Frugal chicos journal - ERE in The Basque Country

[loutfard]

Hey, thanks for the note and the reality check. Agree with the comment about moving the RE date. However, I would like to clarify my fears and “money hoarding” come from fear for uncertainty and lack of options in the future.

The Spanish statistics bureau's figures about Basque country (2022, latest available data) might help alleviate some fears:
- average household net income/year: 41256€ (median significantly lower)
- corrected to 2025: 47444€ (generous +15%, probably less)

Now some simple numbers:
- 1200k€ investment portfolio excluding real estate. You have reasons to expect this to bring you in ~ 48k€/year before tax, ~38k€/year post tax (worst case, looking at https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/spain/indi ... nal-income )
- 0€ income or expenses from 500k€ in real estate (super conservative estimate. I don't understand your exact situation on that one except you own two properties outright.
- 0€ income from side gigs/continuing to work/freelance/...
- prepaid new car and home furnishings

So:
- You can expect to earn above median income from capital.
- You have lower expenses due to no mortgage, a prepaid car, prepaid home furnishings.
- You own at least one second home debt-free, with decent future yield potential.
- You are healthy, intelligent and frugal.
- You have a proven ability to earn.
- You have a local support network.
- You have quite a few projects to work on.

Whatever blocking you clearly is not hard numbers indeed. Those all check out.

[guitarplayer]

You’ll be fine. Rich - this always depends on reference point. But you’re wealthy for sure looking at your swr already now, going further down when in Europe.

Managing change can be tricky but I think you might end up richer if you stop working. Money is just one life facet.

[Frugalchicos]

Thank you all for your support and info.

After learning on Thursday that working remotely from the Basque Country will probably be not an option, the idea of retiring is taking shape and looking like a reality. I am getting more and more excited about the next stage.

Transitioning into a new life and moving will definitely be much easier and less stressful without navigating work schedules. There will be no rushes or pressure, just enjoying the summer and the move back home.

On the other hand, my immediate and short term future plans are to coast as much as I can at work, enjoy social activities with friends and continue training to be in top shape for all the surfing and hiking that is waiting for me!

Additionally, we submitted the application for mini Chica's school in the Basque Country for next course. We will learn next month if she got approved in the school we liked, which is the one I went to when I was little. Fingers crossed!

[Der Leiermann]

I’ll chime in with my experience moving across the world and working remotely. I did exactly that, giving my employer a lot of notice, similar to you. I felt pretty confident we’d work something out. Their initial reaction was a hard ‘no’ as well. A couple of months went by with the occasional check-in whether our plans hadn’t changed. No they hadn’t. 2 months before the move date, my employer suddenly came round to the idea and here I am, working remotely now for a while.

A few things to consider:
Your employer may overestimate your intertia to uproot you and particularly your family
Employers may consider the flow on effects of handing remote work out too easily. Other employees may feel entitled regardless whether they deserve it or have a good reason such as you do
Employers may think it’s just a negotiation tactic

[Frugalchicos]

@Der Leiermann

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience!!

In my case, I think, giving my company such a long notice (7 months), has played against me. It gave them time to think on a strategy. However, it doesn't feel they thought it through since it seems like they want to open the position in April and hire externally, which will require an insane amount of training and will definitely be more expensive than me (30K?). I am not sure what their plans are, if terminating me as soon as the new hire starts or pretend that I train the new hire until July.

Either way, I put all the cards on the table and left it very clear that if I am not able to continue in the company, I will take a "long" break.

Only time will tell, but at this point, termination in April sounds pretty sweet

[Western Red Cedar]

I was told the initial reaction for me to work remotely from The Basque Country was a straight up and quick "NO WAY!"

After learning on Thursday that working remotely from the Basque Country will probably be not an option, the idea of retiring is taking shape and looking like a reality. I am getting more and more excited about the next stage.

Transitioning into a new life and moving will definitely be much easier and less stressful without navigating work schedules. There will be no rushes or pressure, just enjoying the summer and the move back home.

