BiggerPockets Money Podcast - 110: Systematically Increasing Income and Intentionally Decreasing Spending with A Purple Life

Episode Date: February 3, 2020

Purple graduated from college and got a job in New York City making $35,000 a year. And spending $35,000 a year. Her net worth was a whopping $5,000. Her partner shared the concept of financial independence with her, but she wasn’t interested. Two years later, her net worth had grown considerably, but she was still not tracking her spending or paying attention to much of her finances. So, she took a good look at her money situation and discovered that there were places she could make cuts—yet not really feel them. She moved across the country, she changed jobs, she asked for raises. And she saved and invested her money. And her net worth grew to the point that she is retiring before the end of the year and traveling the world—all because she looked at her financial situation and said, “I can do better than that!” Listen in to hear just how she increased her income and decreased her spending to craft the life she wanted! In This Episode We Cover: Purple's journey with money Her mom's gift Deciding to seek financial independence Convincing your partner to pursue FIRE Purple's net worth Tips for people who are looking for a new job and better income The importance of research Purple's plan in the future What her retirement looks like Possible downsides of remote work And SO much more! Links from the Show Reddit Mr. Money Mustache Glassdoor Indeed PayScale cFIREsim BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group BiggerPockets Money Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast show number 110, where we interview Purple from a Purple Life and hear how she systematically increased her income every year while decreasing her spending and boosting her savings and net worth. Purple is set to retire next year at age 30, so we'll hear what that looks like to hurt to. And then I realized I still wasn't fulfilled that dream job. I still was looking out the window, thinking of all the things I could be doing in the world that I could be seeing. I was like, okay, I can see. I'll look into this deeper.

And then I realized my preconceived notions were wrong. It's not about deprivation. It's not about giving up your happiness now for later. There's a balance that can be struck. And so I dove in. Hello, hello, hello. My name is Mindy Jensen and with me, as always, is my stupendous co-host, Scott Trench.

Scott and I are here to make financial independence less scary, less just for somebody else, and show you that by following the proven steps, You can put yourself on the road to early financial freedom and get money out of the way so you can lead your best life. Wherever you are in your financial or life journey, you can begin rapidly moving towards a position capable of generating a great income, saving a huge percentage of that income, and setting yourself up to make larger and larger investments on your way to financial freedom. Whether you want to retire early and travel the world, go on to make big time investments in assets like real estate or start your own business, will help you build a financial position capable of launching yourself towards your dream.

Scott, I am so excited that we finally got together with a purple life, or purple from a purple life. I have been tag teaming her back and forth and I'm super excited to share her story today because she has a story of both like kind of the best of both world, significantly increasing her income while significantly reducing her spending while not feeling deprived or feeling left out or feeling all the other things. that everybody says is so bad about financial independence. Yep. A great, great story here. Very repeatable story. I mean, she starts out making $35,000 in Manhattan, New York City.

I say, I clarify that because I know someone who lives in Manhattan, Kansas, which is a very different expense profile than Manhattan, New York. But for the vast majority of people who know that I'm referring to Manhattan, it's a very expensive place. And making $35,000 a year in 2012 is not very much. and just an incredible effort on every major front from a Purple Life to be able to retire by 30 years old.

Yes. What struck me the most about this episode is the fact that she wasn't afraid to leave a job to get a higher paying job. And I think a lot of people have heard the advice, the career advice, don't job hop, stay at a job for two years. So it looks like you're dedicated and all of that. But at one point in the show, she says, I left this job because it was a toxic experience and my health was suffering. Absolutely give her so many kudos just for leaving because it's so easy to say, well, I don't have anything else. I don't have any money. It's easy to feel so beat down during that time that you don't even have the energy to go look for another job. Yep.

Absolutely. I mean, that's a huge part of the equation. here. And really the focal point I think of this episode is really, I mean, she made choices on the expense front, of course, that made a huge impact. But it's really, it's really the career advancement that she got there. And I think there's lots of take away from that. Yes, absolutely. Tax season is one of the only times all year when most people actually look at their full financial picture, including income, spending, savings, investments, the whole thing. And if you're like most folks, it can be a little eye-opening. That's why I like Monarch. It helps you see exactly where

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Audible has been a core part of my routine for more than a decade. I started listening years ago to make better use of drive time and workouts, and it stuck. At this point, I've logged over 229 audio book completions on Audible alone, and I still regularly re-listened. to the highest impact titles. Lately, I've been listening to Bigger Leeners Stronger for Fitness, the Anxious Generation for Parenting Perspective, and several Arthur Brooks' audiobooks that have been excellent for mental well-being. What makes Audible so powerful as its breadth.

Beyond audiobooks, you also get Audible Originals, podcasts, and a massive back catalog across business, health, parenting, and more, all accessible in one app. If you're looking to turn everyday moments into real progress, Audible has been indispensable for me over over 10 years. kickstart your well-being journey with your first audiobook free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.com slash BP money. Purple from a purple life. Welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. I'm so excited that we've finally connected. And when I say finally connected, that makes it sound like it was your fault when it was 100% my fault. So apologies for that, but I'm so glad we are finally able to connect. How are you today?

