So, I never thought I’d be writing about Hallmark Christmas movies on a personal finance blog. But here we are. And honestly? This might be the most accurate metaphor for financial independence I’ve ever come across.
Recently, I was talking with Doug Cunnington from the Mile Hi Fi podcast, and he dropped this absolutely wild observation on me. He said the FI journey is basically the plot of every single Hallmark Christmas movie. At first, I didn’t quite get it. Then I thought about it. Then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Because he’s totally right.
The Hallmark Formula
If you’ve ever channel-surfed past Hallmark between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, you know the drill. Actually, even if you haven’t watched these movies, you know the formula. It’s everywhere. It’s been parodied on SNL. It’s become a cultural touchstone.
Here’s how every single one of these movies goes down:
Our protagonist (let’s call her Sarah) has a high-stress corporate job in the big city. She’s a marketing executive, or a lawyer, or runs some vague “consulting firm.” She works crazy 80-hour weeks and she’s always on her phone. Her apartment is modern but somehow cold and empty. She eats takeout at her desk and hasn’t had a real conversation with anyone in months.
Then something happens. Her uncle gets sick or her mom needs help with the family bakery. There’s a crisis at the Christmas tree farm she inherited but forgot about. Whatever the reason, Sarah has to leave her corner office and head back to her hometown of Pine Valley or Evergreen Falls or whatever.
So, she’s typically annoyed at first. She’s got that big work presentation back in the big city next week! She’s up for the big promotion or may become partner at the law firm! But then she gets there, and everything starts to shift.
There’s, like, a pie contest at the town square. Oh, or a Christmas pageant. There seems to always be a Christmas pageant. Or maybe they’re trying to save the local bookstore from being bought out by some giant faceless corporation (the irony). And somehow, Sarah gets roped into helping.
Oh, Let’s not forget. There’s a guy. Of course there’s a guy. Usually her old high school sweetheart who stayed in town and now runs the family Christmas tree farm or teaches woodworking to underprivileged kids or something equally wholesome.
By the end of the movie, Sarah now realizes what really matters. She quits her corporate job. She moves back to Pine Valley. She opens that bakery or bookstore or whatever. She’s making less money, but she’s genuinely happy for the first time in years.
Roll credits. Cue the instrumental version of “Silent Night.”
Now, Let Me Blow Your Mind
That’s the FI story. Like, beat for beat, that’s the entire financial independence journey.
Okay, here me out. Let’s think about it.
Most people pursuing FI start out in the corporate grind. We’re chasing promotions, climbing ladders, working crazy hours because we think that’s what success looks like. More money equals more happiness, right? Just one more raise. Just one more bonus. Just make it to that next level.
We’re living in expensive cities because that’s where the jobs are. We’re paying ridiculous rent or mortgages. We’re stressed out of our minds. We’re disconnected from the things that actually matter because we’re too busy trying to “make it.”
Does that sound familiar?
Then we have something happen. Maybe we discover Mr. Money Mustache or ChooseFI or JL Collins. Maybe we have some health event that kinda scares us. Maybe we just wake up one day and realize we’ve been running on a hamster wheel for years and we can’t even remember why we got on it in the first place.
We start questioning everything. Do I actually need this corporate job? Do I really want to live in this overpriced big city? What am I even working towards?
So as we begin to learn, we slowly start to make changes. We cut our expenses. We simplify our lives. We start to realize that happiness doesn’t come from the corner office or the fancy title or the luxury car that costs almost as much as some people’s houses!
We begin to prioritizing community, and focus on our relationships. We start to understand time freedom. We understand this is the ability to actually show up for the people we love and care about instead of sending them a text from another late night at the office.
Eventually, if we stick with it over time, we hit our FI number. Once we’ve reached out FI Number, we leave the corporate grind behind. Maybe we move somewhere cheaper (this is our version of going back to Pine Valley). Maybe we start a passion project that doesn’t pay as well but actually means something to us. It fills our heart and feels like you are making a difference. In your life, or the lives of others.
We’re making less money than we could be, but we’re genuinely happy for the first time in years.
Roll credits. Cue the instrumental version of… well, probably the instrumental Metallica song, Orion, because this is Heavy Metal Money after all.
The Plot Points Line Up Perfectly
Let’s break down the parallels, because they’re kind of hilarious when you really think about it:
The Corporate Prison
In Hallmark movies, the big city corporate job is always portrayed as this soul-sucking nightmare. Our protagonist is always on her phone, always stressed, always choosing work over everything else. Her boss is demanding. Her coworkers are competitive. Nothing is ever good enough.
In the FI community, we talk about this exact same thing. We call it the rat race. We talk about golden handcuffs. We share stories about toxic work cultures and unrealistic expectations and that moment when you realize you’ve missed your kid’s third birthday party in a row because of a “mandatory” meeting.
The Inciting Incident
In the movies, something forces the protagonist to stop and reevaluate. They have to go home for some reason, and it makes them see their life from the outside.
In FI, we have our “aha moment.” For some people, it’s finding a blog post that makes everything click. For others, it’s a layoff or a health scare or just burning out so hard they can’t ignore it anymore. Something makes us stop and actually look at what we’re doing with our lives.
The Revelation
This is where the Hallmark protagonist realizes that small-town life isn’t so bad. Actually, it’s kind of great. People know each other. They help each other. There’s a sense of community she hasn’t felt in years.
In FI, this is when we discover that we don’t actually need all the stuff we thought we needed. That smaller house? It’s actually kind of nice. Fewer possessions? Turns out less really is more. More time with family and friends instead of more money? Yeah, that’s the trade we should have been making all along.
