Posts Tagged ‘Tokyo’

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have quit my job in Tokyo and will be moving to the tropical island of Miyakojima. At this point we have gotten rid of most of our stuff (the rest will be taken tomorrow) and will be boarding our plane in a few days. As the date is getting closer, I starting to focus on all the things I will be able to do in this new life and environment that I haven’t been able to do working here in Tokyo. Below is a list of 10 things I am looking forward to be focusing on.

1. Spend more time with my spouse- With both of us working full time jobs both with long commutes, we haven’t had the chance to spend a lot of time together for the last year. I am looking forward to spending more time together.

2. Catching/finding my own food- Since we will now be living by the ocean, I plan to support a part of our life by catching and finding our own food. Not only will this be a fun activity, it can also reduce our food bills. There is also a great satisfaction to catching or growing your own food that just doesn’t come with buying it.

3. Study more- Particularly language. One of the reasons I chose to stay in Japan was to keep improving my Japanese skills. As we would like to visit Central and South America, I also plan to start studying Spanish. I also plan to study internet marketing. Something I have been studying lately and really enjoy.

4. Exercise- Since I quit my job in August I have been doing a pretty good job in this area. However, I have been slightly limited by places to exercise. In Miyakojima, I would like to increase not only the types of exercise I am doing, but also the amount I am exercising. Miyakojima is one of the locations where they hold the Ironman Triathlon, but I don’t plan to go that far. I will probably focus on martial arts and have actually been considering trying parkour.

5. Scuba diving, Snorkeling, and Swimming- I absolutely love the water and water sports (along with driving and food) have been some of the things I miss the most here in Tokyo. Miyakojima has amazing beaches and great diving. Now The one draw back is diving in Miyakojima is quite expensive so, I need need to figure out a way to do it cheaper.

6. Volunteering- I don’t know exactly what will be available, but I would like to help do something with either the schools or with the ocean. How cool would it be to help as a volunteer diver.

7. Building my own business- I am still working on the exact business plan, but now that I am over the fear of actually starting it I am looking forward to seeing what I can do. The more efficient I got at work, the more I realized how much time I was being wasted. Now I have the chance to try out my own practices and theories.

8. Meeting new people- People in Tokyo can be somewhat cold. Friends are great friends, but if someone doesn’t know you they don’t want to be bothered by you. Miyakojima is much more laid back and the people are much more friendly. I will have the chance to meet people with very different backgrounds.

9. Drive- It seems weird to miss something that I sometimes hated when driving in the states, but driving gives a sense of freedom and can be a fun activity. We won’t need to do much driving on the island, but the occasional drive around the island or to the beach will be great.

10. Enjoying life one day at a time- During my busy week schedule here in Tokyo, I was always waiting for my next day off. The weeks and Months seemed to just fly buy and I felt as though I was a spectator. I am going to try my best to live each day the way I want and to it’s fullest. After realizing how quickly they can go by, I really want to treasure each one.

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I recently decided to quit my job, move to a tropical island, and start my own business. You can read the full story here. While I actually came to this decision quite easily, it required getting rid of the majority of my stuff and relocating my entire life. However, due to my financial situation this was actually quite easy to do and going through this process has really taught me what financial freedom means. There are a lot of books (several of which I have read myself) and sophisticated methods out there to tell you how to get out of debt and become financially free. After successfully creating my own financial freedom, I can honestly say it’s not that difficult. It just takes a good plan and some perseverance.

The Method

The first thing you need to do is honestly evaluate your situation. If you are deep in debt, don’t pretend that things are going well. This won’t help you get out of the situation. Add up your debt and bills and also figure out how much you bring in. You need to figure out how much is going in verse how much is going out.

The goal is to put as much into savings as possible. However, you must first pay off your debt. To pay off your debt, you must first free up some of your funds by reducing your spending. Look at your bills and find what you can go without. It may not always be the large things. Do you drink coffee everyday? That right there can add up to more than $20 a week or more. Also consider things such as cable or satellite TV, reducing your cell phone bill, buying store brands, eating or drinking out less, and of course driving less. These things may seem small, but when added up they can become several hundreds of dollars a month.

The next step is to look at the bigger items that you are purchasing. Whether it is clothes, electronics, DVDs, or anything else you might lay your eyes on. You must learn to realize that you can live without it. It is very difficult at first, but if you can do it for a while it gets much easier. One thing I have found that helps me is think that I have a very limited space and that I will soon be moving. Another is to keep yourself busy with other activities. And of course, don’t tempt yourself by going window shopping.

Now that you have lowered your expenses and freed up some cash, the next step is too put that money to paying off your debt. Start with the highest interest rates and work your way down from there. The quicker you pay it off the more money you save.

Now that you have paid off your debt, you will the original payments you were making each month plus the extra you were paying towards your debt by reducing your bills. This can now all go towards savings. I give my self a spending allowance each month. I take it out at the beginning of each month to make sure that I am not tempted to spend more. At first this amount was my spending allowance only. The food I used for lunch was a separate amount. I then decided that I could cut back my spending to include my lunch in my spending allowance as well. This allowed another $200 a month to go to savings.

The Results

After a year and a half of this program, I was able to save enough money to have a strong amount of savings in one account towards retirement, and also enough money in another account to quite my job and move to a tropical island and start my own business. Figuring the costs of expenses, I will be able to live for more than a year without any income at all without touching the money in the first savings account. I am by no means rich, but it is the first time in my life, where I can really think about what I want to do and not have to worry about paying my next months rent and bills.