I predict that by the end of the year you will consider this decision by your company as a major blessing. It offers a clean break and an opportunity to fully embrace the next stage of your life. You will be fine financially. Now is the time to go out and live your best life. Make great memories with your family and friends. Take advantage of your physical health to live an exciting, adventurous and fulfilling life.

[Frugalchicos]

@WRC

Totally true, and couldn’t agree more with you.

This last Friday, I was told that they might make it work and I actually was not that excited about since I got into the idea of enjoying the next stage without having to worry about working.

Time will tell and ultimately, I have the final word. So I will play by ear for now

[Frugalchicos]

Quick note for the journal.

I am having very strong feelings of calling the day on July 13th and early retire. I feel work will get in the way of everything I want to do in the next chapter of my life. I am also feeling that work has not meaning at all, it is full of people's management with everything that brings that only gives me headaches.

My plan for now is play by ear for the next 2 months and don't settle for any decision. As of today, I am quitting and moving on with my next life. These feelings don't necessarily come from feeling burn out or having a bad week or anything like that, but more from feeling that I don't need to work more and now is time to enjoy life and do whatever I feel like doing, like surfing, hiking, learning guitar, spend time with family and master the Basque language.

[cimorene12]

I think it's a good idea, if the numbers are right.

[Frugalchicos]

Alright, here is an update that might not be the most popular around here:

Last week, I got approval to work remotely from Spain in my current role, with EU hours. I am pretty happy about it, as I think it will make our transition smoother. We won’t have to stress as much about saving extra cash for furniture, a potential family car, and other expenses. The details still need to be worked out, but the biggest hurdle—getting approval—is behind me.

I know this decision might not resonate with everyone or make sense to some, but at the end of the day, it is not just about the numbers for us, it is about how it feels. With my humble background, it would be hard to justify turning down such an easy way to earn money while living in my hometown, and working from home. Plus, if it ever stops making sense or doesn’t work out, I can always walk away without having to worry about money.

For now, I see this as a short to medium term arrangement. I know work is temporary, and I plan to step away at some point in the near future. Here are a few reasons why it makes sense for me to continue for now:

- I have never had a solid job back home, and I would like to check that off my list

- It helps me ease into life and adapt to my new environment

- Extra money is always welcome.

- It reduces the feeling of financial scarcity.

- It gives us more room for investments.

- I don’t have to worry about withdrawals and money transfers across countries.

For now, I am embracing the opportunity and seeing where it takes us. I feel like working from home and from my hometown is already massive change in the right direction. Very excited for everything that life has to bring.

[Der Leiermann]

Alright, here is an update that might not be the most popular around here:

Last week, I got approval to work remotely from Spain in my current role, with EU hours. I am pretty happy about it, as I think it will make our transition smoother. We won’t have to stress as much about saving extra cash for furniture, a potential family car, and other expenses. The details still need to be worked out, but the biggest hurdle—getting approval—is behind me.

I know this decision might not resonate with everyone or make sense to some, but at the end of the day, it is not just about the numbers for us, it is about how it feels. With my humble background, it would be hard to justify turning down such an easy way to earn money while living in my hometown, and working from home. Plus, if it ever stops making sense or doesn’t work out, I can always walk away without having to worry about money.

For now, I see this as a short to medium term arrangement. I know work is temporary, and I plan to step away at some point in the near future. Here are a few reasons why it makes sense for me to continue for now:

- I have never had a solid job back home, and I would like to check that off my list

- It helps me ease into life and adapt to my new environment

- Extra money is always welcome.

- It reduces the feeling of financial scarcity.

- It gives us more room for investments.

- I don’t have to worry about withdrawals and money transfers across countries.

For now, I am embracing the opportunity and seeing where it takes us. I feel like working from home and from my hometown is already massive change in the right direction. Very excited for everything that life has to bring.

Congrats, I hope this makes the transition easier for you. It certainly helped me. It’s also a sign that you’re appreciated for what you do, which strokes the ego.

And you’ll always have an easy way out citing feeling isolated from the team or whatever. You were willing to give up work and your employer decided to chase you. A massive shift in the power balance.

