“What do you mean you retired at 30?”

This is a blog about money. We’re going to cover a lot of ground and make plenty of amusing side trips into lifestyle and culture issues, but when it boils down to it, we are talking about money, and the freedom it can give you. Freedom from worry, and freedom from most forms of bullshit. And the best way to illustrate such freedom is to have an opinionated but wise role model guide you through your daily life from this point onwards. That role model is ME, Mr. Money Mustache.

I’m going to teach you a radical new way to think about and enjoy money that will get you off of your current debt-powered treadmill and into a lifestyle that is completely unimaginable to most people where I live, which happens to be in the United States, ground zero for self-imposed treadmills.

Once you are off the mill, you’ll feel like Neo did when he unplugged the suction cups from his pale naked body in The Matrix and looked around at the other imprisoned humans. “Holy Shit!”, you will say. “I’ve been living in this ridiculous slave world and never noticed.. and everyone else still is! WAKE UP DRONE PEOPLE!!!“.

You will suddenly be able to fly freely through the world, free from having to work for a living, able to start living life as you choose, doing exotic things like spending time raising your young children, taking a 3-week vacation each month, or just enjoying understated shows of leisure like sweeping your driveway in pajamas at 11am on a sunny Thursday morning.

Let’s talk about YOU first. If you are one of the 99% of working people I hear and read about every day, you are in a bad place right now. Young folks today seem to live somewhere on a Spectrum of Financial Idiocy.

” I am…

Retired, and my money situation is perfect Still working, saving max in 401k, no loans on cars or credit cards, paying regular mortgage payments Same as above but add one or more car loans Same as above but not quite able to max out 401k plans due to life’s little expenses Same as above but have a few credit cards that I’m making payments on Can’t always make all my payments, got some bad marks on my credit score.. I’d be screwed if I lose my job now Everything has collapsed – losing my house and possessions, can’t find work, debt is more than I can pay off in a lifetime, why is the world so cruel to me!?

So your goal is to move up this spectrum. Everyone can do it. But most people think they can’t because they’re still stuck in the Matrix. They blame “the economy” or other bullshit external factors, when really the only problem is they aren’t listening hard enough to Mr. Money Mustache. Become a regular reader of this blog and you’ll move up fast. See you at #1.