Natris - The Disabled Millionaire

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Natris
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:01 pm

Natris - The Disabled Millionaire

Post by Natris »

Hi all,

I've been here lurking for a very long time, having read (and re-read) through the blog and book 7 or 8 years ago. I decided it's finally time I start posting too. I'm still working, though I could ERE if I wanted to shift things around. I've currently got a 67% savings rate and if I retired today, I'd have a 4.5% SWR. Because there's some slack in my budget I could probably pull off retiring today by cutting spending 10-20% during downturns.

One thing that makes my situation unique is that I'm physically disabled. That aside I feel very privileged. I took a liking to programming when my age was still in the single digits and worked pretty hard in my 20's to spin that into a pretty lucrative career. That was great and has allowed me to very independent. But, it also has led me to just throw money at challenges in my life. Even though I have enough to retire, I find the renaissance person very appealing. Hopefully, through participating here I can drive my skills up more and as a nice side effect drive spending down.

Some skills or activities are harder for me due to my cerebral palsy:
  • Anything involving fine motor movement. For instance, yesterday I spent 3 hours trying to sew a patch on my jeans before I gave up. However, disability is all about adaptation so I ended up using some fabric glue instead and so far as I can tell that's going to work just as well
  • Things involving balancing or standing for long periods of time are hard. I think the main thing this (along with the above) has made challenging is being handy around the house. Anything involving heavy lifting or ladders is right out, which covers a surprising amount of such very useful skills.
  • Transportation - Although a "disadvantage", I think this one ended up being a benefit. Largely due to my disability I never learned to drive. Now, I think I probably could with hand controls but I haven't bothered because it's saved me so much money over the years. I'm used to walking (really using a manual wheelchair for long distances) or using public transportation everywhere which I think has helped my health as well as my pocketbook.
I bring up my limitations not to complain and it's actually a bit awkward for me to talk about them. If you met me in real life, I probably wouldn't talk about them at all unless I needed help up a curb or something or you asked. But it's also the one excuse I've frequently used that keeps my non-technical skills low. And a thing any disabled person will tell you is with a little creative thinking and adaptation we can do most anything anyone can. So as I post here, and maybe start a journal, hopefully I'll be able to share my journey on road of the extreme part of ERE.

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Alphaville
Posts: 3611
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2019 10:50 am
Location: Quarantined

Re: Natris - The Disabled Millionaire

Post by Alphaville »

brilliant, thanks for sharing. we were having a discussion about this just the other day, under one of the inflation threads.

this is interesting for me because it tests the possibilities of diy/postconsumer lifestyles with additional hurdles. i love the idea of adaptation + fabric glue, and seeing how else you adapt/what tools are crucial.

me i have some adhd which provokes anaphylactic reactions when faced with tedium :D but seriously, i've had coaching for it, and i use a number if strategies to cope & remember stuff.

nobody can do everything, and we all change in capabilities as we age, so it would be interesting to see what/where you choose to throw money at or trade, and how you adapt in different areas where diy is difficult.

(me, i'll solve problems creatively for someone in exchange for them filling forms for me)

again, thanks!

white belt
Posts: 1452
Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 12:15 am

Re: Natris - The Disabled Millionaire

Post by white belt »

Welcome! It sounds like you will bring some different perspective to the forum. I think it would be cool for you to start a journal so we can all better follow your journey.

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