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Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:25 pm
by Frugalchicos
After two days of feeling down, I decided this is the last time. I am also determined that I will give all I have to pursue the following:
- I will succeed no matter what. I will go back home in 2020 as planned. I will achieve this goal I set 2 years ago.
- I will be happy starting from today, no matter what. Nobody and nothing will disturb that feeling.
- I will succeed in being a businness owner back home.
- I will own my life.

Discipline, self training, developing habits, owning my dream, no excuses.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 6:33 am
by Jason
You are the captain of your own soul.

Now get back to work, you cheap fuckin bastard.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 9:25 am
by Frugalchicos
@Jason

You know it, but keeping a stiff upper lip.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:46 am
by wolf
Frugalchicos wrote:
Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:25 pm
- I will succeed no matter what. I will go back home in 2020 as planned. I will achieve this goal I set 2 years ago.
Discipline, self training, developing habits, owning my dream, no excuses.
Why do you feel concerns? What troubles you? You are on a pretty good path and journey to ERE and FIRE, IMO.
Which topics need your attention, regarding discipline, habits, excuses?
What is your milestone then in the Year 2019, when you want to fulfill your dream in 2020?

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:54 pm
by Frugalchicos
@MEDFIRE2024

My biggest concern/trouble is myself. I am my biggest problem. My challenge is keeping it optimistic and continue with energy during the journey. There is days I have some overwhelming homesick feelings that are hard to control. It makes me sad not being close to my aging parents (my father suffered a heart attack early this summer) and sometimes I wonder if all this is really worth it.
Explanation: I live and work in a place where I don't want to be or start my family. Nothing against the US or Chicago, I think they are wonderful places. Economy and job situation in Spain are not the best. Therefore, we want to set ourselves up to success while we have the means to do so.

Topics that need my attention: I need to be more stoic, be focus and resilient towards our goal. Not succumbing to the homesick feelings and quit in order to achieve immediate satisfaction. Be determined to be happy creating or continuing healthy habits such as making good friends, continuing going to the gym, learning new recipes, etc... Challenging myself with personal projects (will start French classes at the end of the month, want to be fluent again. Chica and I will do the ESL certification this winter)

2019 milestone: achieve FI with a NW of 350K (FI based on expense calculations we will have in The Basque Country, Spain). Having a baby by Spring - Summer.

2020 milestone: Achieve our financial goal of 450K-500K, sell the house in May, go back home.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 3:56 pm
by Jason
Sorry about your pops, Frugal. I know how that takes the wind out of one's sails. But it brings out reserves you might not have know you possessed. I'll pray for you and your family.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 4:26 pm
by Frugalchicos
@ Jason

Thanks buddy, my forum best friend :)

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 7:31 am
by Jason
Amen, brother. And when you land, I will say to the wife "Pack your bags and do not delay, for we are headed to the Basque county to eat pinxtos with my best friend Frugalchicos, his wife, his child and all his family."

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 8:59 am
by Frugalchicos
@Jason

Sounds like a deal, I mean it!

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 11:55 am
by Jason
One day you will be cooking in your restaurant and your beautiful wife will come back into the kitchen and say "Frugal, everyone is talking about this man walking around the Basque Country calling people douchebags" and you will say "Jason, my best friend has arrived."

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:03 pm
by Frugalchicos
:lol: I can totally see that...

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:44 am
by Frugalchicos
One more month, one more meeting that comes with a financial update. Here we go with our numbers for September:

SEPTEMBER INCOME – $8,412.74
Chico’s Salary – $4,000.35
Chica’s Salary – $3,437.39
Roommate Rent – $975

SEPTEMBER EXPENSES – $4,784.45

Mortgage: $1,978.60 (note: $1,130.35 went to principal, counting that as a savings)
HOA: $244.83
Car Insurance: $62.60
Gas (Car): $144.09
Groceries: $391.66
Cellphones: $21.74 (note: Chica’s work pays her cellphone bill, this is just Chico’s phone plan with Lycamobile)
Internet: $23.88 (had credit from previous month)
Gas (House): $51.82
Electricity: $31.02
Chica’s Gym: $39.99
Chico’s Gym: $10
Misc./Entertainment: $1,784.22 (note: Includes flights to Spain in January (only $533/ticket/person!), $120 Chico’s dental work, $100 Chica’s monthly train pass, meals and drinks out with friends, date nights, etc.)