The Love Interest (Sort Of)
Okay, so the FI version doesn’t usually involve rekindling romance with your high school sweetheart who runs a Christmas tree farm. But there is a similar pattern of reconnecting with what you actually value.
Maybe it’s literally spending more time with your spouse or partner. Maybe it’s rebuilding relationships with your kids that suffered during the grind years. Maybe it’s just falling back in love with hobbies and interests you abandoned because you were too busy working.
The point is, you’re rediscovering parts of yourself and your life that got buried under the pursuit of career advancement.
The Happy Ending
The Hallmark protagonist leaves the corporate job. She chooses the life that makes her happy over the life that looks impressive on paper. She trades the big salary for actual fulfillment.
That’s FI in a nutshell. We save aggressively so we can leave the job that pays well but costs us our sanity. We choose time freedom over money. We choose experiences and relationships over status and stuff.
We choose the Christmas tree farm over the corner office.
Why This Comparison Actually Matters
Here’s the thing. Hallmark Christmas movies get mocked constantly. They’re formulaic. They’re predictable. Kinda like how I get ripped on because I like Five Finger Death Punch for the same exact reason. They’re cheesy as hell. And yet millions of people watch them every single year.
Why?
Because deep down, we all know that story is true. We know that the corporate ladder isn’t probably taking us where we want to go. We know that chasing only money and status at the expense of everything else is a losing game. We know that community and relationships and time with the people we care about is what actually matters.
We know all of this. So many people know it! And yet most people never make the leap. They stay in the corporate job they hate, in the expensive city they can’t afford, chasing the next promotion that will definitely, finally, for real this time make them happy.
What is it about the FI community? We’re the people who actually made the leap. We’re living out the third act of the Hallmark movie. We took the ridiculous premise seriously and actually did it.
And you know what? It works. Just like in the movies, it actually works.
The Hallmark Movies Get One Thing Very Wrong
I think there’s one major difference between Hallmark movies and real-life FI though. In the movies, the protagonist sometimes just impulsively quits their job and moves back to their hometown. They decide to open a bakery and apparently just… do it? There’s no discussion of savings or planning or how they’re going to pay their bills.
It’s presented as a purely emotional decision. Follow your heart! Chase your dreams! Everything will work out!
I think reaching real Financial independence is smarter than that. We’re not telling you to go quit your job tomorrow and move to a small town on a whim. We’re telling you to make a plan. Save and invest aggressively. Spend wisely. Pay off your debt. Calculate your FI number. Then this can create the freedom to make choices based on what you want, not what you can afford. There is a plan.
The Hallmark protagonist is totally, and only following her heart without any sort of safety net. Most of us in the FI community are planning. They are building a safety net first, then following our hearts with the security of knowing we’re not going to end up broke and desperate.
We’re doing the smart version of the Hallmark movie plot, lol!
What We Can Learn From This Absurd Comparison
If you’re early in your FI journey, or maybe you haven’t started yet, think about where you are in the Hallmark movie plot.
Are you still in the first act? Grinding away at the corporate job, telling yourself that the next promotion will fix everything? Spending money, emotionally, to cope with the stress of earning money?
Maybe you are you in the middle of act two? You are starting to question whether this is really what you want out of life or your career? Maybe you are discovering those fundamental FI concepts and realizing there might be another way?
Or, are you already in act three? You’ve hit your number, you’ve made the giant leap, and you’re living that small-town Christmas tree farm life (metaphorically speaking of course lol)?
Wherever in the plot line you are, the lessons are basically the same. The Hallmark movie formula is formulaic for a reason. Because it’s true. It’s predictable, and repeatable. The corporate grind typically isn’t the path to happiness. Community, relationships, and time freedom are what actually matter for a lot of people. So, you don’t have to wait for a family emergency or some sort of Christmas miracle to make a change.
You can start building your version of that happy ending today.
The Queen of Hallmark Herself
Speaking of Hallmark movies, let’s talk about Lacey Chabert for a second. You probably know her as Gretchen Wieners from Mean Girls (“My hair is full of secrets!”). But these days, she’s basically royalty in the Hallmark world. The woman has starred in over 40 of these movies. Forty!
She’s lived this plot so many times that she could probably direct these movies in her sleep. Big city woman leaves corporate life, finds love in small town, discovers what really matters. She’s done it as a baker, a journalist, a businesswoman, an event planner. Every variation you can imagine.
And here’s the kicker: she recently did “Hot Frosty” for Netflix, which became a massive hit when it premiered in November 2024. It’s about a widow who magically brings a snowman to life, and yes, he’s hot (hence the title). The movie hit number one on Netflix in its first week. Because people love these stories.
They love the idea of leaving the rat race behind and finding something real. They just don’t realize they can actually do it in real life. That’s where FI comes in.
The FI Path Can Be Your Hallmark Movie
Look, I know this whole comparison is kinda ridiculous. I’m know I’m comparing a serious financial strategy to cheesy made-for-TV Christmas movies. But sometimes the absurd comparisons are the ones that actually stick.
So next time you’re feeling burned out at your corporate job, or stressed about money, or wondering if the FI journey is really worth it, think about Hallmark movies. Think about what everyone instinctively knows is true, even if they never act on it.
You don’t have to stay in the job that’s slowly killing you, and have to keep chasing money at the expense of everything else. Please don’t wait for a Christmas miracle. You can write your own happy ending. You just need a plan and the courage to actually do it.
And unlike those Hallmark movies, your version can have a kick-ass metal soundtrack! HAHA! Horns Up! \m/ \m/
Now if you’ll excuse me, I apparently have some Christmas movies to watch. For research purposes, obviously.
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