2020 Is A Leap Year – Five Ways To Spend The Extra Time From Leap Day To Get Closer To FIRE

I am writing this post before Feb 29, so I can only project how I will have spent my extra time from leap day. However, I know two things for sure:

1. I will be on a road trip from picking up my youngest for college spring break; and
2. I will be just a few days into my return from a trip to the Philippines.

I think I’ll be too jet-lagged to do much more than the road trip! That said, I tend to get a lot of ideas on road trips – topics to blog about, consulting projects to pitch, areas to explore for real estate investing. In turn, writing, consulting and real estate are three of our multiple income streams that fuel our FIRE escape.

So even though my Time Diary will post 10+ hours of travel time on Leap Day, I am still getting closer to FIRE.

How can you spend your extra time from Leap Year to get closer to your FIRE goals?

Let’s say that an extra day is really eight hours of potential to be productive – this assumes eight hours for sleep and eight hours for play, a truly balanced extra day! Eight hours might not sound like much, but you can still make significant inroads to your FIRE journey in that short amount of time.

Here are five ways to spend the extra time from leap day to get closer to FIRE:

1 – Work some overtime

Leap day in 2020 falls on a Saturday so if you have a job that offers overtime, you might want to work your extra hours. An extra day’s pay (or 1.5-2 days if you get paid an overtime rate!) might not seem like much.

However, if you save the money (it’s an extra day you weren’t counting on anyway), over time that money will compound. You can use this handy compound interest calculator from Nerd Wallet to see the power of compound interest firsthand.

2 – Work your side hustle

If you are using a side hustle to contribute to your FIRE fund, you can use the eight hours to work on your website or make some sales calls. Or read some fascinating profiles of seven-figure, one-person businesses to get ideas and inspiration.

3 – Work on your real estate

In a single day, you could check out a neighborhood that is on your radar for investment. You could attend several open houses. Or you can check out some of these real estate resources and make it a professional development day.

4 – Work on your mindset

My favorite book in 2019 (of the 43 books I read) was “Stories That Stick” by Kindra Hall. It was a beautifully written book, but more importantly, its topic of storytelling is such an important one, especially the stories we tell ourselves.

A lot of people engage in negative self-talk, and this results in playing small or giving up too easily. To counter this, spend your leap day with stories that help you think big, stay resilient and shift your mindset on what’s possible.

• Bigger Pockets, the online real estate community, has a Success Stories feature that profiles wins from around its community like this real estate investor who amassed over $1 million in properties in her first two years.
• Going Solo is a podcast hosted by David Shriner-Cahn that specifically focus on entrepreneurs who made the transition from longtime traditional careers (I was interviewed on Going Solo last December).
• If traditional employment is your preferred source of income, the iRelaunch podcast profiles success stories in different industries and roles.

5 – Work on the expense side of the equation

Growing your income is one way to reach FIRE, but shrinking expenses is another. With an extra day, you could review your subscriptions to see if any can be purged. For expenses you keep, you can call and ask for a better deal, or shop around for a cheaper option.

When we moved to Florida this year, one of the first things I did was compile a list of activities in the area that are free or discounted. I also signed up for the newsletters of places we will probably frequent regularly to be notified of promotions and specials. Just a little bit of time invested on the front-end ensures that we have a ready list of low-cost options for our free time and not default to unconsciously spending money out of boredom.

Of course, you can always double down on play

Even if you work an eight-hour day on Leap Day, you would still have time for play. But you could also earmark the whole day for rest and relaxation.

One of the best things about FIRE is the flexibility to see a movie midweek or take advantage of the wonderful places right where you live or take off on a trip even for just a few days. If you spend your leap day doing more of the things that a FIRE lifestyle could bring, perhaps it will motivate you to continue on the FIRE journey – you get your fun and make a FIRE contribution!

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What did you do with your extra hours from leap year?