My wife quit her job today, so we celebrated with sushi.
Related: How to Quit Your Day Job and Pursue Your Passion!
Well, it was actually an early birthday lunch for her, but I love getting two for one. We drove into D.C. and went to Sushi Taro. The food was excellent, but I couldn’t eat too much because I’m still getting over a stomach bug. I had the bento box with sushi, and she had the chirashi bowl. For dessert, the hoji-cha pudding was superb. The matchaccino was really good too. I highly recommend Sushi Taro if you’re near the Dupont Circle area.
Anyway, let’s get back on topic. My wife had an exit interview this morning, and now she’s officially free.
She spent over 8 years in consulting, moving from company to company (Booz Allen, Deloitte, Navigation Arts, EPAM) and taking on many different roles. It was a good run, but we’re both glad it’s over.
It was definitely nice having a dual income all these years, but it was starting to take a toll on our family life. Our son just turned 2, and Mrs. FrugaLee decided she wanted to spend more time with him. Her job was requiring travel once in a while now, and we figured it was a good time to make the jump.
Last month, we set a goal for her to quit by May 28, 2017 and to have a bigger emergency fund (around $20k) by that time too. I am also considering changing my schedule to part-time by May, but I may not have to do that. For now, I officially quit driving for Uber and Lyft to have a little more time to blog.
Related blog posts:
- I Started Driving For Uber (and Lyft) and You Can Too!
- I’ve Given 50+ Rides as an Uber Driver. Here’s How It Went.
- How Much Do Uber/Lyft Drivers Make?
I know this will definitely have an effect on our financial goals, but I have a feeling we’ll still find a way to achieve them. Here are some of the pros and cons of my wife quitting her job. Let’s start with the bad.
Cons:
- Reduced household income (less disposable income)
- Possibility of increased difficulty returning to workforce later
Pros:
- No more commute
- More time to go grocery shopping, cook healthier food, and eat out less
- More time to spend with our son
- More time to exercise
- More time to learn other things
- More time for friends and family
- More time for life!
- More free time
- Less stress
Can you tell the pros greatly outnumber the cons? It was nice to have the extra money, but we didn’t NEED it. When we go to work, we are trading our time for money. At some point, the marginal amount of money we bring home has a decreasing benefit. I’m thankful for all the things her income has helped afford. It helped pay for her student loan debt, our wedding expenses, down payment on our properties, our cars, and all the other household expenses.
Now, we feel as though we’re in good enough financial shape that we can claim some of this free time back, at least for my wife. My hope is that I can do the same by the time I’m 35. Once we are financially independent, we can work on things that truly matter to us.
I realize not every family is in the position to just let go of one income. I do believe, however, that every family can make a financial plan to allow this to happen and work that plan to make it happen. For us, it took about 5 years of working on that plan to make today happen.
I hope this post encourages at least one person to set financial goals and work to achieve them.
Image source: Office Space
Woo-hoo! I left my career when DD was 3 and no regrets. We were blessed to also homeschool for kindergarten so we could travel. We also benefitted tax wise being one income and I could contribute to a traditional IRA. Now DD is a pre teen and I have a part time job in the school system.
PS in D.C. We love Teaism.
Awesome! It’s a tough decision to leave a career, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard any moms say they regret it. It definitely isn’t the easier route to take, but it is probably much more rewarding and much better for the child. I’ll have to try Teaism sometime. Thanks for the comment!
Why is having $1 million saved important? I’m not sure that it’s something God requires or even wants anyone to do. Not saying savings aren’t important but as long as you have enough having tons of money saved isn’t a must.
Hi Peter. Great question! $1 million is just a goal I set. I hope you don’t get the impression from any of my writing that I think it is something God requires. I hope to write a post someday and title it, “Is it Wrong To Be a Wealthy Christian?” I think too many Christians see having a lot of money as sinful, but money itself is amoral. It is neither evil nor good. However, when in the hands of someone good, it can magnify that effect; and vice versa. For me, I think $1 mil would provide us with more than enough passive income to be financially independent. What that means to me is that I won’t be so busy worrying about providing for myself and my own family, and I’ll have time to work on things that really matter to me and can hopefully help others. I really enjoy personal finance, and I feel that I could help others by teaching them about personal finance with a medium such as this blog. Being financially independent frees up a lot of time, and I hope to make a difference in this world with that extra time. I hope I can explain this better in a future post and provide some concrete examples from the Bible. Many influential and godly characters in the bible had great wealth and used it for good. I hope this makes sense.