2019 fire cohort

[Trifle]

CONGRATULATIONS @Enigma!  Enjoy the first day of the rest of your life!!


2019 FIRE Cohort:

01/01/19     Bingeworker (52)          CONFIRMED
01/11/19     Avrex (53)                    CONFIRMED
01/31/19     Trifele (51)                   CONFIRMED
02/01/19     Socmonkey (37)           CONFIRMED
02/01/19     August (54)                  CONFIRMED
02/01/19     Keeks (42)                   CONFIRMED
02/01/19     TheShinyHorse             CONFIRMED   
02/13/19     SeanTash (48)              CONFIRMED
02/28/19     nowwhat? (56)             CONFIRMED
03/15/19     Half Stached  (47)        CONFIRMED
03/15/19     FireHazard                   CONFIRMED
03/15/19     Luck12  (41)                CONFIRMED       
03/18/19     chasesfish (36)             CONFIRMED
03/18/19     Cycling Stache (43)       CONFIRMED
03/29/19     Loren Ver (36)              CONFIRMED
03/29/19     Mr. Ver (39)                  CONFIRMED
04/01/19     Ryder (39)                    CONFIRMED
04/04/19     PowerStache (43)          CONFIRMED
04/06/19     Caroline PF                    CONFIRMED SEMI-FIRE
04/07/19     BTDRetire (64)              CONFIRMED
04/19/19     Eric (42)                       CONFIRMED
04/26/19     FIRE 20/20  (42)           CONFIRMED
05/02/19     couponvan (48)             CONFIRMED
05/14/19     anonprof                       CONFIRMED
05/16/19     dude (53)                      CONFIRMED
05/17/19     MaybeBabyMustache      CONFIRMED SABBATICAL
05/17/19     Mowine (58)                  CONFIRMED                   
05/24/19     Prairie Stash (38)           CONFIRMED
05/30/19     Livingthedream55 (59)   CONFIRMED
05/31/19     Odiedog859  (62)           CONFIRMED
06/10/19     tooqk4u22                     CONFIRMED             
06/14/19     Dibdab (56)                   CONFIRMED
06/18/19     RichMoose (29)              CONFIRMED
06/19/19     Waffles  (52)                  CONFIRMED
06/20/19     Parizade  (62)                CONFIRMED
06/21/19     Okonumiyaki (49)          CONFIRMED
06/21/19     Home Stretch (31)         CONFIRMED
07/02/19     DirtDiva                        CONFIRMED
07/03/19     Miss Piggy                     CONFIRMED         
07/05/19     StoaX (58)                    CONFIRMED
07/07/19     Batljunk   (57)               CONFIRMED
07/12/19     5OClocksomewhere        CONFIRMED
07/19/19     Polish_Hammer (51)       CONFIRMED
07/29/19     Lews Therin (29)            CONFIRMED
08/02/19     xbdb                             CONFIRMED
08/08/19     seattlecyclone (34)         CONFIRMED       
08/09/19     Jfer_rose (41)                CONFIRMED
08/20/19     OMY                              CONFIRMED
08/26/19     MissNancyPryor (50)       CONFIRMED
08/30/19     MoMan  (54)                  CONFIRMED                 
08/31/19     Gerard                           CONFIRMED
08/31/19     Oldtoyota                       CONFIRMED SWAMI
09/02/19     Cornbread OMalley (42)  CONFIRMED
09/06/19     dayzero                         CONFIRMED
09/12/19     Classical_Liberal             CONFIRMED
09/27/19     snowdog (58)                 CONFIRMED
09/30/19     Ms. markbike528CBX      CONFIRMED
09/30/19     RetirementDreaming(47) CONFIRMED   
10/01/19     SnakesInTheGrass (55)   CONFIRMED
10/01/19     Trix76  (43)                    CONFIRMED
10/03/19     iluvzbeach (49)               CONFIRMED SEMI-FIRE
10/11/19     BigMoneyJim (49)           CONFIRMED
10/14/19     2Birds1Stone  (32)          CONFIRMED
10/15/19     toocold                           CONFIRMED
10/17/19     I'm Fred (51)                  CONFIRMED
10/22/19     Enigma                           CONFIRMED
11/21/19     Meatgrinder (39)
12/05/19     Flavius (56)
12/06/19     Sid Arthur (59)
12/06/19     NotJen (39)
12/06/19     6-Saturdays (44)
12/19/19     Linea_Norway (46)
12/23/19     Life In Balance (49)
12/31/19     texxan1  (47)
12/??/19     luckyme13  (45)


