FIRE

StratMan said:
Thanks ferret

Sounds like you have a good balance, that's what is its all about with everything in life not just $$ lets not forget the guitars lol

yeah not quite right, being frugal = tight arse

minimalism to me is where people go an live off grid and stuff.. although i could never do it myself, i truly believe going off grid and living like our ancestors lived by growing/culling your own food/shelter/clothing will reconnect us back to what made us human in the first place. Away from all the distractions of modern life, it would allow our brains to think as they once used to and form closer bonds with our families and other humans
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I like the idea of shrinking my world and focusing on issues around me-
To worry and take on the world woes leaves you pretty beat down
 
Yeah—-kinda.
 
Ferret619 said:
You are quite right-
It’s very much a personal journey and I’m very sorry to hear about the passing of your wife.
My wife and I arnt really materialistic, that said we both do have a mobile (iPhone 4/5 respectively) a car each (under 3k each) and the usual comforts like a TV, a computer for work and so on.
I think there is quite often an interesting comparison where being frugal gets called minimalism.
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Absolutely!!
Frugal is not minimalism and minimalism is not utilitarian.

I classify myself as utilitarian. I still buy what I need but I don't chase after the newest and latest everything.

House, furnishings, vehicle, clothes, air conditioning, a couple of TVs, laptops, mobiles, stereo etc are all a part of my life because I consider them basic necessities.

After this set-up, I'm content and don't feel the need to chase the latest/newest of everything. I buy clothes/shoes as when needed, my mobile is about to turn two years old and still going strong, as is my laptop (Lenovo Carbon X1; 8GB RAM, i7 processor). I generally find laptops run nicely for about 8 years at which point they are too slow and irritating to keep using, so I've a long way to go until I'll need a new one.

We eat out at simple restaurants once or twice a month (nothing fancy) and watch a movie at the cinemas once a month.
 
Despite some delays we are making progress, the first house is being visited by tradies next week to get the property ready for sale in the early new year, following this we will be buying a slightly larger place and then selling another.
So sounds like we will be busy!

Since starting the thread i have concluded I don’t actually care for the FIRE movement, the principals are great but the group think mentality in the online communities I have spent time in have developed some rather ugly tenants and have developed attributes and attitudes that are very similar to those of eating disorders and it gets quite ugly actually and I try to enjoy learning about money.
 
I only really jumped onto proper financial planning quite recently. My wife and I had a couple of properties in Sydney, but we hated the stress of tenants, strata meetings and body corportate bullshit. So we sold everything, moved down to Vic and were able to buy a good house for the kids and to be nearly debt free.

Now in terms of F.I.R.E, I like the idea of quitting, so that I could spend more time with the kids, but I actually like my job (teacher) and I get school holidays to do that. We now try to follow Scott Pape's Barefoot steps. This works for us. It means that we both plan for the future, but also live in the moment too. We love to splurge now and again. We have also set up the three jar system with the kids and they love it too. Many have already said it and we all know it. Life is short, so try to enjoy yourselves.
 
I think it's very important today and tomorrow it will be even more important if you wish to maintain any sort of a lifestyle... I've been retried 23 years.. Best thing I can suggest is remove yourself from consumerism and learn to live-within your means, keep active and eat well.. learn to minimise waste, it's not only better for your wallet but good for the environment as well.
 
I’m just trying to learn all that I can to make the most of this opportunity-
owing a house large enough to support our family long term and being debt free at 31 offers a lot of freedom which i don’t want to squander.
 
I have finally done the last of the work I could on the house we are getting ready to sell. Just another couple of weeks and we will be on the market!
Once this one sells, we buy another and start the process all over again with our current house.



I’ll be so sick of houses.


Looking around our current house it dawns on me that my wife and I have like 6 pieces of furniture in total and are looking to get rid of some of it, I mean who needs that many!
People will think we are trendy minimalists but I sense a trip to ikea in my future.

As for working towards financial independence, we have decided we will continue to pay our current mortgage rate into the investments and over the next few decades (God willing) we should be in pretty good shape.
 
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Yes, I have also been looking specifically at my finances and trying to put a plan together. As I get to the age where I can put more away into investments, sacrifice into super or Employee Share plans, it becomes more important as the time left to retirement (and thus the power of compounding) is shortening.

I have started in US shares now, and topped up some of my local share holdings also. I was previously doing some P2P lending however the risk in it now compared to the interest on offer now is no longer tolerable. My action was to liquidate my P2P positions (and it went into the US Market). Currently my US portfolio is sitting on an annualised gain of 23% outside of dividends of an additional 4% so pretty happy with that.
 
