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Late Starter to FI Series #27 – Pursuing Slow FI as a Late Starter

Gardening tools | Slow FI lifestyle | Late Starter to FI Series #27

Welcome to the Late Starter to FI series!

I am a Late Starter – I did not discover FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) concept until I was 47. This was way later, I thought than others who seem to have it all together in their 20s and 30s.

Since I started to write about my own journey, I have discovered there are many more Late Starters like me, yay! It is such a relief knowing I am not alone. 

I want to share our stories, our unique perspectives and show that it is absolutely not too late for us.

So in this series, I particularly highlight those of us who start our FI journeys in our 40s, 50s and 60s. And explore questions such as ‘where do we start’, ‘can we still retire early(ish)’, ‘what are the specific challenges for us late starters’. We look at our past, not to castigate ourselves but so that you can learn from us.

Please join in the conversation in the comments below. I encourage you to share your story if you fit the profile of a late starter. You absolutely don’t have to be a blogger or podcaster to share your story. 

Please email me at info@latestarterfire.com or connect with me on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram

And if you’ve missed any of the previous stories, you can catch up here – Late Starter to FI series

Gardening tools | Slow FI lifestyle | Late Starter to FI Series #27
Photo by Neslihan Gunaydin on Unsplash

I met Liz on Twitter, where I confess I meet a lot of like minded folk pursuing FI in our ‘later’ years. I also love connecting with people from all over the world. Liz is from Malaysia, our first Late Starter from Asia, yay 🙂

Although Liz discovered FIRE in 2015, her financial independence journey started earlier when she began to eliminate her debt.

Liz is an accomplished author and writes at elizabethtai.com She can also be found on Twitter as @liztai

Here is Liz, in her own words …

 

A little about me

I live in Malaysia. I’m currently working in marketing as a content strategist, which is a fancy way of saying that I write, edit and manage content for a company. It involves working with digital marketing tools, SEO and editorial strategy.

I’m in my 40s, about 45.

My hobbies are writing, blogging but I love gardening very, very much. My biggest dream is to create my own urban permaculture homestead.

People can connect with me on my website at https://www.elizabethtai.com

Lightbulb moment

I don’t really remember a light bulb moment. Rather it was a series of realisations that led to a series of experiments that led to me discovering that there was a movement behind what I was doing!

But my journey of personal finance rehabilitation started way back in 2008. I just got fed up with being in debt. Back then I had a few types of debt: a credit card debt that was nearly RM$10,000 and a car loan with about RM$10,000 or so left.

And of course, the giant one was my housing loan of RM$120,000.

I never searched for early retirement because I just thought it was impossible for me.

Heck, because I loved my job so much then (I was a journalist for Malaysia’s then largest English daily), I thought it was crazy to kick back and do nothing. I didn’t have a desire to be an entrepreneur, but I certainly had a desire to live the life I didn’t want to leave – and I was living it. I was incredibly fortunate to land my dream job so early in life, and in a fantastic company with great bosses and colleagues at that.

But by 2008, I could see storm clouds in the horizon. Media companies were failing in the Western world, and I knew that Malaysia’s media would not be far behind. I began thinking about how it would be like to lose my income with all that debt. The thought left me terrified.

Then I came across Mr Money Mustache’s blog. And he made me think – is it possible for me to do the same?
 
The thing was, I was a generalist and we generalists do not earn big bucks. It would seem that people in the FIRE movement, the successful ones that crossed the finish line, worked in software, were bankers or cashed in stock options.
 
So I sort of resigned myself to the fact that I will probably retire at age 55. In my country, people retire at age 60 now, but I’m actually eligible to withdraw my retirement savings at 55 because the law came into effect later.  So I suppose, in that sense, by Australian standards, I get to retire early.
 
Still to be honest, when I discovered FIRE, I kind of got depressed. I was thinking, I’m too old! I discovered this too late. I don;t work in software, I don’t earn big bucks – how am I supposed to do this? I got really discouraged by FIRE. But I’m attracted to financial independence.
 
