Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Frugalchicos wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:31 am

- Found out we are having a mini chica

Whaaat?! You hide this in a sidenote?! Congrats!!

@Classical Liberal



Thank you so much!!
Nooo, you must have missed it! I believe I mentioned it in a previous post.

We are very happy, Chica is due on 7/22! Can't wait!!

Very important update:

Chica had her annual review and got a $10K raise (new salary will be $105K)...and her company will allow her to work remotely from The Basque Country!!

Very proud of her. I think it is impressive how Chica managed to get a crazy promotion last year with over a 30% raise and now an extra $10K. Chica being able to keep her job and work remotely in Spain with that salary is a game changer for us. I feel we will be able to achieve RE in less than 3 years with the low cost of living in Spain.

I hope to be able to find a job quickly and live off my salary and save all Chica's salary. We are very happy that things are actually falling in place just as we wanted them to happen.

Congrats on the raise despite moving to working remotely, that's definitely a nice unexpected surprise. That'll definitely help reduce the worries of moving to a new place and having to adjust.

Man, how about you leave some good news for the rest of us.

What wonderful news! Congratulations. You have show what two people can accomplish when they are working in the same direction. Leading by example. Nice work.

@Prognastat
Thanks man! Definitely will make life easier. It is funny that she will be the one moving to my hometown with a more settle future

@Jason
I know right!! Oh wait!! I have more news, I found on the street a microwave and a pair of rain boots. I will sell the boots on ebay for $10 (Brand new were like $50-$70) and the microwave on craigslist for $20

@Ego
Thank you so much, that was a very nice note

Photo below of the treasures I found right out of the garbage container:

Now you're just being an asshole. But that being said, you should probably buy some lottery tickets with the $30.

You're basically a 1%er in rural Spain, now you can throw parties with hookers and blow......and you wouldn't even need to win the lottery!

JK, congratulations! That's insanely awesome.

Huzzah! **pumps fist once**

That's all there is to say about that.

Thank you all!!

Even though things are going great, I feel I am very stressed and showing mental fatigue for all these unwanted overstayed years. I find myself having arguments with Chica and being quite snappy. I think I need to do like a detox, e.g Camino de Santiago or something like that. I need to recover myself and take that positive, happy Chico back. I hate this half bitter and naggy motherfucker...

Time for an aupdate!

April brought great news. Chica got an 11% RAISE, bringing her salary to $105K – officially in the six figures! We also got official word that she will be able to keep her job when we move to Spain. This is a game changer for us. It will definitely help us be on track for a full early retirement.

Little Chica continues to grow and grow. She is now the size of an acorn squash? She kicks and punches all day long. We had our baby shower this past weekend – it was very fun and we got plenty of stuff we needed. Only 11 more weeks to go until we get to meet her!

I continue to rock it at the gym – my half marathon training is going great and I am also getting stronger and stronger. Since I don't care at work anymore, I am also working on growing out my hair and beard (let's see how this goes) - My goal is to look a little bit like Sebastien Chabal (If you don't know him, I recommend googling him)

Ok, now the numbers…

APRIL INCOME – $10,306.45
Chico’s Salary – $4,333.73
Chica’s Salary – $5,764.65
eBay Sales – $49 - I sold the rain boots I found in the garbage for $10
Chica’s Dance Teacher Salary — $159.07

APRIL EXPENSES – $3,776.68
Rent: $1,400 (includes $1,250 for rent + $150 for parking)
Car Insurance: $62.17
Gas (Car): $112.35
Groceries: $466.50
Cellphones: $21.74 (note: Chica’s work pays her cellphone bill, this is just Chico’s phone plan with Lycamobile)
Internet: $59.23
Electricity: $18.53
Chica’s Gym: $39.99
Chico’s Gym: $29.99
Misc./Entertainment: $1,566.18 (includes $495 in medical bills, car registration ($100), haircuts, maternity clothes, bday/baby shower host gifts, dinners & activities out, etc.)

We saved 63% of our take home salary. This doesn’t include any 401K contributions or retirement plans.

CURRENT ASSETS: $384,982 ($11,990 increase over last month)
Cash savings: $132,933
Investments: $182,252
Chico’s Retirement: $12,594
Chica’s 401K: $57,203

Achievements from April:
- Chica got an amazing raise and it is official she will be able to work remotely. They just need to figure out the logistics.
- We made it through another fucking cold and snowy month. This reminds me how much he hate this city
- My training is going great and I feel quite strong. I am lifting more weight than ever and I am able to run 6 miles non stop in 54 minutes.
- If we subtract medical bills and stuff for the baby, our miscellanious is roughly $1,000. We want to stay below that number
- I did some garbage diving (not really, stuff was just sitting outside), and found stuff I needed, like a microwave, a backpack and a carry on luggage
- Restored a pair Bose headphones and a Macbook Air for a friend.

