Hello, Love, Again': My Untold Journey to Financial Independence

When I was in the early stages of chasing financial freedom, I was a Joy Marie Fabregas. Scraping together all the cents I could find, anxiously standing at a grocery check-out hoping my card would not decline, medical expenses and landlord and bank chasing me for unpaid responsibilities and more. Despite working so hard, money was just not enough - living paycheck to paycheck, with stacks of credit card debt.

To be fair, I've never really worked as hard as Joy did because I could simply never do that. I don’t have the capacity to be be able to do that even if I want to. We were similar yet different. We’re both earning pennies, struggling, crazy determined, may pangarap, and stubborn. But we’re different in terms of mindset and strategy. Particularly, when she said:

"Ang choice ay para lang sa may pera."

I said, HELL NO!!! Fuck that and scratch that. I'm stubborn. I refuse to believe this is all there is.

We may not have been dealt the same cards, but there are still cards on the table waiting to be dealt. And I'll do my damn best to access the next set of cards.

That's exactly what my game plan will be.

Pre-First Stage:

• Face all my facts with specifics:
  • Specific number of what I owe
  • Specific number of what I have
  • Audit where I am currently, in the present. Not what I want to do nor my vision, simply my reality.

First Stage:

• I worked two jobs—one full-time and one part-time.

Tuesday to Saturday - full time (7:30am to 4:00pm) | Tuesday to Wednesday - part time (5:00pm to 11:30am) | Sunday to Monday - part time (7:00am to 3:00pm)

Both were in hotel industry. I used these two jobs to pay off as much debt as I could - to make it manageable.

• Skill Acquisition—I made sure to get as much exposure and as many skills as I could. I took roles and responsibilities without extra pay for the sole purpose of being damn good they can’t replace my work quality. This made me more confident and competent.

Outside work, I learn skills and knowledge - read books, watch youtube, financial literacy, expose myself to what’s possible. I always have my laptop with me, people think I’m crazy obsessed.

***Comment if you want to access my library of knowledge. Could be my next newsletter.

• Leverage - this is what businessmen use, your favorite celebrity or influencer. The main reason they earn millions and we earn pennies is because they know how to leverage. In order to do this, you have to practice your skill of ASKING.

So I asked for a promotion and a raise. Ask for that vacation, that sick leave, more money, discounts. If you don’t ask, the answer will always be a NO.

If you want something, you have to make damn sure you ask for it confidently.

I did this and these are 2 ways you can start. I got this from Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan.

1. Almost every time I order coffee, I ask for 10% discount.
2. When my mobile company charge me extra $300 for data overage, I called and asked it to be waived.

I'm not condoning irresponsibility, but I am promoting the idea of learning to ask. (We can dig deeper into the art of asking and negotiation later, but this is the basics.) This practice also builds your resilience when people say "no."

I’ve become so resilient that when someone says no, I move on faster than when I was younger. When problem arise, my next question is: what’s our next step?

• Knowing When to Let Go: Although I received the promotion and raise, it wasn't exactly what I wanted. However, I didn't take it personally. I understood that many factors were at play, and I had done what I could control. This situation was simply beyond my influence. So, I planned my exit strategy. With the skills I had acquired, plus my experience and exposure, I knew I could earn $10k more or less with the same—or even less—workload and skills elsewhere.

Honed my resume writing, networking, and interview skills. Applied to countless jobs without hearing anything back. I never said it was easy - the mental exhaustion, hopelessness and the dddrraaaagggg to work.

But as what my bestfriend always say, It will pass by. And it did. I transitioned to a 9-5 corporate job. Now I have more energy to divert my attention to the next stage.

Malayo pa, pero malayo na.

I still have a long way to go but I’ve already gone so far.

I navigated life without shortcuts. Now I have more resources than I had before. It's no longer a question of "Will it work this time?" Instead, it's a statement: "I'll make it work and I'll figure it out."

This story isn't meant to belittle your efforts and hard work. It's a tale of compounding effects and leverage—a narrative of confidence, resilience, competence, leveling up, and letting go. Rather than living each day in fear of tomorrow, in constant agony and dread, it's about taking control in a slightly different way.

So to all the JOY MARIEs out there, succumbing in scarcity mindset is not and will never be the answer.

Continue to refuse to settle for only what you’re given but also start shifting your mindset to discover a wealth of options. There are a lot reasons out there not to. But there are also a lot of reasons why we should.

Like cards, these possibilities may not be apparent at first but it’s there……. on the table, within arms length.

So Fly… Learn to trust where your wings would take you!

Sign up to my newsletter if you want to have access to the ebook/guidebook I am working. Of course I would really love if you could join me on my journey.

My financial freedom journey is a three-stage game plan. Like a game, I’m on my level 2. The pre-first stage took me 3 years, the first stage took me 2 years, and I'm hoping the 2nd stage will progress much faster.

Hoping to see you here!