I'm wonderful. How are y'all doing? We're doing great. I'm so excited to hear your story because you, when I looked at your overview, it seems like you weren't really paying attention to finances in the beginning of your employment career. But then something switched and you decided to start paying attention to it. And once you start paying attention to it, all of a sudden, your net worth grew, I would say exponentially. So let's get into it. to your money story. Where does it start? And how did you get to where you are today? Well, my money story starts when I was a kid and I was originally being raised by a single mom. And I knew that we didn't have a lot, but we weren't struggling necessarily. But what was really great is that my mom has always been open about money with me. So in the beginning, I was paid $1 per chore. And when I went to collect. She gave me 70 cents. And I was like, this isn't what we agreed to. And she's like, oh, you know, taxes and social security. I said, what's that? No. Where's my money going? So from a young age, I was learning stuff about finances already. And then my mom got remarried when I was eight

and I had been stuffing away all of my chore money. And I actually became a bank for my step-siblings. And my stepbrother still owes me $50. So with interest, I feel like I'm a millionaire. But I just need to get my hands on that money. And he owes me. I'll bring it up next time I see him. Yeah, Bob. Right. Bob.

And I also just found money fascinating. My aunt and uncle lived abroad for a lot of my childhood. And then when they asked me what I wanted them to bring me, they're like, what a weird kid? Because I asked them to bring me foreign currency from where they're living. I just found it really cool. And then I would see my mom paying her bills and balancing her checkbook back when that's what we did.

And I was like, can you teach me how to do that? So then I started paying her bills at like 12 years old because I found it fun. So straight up weirdo from the beginning. He always just found money really interesting. And the fact that it's pieces of paper that we agreed have a certain amount of meaning. And it's just about trust. It's really strange. So what did your balance sheet look like going into high school and college?

Did you work in high school and did you work in college? Did you go to college? I guess I should ask that question first. I did go to college and I worked in high school as a receptionist for my high school, actually. And then in college, my mom actually told me maybe I'd even say forbid me from working because you wanted me to really focus on my grades and getting through everything, which is fair because my partner did work during that time and it does make things a little harder when you have less time to focus on your studies.

So my money in high school, I made a couple thousand dollars. It wasn't wild. I just used that to go to movies with my friends and all that stuff. And then in college, my mom would give me like $20 a month or something so I can go out since I don't have a job. But since I didn't have any income, I just scrolled it away, like 99% of it. And so when she said, oh, do you need more money? I was like, no, I'm good. I have all of it that you gave me before, $20 a month.

She's like, are you not living your best life? What are you doing? Like, there's nothing to do. Like I'm studying. I don't care about going out to eat. It's fine. And also, this is my little emergency fund. I don't have any income. So that's what my money story looked like coming out of college. With all that high school money and saved from college, I had about $5,000. And that's when I moved straight from the graduation line, actually,

to Manhattan and started my first job the day after graduation. Did you have any debt whatsoever? I did not. I was really lucky. My mom has never really spent lavishly. on anything except for her children's education. And I actually asked her not to pay for my college education. I went to a private school, very expensive, but she wanted to. And I think that had to do with she actually got into a really prestigious college and wasn't able to go because of finances. That's what I suspect. But when she hears this, she'd be like, that's not why. Well, you have to let us know what she said. And I'm going to correct you. The next time somebody says, do you need money, you say yes. If somebody wants to give you money, you allow them to give you money.

No, there's so much guilt associated with it, even 10 years later. She could have retired, she didn't retire at 55, but she could have retired at like 50 or less if she hadn't paid for my college, probably. Okay, I'm going to correct you again. Mindy and Purple fight the whole time. Let's do it. She retired at 55. I don't know if you've read the internet, but people are not retiring anymore. They're having to work until the day they die. So the fact she retired and 10 years early is amazing. She chose to put you through college. It's a gift. Just say thank you. I am saying thank you. And that's also one of the reasons I'm trying so hard to retire soon. So I do have more time to spend with her since she did give me that gift that definitely cut years off of my working career. That's a huge gift she gave you. Okay. So thanks to mom. Purple Mom, you are the best ever.

So, okay, so you just graduated from college and you went from the graduation line to, I'm sorry, I missed that. Manhattan. To Manhattan. Okay, so Manhattan is super cheap to live, so you were just able to save, save, save. Exactly. Super easy life. Yeah. No, I started my first job at an ad agency downtown.

I was living in a one room of a house at the very last stop of the A-train, the northernmost tip of Manhattan, the farthest you can go. And I was making $35,000 and paying that rent. And then a couple months later, I moved in with my partner and a roommate slightly further downtown for a lot more rent. And so I was spending, I think it was $1,500 a month, which it takes a lot out of my little 35,000, especially taking into account the very high state and city taxes on top of federal that New York has. So I was scrounging. I ate a lot of literally beans and rice, lots of spaghetti, didn't go out to eat for, I think, at least six months at all. But we made it work. And after about a year, I actually quit because it was a really toxic environment and it was taking a toll on my health.

and my partner and my mom were like, nothing's worth this. Just quit. Like, you'll find something else. I'll say, it's my first job. I don't know. I have no skills. But I quit. And hilariously, after I gave my two weeks notice and it was my first Monday of freedom,

I got a call when I was on the elliptical at 9 a.m. saying I have a job, which was a promotion, and it was for 48K. Wow. Yeah. I want to just double back and hear you say that again. I quit because it was a toxic situation and nothing is worth that. I have a job that is not toxic at all.

I love it very much. But I have worked wherever that job was that you worked, where it was horrible and every day you dreaded going in, if you were listening to the show and you have a job that gives you ulcers and stress and causes all sorts of shenanigans in your life, start looking for a new one. You have Purple's permission, you have my permission, and you have Scott's permission even though he hasn't even chimed in yet, to get a job that makes your heart sing every single day. Okay.

Yes. I totally agree with that. With your $35,000 a year job that was toxic, how long were you there for again? A year. A year. Okay. And were you able to save up any, accumulate any wealth during that period or were, do you have to take on debt?