The FI journey appealed to me then because through FI, I could be free of that fear of losing my job and ending up under a bridge. Yes, so you can say that anxiety was the fire beneath my FIRE journey!
 
I’ve been aiming to be less reliant on money since 2008.
 
So, after paying off my car loan, and my credit card debt, aside from a few credit card debt relapses of a few thousand, I never got back into commercial debt.
 
Well, except for that time when I came back to Malaysia after living in Australia for a couple of years. I had to buy a new car – I am one of those that break the sacred tenet of personal finance: I buy new cars, not old ones.
 
In Malaysia, our cars are really expensive, even second hand cars. I did my research, and I could buy a brand new car for about the same price as a second hand car. A local car manufacturer had released a lower end model whose price was close enough to a second hand car.
 
I wasn’t very happy about getting back into debt, but I had to do what I had to do. I paid that RM$35k car loan off in three years though, so it wasn’t so bad.
 
I became 100% debt free around 2015 when I paid off my housing loan. And it wasn’t something I wanted to do.
 
It was something I had to do.
 
So by then, in 2015 or so, I was already completely debt free, and I was toying with the idea of changing my life so much that I no longer have to rely on money too much.
 
And it was a struggle when I realised that I had not sort of invested correctly or saved as much as I should have.
 
I was kind of sad and a bit annoyed with myself. But I was proud to have come so far too. The solid foundation I laid for myself has enabled me to weather the wild winds of COVID-19 in a better shape than most.

First steps on the path to FI

The very first step I took on the path to FI was to get rid of all my debts (Dave Ramsey way).

Then I simplified my lifestyle and downshifted. I moved from my own apartment to sharing one with my brother. Radical, perhaps, but it allowed me to rent out my apartment for extra cash.

I think that the change in mindset was the most crucial thing in changing my financial situation. You can get rid of your debts but if you don’t change your mindset, you can easily slip back into bad habits.

Embracing minimalism was also a biggie. Believe it or not, I got into debt because I loved books so much and spent almost RM$1k a month on them! With a reporter’s tiny salary, it wasn’t wise. I also loved eating out all the time.

Minimalism helped shift my mindset so that I don’t feel deprived living a frugal lifestyle. In fact, I rather enjoyed it! But sometimes I take it so far that my parents think that I save too much.

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How far along the path to FI am I now?

I guess I am now working towards total financial independence.

I would like to build my passive income to a point where it covers my basic living expenses. Theoretically, I’m already there, because if I could rent out my apartment completely, it would cover my basic expenses due to the fact that I have very low living expenses.

However, I’m not comfortable with just relying on one source of income, so I’m planning to diversify my income.

How do I feel now? Sometimes I feel a bit depressed. Knowing how far I have to go. Sometimes, I just want to be financially independent now, because it has been such a long, long journey.

I started this in 2008 and sometimes I think, my goodness, you know, when will this journey end? When can I finally relax?

I’m pretty hard on myself. I don’t really know how to enjoy the journey, I’m afraid!

Still, COVID-19 taught me that I have established a strong financial foundation that enabled me to weather a brief period of uncertain income while others were suffering immensely. I remember having dinner with my parents and my Mum said to me “I am so grateful I can buy food without thinking about it. I feel bad for those who have to count every penny and think twice on buying something they want to eat because it means they won’t be able to afford it.”

There I was, with no debt, still able to pay my bills, thanks to some passive income and a healthy emergency fund. So I am thankful for this.

Reaching FI and retiring early

My current financial situation is pretty healthy, I suppose. Back in 2008, I’m pretty sure that I have a negative net worth, but now it is positively positive.

Do I feel confident that I’ll reach FI? I’m not sure. I think I will. If things remain the same and I have a stable income. It’s just that life is unpredictable and saying that it’s a certain thing is foolish, in my opinion. But if things go smoothly … yes, I believe I will reach FI one day.