This month, we saved 56.6% of our take home salary. Note: this doesn’t include any 401K contributions.

CURRENT ASSETS: $213,865.90 ($8,114.06 increase over last month!)
Cash savings: $3,250.50
Investments: $69,905.91
Chico’s Retirement: $7,193.57
Chica’s 401K: $39,238.46
Home Equity: $94,277.54

Pretty excited to say we beat our forecasted net worth for September by $1,175!!! (mostly due to stocks being super high and Chica's 401K increase).

I have to give some credit to C40, I used his graph. His journal is the one I found more inspirational and motivating. Thanks!

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Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 11:40 am
by Frugalchicos
September ended as a pretty good month. Some of our highlights were:

- We are on our path to achieve 230K by the end of the year.
- We reduced our miscellanious expenses to about $750. We are even including some dentist work, dermatologist and monthly train pass.
- We only went out once. All our dates have been at home. Perhaps after dinner we went for a walk and a coffee or a piece of cake.
- Chica became a master at making sushi.
- I am getting pretty good at making homemade pizzas. I won't buy Aldi's dough ever again, mine is much better.
- We fixed the dryer. It was making a lot of noise every time we used it. We dismantled it, lubricated and cleaned everything and put back together. So far so good.
- Doing great in fitness and eating. Chica lost 5 lbs, I am doing yoga twice everyday since I am recovering from a back injury . Nothing serious, I just need to rest for a couple of weeks.
- We set up a plan for our next roommate starting January 2018. Will post and add on Craigslist mid next month. Same price, $975/month everything included.
- We agreed in writing down a plan for an economy downturn event and stick to it.
- I started French classes through Italki. Want to become fluent again.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 11:21 am
by Frugalchicos
Financial update for October:

OCTOBER INCOME – $8,411.34
Chico’s Salary – $4,000.35
Chica’s Salary – $3,436
Roommate Rent – $975

OCTOBER EXPENSES – $3,874.71 ($2,739.1 subtracting principal payment, counting that as savings)

Mortgage: $1,978.60 (note: $1,135.61 went to principal, counting that as a savings)
HOA: $244.83
Car Insurance: $62.60
Gas (Car): $160
Groceries: $413.36
Cellphones: $21.74 (note: Chica’s work pays her cellphone bill, this is just Chico’s phone plan with Lycamobile)
Internet: $48.88 (had credit from previous month)
Gas (House): $55.22
Electricity: $37.1
Chica’s Gym: $39.99
Chico’s Gym: $10
Misc./Entertainment: $802.39

This month, we saved 67.43% of our take home salary. Note: this doesn’t include any 401K contributions or retirement plans.

CURRENT ASSETS: $222,632.2 ($8,766.3 increase over last month!)
Cash savings: $7,760.81
Investments: $71,739.75
Chico’s Retirement: $7,488.49
Chica’s 401K: $40230.08
Home Equity: $95,413.07 (not counting appreciation)

Achievements / Goals:
- We are building up a cash emergency fund of 10K as part of our economic downturn plan. We will get the 10K by mid November
- We are taking care of our fitness and diet. We both lost some body fat and working on strength.
- No more French lessons. No need to spend or keep myself busy just because.
- We are already looking for our next roommate starting on 1/1/18. Rent will be $975 utilities included.
- Set a goal of keeping miscellaneous at $750.
- Chica is interviewing for a pretty highly paid job. Getting it will mean a great opportunity to save much more money than what we currently do. Let's cross fingers and hope for the best!
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Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 4:00 pm
by Jason
Good luck Chica.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:14 pm
by Frugalchicos
Here we go with a Financial update for the month of November:

NOVEMBER INCOME – $8,407.91
Chico’s Salary – $3,998.91
Chica’s Salary – $3,434
Roommate Rent – $975