2019 Cohort with date TBD:
Lowerbills (40)
getoutsoon (52)
MustacheAnxiety
forward
BlindSquirrel
Edgema
Pylortes  (42)
SHO (37)
Thedividebyzero  (45)
Mathieu
DireWolf
Thriftyc
macmoneysaver (59)
VoteCthulu  (39)


OMY/2MY/Etc:
Freedomin5 (38)
Roboturner  (30)
Bateaux (51)
CryingInThePool  (44)
Albireo13  (61)
Cookie78
exit2019  (40)
powersuitrecall  (47)
SamIAm38  (30)
Nifty (31) -- OMM to January of 20
Itchyfeet  (47)
JoJo (45)
JumboShrimp -- A few more months to February of 20
SugarMountain -- Trying for January of 20


OLY
markbike528cbx  (53)      OLY -- CONFIRMED 6/1/18; checking in as OP
MoneyStacher  (50)         OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018
PhilB  (52)                      OLY -- CONFIRMED 10/24/18
sui generis  (41)              OLY -- CONFIRMED 8/17/18
TartanTallulah  (55)          OLY -- CONFIRMED 10/2018
cerat0n1a                       OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018
Chairman                        OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018
Bognish (43)                   OLY -- CONFIRMED 11/16/18
Moxie (58)                      OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018

[GettingClose]

My husband just FIREd - walking around with a smile on his face, literally!  The big problem is that he's not happy that I'm still working and very unhappy whenever I work late or on a weekend.  We've accepted an offer on our "big house" and it will hopefully close in three weeks.   At that point I can consider an end date myself, but it certainly won't be soon enough for him.

[Linea_Norway]

My husband just FIREd - walking around with a smile on his face, literally!  The big problem is that he's not happy that I'm still working and very unhappy whenever I work late or on a weekend.  We've accepted an offer on our "big house" and it will hopefully close in three weeks.   At that point I can consider an end date myself, but it certainly won't be soon enough for him.

Nice that you have a deal for your house. We are in the process of selling and can get our first offer earliest the coming week. But we need to wait and see.

[Loren Ver]

Good luck with the upcoming house sales!  May they be generous and go smoothly!

[Trifle]

As October draws to a close, shout out to @VoteCthulu and @JumboShrimp -- who a while ago identified this month as a tentative FIRE date. 

How are you two doing? 

[JumboShrimp]

Well, I am not going to make October. And unlikely to make 2019.

New target is Feb 7 2020.
Job has been pretty enjoyable and there are some big deadlines in play that make leaving early next year a much better proposition. Delaying for a few months is no big deal and I certainly don't want to be burning any bridges.

My original plan was Oct 2018 but discovered I wasn't quite ready when that rolled around so just let OMY syndrome take over. Since then I have crossed the line where I know my time left is more valuable than the money I can make at a job. Got things I want to do while I'm still healthy. I'd like to say while still young but that passed me by a decade or 2 ago.

Health care considerations have definitely the biggest source of anxiety. I was kind of hoping the DW would keep working for benefits, but she did not enjoy her work so she quit at the end of August. We will be maxing out health benefits over the next few months while we still have the cushy plan from my employment and after that we'll just have to launch out into the unknown.

I know that making some kind commitment /deadline will help keep me focused so I don't drag things out any longer than Feb 7. To that end I have rented an apartment in Spain starting in mid February and and going to buy non-refundable airline tickets in the next few days to make sure any backsliding as painful as possible.
 
As of tomorrow, 100 calendar days, 67 work days left. Each with a smile on my face.

[Trifle]

I know that making some kind commitment /deadline will help keep me focused so I don't drag things out any longer than Feb 7. To that end I have rented an apartment in Spain starting in mid February and and going to buy non-refundable airline tickets in the next few days to make sure any backsliding as painful as possible.
 
As of tomorrow, 100 calendar days, 67 work days left. Each with a smile on my face.

Sorry to lose you @JumboShrimp!  We will miss you.  Love your plan!  Rent that apartment for a loooong stay, longer than any vacation time you could possibly take if you were still working.  ;)

[Omy]

Just checking in after 2 months of being retired...it's going pretty well, but I suffered some anxiety at first about not accomplishing enough. We've organized the garage and office (which was the one room in the house that was a complete disaster). I have bigger organizational plans, but I've realized that I have the rest of my life to accomplish those things.

