Early Retirement Extreme Forums

That's why they're the peanut gallery (for that episode, anyway) :D Glad you liked it! I wish I had given more time to writing the show notes and discussing the episode with Yuki and Yannis ahead of time, because I feel that ERE deserves much more elegant and cohesive explanation than I was able to ...

SHOW ME YA GAMES!

My goals for May center on improving my mindfulness, proactivity and focus . I aim to reduce my distractions and increase my purposeful actions. Within my various modules, I aim to direct those efforts towards concrete, achievable goals (learning a particular song, creating a simple website) instead ...

APRIL 2014 SUMMARY (4/9-4/30), dollar values calculated at $1 = ¥6 exchange rate

INCOME
Consulting: $187
Stipend: $150
Music: $132
Total: $469 [/color]
EXPENSES
Food/Drink: $249
Entertainment: $16
Transportation: $64
Health: $12
Skills/Production: $71
Total: $410 [/color]
SAVED: $59 ...

Spartan_Warrior wrote:@Takapunch: Based on your comment about voice acting combined with your avatar, I now assume you sound like Captain Falcon. And I totally want to hear Captain Falcon narrate the preview for this game. Make it happen, folks!

SHOW ME YA MOVES! YES!

Thanks to both of you.

My current plan is to try to launch the Kickstarter midway through next month. That should be enough time to finish the main creative work, figure out most hurdles, and put together a campaign. At least that's my hope.
Here's the advice. Friend 1 (kickstarted a large indie ...

It's a complicated situation - love (or potential love) isn't the only draw, I like the country and the people. It's also not as if the girl is demanding I move, but she's made clear that she wants to spend the next few years in Taiwan establishing a career, so it's more about having the ball in my ...

Excellent! I always love seeing long, introspective posts. It seems fairly clear based on your own reflections that you desire the adventure, challenge, self-cultivation and freedom that come from living abroad, and I agree with you whole-heartedly. As long as you keep an open mind about what shape ...

Here are the issues I'll be considering next. I'll figure them out on my own given time, but if anyone wants to volunteer their expertise, I'd be grateful.
1) Running a successful Kickstarter
2) Cheap hosting options
3) Good methods of selling things online (the only one I know is Plimus)

Now back ...

Buying a treadmill is clearly not as good of a financial decision as running outside ;) Do you live in an area where it's hard to run, due to weather or geography?
I don't run outside except for races, thus the need for a treadmill.
Any particular reason for that? Running outside is much better ...

I'd love to chat to your friend in Taiwan, that'd be great.

How are you going about learning Chinese? I've started learning to speak, which is quite fun, and I think I'll start using Mixxer to help me a bit more.
I asked him about linking up with you; PM me your email address so I can get you ...

I dunno, Spartan.... I like the idea of a game in which the obvious winning strategy is financial independence, because it might cause the players to wonder why they aren't making those choices in their real lives. The difficulty could come from choosing the best synergistic strategies, or tempting ...

No, not at all, more along the lines of speedy and effective English teaching. I've noticed that most English teachers - world over - seem to float by on luck and stubbornness. I think there are really efficient ways to teach people basic literacy and fluency, but I don't see them used often. There ...

Yeah, there's a really cool website - reachforteach which is basically about only finding good teachers and good schools in a limited number of locations. Taiwan is top of the list for lifestyle and language and conditions. I'll need a TEFL (annoying as I've got 3 years experience and a masters, oh ...

Wait, what? Should ERE be translated into Chinese? (I know it's an almost total failure in Japan)
I don't know; as a country that copied the Western Capitalist model to great economic (and disastrous environmental) effect, China is afflicted with a particularly nasty case of "consumption = success ...

Language is the most obvious skill that is much easier to learn abroad than at home, but there's also the chance to network, use hobbies (I play way more music overseas than I do here), etc, etc, etc.
Exactly. Consider it an extension of the lock-in: you live in a certain way at home, and have ...

You may have spent more money than you wish you had, but I'd hardly summarize an entire month worth of experience as "backward progress" based off a single dollar value. By your own admission, you completed some home repairs on your own in a frugal manner, read a difficult book, and gained some ...

Impressive journal to read so far!

I'm learning new information from your interpretations of the ERE goal setting technique.

Will be following and learning with great interest.
Thanks! I do find myself checking the forums too often, but it's better that my guilty social media pleasure is still ...

Welcome! I'm new myself. It's always good to hear something that challenges your assumptions, or at the very least requires you to actively support your arguments. No knife ever got sharp without a whetstone.

That said, I think a few of your assumptions regarding "the ERE mind," "retirement," and ...

moved this into its own post for easier editing

APRIL 2014 GOALS

Mindfully replace passive entertainment with purposeful reading or hobbies
Begin tracking my expenses and savings. 4/9 DONE! Built a spreadsheet to track expenses, income and savings across multiple sources, with monthly totals ...