Or how did you, what did you come out of that year with financially? So one of the great things that my mom instilled in me was to invest as soon as possible. she actually didn't start investing at all in stocks until she was 30 years old, and she still retired at 55. So she told me, like, you have a job now, start going to your 401K. I had no idea what funds to use. She was actually using a slightly sketchy financial advisor at the time, and it gave me less than ideal advice. But the tax savings on that 401K still did help me. So at the end of that one year, I had $20,000 saved mostly just in that 401K. somehow. And the market was obviously going wild and coming back on an upswing. But yeah, I didn't really do anything. And yet I still saved some money in Wild New York. So you made,

you made $35,000. You spent $1,500 a month in rent, which is $18,000, which leaves you with 17,000 left over. And because the market went up, you were able to still invest and generate $20,000 in wealth by the end of that year. What year was this? 2012, and that's total 20,000. So I left college with five, so really 15,000 saved. Okay. Saved, yeah. Awesome. So you probably saved up a few thousand dollars and made a big return on a lot of that as well. Exactly.

Okay, great. All right. So things change. You go from 35 to 48,000. You start that job immediately upon transitioning effectively. What happens for you next? Then about 10 months later, I actually got laid off, which is very common in ad agencies. Churn is real. In fact, if people are somewhere for more than two years, they're like, why are you still here? What's going on? It's so common for people to come and go. So I got laid off, and I had actually already been talking to a friend of mine that was a receptionist at the first job that moved into recruiting. She'd called me saying, so I think this job works for you. was a promotion. It was 65K. And I was like, oh, I don't know if I'm ready for another promotion.

I roll my eyes at myself now. Imposter syndrome is real. And I interviewed for it. I got it. And then hilariously, three weeks later, I got laid off again. Oh, man. Oh, wow. Wait, they hired you and then laid you off three weeks later? Mm-hmm. Okay. Ad agencies. So fun. But it all worked out because I had had coffee. with a woman that knew my cousin from a Portland data agency, actually, all about networking. And I emailed her like, you won't believe what just happened. I just started at X agency. And they laid me off after three weeks.

She's like, what? Do you want to come to my agency? I was like, oh, okay. And then she was the one I negotiated with. So I was like, I won 65K. I want this title that I just got in the promotion for. And she's like, oh, we'll see what we can do. And then I stated that agency for a year and a half, or a little under-tenth.

two years. And I actually changed roles within that agency because, once again, it was toxic. But I felt comfortable asking, can I go to another client even though you hired me for this client? Because they're the worst. And she said yes. So I got a much better environment. And then I also got a slight raise to 68K. And that's when I decided to go for my financial independence, actually. Okay, great. So this is a turning point. It sounds like you discover FI around this time after your year and a half to two years, stint at the second, the third and agency, or the fourth. There's a lot of them. So what's your balance sheet, as you mentioned earlier? What is your situation in terms of wealth at the time, at this time? And what year are we at?

So going all the way back, we got the second job at, it was 2012, at a net worth of about $20,000. Then I got that 65K job in 2013, and I had $30,000. This is still not intentional saving. still doing the 401k, I rolled it over. And then in 2014, I got that slight raise to 68K, and I had a net worth of about $50,000. And that's when I decided to go for financial independence. I actually learned about it two years before that from my partner. And I'm sad to say that I ignored him for two years. But when I did get that less toxic job where I was making 68, I actually thought it was my dream job because I had a complete checklist of what that dream job would be, and it hit all the marks, and I still didn't want to get up on Monday and go to work.

So I was like, okay, maybe this alternative financial independence retire early thing is something I should look at to. Love it. So can you start us from the beginning of the discussions with your partner? How did that transpire at first? And it sounds like you didn't listen. Can you walk us through that? Yes. So he, actually learned about fire from Reddit. He was on the Our Personal Finance Subreddit, and then that led him to the Financial Independence Subreddit. And I'm pretty sure he just sent me a link to either that or a early post from Mr. Money Mustache. And back then, there weren't as many fire blogs at all. And a lot of them looked very similar, white male programmers, basically. And then I read a

couple posts of Mr. Money Mustache, and he was talking about punching people in the face for doing stupid stuff with their money. And I was like, ah, what? And sorry, Pete, love you. Very, very nice to meet you that one time. But it wasn't the best introduction for me. And I was kind of taken aback. And I was like, what is this? I don't want to not spend money. Why not? I just earned it. I'm in Manhattan. Like, shouldn't I be living my best life, as they say? And so, yeah, it didn't hit me the right way. and I didn't give it a fair shot as a result. So that's on me. And then two years later, when I had already told myself,

I just need that dream job. They're wrong. Like, I just need to be happy at work. Like everyone says, and then everything will be perfect. And I'll want to keep working until I'm 55 like my mom. And then I'll retire early and it'll be fine. Why do I need to speed up the timeline? And then I realized I still wasn't fulfilled that dream job.

I still was looking out the window, thinking of all the things I could be doing in the world that I could be seeing. And I was like, okay, I can see. I'll look into this deeper. And then I realized my preconceived notions were wrong. It's not about deprivation. It's not about giving up your happiness now for later.

There's a balance that can be struck. And so I dove in. Love it. So I have two lessons from your story here, right? One is if you're trying to convince your partner to pursue fire, don't position it as face punching or any other kind of big negative. don't paint their current outlook or the way that many people will do it as ridiculous in there because you're likely to turn folks off.

