Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hey guys, time for an update! Work I have accepted a 2 year full-time contract starting on the 20th of Feb. It’s quite funny as I had planned to stop looking for work at the end of 2016, this was one of the last jobs I applied for before Christmas. I’ll be working in a similar industry but new compa...

Hey Viktor. That’s a good question. If I had $450k I think I would do exactly the same thing! Bike touring, dirtbagging, volunteering and staying with family and friends are all things I would want to do anyway. Fortunately one secondary benefit of these activities is reduced expenses. So basically ...

From salary-man to working-man So far I have had no success in securing a full-time job! Jobs are scarce and competition fierce for work I am qualified and capable in. Plus I am unable to muster up much motivation for the dreaded "networking"! As spring has arrived, gardens have started t...

Hey JL, thanks for the journal so far and congrats on the resignation! It’s helpful to see others on the semi-ERE path. My plan is pretty similar. It appears our interests are similar too: bike touring and surfing! If you’re ever looking for a spot to surf over the European winter, from my research ...

Hey mate, I can appreciate the point you made about not having many people to relate to regarding big life decisions. Lucky we have these forums, with so many people treading their own path, to inspire and motivate us! I’d say getting a trade would be a good investment. Once qualified you would have...

I thought I would provide a brief update: I didn’t manage to secure another job before my contract ran out at the end of June so for the past few weeks I have been unemployed! I’ve had a few good interviews but no luck sealing the deal at this stage. I have been finding about 5 suitable jobs each we...

Nice work man! Interesting to see how perspectives can change with just a few days on the other side.

Wishing you all the best in your future adventures. I look forward to seeing where they lead!

Well done on the "race"! 110 miles is a lot of distance to cover on foot in 2 days. Have you ever covered that sort of distance in that time before? I guess having almost 24 hours of light in the middle of summer would be handy! Nice work on the hunting success too! That's something that I...

With a frugal lifestyle, the worst-case scenario for ERE-failure is returning to a less than ideal job. A distasteful yet temporary situation that isn’t so bad in the scheme of human problems. Compare that to the risk of death before you had a chance to do what you really wanted to do in life becaus...

Sounds like you might have made up your mind but here’s my two cents: I would say you have reached the point of diminishing returns for this job. You have enough to live on for a very long time and can always earn some additional money in the future if required. I would quit and focus on seeking opp...

Biking So I’m back from my bike trip! It took me 14 days of riding to cover a total of 870km. The trip was a success and I had an awesome time. I enjoyed the simplicity of waking up to birdsong, eating breakfast with the sunrise, riding, eating, riding, eating, reading and sleeping. I also really e...

Time for an update! Work Work has been cruisy this year. I have taken several weeks of leave over the last few months and I’m currently one week in to a four-week break. I pretty much have the ideal balance with my work situation at the moment. Unfortunately my part-time contract is coming to an end...

I generally batch cook chilli con carne once a month and make around 20 servings of ~1000 calories each. It makes a good hearty meal. My basic recipie is to aim for a 1:1:1:1 ratio of beef mince, kidney beans, red lentils and brown rice. Plus tomatoes, spices, onions, garlic, butter and whatever oth...

I third C40 and thrifty++

You seem to be reaping the benefits of ERE from the get go. I hope to follow a similar path and it's helpful to read a real world example of someone who is living it. Thanks!

All looks like good advice so far. I'm half way through my twenties and pretty happy with how i've done. I would add try to avoid spending too much time fluffing around trying to find your dream job/career/life. For example. A suprising number of my peers have gone on to do second or even third degr...

General updates Work & the future I just came back to work after a few weeks off over Christmas. After 6 months of working part-time I have adapted to my new lifestyle and am dreaming about the next big change. I have another 6 months left on my part-time contract. In that time I need to either...

@OldPro - Over the short-medium term my goal starting sometime next year is to not work for a while, ride my bike across a few states/countries, surf and rockclimb. My goal over the long term is no more than “maintain flexibility to allow me to pursue whatever I may be interested in at the time”. My...

Thanks for the replies guys. I should have mentioned my figures were in AUD so $15-20k is more like $10-15k USD at the moment which might sound a bit more realistic. Also the minimum wage in Australia is AU$34k per year (AU$17k for 6 months) so a lot of the jobs mentioned would meet my requirements ...

I’ve been trying to think of short term jobs (3-6 months) that could easily be picked up each year in between 6-9 month periods of travel, adventure, hiking, bike touring etc. My target income each year would be around $15-20k to cover living/travelling expenses for the year plus a small contributio...

So I’ve been back from my Vipassana course for a few weeks now. The apprehension I had was mostly unwarranted and I really enjoyed the course. It was a good way to learn a meditation technique thoroughly and for many days afterwards I felt immune to any form of stress. The teacher recommends 2 hours...