Hello

[birding]

Hello - birding here: in my mid thirties and live on the east coast. I recently reread the ERE book & am reading the blog roll chronologically from the beginning. I've been following the forum somewhat, but have been hesitant to jump in (making time & actually having something to say). I found ERE last winter and dove into learning the philosophy because being stuck working in the office 9-5 for decades doesn't appeal to me.

With the ERE framework I see the potential where I could be FI soon. Part of me wants to change jobs or quit early now for semi-retirement, but I'm hesitant especially with the stability I've earned in the past several years. I just relocated with DW and advocated for a 1 bed apartment to try a small cheaper space before filling a larger one with stuff (though it's unfortunately farther from work than I was before).

I'm into reading, birding, and hiking. The biggest thing I'm working on now is the startup finance,investing,economics curriculum striving to start investing this year. Last, a huge part of my identity is I'm many many years clean & sober - 12 step & SMART recovery have been tremendously helpful in the past.


EDIT: changed username to 'birding'. hehe

[sodatrain]

Welcome! We will be here when you are ready to jump in more! Come on in, the water is nice!

[Lifetime42]

Welcome!

[jayritchie]

hello! Sounds like you've got yourself in a good place and have interests which don't cost much. Look forward to hearing more.

[birding]

Gratitude for the warm welcome.

I plan to share a summary of 2024 spending, etc., likely starting a journal. I finally updated my $$ tracker this week. Annual spend was over $50k - I have a long way to go...

Also, thank you to @jacob for the ERE homepage update recommending ‘Deep Response’ - wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. Not sure I’ve ever crushed a book as quickly as this one. Well written @AxelHeyst .