Finance Defiance: Do You Enjoy Being A Rebel When It Comes To Your Money?

I had a little Twitter chat with Ms. Our Next Life and Kate from Good Night Debt last month. Was it about investment strategies, new frugality strategies, or some other personal finance topic?  Nope.  Our chat was about piercings.  Apparently, Ms. ONL has a nose stud and a helix piercing.  Kate has a rook and helix piercing, and was deciding whether to take one out.  As for me, I have managed to somehow keep my tongue ring (actually a stud) while working in a professional field for the past seven years.  It was fun finding out that there were other personal finance bloggers with fairly rebellious piercings, but it’s really not very surprising.

Why have I (a working mom of three) never taken out the tongue ring?  It’s really not at all “appropriate” for my career.  I guess, I just like having it.  I’ve always enjoyed being a little bit of a rebel, and not being entirely predictable.

I know what sort of first impression people get when they meet me.  They assume this average-looking redhead is an introvert/bookworm/goody-two-shoes type.  It can be pretty entertaining to prove them wrong and watch their surprise.  People seem to find it shocking that I have both a tongue ring and a tattoo.

My life has followed a pretty traditional path, which provides stability and a sense of belonging.  But it can be so much more exciting to wander off the marked and well-traveled trail, to do something different.

Pursuing FIRE Is Rebellious

I would have designed my life much differently if I had just learned about FIRE earlier on.  It just never seemed like there were any other options, except to be a “responsible” adult and focus on a good career . . .  the standard, vanilla, boring life.  I was searching for another way for quite some time, but couldn’t figure out how to be more adventurous without sabotaging my future.  A rebel without a cause?

There’s no question in my mind that one of the big draws of FIRE is how it’s a rebellious choice.  We’re eschewing the normal acceptance that life has to include decades of full-time work.  The conformists readily embrace devotion to status, materialism, and making money just to spend it.  Those pursuing FIRE focus on the quickest way to finance living a more-complete existence.  My interest was peaked the very first time I learned of this option that nobody in real life seems to acknowledge or discuss.  FIRE is fun and exciting.  We have largely-secret plans, spend time scheming away, and it feels like we’re getting away with something.  We’re being disobedient to the generally-accepted rules of life and are planning to play hooky, indefinitely.

We Rebel Against The Standard FIRE Rules As Well

Are we really rebels?  Or, are we still followers, just along a less popular path.  I mean, just look at the number of FIRE bloggers there are, or at how many people use the Mr. Money Mustache forums.

No, I say that we’re still rebels, because everyone is not on the same path.  We’re each applying a different combination of FIRE concepts to our own unique situation.

Our Next Life asked personal finance bloggers to take their Road Less Traveled Challenge, to explain their unique plans.  You can read my response here.  The other responses seemed to represent a limitless variation in individual timelines, strategies, and goals.  Some people have very little structure to their plans (like us, who are most focused on paying off debt for now).  Others appear to have every eventuality figured out to the penny.  We are rebels, because we’re not following anyone else’s path, we’re each designing a completely unique road map.

There are so many divergent routes in this community and that’s the way it should be.  No one solution fits everyone.  It’s been said before, many times, that we blog about personal finance.  No one else’s plan is going to work for us.  We need build something unique that accounts for everything from how much we have in the bank, to the way we want to spend our days after reaching early retirement, semi-retirement, a fully-funded lifestyle change, or financial independence. You’re free to use any of these terms, or go ahead and make up your own!  The important thing is that you’re making decisions for yourself, instead of just blindly following the herd.

I’ve always gotten a bit of satisfaction out of being a rebel.  There is a certain daring audaciousness that comes with not acting or living as expected by other people.  Defiance is invigorating and empowering.

I can’t help but fantasize about the day that we announce our big plans to family, friends, and colleagues.  They are going to be shocked.  I cannot freaking wait.

PS – Who else wants to join the #piercedPFchicks club with us?