ProfileThere are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size. - Charlie Kaufman
*Mid-20's, environmental engineer, job hopper,
*FI+: simple lifestyle; no attachments, no knives on my throat, hooked on slow travel = sufficient time to absorb local language, culture & cooking skills. I lived in Peru, Congo-Brazza, Crimea & China. Currently calming down & enjoying home base too.
*FI-: I'd love to "have" (breed? a football team of kids one day (*); I don't feel like retiring after 5-10 years building up a 9-5 (or 6-11) career. Another path for me.
*Random: I believe in immortality. Not the wuhu kind, but eternal life that will be proven by science one day.
*Love: grandma-dishes, Chinese smelly street dishes and almost any other foreign dish; absolutely hating to get up early but losing that feeling walking in the peep of the day, hearing birds tjirping and watching the sky glow; the smell of nature; a good homemade beer/cider on a nice terrace or mountain hill when the sun goes down after enjoying an intensive day; big families with many children; the outdoors; Latino events; self study; cheese croquettes; running/biking solely in rain/snow; folding clothes while telling mom I ironed everything ... she never noticed ...
*Hate: having too many ideas (not this mere fact), which makes my head explode and me insecure of what I really should be doing right now
*Fears: time passing by too quickly because I'm living in my head, producing ideas, but forget on executing them; stagnating emotionally & mentally
*Mission: live as autonomous as possible, sharing experiences with whomever crosses my road
(*) I'm slowly working through the whys of the kids-desire. I'll manage without kids. I have enough siblings to borrow some from The main reasons for my wants are;
*I like to work with youngsters
*I admit it: as an ENFP it's very entertaining for me to have a big family.
*It's an absolute pleasure to see those little carrots & pees grow up into unique creatures, each with their own character and emo/intel. backpack. I adore seeing my brothers and sisters grow up and find their way in life. I prosper when coaching them, taking them on adventures, and just being naughty playful children.
*I'm idealizing a big family. We had our fair share of issues to work through.
I want to have a sip of parenthood. Obviously I can fulfill my desires in an alternative way. The main theme is people, people, people. I can ramp up my contact with youngsters & see where it leads me. E.g. I will apply for short term fostering when I have a stable homebase.
Financial start
*Spending = <6000E/year. Some years it's much less. I will start tracking so I can analyze patterns. Big expenditures are often airline tickets. The cost levels out as I stay for 6 months minimum in a 2nd-3rd world country. I have been slow traveling a lot throughout my school years. Each time I returned home for exams. I graduated this year.
*Savings = 7000E build up through student jobs
*Shares = 700E. I honestly know nothing about it. They are stock certificates from Triodos bank. Each year I choose for a stock dividend.
*Debt =0E
*Challenge/opportunity: I work when needed. This is actually a bit of a trap as I need almost nothing to live of. It makes me lazy in earning money. If I need food, I can do some chores somewhere and they'll more than not offer me a meal. I need to build up a bigger nest egg and achieve ERE in the long run. Putting money aside for potential kids, projects, ...
*Income streams: very unstable, no fixed job.
(1) Trading 4days/month webmaster "skills" for a simple small room & shared kitchen/bathroom. This was my first proper project I was sticking to long term, for which I'm proud. There is potential for expansion, but the topic is not a passion of mine & I'm not IT gifted. I just learned the stuff I needed along the way.
(2) I can work 1day/week cleaning houses for a low pay, choosing my hours. I don't always do it. It depends on how I'm spending my time. I like the work when it is limited to a couple of days a month. It's sort of a workout. I put some language lessons on and there I go for the day;
(3) I do random jobs for my surroundings (gardening, kids entertainment, delivery driver, warehouse loader, moving partner, private chauffeur, ...)
(4) Some tutoring now and then. I enjoy doing it, but I haven't been putting an effort into building a "fanbase", mainly because I'm traveling a lot. I want to set up a collaboration with schools in my neighborhood.
(5) Babysitting
(6) ...
(?) I'm creating a niche site about a passion of mine. I plan on making it an income stream, although this might still take a year or two. My main goal is to learn to stick through a project and to do something consistently for about 5 years.
Financial goals part I
- I've made the deal with myself to not touch my savings. From now on if I want to do something, I'll save up the money first. So I act like I have 0E in my account. I'm leaving for China from April on and I'll go skiing in February. I need to save up about 3500E. I will be doing some private tutoring in China, which can also pay for daily life.
- I can see myself giving moneygoals each year. Like "save 6000 euro for year 2014, doesn't matter in what way". For my food etc the challenge is not to touch any savings and be creative.
Action list for 12/2013
*Start the cleaning job one day a week, combined with learning Chinese
*Try to pump up the webmaster project to about 8days/month
*Look for interimjobs for over the holidays. They earn good money.
*Keep writing weekly for my nichewebsite
*Eat up all my foodstock