Hello from yet another danish fellow

Say hello!!
Post Reply
Fritz_Grade
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:00 am
Location: Denmark

Hello from yet another danish fellow

Post by Fritz_Grade »

Hi and hello from Aarhus, Denmark.
Here goes my little story as to how I ended up in this forum, and what my strategies are for the future :)

Reading an article about Jacob in a danish newspaper, got me tumbling around the rabbit hole, searching for the answer to the question: What is the matrix? - It let me to Mr. Money Mustache and his shockingly simple math, and then to this blog. I bought the ERE book, and suddenly I was unplugged.
I read the book once more, just to be sure, and luckily for me it truly was the key to my future I had been too blind to see.

So here I am, 28 years old guy, just graduated computer-science bachelor and about to start on my first real job as a software engineer. I have all the bad habits there is: smoking (one month off now though) and sugar addictions, overweight and no exercise. I even have student debt for 200K kr. (~$32K) even though education is free in my country.

Alright, so a lot is going to change and I am more motivated than ever before. Seriously!? There is a life without working? - It still bugs me that I did not realise that before now!

Goal: To be retired at age 40, in a body not infested with diabetes and cancer and shit.

Strategy: Save as close to 75% as possible, but what is the meaning of saving, if you dont live to benefit from it? So focus more on quitting the bad habits, and eat good healthy and quality foods while following the warrior diet and exercise. When that starts getting managable without too much cravings, I can start focusing on money saving tactics. I live in a rented apartment with my GF, we have no car and I plan to bike for work. So it is mostly the food budget that needs a lot of optimization.

I am looking forward to a renaissance journey with you guys! I have a feeling I have come to the right place. I Hope I'll be able to contribute with something useful :)

-Christian

FBeyer
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:25 am

Re: Hello from yet another danish fellow

Post by FBeyer »

'absolute pleasure to see another Dane here. The CPH community is rather large by now, but I believe that there are at least two other people In Aarhus. One of them is a cook, so team up and get your diet back on track.

The trick to ERE/frugality for me was to realize that you shouldn't myopically focus on saving money, but on relentlessly finding what is IMPORTANT to you, and then find the cheapest way to do that. It makes a world of difference psychologically because you're never saying no to things you want to do, but you've found the absolutely cheapest/most sustainable way of doing it.

Have fun, or else you're missing the point!

Fritz_Grade
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:00 am
Location: Denmark

Re: Hello from yet another danish fellow

Post by Fritz_Grade »

.The trick to ERE/frugality for me was to realize that you shouldn't myopically focus on saving money, but on relentlessly finding what is IMPORTANT to you, and then find the cheapest way to do that.
This makes a lot of sense! I have tried to quit smoking for years, but as soon as there was a real goal that made sense to me (FI), it was suddenly much easier, because now smoking was in the way of something I wanted.

Unfortunately I missed the joint event in CPH, I read about it just too late. But I am pleased there are so many danes on board, especialy because I believe the danish tax system requires some experience to navigate :)

wolf
Posts: 1102
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:09 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Hello from yet another danish fellow

Post by wolf »

Welcome Christian! Find your own ERE-style. Be authentic. You can find many information and experience here in the forum, which helps a lot along your journey.

Fritz_Grade
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:00 am
Location: Denmark

Re: Hello from yet another danish fellow

Post by Fritz_Grade »

MDFIRE2024 wrote:
Tue Aug 29, 2017 3:56 am
Welcome Christian! Find your own ERE-style. Be authentic. You can find many information and experience here in the forum, which helps a lot along your journey.
Thank you MDFIRE! It definetely is a huge idea to be financially independtent, and there are many different ways to get there (this forum is a proof of that). The whole idea is still pretty new to me (3 months ago i found Jacob's book), and having just left school has left time to think about life, and what is important. The only real thing I am sure at in this moment is that I want to be healthier and have more energy :)

Eureka
Posts: 340
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2016 11:03 am

Re: Hello from yet another danish fellow

Post by Eureka »

Welcome!

Glad you found this place. I like that you state long term health as one of your prime goals. To me it is as important, if not more, as FI.

Yeah, the Danish tax system is quite complex, but I get the impression tax systems are complex all over the place even though we might pay more. Reading comments in here from people whos way towards early retirement is obstructed by obligations to contribute financially to elderly parentes or siblings' handicapped children - and their kids' education and their own health insurance makes me think that we are super privileged in Denmark not having to deal with any of this but can right away plan for our own withdrawal from the labor force.

Post Reply