The Money Mindset Shift That Helped Me Leave the 9–5

It’s time to talk money. 

But not just about budgets, savings, or how to make more of it, but how we think about money. Before I was able to quit my job, leave the U.S., and move abroad, I had to completely shift my mindset around what money is, what it’s for, and how I use it to create freedom.

Here’s how I used to think:

• Money equals security (sort of)

• More money equals more freedom (depends)

• I’ll be ready to change my life once I have enough

But here's what I learned through my journey:

The real freedom came when I changed how I viewed and used money, not just how much I had.

Let me walk you through the mindset shift that changed my life.

Step 1: From "Make More" to "Need Less"

We live in a culture obsessed with earning more, chasing promotions, receiving raises, and side hustles. And while there’s nothing wrong with increasing your income, I realized I was stuck in a cycle of working harder just to sustain a lifestyle I didn’t love.

At one point, I was making decent money, but it was all going toward:

• Rent in a high-cost-of-living city

• Car insurance

• Health insurance

• Groceries

Money wasn’t buying me freedom, it was funding my burnout.

Mindset shift: What if I could create a life where I simply didn’t need as much?

That’s when I started exploring living less, budgeting with purpose, and living abroad where the cost of living was lower but the quality of life was higher.

Step 2: From “Save for Retirement” to “Buy Time Now”

We’ve all heard it and have been told to save, invest, and wait until we’re 65 to enjoy life.
But what if you don’t want to wait 30 years to live fully? I know I didn’t want to. I couldn even think that ahead.

That question hit me hard when my family and I had our first failed attempt at moving abroad. We’d poured everything into a restaurant business… and it didn’t work out. We came back defeated and broke. But we also came back with clarity:

We wanted to live now, not someday. Who knows if that someday would ever come.

So we started asking:

• How much money do we really need to live in Dominican Republic and feel free?

• What would it take to buy back our time now, not later?

• Could we build a life where we work less, live more, and actually see our daughter grow up?

It took us five years to rebuild, learn new skills, and plan strategically. But we eventually made the move to the Dominican Republic and this time, we were ready.

Step 3: From “More Things” to “More Experiences”

This one was big. And I have never looked at life this way until this mindset shift. It was all about more stuff, the tangibles rather than the intangibles.

The more I traveled to Dominican Republic and immerse myself in culture, the more I realized how differently people value money around the world.

In the U.S., success is often measured by what you have:
Cars. Houses. Designer labels. Big-screen TVs.

But in many places abroad, success looks more like:

• Time with family

• A relaxed morning with fresh coffee

• A afternoon on the beach

• A community gathering in the neighborhood

Mindset shift: What if money wasn’t about acquiring more, but experiencing more?

I started spending money in ways that aligned with who I wanted to become, not just to keep up with the life I was trying to escape.

 Practical Shifts That Made It Work

Changing your mindset is powerful but you have to pair with action or it won’t feel real.

Here are a few practical things we did as a family:

• Tracked every expense for 90 days to understand where our money was really going

• Downsized our lifestyle we sold things we didn’t use or need. We even moved into a 1 -bedroom apartment

• Saved intentionally with a move-abroad goal in mind. We picked up 2nd jobs to do this.

• Learned remote income skills so we could earn online from anywhere

Final Thought

Here’s what I know for sure:

You don’t need more money, you need a money mindset that aligns with the life you actually want.

Once I stopped trying to earn my way to freedom and started designing my life around what truly matters, and that when everything changed.

I quit my job.
We moved abroad.
And we’re living a life that’s richer, not because we have more, but because we need less and value more.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to rethink how you use money… this is it.

Until then,
Live Your Best Life
Jay

Ex-9–5’er | Money Mindset Reformed