My introduction

[neutral]

Hi everyone,
I have been lurking around the forum for a while and I read Jacob's book a few years ago. The book was a real inspiration to me and i have been applying some of his tips since i have started to work 3 years ago.

Please find a few (too many) lines below about myself:
- 28yo male single based in EU (sorry for my english)
- Master degree in Econ
- INTJ
- earn c. 3500$/month in a c.10% productivity job (actually work 1 hour a day / 50hours in the office)
- enjoy a large variety of sports (gym, martial arts, yoga), studying (currently certifications), movies, lurking around the web [to be stopped].
- earn some money flipping things bought at a discount
- I am in a situation in which in the very long run I should normally inherit assets that would generate min. 3000$/month after tax - safety net

I have been able to save c.90% of my income with the following conditions:
- rent free (value >1000$ month)
- no transportation cost: no car / almost no use of public transportation. Most of the I use my old bike (<100$) for my commute and only perform basic maintenance on it. otherwise i walk
- minimal food expenses (combination of coupons). decreased siginificantly meat consumption. Wouldn't mind fetching the trashbins but i am not yet ready for that (people eyes...)
- health insurance included (no medical cost)
- DSL+Telecom: 5€/month
- always bring my food never buy take out / starbucks etc.
- drink tap water
- no smoking, casual drinker
- wash myself / sauna at the gym
- min. expenses on tech devices but not deprived (4G phone 50$ / tablet 10$ bought 2 years ago / thinkpad 200$ running like a charm)
- no TV
All those savings have become a game and i don't feel deprived.

Assets:
- saved >100K$ 70% cash 30% in tangible GLD/SLV/watches
- inherited a flat (value c. 150K$) but i don't have the rights to generate income from it
No liabilities

I first started the journey with an objective to attain ERE as quickly as possible but after a few years i noticed other changes on myself beside simply saving:
- I have progressively become more sensitive to the environment / societal issues Jacob mentionned.
ex.: I am on my bike every morning and i am cycling always faster than cars blocked in the trafic. It is costly / stressful / not time reliable (need to park / trafic) why use it? --> because it looks cooler to be in a SUV? Not blaming them though, I used to like cars for the social status they provide.
- i have learnt to find more tricks to save
ex.: the flipping activity / always ask for a discount / proactively think about an alternative to a product (restaurant margin vs raw food price used). I avoid most expenses (buy undervalued put for sale at fair price and use until sold)
- I have learnt (still learning though) to don't give a shit about what people think on what i am doing. (easier said than done).
ex.: to save laundry / maintenance fees i only use my suit inside the office. it is not usual at all in my environment (people get in / out in suit)
- i have become physically and mentally stronger
- i have a better perception of what i aspire to and what i don't want to do
ex.: i don't plan to leave in some self-sufficient community. I want to live in a city

Issues:
- During the past years, i have progressively lost friends / contacts because of a combination of factors and my friends circle (i don't include so called contacts) moved from around 5 to 2:
1. as we move to adult age, people aspire to a certain lifestyle and have their own constraints / less time available. Basically i am asked/advised to maaan up!
2. discussions moved from conceptual topics to practical "issues" (keep up with the Jones') that i don't care about. Moreover it is difficult for me to answer when i am asked "and what about you?"
3. some jealousy has progressively settled because of my financial situation.
- Stopped music. I have practiced an instrument for 15 years and brutally stopped when i started working to switch objectives toward sport and other studies. Strangely i am not missing this but sometimes i think it is a pity to not continue.
- Difficulties to create new relations
I hate the pattern: "what's your name, what do you do in life, where do you live?, ow and where did you go to school? Do you know X?" even if I know it is normal

Objectives in the near future:
- Save at least an addtional 100K during the next 3 years
- Be done with my certifications this year (i have been working on them for 2 years now)
- Get better in public speaking / improve my writing skills. first i need to figure out how.
- Try more new stuffs: i have tried some martial arts i am now attracted by other things like climbing
- Find a more productive / solid side business(es): i spent numerous sessions in the past with close friends thinking about an easy project to launch but never acted. why?
- Get serious about investing. I want to avoid RE and i am waiting the next downturn
- Eventually change my job to a more productive one (my salary is not that high. however in my region i can't easily expect the same wage or above without more sacrifice. If i decide to move to another region i will lose my free rent)
- Eventually find a partner with whom i would be able to evolve

Objectives in the long run:
- Start something connected to art (later)
- Maintain good health / shape
- Save 500K
- Find something i would like to focus on for the rest of my life and leave something meaningful (non material / not fame) before i die.
- No more planning. Achieve a complete state of "contemplation" - kind of epicurian dudeism way of life (maybe not compatible with the above one). I miss the time i was sitting with one friend late night without worriying about tomorrow, wandering around, decide to miss school while waiting for the bus and take the train for some day trip... lose connection with the 168h week
- Have a child
- Be Happy - i am already quite happy i have good health, material protection, a non stressful job and I developped strength to don't mind about the things that don't work out well: family issues, casual loneliness...

It is the first time i write down something about myself this way. I hope it didn't sound too strange

Thanks for your time!

[Did]

Great intro. You seem to be on track. ps keep up the instrument man. I wish I had 15 years behind me.

[Cornerman]

Welcome !

Strangely I found some stuff you wrote about friendships and social relations kind of depressing but that's maybe just me. Maybe it's a good idea to do some volunteer work or work for a non profit organization, you can expand your network and do something meaningful at the same time.

Your financial situation seems very good , and why not start out investing small every month , predicting anything with regards to investing is hard.
And building up a portfolio of good solid company's you can start any day in my opinion.

No more planning seems conflicting, instead of that you can try the strategy of setting your long term goals and let them be , and just take very tiny steps every day towards your goals. Means way less planning and more doing in the end. And you complete something every time you work on something, keeps the motivation high. .

[AussieGirl]

Hi Neutral. I found your introduction very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I think its better to have a few good friends than lots of acquaintances.

[neutral]

Thanks for the feedbacks!
@Did
Thanks for your suggestion. I will try to allocate some time to start back and see what will occur next.
@Cornerman
Thanks!
You are right about social relations and friendship but i prefered to be straighly honest in my intro about what is going on rather than painting it all rose. This is definitely something i should improve. I always had a very small circle of very close friends and no acquaintances (i am not a party person) but things turned bad during the past years also because of myself. My time left after work + certification study + sport was quite scarce and i didn't follow up enough. Beside that before we landed our first job (among the friends who got one) we were all "equal" and no judgement was made about money. Once on the job market everything became more "serious" and discussions went to how much do you earn, where do you spend it etc. and typical rat race subjects.
Concerning investing, as you say i should start slowly but i didn't allocate time yet to study firms on my own etc. and i have a feeling (maybe wrong) that most assets are overpriced for now (is in my short term objective)
Concerning the volunteer work, i am considering it in the long run when i will have real skills and legitimacy that can help. I actually have some project in mind about this.
Yes i voluntarily put those conflicting goals because i am not fully rational and i know i have parts of idealistic and guardian state of mind too. I am the kind of person who like to control things closely (risk averse) but if i miss a train i won't really mind to wait a few hours (beside the money lost) if you see what i mean. Thanks for your suggestions on setting reachable goals!
@AussieGirl
Thanks! Glad you liked it. Yes indeed but probably I should also learn to make more efforts on my side too.

[George the original one]

Investing: you should get some skin in the game so you get a feel for it, even if you believe assets are overvalued right now.

[neutral]

Hi George. Indeed i plan to first start with 10% of my portfolio and progressively move up. I already opened a tax efficient account to invest in stocks. Now i need to finish my homework to get in.