FREEDOM WAY – LIVING WELL ON VERY LITTLE MONEY

I’m 64 years old and I haven’t worked for a salary since I was 51. From the age of 51 until last year I worked full time without pay at the social justice non-profit that I founded. That was a rare and amazingly rewarding experience. I have no plans to look for paid work in the future. I expect to live to at least 100 years old and I anticipate that my life will continue to be active, comfortable, full and very rewarding all the way to the end.

When people hear about how I live, there is sometimes a lot of curiosity and almost always there are a lot of incorrect assumptions made. The only things I usually need money for are: taxes, insurance, gas, utilities, vehicle maintenance, medical deductible for my annual checkup and teeth cleaning, some supplements, some home maintenance supplies and an occasional other “something” every now and then. Mostly everything else I get for free.

No, I’ve never been independently wealthy and I’ve never lived in poverty. Instead, I enjoy being a part of what I call the universe’s flow of abundance. If it sounds like I live in “woo-woo land”; well, that’s not accurate either. Let me explain.

Notes on the book entitled YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin

This book was not only life-defining in terms of my personal thinking and my self-image but it allowed me to shift how I spent my time. I went from working a job to working for twelve years at unpaid, purposeful work at the non-profit that I founded. That work benefited many thousands of people. It contributed to a better understanding about social justice issues in Washington State. It provided a significant source of hope to thousands of people who had long since lost all hope.

The ideas in this book not only helped me grow personally; they allowed me to live out the reality that my life’s energy could contribute to the greater good. I am very, very grateful for all of these life experiences and I am grateful for this book. By the way, if you’d like to learn more about this non-profit work, go to the “social justice” on my site.

Below is how Amazon describes the book which is accurate enough but, to me, it is a whole lot more!!

ABOUT HOW ALL MY PHILOSOPHIES TIE TOGETHER

ABOUT HOW ALL MY PHILOSOPHIES TIE TOGETHER…

I say I’m “freer” than many people because I often live outside of everyone’s expectations for me.  I create my own plan for myself which is based on what is real and what is important to me.  I don’t waste any of my energy on materialism.  I’ve trashed the sex role junk.  I believe in the sacredness of relationships but not the institution of marriage.   Everything is connected  – responses to family of origin problems, relationship with money, decisions about the types of relationships to seek and nurture, relationship with “things”, purpose, how much to challenge oneself, defining what is “fun” or “pleasurable” etc, etc.  It can seem like these are unrelated but I don’t think they are.

Everything comes together when it’s based on integrity and purpose.

ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY…

A lot of people use money to appear to be certain ways.   For “status” and all that.  I just don’t want to use my resources for any of that.