1500 Days to Freedom

Think different and escape the rat race.

Honey, We Bought A Coworking Space

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If you sleep 8 hours per night, you have 112 conscious hours per week. Throw in a job with a commute and subtract 50 hours. 45% of your time is now gone. Throw a couple children into the mix and BOOM, you barely have time to eat and bathe. It’s difficult to keep your head above water.

Mrs. 1500 and I did the two-kids-two-jobs dance for a short period of time and it was misery. Big shout-out to parents that manage this without going insane.

Without a job, life is a lot simpler. Perhaps my favorite benefit of FIRE, which I didn’t see coming, is that it gives you mental bandwidth. You have time to think, observe, create and collaborate. You also have time for nothing. I’ve come up with some of my best ideas when wandering around the neighborhood aimlessly on weekday mornings. A quiet mind is a creative mind and nothing often leads to something.

Bored? Hell No!

I was so silly to think that I’d be bored after leaving work. Once you have time to think, you start to live in an entirely different world. You notice opportunities everywhere. Some are fun projects like pulling out your grass, building modern planter boxes, and xeriscaping your yard:

Or designing silly clothes for your friend’s baby:

Or becoming a better photographer:

Or launching more projects on the internet:

coming soon…

I’ve been able to explore other investments too:

Let’s talk about the second one.

Honey, We Bought A Coworking Space

It all started when I noticed this tweet from my friend and neighbor, Pete (A Pete Tweet? Tweety Petey?? Peter the Tweeter???):

My curiosity was piqued. I’m a member of the coworking space and it has improved my life. My daily routine is to go to the space every morning and do my blogging work (like right now):

So meta…

Getting out of the home makes me more focused. I’m also better at sticking to my morning fasting routine (no food until noon) in a different environment. It’s also good to talk to other humans.

Anyway, after I saw the Pete tweet, I sent him a note that went something like this:

If you’re looking for investors for the coworking space, we have some spare change laying around.

I didn’t think he’d take me up on my offer. What do I have to contribute?

But, he did. As of January and Mrs. 1500 and I are now partners in the coworking space with Pete and another partner known as The Wolf.

Why Did We Do This?

There are four reasons why I bought this:

  1. Money, duh.
  2. Investing in community.
  3. Personal growth and challenge.
  4. Fun.

1. Money

The coworking space isn’t a vanity project. It has to contribute to the bottom line and it will in two ways.

Building was a good deal

My little city of Longmont is growing and one of my favorite parts is the booming downtown where MMM HQ sits. Longmont has an old-school Main Street with independent restaurants, shops and even a couple of theaters. In between, the city has wonderful greenways and funky bits:

I’m bullish on Longmont and think that real estate is a good investment. I also believe that the value of property near downtown will outpace the rest of the city. It wouldn’t surprise me if we were able to sell the building in 10 years for double our purchase price (7% return).

Almost passive income

I think about investments frequently and the worst one I can think of is food service. I know people who own restaurants and they are a LOT of work. No thanks.

My favorite potential business is storage locker facility. I was talking to a local who owns multiple storage locker businesses in town and his experience has been overwhelmingly positive. He manages all of them by himself and they don’t take up much of his time. Plus, he rakes in huge amounts of money.

Similar to a storage locker facility, a coworking space doesn’t consume your life. I give tours occasionally, shovel snow and vacuum, but there’s not much more to it. Members let themselves in and out. The temperature is automated. So are the bills. Easy.

It all goes back to VTSAX

Whenever I evaluate an investment, I ask myself one question:

Does it have a reasonable chance of beating the markets?

I find that over the long-term, it’s very difficult to find investments that will outperform the markets. The ones that do require a lot of work which I’m not interested in.

Without growing membership too much, the space will return 10% annually. And there is plenty of room to grow after that. I love the potential and I think this investment will outperform the markets.

2. Investing In My Community (Crusty Building No More)

Main Street upgrade: In its previous life, the building was dilapidated retail space. Before I was involved, Pete made the eyesore into something great. Now that we’ve expanded, there is more work to do. We’re steadily making improvements as we figure out how to best utilize the newly acquired space.

Giving back: The nature of a coworking space is that it isn’t used much after core business hours. On nights and weekends, the space is mostly empty. It’s silly to let valuable space sit empty, so we hope to use it to give back to the community. We will donate the space to worthy organizations who need a place to meet.

