Early Retirement Extreme Forums

I just noticed the reduction in my student loans! @delay Living abroad I am one of those people that live under a rock
The government allows stopping payments for up to 60 months, which is appealing since stock returns are still higher than the bond rates used to index student loan interest in the Netherlands. It's an idea I have been playing with.

Yeah, I don't think dividend investing is worth it for the reasons you already mentioned PLUS for the fact that dividends aren't free money but instead lower the share price and lower the amount of capital a company has which allows it to invest in itself (and in research to come up with new/improved products). So it might be that a company who has high dividends is slowly eroding its customer base because they are slower to improve their products / offer new products / adapt to the changing world.
Plus any argument for or against dividend investing that is about taxes - think about whether it is even applicable in the Netherlands given the (current) Dutch tax laws. It could very well be that what would be a benefit in say Belgium or the US just doesn't work with the Dutch tax system.

Good for you for decluttering, that will also make it easier to sell this house at some point. It can be a lot of work, but it's easier when you're starting early as you are now.

And hmmm, can I ask for my niece whether you use specific platforms for pet sitting here in the Netherlands? She lives in the east of the country, so I don't think she would be a direct competitor, but it could be a nice gig for her as well (as she has knowledge about and experience with cats, dogs, rabbits, but also cows and horses).

Thank you all for the recommendations to research the accumulating etfs, I will look into that.

@frugaldoc you are right about that, it's not an official loss just like it is not an official gain. Even then, seeing as I’m investing for the long term in thankfully not too phased by the markets going down!

@bos glad you managed to get a reduction as well! I'm currently paying off my student loans, but I am planning to pause payments when I have to start paying interest. Then I will decide whether I want to save the cost of the loan and pay it off all at once, or just keep paying for it until it's paid off. Depending on the interest rate and market at that time. Or if the mortgage lender wants me to pay it off. For now, I pay 63 euro's a month so I am not too bothered by it.

@DutchGirl I used to use Rover, it's an app! I am not active on it anymore because I am busy enough with my current job, current dogwalking/catwatching clients and hobbies. But it helped me find a lot of clients! Especially with the summer coming up I can definitely recommend it.

March has started so it's time for a roundup:

February 2025:
SR: 53,19%
NW: 196.2k

Another huge jump in net worth this month. This is due to my rental apartment being revalued by the municipality and according to them the value is raised by €9k. This value is still quite conservative, as I am expecting it to sell for around €280-290k if I would sell it right now. But because I cannot say for sure, I will keep it at the municipal value.

Other reasons for the big increase: selling some stocks that were at a high value (thank you TKWY for increasing 52% in one day) and selling some more items online.

Biggest expense of the month were definitely the municipality taxes, but they were expected and budgeted for. The holiday I mentioned last month has not been paid for yet, and will probably be paid for 50% next month and the rest of it during the summer.

It does mean that €200k nw is coming up! Very excited about this milestone, even if it's only on paper, I still feel like it deserves a small celebration. I remember looking at my 30k nw in 2020 and thinking it would takes ages to reach the 100k nw. And now I've doubled it! Next milestone I want to reach asap is 100k in stocks (I am at about 45k now).

Health wise, I've decided to do 75hard. I am three weeks in and feeling great so far! I think it's a good way to focus on building some more perseverance, while taking care of my body by eating well, moving and drinking no alcohol. Is there anyone here who has done 75hard? Would love to hear your experiences!

Hello everyone!

The months keep flying by and every time it's suddenly the end of the month. Therefore time for a new update! This month has been great income wise, but also quite heavy on the expenses side.

I've had my performance review recently and this was positive, which meant I got a bonus. For the first time in my life, I received a bonus that was more than a few hundred euro's, so that was definitely a fun experience. Next to that I've sold some items, did some dogwalking, and of course received rental income.

Regarding the expenses: Definitely an expensive month. Booked a trip, paid for another trip that I was still owing my boyfriend on, dentist appointment, travel vaccine appointment, vet appointment. Everything together, this came to quite a high amount.

Next to the expenses, I've thankfully also managed to put quite a big amount into my stock account and into my savings account. Due to the stock market taking a dive the last few weeks, my stock account also took a nosedive. Therefore I decided to buy some more stocks to fill it up again.

