This past year has been one of the craziest of my life – not just because of the pandemic, but also because of how much my life has changed.
Of course, I’ve had big life changes before. Graduating from law school, starting my first job, getting married, quitting my job to pursue self-employment – all of these were big events. On a practical level though, these events didn’t really change my life that much. Sure, I might have had a new job or a new living situation, but for the most part, my lifestyle didn’t change. I was still out there doing what I was doing. And importantly, the way I thought about my life didn’t change.
Last year, however, my wife and I had our first kid. There’s probably nothing more life-changing than having children. Before kids, I only had to think about myself. But when you have children, in a way, your needs become secondary. You end up molding your life, not for you, but rather for what you think is best for your children.
And molding my lifestyle to fit someone else means an end to a lot of the weird things I once did. For most of my twenties and early thirties, I lived in a way that I think was different from most. I picked up side hustles when I didn’t need them, doing gig economy work that most people would consider beneath someone with my educational and work background. I kept living like a student and avoided lifestyle inflation for a long time. When I moved into a house, I house hacked by renting out a room in my house on Airbnb.
The weird things I did throughout my 20s and early 30s gave me a financial advantage. It made it so I could save more money and put me in a position where I had a good nest egg at a young age. The weird things gave me a mental advantage too, proving that I could live comfortably even if my living situation wasn’t normal.
Doing weird things can be helpful. But you have to do them when you can because one day, you might not be able to do those weird things anymore.
The Weird Things Get Harder To Do Later
I’ve done things differently for most of my adult life. I house hacked using Airbnb for over four years, both by renting out a room in my house and by renting out my entire house when I traveled. Most months, I was able to cover my mortgage solely from the income I earned from Airbnb. The trade-off was that I had to let strangers into my house. When I was a 20-something with no kids, opening my home to strangers wasn’t so difficult. But once I had a kid, the idea of letting a stranger into my house became untenable for me.
I was also able to live lean for most of my adult life. I lived in modest apartments for almost all of my 20s. When I lived in a house, I house hacked and dramatically reduced my housing expenses. My transportation costs were almost nothing too because I didn’t drive a car. And I kept my food costs low by taking advantage of secret shopping apps.
When no one else relied on me to take care of them, it was much easier to live life outside of the ordinary. But having a kid changed all of that. I’m not comfortable with sharing my space with strangers anymore. I still bike everywhere with my kid, but there’s no doubt that I probably have to drive more than if I only had to transport myself.
And of course, living lean is a lot harder when you have to pay for childcare and all the other expenses that come with a kid.
A lot of the living situations that we see online – quitting your job to go out on your own or doing the digital nomad thing and traveling the world – are only possible when you’re in a particular stage of life. Realistically, lifestyles like this are only possible when few people rely on you. It’s not to say that you can’t do things like this if you do have kids. It just becomes much harder.
It’s why you need to do the weird things when you can. You never know what your future will look like, but more likely than not, it’ll get harder to live life out of the ordinary as your life gets more complicated.
Some Of The Weird Things You Can Do Now That You Can’t Do Later
So what are some of the weird things you can do now that you might not be able to do later? Consider the following:
House Hacking. House hacking is one of the big things that come to mind when it comes to things that are much more difficult to do later in life, especially if you have kids.
Almost all of us have had weird living situations at some point in our lives, most likely in the form of roommates. In college, I lived in a house with 4 other guys so that I could save money. When my wife was in school, she house hacked by buying a house and renting out the other bedrooms to students. It worked out well for her because she was able to essentially live for free, but there was a trade-off because she had to live with roommates. Finally, when my wife and I were in our late 20s and early 30s, we rented out a room in our house on Airbnb. It covered our mortgage most months, but it also meant we had to live with strangers throughout the year.
House hacking often requires you to accept a weird living situation. You can have these sorts of weird living situations when you’re young and don’t have anyone else to worry about. It gets much harder to do that though when you add other people into your life.
That’s not to say you can’t house hack even when you have kids. But it’s natural to want your kids to live in the most comfortable space you can provide them. I definitely could continue to Airbnb a room in my house. I’m just not so comfortable doing it now versus when I didn’t have a kid to think about.
Living Like A Student. One of the best things you can do for your finances is to live like a student for as long as you can. It doesn’t mean you have to do it forever, but living like a student for at least a few years can give you a huge head start when it comes to building your nest egg. If you do it for long enough, you can even reach Coast FI and put yourself in a position where saving money becomes less important going forward.
Living like a student means living on less. It also often means living differently than most. Like with house hacking, it’s easier to do that when you don’t have to think about anyone else. I could probably continue to live like a student, and in some ways, I still do. I still don’t have my own car. When I need to get my son to daycare each morning, I bike him there, either with a kid’s seat that I have on my bike or with a bike trailer.
