Money Changes I Would Make If I Was Suddenly Left Single
A reader recently asked me what life strategies are helpful for a single person who is already on the path to financial independence. I am lucky to be married and have a family, but it got me thinking: if I were suddenly single again, without a wife and children and in my current financial situation, what would I do?
This post was originally published on The Simple Dollar .
Mark writes an interesting question.
I loved your articles and have read a lot of articles in the archives over the last week. Your story is similar in many ways to mine, but somewhat different. I also took a job right out of college, which paid well and went into debt. About five years ago I started a YouTube channel, which became my permanent job about three years ago. I am now more or less free of debt.
The biggest difference is that I’m single. I am not dating or interested in this. I have no children and do not plan to ever have them.
What would you do differently if you were in my place?
I interpreted Mark’s question as follows: If I were suddenly single again, without a wife or children, and in my current financial situation, what would I do?
Or, in other words, what life strategies are beneficial for a single person on the path to financial independence?
I guess this is an interesting question to think about. I really don’t want to even imagine my life now without Sarah and my children. These are really the brightest sides of my life.
However, if I were to step back and imagine my life, if they suddenly did not exist , I would certainly have less expenses than I do now, as I would move from spending on living for five people to spending on living for one person. Human. On the other hand, I would lose Sarah’s income, which would mean that the era of living on one income would end.
I would still spend a lot less than I made, but I would save less per year. However, my annual expenses will be less, so the amount I keep in the bank will actually be much more than my annual living expenses. I would have had significantly more free time, and I would not have to be a father of three children or a husband to a wife.
In short, I would be on my way to financial independence … but I would go there alone.
What would make that difference? What would my life look like?
I would be less afraid to make a career jump. Right now, I am very happy with my current set of writing duties, most of which appear in The Simple Dollar . It gives me the opportunity to be there when my children get on the bus in the morning, to be at home when my children graduate, to be able to easily follow them if they get sick, to be able to attend school activities, and so on. When I was younger, it was very difficult for my father to be so flexible, and I am very glad to be able to be so flexible to my own children.
But if I were single, this flexibility would be much less important. It would still be nice , but it wouldn’t be my top priority in my life. Primarily, I would like to focus on whether I find the work I am doing exciting and rewarding, and if I felt my interest in a certain job was waning, I could prepare myself to move on to something else.
I have an almost perfect job right now, given the life constraints I have and the life choices I want to make, but if I were alone, those limitations and choices would naturally change.
I would invest a little more aggressively, but not recklessly. My investment plans included fewer bonds and cash, and more real estate and stocks. If only my financial future is at stake here, I would be more likely to push the boundaries when it comes to volatility and risk in my portfolio.
Does this mean that I will want to do things like bitcoin or precious metals ? Nope. These things go beyond even my personal risk tolerance. I would just make my investments a little more aggressive, rather than radically aggressive.
I filled my evenings with a variety of social events. Many of my evenings these days are filled with things like preparing meals and making sure my kids have time to practice taekwondo and completing their daily routine before bed. Without such constant evening commitments, my non-working hours would be very different.
What would I do? I filled almost every evening with social events. A simple glance at Meetup.com can be a starting point. In a fairly small radius from my home, there are more than 100 groups working on a variety of topics. In fact, I would be interested to try at least about 30 of these groups.
I could easily fill each weekday night with a different group in my area, and I happily did. I have a lot of interests, and that would be a great way to channel them in the social direction.
I would probably live even cheaper than now. I think my personal expenses will decrease. For example, take a look at food: these days I only eat outside when we are out with the whole family, and cooking for five is quite difficult. I can easily collect food for myself, but collecting food for five is quite difficult.
I would still make a la carte lunches , but that’s because I don’t mind eating the same thing for dinner three or four nights in a row. I would get rid of cable TV and maybe get rid of my TV entirely.
The biggest cost cut? Frame. Let’s talk about this specifically.
I would live in a different house and in a different place, but not in something radically different. I would live in a smaller house, in an apartment or a townhouse. I wouldn’t need such a big house if I was a single guy. I could easily exclude one or two bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, and some living space. This will significantly reduce the square footage.
I really enjoy living in central Iowa, so I would probably stay in the area, but I would use a fairly wide radius when looking for a new place to live. Most likely, I figured out where the job opportunities and entrepreneurship were, and where I built my social circle and presence in society, and then moved to a convenient place for this.
I would probably go back to school. When I was in college, I studied in areas that I thought would generate a good income when I transitioned into a professional life. While I really enjoyed what I was studying, I do realize that I used a large “money filter” when deciding which major to choose. This made me skip other areas that didn’t seem to have an obvious route to money, such as English, philosophy, political science, and history.
Since I’m on my way to financial independence and living a lifestyle that doesn’t require a lot of financial investment, the thought of going back to school to explore these areas sounds very attractive. I wouldn’t worry so much about finding a job after that for two reasons.
Firstly, I do not need a very large income, so many jobs are open for me. Secondly, I am good at finding opportunities for self-employment . I think a lot of people on the road to financial independence are in the same boat.
I would travel more, but I did it very discreetly. By “discreet” I mean a type of travel where you wander around with your backpack, avoid tourist spots and stay in cheap accommodation. For example, I would like to spend a week or two in each of our national parks, camp in a simple tent, hike the trails, and relax with a book when I’m tired. It sounds like a heavenly journey to me, but with young children it is very difficult to do. I might even do something like walking the Appalachian Trail.
This approach is in line with an article I recently wrote about how money “cannot buy what time gives .” The experience I really crave from travel comes not from expensive travel, but from time.
In the end, the biggest changes in my life happened exclusively in time. I wouldn’t change much of what I do financially at all. Anyway, I would double my frugality. Instead, I would use this abundance of free time to do what I truly value – continue my lifelong learning mission, join some social groups associated with my passion, travel a little in a very humble manner, and live. simple and joyful life.
I don’t want to be lonely ever again, but if I did, it would look something like this.
If I were single | Simple dollar