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Written by Melanie Allen
Some people think I’m passionate about money. Partners in Fire was originally a personal finance blog, after all. It was meant to document my journey to financial independence, with hints and tips on how readers could achieve the same. I posted the typical how to save money articles, mixed in with basic investment advice, and a bit of our personal story. It was a general, run-of-the-mill personal finance blog.
But as I truly thought about the goals for the site and my own journey, I realized money wasn’t it. I’m not passionate about money. I don’t live for couponing, obsess about the latest stock market gains, or spend my free time reading financial statements. That stuff isn’t important to me, and quite frankly can be downright boring.
As I thought more about it, I realized that money is just the tool that will help me achieve the life I want. It’s a means to an end to help me pursue my passions, not the thing I’m passionate about.
With that realization, the goal of Partners in Fire shifted, and that changed the entire game.
The Financial Independence Movement
FIRE stands for financially independent/retired early. It’s a movement defined by the desire to opt-out of traditional work life. The goal of FIRE seekers is to save and invest smartly while we are young so we have enough money to quit our jobs before the traditional retirement age. This gives us the opportunity to retire while we are still young enough to enjoy our lives.
Although it began with people in high-paying fields scrimping and saving every penny so that they could one day be free from work, the movement has morphed and evolved. Now, there are many different types of financial independence to pursue, and the movement is more accessible to everyone.
Those who love their jobs but want to ensure financial security can pursue Coast FIRE while people who hate their stressful jobs but still want to work part-time at something a little easier can opt for barista FIRE. Lean FIRE is an option for those who want to make early retirement work on less than $40K per year, while Fat FIRE is the goal for high earners who want to retire in luxury.
With all these different types of FIRE already available to pursue, did the movement really need another option?
Enter Passion FIRE
Yes. Absolutely. Because the true reason many people are trying to quit their jobs and do something else isn’t actually about the money, and those terms don’t do it justice.
Financial independence is really about passion. It’s about finding a way to pursue your passions and live the life that you want, unbeholden to any company or corporation.
And thus, Partners in Fire became about Passion FIRE. Passion FIRE is all about discovering your passions and building a life that lets you pursue them. And realistically, a large portion of that is related to money. Most people don’t follow their dreams because they can’t afford to. They have bills to pay, families to feed, and passion projects tend to not pay the bills.
Passion FIRE flips the script on that. It’s about financial independence first. Take that high-paying job, save and invest your money, do all the things you need to do to become secure. The next step is investing in the things you are passionate about. This means starting your own business, as a hobby or side hustle at first, then building it into something that will fill the gap between your investment/savings and your expenses. It might also mean pursuing education or volunteer work in a field that is meaningful to you.
Passion FIRE is about going back to a world where work has meaning. No one will give that to us, so we must work towards financial independence so that we can pursue the things that are important to us.
What Am I Passionate About?
The thing about passion is that it’s different for everyone. Some people are passionate about creating beautiful works of art, while others are passionate about their favorite game or serving their communities. There is no right passion and no right way to pursue it.
Partners in Fire is all about pursuing your passions, no matter what they are. Some of the things we promote are gaming, travel, and the arts, but we understand that those are only small categories of things people might be passionate about. Therefore, we also write about how to find your own passion, how to save money to live more intentionally, and how to set goals and take care of yourself. All of these things are important to being able to live the life of your dreams.
Why Blogging?
We believe the message of Passion Fire is an important one. People need to see that there’s more to life than working to survive. They need to see that you can use the money you make to craft your dream life, pursue your passions, and do the things you want to do.
We chose to blog to deliver that message because it’s so versatile. We can post about how to make money gaming one day, give an epic list of drawing ideas the next, and show you how to save money on living expenses to achieve your goals after that. Every week we can publish fresh new content, all with the ultimate goal of helping people pursue their passions and live their dream lives.
Although we do also have a small Youtube channel, we’ve found that there is no platform as versatile and accessible as a blog. It’s easy to knock out two posts per week, and to fill content gaps with guest writers should the need arise. Blogging makes it easy to share your message online, and getting the message out is an important goal.
Blogging is also a top choice because I’m passionate about writing, and starting a blog has given me the opportunity to pursue it as a passion FIRE goal. It’s wonderful to be able to follow your passions and design the life you want.
So that leaves one final question. What are you passionate about?
Find More From Melanie Allen:
Bio: Melanie launched Partners in Fire in 2017 to document her quest for financial independence with a mix of finance, fun, and solving the world’s problems. She’s self educated in personal finance and passionate about fighting systematic problems that prevent others from achieving their own financial goals. She also loves travel, anthropology, gaming and her cats.
Socials:
Twitter: @partnersinfire
Facebook: Partners in Fire
Youtube: Partners in Fire
Instagram: @partnersinfire
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