Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Congratulations! It already looks like glamping!

I think the idea of waiting a year to observe the land is a great one. On the other hand, if you feel a surge of energy to do something with your new spot, I wouldn't want to stop you!

@7w5 great suggestions. I'll have to look up at retro home spa day ideas to top this off!

I feel pretty privileged looking at my calendar now, I have a 4 hour block 3 mornings a week called "Spa Day". This time block includes walking the dog, going for a run at the track, strength training, yoga, showering and sun bathing. These are weekday mornings, so I still have the weekend...

Got the results for recent blood work and found out my Vitamin D levels are "insufficient". Low vitamin D can cause fatigue, among so many other problems. I'm hoping that getting my D levels up will help me feel more energetic. I had started to accept that I just wasn't an energetic person...

Probably the biggest life update this year is that we adopted a puppy! We have devoted a lot of time to training, as well as splurged on some dog stuff. The obvious expenses were getting his shots and food, the optional stuff includes building a really nice dog house and getting a DNA test to confir...

Thanks for the update!

Sounds like you have hit a bit of a rough patch and are considering your options.

I totally relate to the limited spoons situation.

Wow, congratulations! I'm super curious to know what part of the state it's in. I can think of a few possibilities.

Just called Xfinity and signed up for their Internet Essentials Plus internet plan, which is discounted internet for those who are eligible for the current subsidy. The monthly cost is $30 vs the $50 of my prior plan, and I get faster speeds with the switch. With the $30 federal subsidy this makes i...

Thanks for the insightful posts 7w5! I have often been irked by the analogy between managing personal finance and weight, because the analogy grossly oversimplifies the biological forces at play that allow some of us to store notable amounts of body fat. F.I.R.E. Math works, dieting doesn’t, and the...

Merry Christmas to all!

Thanks AxelHeyst! I’m not sure how to add a proper hyperlink, but the YouTube video is called Beat the CPAT Part #1 The Workout, the channel is called 12 minute at home workouts. The CPAT workout takes 15 minutes, so it’s short enough to feel like an easy commitment. See you in September! ERE fest i...

Fitness: I want to document here that I just did 8 hand release push ups (full length, knees off the ground). When I started doing these again in mid-November, I was only able to get 5 in a row, so that's improvement! Having recently turned 40, I'm interested in getting back to a place where I could...

[/b]A bit of a quarterly update:[/b] Travel: Where I left off this summer, I was hesitating on going to ERE Fest due to my upcoming travel plans. The week after ERE Fest I went to Italy for 5 weeks, so I ended up only doing the Italy trip and not ERE Fest. I do wish I could have planned better to ma...

With regard to depreciation tax deduction on the rental property, if you have had the property rented out for a couple of years, than you can check your tax forms to see what the annual depreciation deduction is for that property. The value of the structure (not land) is deducted over a 27.5 year pe...

I've checked out the PovertyFIRE reddit and found some good info there. However, there are also a lot of posts from people who confuse the subreddit for a place to go for advice on being really low income without the perspective of the investments and financial independence peace. These folks can al...

@CalamityJane, Yes, definitely. Have you joined the Signal channel for the fest?

If you pursued Archeology, would you try to attend a field school or otherwise work on a dig?

I studied a bit of Archeology in undergrad, but I did not have the hands on experience. I have day dreamed about pursuing something like that now.

I posted the following in Mooretrees' journal, and I thought I'd put it here for posterity. Reading other's journals really helps me solidify my own thoughts on this life. It's a common experience to get amped up about ERE and/or FIRE and tighten the belt down as much as possible, to later realize t...

It's a common experience to get amped up about ERE and/or FIRE and tighten the belt down as much as possible, to later realize that it was perhaps a bit too tight:) A lot of us have been there. I think Jacob went a year without buying books. If I find that my spending feels like it's veering away fr...

I've often thought about the difference in attitudes about being on Medicaid vs having a heavily subsidized health insurance plan under ACA. It sort of feels like the ACA subsidy option is viewed a little better socially. However, for many of us, I think being on Medicaid may actually be costing the...