Goals:
- Keep training hard. Run 8 miles non stop in less than 1 hour and 20mns
- Keep miscellanious below $1,000
- Not buying any clothes or stuff at all.

Great everything´s going well with the familiy, money and work outs! 11 weeks till your baby arrives?? Wow time does fly by!

Time for our monthly update:

It’s finally warming up here in Chicago, some days anyway! Our little Chica continues to grow – just 6.5 short weeks until her arrival! We are trying to be patient, counting down the days until we meet our daughter and make the big move to Bilbao.

Now, I will be very honest with ourselves in the next lines:

Over the last few months we’ve gotten pretty lax with our spending. Our miscellaneous continues to be nearly $1K each month and we don’t have much to show for it. I just think it is unaceptable. We are reeling things back in. We are setting a $250 budget for the full month for miscellaneous – this includes going out with friends, clothing purchases, whatever. We’re going to withdraw $250 and when that cash is gone, we will have to wait until the next month to replenish it (just like fucking kids).
We are also going to go back to Aldi — we started going to Trader Joe’s and Walmart since we moved to a new neighborhood and our grocery bill has been $100+ more each month since then.
And lastly, we are going to seek out the free things around the city more often – music performances, walks, beach, bbq at the park, reading books under the sun, etc.

In addition to reeling things in financially, we are also going to limit our cell phone usage as training for when the little Chica comes. We waste a lot of time looking at BS online and we don’t want our daughter to pick up that bad habit. So when we are home, phones are put away.

I also let myself be a slacker and bought a couple of nice fleeces ($100 total) when I fell fed up with everything. I guess looking for comfort in some way...I will stop using eBay, unless it is for selling shit (we currently have 25 items on sale).

And now los numeros…

MAY INCOME – $10,463.99
Chico’s Salary – $4,333.81
Chica’s Salary – $5,764.63
eBay Sales – $136.84 - sold some clothes and electronics
Craigslist — $140 - sold both bikes
Chica’s Dance Teacher Salary (LAST MONTH!) — $89.15

MAY EXPENSES – $3,401.24
Rent: $1,400 (includes $1,250 for rent + $150 for parking)
Car Insurance: $62.17
Gas (Car): $192.80
Groceries: $575.40
Cellphones: $21.74 (note: Chica’s work pays her cellphone bill, this is just Chico’s phone plan with Lycamobile)
Internet: $59.23
Electricity: $24.33
Chica’s Gym: $39.99
Chico’s Gym: $29.99
Misc./Entertainment: $995.59 (includes dinners & activities out, clothing for Chica and Chico, etc.)

I knew owning a car was expensive, but this month alone the expense of it was about $400. Can’t wait to get rid of that shit. I actually have a potential buyer already.

We saved 67.5% of our take home salary. This doesn’t include any 401K contributions or retirement plans.

CURRENT ASSETS: $382,786 ($2,196 decrease over last month – waaah!)
Cash savings: $140,604
Investments: $174,853.61
Chico’s Retirement: $12,895
Chica’s 401K: $54,433.69

Other notes for this month:

- I am able to run 7 miles in one hour easily
- I gained some muscle and strength. Current weight 173lbs
- I refurbished a set of Bose Sounddock Series 1. Total expense $9.
- I officially gave my current job the award of most boring and soul/mind sucking job I ever had. 23 days until I quit
- I promised to myself I will never stay at a job like this for so long. Regardless of the pay/title. Fuck it

I think I just figured out the date of my last working day. It will be August 16 (or august 9?? ) .

I will give my notice on June 25. I am giving my boss a month and a half notice because it is a small business and I would like to leave in good terms allowing them enough time to find somebody else (I know he won't be able to do it because he is an incompetent and has 0 connections). I also think time will fly with the baby and my parents here.

The day I give the notice, I will ask for the week of vacation that I have got to accrue for when the baby is born. If my boss doesn't approve it, that very same day will be my last day .

Love the exit strategy!

Good job! Seems like we will have a wave of forumites graduating ere this summer.

And + 1 on exit strategy. This is what the stash is for.

@2B1S & Bankai

Thanks guys

Still deciding between the 9th or the 16th...

I guess the extra money will not make any sense when I have a tiny baby waiting at home. On the other hand, I really wanted to reach the 400K in July... but 1 more week will not make a big difference tbh

I will think about it over the weekend.