Freelennial = financially free millennial/xennial. That’s me and I’d love for it to be you too, regardless of your age or generational affliation.
What does it mean to be financially free? It means that your income from passive, non-traditional sources exceeds your expenses and thus you are FREE to live without traditional employment.
Financially free since 2015, I quit my toxic corporate cubicle job to pursue a life of my choosing. I will never forget the feeling I had about one week into my first full time job…it was a “cool” job, I was an ad sales planner at one of the most famous magazines in the world. The pay ($35k) was considered decent for a graduate with an English major in the early 2000s. But, after the initial euphoria of getting a job wore off, I started to feel a creeping panic…the routine: wake up, take the subway to work, sit in a cubicle for 8 hours – with breaks to pee and eat…and REPEAT…and REPEAT…and REPEAT…and REPEAT…and REPEAT. Weekend. Then do it again. What?!! I’m supposed to come and sit here every day for the next 44 years until I retire? I knew pretty quickly that cube life wasn’t going to work for me for 40+ years, but at that point I had ZERO clue on how to take a different path. Both of my parents were dutiful cube workers as were ALL of my friends except those who went into teaching.
So, despite my low-key panic at a future sitting on my ass in a cubicle, I dug in and decided to be the best cube worker I could be. I figured things would be better once I “paid my dues” and made my way from the bottom rung of the career ladder to those closer to the top. WRONG.
I did everything by the book despite being terrible at most of my jobs – I worked hard, made transitions every 2-3 years that jumped my income up (this is crucial to getting free), and even went to grad school so that I’d “qualify” for higher paying leadership roles. By 30 I’d made it to director level making over six figures; I was living in a city I loved, had met my husband, and was still thinking – wait, I have another 35 years to go in this damn cube? Even though I was a director, I was still shat on daily by c-suite and VP level colleagues…it slowly began to dawn on me that cube life was a game I would not, could not, and did not want to win.
Luckily, even though I’d left NYC years before, I’d kept my condo there and was renting it out for a tidy profit of about $1,200/month after operating expenses. I had no idea, but this (property ownership) was my first step on my path to freedom. I’ll use this blog to share the steps I took to get free. If it helps just one person have hope and see another possible path than cubicle slavery, then this blog will have done its job. Let’s get free!
Why write a blog?
- I suffered for 15 years on the corporate plantation and when I finally resigned from last my soul crushing job in 2015, I literallywept tears of joy and did a praise break in my car as I drove out of the parking lot. One thing I know without a shadow of a doubt – God didn’t put you on this earth to sit in a cubicle. You deserve to be free and I feel obligated (sort of like Harriet Tubman before me) to help guide you to the promised land.
- I’ve been a millionaire since 2018. My path to wealth and freedom isn’t anything lucky or magical…it’s easy, it’s repeatable, and I know it can help others “get free” too.
- In this blog I will attempt to share concrete and actionable steps and advice to help you on your own path to financial freedom.
Freelennial 