Financial Independence doesn’t buy a better vacation. It buys a better Tuesday.
I’ve been working on something that Erin and I have started calling ‘The Tuesday Project.’
It began with what seemed like a simple question:
In our perfect FI life, where would we actually want to spend an ordinary Tuesday?
Not vacation.
Not a bucket list trip.
Just…Tuesday.
Where would we wake up? Walk for coffee? Go to the gym? Buy groceries? Meet friends? Read outside? Take an evening walk?
It turns out that’s a much harder question than asking where you want to retire.
For decades, we’ve been conditioned to optimize for the occasional spectacular experience—a week in Hawaii or a trip to Europe. But our lives aren’t lived on vacation. They’re lived on Tuesdays.
The more we work through this project, the more I realize that Financial Independence was never really about quitting work. It’s about creating the freedom to design those ordinary days.
And here’s the part I love most:
We’re treating this like an experiment.
Maybe we think we want a mountain town, only to discover we miss walkability. Maybe we think we need a big city until we realize we’d rather hear birds than traffic. Maybe we’ll spend a month somewhere and decide, “Nope, this isn’t it.”
That’s not failure.
That’s data.
Somewhere along the way, society convinced us that changing our minds means we made a mistake. I think the opposite is true. If you’re gathering new information and updating your beliefs, you’re doing exactly what thoughtful people should do.
Financial Independence isn’t about finding the perfect life on your first attempt.
It’s about buying enough freedom to iterate.
To test ideas.
To run experiments.
To discover that the version of success you imagined at 30 might be different from the one you’ll love at 50.
The goal isn’t a better vacation.
It’s a better Tuesday.
Don’t Hang Out With the Joneses
We’ve all heard the phrase, “Keeping up with the Joneses.”
While listening to Diania Merriam on the Fit Rich Life podcast, she offered what may be the simplest solution to keeping up with the Joneses:
“The easiest way to not get wrapped up in keeping up with the Joneses is to not hang out with the Joneses.”
It hits so hard because we know it to be true.
Our spending habits are heavily influenced by the people around us. If your friends are constantly upgrading cars, kitchens, and vacations, those choices begin to feel normal. Not because you need them—but because humans are wired to compare.
The opposite is true as well.
Spend time with people who value experiences over possessions, freedom over status, and time over things, and suddenly those values become normal too.
That’s one of the greatest gifts of the ChooseFI community.
Instead of asking, “What car do you drive?” we ask, “How many years of freedom did that decision buy you?”
The people around you shape your default choices.
Choose them wisely.
ChooseFI Updates
ChooseFI Local Group Events: Take 30 seconds and sign up for your local group. Then sit back and get email notifications of the ChooseFI Local events in your area. This is a complete game changer and you’ll never miss knowing about an event again.
Podcast Discussion: Join in and give us your thoughts on the podcast. Here’s the link to Episode 603 where Brian Feroldi joins me to discuss the structural reasons why the stock market always bounces back. This was a fascinating one!
Book Club: Ginger just told me the new book club book pick is Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money by Ken Honda. She’s recording this episode with Jillian Johnsrud next month, so now is your chance to grab the book from your library and I’ll provide more details in future newsletters on how to submit your questions and comments.
Travel Rewards Credit Cards: I keep my Top Ten Recommended Travel Rewards Cards page constantly updated, so it should always be your first source for your next travel rewards card. There’s a new number one card this week (see above), so check it out!
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