salary.
If you're wondering why I haven't gone ahead and already done that…it's pretty simple. I want to make a lot of money and have some nice stuff.
Even with the hard work, working for myself from a computer still has some wonderful perks:
Now I get to actually enjoy coffee and breakfast instead of drinking/eating it on the car ride to work.
Instead of popping some nonsense in the microwave for lunch, I actually get to think about what I want to eat.
Also (and most importantly), I get to see my wife for about 7 hours more a day than I used to. When we have kids, I'll be able to walk them to school every day and actually see them grow up.
But there's a little bit of a catch. I did this all in about two years with a very obscure business model. It literally took me quitting my job and scaring the crap out of myself to build what I'm building now.
It might take you more time than it did for me with more traditional methods (aka anything other than blogging haha). Nothing wrong with that.
Is it possible for you to exit the rat race too?
Maybe, but I'm certainly not going to sit here and pretend that everyone will just for the sake of getting clicks or shares. It doesn't matter how many books are written about doing it or financial independence/early retirement websites are started. Most people just won't get there.
I'd love to tell you that you could start a blog like I did and instantly make all of your dreams come true (that would help me make way more affiliate income from blog sales, but it's just not how it works).
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people won't even try anything, and a lot of people have scenarios in life where it would be essentially impossible to begin with.
That's why you should literally be ashamed of yourself if you're unhappy with the direction of your life and also in a position of actually being able to make it better, but aren't trying because it would take too much effort or sacrifice.
And yes…I know that the above paragraph is a little harsh, but that's how strongly I feel about this. Sorry.
Here are some ways you can get closer to the exit sign:
Pay off your high-interest debt
Student loans, credit cards, personal loans, car loans, whatever. If you are sitting on any debt that's much more than 4%, you should be doing everything you can to get rid of it and free up more of your cash.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that you have to pay off all of your debt in order to be doing it right. If you have low-interest debt and want to invest your extra capital in the market instead of paying it off, go right ahead.
The math is on your side homie.
But the only reason that I was able to bail from my teaching career was the fact that my 6%+ student loans were paid off. It gave me the courage to try something else (aka start this site and my marketing business), and also just made the barrier for how much money I had to earn every month lower.
Create another income stream
Looking back, I wish this was something that I had done when I was still teaching. If you work the typical 9-5 job, there is so much opportunity out there right now to bring in some kind of side hustle income.
Again, it's about giving yourself options.
Your side hustle could be something as simple as mowing yards for all I care. It really doesn't matter, just as long as it's something that could potentially be sustainable for you if you needed it to be.
Just…don't tell yourself that you don't have time. I've talked to thousands of people over the past 2-3 years, and the ones that really want to find more time in the day to make some extra cash typically end up doing it.
If you're more interested in the passive income side of things, you definitely need to bookmark this post and go back to it as many times as possible.
Reduce your expenses
In the last year or two, I've definitely let my lifestyle inflate as I've made more money. But don't get it twisted – I know how to be cheaper than dirt.
It's a skill you don't forget, and I'd jump back on that raggedy bicycle in a second if I wasn't happy with the direction of my life or business.
Most people think of frugality as a lifestyle, but I think of it as a tool that you can use as needed. Some people like to use it a lot, and some people have no idea what it even looks like.
If you feel like you're trapped, it's time to start hacking away at every expense you possibly can until the number you need to live is significantly lower than your income.
Related:
- I Deserve a New Car, Right? Wrong.
- 9 Ways to Find More Money in Your Monthly Budget
- 19 Great Ways to Save Money
- How to Get Rid of Your Car Payment: The Ultimate Guide
- Should You Refinance Your Student Loans?
Invest invest invest
Even though I've exited the rat race from a job perspective, I want to make sure that I never have to go back. Earlier this year, my wife and I decided to start investing her entire salary into index funds, and I'll be pouring in money from my business as well.
After paying off my student loans quickly and then building a business that allowed me to side-step a normal job, I'd like to start pursuing FIRE (which is why you've seen so many FIRE posts on the site lately). 🙂
I don't think I'd actually retire early because I like what I do so much, but why not at least put myself in the position to do it if needed?