And then two, if your partner is not on board with things and you're just patient and politely bring up the subject from time to time without pressing it, you may create a change downstream or find that they will come around to it downstream. What do you think about that? Are those fair takeaways from this? I think that's completely fair. and I do know that our situation is a little unique because we don't combine our finances at all. So I understand that he was patient because it wasn't like I was spending wildly while he was trying to save and retire early.

He was really like, no, I just gave you some advice. And if you don't take it, I'm still going to do this. So it's cool. And I know that can be hard when you have combined finances like that. No, it makes perfect sense. All right. So what changes in 2014 when you decide to go after it? Well, our first thing was that I looked at my biggest expenses, which were Manhattan rent, and also, I didn't know at the time, but taxes. And then we created a spreadsheet of where we should move based on a couple of criteria, salaries, overall cost of living, standard of living, weather, access to public transit. I've never owned a car. I'm never planning on it. access to international airports, that kind of stuff. And Seattle won. So was this a discussion or was this like a research project? Both. Okay. Did you list out criteria and make a spreadsheet or something?

Oh yeah. It's color coded. It's beautiful. Awesome. All right. So you create this research project spreadsheet with your partner about where to live, which is awesome, by the way. And you settle in Seattle. Love it. Exactly. And we settled in Seattle. because we realized that the salaries are about the same as New York, which I had no idea about, and the cost of living is about half. And then when we got here, we basically reduced our rent in so much that we went from a studio apartment to a lovely one bedroom and saved about a little over $600,000 a year, almost $7,000 a year just with that. And then with the state and city tax savings, that was over $10,000 a year. So just those two changes, I went from spending about $35,000 in New York

to about $18,000, and that's where I am now. One of the things that I think people who live in New York love about New York is the amount of things to do and the spending on those types of things. I'm gathering that those were not important to you. Is that right? You weren't going out all the time and dropping $100 bucks on brunch or whatever it is those New Yorkers do. I actually was doing my drinks. All right, fair enough. Good, I'm glad I asked. Not $100 on brunch, though, well, probably close because those bottomless brunches can get pricey.

But I absolutely love eating. And so I used to spend hundreds of dollars a month on just eating out. I rarely cooked. I would buy lunch out, breakfast, and then also want fancy dinners. Like, restaurant week was huge for me. I mean, I think those are like at least 50 bucks a pop before drinks or taxes or anything like that. Okay. So your main expenses were rent and food then? Yep.

Well, I'm just wondering how you were able to save so much on so little if you weren't cutting back on food. Was there basically nothing else that was major contributor to your expenses? So I did cut up back on food. When we left New York, I started seeing that my food budget or my eating out budget was, decreasing because I did start teaching myself to cook. So I went from like hundreds of dollars a month to in 2015, I averaged 175, 2016, 140, 2017, $50 a month, 2018, it was 60, and last year it was 57. So it just kept going down, down, down as my skills got better. I also started eating keto, and that made me realize that I can get a lot more meat and fat at home for a lot, less, and I actually prefer it because I'm a serious introvert. So like having a dinner party is

my dream instead of meeting 20 people at a restaurant. It sounds kind of like a nightmare. So that was something I decreased kind of unintentionally. I didn't have that goal because going from $200 to $50 a month, that's not a huge change. And the other thing I changed was my phone bill, A7 iPhone, and pay $90 a month for that privilege. And then I switched to Republic Wireless. And at that time, they were $15 a month and nothing changed in my life. I just had to learn an Android, which was fairly simple. But that was fairly big savings. But other than that, no, I didn't really change much.

It was just that move across the country. I have possibly, I'd say a better life for a lot less money. How does your quality of life diminish? Because clearly, if you're not doing all of the things, then you're having a horrible life. I really liked what you said. It's not about deprivation. And it doesn't sound like you're depriving yourself. You just don't pay all that rent, right?

I mean, I don't want to diminish your changes, but you haven't made any big changes. I mean, except moving across the country, I guess. So small. Some people might think that's a big change. I've actually moved a ton in my life and that's no big deal for me. But I actually, I do have a hard time relating to people who have lived in the same place forever.

And they're like, oh, I could never move. It's like, I've moved Tuesday. And I'm going to move next Tuesday. Like, I just move all the time. So that's awesome. You're making more money by following your passion and following your bliss and getting rid of these toxic workplaces. What year are we up to now?

2015? We are up to 2015. Okay. So what happened in 2015? Oh, goodness. What did happen, 2015? Consult your spreadsheet. Every time anybody says, oh, so I made a spreadsheet.

I smile because that's like the theme with every guest we've ever had. I think there's been two that didn't do spreadsheets and everybody else's like, I put every bit of my life into a spreadsheet and it's great. I can analyze all sorts of things. And, you know, I know you listening are thinking the same thing. I do that too. No, I do love my spreadsheets. I have way too many of them. They bring me joy. No, you don't. You have just the right amount. So 2015, we were packing up to leave New York. We decided on Seattle. My partners actually had actually never visited before. He had only been to San Diego on the West Coast. So this was about to be interesting. Oh, they're slightly different cities. It's just the literal opposite in the U.S. And I was trying to find a job in

Seattle while still in New York, which I had heard is difficult. But I'd already quit my job a couple months before we were leaving just so I could get everything ready and packed. didn't give away most of our stuff and move it and all that. And I was extremely lucky that for the first time in my life, I applied to a place online, they got back to me, and then they hired me over Skype. Yay! It was ridiculous. And that job, I asked for 85 and I got it. Wonderful. So a huge raise moving across the country with that. Yes, indeed. And so by the end of 2015, we had just settled in Seattle. I was still at that 85K job. And my net worth hit $90,000. And this is after I am trying to max out my 401K, I'm trying for the first time to have a traditional IRA and max that.