Am I planning to retire earlier?

I’m probably going to retire at 55 like many Malaysians my age. Though I wonder, with the extension of the retirement age to 60 – whether more will choose to do it later?

But personally, I can’t imagine not working. If I’m going to ‘retire’ it is to retire from the obligation of working a job I do not love for the sake of money.

I’m more of a Barista FIRE fan, or what The Fioneers call ‘Slow FI‘.

It’s hard to wrap my brain around that sometimes because I’m an all or nothing person, but with Slow FI, I realise that I can live the life I want now on the way to financial independence. I’m still trying to figure out how that would work in the Malaysian context (Slow FI-ers tend to work part time, and in Malaysia, quality high paying part time work is rare.)

I would like to fully embrace slow living and dedicate my later years to writing lots of books, self publishing them and serving the community in one way or another. I don’t think I will ever stop working, in that sense.

I see myself running a business without worrying about the money, and that’s the kind of situation I want to find myself in my later years.

I care about living a life that is sustainable and meaningful. And work is a big part of that.

Purple eggplant | Slow FI lifestyle | Late Starter to FI Series #27
Photo by Diane Helentjaris on Unsplash

How my relationship with money has changed

I think I have a love-hate relationship with money.

Before, I used to be more carefree about it. You know, I didn’t care how much I spent. It was all about gratifying my desires at that moment. I didn’t understand.

And then later, money became something I tortured myself with. Debt tortured me. My lack of money made me miserable. I was always anxious about my money situation. Even now, as my financial situation is in the healthy zone, I’m still anxious about growing it!

Still, I’m shifting from that to … how can I use it to bless other people? I’m a Christian and sometimes I think my values as a Christian conflicts with the FIRE ideology of “amassing as much money as you can so you can retire early”. I am inspired by the stories of people like Princess Alice of Battenberg, Theoklitos Proestakis and Robert Greenfield because they make me think: is money really everything? What if I give it all away and live in service of the world?

Not very FIRE-like, eh?

I still have some way to go before having a peaceful relationship with it. But I think I’m getting there.

If I could change anything – I would not hurl myslef in investments I don’t understand. I bought property very young, and it complicated my financial life massively. So much so that my mental health suffered for it. I think that experience drove such fear in investing in me that I avoided it for many years. If there was something I learned, it is this – don’t let other people make financial decisions for you or pressure you into making one. Always educate yourself before making a financial decision.

Specific challenges or advantages of starting late

To accept the fact that we can’t really retire as early as we like.

We may also feel very regretful and upset about the financial mistakes that we’ve made. Forgive yourself.

Also, realise that you’ve tried your best. At least, you are starting to turn it around, no matter at what age.

I’m really grateful that I started my journey in 2008, even if I was in my mid 30s because it really helped me during many financial tough spots.

2020 was a real tough time, wasn’t it? I happen to start a business just when lockdown was imposed, so let’s just say my timing was really crappy.

But, my goodness, I am ever so glad that I took the steps towards financial independence, way back in 2008. As I read stories about people struggling to find work, struggling to pay their loans, I can’t help but feel for them and understand their fear so well. But I am ever so glad that I have options.

How COVID-19 affected my strategy

I used to be a full-on, fast-track, Mustachian who wants to save enough to 100% retire by [insert date here].

I’m more relaxed about it now. I’m embracing the concept of Slow FI, made popular by The Fioneers. My strategy now is to design a life I want to live and slowly make my way towards financial independence.

COVID-19 made me realise that life is short, so I should live my lifestyle now. And that’s why I’m more intentional about the work I have. I’m now working remotely and I realise I really love this.

The COVID pandemic has made me realise that you should pursue the lifestyle you want right now, rather than work at a job that doesn’t give you the lifestyle you can live with.

