Lead Story · FIRE
I Was Offered a W-2 — Benefits and All. I Said No. Here's Why.
Last week, a client I genuinely like offered me a full-time W-2 position.
Good salary. Health insurance. A 401(k) match. PTO. Paid holidays. The whole package every sensible adult is supposed to want.
I thought about it for a week.
Then I said no.
Here's the thing nobody tells you about pursuing FIRE as a contractor: the W-2 often looks better on paper—until you do the actual math.
Yes, the salary felt safe.
Yes, having benefits again would've been really nice. (Health insurance premiums in America are an absolute joke.)
And yes, after accounting for self-employment taxes and paying for my own benefits, I'm taking a bit of a pay cut by staying a contractor.
But that's only part of the equation.
Because here's what that W-2 was really asking me to trade: flexibility.
Not just where I work, but when I work, how I work, and how quickly I can pivot when an opportunity comes along.
That flexibility is worth something to me. It doesn't show up on a paycheck or a benefits summary, but it's real—and I wasn't ready to give it up.
One thing I've learned is that pursuing FIRE doesn't mean putting your life on layaway.
I'm not interested in living in the cheapest apartment I can find, eating instant ramen every night, and telling myself I'll start enjoying life after I hit some magic number.
I want to enjoy the journey, too.
That means spending intentionally on the things that genuinely make my life richer: saying yes to a fancy new restaurant, buying a refurbished camera that finally gets me to film consistently, or saying no to a perfectly respectable W-2.
To me, FIRE isn't about spending as little as possible.
It's about making sure the money I do spend is buying me freedom, experiences, and a life I'm excited to wake up to.
So before anyone asks, "But what about the benefits?"—don't worry. I ran the numbers. And so far, the math be mathin'.
Here's what actually went into my decision:
- Contractor rate vs. W-2 salary — can't compare them at face value
- Self-employment tax (~15.3% on net earnings) — darn right, it stings
- Health insurance — get real quotes, not guesses
- Retirement contributions — hello, Solo 401(k)
- Flexibility — impossible to quantify, impossible for me to ignore
Was it the right decision?
Maybe not for everyone. Maybe not for every situation.
But it was the right decision for me.
I'm still a contractor.
My timeline to Japan stayed intact.
And I slept fine.
In a future dispatch: I'll break down the exact spreadsheet I used to compare my contractor income against the W-2 offer—line by line, with the real numbers behind my decision.
Also In This Dispatch
July 8, 2026
FAT
Chickpeanut Salad: The Summer Obsession Nobody Asked For, But Everyone Needs
I have a problem, and that problem is that I cannot leave a recipe alone.
If a recipe survives more than three rounds in my kitchen without me tinkering with it, it's probably because I forgot I bookmarked it in the first place.
This one started as your standard chickpea salad. You know the one—two cans of chickpeas, diced cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, red onion, a heavy-handed squeeze of fresh lime juice, and enough parsley to make you feel like you have your life together.
It's fresh. It's healthy. It's dependable.
It's also a little... predictable after the umpteenth bowl.
Then I spotted a can of boiled peanuts sitting in the pantry.
Now, if you're not from the South, I realize that sentence may have triggered a mild panic.
Stick with me.
Boiled peanuts aren't the crunchy ballpark snack you might be picturing. They're soft, salty, a little briny, and surprisingly creamy. Honestly, they're closer to a bean than a nut—which means they slide into a chickpea salad like they were always meant to be there.
I swapped one can of chickpeas for one can of boiled peanuts.
That was it.
That was the whole experiment.
The result? More texture. More flavor. A subtle earthiness. Just enough saltiness that the dressing does most of the talking. Somehow the whole bowl tastes a little more Southern, and no amount of lime juice is gonna change that.
I've made it three times this month.
My family has officially stopped questioning it.
I'll take that as a big ol' W.
Chickpeanut Salad
The rough formula. Adjust to taste. I always do.
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 can boiled peanuts, drained
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1 avocado, diced
- 2 fresh tomatoes, diced (or one can of diced tomatoes if you like it extra juicy)
- ¼ red onion, finely diced
- A generous handful of fresh parsley (or several handfuls if you're like me)
- Juice of 1–2 limes
- Salt and black pepper
Optional Upgrades
- A spoonful of Dijon mustard
- A drizzle of apple cider vinegar
- Lots of shrimp—because I love shrimp about as much as Oprah loves bread
- A pinch of Trader Joe's Green Goddess seasoning
Directions
Toss everything together until evenly coated.
Then let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. The boiled peanuts need a little time to absorb the dressing and fully commit to the bit.
Serve cold.
Eat directly from the bowl over the sink if necessary.
No judgment here.
Jan's Two Cents
If you've never tried boiled peanuts before, congratulations—you're about to either discover your new favorite pantry ingredient or start questioning every life choice that led you here.
Personally, I think they're criminally underrated.
WTF
The Insta360 GO 3S: My Refurbished Bet on Finally Getting the Shot
I have a confession.
I'm terrible at filming my own life.
Not because nothing interesting happens—quite the opposite. It's because the second I think, "I should record this," I also think about camera angles, lighting, where to put the tripod, whether I'm in focus, and if I remembered to charge the batteries.
Then, after all that thinking...
...the moment is gone.
One thing you'll quickly learn about me: I don't mind spending money on things that genuinely make life richer. I do mind spending money on things that end up collecting dust.
So before buying anything, I ask myself one question:
Will this actually make me more likely to do the thing?
In this case, the answer was yes.
Enter the Insta360 GO 3S.
It's tiny—we're talking smaller than a thumb drive—and that's exactly the point. I can clip it onto my shirt, stick it to a magnetic pendant, set it on a shelf, or toss it in my pocket and forget it's there until I need it. It shoots crisp 4K video, has excellent stabilization, and removes just enough friction that filming starts feeling natural instead of like a production.
For Southern Sakura, that's exactly what I wanted:
- Street food stalls
- Train rides
- Walking through neighborhoods
- Exploring markets
- Touring akiya properties
- Trying new restaurants
Those moments don't politely wait while I unpack a camera bag and fiddle with settings. They happen once.
The GO 3S is built for exactly that kind of storytelling.
I also bought mine refurbished during Prime Day, which saved me a meaningful amount of money. Honestly, buying refurbished felt very on-brand—girl math at its finest. If something performs like new, comes with a warranty, and leaves more money in my food adventure fund... well, bless its little silicon heart.
Would I recommend it to everyone?
No.
If you're making cinematic documentaries, you'll probably want something with interchangeable lenses and enough buttons to launch a small spacecraft.
But if you're like me—someone who wants to capture life as it's happening without turning every outing into a film production—I think it's worth a very serious look.
Southern Sakura 💮 Stamp of Approval Checklist
Would I buy it again? Sure.
Would I recommend it to a friend? Yep.
Would I pay full price? Probably not.
Would I use it in Japan? Mmhmm. Absolutely.
WTF?!1
Wonderful Treasure Find: Approved.
Sometimes the best purchase isn't the fanciest one. It's the one that quietly removes an excuse and helps you finally get started.
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No spam, no fluff, no "hustle harder" sermons. Just the Ws, the Ls, and the occasional questionable side quest. Free, always.