NOVEMBER EXPENSES – $4,104.93 ($2,739.1 if subtracting principal payment, counting that as savings)
Mortgage: $1,978.60 (note: $1,135.61 went to principal, counting that as a savings)
HOA: $244.83
Car Insurance: $62.60
Gas (Car): $54.73
Groceries: $323.57
Cellphones: $21.74 (note: Chica’s work pays her cellphone bill, this is just Chico’s phone plan with Lycamobile)
Internet: $48.88 (had credit from previous month)
Gas (House): $67.46
Electricity: $40.88
Chica’s Gym: $39.99
Chico’s Gym: $108.98 (joined a new gym, much closer to work and access to another one close to home. I want to work out during the weekends in winter in order to stay fit and active)
Misc./Entertainment: $1,112.64 ( Counting expenses for a trip to DC and some Christmas gifts)

This month, we saved 64.67% of our take home salary. Note: this doesn’t include any 401K contributions or retirement plans.

CURRENT ASSETS: $230,439.22 ($7,807.02 increase over last month!)
Cash savings: $9,509.47
Investments: $75,130.88
Chico’s Retirement: $7,784.10
Chica’s 401K: $41,463.57
Home Equity: $96,551.2 (not counting appreciation)

Achievements / Goals:
- Pretty much got to save the emergency fund of 10K.
- We already achieved the financial goal for 2017!! we set it at a NW of 230K.
- Chica got a raise of 6%. We are still waiting to hear back from the other interviews she did. Cross fingers
- We have some interviews lined up for our next roommate. Planning in charging $850/month
- Set a goal of keeping miscellaneous at $750. (again.... :oops: )
- One goal I personally need to work on: make more good friends, get to know people more in line with my thinking. I have been spending less time with people who were just "people to kill time". This could be a great goal for 2018.

Feel quite excited about how 2017 went. We feel proud to look back and see the progress in our NW, we are pretty much on track to achieve our goal of saying good bye with 500K and head to Spain. :D
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Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:29 pm
by Frugalchicos
And thanks Jason for the wishes! I hope she gets the job because I really want to go to the Italian restaurant down the street to celebrate it!

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 11:22 pm
by halfmoon
Chica and chico, you are unbeatable because you're a team. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I can't emphasize enough the power of two people aligned toward the same goal; it's your greatest strength.

Now...I get your yearning to be close to family when your father is ill. This is very hard to quantify. There's also the lack of emotional connection with your current home in the US. Have you talked seriously with each other about this? Does the financial advantage outweigh the family support system when you have a baby? Does your wife feel the same lack of connection? Where is her family? How much financial advantage can be gained by having extended family nearby to help with child(ren) and combine entrepreneurial effort?

Just thoughts; I have no concrete experience to offer.

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:11 am
by Frugalchicos
@halfmoon

Hello, chica answering herself:

Thanks for your kind words, halfmoon. This partnership and teamwork has come a long way - we weren’t always on the same page financially but we have worked hard to get here, so appreciate your support :) Now about moving — my family is spread out across the country. My parents are in Boston and my siblings are in DC, Kansas City and Chicago so there isn’t really one centralized place. I wouldn’t say I feel the same lack of connection as Chico because this is my country but I understand where he’s coming from. Especially living in a big city where we barely know our neighbors and our community is quite small.

I am very excited to move our family to Spain in the next 2 years. The lifestyle we will have far exceeds what is possible in the US, it’s just baked into the culture. The beauty about pursuing FI is that we will be set up with flexibility and freedom to come back and visit my family whenever we want. We need these next two years to reach our goal and then we can move on to the next chapter of our life.

Cheers!

Re: Let's go Back Home - Frugal chicos journal

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 12:36 pm
by Jason
Hi Chica-

It’s a pleasure to meet you. Your husband is my favorite guy here. His zest for this life, although kind of naive, is like a cool drink of mountain water. Well, maybe that’s a little extreme, but it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Now all this discussion concerning team work is heart melting and maybe at some point we can all hold hands and dance around the fire, but while you’ve been out doing whatever you do, Chico has unilaterally invited me to visit you once you Basque your way out of Chicago, so once you get there I suggest you prepare a fresh platter of pinxtos and have the number of a good bi-lingual criminal attorney on hand as you anticipate my arrival.

And as someone who recently lost his father, you cannot overestimate the peace resulting from knowing you were there as much as you could be.

Happy Holidays to the Frugalchicanos (if that is an inappropriate expression I half heartedly apologize in advance).