Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Another example might be style/fashion, where you might break ”the rules” because you know them well or riff off classic outfits/styles/subcultures. Conscientious would have a ”book” (classic mens fashion, some subculture etc) and be horrified by heretics. Impulsive would be more like a child ...

@Jin+Guice: That is something beautiful and meaningful to strive towards. I guess the other side of WL5 being rather impersonal and boring is that it’s also safe. For some of us, having to face the question of who we are and what we want to do can be a lot of work in itself (also facing the ...

Since I’m a parent of two (4/1 years old), I’n constantly crashing into hard limits on time and energy. Even in a more general WL5 position, you might have made trade-offs where you sacrificed time and energy for money (increased income or lower expenses).

The dynamic for me often pushes me ...

Considering all second order effects of course makes sense. Some inputs for the tomatoes above might be waste from other activities. I guess I see a bit of a point in focusing on positive yields vs negative waste to develop the energy to try new things. I am more of a pessimist so it might simply be ...

I’ve spent some time reading this thread as well as the L7 one. Personally I’m still at the 5 to 6 threshold, so this thread is more relevant to me right now, even if I suspect that there is some value in getting a sense of what’s ahead as well.

From what I can gather, L6 is all about ...

@jacob: I generally agree regarding temperament and that any path you choose will come with its limits. My point was more that even largely going for roots like you have done, you still have some wings. Your skills, fitness, the community you’ve built etc. If the pogroms towards scani phds commence ...

Interesting to note that many of the more preppy (hehe) ERE-ers (jacob, AxelHeyst et al) have a gold plated social networks populated by resource-rich, highly competent individuals dispersed in desirable locales across the globe.

Speaking of the strategies not being mutually exclusive.

It’s not too surprising that the movement couldn’t handle the combined weight of it’s own hype, lockdowns/WFH and the recent economic troubles. Influencers/youtubers are mainly selling their own stories. They might peddle wellness or personal development but people really want to be sold someone ...

Yeah, also failing into careerism/empire building, health (gymrat/obsessive runner) or culture warfare to name a few. For me, failing into becoming a “dad” and only that is perhaps the greatest risk.

Another type of failure/bad habit is being stuck in the specialist mindset and focusing to much on certain areas of your life, I guess money being the most common (failing into FIRE). What attracted me to ERE was taking all of life into consideration, and not pursuing something (money, or health, or ...

I’ve spent less time on here this year. Busyness, but also feeling that the habit had morphed into a negative influence on my life. I abused ERE as a form of escapism early on and even though I banished the worst of it years ago, there are still negative energies involved in how I relate to it. I’ve ...

In the same vein:

- Making a straw man out of normies (“all normal people are sheep with nothing but TPS reports, junk food and plastic trinkets in their lives”)
- Fueling avoidant tendencies, thus increasing anxiety when external demands no longer force you to go out into the world

Nothing to do ...

Spending so far this year is in line with last year. We’ve had a few major purchases, so I’d expect expenses to decrease a bit for the rest of the year.

Per month:

Housing 1200
Groceries 860
Insurance/services 320
Transportation 200
Health/beauty 180
Stuff 450
Eating out 160
Fun 120

In total ...

To me adulthood is synonymous with responsibility, being the “they” who takes care of things and sits with the anxiety tough choices give rise to. Our economy and culture has been all about replacing this burden with procedures that can be followed blindly. entrepreneurial capitalism to managerial ...

Recent reflections of mine:

- Avoidance is always negative, and something that I should be vigilant about identifying. The brief relief I receive always ends up costing me dearly. I can either make the proper sacrifice when the universe demands it, or suffer the consequences.
- Self-help (or let ...

Stress about work (and more opaquely about becoming a father again and illness in the extended family) has made me quite focused on introspection during the winter. Internal work can descend into rumination, and so it has for me. At this point, the hardest and most valuable thing would be to let go ...

I personally started out as a looser out of choice, having internalized the dim views of work life that can be found in a lot of corners in the FIRE-sphere. Merely passing the time and counting the days to freedom. That did not work for me. I guess I’ve been somewhat clueless at times and spent to ...

I think in practice, it’s rarely one or the other. Theory is merely a game if you never act on it; action always requires some form of framework to inform what actions to take. I don’t think anyone is saying that you should take random actions and see what happens? Going to the gym or learning to ...

@jacob: See https://forum.earlyretirementextreme.com/viewtopic.php?t=10316&start=40

Lots of discussions on household size (as well as gossiping about MMM:s divorce…).

If we are dividing up the pie, that would affect the distribution between households of various sizes. If we have 75 households ...

I’ve been mulling over this for a while, nice to see someone compiling some figures!

It seems obvious that the national figure isn’t that relevant from an ethical standpoint. It might be a decent predictor of the direction of future migration flows, though. And it of course points to the need for ...