You know what? Today's show I want to do something that I've never done before.

I want to rock this whole show solo. By the way, if you are just tuning in for the first

time, this is the Afford Anything Podcast. My name's Paula Pat. If you're a first-time listener

and this is your first episode, you probably don't want to start with this one. Or I don't

know maybe you do. But this episode is going to be different because in most shows, I either

interview a guest which is awesome because I bring on people who I think are interesting

and we have an amazing conversation. Or I answer questions that come from you all, the

listeners. That's the normal format around here. But today I want to just talk to you.

Is that okay? Can we do that? Are we at that level? Awesome. Because it occurred to

me that I had a lot of thoughts about money and life that I just want to share. I want

to get out into the open. So here we go. First of all, I don't podcast or blog about money.

I just kind of want to make that clear. I write about a philosophy of life that is disguised

as a finance blog and podcast. And when I say philosophy of life, that sounds set in stone.

But really, I'm working through it just as much as you all are. And when I write about

a topic or podcast about a topic, I'm exploring it just as much as any of us. I've always

approached life from a really different frame than most people. Like for one thing, I never

wanted to have a nine to five job ever. And I stayed in the nine to five workforce for

a grand total of three years and then got out and I never went back. And that's largely

because I've always taken this approach to life that my freedom comes first. I don't

really know where that started. But the one thing that I did know by watching people is

that that seemed to be unusual. When I looked around, I noticed everybody else who seemed

concerned about getting the big house and the nice car and the this and that. And I just

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