Balancing Health, Money and Time

You might remember in 2019 I posted about intentional spending of time, money and energy. My husband and I have continued along this path of asking when is enough enough when it comes to money and how to balance the need for money (and more importantly health insurance) with a solid balance of time and good health. In March my husband took a leave of absense to test out life on a teacher's salary and also to see what it is like to live without work as an anchor to your routine. He has greatly enjoyed this break. So much so that now that this leave is up he plans to give notice and officially stop working. A lot of people do not understand this mindset so let me try to explain. We have been very fiscally conservative and have saved a large portion of our income since the day we graduated college and started working. This path might not be for everyone but for us we were always happy with "enough" and put most raises and bonuses in mutual funds. Over time this money has given us freedom to leave a job when the match wasn't good, leave secure income and benefits in NJ and move to Colorado where the outdoors lifestyle better fit us and even take a break from full time work now and then. Much of what we enjoy doing requires good health so waiting until the elusive retirement that some choose to do at 70 just isn't appealing to us. So while we are healthy Justin is cashing in on some of his hard-earned frugal years and we are enjoying the pleasure of time and health over money that often creates as many problems as it solves. I know this might not be for everyone but it feels right for us. So now that Justin has all this time you might be wondering what he is going to do. First up he will plan and do some of the longer thru hikes he has always been longing for. First up was supposed to be the Superior Trail. But now it is closed because of smoke from forest fires and drought. So now he is looking for another trail. If you are interested in following along on his hiking adventures- this is his youtube channel.