Something to do in your first year of early retirement that will continue to pay "dividends"

I've been thinking a lot about early retirement lately mainly due to the great time that I've had on my days off. It's worked out to where I've been off more the last 1.5 months than usual which has been absolutely awesome and led to some great time with family at the beach and my wife on our several outings.  I love the summer months since she's a teacher and is off, so whenever I get a chance to be home it's wonderful to get to spend the whole day with her.  There's nothing that I want more than to have all of my time to spend with my wife, family, and our future kids.

Back to the point of this post.  Since I've been thinking about early retirement that has led to thinking of ways to save with no active income coming in to augment the passive income.  I was watching one of the reality shows on either the Discovery Channel or the History Channel and it finally clicked.  One of the best ways to save money, especially if you plan to own your own home, would be to follow along some of your local repair men.  I haven't researched this much but I assume it would need to be someone that you are at least familiar with although with enough searching you could probably "cold call" different outfits on the basis of seeing if the work is something you'd like to do.

How great would it be to tag along with the local plumber, or carpenter, or electrician, or A/C repair man.  Just think of all the useful skills you could learn and the side effect of being able to save on those future issues that arise at your own residence.  I've picked up some knowledge of minor repairs around the house but I don't feel confident enough to tackle something major.  After reaching financial independence you now have the time to devote to each of those matters.  If you devoted the first year of your retirement to those four areas that would be 3 months each but extremely valuable in the long run around your own house, family, or neighbors.  And who knows you just might enjoy it enough to try and turn it into a side hustle to bring in some active income to supplement your passive income.

Granted this isn't going to be for everyone, but nothing in life is.  I've tried to learn more about some of these subjects but I don't currently have the time to do so except just reading about them.  Reading and applying are two very different matters.  Personally this is going to be the approach I plan on taking if I decide to truly call it quits.  And if I can get an extended time off in the meantime I just might start it early.

Comments

  1. I have the same thoughts go through my head when I catch myself watching HGTV. I don't know how tag alongs would work, I imagine they wouldn't want to be be slowed down any but I'm sure if you could network with some people you might be able to make it happen. I think Lowe's and Home Depot often do free classes on home maintenance and repair as well, that might be a good place to start.

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    1. Chad,

      Getting some tag alongs would be the hardest part. I think networking in would be your best shot. A friend of mine's uncle is a plumber so I've got that covered. I'll have to run through my list again to see if anyone knows some carpenters, A/C, and electricians. They both run classes still as far as I know, and they were good sources when we used them during my high school years when we laid some wood floors and tile in my mom's house.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Early retirement or not, they're really valuable skills that will save you a ton of money by learning them. Just like learning some basic car maintenance and repairs when you first start driving will do the same.

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    1. First Million,

      You're right that they are all valuable skills. I think so many people are hard pressed for time or at least feel that way so you won't get too many people that will volunteer a few hours every weekend or once a month to learning these skills. I can do some basic car maintenance but I really wish I had taken the car shop class in high school. I did take the wood shop class though. I have a feeling those classes won't exactly be around too much longer though.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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