About Lifestyle Accountant

Hi, I started this blog as a way to document my journey from being a regular ol' 9 to 5, cubicle dwelling, accountant to planning my escape to a more fulfilling life. I'm a Certified Public Accountant living in Northern California and I have a passion for personal finance, achieving financial independence and traveling to interesting places. I started brainstorming this new chapter of my life during the Independence Day Weekend of 2014, when I had hit a very low point in my personal life.

I had been dealing with some sort of quarter life crisis, had been drinking heavily, and was extremely bored with my corporate job (and I still am). I had a good paying job, great girlfriend, nice car, owned my house, enough cash in the bank, yet I was still unsatisfied with my life. I should have been happy right? I just felt like I had taken a path that was safe and I was trying to please others around me (girlfriend, friends, family, coworkers). Nearing 30 years old, I felt like I had too much time on my hands and I just couldn't envision years of doing the same thing at my job and at home. I felt like I didn't know what to do next and that I was being indecisive so I would stay home most of the time, watch tv, and wait for the day to end so I could do it all over again. Rinse, wash, repeat.  All the things I had wanted when I first started working full time, like buying a house, nice car, and beautiful girlfriend, I had finally achieved. Professionally, I realized I had no desire to continue to climb the corporate ladder and I wasn't happy with what I was doing at work. I got to talking with a friend about what I was feeling and she had done some research and had sent a book to me called The Quarter-Life Breakthrough by Smiley Poswolsky. I had no idea what to expect and didn't think it would help but once I started it was hard to put down. I finished the book in a couple days and realized "This is exactly what I'm going through". It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one going through this and that there was a solution. In the book, Smiley talks about jumping from "lilly pads" and that a career doesn't have to be so linear. I felt like I had been stuck on the path I was on but the book opened my eyes and helped me realize that I had so many options. 

I've been doing accounting for nearly a decade and although I love being an accountant, there are a lot of things about working for a company that I can no longer tolerate. My goals include being able to work from anywhere, meeting cool people, and enjoying freedom outside of a cubicle. I've realized that I don't think this is going to happen for me in a typical accounting setting. Not only that but I've decided that I want to become a CPA financial planner. I will get the opportunity to help others navigate the complexity of taxes, personal finances, and investing. I hope I can help aspiring accountants, established accountants,  and even potential clients along the way by sharing my experiences and offering any insight on how to go down a different path of accounting and into the more exciting world of financial planning. 

Some Fun Facts about me:

-I'm an INTJ personality type. Introverted and very analytical, makes for a great accountant, right?

-I've been to Spain, Morocco, Thailand, Mexico and plan on going to more countries

-I've had over 30 credit cards in my lifetime but I've never paid one cent in credit card interest nor paid any late fees and my credit score is excellent. I get a rush from signing up for new credit cards and earning huge sign up bonuses. This is one of my favorite hobbies.

-I've been in a fraternity and, unfortunately, I have a tattoo to show for it. Anyone know of a great tattoo removal process?

-My favorite TV show is anything with Anthony Bourdain in it where he travels (No Reservations, Parts Unknown, The Layover)