In the past 2 months, we've had all kinds of things break that had been running perfectly - central air conditioning broke, washing machine died, HVAC in our rental died, toilet tank in rental cracked and leaked through the ceiling below. It's been a PITA, but so much easier to deal with while not having full time jobs.

On the positive side, we are hiking and exploring on a daily basis, taking at least one weekend a month to go on an adventure, and have a cruise lined up this month as well. And our net worth has grown since we stopped working, so that is icing on the cake!

[chasesfish]

Glad to see you're getting along well @Omy - Seven months in and I have no idea how we ever had time to work!

[Omy]

I know, right?!

Funny story about the recent net worth calculation: DH was looking at our checking/savings accounts and asked "How have we spent $70k since August?" I knew we had spent a lot (real estate taxes on three houses, quarterly estimated taxes, repair bills, insurance bills, etc) but I was shocked that we had that kind of unsustainable burn rate. It turned out he had made a mistake in a formula on the spread sheet which accounted for the majority of that $70k.  And when we looked at the stock and investment accounts we had actually gained overall. So maybe this FIRE thing might just work out.

[RetirementDreaming]

I'm confirmed!!  Last day was 9/30/19.  I'm 47.  Just waiting on husband now. He's 7/1/20.

[Trifle]

I'm confirmed!!  Last day was 9/30/19.  I'm 47.  Just waiting on husband now. He's 7/1/20.

Congratulations @RetirementDreaming !!!  Got you CONFIRMED above.   How has your first month been?


ETA:  We are now at 66 FIRE-ees on our incredible list, with 7 more yet to go, and some more potentials on the TBD list.  We are running neck and neck with the Class of 2018, the biggest MMM cohort, which had 73 total graduates last year.   It's going to be close!   

[snowdog]

I'm happy to report that I'm 1 month into retirement and I'm loving it!!  Getting lot's done around the house (at my pace), Began swimming and cycling to get ready for a Tri, and eating a lot better than I did when I was on the road Mon-Fri each week.  I do miss my team at work from time to time, but I do not miss the travel, the pressure, the zillion daily emails, meetings, 2 flights per week, etc...  A huge net positive!!!  Freedom is good.

 

[NotJen]

I just confirmed with HR that my last day will be 12/6/19!  I'll still be (barely) 39 that day.  Excited that my "goal" to quit before 40 is going to work out!

[Trifle]

I just confirmed with HR that my last day will be 12/6/19!  I'll still be (barely) 39 that day.  Excited that my "goal" to quit before 40 is going to work out!

Congrats on setting your date @NotJen!  Got you updated. ^  Fantastic.  You will always be able to say you retired in your thirties!!

[Loren Ver]

Woo hoo!  Congrats on the new confirmations!  Exciting times. 

I hope we manage to beat the 2018 cohort, not so much to win, but just to have more people FIRE!

Thanks for checking in, FIRE folks.  I love hearing from you, even if some of it is a bit rough.

I will be taking a road trip to visit my mother for Thanksgiving.  I haven't had Thanksgiving with my mother since I graduated from high school.  The time off was never enough to justify the trip.  Excited!

[Trifle]

Looks like @meatgrinder may be our lone FIRE-ee in November -- he's scheduled for 11/21.  How's it going @meatgrinder?  Any plans for after your last work day?

I did some clean up on our cohort list and removed a few folks who no longer appear to be on the forum.  Shout out to our remaining 'TBD' folks.  Any chance you'll still FIRE this year, or is it looking like OMY?

@Lowerbills (40)
@getoutsoon (52)
@MustacheAnxiety
@forward
@Blindsquirrel
@Pylortes  (42)
@SHO (37)
@SugarMountain
@Thedividebyzero  (45)
@Mathieu
@DireWolf
@thriftyc
@macmoneysaver (59)
@VoteCthulu  (39)

ETA:  And how about you @luckyme13?  Are you still on for next month?   

[oldtoyota]

My husband just FIREd - walking around with a smile on his face, literally!  The big problem is that he's not happy that I'm still working and very unhappy whenever I work late or on a weekend.  We've accepted an offer on our "big house" and it will hopefully close in three weeks.   At that point I can consider an end date myself, but it certainly won't be soon enough for him.