COVID-19 also made realise that I shouldn’t complete my FI journey at a certain date because life is fluid and flexible. I was in such a rush to get there that I was really pissed off when it derailed my plans! (All or nothing, remember?)

So I’m telling myself not to stress so much about achieving that FI number fast. The slow period of work at the start of the year allowed me to experiment with a new lifestyle. In the day time I would happily toil under the sun in a community garden and in the afternoon I would nap, then write my novels or work on freelance projects. I got to experience retirement in a way, and realised that I am going to enjoy it!

What a rare opportunity to see what early retirement and slow living was like!

So to summarise, COVID-19 pandemic delayed my journey to my FI number. But it also taught me that I needed to be flexible with my strategy, and not to be so bloody invested in that timeline.

And to be thankful every day for what I have.

It haunts me that people force themselves into situations that they hate just to earn that big salary, so they can retire early, but once they reach that FI figure, something happens and they can’t enjoy their retirement.

I’ve had many people in my life who passed away unexpectedly at a young age (one just retired before he died two weeks later) and COVID-19 just emphasised that again for me. So many people are dying prematurely because of a virus. I have been lucky – so, I really need to live my life now.

COVID-19 also taught me to look at my previous decisions in a better light.

See, I did a few things that were not exactly healthy to my financial goals in 2012. I actually moved to Australia to start a new career in the nursing field. During that time, I wasn’t able to invest or save as much as I should because I was investing in my education and my life in Australia.

After returning to Malaysia, I blamed myself for, how to say, throwing a bomb, so to speak, at my financial health. I could have stayed in Malaysia and earned big bucks. In fact, I was offered a very high paying managerial position a few weeks before I was about to fly off to Australia and I turned it down!

But I am ever so glad that I actually took the chance to live in Australia for three years and tried out nursing. I had loads of experiences thanks to it.

Sometimes, it’s not about the money.
 
That time in Australia enabled me to test out a potential career, which was nursing. It also helped me test out a potential lifestyle – slow living in a slow city called Adelaide, working part time and writing my books part time.
 
So yeah, I’m still trying to find my balance right now. Between pursuing my financial independence goals and living a slow FI life.
 
It’s an evolving journey.

 

What's next?

Investing my money.

Okay, like I said, I’m very bad at investing in a sense that I let fear control my actions. I need to know what to do with my investments, basically, or rather, what to do with my property and the cash I have.

So my next step is to educate myself in investing and how to run my passion projects so that it creates income that can support me in my old age.

Back to Latestarterfire

Thank you, Liz for sharing your story.

Like you, I discovered FIRE after I paid off my mortgage and was officially debt free. I understand that fear of investing – which I think is more the fear of making a mistake. And the main fear of ‘what if I lose all my money’ with the implicit understanding that it may be too late to redeem any loss and start from scratch again. Yep, you are right – education is the key.

I love that you are embracing Slow FI and enjoying the journey to FI rather than sprinting there. I know, as a late starter myself, I am very tempted to rush towards the FI target and just get it over with. Who knows how many years I have left to live the good life? But on the other hand, burnout is real and I certainly don’t want to sacrifice my mental health to get to FI quicker. Like you, trying to find the right balance is hard.

I look forward to following your journey … will you or won’t you give away all of your money in the end? That is a hard one 🙂 And in the meantime, enjoy your gardening (I agree it is therapeutic for the soul) and wish you all the success for your business and passion projects.

Are you embracing the SLOW FI lifestyle? Is it too late for late starters to pursue SLOW FI?

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How I Transformed My Limiting Beliefs About Money

Book cover of You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero

Unfortunately, there isn’t a miraculous strategy to achieving Financial Independence (unless you win the lottery or inherit lots of moolah).

The equation is the same for all, young or old and anyone in between.

Decrease your expenses, increase your income and invest the difference between your income and expenses. Add time … and voila, you will arrive at the destination of financial independence.

I recently wrote that the most important money habit is to spend less than you earn. And that combining this habit with increasing your income is undeniably the best strategy to achieve FI.