To me, MMM HQ is an investment in my city. We replaced a struggling business with something that will build community for members and also serve Longmont.

3. Personal Growth/Challenges

I’ve never been involved in a small business, so making the space successful will be a fun challenge. I’ve started social media accounts for the space. See us on:

I’ve also connected with some organizations in the city to let them know about the space.

Just because I don’t have a job doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy working. Meaningful work that you do on your own terms and according to your own rules is what life is all about. When you get to do it with friends, it’s even better.

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All part of a good day's work.

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4. Fun!

What is a coworking space? On the surface, it’s a spot for gig-economy/hustler folks to get out of their home and work. Look deeper and it’s much more than that.

A successful coworking spot is about creating, collaborating and community. A good space creates an atmosphere where random people bump into each other, come up with ideas and then go on to collaborate on fun projects. A real-life example happened a couple weeks ago:

  • Pete: Matt is stopping by HQ today to drop off home brew equipment.
  • Me: Great! I can’t wait to try it.
  • Pete: Have you brewed before? I have only done kits before, but I know we have a number of expert brewers among our midst and could do a big group brew day.
  • Me: Yeah! The basement would be a great place to set up an operation. I don’t mind springing for some equipment. Equipment is on Craigslist all the time. I’ve never brewed before, but we’ll figure it out.
  • Pete: Matt says he would love to be our Brew Coach!
  • Me: Whoah, let’s get it done! Let’s brew up some MMM HQ Codrinking Pale Ale or some Stash’ Stout!

And it’s much more than that. The member have started collaborating. One started a real estate meetup. Another created one for entrepreneurs. Yet another is planning a weekly group meditation event. I can’t wait to see what else grows out of the space.

Events

And we get to host some pretty great events at the space. Fun people are always coming through town and we enjoy throwing them parties. (Note: To learn about some of the fun events we host, join this Meetup group)

You’ve all heard about the Playing With FIRE documentary coming out soon. It will debut to the world next month at MMM HQ.

We also are happy to host PopUp Business School:

I can’t wait to see what other fun we host.

One of my goals is to have a wedding at MMM HQ. There are enough crazies in the FIRE community and I can totally see one of them getting married at our space. I would have! We have a full kitchen and a great back patio that would be an awesome spot to host someone’s midsummer nuptials…

More Than Money

Mrs. 1500 and I don’t need any more money. We’re set for life at this point. While I do appreciate that this adventure will bring in some income, that isn’t the main goal. The goal is to build something great that will in turn help others collaborate and do awesome things. I hope that some members band together to build something awesome. I hope that the work that we’re doing to the building inspires someone else on Main Street to start a business. I hope that Longmont is a better place because I helped run this space.

Oh, I should put a shameless plug in here in case you’re interested in joining. See my page or Pete’s for all of the juicy details. Find more information on Google Maps.

Join the 10s who have signed up already!

Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.

*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.

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Comments

  2. I have been looking forward to this article for quite a while. Congrats to you and the Mrs. Sounds great and I’d love to hear more about how the memberships work. Out here in the Midwest we don’t have any co-working places, at least that I know of. I hope to make a trip out to CO in the next year or two and would love to stop in and check it out. Especially the brewing space! Good luck!

  3. love that you’re keeping things local and improving your own area. I also LOVE the idea of donating meeting space to worthy organizations after-hours.

    Speaking of storage facilities, I had a friend in college whose parents lived in a small apartment onsite of a storage unit as full-time employees who kept watch over the place. Basically, they got free room and utilities paid plus a small salary in exchange for being there during XX hours for people to visit the office for payments or opening/closing of units and in case an emergency happened. They were an older couple, so it was an ideal semi-retirement location to help them keep their living costs at a minimum (until/if they save up enough to move to their “final” retirement). I don’t know if all storage units have the housing (I imagine it’s the larger ones that also have climate controlled units) but it’s one way a storage unit owner can cut down on the stress of being available 24/7 since you hire a live-in manager to be the first person who deals with issues.

  4. Fun to read all the details. I will make it a point to check it out this year:) If you make a statement like this on the internet it will come true!

  5. Neat investment Carl. What would you say the co-working space’s primary competition is? Are there other co-working spaces nearby? Coffee shops? The library?

    Just curious. I know as a real estate class the co-working space area has grown considerably in the last few years, and I’m interested to see how your investment is going to turn out.