But I’m not willing to live like a student in most aspects of my life anymore. Life has gotten more expensive because my priorities have changed.
Side Hustling. Side hustling is a great way to improve your finances. It’s something I’ve done my entire working life, even when I was working as a big shot attorney. The beauty of side hustling is that the money you earn is bonus money. If it’s a true side hustle, you shouldn’t need the money to cover any bills and that means you can save all of it. Making a few extra thousand dollars per year doesn’t take much work. And it can make a huge impact on your financial life (thanks to a concept I like to call The Reverse Latte Factor).
But side hustling also requires time. And when you have kids or as your life starts to get more complicated, time can become a commodity that you can’t waste.
Before I had my first kid, I often spent an hour around the dinner rush doing deliveries before I came home. It let me maximize my earnings because most people order food around 6-7 pm. These days though, my time around 6-7 pm is booked up. My son needs to eat dinner and get ready for bed right in that time frame. It means I’m never able to side hustle during those peak dinner hours anymore.
Traveling. Traveling is another thing that I think is worth mentioning, especially since I’ve traveled a few times now with my son. It’s not impossible, but it’s more work compared to traveling when it’s just yourself and a friend or significant other.
You see a lot of YouTubers and bloggers showing off these glamorous travel lifestyles, moving around an airport with just a single bag. Kids on the other hand require a lot more stuff to get them traveling – strollers, pack and plays, food, etc. It’s a night and day difference between traveling on your own and traveling with kids. This means if you want to take a few months off to travel the world, you need to do it now before it gets much harder later.
Final Thoughts
You can set yourself up financially if you’re willing to do the weird things. I’m in a position now where even if I stopped aggressively saving, I’d still likely have enough money set aside to live a decent life if I retire at 65.
I did this through a combination of things. I made good money because I went to law school and got a good job. And I was fortunate enough to come from a family that was able to pay for my undergraduate education and give me a safety net if I needed it.
But I also did it by living life differently compared to most. I earned extra money whenever I could. I had living situations that most people wouldn’t do outside of college. And I kept living like a student even when I didn’t need to anymore.
Life is a lot more expensive for me now that I have a kid that relies on me. And it can’t be as weird as it once was. It makes me glad I did the weird things when I could.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($50) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $50 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- SoFi Money ($25) - SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Brex ($250) – Brex is a free business cash management account that is offering new users a $250 Amazon gift card if you sign up using a referral link and meet certain requirements. It’s an easy bonus to earn and well worth doing. Here is my Brex Card Referral Bonus Step By Step Guide.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Spiral ($50) – Spiral is a fintech bank that's currently offering new customers a $50 signup bonus after opening a free checking account with them. The Spiral referral bonus is especially good because it's a free checking account and doesn't require a direct deposit to earn the bonus. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Spiral Bank bonus.
- Nearside ($90) - Nearside is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 signup bonus and a $50 referral bonus if you open a Nearside business checking account using a referral link. Filling out the application should only take you a few minutes. And the bonus terms are easy to meet. Check out my Nearside signup and referral bonus guide here.
- OnJuno ($100) – OnJuno is a fintech/neobank that is currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account using a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $250 or more. The account has no fees or minimum balance requirements. Even better, the bonus posts immediately after you meet the requirements. If you can meet the direct deposit requirements, OnJuno is an easy bank bonus that’s worth snagging. Check out my OnJuno referral bonus guide here.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Albert ($150) – If you can manage to do a real direct deposit, Albert is an easy account you can use to earn a referral bonus. Here’s a review about Albert I wrote. And here’s a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Albert referral bonus.
- Fifth Third Bank ($350) – Fifth Third Bank is currently offering new customers a $350 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements. This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you live or visit one of these states, make sure to take advantage of this high bonus. Check out my post on Fifth Third Bank to learn more.
- Varo ($50) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $50 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
- One Finance ($50) – One Finance is a fintech bank that’s currently offering a $50 signup bonus if you open an account using a One Finance referral link and have a direct deposit of $250 or more. This is a completely free bank account with no minimum balance requirement, so if you can meet the requirements, it’s worth doing. Check out my One Finance referral bonus guide here.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link.
- Brex. Brex is a free business cash management account that is currently offering new users a $250 Amazon gift card if you sign up using a referral link and meet certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $50 for opening an account.
- Albert. A great free app I use to track my finances and save more money. You can also earn a $150 signup bonus if you open a free Albert cash account.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Kevin—–what is your estimated net worth ?
I completely agree with your article. I did a lot of “weird things” in my 20s and 30s. It took a lot out of self talk to not let my ego take over and buy the starter castles I felt like my career deserved.
