Salutations from l'Étoile du Nord
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 5:36 pm
It would be probably be prudent to lurk around for a few months and read all of the site and book (on order) before posting, but I tend to jump in right away when I'm excited about something and will learn more about ERE over time. I think I'm in the right place.
Hello, I'm 34 and have already experienced three mini early retirements (each for about a year) which were amazing, so I've already gotten a taste for it. I've been debt-free and living slightly below my means for since 2010, although I've been getting soft (including physically) and have had some lifestyle creep and upped consumption. I'm also curious about how extreme I can get and still have good quality of life. It will be another experiment. My current net worth is lowish five figures which I guess is better than being in debt, but I know I can do better.
The piece I haven't been able to figure out is investing. I have a 401K and a Roth IRA, but I haven't been very serious about putting much into them. I lived off of savings, not investments for my previous dabbling in mini early retirements. I know intellectually I'm capable of understanding it, so I'll need to research more and see what I can live with ethically. My MBTI is INFJ so it's a factor of what I can stomach putting my life energy converted to money into. I currently use YNAB for budgeting/expense tracking, but could see all kinds of homegrown spreadsheets perhaps with some VBA thrown in if I really need to geek out.
My financial situation has changed for the better somewhat recently. I got a raise/promotion at work and my long-term partner and I split up. I had been partially supporting him due to chronic health issues (mostly Crohn's). I had also been helping my sister out with some insane legal expenses around custody of my niece. The break up with my partner happened within the last month and is amicable but emotionally messy as we both still have strong feelings for one another. I also split our savings with him, so I need to refund my emergency fund back to six months of expenses.
I also just got another cat to keep my other cat company when I'm at work since she was used to having my ex at home and also as something for fun for me. That will increase my expenses especially this month ($382 in vet bills alone to get her current on shots, labs, and a spay) but not too significantly over time.
So I'm curious to see what my spending will be like for just me, making highish five figures in an area with a reasonable COL. My motivations for FI/ERE are mainly independence. I really like my current job, but I also like to do all kinds of other things, and it would lovely to not "have to" work, but want to work or be able to travel or consulting or start my own business or just live off the grid if I want. I could also do art: textiles, light and kinetic sculptures, glass blowing, soundtracks etc.
Something cool I that have is my immediate family (besides my mother to some degree although she's a prepper) has always been into sustainable living and frugality. My parents have 20 acres of land about 30 minutes from where I live. There's already several solar arrays, sheds, a couple RVs, a well and my father is in the process of building a subterranean storm "shelter". We had a big garden out there this year too. My sister just put a yurt up this summer, and we will officially have enough hives to be a registered apiary next year. My sister and her daughter live pretty well off $15K a year (due to previously mentioned insane custody case legal expenses) and their grocery bill is like $50/wk so that's really inspiring to me and she'll be able to help me out in cutting expenses.
I'd like to start out with a tree tent and my own solar array next year because I've enjoyed camping out there the last couple of years in a Hennessy hammock. I'm also considering getting a cheap reliable car for the first time since 2009 to be able to get out there by myself instead of getting rides from family. I might want to put a tiny house or some other sort of structure out there too. I don't know if I'll stay in the Midwest all of my life though, and I don't want to make huge life decisions with so much change afoot. Winter here is brutal, and I struggle with depression and anxiety at times.
Anyway, that's probably enough of an introduction and starting to get into I-need-to-start-a-journal territory. I'm also working on figuring out some goals to focus on, so here's my preliminary thoughts.
Current Goals:
Hello, I'm 34 and have already experienced three mini early retirements (each for about a year) which were amazing, so I've already gotten a taste for it. I've been debt-free and living slightly below my means for since 2010, although I've been getting soft (including physically) and have had some lifestyle creep and upped consumption. I'm also curious about how extreme I can get and still have good quality of life. It will be another experiment. My current net worth is lowish five figures which I guess is better than being in debt, but I know I can do better.
The piece I haven't been able to figure out is investing. I have a 401K and a Roth IRA, but I haven't been very serious about putting much into them. I lived off of savings, not investments for my previous dabbling in mini early retirements. I know intellectually I'm capable of understanding it, so I'll need to research more and see what I can live with ethically. My MBTI is INFJ so it's a factor of what I can stomach putting my life energy converted to money into. I currently use YNAB for budgeting/expense tracking, but could see all kinds of homegrown spreadsheets perhaps with some VBA thrown in if I really need to geek out.
My financial situation has changed for the better somewhat recently. I got a raise/promotion at work and my long-term partner and I split up. I had been partially supporting him due to chronic health issues (mostly Crohn's). I had also been helping my sister out with some insane legal expenses around custody of my niece. The break up with my partner happened within the last month and is amicable but emotionally messy as we both still have strong feelings for one another. I also split our savings with him, so I need to refund my emergency fund back to six months of expenses.
I also just got another cat to keep my other cat company when I'm at work since she was used to having my ex at home and also as something for fun for me. That will increase my expenses especially this month ($382 in vet bills alone to get her current on shots, labs, and a spay) but not too significantly over time.
So I'm curious to see what my spending will be like for just me, making highish five figures in an area with a reasonable COL. My motivations for FI/ERE are mainly independence. I really like my current job, but I also like to do all kinds of other things, and it would lovely to not "have to" work, but want to work or be able to travel or consulting or start my own business or just live off the grid if I want. I could also do art: textiles, light and kinetic sculptures, glass blowing, soundtracks etc.
Something cool I that have is my immediate family (besides my mother to some degree although she's a prepper) has always been into sustainable living and frugality. My parents have 20 acres of land about 30 minutes from where I live. There's already several solar arrays, sheds, a couple RVs, a well and my father is in the process of building a subterranean storm "shelter". We had a big garden out there this year too. My sister just put a yurt up this summer, and we will officially have enough hives to be a registered apiary next year. My sister and her daughter live pretty well off $15K a year (due to previously mentioned insane custody case legal expenses) and their grocery bill is like $50/wk so that's really inspiring to me and she'll be able to help me out in cutting expenses.
I'd like to start out with a tree tent and my own solar array next year because I've enjoyed camping out there the last couple of years in a Hennessy hammock. I'm also considering getting a cheap reliable car for the first time since 2009 to be able to get out there by myself instead of getting rides from family. I might want to put a tiny house or some other sort of structure out there too. I don't know if I'll stay in the Midwest all of my life though, and I don't want to make huge life decisions with so much change afoot. Winter here is brutal, and I struggle with depression and anxiety at times.
Anyway, that's probably enough of an introduction and starting to get into I-need-to-start-a-journal territory. I'm also working on figuring out some goals to focus on, so here's my preliminary thoughts.
Current Goals:
- - Save 50%+ of net income
-----Max out Roth IRA in 2016
-----Restore 6 months of emergency expenses in liquid cash
- Re-calibrate physical health and well-being
-----Limit recreational screen time (internet, TV (Netflix), video games) to less than 2 hours daily
-----Lose 10 pounds of excess weight
-----Cook more whole food plant-based meals (I've been a vegetarian for 17-ish years)
-----Get routine of physical activity (TRX at home, dancing, free Pilates at work, yoga, karate?)