Hello from a fellow freedom enjoyer

[inkolore]

Hey everyone !

I came across ERE more than 1 year ago, and like everyone here I assume, it completely changed how I view life and what's possible to do within the modern world. I knew that I never wanted to spend my entire life in the typical 9-5 job, and that I would never care about the whole "climbing the ladder" thing, but now that I've been in such a job for 8 months now, I am even more sure of that.
It's just incredibly sad how most people spend most of their time doing something they don't enjoy, and don't even look for better options. It feels like very few people are actually living, and most are simply sleepwalking through their days. People spend so much energy discussing about a myriad of subjects related to the news, sports, consumption, gossip, but never discuss the most important of all, which is simply what is worth doing with one's finite time. Maybe it's because it's too painful to admit the sunk cost or face other people's opinions, I don't know, but I'm simply not interested in that "normal".

I graduated from uni last year in STEM (so I'm in the first half of my 20s), and I live in Belgium. I am debt-free, still live with my parents and am completely uninterested in the consumer culture so my expanses are basically 0, apart from some art supplies or books, which I find too valuable to let go of (especially because books do have a return on investment, though I don't see how one could track it accurately).
It's not so much financial independence that attracts me (as in, not having to work), it's more so the general freedom, in character and in lifestyle, that allows one to focus their time on what they genuinely want. It doesn't bother me to work at something for the rest of my life, as long as I find it valuable and have some degree of freedom for my hours.
ERE is by far the most practical handbook I've found for finding genuine freedom, and that's why I gravitated to it - I am young and have always been on the intellectual / artistic side, so my practical and financial skills are ... not very developed to say the least (though I can cook a basic meal so there's that at least).

I'll definitely start a journal after I spend more time reading other people's ones - the main thing right now is that I'm not sure what I would talk about, since the main bottlenecks I'm facing are more about managing my psychology rather than financial stuff or working on my goals.

Thanks for reading and see you on the forum .

[frugaldoc]

Welcome! You are well placed to have a successful ERE journey, having discovered the concepts at such a young age. I was in my 40s when I discovered them, so I envy you. Having no debt also gives you an incredible amount of freedom. If I were you I would work to stay debt free even if it means living life differently than 99% of the population.

[inkolore]

Welcome! You are well placed to have a successful ERE journey, having discovered the concepts at such a young age. I was in my 40s when I discovered them, so I envy you. Having no debt also gives you an incredible amount of freedom. If I were you I would work to stay debt free even if it means living life differently than 99% of the population.

Thanks for the welcome! I feel incredibly blessed to have somehow found ERE at my age indeed.
Debt is definitely something I want to avoid as much as possible - I don't have a car and I'm pretty sure I won't ever need one for instance. So the only thing I would consider ever getting on credit is a house, but even then, a mortgage doesn't sound too appealing because so much money is spent in interests alone. I don't know, that's obviously something I'll figure out in my journey, and I will keep that discussion for my journal.

I've found a lot more peace lately by just embracing that I'm indeed quite different from the vast majority of people, including those around me. Leaning more into that and meeting other people who live a free and unique lifestyle will be my focus for the year to come (even if it's only online).

[loutfard]

10 years ago, an acquaintance - also an engineer - billed his customers 500€/day for 5 days and bought a remote countryside house in cash. A few hectares of agricultural land, a few hectares of wood, a bus stop 100m away, and a little shop a ten minute walk away. That did inspire in a way...