[Frugalchicos]

@Der Leiermann

Thank you! To be honest, I didn't expect them to go out of their way and allow me working from Spain. As you said, I always have the option of retiring early.

I feel like I am going to be able to have a good life/work balance where there is room for everything

[2Birds1Stone]

It's not so much unpopular, just interesting to see someone backslide to wheaton level 3 after so many years here.

Best of luck with your career goals!

[J_]

To me there is no "backslide to wheaton level 3" as 2B1S judges the way Frugalchicos has chosen at the moment of re-immigration to Spain.
A higher wheaton level is not (always) better than a lower level. There are so many more relevant things to consider in life. And feeling more safe in a constant changing world is one of them.

[2Birds1Stone]

I'm not saying it's a bad thing.

From the Wiki;

"Exponential Growth
This kind of person is what most people think of as a smart consumer. They always buy stuff on sale. Research the best deals. Most normal people envy this level of efficiency but won't strive for it due to incompatible mindset. On the financial side, there is an emphasis on increasing earnings and investing to take advantage of "the magic of compound interest." This stage is covered by the majority and biggest personal finance blogs. It also sets the tone for the fatFIRE part of the FIRE movement."

The chicos have been FI for several years now, going all the way back to the Frugalwoods feature on them. The goal posts keep moving and the scarcity mindset/desire for fatFIRE is just hard to ignore, seemingly driving big decisions. There's no wrong way to go here, I was just offering a counterpoint to "unpopular"......I find it interesting.

[Frugalchicos]

I think the key point here is that my goal was not necessarily retiring early but having the freedom to live wherever I wanted with a good comfort level and no major worries. To me, achieving FI was a byproduct of that goal.

I personally don't consider FatFIRE or a bigger pile of money a bad thing, especially with a child, where risk aversion tends to become more conservative. I am definitely not planning to work forever, but I would like to experience working from my hometown with a high salary and flexibility. I think it will be a good for the transition, kind of considering it as the first step for early retirement.

[Frugalchicos]

Quick update:

We are moving in exactly 41 days, we are getting excited and planning the rest of the stay in the US. We are moving out of our apartment by the 21st or 27th of June, it all depends on the amount of furniture left in our place. We are going to gift most of the stuff, so we don’t want to live off of a mattress. Chica’s parents are renting a place nearby in Airbnb where we will stay with them until we leave to Spain.

These last days we splurged and got some stuff we planned on getting before moving. We bought a Mac Mini where we used some points and I got an IPhone 14 Pro for $500 on eBay. Our laptop is close to 11 years old and my phone needs to be returned before I leave the US.

I am happy I am continuing working because it alleviates the pressure when it comes to cash. We actually thought we were going to need less money to furnish and equip the place, we bought most of our stuff, but probably still need to spend another $5K or so.

We have been talking about the purchase of a bigger, more modern and safer car in the future. The idea is an EV below 40K. Current models on our list are the Volvo EX40 and BMW ix1. The plan is that we save the money for it through 2026 and buy it at the end of next year or early 2027.

I have also been thinking about my exit strategy. I would like to save at least 3 years of living expenses and retire by the time I am 45 - 2 years from now. I think it is totally doable. I also think moving with a job and seeing how much money we spend is a great dry run experience to see how much money we really need to live comfortably.

All in all, I can’t complain about anything, everything is happening as planned or even better!

[Frugalchicos]

well, things are moving along!

We have sold most of our furniture and stuff. It is impressive how fast things move in FB marketplace. Within 2 days, I already had everything sold. I even sold a yoga mat and some old chopping boards!! it feels great letting things go, it also helps seeing that things and days are moving. It helps with the feeling that we are moving closer to the departure that. We only have the beds, sofa and bike left. Glassware and plates will go last since we need them to eat

I got great news at work yesterday. My salary in Spain is going to be almost double than the average. I feel very accomplished, like closing the circle and going back home like a champ.

[sodatrain]

Congratulations! Big milestone. Sounds like you are in a great place.

[2Birds1Stone]

Congratulations! This has to be such an exciting time for the entire Chicos family!!!