Celebrating the Little Wins: DIY Projects, Community & FI
How a Simple DIY Project Turned Into a Wealth of Memories and SavingsThe content on Surprising Wealth reflects my own experiences and opinions. It is not intended as financial, legal, or tax advice. Please consult a professional for advice tailored to your situation.
Building Community and Skills: A Small Win for Our Dream Life
How a Simple DIY Project Turned Into a Wealth of Memories and Savings
At Surprising Wealth, we believe that financial independence isn’t just about the numbers in your bank account. It’s about building a life rich in experiences, community, and personal growth. Recently, my partner and a close friend spent a morning together installing a new stereo and adding a backup camera to my partner’s truck. This simple project turned into a valuable experience that aligned perfectly with our Surprising Wealth Guide to Building Your Dream Life. Here’s how it hit all the right notes:
Enjoying Time Together
In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget to spend quality time with those who matter most. This DIY project provided an opportunity for my partner, myself and our friend to connect, share stories, and enjoy each other’s company. The laughter and camaraderie were just as valuable as the end result.
Building Community and Memories
Community is at the heart of a fulfilling life. By working together on this project, my partner and our friend strengthened their bond and created lasting memories. And while I wasn’t slinging wrenches and screw drivers (not my area of genius), I also had the chance to chat and learn and offer an occasional extra hand. These moments are the foundation of a supportive community that enriches our lives in countless ways. We even got to talking about how our modern society can be so disconnected and isolating, and that consciously choosing to come together and help each other with tasks FEELS so much better than just trading time for money to meet our needs.
“The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.” — Hubert H. Humphrey
Saving Money by Tackling a DIY Project
The financial independence path is also about being resourceful and finding ways to save money. The Surprising Wealth mindset means always asking how we can have the things we value, while also living within our mean and investing for our future. By choosing to install the stereo and backup camera themselves, we avoided the high costs of professional installation. And thanks to YouTube and the internet, they had detailed walkthorough instructions on how to do all the steps. This not only saved money but also provided a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. Does this one time action do much for our net worth? No, not much. But this is just one of many decisions we have made, consistently over time, to save money so we can also invest for our future every month.
Gaining Satisfaction from Learning and Building New Skills
One of the most rewarding aspects of the FI Path is the opportunity to learn and grow. Taking on a DIY project can be challenging, but it’s also incredibly satisfying. My partner and our friend gained new skills and knowledge, which will serve them well in future endeavors. Probably sooner than later, as the audio input on my 15 year old car just stopped working. 😂 The confidence that comes from successfully completing a project pays more than just the money you saved doing it.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” — Benjamin Franklin
The Surprising Wealth Guide to Building Memory Dividends
This experience encapsulates many of the principles we advocate in the Surprising Wealth Guide to Building Memory Dividends:
- Be Intentional: My partner has been researching, planning and sourcing materials for this project. It’s not an impluse decision, but something they’ve considered and planned for, turning a simple task into a meaningful experience.
- Embrace Simplicity: They found fun in a straightforward activity that brought them together while also acomplishing a task.
- Celebrate Together: Completing the project was a small victory worth celebrating. High fives all around.
- Seek Adventure: They took on a new challenge and enjoyed the process of learning something new.
- Create Traditions: Projects like these can become a tradition, a way to regularly connect and build together. Which they do.
- Capture the Moments: I took photos (and wrote a blog post, lol), creating a record of their accomplishment.
- Share Stories: By sharing this experience, they contributed to a sense of continuity and belonging within our community.
Expanding out from there, lets look at how this project is an example of Building Your SlowFI Dream Life base on our Surprising Wealth Principles:
1. Embrace the Surprising Wealth Journey with Consistent Actions:
- This project was a small, consistent action that contributed to our financial independence journey. By choosing to tackle a DIY project in our “free time”, rather than hiring the work out, we saved a few hundred dollars. This is an example of how consistent, intentional efforts can lead to significant savings and personal growth over time.
2. Evaluate If You Are Running The Right Race:
- We wanted a stereo that connects to modern phones via bluetooth and a backup camera, installed in a 20 year old truck. Instead of paying for a professional installation of updated OEM parts, we questioned the necessity and decided to take on the project ourselves. This choice reflects our commitment to ensuring our actions align with our values and long-term goals. We found an after market solution that fit all of our criteria, for a freaction of the cost.
3. Value Experiences Over Status and Things:
- The joy and satisfaction derived from spending quality time together and successfully completing the project far outweighed the idea of spending extra on features or brand names we dont value.
4. Create Work-Life Balance:
- By prioritizing our personal time (for projects such as this one) as much as our professional time, we balanced our work commitments with personal life, fostering a sense of accomplishment and relaxation outside of our professional responsibilities.