In my own journey, I have focused on decreasing my expenses because it is something I can do immediately. And because at heart, I am a spender. So I wanted to build good spending habits first and get my spending under control.

I am now ready to look at the other part of the equation – it is time I focus on increasing my income.

And … that is when I hit the BRICK WALL of limiting beliefs so fast that I am bruised all over and covered in bandages.

Disclosure: Please note that I may benefit from purchases made through my affiliate links below, at no cost to you

Book cover of You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero

You are a Badass at Making Money

I started reading Jen Sincero’s You are a Badass at Making Money. – Master the Mindset of Wealth.

Her premise is this – if you are ready to make more money, you can.

Seriously, this is her FIRST sentence, in the introduction.

And this is me, incredulously  – yeah, right!

Can you see how much work is ahead of me?

In a nutshell, I don’t believe I can make more money.

I am at that stage of my life where working hard over the years led to burnout. And I eventually transitioned to a role with less responsibilities and overtime and therefore less pay.

So, now I want to earn more money?

My head is screaming – are you nuts? Remember burnout? Do you want to go there again? It’s taken you a while to recover and chill, to love having time to yourself again. You want to give that up?

This is why it took me over two months to read the book. You should have heard the conversations I had with myself … it wasn’t easy confronting my many limiting beliefs about making money.

My limiting beliefs hold me back

I live a privileged life – money has never been an issue, not in my childhood and not as an adult. Even when I did not have a full time job when I graduated from university, I managed to survive with part time and casual jobs. I have always had enough food, clothes and a roof over my head. My parents had enough money to educate me.

And yet, I have so many limiting beliefs about making money and having money in general. I understand that a lot of these money beliefs are from my childhood – observing how my parents handled money and what their beliefs were about money.

Reading this book helps me confront the truths of these beliefs and rewrite them.

Here we go …

Limiting Belief #1 - Money is the root of all evil

I subconsciously believe that if I have a lot of money, I would be an evil person; that having a lot of money may make me do evil things … so it’s best not to have too much.

The truth is that money is a tool. A tool that can be used for good or evil. It is up to us, human beings to choose how we use it. Money, in itself is not evil.

My new truth – I have control – I choose to use money for good, to be generous with it, to help those in need. The more money I have, the more time I can spend volunteering and helping others without worrying about how to support myself.

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Limiting Belief #2 - Money can't buy happiness

This is true.

There are happy people who don’t have money and unhappy people who have a lot of money. The converse is also true.

What makes me happy can cost a lot or nothing.

Veggie gardening makes me happy – seeing my seedlings grow and produce food is so therapeutic. It is my dream to be able to raise seedlings from seeds I save but I am not there yet. So I spend money to buy seedlings and seeds. My worms and composting system are not working to full capacity yet so I have to buy good quality potting mix every now and then.

Another activity that brings me joy is travelling to new destinations, experiencing other cultures, eating other cuisines, meeting local folk. I can do it inexpensively by visiting countries with a lower cost of living than Australia. But it is also my dream to visit Antarctica one day – I even list it as a goal for the decade. Visiting Antarctica is expensive!

I love spoiling my family or friends. It would be nice to do so without worrying about how much experiences or gifts cost. Spending time with them also involve having enough money to slow travel to see some of them overseas.

So the truth is that money supports my happiness. Yes, I can be happy and adjust my wants and expectations accordingly if I didn’t have money. But having more money will not make me unhappy automatically – it is how I earn the money and what I do with the money that matters.

Limiting Belief #3 - I am greedy to want more money

Am I greedy to want more money?

How much is enough?

Am I not grateful to have what I have already?

The truth is I am striving to reach financial independence so I don’t have to depend on anyone, including the government to support me in my old age. Being single, I am my own back up plan; I have no one else to rely on. And it would be a bonus if I can leave my niece something when I pass on.

I don’t want more money for money’s sake.