Thread revival.
I am getting closer to being FI, or work optional. Truth is if I manage my expenses carefully I could walk out the door now another year or so (before age 50) will give me a level of assurance and comfort.

I find I have reached a point in my life/career where the prospect of the next achievement (whatever that may be) is not enticing. Perhaps it is a reflection of the stress (mostly non-work related) I've been under for the past 2 years and it changing my outlook on life and what is of value.

What I am wondering about is what motivates people to keep working. More stuff is not the answer for me.
 
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glenos said:
Thread revival.
I am getting closer to being FI, or work optional. Truth is if I manage my expenses carefully I could walk out the door now another year or so (before age 50) will give me a level of assurance and comfort.

I find I have reached a point in my life/career where the prospect of the next achievement (whatever that may be) is not enticing. Perhaps it is a reflection of the stress (mostly non-work related) I've been under for the past 2 years and it changing my outlook on life and what is of value.

What I am wondering about is what motivates people to keep working. More stuff is not the answer for me.
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good on ya mate.. work - life balance is understated IMHO and stress is a literal killer

why do we work? for me the answer is easy.. to live

I dont get people who live to work.. makes no sense as you only get one shot at life so you best enjoy it while you can cos it will be over before you know it.

Yeah you can make more, spend more and buy more stuff but what is the point. As long as you have enough to live a modest life your good.

for me you need to work in order to life your life, pay your bills. I can personally retire now (at least go part time) if it was just about looking after myself, but for me, its also about helping my kids as much as i can. Birthdays, school, marriage and life in general cost money so I am working long enough (10 years max) to see this through

then my days will only be spent walking the dog, fishing, music, gardening and holidaying till its time to meet the boss :)
 
Well, I don't think we are there, not by a long shot. We do have some decent savings, worth to the order of about one year of my wages. However, that does tend to shrink. We own two properties, we got very lucky when living in Madrid, we owned a flat by the time we were 24, that's, more or less, six years before the average age at which adults, in Spain, can emancipate.

We have been renting it out for the last nine years, and now we are in the process of taking legal action to evict our current -and last- tennants. I made a huge error in judgement a few years ago, trying to do the decent thing for people with far less means than us. Boy, did that backfire.

Regardless, law is on our side; time, between us, I reckon not so much. I am getting rather impatient to sell that flat, make some profit on it or, at least, stop paying that mortgage.

I need to know I can use that money in case things really go South for me, healthwise (operations, experimental treatments, you name it, I am firmly on my way to clinical trials but those, so far, would be covered by our public health system). If I don't stand a chance (which is a situation that seems increasingly possible), then I need to know I can leave my two ladies pretty much set, with no financial worries, before checking out.

It's also good to know they will inherit some more stuff on my behalf.

Right now, however, I tend not to make long-term plans. Every day is a blessing and, while worried, I plan on enjoying the ride.

Right now, I have been on medical leave since February. I do miss my job, I went two weeks ago to my orchestra's season opener, and it was a tough evening for me. I know, however, that work will never be the most important thing in my life. I saw my mom destroying both her marital life and the relationship with her family (by this I mean me, my brother is very much there for her), just because she chose to put work above everything else. She's trying her best to recover that but, a, she doesn't really have the tools for that and b, she doesn't really realise she was wrong choosing work over family.
 
Mastropiero said:
just because she chose to put work above everything else.
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My mum and stepdad have done and continue to do similar, although not as extreme as your mum, it is tragic to watch. When they visit they are usually late because of business and will have several phone calls during dinner or an afternoon cuppa, it drives me crazy. Even at lunch for my Mum's birthday she took business calls, it was a Saturday.

We managed to pay out forever home off by age 46, then my wife got a workers comp payout. Although without the payout she would have worked and we could have saved the same amount in 5 years.

My grandson was badly hurt at 5 weeks old, NICU stay and non-accidental. So we have been through courts, child protection and are starting to come out of it. It puts work into perspective.
 
I've made the leap.
I will be stepping down a level at work and going three days a week. Starting in about a month once they replace my current role. Going from running two teams of professionals regulating industrial activity statewide to setting up an internal audit program and some "at my pace" projects. It's going to take some adjustment.

On the Harry front. His father (if you can call him that), who caused the injuries, died in December and Harry gets his estate. We are working through that process now. The big benefit is no trial for the charges against the f*wit and no revisit to family court EVER!! 😛 We are all very happy with that outcome.
 
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