WorldIsNuts Journal

[WorldIsNuts]

Evening all,

Newly converted checking in I hope everyone is well?

I'm only part-way through Jacob's book (OK, Chapter 2!), but I wanted to take the opportunity to jot down my thoughts early. For both me and my partner, this way of life feels like a fitting next step on our journey so far.

6 or so years ago we watched a documentary and became vegan overnight - surviving on mostly dry toast for the first few days as we found our feet Since then, social movements around reducing waste, minimalism, and being mindful of our overall environmental impact have compounded and left us quite comfortable with living with less.

The 'FIRE' idea had cropped up occasionally but, without even reading in to it, I'd mostly dismissed it for us as only possible if you are earning a great whack. Which, while we earn a bit more than some, is also less than a lot of others. Until something clicked in the past couple of weeks and I hastily ordered the ERE book.

We're a young (ish) couple from Hertfordshire in the UK, increasingly sick of modern consumerism and the mountains of utter tripe being shifted around clogging up living rooms, lives and landfills. Over the years we've built up around £8-10K of credit card debt which, while it's all on 0%, it's time to be rid of. Once we are, I'm confident ERE and FIRE in general will be our guiding light.

It seems obvious to me that this way of life is far more indicative of freedom than climbing the phantom ladder and hoping to cobble enough together to stop it all and wait to die at 70.

The other journals and posts here are very inspiring and informative, and I'm really glad to join and be a part of it with you all. Though our pot starts at -£8,000, I'm looking forward to the journey and seeing yours.

Nice to meet you all,
Matt

[AxelHeyst]

Welcome Matt! Looking forward to watching your journey unfold.

[Sabaka]

Another welcome!

You're joining a growing contingent of U.K based FIRERS. Look forward to following your journal

[Lemur]

Subscribed....I am interested in tracking your growth from debt to enough assets to pay for your living. Keep us updated.

[WorldIsNuts]

Thank you very much AxelHeyst, Sabaka and Lemur. Very kind of you all

I'm up to Chapter 4 now, I'm engrossed. Soon to be Mrs WorldIsNuts is reading when I'm not, so we're taking it in shifts and hurriedly swapping thoughts after

Two initial, internal, changes are

1) the realisation that building a pot of £300k or so makes £8k of debt feel incredibly easy to clear
2) the thought that an escape from a lifestyle we've never been happy with (work->spend->work->spend) is absolutely doable

I'd add a third realisation - that the 'Renaissance Man', skill-building half of Jacob's person theory is as exciting and fundamental as the minimal spending focus. It's an approach I'd never considered before when dreaming of financial independence. Building a bank of skills must unlock the power of limited spending, give confidence and hobbies... a much more positive view of frugality than usual!

Thank you again for the welcome, it's great to meet you all!

[wolf]

Welcome Matt! Looking forward to read your thoughts about the "Renaissance Man" maybe.
Have you had already a look into the 21 day makeover? It's well worth it, too besides the book.

[MidsizeLebowski]

Welcome Matt! DW and I started in a similar place to you and your partner and in just over a year have seen ERE change our lives immensely, cheers and looking forward to seeing your path.

[WorldIsNuts]

Thank you wolf and MidsizeLebowski! Thanks for the nod towards the 21 day makeover, I'm taking a look now.

It's been a busy and tiring week so I'm looking forward to catching up with the book this weekend. DW-to-be is fully bought in and has put all our worldly goods on eBay during the past few days, so a good pot there to hopefully kick things off!

I've taken a look at the total debt that needs wiping before the FIRE pot begins. It's a big thing for me to share this publicly, but here goes...

HSBC 2280
MBNA 2594
HALIFAX 2182
BARCLAYCARD 1162
AMEX CC 1300
NATWEST LOAN 3300

Total 12818

The loan cannot be repaid early, so that's a fixed outgoing of £191 per month. The first 4 cards are at 0% until next year at the earliest, so I have some headroom to make progress on them. My calculations tell me if we pay £650-700 per month towards them all they will clear in roughly 12-14 months.

More for my own records than for anyone's expected interest, I'm expecting at least £2000 extra to come in during February (proceeds from an inheritance) and so will clear the last 2 cards in one go, to focus on the others throughout the year. Stretch-goal is clear them all in 2020, and use the same monthly amounts (or more) towards the FIRE pot.

Next order of business is to forensically look through spending patterns, monthly regular payments etc. and see what is going, and what can be gotten cheaper. The only thing not up for discussion is our ISP, I cannot risk this great connection

Thank you to anyone reading, I know it isn't the most exciting journey right now Appreciated!

[WorldIsNuts]

Hello everyone!

I hope we're all keeping well and nicely stocked of toilet paper (or make your own...!).

It's been a while since I've updated this journal, a month and a half or so. It's been a fantastic ride.

We have paid £1300 towards the debts so far, which will be more like £1600 by the end of the month. I'm still waiting on the inheritance to come through, so we're really, really pleased with ourselves.

I finished Jacob's book, and our mindset has switched completely. We're spending less than £100 on food a month, and have totally felt turned off by the thought of unnecessary spending. I couldn't be happier!

It's looking likely that we'll be debt-free and contributing to our investment account instead by the end of the year, which is exciting.

How is everyone doing?

Matt