If you don't really know what FIRE is (Financially Independent Retired Early), definitely check these sites out ASAP:
- Mr. Money Mustache
- FIRE Drill Podcast
- Early Retirement Extreme
- 1500 Days
- Our Next Life
- Think Save Retire
OR just see the entire list of FIRE blogs here (you're welcome).
Ultimately…you need to continually create options for yourself
If anything, I just wanted to give you a kick in the butt to get moving if you haven't already. Life is way too short to spend another second not pursuing a better version of it. After being a cog in the rat race and then stepping away from it, I can GUARANTEE that it's massively worth whatever you have to do to leave.
Question for you:
Are you stuck in the rat race? What's your exit strategy?
I feel grateful to be out of the race, though I’m also one of the few that got thrown into quite by accident, and thus don’t have financial independence, income streams coming in, I still have debt, etc.
However, coming from a high-paying corporate job taught me money actually does very, very little for my happiness.
Thus, I am LOVING the full-time blog life hustle life. (but now to grow it to sustainability)
🙂
Dude that’s a great point on money. I’ve talked to so many people that make great money and still aren’t happy. Such a weird thing, because you think it will “feel different” when your income increases. Doesn’t really work that way.
” I want to make a lot of money and have some nice stuff.”
Haha, thank you for being so down-to-earth about this. This is the only thing that bugs the crap out of me in the personal finance blog space. Wanting nice stuff is seen as a bad thing, and it really frustrates me!
Just because I want nice stuff doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to the cost and impact it has on my FIRE goals. People don’t get that a lot of times. Yes, I built a nice ass house because I want to enjoy it. Yeah it’ll mean working a bit longer or having to up my side hustle game. But guess what? I can still pay it off early and retire 15+ years early without sacrificing anything else, and I’m 100% happy with that result.
Ugh. Okay, end rant. 🙂
I think not having options is one of the most debilitating feelings. I’m thankful that I am in a position at work that I enjoy and can support my wife and I if she’d like to make a career change which may result in a decrease in pay. Lots of people don’t have that luxury.
That being said, I’d still love to quit and blog full-time. I’m not there financially and that’s okay; I’m staying with it, being consistent, and focusing on it nights/weekends. It’s a long game, and even if it doesn’t pay off we’re on target to retire early with our other saving/investing. I enjoy doing it, so why not continue anyway???
Ha yeah I’m not a minimalist blogger by any stretch. Minimalism seems to have blown up quite a bit in the past few years, so it doesn’t surprise me that there are a lot of people writing about it! It does get a little judgy in the pf community sometimes, but I think it comes from a good place of just wanting people to have more money and a better life.
Yeah dude just keep going! You never know when your site will blow up 🙂
I’m still in the rat race but working to get out. I really appreciate posts like this because they show me the pot of gold that awaits me and that keeps me motivated to keep chugging along.
Yep, just gotta keep going! If you’re really dedicated towards it, you can make it happen. Looks a little different for everyone 🙂
I love your point about giving yourself options, because that’s the key. Although Mr. Picky Pincher and I still have to work, we’ve created more options for ourselves by getting rid of a huge chunk of our debt and living small.
That’s awesome! I think that’s the most important thing. Options = freedom
Another great post! After leaving the rat race myself about a month and half ago I can completely relate to this post and you totally nailed it. I do have a question for you. How do you handle the people that make comments like “how’s your retirement going” or “it must be nice” when they don’t know/care/forget about the ridiculous 14-15 hour (7 days a week) days that you and I had to put in for months if not years on end to get to this point? I try to not let it frustrate me, but sometimes it’s hard to not snap back with a smart comment. 🙂
Thanks! Congrats btw. I always get the “it must be nice” stuff. Definitely used to bother me, but I’ve just realized that I shouldn’t ever feel guilty for creating what I’ve created. I worked hard for this. I did things that most people would never want to do, and I’m reaping the rewards of my delayed gratification. After a while, you just start to ignore the comments. Not much you can do!
