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Thanks. Yeah, I was sick of being a math teacher watching my engineering friends lapping me with salaries/bonuses/matching 401k contributions/stock options, etc. I was getting jealous of their fancy cars and huge houses. I was considering whether it's worth it to teach even though I love it.
When I found MMM things started to click. Instead of feeling stuck, I could leverage the things I have as a math teacher: time due to extended breaks + way above average math skills. I'm using my extra time and engineering wired brain to cut expenses wherever possible, and to leverage my extra time with lucrative side hustles. I believe this year our net worth will now grow far faster than the average engineer who is 10 years into their career. And the desires I had to try and match their cars and houses have subsided. I pity their vehicle choices, because all they see is shininess, and all I see are valuable years that they are going to be working.
Funny how quickly your circumstances can change if you get focused roll the sleeves up:)
aceyou, don't feel jealous. I'm an engineer myself, made a career of IT and have had my employers go out from under me 3 times. Those times of unemployment happened very early in my frugal realizations and were disastrous - I have former co-workers who burned through their 401k funds just trying to get to the next job. (in hindsight, they should have moved, but whatever...)
My own mother was a career teacher (2nd grade). She had an awesome career and was the teacher everyone wanted their kids to have. Today, she's retired with a pension and good savings, very mustachian because of the culture we grew up in.
I had to leave home for my education and couldn't go back since there were no jobs for me at home. I "subscribed" to the fast paced urban lifestyle and paid the price, dearly. Although I've always been a "badass", doing my own home and car repairs whenever possible and riding bike whenever possible, even when I tried to save, I did it wrong and poorly and just didn't have the hang of making my earned dollars work for me.
This is a flaw many engineers share and is a truism I have come to accept. If you are good with finances, you should take some satisfaction in knowing you have achieved a kind of wisdom that escapes many, engineers included.
I became very discontented with "fast paced urban living" and by the time I reached 35, knew the "lifestyle" was only an illusion and does not give lasting contentment. I became upset that every day of my life seemed to require the expenditure of money. My DW was likewise fooled and thought social security would save us. When we started getting the printouts from the government and watched how the government kept dropping the eventual "benefit" on us, we realized we had to take control of the situation.
By the time I reached 50 (and experienced increasing "unemployability" in my field due to my age), I was fully engaged in MMM pursuits of frugality, investment and even more badassity than I used to practice.
Essentially, I had to come full circle back to what my mother, the teacher, was practicing in her life and what I saw with my own eyes.
Last month, my employer had yet another layoff. Stockholders are squeezing the company trying to wring every cent of profit out of it and they are whacking important, essential employees. I was not affected this time, but I have no doubt eventually my number will be up. I am practicing the principles of MMM as hard as I can go and DW (bless her heart) doesn't push back on me when I tell her we're gonna bank my paycheck this week. In the meantime, I'm trying to cook up "side hustles" as well, so if I am whacked, we won't lose our home.
Now, there's lots of "tsk tsk" and "woulda coulda shoulda" that a younger MMM devotee could rightfully ladle upon my head (and several here have tried, bless their poor, damaged psyches) but the fact is, all of us here are (or should be becoming), subversive to the status quo. It's our job to enlist in the army of MMM and that's an even greater thing than how we earn our paycheck.
You are who and what you are, and right now you are where you are. Use what we know here to become the best that you can be and you will be no one's "farmer brown come to town...".