I think I did max it the first year. And then if I have anything left over, I was starting to squirrel it away in taxable accounts as well. So it's starting to get serious. Love it. So, all right. That explains the asset allocation, the income and the expenses all right there. So how do things go in the next couple of years? So 2016, about the same.

in June of that year, I got laid off. Big Shocker. Here we go. Oh, no. It happens, guys, so often. And actually, I was about to quit, so I was really happy about that. That's really great. It was super happy. So I think I took a couple months off. I was just chilling and traveling around for a while. But then November of that year, I got my current job. And I started a 103. And at the end of 2016, I had $137,000. And then this is when my spending in 2017 finally hit its current level, which is 18,000. In 2016, it was about 22. And by the end of 2017, with that 103,000 job, my net worth hit $234,000. In 2018, I got a slight raise and started making 106. and by the end of the year, even though we had that little correction, I was at $280,000.

And then this, or not this year, in 2019, I got another slight raise to $110,000. And at the end of the year, uh-oh, my spreadsheet is not up to date. One moment. How embarrassing. At the end of 2019, I had $448,000. And as of this recording, I'm at $466,000. Okay, so I just want to rewind back to 2012. Your net worth was $20,000. And in seven years, your net worth went from $20,000 to $448,000.

Yep. Simply by not giving up anything that was important to you, making a conscious decision to live in a place that did not cost $15,000 a year in extra taxes and rent. And you're still as happy as you were then, I'm assuming, that's the kind of leading question, happier, because you have $448,000 in the bank at the end of last year. And then it's January, so there's a nice little bump up. Well, let me ask you this. The big story here to me is your, income tripling over this time period, right? That's, I think, what allowed you to accumulate the hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess of what you were accumulating in the first

couple of years, even with the new focus on FI. You started your career at $35,000 a year in Manhattan, which is not a high income, I imagine, in that line of work. Is your career track what you would consider repeatable for other folks? Or, you know, and it's fair to say either way on Do you think you're an exceptional performer that really crushed it here? I don't think I'm exceptional, and I do think it's repeatable if you are willing to take some risks. Like half of the time, I did get laid off, so I was kind of forced out of the nest. But the other half, I quit. I quit even when I thought was my dream job to move across the country.

So that was terrifying, to be honest. I didn't know if I would be happy across the country. I didn't know if I would find a job I enjoyed. I didn't know anything, but I tried it. And then also, I've always been really, I've always loved doing research, a lot of research before any job interview. So I know what the market rate for promotion is. I know what is supposed to be in different cities.

And so I ask for it. And I'm very strict with if someone comes back and says, oh, well, well, actually, that's out of our range. I say, okay, but I'm going to move on. Thank you for telling me. So I don't waste my time. if they can't meet me where I know I should be making that money. And then obviously all the job hops help a lot.

Most of my friends are still their same comfy job, not taking risks, which is fine. But then they complain to me that they can't save any money because they're making the same amount that they did five years ago. So, yeah, I think it's definitely repeatable if you want to take that risk. Let me ask you this. You saved up the first year you're able to save up 15 grad-ish on top of your five that you came out. out of college with. And that was the $35,000 a year job. Were you more comfortable than maybe your peers working the same line of work because you had been able to save up money on that? Do you think that was that influenced your decision? Or maybe you saw that your peers were living paycheck to

paycheck and too scared to make that leap? I don't think it did at that point just because I think all of that money wasn't my 401k besides the $5,000. So I didn't really feel like it was something I could tap into, but it may be subconsciously because I didn't see anyone else quitting that toxic job. Some of the people I worked with are still there. So maybe it did subconsciously. I just didn't realize it. Awesome. Do you think that it is impacting your ability to be so easy to change jobs in the years following the fact that you built up a very solid financial position? Definitely. It definitely did. and me being willy-nilly are happy about being laid off when my colleagues are terrified, that's huge. And I did have, I think it was hundreds of thousands or at least $100,000 saved with those later layoffs where I was like, I'm just going to travel for a few months.

See you whenever. It'll be fine. And my colleagues were scrambling and taking the first job that was offered to them or taking the first salary that was offered to them because they were afraid and didn't have that emergency fund. definitely. Tax season is one of the only times all year when most people actually look at their full financial picture, including income, spending, savings, investments, the whole thing. And if you're like most folks, it can be a little eye-opening. That's why I like Monarch. It helps you see exactly where your money is going, and more importantly, where your tax refund can make the biggest impact. Because the goal isn't just to look backward, it's to actually make progress. Simplify your

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Visit northwest registered agent.com slash money-free and start building something amazing. Get more with Northwest Registered Agent at Northwest Registered Agent.com slash money-free. Okay, so for people that are listening, you just said you really like to do research and you know what a job pays. What are some tips for asking for a raise and where do people go to do this research? Because just, hey, I want to raise is a terrible way to ask for a raise. I know that, but what is a good way to ask? So I actually don't usually ask for raises just to give that background. I've gotten them at this job simply by saying, hey, this is my performance review.

It looks like I'm checking all the boxes. We have a matrix. I'm doing really well. I think we should talk about a raise, but I don't think that's the perfect way to go about it. Also, I don't actually, I don't want to say I don't care, but I don't. I'm not staking my financial future on the little 2% raises that they're willing to give me for a lot of work. So I don't think I'm the perfect person to give that kind of advice, but I do think I have some good tips for if you are looking for a completely new job

and looking for that completely new amount of money. Where I go to do research on those kinds of things are glassdoor.com, which is amazing, not just for salary brackets because it's crowdsourced from actual people that work there, but also for reviews of different companies. So in the interview process, you can see if there's some serious red flags and it's a place that might be toxic and you don't want to work. Indeed.com also has some pretty good salary information, payscale.com, and then really just playing the game when you're interviewing.

