Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I'll be there--I'll try to be on time since I can only stay until 1:45.

I highly recommend purslane--google it and check that you aren't mixing it up with a similar-looking weed (if the stem has white sap don't eat it). It's highly nutritious, actually tastes good (which IMHO most wild greens don't), can be eaten raw or cooked, and it grows everywhere, likely in your an...

Personally I would enjoy a "trivial" life right now :-) But I agree with those who suggest that this is a psychological problem rather than a "find the right hobby" problem. One thing I haven't seen talked about here much is the post-ER option of doing good for others on a bigger...

House-cleaning, organizing, baby-sitting, doing oil changes, gardening, basic carpentry, dog-walking, cooking . . . Basic life things that people would be willing to pay for to save them time or effort. Depending on who you're doing it for and what you're charging you wouldn't have to be an expert. ...

Mid-60s for both. I scored slightly better at the first task, which is telling because I actually cheated and measured the lines for the second test! So not only am I worse at details, I'm bad at accurate measurement

I identify with your feelings a lot. I often have misleading conversations about money. I also have conversations with friends where they're complaining about their partners, and I feel obligated to complain about mine too, even though I'm not actually upset about anything--bonding through commisera...

INFJ. This month One problem I have with this test is that once you know it, it's clear what letter each answer will correspond to, so it's hard for me to take it without second-guessing a lot.

Sounds like a very painful situation, with all sorts of passive aggression being added by your dad. But it sounds like what's painful is not so much what happens to the money as why. I find my feelings about the same result can be massively different depending on whether it was my choice or not. For...

Thanks for the replies. I like the idea of having a set percentage of additional money earmarked to increase my charity giving. That seems more motivating than just an unspecified "I'll give more." As for giving notice at my job, it's tricky. Congregations (and other places) need time to r...

New Year's Update. At 3% SWR! A crazy market and the snowball effect of a growing 'stash, plus luckily no big unforeseen expenses in 2013. Still working and still wishing I weren't, but in 2014 I'm getting an intern for one year, a person I really like who will be fun to work with, and mentoring the...

I think this is a good question. My answers are serious winterizing of my house (which I could be doing at this very moment, but keep putting off), and hiring a private tango teacher. If I knew I were going to drop dead tomorrow I'd give away a lot of my money to charities and pay off the students l...

@1taskaday An immediate difference I see between you and your friend is you have a DH and kids and you feel closely connected to them. Most people need social connection and interaction to avoid depression, even introverts, and people who live alone or who don't get sufficient social interactions wi...

Just found this thread. I hope you're doing better. I think I'm experiencing burnout. I notice I space out in meetings and have not idea what someone just asked me. I also have more anxiety than I ever have before. I wonder if I've just reached my quota of stress chemicals and have become hypersensi...

Welcome to the Lou! We've lived here for 8 years, near Forest Park. I haven't been on this site in a while--sorry I didn't see your recent posts until your house search was over, but it looks like it worked out great. My partner's a musician and I'm into native plant gardening, so if you want to kno...

<t>Hi folks,<br/> I'm going on vacation soon, and I'm buying a plane ticket. And I can save a little over $200 if I spend 6 hours overnight in an airport. I can afford to pay $200 more, but at least at this moment napping in an airport doesn't seem like a big deal, and that would be $200 that I can ...

<t>Another angle for me is the ecological one. So much work, interesting or not, is damaging to the environment, other species, and/or adding to landfills, climate change, etc., etc. So when I am not being productive, at least if I am living simply I like to think I am following the rule to "First d...

<r>Thanks for sharing your story! I really liked this blog series on investing that starts at <URL url="http://jlcollinsnh.com/2012/04/15/stocks-part-1-theres-a-major-market-crash-coming-and-dr-lo-cant-save-you/"><LINK_TEXT text="http://jlcollinsnh.com/2012/04/15/stock ... -save-you/">http://jlcolli...

<r>@Lilac: "At this point my biggest fear is that I will become complacent and undo all the hard work because I feel like I have arrived, but not really. <E>:P</E> Anyone else going through this or have any words of advice about this?"<br/> I fear this a little, too--being so far ahead of my peers, ...

<t>Unfortunately I've found that monetizing my passions kills them. I loved books so went into publishing, and then I couldn't read for fun anymore. I loved being a lay leader in my congregation so I became a professional clergyperson, and now the stress is horrible.<br/> So, this may not be true fo...

<t>Just wanted to congratulate you on hang-drying your clothes. It takes very little time and is better for the environment and your clothes, which will last longer. I've done it for years.<br/> You might also consider climate change when deciding whether to buy a lot of these other things new, vs u...