Are you moving away or moving into smaller and less expensive places?

Nice that you have a deal for your house. We are in the process of selling and can get our first offer earliest the coming week. But we need to wait and see.

[6-Saturdays]

Last day is December 6th 2019, (I'll be 44). DW has decided to continue to work, but is downshifting to part-time. Biggest change will be we are moving to Mexico, can't wait!!!

[Flavius]

Bit of a late joiner to this thread. Have I missed anything? 

My last day will be 5th December at the grand old age of 56. Not exactly RE but managed to get to FI in 6 years after my wife started reading MMM.

After 33 years in full time employment and before that University and school with no gap years I am a little scared but also excited. I feel energised already even though I haven't finished but I'm sure that a few weeks of the Big Lebowski life style will knock that out of me.

[SugarMountain]

I did some clean up on our cohort list and removed a few folks who no longer appear to be on the forum.  Shout out to our remaining 'TBD' folks.  Any chance you'll still FIRE this year, or is it looking like OMY?
@SugarMountain

Looking like I've at least pushed until January, possibly longer.

[meatgrinder]

Still on track. I'm getting a little anxiety with the thought of removing my heroin drip monthly paycheck.

[Trifle]

Welcome to the cohort @6-Saturdays!  Those are some big plans.  Congrats on the upcoming move! 

Welcome @Flavius!  Yes, FIREing in your 50s is RE -- congrats!  Just a few weeks to go.

Sorry to lose you @SugarMountain!  Hope you can pull the plug in 2020.   

I hear you on the nerves, @meatgrinder.  It's a huge life change.  But there's a very high percentage chance that you'll love the freedom and be like, "I should have done this sooner!".  And if FIRE doesn't agree with you for some reason, it's not a one-way door.  You can always get more work if that's what you want to do.   

[firebrand]

Thank you for the invitation to join this fire cohort Trifele. I joined in with the 2020 group months ago, and since then have change my last day to Dec 12, 2019. Every day from now on will be "less than a month". Damn this feels good!

Let's see, how many ways can I describe how short is my time remaining...

I have only 2 full weeks remaining, next week and the first week in December.
I have only 4 weeks remaining and one of those weeks includes a long Thanksgiving holiday break.
This time next week I'll have only 13 working days left (considering my last day probably won't be terribly busy with my typical work activities).

Okay, I'll stop now.

[MissNancyPryor]

"Don't stop, thinkin' about tomorrow

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be here, better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone

Whoooo, ooooo, oooooo ooooo ooo

Oooh, don't you look back......."


Congratulations on joining the bestest cohort of all cohortingness. 

[Trifle]

Pulling the list forward.  Welcome @firebrand!  Our December group is getting big!


