Revisiting Our Freedom Number | Week 8 Post-layoff

"You know you have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need" -Vernon Howard

This quote has been echoing through our minds all week as Bryan and I navigate the beautiful chaos of our post-corporate life. Several months ago, we first calculated our "freedom number" – that delicate balance between income needs and lifestyle choices. Now, we're revisiting that calculation with fresh eyes after two very demanding work months. We're discovering that our current home isn't just our sanctuary – it's inadvertently keeping us tethered to more work, and living less, than our intended goal.

This Week's Reality Check

• Netflix subscription ended Thursday at 11:59 PM ✅
• First lawn mowing of the season (after only a three-month break - ah, Southern living!)
• One potential new client reached out this week
• Existing client may have additional catch-up work
• Onboarding for the two newest clients progressing smoothly
• Completed the other new client, one-time, catch-up project
• Nursing a knee injury (my first "bookkeeping-related injury" 😂 - not really)
• The Ford Maverick we built and ordered arrived at the dealership - a week shy of proposed tariffs going into effect for products from Mexico (we're firm believers in "everything happens for a reason")
• Planning a 2nd visit to our favorite tiny house community

What We're Actually Doing

The rhythm of our days has taken on a pattern: Bryan tackles his bookkeeping work, then escapes to the yard while I continue with client projects. We break twice daily for 45-minute dog walks—as much as my knee cooperates, anyway. Sometimes I glance outside to see him wrestling with fallen leaves from our neighbor's tree – the same leaves that served as a natural blanket over our perennial garden through our brief, but crazy winter temps.

Freedom Reflection: When we initially calculated our "freedom number," we determined that we could save an estimated $20,000 per year on housing expenses by selling our house and moving into a tiny home community. When we did the math, given our current number of clients and the average rate we charge them, that would mean adding just over 50% (6-7 more) clients at our average rate. That might seem like a small number to some. The way we're looking at it is, since we have a choice on whether or not to take on more work, or live more life, our time is more valuable.

Typically we both work on staining the fence and tending to the gardens in the Spring for the fresh air and exercise, and as an escape from computer screens. If I'm being honest, my time so far this year has been consumed by client work. Bryan has shouldered the lion's share of weed-pulling, pool maintenance, and countless other household tasks allowing me to focus on the more complex aspects of client work. Meanwhile, our planned projects remain in a holding pattern until we navigate through busy season.

"Less is more"—we've been tossing this familiar phrase around lately, wondering where it actually came from. It's one of those sayings that feels deeply true without us really knowing why. Turns out it has roots in minimalist architecture, but for us, it's becoming a lived reality rather than just a clever phrase.

The irony isn't lost on me that I'm writing about "working less" while possibly working more hours than I did at my corporate job. But there's a fundamental difference: this work carries purpose and autonomy that my previous role lacked and also, three fewer people to carry out the mission! Still, we're confronting the reality that our current housing situation creates a financial number requiring us to maintain a higher number of clients - working more and living less - which is the opposite of our long-term goal.

Since we're not documenting this journey from the top of the mountain, having conquered all challenges and learned all lessons, we're sharing our stumbles, doubts, and recalibrations in real-time, from the middle of the climb. We want our content to reflect that life isn't about perfection, it's about direction. We give ourselves permission to acknowledge our contradictions and course corrections. We're not perfectly executing our vision of simplified living—we're gradually aligning our choices with our values, even when those choices feel uncomfortable or counter-cultural.

A Resource That Resonated: I recently stumbled upon Vicki Robin's classic "Your Money or Your Life," which frames financial independence not as a number but as a mindset of "enough." Robin asks readers to calculate their real hourly wage by factoring in all the hidden costs of work (commuting, work clothes, stress relief, etc.). I especially liked the concept of thinking of money as life energy - asking whether each expenditure is worth the life energy exchanged. When we look through this lens, the decision feels obvious.

The most significant insight this week, as some of the year-end busy-ness dims, is the revealing paradox in our options:

1. Staying in our current house to be close to clients and networking events, supposedly to grow the business and achieve freedom "someday."
2. Realizing that transitioning to a tiny house now might immediately reduce our need for clients and more income.

There's clarity in recognizing this contrast. If we move forward now with the tiny house transition, our "freedom number"—the minimum income needed to sustain our lifestyle—drops dramatically. Suddenly, the path to working less becomes clearer, not through earning more, but through needing less.

This perspective shift represents the essence of intentional living we're working toward—recognizing that simplifying foundational thinking might be the most strategic step toward our vision of "living full, working less." It's not about waiting until we've achieved some arbitrary financial threshold, but rather redefining what that threshold needs to be. So, it turns out, less really is more. Less (fewer) clients = more freedom.

Let's Talk

We're curious about the small steps you've taken toward simplifying your life. Have you eliminated a subscription, donated unused items, or said no to a commitment that wasn't serving you? What unexpected ripple effects did that one change create in your daily experience? Sometimes it's these tiny experiments that reveal the most about what we truly need versus what we've been conditioned to want.

Looking Forward

We're scheduling another visit to our favorite tiny home community, this time not only to collect information to ponder and calculate our freedom number, but with more intention toward practical planning. We're asking ourselves: What if the biggest step toward our dream of "living full, working less" isn't working harder, but simplifying our foundation?

💌 We're a tiny but mighty community redefining work and life together. Hit reply to join the conversation - we read and respond to every email.

P.S. If you found value in today's reflection, would you consider sharing it with someone who might be wrestling with similar questions about work, home, and what "enough" really means? Our journey is richer when shared with fellow travelers.