I know some people will bitch about a long post so if that is you, just go the next one and dont bother to read this. I could post a lot of crap about how unfair the system is and how difficult it is to escape that trap. Seems like that is covered on every other post here, so here is how I got out of it…
First off, I got tired of a shitty lifestyle. I was poor and struggling while everyone I knew was on their way and living good. I put pen to paper and started writing down where my money was going. Rent and car insurance were the big expenses that I could not change. I was paying out the ass in interest charges on a car loan which I was stuck with, but I decided to pay off my credit card because my interest alone was about $100 a month.
Then a lot of other things were adding up to a big chunk of my money and I decided I could either do without them, or find cheaper alternatives. No more cable TV (there was no such thing as Netflix back then). No more eating in restaurants or coffee shops. I switched my phone to a discount company and cut my bill in half. I started shopping at thrift stores to get necessities cheap, including my own coffee maker, kitchen supplies and cook books. I learned how to cook from scratch. I started buying everything in bulk to save on groceries. I bought some weight sets 2nd hand and started working out from home instead of going to a gym. I made time to go for a long walk almost everyday, rain or shine and planned out how to do better while working off my stress.
I am not going to pretend it was fun or easy. It took me 3 fucking years just to get my credit card paid off and I had no life during that time. But I will say this: I started sleeping a lot better and that made things much better across the board. My stress level dropped way down, not having to worry about where the money was coming from to pay the bills, partly because I was not just pissing it all away every month in little expenses I could live without. I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel to get out of the trap.
I still had shit going down that caused problems, like my shitty car always having problems that cost me money and set me back, or when a company I worked for when bust with no notice. But I gradually got my expenses down below my income and paid off my debt. Then I started saving. I went to the library during my spare time and read all I could find about investing. I started putting a very small amount into a monthly mutual fund contribution. I opened a stock trading account and waited for that fat pitch before I bought my first stocks.
When I finally got a better job, I saved every penny above the original shit money I was making before. I just continued living like I was flat broke and parked extra money in my stock trading account. I had a couple of big wins in the market and actually made more money on my investments than I had made working during my poor years. When I had about $10,000 saved I got together with my 2 best friends and we all put a downpayment on the smallest, shittiest house in town to buy it. Mortgage interest was over 7% in 2001 but we could afford it split three ways. We had a plan to live there 5 years and then sell the house to hopefully make enough money to buy our own places after. One of my friends go married in year 4 and we bought him out. The other one wanted to move away so I bought him out too with the savings I continued to accumulate.
I lived there for 7 years. I started paying an extra 15% on my mortgage each month, and paid off a lump sump up to 10% each year to pay down my mortgage faster. When I sold the house most of the mortgage payments went to the fucking bank in interest charges but the lump sum installments paid down the principal much quicker. My house sold for about $100K more than we paid for it, but I had reduced the total debt by about $50K during that time.
I had enough of dealing with traffic, high property taxes, and just the whole rat race. I had about $150K in savings in my trading account plus some retirement money in mutual funds and the cash windfall from selling my house. I gave my notice and quit my job at age 40 to do my own thing. I found a small house in a nice neighborhood way out in the country that I could pay cash for with the money I had left and started living with no mortgage (or interest). I also paid off my credit card every month in full. Debt free is the biggest source of freedom and not paying interest to every parasite financial institution saves me so much money.
I have been 'retired' for 17 years. I still drive old cars and I learned how to do most of the work myself to take care of them. I grow a lot of my own food and still cook at home – have not been out to a restaurant in more than 2 years but that is in part because of the covid lockdown fucking bullshit. Restaurant food mostly sucks anyway and I do not miss it. I still trade stocks for income and do odd writing jobs for extra money. I do not keep much money in the bank and hold my savings in silver bullion because the banks are parasites that use my money without paying me interest so fuck them. I have never taken a penny of government money or handouts even though there were some years I lived well below the welfare income. I do contribute to charity and look for ways to help other people because I was there and know how awful it is.
Bottom line: For what amount to three years of hell, plus a couple more years of discipline, I am now free to live as I want. Not living large and throwing money around, but living with dignity on my terms and not missing any meals or going without necessities. I did not need any help or beg for gov stimmies. And things suck but they have always sucked. If you make an income now, you can find ways to save and create a plan to get to the future you want.