@Steven – Indeed, with more freedom also comes the freedom to fail. If I am not happy, I only have myself to blame.

…we all wouldn’t even have the reality of ERE…

Typo.

Just wanted to say I really enjoy reading your blog. It definitely inspires me to downshift out of my current overly taxing job in the healthcare industry into a more fulfilling and enjoyable one. Love your analogy about the farm- may I add that sometimes I feel like I work in a zoo! I agree with you wholeheartedly on how avoiding consumerism is one of the keys to unlocking your freedom.

“Personally, I do not believe that I have the responsibility to live for other people, even those that cannot help themselves. That does not mean I won’t help, but I do not think I have the obligation and I will not expect others to help me if I could not help myself.”

-Jacob, this pride is apparent in all of your writing. This is your motivation for ERE, this is your motivation to start all of this. This is your hobby and blog so I give you my respect. Still, your quote is not a good example of what you may be as a person.

Oh man, this was brilliant. Sometimes it’s necessary to state the obvious in order to be re-inspired and remain motivated. It can be difficult at times, being a black sheep and swimming against the popular wisdom. I really enjoyed reading this.

I saw this picture and it reminded me of this blog and is similarly inspiring. It would make a nice image for one of those motivational style posters accompanied by a caption summarizing the ERE philosophy: http://alltelleringet.deviantart.com/art/Go-your-own-road-111657665

I also see it as a psychological issue. When someone poses a threat to your survival, people are programmed to be in a state of psychological emergency/protective mode because we are still living beings with physiological needs. This constant threat hanging over our heads actively or subliminally dampens our ability to grow and flourish as human beings. Which is why measuring quality of life from a “lifestyle” perspective(i.e. middle class, etc.) is stupid because _true_ quality of life is about freedom from threats. I see it like this: no one can pose a threat to the financially independent individual, because they cannot take anything of necessity away.

My mini-philosophy is that the leftmost part of the humanity bell curve is comprised of bullies and predators. It is essentially Rousseau’s the man with the stick. They have an unceasing and unrestricted access to the left extreme of the assets curve (homelessness/poverty renders target stationary with no alternatives: unsafe/temporary homeless shelter in Skid Row environment; sleeping in outside areas where the occurrence of a physical attack is highly likely) and an active but restricted access to the leftmost part of the assets bell curve (e.g. workplace supervisor/co-worker: employee can change jobs but its risky; landlady/housemate: renter can move but its inconvenient; both are time consuming). After even a bare bones financial independence is reached, it is still a rather momentous paradigm shift: they are officially no longer a threat to your actual survival. You are “free” to focus on the other aspects of being human and being alive. You have effectively removed yourself from the man with the stick, or just plain “the man.” 😀

I can check off most of the things on this list just by being self-employed 🙂 I guess I should feel grateful for that. Though I see it being more and more common, as the idea of job security wanes.

If you need to work, freelance is definitely the way to go!

@ bill – as of 2007, 72% of firefighters in the US were volunteers. I think in a true time of crisis most people answer the call. However, right now we are tired of every little thing being labeled a crisis. We want to define things that are a crisis to us.

Stephanie, that’s an excellent point about being self-employed. I’m not ready to retire (financially) but I think being self-employed is a really good alternative. I’ve tried it and loved it. The only problem is being prepared for income fluctuations–but if you can live on very little, that’s not a problem.

I also really enjoyed the discussion about feeling obligated to help others. I guess I do feel obligated to help others–it’s a feeling though, not necessarily a rational and examined belief. But I think that one way in which we can all help each other and humanity is to stop running in circles on a treadmill of overwork and consumption while sacrificing our own mental, physical and psychological health as well as our relationships with others and the children we’re raising in our society. And simply by not consuming in a more responsible and sustainable way, we at least refrain from actively hurting others.

I myself find that I’m much more able (and willing) to help other people in all manner of ways when I’m not worked to the bone. Besides, could we not say that Jacob is helping with this blog because he presents a responsible and sustainable lifestyle to an interested audience?

TLBlack — I’ve been self employed for a decade or so and I am *still* perfecting the methods of keeping track of my finances. The *best* thing you can do, as you say, is to live as simply as possible, and build a solid cushion to keep you going through the slow times. I have had *months* with zero income, to be followed by a month with a 5-digit income. A huge fluctuation that, in the past, has led me to a Whole Foods Costco type cycles, depending on my income at the time. I used to live from one extreme to the next, spending whatever I had, and sometimes what I didn’t have.

Now I’m trying to live in a more balanced way. Funny how hard it is to find such a balance — at least, it’s taken me about a decade to discover that it was possible, while living in a HCOL city, surrounded by people doing HCOL things.

Concojones, I might hypothesize that someone who is ERE-bound (or has arrived) has the self-discipline and organization skills to be able to structure their days wisely. If you have the awareness to have made extremely careful financial choices, I’m sure that practice will eventually translate to making careful and efficient / productive time choices, too. It’s all interrelated.

@Joana – I keep asking (and I was asking before I stopped fulltiming) and she says yes. There’s also the possibility of this although she says she likes working.

Kids are not anywhere near the top of the list of what would increase my quality of life, so none are planned.
I have briefly covered the subject of children before, but most of the material probably reside in comments to other posts.

Thanks Jacob!

Altough I live half a world away in a totally diferent culture, you still are an inspiration.

Even if I don’t live in any way like you do I sort of try to follow my own path in a country where everyone else moves in herds.

The US are quite a cultural influence here but the standard of living is impossibly different.

I may not be going for ER but certainly I will get there with some savings.

I’m envious. I want the freedom that your lifestyle would bring. But, I also like really nice things. While I’m not a McMansion type (the only TV we have is a 17″ computer monitor), I like a nicely decorated room in an old bungalow with nice antiques (think $3,200 chandeliers). How does one make that leap? How do you feel when you see a coveted item and think, “I can never have that”. Do you ever have feelings of regret?

This makes me think of the expression “everything in moderation”. Your lifestyle is not moderate! As diets don’t work, do you ever wonder if in the long term your lifestyle won’t work? Forced deprivation leads to binging, which leads to forced deprivation, which leads to binging…

Funniest List Ever (or saddest depending on how you look at it). Turns out most people do need to work in order to keep from discovering you don’t really like your wife, your friends, your hobbies, or yourself 😉

http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/108380/10-reasons-you-shouldnt-retire?mod=fidelity-readytoretire