Early Retirement Extreme Forums

long-distance multi-day hiking Hi, welcome. Any good regions/trails you can suggest for long-distance hiking in Germany? With the possible exception of Schwarzwald in BW, it seems there are not too many "wild" areas left in Germany.. or elsewhere in central Europe for that matter. Of course, long d...

With sums this large it's important to look at the exhange rate, not just the transfer fee. TW's selling point has been that they use a mid-market rate and not charge extra by way of converting between currencies. I haven't used TW for a while (so make sure you check), but the the last time I did, a...

impatient at the speed of the construction Believe me, for someone that checks in every few days to see how you're doing, the progress is impressive. Every time I visit your journal I fight the urge to go and start some new construction at my country property (new construction is fun, but I need to...

Do you have a due date in mind for moving in?
Your progress looks great and of course I realise being retired you have no need for due dates of any kind:)

My father (a cohabiting widower, 3 children, 3 grandchildren, barely in the "risk group" by age) has spent a little over a week in intensive care / critical condition due to C19. At the end of the week we finally saw positive signs that he's likely to pull through - certain relevant indicators have ...

@rube, RE: lowering rent temporarily. I don't know about the tenant rights laws in NL but here in California we have a law that says we cannot raise rent by more than a particular % per year. If we were to lower it temporarily we'd be unable to legally return to the original rent if the tenant were...

A young youtuber goes through aspects of fire and rescue training with the South Metro fire dept (I'm assuming it's the one in Colorado) in a 35-minute video. It's a well produced and somewhat dramatic piece. I hope @ffj has the time to take a look and comment. I wonder if the target group here is m...

Our equivalent of the the US BLM had to issue a warning today that hiking trails are getting overcrowded, advising people to keep their distance from fellow hikers and choosing less visited sites whenever possible. Apparently it's now harder to find a parking spot at a beginning of a trail than at m...

AnalyticalEngine wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:01 pm

stir-crazy syndrome that comes with being locked inside /.../ lack of stimulation

Books, pushups and situps, and if all else fails, beer.
Is this finally the time when I-types rule the world?

-10% YTD, ex RE and cash, ex whatever happened in the US today.
Hey, thanks for asking, I wouldn't have checked otherwise and given the headlines I thought it would be down a fair bit more:)

Nice work!
24 inches seems quite shallow - does the ground not freeze deeper than that where you are? Or is the whole structure meant to rise with the frost heave? Common wisdom here is that you either build on the surface or start supporting at least 1.5m (60 in) below.

I really don't even discuss ERE or strategies for the most part on a forum dedicated to early retirement. This is almost a form of Facebook for me so I appreciate your thoughts as well as others encouraging me as a couple of times I haven't thought it appropriate. FWIW, I don't care what your WR or...

ffj wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:22 pm

Progress on the property.

ffj wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:58 pm

My wife has chosen a house design off of the internet

I really like your model-based approach to planning this! Looking forward to more updates now that the bureaucracy has begun to settle.
Happy new year!

In the kitchen, the only thing that has changed is the existence of the microwave oven. The first microwave oven was apparently sold in 1946 and a home-use version marketed in 1955:) "Tech" = tools for various purposes. I don't own even one chisel, because I don't do much woodwork. If I ever take a...

Same here. Line-/rack-drying a load or two of laundry is great when your air humidity is down to 20%. So is slow cooking or taking a hot bath:)

Congrats on the decision and purchase! I look forward to your seeing this through and enjoying the new home for many more decades. Of course, in return for all of us sending positive vibes and stuff, you have to provide photos and details.

An ffj house-build-from-scratch journal? Yay, go for it!

Fleet cars are diesel because they drive long distances. A diesel engine does not make sense if most of your drives are to the shop around the corner or the office a few miles away. It won't be cheaper this way and you'll likely run into trouble with the particle filter backing up. I'm on my second ...

(another great one: ETF sales don't generate plus and minuses that can be compensated with plus and minuses from stocks). Ouch, that sucks. I thought the US was bad by not letting you combine “passive” gains/losses (from rental income) with “investment” gains/losses (from stocks, ETFs, etc). A comm...

Is your tax situation going to improve by moving to wherever it's going to be in Asia?