The Truckless Cowboy Brock and his new wife Kyra were now one and they dove head first into life. I work in an industrial refinery and Kyra is a Nurse. Making over six figures each per year yet we felt broke and did not know where our money was going. Was this some kind of trap? 

Mere months earlier we both enjoyed debt free lives, renting rooms in others households and simply had no need to buy things from large department stores.  I vividly recall joking to my wife that I had never even been inside the Home Hardware in this little Alberta town I moved to. We went from low cost living and debt free to Marriage and home ownership overnight.

Our first house was a nice 4 bedroom farmhouse on a large piece of land close to town that I somehow convinced my Fiancee to buy with me.You see, I had cows and always wanted to be a cowboy. But those cows were 800 km away in my hometown and I wanted to raise them here.We needed a place to live anyway so we jumped right into home ownership exactly one month after we tied the knot. Apparently when interest rates are at an all time low due to a global pandemic and you have a decent income plus some savings the bank is willing to give you wayyyyy more money then you ever thought possible. To put things into perspective for you we could have bought 2 new houses in town instead. Things were great,we were newly married, I just got my dream job, and had all the land my cows and I would need right where we lived. Now what?

We had it made, we were living the dream. Yet somehow in between our full time shift work schedules, farming, fence building and living we had no time for anything extra. Money was a huge point of stress between us. We barely had time to get to know each other let alone build our dreams. We wanted to start a family but only if one of us could stay home and raise it. Not only did both Kyra and I want to provide our family with a stay at home parent just like we were both raised with, but daycare was only open 8-5 during the week and that simply would not work with our 12 hour day/night shifts. I was bamboozled, here we are well into high paying careers, the house of our dreams and our whole lives ahead of us yet we literally could not afford the time or money to stay at home and start a family. We had fallen victim to lifestyle inflation and the chains of debt were a key factor in our financial/life issues.    

Can you relate to us? Do you know what it feels like to make a good living yet feel broke at the same time? Lifestyle inflation simply put is spending more money at the same rate you make more money. For us we went from housing costs of about 15 percent of our take home pay to 50 percent because we could. The trouble is there is no room for flexibility, freedom to take time off, switch careers, save or invest in freedom. We felt trapped in our jobs and paying off our house any time soon seemed impossible. We had to make a change, we had to do something. So I went to the gas station and bought a lotto 649 ticket then $14,852,264.91 later our problems were solved. The end. 

Okay, obviously that didn’t happen and that wouldn’t make that great of a lesson either. I probably would have just spent it all on a very very very big farm anyways. The solution to the problem was us, we had to gain control of our money and we had to start learning where it was going. I had to take ownership for the position I put us into.

I started by tracking our money. Writing down where it was going and tracking how much we made. How much our mortgage paid down each month and dividing big expenses like insurance and taxes over 12 months to understand the flow of cash in our lives. I read countless financial, investing, rental, farming, business and early retirement books. As well as reading online blogs like MMM and following youtube channels like Dave Ramsey or The Money Guy Show. It was all consuming and I took different things from each source. However they all boiled down to the same thing. Live on less than you make and invest the remainder. Also known as savings rate. Which brings us back to lifestyle inflation. For us even though we went from full time college students with no income straight into six figure salaries we were not any further ahead because of it. We spent it on bigger and better things which in turn cost more money and time. We needed to actually save money and invest it for the future. No get rich quick schemes, no stock trading, no special business. Good ole fashioned hard work and saving. Something your grandma probably already told you about.

Here is where it gets exciting. The more you save the faster you can retire! Sounds simple right? Except for the difference in saving is a double edged sword. The more you can save also means you can live on less. So the first step is to track your spending, not because budgeting is great (It doesn’t work), but so you know how much money you live on each month. Next figure out how much money invested will produce that same monthly income. Finally you can divide your total investment goal by your savings rate and figure out how long until you reach financial independence.

If this sounds like a lot that’s okay, it is. There is a lot more here I could explain so I will break it down deeper over the next few articles. Just keep one thing in mind, mastering your finances is a journey not a task. It is a mindset and as you dig deeper you learn things about yourself and life you never thought about. No different than fitness, you can’t workout once and stay in great shape forever. It is a series of daily disciplines which become habits and form your lifestyle. A lifestyle you just might find you actually really like, with purpose. So walk with me and see how we have had to change our lifestyle and habits working backwards to build the dream we have, and how you can too.