Spotlighting the Women of FIRE and Sustainability with Angela Rozmyn Tread Lightly Retire Early

Angela began her blog, Tread Lightly Retire Early, with the idea that financial independence and sustainability were two ways of living that worked well with each other.   She aimed to have an impact and spread her love of both principles. 

In this episode, we learn practical tips on how we can transition our families to a more sustainable lifestyle without the overwhelm of such a BIG idea.  Angela provides us with some of the changes she has made in her home to live a more sustainable life. 

NO SPEND CHALLENGE 

Have you ever thought of doing a "No Spend" challenge?  Angela has just hit the two-year mark of her no clothing challenge.  For two years, she has had a complete ban on clothing purchases.  This includes shoes, jewelry, accessories....everything.  An unexpected benefit is that she has also found she is also no longer wearing make-up, which is another budget-saver!

Another challenge she has done is to not spend money going out to lunch and instead focused on bringing her lunches to work. This challenge has helped her lesson her monthly food budget as well. 

CAMPING HACK

Angela and her husband have always loved to camp.  But the cold Pacific Northwest Winters made this sometimes difficult.  So, with a little bit of trial and error - and experimentation, she and her husband came up with a great solution...A Truck Tent!  Now they are able to bear camping in the cold winters snuggled up in the bed of their truck. You can read all about that here. 

SPOTLIGHTING THE WOMEN OF THE FIRE MOVEMENT

Women make up a significant population in the FIRE movement.  That is no secret.  But want appeared to be a secret was how many women were contributing as authorities in the finance space.  We are here - we have always been here - but it was really the perception and attention that was lacking.   Seeing that need, Angela decided to do something about it.  After seeing a major player post his favorite finance blogs - and only seeing one woman listed - Angela was on a mission to bring the women SHE KNEW were writing about finance to the forefront. 

This mission has turned into its own little "mini-movement."  Her blog post that catalogs blogs and podcasts by women remains one of the top posts on her site.  

She also started a private Facebook group that has exploded to about 5000 member is a very short period of time.  

Her efforts to bring women to the forefront is making a significant impact on the community. 

ANGELA ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS: 

1. One financial lesson growing up that she has carried over into her adult life has been the importance of teaching children to earn money to buy the things they want, even at a young age.  It is something her parents taught her and she now is teaching her son. 

2. Angela's favorite life-hack has been pitching to her boss an 80% work week.  This allows her to come home early every day and gives her more time to do the things she would otherwise not be able to do (or be running around like a crazy person trying to accomplish.) 

3. Her favorite/current read is a book called Nomadland.  It describes a growing population of generally the Baby-Boomer generation that has been forced into a "nomadic" lifestyle due to a lack of financial resources after retirement - planned or forced.