Right. Why should you or I or anyone else that is working towards their goals feel guilty. Thanks for the response!
Great post.
Thank you!
Great Post! I love that you said this – Also (and most importantly), I get to see my wife for about 7 hours more a day than I used to. When we have kids, I’ll be able to walk them to school every day and actually see them grow up. – That was a big part of our dream when Chris left his 9-5 job and we are loving it as well!
Yeah that’s one of those things I really look forward to about having kids! Just being able to experience more of their lives seems like it will be awesome.
I consider myself halfway out of the rat race. I’m a CPA and I am now self-employed. I do taxes during season and non-profit and small business consulting and contract accounting work in the off season. While I build my client base, a local firm in town hires me on for tax season to help manage their crunch time. I have a lot of flexibility, and I love it.
I’ll echo what you said about life being slower on this side. It takes deliberate effort to order my day well, but I generally feel a lot less rushed not having to go clock in somewhere for 40+ hours/week.
I’m still growing my business to meet our full income needs, but we’re getting closer and we have some savings built up to buffer it. So there are times when I’m running around like a crazy person, but I enjoy the variety and getting to meet more dynamic needs.
My wife and I just had our first child three weeks ago, a daughter, and I’m looking forward to being a very present and involved daddy as she grows. My family is my “why.”
Wow that’s so awesome. Congrats! The beginning is really weird. For years you get used to other people telling you what to do every day, and then all of the sudden you just wake up and have to figure it out on your own. Definitely a cool feeling though!
Yes yes yes – for me, the real pursuit was “options”. I didn’t want to feel tied to a certain job, a certain industry, a certain company. I wanted to have the chance to make a bet on myself doing something new and see it pay off. I’m still working at it but I feel like I’m off to a good start so far.
Thanks for the encouragement!
You’re welcome! You’ll be fine man. Some people just have that “it” factor that allows them to survive after bailing from their gig. 🙂
Great post! We’re still in the grind of paying off student loans with our first baby on the way… all while working the 65-80hr work weeks that you know so well! During this busy marching band season we have to board the dog on weekends because of the 18hr Fridays and Saturdays, but we’re working to change that. Apparently, the cost of boarding a kid for a week is way higher than the dog! Thanks for the post!
You two are doing so well! Can’t wait to meet the baby 🙂
Great point, just having options is key in any new pursuit. We’d ideally like to be doing work we CHOOSE to do and LOVE, not just what we NEED to do to survive. Paying off debt definitely helps make that easier, since it takes the bills down considerably!
Awesome thought on frugality! It totally is a learned skill that anyone can learn how to do. It sucks when you have to learn it by necessity, but you’re so much better off learning the skills.
Since we’ve gotten out of debt we’ve been able to be less frugal which is great, but when we have our first kid in March, we might need to jump back on the “raggedy bicycle” when day care costs kick in.
Also, I would love to be a stay at home Dad that gets to watch my kids grow up instead of paying someone else to watch them grow up!
That daycare is expensive unfortunately 🙁
Great job commenting on the nature of the rat race! It’s definitely worth it to get out if you can.
If someone is interested in doing this what advice do you have with regard to the best way to get started? I’d love to do this but don’t know the first thing about how to get started.
Thanks so much!
Brad
Get started with a blog or just exiting the rat race in general?
Great post, it’s a tough leap to take for a variety of people – from those who ‘can’t’ leave because they have debt and bills that absolutely need to get paid to those who are so successful that they ‘can’t’ walk away from their high salaries. I totally agree, though, that in the end options and freedom are the most important pursuit. This article is a great kick starter!
This is so motivating! I can’t wait to get to a point where I can quit my job and blog full time. For now my main hustle is supporting my side hustle, u til my beloved side hustle surpasses my main hustle. Haha. Thanks for the inspiration!
You’re welcome! 🙂
This touched home so much for me. I started my blog hustle last July 2017 and have been trying to get it up and running. I currently make a good living in the corporate world, but like you said, money doesn’t equal happiness. I can’t wait to blog full time and make it my primary career and living.
Gosh, I like this this article so much I read and commented on it twice, lol