So I never have told people my previous salary. It's actually illegal to ask that in New York now because it usually holds a lot of people back, women and people of color specifically, of which I am both. So, yeah, just playing the game, not letting them set a base minimum based on your previous salary, turning around on them if you can. What salary are you looking for? Well, what's the range for the position? That kind of thing. Yeah, I've definitely fallen victim to that question. What salary are you looking for? Oh, I'm looking for this. And they're like, oh, we were going to pay you 10,000 more, but we'll throw you a bone and go to your top level, which is still like 8,000 less than what we were going to pay.

Yeah. So that's great advice. Doing the research is definitely, and I've heard of Glassdoor, but I hadn't heard of pay scale. And I didn't know indeed had that actual information on the site. So that's good to know. Well, if I want to make $110,000 a year in digital advertising, I believe, how does one get started in this career. Do you need a major with that or is that? You don't need a major. I went to liberal arts college, so we didn't have anything like communications or advertising as major options.

And the one thing that seemed to be required across the board, if you want to get started in ad agencies, is that you need an internship. And to need an internship, you need to know somebody, which is extremely annoying. But my college had a pretty extensive alumni network that worked in ad agencies in marketing. And so I emailed all of them. And I followed up every week until most of them got back to me and agreed to have a quick 30 minutes call where I can pick their brain. Thank you so much, blah, blah, blah. And I was surprised that a lot of people are very willing to help. They're very busy, so I do have to email them multiple times, but they're willing to help. And one of those people I emailed is actually the CEO of the first ad agency I ever worked at in New York. And she forwarded me to the

HR department and they got me into their internship program after I interviewed. No, I just ask because your trajectory in tripling your income in seven years is remarkable. And it seems like this is not a dead end career. This is a career that has a lot of upside that has a lot of potential and one that I haven't heard of anyone in any of our previous shows going through to get to six figures so quickly. So thank you for sharing all that. Of course. Okay, so what's going on in the future? What's your next step? Next step is to try and do not rage quit. No, I'm kidding.

The next step is to retire September 25th is the plan. September 25th of this year. Mm-hmm. Oh. What does retirement look like? Sitting on the beach, sipping margaritas, playing video games? For a little bit, yes. I have promised to keep post-a-hmm. posting weekly on my blog for at least a year. So blogging will be a part of it. I'm taking a retirement and victory lap with my mom. So I quit on the 25th, or rather the 25th is my last day. Then I fly to Long Beach to celebrate at FinCon, aka my retirement party. Woohoo.

And then I'm flying from LAX to Australia, New Zealand for six weeks and just traveling around, seeing the Great Barrier Reef and all that wonderful. before it's gone. And then I am flying back to New York quick to say hi to my partner. And then going to Argentina for a month. And then we're at the end of the year. We'll see what happens. Awesome. What are the numbers that associated with that retirement? So I currently, like I said, spend about 18,000 a year. I'm projecting that I'll spend 20,000 retirement to give a little buffer there. We'll see if that's accurate because there's a lot of guest estimates, we are planning to move about every three months after this whole retirement

victory lap is over between domestic U.S. places and global places. So as far out as we have planned in February of 2021, I'm going to spend a month in Thailand. So that I'll help balance out my costs from when I'm going to Australia, New Zealand, and then also Argentina will help balance that out. But that's the plan for now. We're going to be vagabonds. Awesome. You say we, is that you and your mom or you and your partner? Great question. A little bit of both.

Okay. Mostly me and my partner. He's currently on a sabbatical, so we're trying to figure out what his next step is, hopefully a remote job. But if not, it'll be more like me shuttling back and forth between different locations and seeing him and staying in our new apartment, wherever that may be. So it's a little up in the air, but we know that we're at least leaving this specific apartment at the end of July.

I actually just booked a place in a different neighborhood in Seattle for us to live for the month of August. So the nomad life begins. Awesome. That's really exciting. And, you know, like we said, way back on, I think it was episode 11, what's the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen is your portfolio decreases enough that you have to go back and get a job. So your worst case scenario is everybody else's everyday life. What a hardship. Internet retirement police, if they come after you because you decided to go back to work, back off. IRP, back off. She can do what she wants. It's her life. She's living her best life. For those listening, the Internet Retirement Police are make fun of name for all those people who

say, they're not retired. This isn't allowed. This isn't correct. You know, the $18,000. No. Purple is retiring, and she did it, starting from $35,000 a year in Manhattan and made conscious choices over the last seven years, yes, through eight years, to put herself in that position. At 30 years old? Yep. There you go. I am not 30. I'll be 30 next year when you retire, too. I am not 30 and did not retire when I was 30. I was a stay-at-home mom for a while, but I'm working now because I choose to, and the internet retirement police are welcome to email me at Mindy at BiggerPockets.com.

I would love to delete your emails. You know what? This is my best life. I get to teach people about money and real estate all day long, and it is fantastic. I just got the best letter from this woman who said that listening to other people being frugal weirdos is so helpful to her to get over the,

frugal weirdos. Yeah. She's like, yeah, we never spent any money. We didn't have a nice car and we had, you know, a really crappy car and I don't want to spend money on a car because it's not important to me. Then don't. You have my permission to not spend money on anything that you don't want to spend money on. It's your money.