5. Practice Mindful Spending:
- Opting for a DIY approach instead of hiring a professional was a mindful spending decision. We saved money while gaining valuable skills and knowledge, demonstrating how careful consideration of expenses can contribute to financial independence. Also, we made sure this was something we valued. My partner spent almost a year with sub-par sound while we prioritized other goals with our auto and discressionary budget, before bumping it to the top of the list.
6. Prioritize Health and Wellbeing:
- Engaging in a hands-on, collaborative project provided a break from screen time and sedentary activities. It promoted physical activity and mental engagement, contributing to our overall health and wellbeing.
7. Set Flexible Goals:
- By being flexible in how we accomplished our goals, we solved our desire for a new stereo with a backup camera in a more affordable and creative way. Instead of going to the dealership for an expensive installation, we found a good enough aftermarket solution and installed it with friends. This flexibility allowed us to meet our needs without overspending, showing the value of considering alternatives and adapting our plans.
8. Invest in Relationships:
- The project was not just about the end result but also about strengthening our bond with friends and family. By investing time and effort into these relationships, we built a supportive community that enhances our journey towards financial independence.
9. Enjoy the Journey:
- This experience was a reminder to savor the process of achieving our goals. The fun, laughter, and shared accomplishment made the this project enjoyable and memorable, kept us on track for our investing goals, and gave my partner a better everyday driving experience, reinforcing the idea that financial independence is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.
These principles guided our approach to this project, illustrating how financial independence can be woven into everyday activities and decisions, enriching our lives beyond just financial gains.
Final Thoughts
At Surprising Wealth, we believe that financial independence is about more than just financial security. It’s about creating a life filled with meaningful experiences, strong relationships, and personal growth. This recent DIY project was a perfect example of how small, intentional actions can lead to big rewards. By enjoying time together, building community, saving money, and gaining new skills, my partner, myself, and our friend made creating our idea of a dream life.
What small project or experience can you plan this week that aligns with your journey to financial independence and personal fulfillment? Share your stories with us, and let’s continue to build a community of Surprising Wealth together.
Let’s get curious….
How strong are your connections with your community? What simple, everyday activities could help you build deeper relationships with friends and neighbors?
Have you ever thought about what moments truly matter to you? Are there proactive steps you can take to create more of these experiences?
When was the last time you planned an activity with loved ones that didn’t involve spending a lot of money? How can you make meaningful, affordable memories a regular part of your Surprising Wealth journey?
These questions are designed to inspire reflection and action towards aligning your life with your values and goals. By exploring these questions, you can gain deeper insights into your financial journey and identify actionable steps to move closer to your goals. Financial independence is a personal and unique journey for everyone, and we hope these questions inspire you to take meaningful steps towards your own financial freedom.
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A Bit About Us
Our journey began with humble beginnings. We’ve navigated through the challenges of creating a life and a living we love, while earing low to median incomes. What started as a modest dream of being able to retire someday has turned into a concrete plan. We’ve been on the SlowFI path, consistently saving and investing for 20+ years. Our income over time has stayed roughly in the 50th percentile, so we are truely everyday Americans. We’ve achieved remarkable results through living below our means and consistently investing the difference. Now in our mid-40s, we are in the top 20% for U.S. household wealth for our age group. This has been possible through conscious spending, consistent saving, strategic investing, and a commitment to lifestyle design where we spend generously on things that bring us value and contentment, while cuting back on things we are ambivalent about. It can be daunting when you hear the stories of tech workers or doctors or other people with large income shovels. We want to share how an everyday couple with median US income has built wealth for the future, while also creating a life we love today.
Why Financial Independence?
Financial Independence means having the freedom to make choices that aren’t dictated only by the need for a paycheck. It’s about gaining control over your time and energy, and being able to pursue what truly matters to you. For us, it’s about creating time for friend & family, travel, and the experiences that bring joy and fulfillment.
Join Us on the Journey
In January 2021, I ran some calculations, projected our investment growth, and analyzed our current spending levels. After adjusting our spending assumptions for future inflation, I realized we were on track to replace our earned income (trading time for money) with investment income (our money making money for us) in approximately 10 years. With 89 months left to go, we’re solidly on that path and we want you to join us. Whether you’re just starting out or well on your way to financial independence, Surprising Wealth is here to support and inspire you. Together, we can make every month count and turn dreams into reality.
Thank you for being a part of our community. Let’s embark on this journey to financial independence together!
Disclaimer: All the tips and stories here are from my own journey toward financial independence. Remember, what worked for me might not work for everyone. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial, legal, or tax advice. Always consult with a professional before making any significant financial decisions.
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