Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hi everyone

I recently read the ERE book and listened to Jacob on a couple of podcasts and I liked the very alternative approach. I'm active on a few personal finance/investing communities (with the same username in case anyone recognizes me) where FI(RE) is always a topic that comes up. I felt that most people had ridiculously high targets for their portfolios and that being FI with much less should be possible. ERE helped my mind get unstuck from its usual patterns, I liked the frugal and systems-based approach that's also environmentally friendly

I might start a journal just to hold myself accountable, but to give you an idea I'm probably hovering somewhere between WL 4 and WL 5 since seriously starting saving and investing almost 4 years ago. Savings rate is currently around 55% and my portfolio is at around 11 times my yearly expenses. I'm into gardening (most vegetables we eat with my girlfriend currently come directly from the garden, it's a good period) and I'm trying to learn new useful skills and to make a small income from some hobbies. Apart from some workshops I'm attending (paid, sorry ), I'm trying to build a small skills exchange network with friends and family. Last week I repaired a very worn-down mop using an old t-shirt I had laying around instead of buying a new one. It may sound a bit ridiculous, but I felt very accomplished

I live in the Netherlands, but I'm not Dutch (and I don't really speak Dutch either ). I saw there's a meetup planned in August, if you accept newbies who also don't speak Dutch I might be interested to join

Cheers

Hi Anarki,

Nice to meet you! The ERE idea has also challenged me to think about how I want to live my life. It shows that much more is possible (than what is generally taught), and then I do feel free to find my own path.

Yeah, you're definitely welcome at the meetup! We'll just talk English to the best of our abilities.
I believe we still don't have a location, though. Time to get serious about that.

Hi Anarki!
I also live in the NL while being non-dutch. Living the expat life. Hopefully we'll exchange bitterballen jokes at the meetup.
I don't think paid workshops are something to be sorry, if one views them as an investment in skill building.

DutchGirl wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 22, 2023 2:05 am

Yeah, you're definitely welcome at the meetup! We'll just talk English to the best of our abilities.

Thanks for the welcome and nice to meet you too. That would be lovely, rube already got in touch to give me details

comandante wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 22, 2023 3:15 am

I don't think paid workshops are something to be sorry, if one views them as an investment in skill building.

Nice to meet you too! Definitely, I was mostly joking. I guess it depends a bit on what the workshop is about and how realistic it is that you will use this knowledge. I recently did a carpentry workshop and I will do another one on straw bale building, but that doesn't mean that I'll be able to build my own house

Welcome Anarki.

I can relate to your experience with the mop. I had a similar feeling when I installed an overhead light in my bedroom a year ago. I am curious if you have a list of skills you wish to obtain or do you approach it more on an ad hoc basis?

Another question: when you say you save 55% of your income, is that of your gross income or net (after taxes)? I am new to these forums as well and am not sure what the convention is when it comes to reporting one's savings rate. In the US there are many techniques available to manipulate one's tax bill from year to year.

Thanks!

I'm currently mainly interested in skills that have to do with building and maintaining stuff (houses, furniture, bicycles, cars), but I'm open to whatever interesting pops up on an ad hoc basis as well.

Yes, I always use after-tax income (where by "taxes" I also mean mandatory pension contributions). I also don't know what the convention is on this forum though, so don't take my word for it