As a female that struggled with infertility in my way 30s, I had to make a cost benefit analysis on having children. It was really hard for me at the time. Fertility treatments are exorbitantly expensive. I remember looking at IVF success rates of 20% and the 20-30k treatments required. I made the difficult decision to not have kids.
I don’t regret that now as a woman in her 40s but it was a really tough decision in my early 30s.
This article is extremely relevant.
We have been frugal our entire lives but discovered FI after having kids. I can totally relate with your comments. Once you have kids the story changes and the degrees of freedom suddenly change to a minimum. House hacking or Airbnb ing a room is out of the question for us. You could do it even if you have kids but then it becomes a risk management question. I’d recommend anyone to do the weird stuff now especially before starting a family with kids.
Great article! As an older person (almost 60), I would also add that your energy level when you’re younger is so important to do all of these things. When I was in my 20s, I had a full time job, went to grad school part-time, and then got pregnant. I look back at that time and wonder how I was able to do it. I lucked out that the internet and social media really kicked in when my son was little, so I jumped on all sorts of weird side gigs once I transitioned out of the full time 9 to 5 grind.
Hubby and I are now able to retire early thanks to investing aggressively during our early years. Thank God, because my energy level has really decreased haha.
Good luck to everyone!
Hey there new dad, Kevin. It does feel crazy at your stage. And like more modern dads, I’m sure you try to balance time as a parent with your spouse. However, I’ll say that as your little one gets older, you’ll figure these hustles fit in great. We did air bnb for a year when our kiddo was around 8 months old. We were able to lock off part of our house with a private entrance. My kid is now 6, and I started to do bike runs on Ivueit, thanks to your inspiring blog. We also just started to have her help with some online sales of her old stuff, like wiping off old toys and helping with pictures for some of her own savings. I’m sure next summer you’ll be sharing with all of us your own baby in a bike trailer article of great side hustles.
Agree with Greg here. Our youngest just turned four, and we finally have turned a corner to where we can do more weird things, this time with our kids. Want to go on a 2 mile hike? My kids can do that.
It’ll get easier, but first it gets harder.
I think the hardest thing about being a parent is honestly the energy suck. You might be able to do a lot more in a few years, but you’ll have no energy. I mean none. Your kids or kid will require so much! That is the hardest part.
Agreed. Once you are older and have kids it becomes very difficult to to do this things.
It’s funny how people assume wealth when they talk about time.” You won’t be able to work two jobs anymore …” Be able to? Yeah, unless your family is why you have to. Best not whine about the preciousness of time or the superfluity of “improving finances” around someone working 2 jobs to feed their family. “A commodity that you can’t waste”? Wow. Why do financial advisors now act like scolds and life coaches?
Wholeheartedly agree! And then this year is our first year with a child in a regular pubic school schedule – even more structure. We are building a cabin on an island – this year we hand dug and installed our septic. Luckily it happened to wrap up right when school started. We knew school was going to further restrict us, but not the extent of it. Joining you in cheering on others to do the weird stuff now!
I am 68 and all of my children are grownups now. I decided to sell my house and put the money in savings. I use my daughters guest room as my base. I now travel to see family and friends. They put me up and I get to sightsee. I started a small business and use aps to make extra money. I use house sitting also. No nest egg but still able to do what I want
This is a huge reason I took time off to travel full time in my 20s! I hope to do a similar thing again but not sure when given now I have the kid, dogs, house 🙂
I’m curious about why you didn’t use your law degree for your side gigs. Writing wills, power of attorney, etc. generally pays in the $200 an hour range or more, which is like ten times the amount that conventional side gigs like dog walking and food delivery pays. I didn’t side gig much during my 9 to 5 days because I was making more money than I needed from just the one job, but when I did I always did similar work to my day job that used my chemical engineering skills because it paid so much better than house hacking or unskilled labor side gigs. Maybe that would have been a conflict of interest or something in your case. In mine I only did it when my company approved of me working on the side.
Yeah – I’ve done quite a bit of weird things, from MLMs to driving for Lyft to doing Airbnb arbitrage. I definitely agree a lot of these things take up a lot of time, and more importantly, a lot of these things might not fit one’s particular taste.
I feel like it takes time to get good at side hustles to generate income, and it takes even longer to find something one truly enjoys doing on the side as well.
For example, I’ve done so much entrepreneur’ing the past 5.5 years, and while I’m somewhat profitable, I wouldn’t say life-changing money has come out of those endeavors yet. Randomly enough, I decided I might spend some of my spare time writing a bot to arbitrage crypto. I spent a few weeks on it as a curiosity project and ironically enough it’s the most profitable thing I’ve done…with the least amount of time (but the effort was immense), and the most intellectually stimulating.