Bogey and the F*ck You Fund

Humphrey Bogart is one of my favorite actors. He was a man’s man. One of my favorite Bogart quotes is: “The only reason to have money is to tell any son of a bitch in the world to go to hell.” It’s true. The most appealing thing about being financially independent is that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. All your needs are met, so all that’s left over is the wants. If you don’t want to do something, you don’t have to. Simple as that. As the story goes, Bogart kept $100 in his dresser drawer at all times so that when he got offered a movie role he didn’t want, he could look at that money and tell ‘em “f**k you”. He didn’t need the movie, he’s got money, and that’s a beautiful thing. Another actor quote I like which is along the same lines is from Danielle Radcliffe, the young British actor who plays Harry Potter. Daniel says, “I’m very fortunate to have it [money], and it gives you room to maneuver. But the main thing about having money is it means you don’t have to worry about it, and that for me is a lovely thing. It’s not for fast cars and hookers.” While Harry Potter isn’t as cool as Bogey, the guy has it figured out when it comes to money.

 

One of the most helpful tools in being able to pursue what you want to pursue is having a f*ck you fund. It will probably have to be a bit larger than $100, after all, this is the 21st century and a hundred bucks doesn’t go as far as it used to.

 

I’ve been building my fuck you fund for the past year or so. I prefer to keep most of it my savings account as cold hard cash. It gives me peace of mind, and with the way the stock market has been lately, I have trouble trusting the traditional investments. Anytime my job starts driving me over the edge I just remind myself that I don’t need this job. Sure, it’s nice to have the regular income and to continue building my savings, but at my current rate of monthly spending I could have all my basic needs met and then some for almost four years on my fuck you fund alone. Four years is enough time to accomplish almost anything, and certainly enough time to find another cubical job (God forbid). I probably have an advantage over most people in the longevity department since I’m young, single, and have no dependents. Even so, the ability to live just 6 months off your savings can provide significant peace of mind.

 

For more insight on the F**k you fund, check out the free e-book “Take This Job and Shove It” by Tyler Tervooren. This very well done e-book goes in to much more detail than this article and has some great ideas on what to do with your fund.

Lessons from Office Space

This post is related to the themes of the movie Office Space (1999), which is one of my favorite films.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out, today!  Fair warning: there might be a few spoilers below.

 

First of all, I love this movie.  It almost perfectly illustrates what is so detestable about working in a cubical.  It touches on so many undesirable aspects of the rat race such as sitting in traffic, bad bosses, mundane reports (TPS reports), annoying coworkers, lack of motivation, the list goes on.  Without trying to read too far into the movie (it is a comedy after all), I thought I would try to pull some real-world lessons from it.

 

What is interesting about the movie is that the main character, Peter, hates his job (which I’m sure we can all identify with) but he doesn’t put any effort towards finding a more rewarding occupation.  In one regard, that’s the whole point of the movie and part of the comedic allure, he just doesn’t care enough to look for anything else.  He just wants to do nothing with his life.

 

Well, I’ve done nothing before.  There was a short period in my life where I had absolutely nothing to do.  I had quit my first cubical job after one year of full-time work because I was sick of it.  I decided to quit and do some traveling (I was 20 years old).  Well, I quit, and did some traveling for about two weeks, then I decided to come home because traveling alone wasn’t as fun as I’d hoped it would be.  I ended up spending the next three months or so “doing nothing” as Peter said.  What happened during that time was I spent most of my hours in front of a computer or TV screen, and my sleep schedule got all out of wack (I became nocturnal), and my eating habits became pretty unhealthy.  In short, doing nothing was cool for a little while (maybe a couple weeks), but then I just started feeling worthless.  After two months, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, so I decided to go back to school and finish my Bachelors degree.  Since it was going to be about four months before the spring semester started, I ended up getting a job as a cashier at the local Panera Bread to pass the time and make a few bucks.  I worked there for three months, then quit and started school full-time.  I was lucky during this whole period because I was still living at my parents house and had money saved up from the year I worked full-time.  Unfortunately, most of us in the real world don’t have the luxury of being able to simply not work.