Personal finance is personal. You get to make the choices that work best for you. We're just encouraging you to see another side of it. Look, you can make $106,000 a year. and then spend every single dime. But there's another way to do it. You can earn $106,000 a year and spend $18,000 a year feeling not deprived,

doing everything you want to do, and then you get to retire slightly ahead of schedule. What is this? 35 years ahead of schedule. Just a little bit, yeah. I think that's pretty good. It's not bad. Not bad.

I think that's pretty flippant amazing. We need to have your mom on too. Oh, goodness. She'd freak out. I'll ask her if you want. Yes, please. Okay, Purple, is there anything else you'd like to talk about before we move on to The Famous for?

I'd love to talk about the wonders and possible downsides of remote work, which I've been doing for the last three years and which my partner has done for eight. Oh. Oh, I didn't know you were working remotely. Okay, that's, yeah, no, that's great. That is, I have some to share because my husband worked remote for a long time. So, well, how did you get your remote job? So I actually did not know when I applied that it was remote.

And since have encouraged HR to make that very prominent in the job postings because it's obviously a huge benefit. Well, not only is it a huge benefit, but some people would find it to be a detractor. I know some people just aren't comfortable working from home. They can't function working from home. They don't actually do any work from home. So, yeah, I can't believe they wouldn't put that in there. Well, and you applied for the position and moved to Seattle for the job to find out that it was remote. Is that what I'm hearing?

Oh, no, that was a separate job. That was the job right before this one. Okay, good, yeah. Wait a second. That would be pretty funny. That would be pretty funny. Okay, never mind. I'm moving back.

Okay, fair enough. Well, tell us about work remote and how you're making. network? So I never realized that this was actually a real option. I didn't know anyone that worked remotely besides my partner and he was part of basically a remote company. So I thought if it's a remote company, cool, but otherwise this isn't really possible, especially in marketing. But that is not the case. And my company actually tries to cater to both the people that can and are more productive working from home and those that are not. So we actually do have a co-working space downtown that you can go to if you want to. And some people choose to every day because that's more

motivational for them. Me, on the other hand, I have always found the open office, glass wall, weird spaces that ad agencies seem to think are so cool to be really distracting. I just want to get my work done, put my head down, and crank it out. And so I usually would have headphones in. They're like, oh, no, purple, why aren't you hanging out with us? I'm like, because I'm trying to get my work done. And people are laughing and talk. And people are laughing and talking and all this stuff. And also just being around that many people, I'm a serious introvert. So it would just be so draining to be like, smiling all the time. I am happy, but I have to actively be smiling and looking excited. It was so tiring. So when I first started working remotely,

I was like, this is sensational. Not only do I save commute time and time like trying to look professional, quote unquote, packing my lunch every day, everything. I also just get way more done because I don't have any distractions. And I can literally turn off my email and no one can pop by my cubicle to ask me just one quick thing. And it's amazing. So my productivity has gone through the roof. My stress levels have plummeted. My energy has increased just a little bit because my job, I still am required to work late often.

But it's so much better working late when my partners in the background making dinner instead of me being in an empty office feeling like I've chosen career over my loved ones or whatever, my crises that I had in New York. So, yeah, I absolutely love it. I would caution that people should definitely think if it's right for them, because I know it's not for everyone as you made that point. Yeah, my husband had to shut everything out. And that was, that was kind of difficult for me to learn, actually, because he started working from home right when our first baby was born.

So now I'm at home and he's at home and I'm like, hey, can you just do this? And he's like, no, I'm working. I'm like, but you're right here. He's like, no, I'm working. And I was the stay at home mom. And, you know, however your experience is in my relationship, I was the stay at home mom. That was my job to take care of the baby because his job was to work. for a company that paid him actual dollars. And this isn't a slam on stay-at-home moms or like any of that. I'm just saying that's how our situation shook out. So I'm like, hey, I want to take a shower. He's like, I'm working. So it was very difficult for me to figure that out. And once we got through that, I mean, that was a rough couple of months.

Like, why can't you help? He's like, because I'm working. And it makes sense when you say it like that. But so that's a good point. And then also there are just some people who can't get stuff done. There are people, I know he used to work with a guy who said, I'm not going to work from home because I can't. I can't get anything done.

I'm going to go paint the house or do laundry or, you know, make dinner or whatever it is and I'm not going to focus on my work. And being aware of that is very, very helpful. You know, look into yourself. Are you really going to get work done? If you're not, then a co-working option, a co-working space might be the best option for you. completely agree it's not for everyone but it's definitely for me and i'm never going back it's definitely for me too i'm in the office a couple of days a couple of days i get the best of both worlds

i'm in the office for a couple of days a week and i'm at home a couple of days a week and it's nice because i do live 40 minutes from work so you know driving all the way in can be frankly to me it's an awesome experience because i go in early and i don't have a lot of traffic and i don't have children in the backseat fighting and I can listen to podcasts or music. So it's, you know, it works out for me. I like to get to see people and I also like to get stuff done. Makes sense? I work in the office full time.

That's the nature of the job though. But yeah, I love that you've been able to find that work remote and make it work for you. So, but only eight more months of even that. Exactly. Countdown is real. Do you plan on doing any sort of work? after you have retired, like maybe take on a contract here or there, or have you not thought about that yet? I've thought about it. I'm not planning to. But given that I am trying to retire with such an aggressive

timeline, I am open to it. I've run the models where if I can drop my spending to 16,500 by living in Thailand for a few extra months or going to Mexico and hanging out on a beach for a little while, and then not have a spending ceiling at all, aka I can spend a little more in upmarket years. I would have survived the last, I think that it's 150 years of investment data, including the Great Depression. So if I'm able to do that, it will all work out.