My FI ‘number’ covers my every day expenses plus the ability to travel overseas. Making more money would enable me to reach FI by 55 – it is a self imposed deadline and I am 100% ok with working part time if I can’t meet this deadline.

I am immensely grateful to be in the position I am in – I am incredibly lucky to be able to pursue financial independence in the first place.

 

Limiting Belief #4 - Wanting to make more money is not a worthy pursuit

I struggle with this. It is closely related to limiting belief #3.

I feel guilty whenever I think about making more money. Am I shallow and unworthy to think about making more money? I should be thinking about how to solve world peace and feed the hungry instead; or something noble like that.

My new truth – I give myself permission to make more money. Once again, I don’t want more money to hoard it. I will use it wisely – first of all, to ensure I don’t need anyone to bail me out financially and secondly, to enable me to donate my time and more money to charities or causes dear to me.

Limiting Belief #5 - Rich people are snobbish and selfish, therefore I don't want to be rich

Um … I seem to have a lot of hang ups about being rich.

I am generally unimpressed by the outwardly rich people, in particular entitled and spoiled celebrities. But there are lots of people who are rich (think Millionaires next door types) but you wouldn’t know it. They are the kind of rich people I aspire to be.

My new truth – I don’t have to be a spoilt brat rich person. I don’t have to change the fundamental me, just because one day, I will have a net worth of a million dollars. I give myself permission to be rich. (As a sign of much work to be done yet … I’m shuddering as I type the last sentence)

Limiting Belief #6 - Money doesn't grow on trees

In other words, money is hard to come by. So don’t squander it, don’t gamble it away. Keep it safe. You don’t know if you will get more and when you will get more.

This was drummed into me from a young age.

That is why I feel guilty when I spend money. And why perversely, I get such a thrill at the same time when I do spend it. It’s me rebelling against parental teaching.

My new truth –  I believe I can make more money. I believe I am able to invest it according to my risk appetite and that my money invested in index funds is safe.

Limiting Belief #7 - I will burn out again

This is a big fear for me.

Having experienced burn out before, I never want to experience it again. Ever.

My fear is that if I start pursuing an increase in income, I will spend more time and energy working on side hustles, leading to less time for relaxation and once again, living a stressful life.

My new truth – I am in control of my life. I get to decide how much time I want to spend increasing my income. And how much time I have to wind down and relax. I can set in non negotiable rest times and guard against burn out. It doesn’t mean that I will automatically be burned out if I explore ways to increase my income.

 

Limiting Belief #8 - If I don't work hard for my money, I don't deserve it

I was brought up to work hard, that success (and therefore money) would follow.

Therefore learning about passive income was mind blowing.

You mean I can earn money from not actively working?

I understood about being paid a dividend from owning shares in a company. But investing upfront with time and work on a digital product and then be paid every time someone buys it? Amazing!

My new truth – it is ok to embrace passive income and work hard at establishing passive income streams.

 

Australian bank notes | Money limiting beliefs
Photo by Melissa Walker Horn on Unsplash

Limiting Belief #9 - I am not smart enough to make a 6 figure income

I have never earned a 6 figure salary. In all my years of working, I can only recall negotiating for a pay rise once, in my early years.My pay has obviously increased over the years, just not by leaps and bounds.

Earning a 6 figure income has always seemed unattainable. But more than that, I don’t believe I am capable of earning a 6 figure income.

My new truth – I can figure out how to earn a 6 figure income if I develop some passive income streams.

Limiting Belief #10 - Being an entrepreneur is too risky

Both my parents worked for a corporate giant. They expounded the great value of having a stable job and secure income. Having one’s own business was too risky.

I somehow absorbed this thinking too.

Since discovering FIRE blogs & podcasts, I have started to view entrepreneurship as a valid way to earn a living and that a 9-5 job can be risky too.

My new truth – I can be my own boss, establishing those passive income streams, starting with this blog, to supplement my 9-5 job. Baby steps!