Which leads us to the most fun part: I have reached the 200k net worth! I wasn't expecting to with the stock market in the last few weeks, but thankfully it recovered a bit and I reached the 200k. Due to it being the end of March, I have not paid the bills for April yet and I do expect the net worth to dip a bit below the 200k next month afterwards. But I am not too bothered with that, I expect it to exceed the 200k again next month. At least we have something to celebrate!

And speaking of celebrating, this will definitely not be with alcohol seeing as I am still doing 75hard. I am at day 43 and it's been going great. Lost 2,5 kilos, did loads of walking and excercising and I am really enjoying the challenge. It's also a good excuse, because when someone says "come on, just have a drink" or "do you really need to workout again?", you can just say "those are the rules!". By using "external" rules, people will stop trying to convince you to do something differently, because the rules are not bendable.

All in all a good month, although the expenses could've been a bit lower.

March 2025:
SR: 60,91%
NW: 201k

Happy May!

April has flown by. I have finished 75hard (lost almost 4kgs so happy with that!) and will definitely be continuing some of the 75hard steps, such as movement daily and drinking a gallon of water. Reading 10 pages a day will be nice to keep up, but I am happy I am not required to only read non-fictional books. I do believe that 75hard sometimes made me feel that I deserved something nice, so maybe it's time for a financial 75hard, where I can only buy necessities for the upcoming 75 days. Might be a fun challenge! The only issue I am running into is the fact that all my trousers are too big and I definitely need to amend those or get some smaller ones.

My savings rate was fine this month, could have been higher but it also included a part of my trip and some more vet visits. The vet visits are getting expensive, but most of these things are to prevent them from getting sick (dental and diet etc), so I have no issue with spending a bit more on that. I have looked into cat insurance back when I got them, but I have not found insurance that was worth the money yet.

Net worth went back under the 200k again due to the stock market. I was hoping to reach the 200k again after my salary and by buying some extra stocks, but that hasn't happened yet. Hopefully next month!

SR April 2025: 59,02%
NW April 2025: 199k

Now that holiday season is coming up, that means I will have more catsiting clients. I was planning on not taking on too many clients due to us wanting to buy a house, but since that hasn't happened yet, I might as well take care of some cats. Good to have some extra cash if we eventually buy a house!

For the upcoming month, I am not expecting a lot of crazy costs apart from wedding gifts for two weddings and some birthday gifts. Apart from the gifts, I am just planning to stay home because outside life is getting way too expensive haha.

See you next month for an update!

Maybe stay home but DO venture out in the local area to walk and enjoy the weather. Hopefully we'll have lots of nice weather in the upcoming months... Congrats on the bonus (although that was already in April, time flies) and I think you might be beyond 200k by now (slight stock market recovery is happening right now, but of course could be gone again tomorrow, who knows).

@DutchGirl thank you! And you are right, I have been doing loads of running and cycling now that the weather is getting so nice. Hope you are also able to enjoy the weather. I have updated the net worth tracker yesterday and I am sitting at 199k. Once I get my salary next week, I should cross the 200k again

My update is a bit later this month, as I am travelling for three weeks through beautiful Sri Lanka. Being one of the cheapest countries in the world, I am curious to see whether my costs will be lower than they usually are in the Netherlands.

I have been working on decluttering once again, managed to already give away 9 items and planning on putting the rest in a "share cabinet/library" that's on the street near my house (just counted and I have added about 20 items to this cabinet). I have decluttered my closet as well and found loads of items to sell. Those have been photographed, listed on Vinted and a few of them have already been sold (13 items in May). I made a deal with myself that none of the "to sell" items will come with us to the new house, so if they are not sold by the time we get a new house, they will be either sent to Sellpy or donated. This will ensure I won't move over a hundred items (currently there are 162 pieces for sale on my Vinted account…) that will continue the clutter in the next house. It will be very satisfying to get rid of all of these items, but I will try to sell them to at least earn some money out of it. In may I managed to earn over 200 euros by just selling some items, so that’s been successful!

May 2025:
NW: 203k
SR: 45,87%

Savings rate is a bit lower this month due to attending two weddings and giving cash as a gift. I wonder what the ere view on giving gifts like these is, especially regarding family. Anyhow, next to the financial part, we thoroughly enjoyed the weddings and seeing our loved ones get married.

Enjoy your weekend, and greetings from (currently rainy but usually very sunny) Sri Lanka!

I hope you're able to enjoy kottu, hoppers and several of the other local dishes together with some nice local grown tea, perhaps while overlooking the mountains around Kandy or Nuwara Eliya! Enjoy SL!