Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Sorry to hear you had a rough week. Hang on in there. If it is something you can share, what is your PhD domain? And what was it that makes you think twice?


I'm in a subfield of business administration, which, at least the parts of which that were represented at the conference, falls into two ...

Well. The class and conference experience was ... an interesting experience. The teachers for the class didn't show up in the classroom, but we learned once we were there that they were teaching it online. Then I got sick and missed most of the conference. What I did see of it really makes me think ...

I have about one week of fairly hard work left. Then one week of going away for a class and a conference in which I don't have anything to present, nobody I need to impress. I'm going to focus on enjoying being in a new city, and on practicing small talk and networking.

Going to keep up the daily ...

What a lovely update. Yeah, two more people are safe for now and having moments of Joy: this is good.



I do keep revisiting my spreadsheets. Maybe still a little bit too often. Every time they confirm that I should be fine. And every time they also tell me that I should not chase money (anymore ...

In my head, that's the game. The customers are helping me win! My wiring doesn't separate between giver and receiver. We're all working towards the same goal. From what I understand, that's a good thing for treating the recipients well.



Hello! Really enjoyed reading these reflections on ...

I think you can be very pleased with how things went in November. Well done. Good luck with the hard work and I hope you enjoy the class and conference and the city in which it is held a lot.


Thanks! Yeah I'm really pleased and pleasantly surprised. Will make sure to enjoy the trip (while ...

November numbers are in!

Expenses by category (Avg last year / avg last quarter / November)

FIXED: 790 / 790 / 794

FLEXIBLE: 575 / 550 / 427 (goal: 425)
Food: 315 / 263 / 285
Transportation: 80 / 45 / 59
Tech & house stuff: 150 / 150 / 0
Medical: 30 / 12 / 69
Kid's allowance: Not recorded ...

This weekend, my daughter's favorite scrunchie (hair accessory) broke. Without thinking, I said, "I can fix it" and started sewing. I'm not new to mending clothes, but I typically wouldn't do it for something as simple as a scrunchie. What was new here was that I didn't make the choice to toss vs to ...

Yes, I've read them, thanks!

Hi! Newcomer here. Thanks for sharing your strategies for being creative and productive! This is something I'm thinking about for myself, so very interesting to learn your tricks.

Starting point of sorts.

I expect some major life changes after I defend my thesis in a couple years. After that, I will probably still have an income from work, but I have a couple different ideas that would take me in very different directions. I'm figuring out what's possible step by step. Until ...

Missed your reply, DutchGirl; thanks!

So far in November, I've had one emotionally scary thing happen with one of my kids, and one financially scary thing happen with one of my jobs. Both will probably turn out just fine. But the stress reactions were of the type that would cause me to get a lot of ...

I haven't commented before but I've been reading. So sorry this is happening. Hoping with you!

Hello ffj and thank you for your suggestion yeah, prepared 'luxuries' might be something to include in my efforts to prevent stress-induced impulse spending.

Major 'D'OH!' moment right now: I already know why I overspend on takeout; it's because I'm tired and stressed and want to comfort myself. In the post above, I asked myself for other possible ways to provide that pick-me-up. Sure. Fine. I already know some free ways of doing that - a nap, a few ...

Thank you! And yes, this is good advice. I'll be using it.

Hi! First post. SIngle mom, 40 years old, former education manager turned PhD student, raising a kid and a foster kid in Europe.

I'm someone who was always "good with money" and "interested in the environment", ie responsible but within the framework of consumerism. When I was married, I didn't ...