    Good luck! It certainly looks like a fun project.

  6. sweet. i love old refurbished industrial spaces. my uncle retired with a few of them including some apartments and an old 3 story brick store. he passed away and left it to the family but with a big lien that we weren’t willing to take on as we weren’t in that position 15 years ago. that’s another good reason to love the opportunities financial independence provides. if the same thing came up today we could have paid back the lien with cash and has some fun and a loft apartment too!

    good luck with the project. i can’t wait to see how it turns out.
    freddy smidlap recently posted…One Big Winner can Supercharge Your ReturnsMy Profile

  7. So cool!

    My best friend from high school moved to Longmont a few years ago and Mrs. Done by Forty and I kick around the idea of moving there sometimes. I have to admit, this co-working space is one of the very big draws.

    I’m so excited for your venture and I agree, it seems to check a lot of the life satisfaction boxes you mentioned. Way, way cool to give back to the community and invest in the place you live in. That’s the secret sauce, brother.
    Done by Forty recently posted…The New and Improved Bond Mortgage SwoopMy Profile

    • We love it here and I can’t wait for you to come check it out for yourself!

      “Way, way cool to give back to the community and invest in the place you live in. That’s the secret sauce, brother.”

      Thanks and hell yeah! It feels great to make money and be doing something good.

  8. Dangit, i should have jumped on that bandwagon when it was still being offered! 10% is a great return. And having all that hosting space is really nice- I attended the FB live of the Popup business school (caught you and Mrs. 1500’s lectures, too), and really liked it. (I was the one that got the award for “most bothersome person online” or whatever it was actually called. There’s eff all nothing going on here except a couple of meetups at people’s houses….
    Cathleen Cooks Stuff recently posted…Frugal Hawaii- Central OahuMy Profile

  10. GAH! Oh how I would love to be there, enjoying a Stache Stout for the premier of Playing with FIRE! I’ll throw a little plug in here though that our local Boise theater “The Flicks” is great at hosting these types of premiers. So far my favorite I’ve seen is called “Inspired to Ride”, this could take the top spot if the crew wanted to head a little north after having out at MMMHQ. And I promise you won’t be disappointed with the beer!
    Financially Fit Mom recently posted…Could it be…Chores Create More Hassle Than BenefitMy Profile

  11. “I’m also better at sticking to my morning fasting routine (no food until noon) in a different environment.” Why is this so true? Maybe in different environments there isn’t a fridge whose contents I have funded?

    I’m very interested in combining investing in my community with personal growth/challenges. I won’t be buying any buildings any time soon, but time spent advocating for local concerns of interest (bike lanes, affordable housing, walkability) is something I can invest in. I’m dipping my toes in these waters and realizing I’m getting out of my comfort zone, which is good.
    Brian @ The Graying Saver recently posted…Health Update – March 2019My Profile

  12. Independent coworking spaces are so fun. I miss the one where I started my business 10 years ago. I’m in NYC, and now all the spaces are We Work or other multiple outlet places. I’m still friends with some of the business owners I met in the previous coworking space. The economics were great till the lease ran out (I didn’t run the business but knew the owners), so owning the building is key!

  13. Did you just scoop Playing With Fire themselves? I haven’t heard any release info elsewhere.

  14. If would be awesome if you could offer your space up for use by local Girl/Boy Scout troops for meetings. Also, 4-H groups are always in need of a place to hold monthly get-togethers, even better if they have kitchen space.
    Glad things are going so well for you and your family!

  15. Hey you could always fulfill your dream by renewing your vows at HQ! You don’t need to wait for a milestone anniversary to do it, and it sure beats a commemorative tattoo (or EVERYONE could get a commemorative tattoo at your vow renewal, that little machine will have itself paid off in no time).

    • Renewing vows, maybe! We do go there for some of our rare date nights, so it wouldn’t feel out of place!

      I like the idea of a commemorative tattoo for everyone*! Great idea! When are you in town again? 🙂

      *except me

  17. I had fun reading this! It’s the first time that I’ve read about the construction of a coworking space that really sounds exciting. I like how you discussed it every step of the way and what’s even more amazing is that you offer the space for non-profit organizations after-hours. The idea of a kitchen and backdoor patio sounds incredible, too! Just imagine hosting an event and getting everyone together for steak and beer is superb. Thanks for sharing this wonderful adventure. I’m looking forward to reading more from you soon. Cheers!