This site is not about wealth building to become wealthy; it's about freedom to dance to your own music.  Many of us have experienced the pressures of "making a living", employee expenses, commuting, peer pressures, costuming (uniforms, dress ware), climbing the ladder, and on and on.  It can be hectic, the so-called rat race.  So many feel caught in a trap of debt and know not when or if they can escape.  Social pressure serves to stack the deck against that choice, and without a full awareness of it, together with an escape plan, you may never get there until nature forces that choice.  What kind of life might that be?

Do you ever wonder . what is it really like on the other side?  Can people really have a life without all this "stuff" that our commercial world imposes on our belief system?  I know that everytime I visit one of those super "home-improvement" stores, I walk away feeling like I live in the third world.  The urge to splurge is a great one.  You know what I'm talking about.

Many people have chosen a simpler lifestyle.  And Linda Pierce, after completing a three-year study, wrote a book about 211 different people who, in some fashion, made the switch.  All of her subjects are unique.  Some own homes; some do not.  Some continue their employment, some live off their investments.  Some are far away from their financial freedom day, yet they've adopted a lifestyle that says, in some manner, less is more.  I liked this book, for it allows us to look at the simpler lifestyles chosen by many different people, from many different backgrounds that have widely different values.  There are no one-size-fits-all conclusions here. Simplicity is how you define it. And for me, well, that helps me self-justify why I have the stuff I have.  Yeah, I'm working on it.

It can be very tough making a switch from a consumption, spend-it-all lifestyle to a more moderate, save-and-invest-for-tomorrow approach.  Progress can seem like clock watching.  And without a solid understanding about what may be in store for your efforts, the task can be a losing battle for many.

So I ask you again; ever wonder about the "other side"?  Maybe you should quit wondering and look for yourself.  Linda Pierce has done an excellent job in profiling this group of "drop-outs".  And maybe after you give it a read, just maybe it will inspire you to work harder on your financial freedom day plan.

I know you want it.  You can't have it all though.

Did you hear a bell ring just now?