I think this is one of those cases where the word travels on a slippery slope. When we think about RE part of fire we think about not working. The new definition is quitting a conventional job in order to do ‘other’ work. But you raise an interesting point. If you are already working in an unconventional job and have been all along you are not retired. So how come one guy can say he’s retired and the other can’t? I think this is one of those cases where your view point alters the definition and I can definitely see how it feels like dishonest to you. Thank you so much for your comment. I have never thought about this issue from that point of view. I also agree that we should just use FI if you want to keep working and cut out the RE part.

Thank you for the comment. Having the ability to work part-time is an amazing option. It’s one I plan to explore in another year when my youngest heads to kindergarten. We have reached FI, but I still think it’s important to point out that my husband earns six figures. It makes a huge difference in what I choose to do with the next ten years. Thank you for being so honest. I think the danger comes when we write from the perspective that everyone should work part time or stay at home with their kids. Some people can cut back to make that happen, but many don’t really have a choice. My choice was dependent on the money we saved prior to the birth of my first child and my husband’s ongoing income. If my husband or I had different jobs with different income levels we wouldn’t have reached FI as early as we did either.

Quick follow-up: I HAVE been transparent about my husband. My last point was a reference to writing about the challenges of a part-time career. I haven’t gotten to all of those yet!

I wanted to start a blog for years before I finally did, and in that time I read and reread all kinds of blogging advice. I identified my intended audience as married and degreed working moms who are conflicted about time at work because they want more time with their kids. I started my blog to write about having a part-time career as a great compromise in the quest to “have it all.” I think it was Kassandra D. who wrote a post about doing no harm with our blogs. So, yes, I think I owe it to my audience to be clear that I have a husband who is the primary breadwinner and that is why I can afford to work less. This was especially true in our younger years when our cash flow was much tighter.

I also aim for one main point per post, and my biggest problem is that I am slow to write/publish and it’s taking me too long to get my whole story out.

I think that’s an excellent point. A big part of this is the tone of what bloggers say and how they come across to readers. There is a lot of ‘this is easy’ I did it nonsense that fails to take into account the whole situation. Thanks for the comment.

I try to cover all that stuff that would be redundant in day to day posts in my About Me page, though it could probably use an update. I don’t specifically call it a Transparency Page but that’s what it is, along with a summary of the last 12 years or so. 😀

I need to keep a little book of all the reasons I should go next year! XD

Google is full of one and done readers. I guess part of the issue is who am I writing for? I can assume my regulars know my story, but what about the folks that stumble onto only one post. Is there a way to share the details? I guess that’s what I’m struggling with.

Oh that’s a great analogy. Our friend is considering living on a boat, but he uses onsite facilities to shower and go to the bathroom. Quite frankly he doesn’t want to clean out the tank on the boat every week! And you are correct about zero waste too. Just because you push the packaging off to someone else doesn’t mean it disappears entirely. It’s easy to leave ‘stuff’ out in order to make the story look more interesting.