I'm pretty new to ERE, though have researched FIRE plenty over the past few months. I have found ERE seems to sit well with me philosophically much better than the FIRE movement due to its anti-consumerism, DIY focus. I'd love some advice from the people on this forum.
My partner and I are in our early-30s and both very much interested in environmentalism, living sustainably and in harmony with the world around us. We live in Australia.
Neither of us enjoys being beholden to 9 to 5 work and my partner has significant mental health struggles that could result in unemployment in the near-term. I earn enough to keep us afloat and then some due to our frugal ways. We have recently (this year) started putting away about 60-70 per cent of my income for investments. A further 5-10 per cent goes to "sinking funds" (bigger bills e.g. annual expenses), 10 per cent to ongoing living costs and 10 per cent for either emergency savings, play money or whatever else. My partner is saving for our next car, contributes to the living costs and puts aside a hefty amount for our animals - we rescue - as we get stung with substantial vet bills relatively regularly. Our petrol costs are also substantial as we live in the country and commute up to 130kms/80 miles a day to get to the office though thankfully are blended work from home these days.
We have no debt. We have paid off our mortgage by leaving the city, selling our old house and building something small but on a lot of acreage from scratch (our current house is worth $850,000 or so but we paid far less and I project managed the build to keep the costs down), HECS (student loans) and all consumer debt. We do not have electricity or utility bills as we have gone fully off-grid on our property with solar and septic and water tanks, wood heater etc.
Other "assets":
A hybrid car (worth about $25,000 to $30,000) and a second car worth under $1000 that is an emergency vehicle
Superannuation (about $200,000 between the two of us - can't touch until our 60s!)
Savings (emergency fund of about $17,000, extra cash of about $10,000 across other accounts earmarked for needed property improvements, sheds etc)
Investments of about $25,000 in managed funds and ETFs
Our biggest expenses are food for us and our animals ($200 a fortnight), council rates ($1800 a year), house and contents insurance ($1400 a year), car insurance/registration/maintenance ($3000 a year across two vehicles), petrol and psych/medical bills ($190 a week - we expect this cost will decline with time as my partner's health improves), internet/phones ($150 a month).
We currently try to DIY as much as possible. We garden, compost, worm farm and forage food. We try to repair everything we have before we replace it. We have low-cost hobbies and enjoy learning new things especially around sustainability and self-sufficiency. There's nothing we like more than being in our little home and working on a project (solar oven pending!)
The problem is definitely finding the stamina to stare down what could potentially be another 5 to 10 years in the standard workforce provided we can drive up our investments. How do you manage knowing it's potentially a long road ahead until the freedom years? We're struggling to stay motivated as it is.
We could theoretically sell, look for somewhere cheaper with the same sort of lifestyle but even further away from a city (paying the taxes etc on the way) and use the profits to shore up our investments. However, we like our home and are close to family here and moving can be disruptive. Would you consider a drastic move to speed up the timeline?
Another issue keeping me up a bit is how to prepare for inflation? We haven't been as affected as others as we buy very little (and we tend to buy secondhand) but the cost of even the most basic staples like oats and rice is starting to increase here, not to mention tradies when we do need a solid amount of work done.
I'd really welcome some of your thoughts
. Hopefully I have provided enough information!