 

We have to generate income one way or another in order to survive in any level of comfort.  For those of us stuck in a job we don’t enjoy, however, there are steps we can start taking towards not having to work a traditional “job”. Perhaps the most obvious step is to start saving money.  If you are spending the same amount of money you make every month, you’re doing it wrong.  If you are serious about getting out of the rat race, you have to make some sacrifices in order to do so.  Cut out unnecessary spending, sell your luxury items, pay off your debt.  There are tons of articles on the net about how to save money, so I’m not going to say much more.  The point is, if you want to quit your job and do something else, you have to have enough money in savings to allow for this.  Some people refer to this savings as the “F**k you fund“.  I suppose this reality caught up with Peter in the end, because the last scene shows him working at a construction site doing manual labor.  While manual labor may seem appealing to those cooped up in a cubical, I doubt it would be a more desirable occupation for any significant length of time.  My guess is the novelty would wear off pretty quickly, and you would be right back to hating your job sooner or later (probably for different reasons this time).

 

The lesson I’m trying to extract from this movie is: start working on what you WANT to work on, today!  Don’t be like Peter and just plan to do nothing.  If you’re anything like me, you usually make excuses up for why you can’t or won’t start now.  My most common excuse is: “I don’t have the time.” (since I’m stuck at work all day).  Then when I get home, all I feel like doing is vegging out on the couch in front of the TV.  This can be a difficult hurdle to overcome, and it basically comes down to self-control.  Like I said, I still struggle with this breed of laziness.  I think “yeah, I’ll start working on that AFTER I quit my job.”  But I think the reality is, if you aren’t interested in doing whatever it is you want to do in your down-time, you probably won’t be likely to do it after you quit your job either.

 

So the lesson is, start working on your goals today.  Don’t focus all your efforts on hating your job, try to think of ways you can fix it.  And don’t quit your job without a game plan for what you want to do next.  If you have to, take a couple weeks off work to work solely on your alternative career goals (whether it be working for yourself or whatever).  Take little steps, and start NOW! Okay okay, maybe not now, but as soon as possible :)

Meditations of a guy stuck in traffic

To me, sitting in traffic on a weekday morning is the perfect illustration of the rat race. Clumped together, bumper to bumper with all the other little rats is a depressing experience when you think about it. All of these people next to you are dying to get to the office as quick as possible so that they can LEAVE as early as possible. But then the traffic hits, and their plans are dashed…next all you feel is aggravation. Then when people start cutting you off just to gain a few car lengths ahead, it starts getting ridiculous. I mean is getting into my lane going to help you get to the office any faster? I don’t think so!

 

Anytime I’m in traffic, I can’t help but feel insignificant. I’m just another face in the crowd, another rat in the race, joined by all my rat-opponents on the racetrack to the office. There is an obvious element of pride at play here, but I just don’t like being lumped in with all the other 9-5 people in the world. I want to differentiate myself somehow from the rest of the masses. Whenever I’m sitting in traffic, it’s hard to feel like you are any different from the rest of the world.

 

I suppose the purpose of this little rant is twofold: First to let myself vent a little bit, and second, to describe another reason I hate the rat race. I am really looking forward to the day when I don’t have to wake up with the rest of the world and then play bumper cars on the highway with the millions of other daily commuters. I know many people feel like it’s the only way to make a living these days, but not me. I’m trying to break free.

Get Out of the Rat Race

The rat race. It makes me want to hurl. And if you are reading this, you probably feel the same way.

 

The purpose of this website is to help you get OUT of the rat race. Now, I’m not going to lie and say this site is entirely for you, because that’s not true. I’m doing this for myself as well. I am desperately seeking to get out of the daily grind of a 9-5, and I’m hoping this site will be a guide for myself and all others who are seeking to do the same. I’m not trying to sell you anything or give any pretty pictures about how easy this will be. Cheap sales talk sickens me and I can smell it a mile away. Call this site a reality check on what it takes to achieve your goals, a blueprint to escape the life of a rat in the race.

 

So, it will be a journey that you and I take together. This site is my starting point. It is quite fitting that I am starting this site at the beginning of a new year. I didn’t plan it that way, it just happened. I’ve been racking my brain for quite some time now, trying to think of ways to generate passive income and become less dependent upon my day job. This site will be my drawing board, my “brain dump” so to speak. I am (hopefully) going to post all of the different methods, ideas, and routes I take to achieve my goal of escaping the rat race.

 

So here’s to 2011 and the years to come, may they be less dull and drone-like than the years before.

Designing the site

I doubt anyone is reading this yet, but just in case you stumble upon this website here’s a heads up: I am currently working on customizing my WP theme.

Stay tuned – this is my first attempt at customizing a WP blog.