Welcome to The Land of Milk and Money!
Hi, there!
Glad you could join us! I take it you wouldn’t be here unless you were ready to start working towards achieving financial freedom – great decision!
It is absolutely not as hard as you may think it is. With some commitment and time, you’ll be well on your way.
Who am I?
In brief: I’m in my early 30s and I want to live my life.
Damn millennials, am I right?
Well, hear me out.
So many of us are drowning in our debt or just trying to get through to next week’s pay check. It’s a stressful, exhausting, un-fun cycle of doom that will result in many of us getting to our 60s or 70s and realising that we’ve wasted our lives for…what?
Instead, what about if I told you that it’s perfectly possible to get out of debt, set yourself up for retirement and do what you love along the way.
How do I know this? Well, I’m doing it now.
In my case, what I love is to travel.
Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those blogs where the author writes a post from a different beach in Asia each week. I’m like you in that sense with a regular job in an office that pays the bills.
But I’m also setting up my future while very much enjoying the present – just by applying some super simple strategies to managing my finances.
After all, I’ve been to 55 countries and am on track to retire by the age of 37.
As some background, I graduated from college into a totally normal job with a totally normal salary. Both were…fine, I guess.
But then I decided I wanted something more. In particular, I wanted to see the world and set myself up financially.
And I’ve learnt that it’s completely doable!
Of course, traveling may not be your thing. Or you may not be at the point yet where you’re able to afford this.
But you absolutely can. And it’s not even that complicated to do.
Sure, it can be hard to get started, especially if all you’ve known is working pay check to pay check. Trust me, I’ve been there.
But as absolutely cliched as it sounds – with a bit of hard work, you can do whatever you want and be financially comfortable.
Many personal finance bloggers don’t agree with this. They’ll tell you to do everything you can to cut your expenses down to the bare minimum.
Which is fine, I guess. If you like that kind of thing.
Which I don’t.
Instead, I want to show you that living your life while setting yourself up financially is completely feasible.
So just to clarify, what’s The Land of Milk and Money about?
I can’t count the number of conversations I’ve had with friends where they’ll talk about how they’re counting down until the next pay day or complain about how expensive life is and then, in the next breath, will talk about their brand new phone or bag or whatever.
This isn’t even a “millennial thing” or “typical baby boomers who are used to everything going their way”. This is something that seems to transcend generations. The pattern of having a need to live a life you can’t afford and then wondering why you have nothing to show for it continues to repeat itself – and it’s simply unnecessary.
So this website is for people at all stages of the path to being financially free, including (especially!) if that path seems to be a distant speck on the horizon.
In particular, I firmly believe in the following mantra:
The best time to start your path to wealth was yesterday.
The second best time is today.
That is, some of our past financial decisions may not be ideal. Some may just plain suck. But that’s no reason to not get started at fixing them today!
And the general financial principles that I live by?
1. Save more than you spend
2. Make your money work for you.
That’s really it. The path to financial freedom is entirely summed up in those two points.
Many people will say that it’s easier said than done, but I really don’t agree. And I hope this site can show you that – maybe sometimes more as a smack over the head than a gentle reminder. But it’s ok, we’re all adults here, right?
What’s with your website name?
To quote the Cambridge Dictionary, the land of milk and honey is:
“A country where living conditions are good and people have the opportunity to make a lot of money”
Sounds like the place to be, right? Lucky you found this little corner of the internet then!
And your name?
I’m keeping this anonymous at this point so, for now, you can simply call me Money Bee.
Why? Well, cue David Attenborough.
Firstly, getting stung by a bee hurts like hell for a few hours for most of us. But getting stung because we suck at finances stings for a lot longer than that.
In addition, bees are pretty essential for all of us. And so is managing our finances!
After all, no less than Albert Einstein said that if bees were to die out, all humans would die within four years.
Well, damn.
So bees are pretty essential to our lives. And so is good money management – although perhaps without the whole mass extinction thing.
And finally, because who doesn’t love a good play on words…
This site name is The Land of Milk and Money…which is based on “the land of milk and honey”…honey bee…money bee…
Hilariously clever, right?
No? Not feeling it?
Understood. Noted.
Let’s just forget all about it and move on to the whole saving money thing, ok?
Looking forward to seeing you around the site – and feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]!
– Money Bee.