Hello from a young (23) ERE-er!

[RFS]

Hello all!

I'm 23, and I discovered FI a few days before graduating college (May 2016). I'm from a frugal-by-mainstream-America-standards family. My parents max out their non-taxable accounts, and my Dad drives a car from 1991 and only wears overalls with holes. One of my earliest childhood memories consists of asking my Dad "What are we doing here?" inside a Toyota dealership, where we were purchasing a minivan that was a few years old. He looked deeply into my eyes and said, with full seriousness, "We're about to get screwed." Child me screamed "I DON'T WANNA GET SCREWED!!!!!!" so loud that it echoed off the debt palace walls.

Still, I engaged in the typical behavior that enslaves humans under the guise of happiness. I chose to attend a public, in-state school because the state heavily subsidizes our tuition, and I borrowed over $20k for the portion not covered. How ridiculous is that? Such borrowing should be absolutely shunned by all of humanity. Even worse, I did not attempt to pay off my debt in school despite working part-time all 4 years. The money was spent on food, books that can be easily retrieved at the library, clothes, and other unneeded trinkets. By the time I graduated, interest had added another $2,000 to the loan, totaling $24k.

I was on-track to graduate from college debt slave to adult debt slave. My parents encouraged me not to worry too much about the 6% interest loan, because "you'll be in debt for most of your life." I got a sales job in the major city nearby, and I was ready to piss away my life at an office with a 20% savings rate.

One life-changing day, I was joking with a friend about a mutual acquaintance that went into debt for a brand new Mercedes Benz. He called it a "debtmobile," which I thought was hilarious! The conversation ended with "have you ever read Mr. Money Mustache? You'd probably be into it." I read the post "Luxury is a Weakness," and holy shit was I hooked. It was as if an angel had descended from the iron gates of Mustachian heaven that she welded herself, grabbed my shirt collar, and shouted "HEY DUMBASS: YOUR BEHAVIOR IS METAPHORICALLY SPREADING YOUR BUTTCHEEKS FOR CONSUMERISM TO VIOLENTLY SCREW YOU FOREVER! WITH NO LUBRICATION OR RESPITE. THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE."

A few months ago, I discovered ERE. It was love at first sight. Years of Corbett Report videos and the article "I want the world, plus 5%" had already primed me for the Jacob atomic truth bombs about disconnecting from the money economy itself, rather than just becoming FI through dependence upon the money economy.

Since graduating (1.5 years ago), I have:
- Paid off all debt
- Switched occupations from sales to teaching (quality of life has gone up tremendously.)
- Lowered my car commute from 1.5 hours each way to 20 minutes each way (I know, this is horrible.)

That car statistic is awful and deserves ridicule, but let me explain: I made around $30k/yr after-tax in my previous and current job. I did not know about house-hacking until recently, so I decided to live at home to pay off debt rapidly. We're about 90 minutes from the major metropolitan area nearby. Since I got a better (less stressful, slightly more pay) job at a nearby school, my commute is only 20 minutes each way. I started in a paid-for 2007 Toyota Corolla, but it was totaled in an accident. I took the insurance payout and combined it with my savings to purchase a 2014 Toyota Corolla.

Dumb, I know, but I plan to live at home until I acquire my teaching license (my degree isn't in teaching, so I have to go through a certification program that will take 1-2 years.) When I move somewhere with good urban fabric/no need for a car, it's getting sold immediately.

I had to fork over some money for that purchase, and $3k for dental surgery, but now I am totally in the clear. My net worth is just over $0, but when I get paid at the end of this month, I'll actually be able to keep it! It's the greatest feeling ever. Here's the journal that details goals for the future. Super excited to banter with all of you!

[Did]

Keeping writing. Welcome.

[conwy]

Excellent work paying down the debt. Keep going! Onwards and upwards.

[TheWanderingScholar]

From someone else who is young-er (22 yrs old), however has been slowly adjusting to this group since I was younger (15), welcome!
Don't worry about the car right now. As said before, it is a tool to get where you need to go.

However you are doing well so best of luck.

[RFS]

@ffj - Thank you for the insightful reply and encouragement. You're right, it is indeed a helpful tool at the moment.

@did & @conwy - Thank you for writing! I appreciate the encouragement.

@TheWanderingScholar - Thank you for the luck! It is seriously incredible that you discovered ERE at 15. I just read your introduction thread- how exactly did you come across this information? I didn't even synthesize full sentence thoughts at that age.

[TopHatFox]

I look forward to comparing strategies, also 23. I see you didn't like sales. Meeeee neeither. What teaching gig did you find, and what's the certification? I disagree on the car. It adds thousands per year up front, over time, and to your FI #. E-bike + public transit gets you most of the way there, especially if you have a 9-5 at one locale. Living within walking distance of your job or at a center for public transport is ideal.

[TheWanderingScholar]

@RFS:
Long story short. I was scared shitless by student loans growing up, and it was during the time of the Great Recession. So I started looking around at different financial bloggers, which somehow leads to me bumping to Jacob's blog.

The funny thing about it, this was the time I was experimetning with "spirituality" reading the Tao Tei Ching and other Eastern religious text.

Combine that with me being the more frugal of the two brothers leads to me being more personally accommodating towards the FIRE path.

[RFS]

@TopHatFox - Hell yeah! I'm pumped to compare all the strategies. I agree with you on the car- it's a short-term tool right now that allows me to live with my family. Logistically, though, you could justify it byrenting your car out to eliminate costs completely, or even turn it into an income-producing asset. If you made it work, you could earn a best-of-both-worlds scenario.

I constantly dream about just how low personal expenses could get if you business-ized a lot of expense categories. For example, let's say you live in a small multi-family property and rent the other units. Housing costs are eliminated. You develop an intense garden on the property as well, and you sell extra food to cover your costs. You buy some bicycles and rent them out on Spinlister. Just how low could it get?!

Sales, man. Did you do inside sales too? Cold-calling people all day long? What a challenging occupation. I didn't hate it and despise every moment at the office, but I did feel that it grated against my personality in an unhealthy way. There were too many American Psycho moments.

As for the teaching, my state, like several, has a teacher shortage. Most grant you a non-renewable teaching license if you pass the state test in your subject area. Then you can start applying to schools for full-time positions. If you get hired and do well for 1-3 years, they'll give you a certification that automatically renews each year. It's that simple.

@TheWanderingScholar - that is seriously bad-ass. Nothing quite like the world economy almost collapsing to make you question a fraudulent system. What weaned you off "spirituality" and the Eastern religious texts (If you did)? I'm curious.

[TheWanderingScholar]

@TheWanderingScholar - that is seriously bad-ass. Nothing quite like the world economy almost collapsing to make you question a fraudulent system. What weaned you off "spirituality" and the Eastern religious texts (If you did)? I'm curious.

Absurdism and writings of Albert Camus.

I mean I stil use the Tao Te Ching alongside Stoicism as approaches to life, but as for believing the religious stuff and medicinal things? Yeah, not really my gig.