 

Busting those limiting beliefs

Obviously, letting go of our limiting beliefs doesn’t happen overnight. They have been our truths for a long time. Changing them to our new truths or new mindset will take time.

I love Sincero’s explanation of how mindset works.

Your beliefs take you where you are going – they drive the bus.

But your thoughts are like the tour guide – they work in conjunction with the bus driver and have the right of veto ie they can change your direction.

Your words are the assistant – they help your thoughts and beliefs to be real, to have a voice.

Your emotions keep you excited and motivated – it is the fuel to keep you going.

And lastly, your actions build the road for your beliefs to travel on but can easily be diverted by thoughts and emotions.

And when all these aspects of mindset work together, you can make things happen.

Are you ready for some woo woo - ness?

According to Sincero, there is a force larger than ourselves at work – she calls it Universal Intelligence or some people call it God or Spirit or the Universe.

Our thoughts influence the energy that is reflected back to us. So if we keep thinking that we can never afford that expensive holiday then Universal Intelligence notes that and we will be stuck at home. But if we imagine it and dream about it and are open to making it happen, then Universal Intelligence will take note and arrange the energy to make it manifest in physical form.

I will be honest – this was where I got stuck – it was a bit woowoo for me. But after the next few chapters, I understand what she means.

Our thoughts are powerful. Our beliefs can hinder us or motivate us to achieve whatever we want to achieve. If we desperately want something, we’ll make it happen. If you tell yourself constantly that you are no good with money, then you will not want to learn how to manage it, how to earn more of it.

So if you want to make more money, you need to be open to making more money. You need to put it out there, to the Universe that you are open to any opportunities it sends your way.

It is our mindset that we need to change. It is the stories we tell ourselves that dictate the paths we follow.

 

And ... umm ... it works!

I will admit that I am utterly shocked that it kinda works.

As I mentioned earlier, visiting Antarctica is one of three goals I want to achieve within this decade. And amazingly, a few weeks ago, Frogdancer Jones wrote a post about wanting to visit Antartica too. So I sent her a DM on Twitter and asked if I could join her. She graciously said yes and that we will be looking at 2022 or 2023 as a realistic timeline due to Covid travel restrictions. And that it will give us time to save for the trip.

So now all of a sudden, there is a target year. And the need to save up just became more real. I have a travel fund that is adding up quite nicely as I haven’t travelled this year. But I also wish to visit family overseas so this travel fund is more or less spoken for.

Therefore I need new income to funnel into my Antarctica fund.

And this is where I practised the woowoo-ness I learned from reading You are a Badass at Making Money. You have no idea how uncomfortable I feel, closing my eyes and saying out loud – I am open to making more money. I want to earn more money.

I am not joking – a day after I did this – out of the blue, two, not one but two people reached out and asked me about an affiliate. Eventually by the end of the week, I had two people use my affiliate link. NO ONE HAD EVER USED MY AFFILIATE LINKS BEFORE. EVER. I am so grateful (you know who you are!) that I am on my way to Antartica!

I also signed up to Octopus Group, an online survey provider in Australia, and has earned nearly $10, answering a few surveys (while watching TV and at my lunch breaks).

I’m not saying I’m raking it in but at least I am making the most of opportunities that come my way. I will continue to manifest opportunities to come my way.

Of course, it could all have been a big coincidence but then again, who am I to go against Universal Intelligence/God/Universe?

Final Thoughts

Reading You are a Badass at Making Money has helped me to debunk my limiting beliefs about money and rewrite new truths.

I am learning how to change my mindset – to be aware of my thoughts and the words I use to frame new beliefs which then generate excitement and desire to fuel my actions.

Despite the woowoo-ness of manifesting my desire to make money, I will continue onwards to see if it leads me all the way to Antarctica and eventually, financial independence 🙂

It is a work in progress.

I am a work in progress.

What are your money limiting beliefs? How will you change your mindset?

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