But if I need to, if things are going really poorly, if sequence or returns is just smacking me over the head, I'm open to making some more money, but it's more out of necessity. though I may change my mind after I have a couple years of chilling and recovering from this almost decade of working really hard. Did you just say you ran this model over against 150 years of investing data? You really do like research.

I do. I can't take full credit for that, though, because that's just C-Fire Sim, which is absolutely amazing if you guys haven't checked it out instead of Firecalf. Yeah, where is this? C-FIRSIM.com. C-S-E? C-the-letter, fire sim.com. Okay, we'll put a link to that.

Yes, that would be great. Okay, purple, it's that time. Are you ready for the famous four? I'm ready. These are the same four questions we ask of all of our guests. Number one, what is your favorite finance book? Definitely your money or your life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. because I read it when I first started getting into fire,

and it completely blew my mind in that thinking of money as the time that you're giving up for that money. I couldn't even believe it. And it just made me realize that money is way more precious because it's not about these pieces of paper. It's literally in my life that I'm giving away. Yeah, that book was like now, you know, 20 or 40 years after it's been released. Like, well, of course.

But at the time, that was like, oh, my God, you're so right. Excellent book. Love it. Great book. What was your biggest money and mistake? Ooh, listening to other people about what my life should be. Specifically, my second year in New York, I was living in a really crappy apartment with less than ideal roommates. I was not very happy. And so people were like, oh, you need to pick me up.

You should buy this purse subscription. You should buy these high heels. You should fly business class. And I was like, yeah, I guess I should do that. That might make me happy. So I did all of that. I over Thanksgiving decided to go visit a friend in New Mexico. And I was like, oh, but I also have a friend of Chicago, so I should stop there.

And also I should buy all of these flights for business class. I bought a business class flight to London for a weekend. Like, I went wild. And I did all of that and realized, why am I doing this? I'm not more happy and I have less money. And why am I listening to these people telling me what my Manhattan City lifestyle should be? So I think that's my biggest money mistake. It might not be the one that cost me the most money, but it was definitely a big mistake

that derailed me a little bit and made me not listen to myself, which I should have. That's a unique piece of advice that we haven't gotten to answer that question and a great one. So I think that it's a great mistake. And now you're back on track. And would you be where you are if you hadn't made those mistakes? Would you be as appreciative of where you are? Probably not. I think you've got to try out different avenues to realize they're not for you.

I think you're so right. What is your best piece of advice for people who are just starting out? Don't be afraid to be weird. Figure out what you want, what you don't want, and live intentionally. do exactly that. For example, I don't really like concerts, but I love flying first class. So I got into travel rewards to make the latter possible. And if a friend says they want to go to a concert, I'm like, I'm good, but do you want to go to like this free Zumba class tomorrow? And it's just not being afraid to say exactly what you want to do. That's awesome. So good because so many people are

so afraid of what other people are going to think of them. And Coco Chanel, this is I think this is my second favorite quote. Coco Chanel said, I don't care what you think about me. I don't think about you at all. All these people that are judging you for not doing this or that, you don't think about them. And they'll judge you regardless. So even if you're trying to please them, so we might as well do what you want. Boom. All right. Time for the last question of famous for. What is your favorite joke to tell at free Zumba parties? Well, we're too busy dancing to tell jokes. So I know it's usually to tell at parties. And I had a hard time with this because I don't usually tell jokes at parties

because I have a pretty dark sense of humor. But I saw this one online the other day and it made me laugh out loud. So older people like to tease me at weddings saying you'll be next. But they stopped after I started doing the same to them at funerals. Oh. Double meeting because my partner and I aren't getting married. So I was like, that's a great comeback. Love it.

That's fantastic. So Purple, where can people find out more about you? You can find me at my website atpurpleaf.com. It has all the links to my social media and how to contact me over email. Hit me up. She's very good at responding. Remember how she said she would go and remind people over and over again when she was trying to get that internship?

The reason she's here is because she is much better at correspondence than I am. I mean, I wanted to tell your story. No, I wanted to tell your story. And there's a lot of stories I want to tell. And I'm very, very glad that we were able to get you on. Thank you so much for your time today. This was a lot of fun. I had a great time.

Thanks for having me. Thank you for sharing your story. We'll talk soon. Yeah, this was great. All right. Sounds good. Okay, Scott, what did you think of Purple Story? I thought it was great.

I mean, she's very well organized. You can tell that her dedication to spreadsheets and optimization is a key player, both probably getting to some of her career success, certainly leading to her improved ability to spend very little and enjoy life. And she knows what she wants. And that's a winning formula. So good for her. Don't forget her love of research.

That is very key to her income success, I think, is not only knowing what her position is worth, but knowing that she doesn't want to settle for something less. Absolutely. Yeah, and the research is on every front, just like the other stuff, researching her job, researching her spending, where to go and live that has the best, the best opportunities for her, for all those things. You can tell the research is going in for where she's going to live in retirement, whether it's Thailand or Australia or New Zealand and how that impacts her choices. So she really

knows what she's doing. That research has probably taken her countless hours, but it's saved her 35 years. Oh, my goodness. That's like the best sound bite I've ever heard, Scott. Yeah. So maybe she put a couple hundred hours or maybe a thousand hours. I don't know how much over the course of the last couple of years in optimizing all these fronts, 35 years of her life back. Yeah. You know what? That's a good tradeoff. Yeah. Okay. From episode 110 of the Bigger Puckets Money podcast, I am Indy Jensen and he is Scott Trench. And we will see you later.