Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hello everyone,

This year, I saved around 80 % of my income by total accident!

I wanted to lose weight, to be healthy and to be happy. I had no idea it came with lots of money in my pocket!

Here is what I did?

Food I stopped going to restaurants /bars completely. I eat a diet mainly of veggies, nuts, fruits. I no longer drink any kind of alcohol.

Sport In addition to daily martial arts, I walk everywhere. I do not own a car, do not take a taxi. My motto: if it takes less than an hour to walk, I go on foot, for sure. If it takes more, I might take the bus. I refuse to go in elevator, since stairs are free exercise. People offer me lifts, and I refuse them. Why? When I walk, I feel good, I can think about life and I feel healthier.

Phone-free I currently live without phone. I think current phones have been constructed to destroy human connectedness. I am also not on social media, and on other time wasters. If someone want to talk to me, there is always email.

TV free Actually, it has been years I have been living without TV.^



Current expenses:
Rent ( I rent a room)
Food ( I eat veggies, peanut butter, eggs, milk, fruits)
Martial arts (Basic subscription)
Internet ( Slowest connection, I don't watch videos, I prefer reading wikipedia) (This is the only service that I subscribe too)

Most of my current friends all think like me, many are semi-retired and in their 30s.
My friends are fine with just going to the frui-veggie store and get some cucumbers and oranges to party with me! Most don't get the crazy world we live in.

So, my thoughts on early retirement? Well, my number one priority is not to retire, it is to be a very happy human being. However, I noticed something, society/TV/media pretend that buying expensive food will make us happier, but it won't. Happiness cost very little.

I only buy things that will make me happier. I generally don't like to own things, because things take space, require care, and I would rather learn stuff on my computer or do sport.

By making the happiness choice, I started saving 80 % of my income, and it was a complete accident! I also lost 60 lbs, but that was not an accident. I now look like a viking god!

Wellcome.

I like how you think about food as fuel and not Entertainment. Sounds like you have been doing a great Job actualizing. Keep up the good work !

Welcome Atlas.

Phone-free sounds like a wise move. Except that I use my phone as watch, alarm clock, map/gps, dictionary, notebook on the go, compas, wifi hot spot for my pc etc. Thus, if I'd ditch my phone, I'd have to buy a brunch of new gadgets ...

@thegreatvoid

My decision in all things is that I want to maximize happiness/health/well-being. Keeping that in mind, food has only one purpose, a healthy body. I am certainly not interested in eating junk food in moderation. This would be as absurd as someone smoking cigarettes in moderation!

@wolf
Thanks for the welcome!

@Eureka,
As for the phone, I do have the physical object, there is just no number connected to it. Also, I have not used it at all for a full year. My computer has an alarm clock, but I believe alarm clocks are unhealthy, and to be avoid, except in dire circumstances. I use amber glasses, and I close my screens early to make sure I go to bed early. I wake up super early as a result.

Welcome!

What do you do for a living?

@2Birds1Stone,

Hi, I am a bit paranoid and shy! I like to keep an hyper-low profile. I will respectfully decline, but I am grateful that you ask and are curious to ask!

Welcome to the forums, congrats on the progress. 60 Lbs is a lot to lose, I know because that's pretty much how much I wanted to lose and have been working hard at for just over a year and now finally the finish line is in sight.

@bigato



Regarding my friends, let me give you a simple explanation. The people I meet are not a representative sample of the general population. For example, I do martial arts. Martial art people tend to be on average in much better shape, and eat much healthier than the general population. I end up talking to a lot of people who do martial arts, by doing the activity. Among martial artists, the ones who don't go to restaurants, bars, and who are minimalist are still a minority, but a much larger minority than the minority of people like that in the general population. I end up being friend with those that are minimalists, frugal, and healthy. Quite simply because they are the only one who can do activities with me on a regular basis.

No need to be in a big town. I train in a suburban martial art dojo, and it is well enough to meet several people who think like me.

Minimalist, frugal, healthy people are not the norm, but they end up doing activities that I enjoy. Each sport, each activity is correlated with things like income level, values, etc.

The people who hang out in bars are different from people that do yoga, swimming, running, martial arts.

Interactions with people are not described by uniform random variable across the general population. The network of relationships among people is linked with their values and interests.

To give another obvious example: I refuse to take elevators, I always look for the stairs. When taking the stairs, I can only encounter other stair takers. We are the minority, but we end up seeing each others while doing that basic activity. So, just by being me, I end up meeting fellow walkers, fellow stair takers, fellow martial artists, fellow frugal people.

@bigato,

I know no special corner of the industrial/developed world where frugality is the norm. The only strategy that I know for interacting with people is integrity with myself. It is more fun!

Welcome to the forums Atlas. Martial artist and avid walker here, too.

@niemand

Thank you for the welcome!