2019 FIRE Cohort:

01/01/19     Bingeworker (52)          CONFIRMED
01/11/19     Avrex (53)                    CONFIRMED
01/31/19     Trifele (51)                   CONFIRMED
02/01/19     Socmonkey (37)           CONFIRMED
02/01/19     August (54)                  CONFIRMED
02/01/19     Keeks (42)                   CONFIRMED
02/01/19     TheShinyHorse             CONFIRMED   
02/13/19     SeanTash (48)              CONFIRMED
02/28/19     nowwhat? (56)             CONFIRMED
03/15/19     Half Stached  (47)        CONFIRMED
03/15/19     FireHazard                   CONFIRMED
03/15/19     Luck12  (41)                CONFIRMED       
03/18/19     chasesfish (36)             CONFIRMED
03/18/19     Cycling Stache (43)       CONFIRMED
03/29/19     Loren Ver (36)              CONFIRMED
03/29/19     Mr. Ver (39)                  CONFIRMED
04/01/19     Ryder (39)                    CONFIRMED
04/04/19     PowerStache (43)          CONFIRMED
04/06/19     Caroline PF                    CONFIRMED SEMI-FIRE
04/07/19     BTDRetire (64)              CONFIRMED
04/19/19     Eric (42)                       CONFIRMED
04/26/19     FIRE 20/20  (42)           CONFIRMED
05/02/19     couponvan (48)             CONFIRMED
05/14/19     anonprof                       CONFIRMED
05/16/19     dude (53)                      CONFIRMED
05/17/19     MaybeBabyMustache      CONFIRMED SABBATICAL
05/17/19     Mowine (58)                  CONFIRMED                   
05/24/19     Prairie Stash (38)           CONFIRMED
05/30/19     Livingthedream55 (59)   CONFIRMED
05/31/19     Odiedog859  (62)           CONFIRMED
06/10/19     tooqk4u22                     CONFIRMED             
06/14/19     Dibdab (56)                   CONFIRMED
06/18/19     RichMoose (29)              CONFIRMED
06/19/19     Waffles  (52)                  CONFIRMED
06/20/19     Parizade  (62)                CONFIRMED
06/21/19     Okonumiyaki (49)          CONFIRMED
06/21/19     Home Stretch (31)         CONFIRMED
07/02/19     DirtDiva                        CONFIRMED
07/03/19     Miss Piggy                     CONFIRMED         
07/05/19     StoaX (58)                    CONFIRMED
07/07/19     Batljunk   (57)               CONFIRMED
07/12/19     5OClocksomewhere        CONFIRMED
07/19/19     Polish_Hammer (51)       CONFIRMED
07/29/19     Lews Therin (29)            CONFIRMED
08/02/19     xbdb                             CONFIRMED
08/08/19     seattlecyclone (34)         CONFIRMED       
08/09/19     Jfer_rose (41)                CONFIRMED
08/20/19     OMY                              CONFIRMED
08/26/19     MissNancyPryor (50)       CONFIRMED
08/30/19     MoMan  (54)                  CONFIRMED                 
08/31/19     Gerard                           CONFIRMED
08/31/19     Oldtoyota                       CONFIRMED SWAMI
09/02/19     Cornbread OMalley (42)  CONFIRMED
09/06/19     dayzero                         CONFIRMED
09/12/19     Classical_Liberal             CONFIRMED
09/27/19     snowdog (58)                 CONFIRMED
09/30/19     Ms. markbike528CBX      CONFIRMED
09/30/19     RetirementDreaming(47) CONFIRMED   
10/01/19     SnakesInTheGrass (55)   CONFIRMED
10/01/19     Trix76  (43)                    CONFIRMED
10/03/19     iluvzbeach (49)               CONFIRMED SEMI-FIRE
10/11/19     BigMoneyJim (49)           CONFIRMED
10/14/19     2Birds1Stone  (32)          CONFIRMED
10/15/19     toocold                           CONFIRMED
10/17/19     I'm Fred (51)                  CONFIRMED
10/22/19     Enigma                           CONFIRMED
11/21/19     Meatgrinder (39)
12/05/19     Flavius (56)
12/06/19     Sid Arthur (59)
12/06/19     NotJen (39)
12/06/19     6-Saturdays (44)
12/12/19     firebrand (59)
12/12/19     Linea_Norway (46)
12/23/19     Life In Balance (49)
12/31/19     texxan1  (47)
12/??/19     luckyme13  (45)


2019 Cohort with date TBD:
Lowerbills (40)
getoutsoon (52)
MustacheAnxiety
forward
BlindSquirrel
Edgema
Pylortes  (42)
SHO (37)
Thedividebyzero  (45)
Mathieu
DireWolf
Thriftyc
macmoneysaver (59)
VoteCthulu  (39)


OMY/2MY/Etc:
Freedomin5 (38)
Roboturner  (30)
Bateaux (51)
CryingInThePool  (44)
Albireo13  (61)
Cookie78
exit2019  (40)
powersuitrecall  (47)
SamIAm38  (30)
Nifty (31) -- OMM to January of 20
Itchyfeet  (47)
JoJo (45)
JumboShrimp -- A few more months to February of 20
SugarMountain -- Trying for January of 20


OLY
markbike528cbx  (53)      OLY -- CONFIRMED 6/1/18; checking in as OP
MoneyStacher  (50)         OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018
PhilB  (52)                      OLY -- CONFIRMED 10/24/18
sui generis  (41)              OLY -- CONFIRMED 8/17/18
TartanTallulah  (55)          OLY -- CONFIRMED 10/2018
cerat0n1a                       OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018
Chairman                        OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018
Bognish (43)                   OLY -- CONFIRMED 11/16/18
Moxie (58)                      OLY -- CONFIRMED 2018

[Linea_Norway]

I was told yesterday that I need to use up the extra flexible hours that I have, more than 20. So my last day is moving foreward. At the moment I have enough hours to make Monday 16th of Dec at lunch my last day. With a few hours more, I can have Thursday 12th as last day. Thursday is a much better day, as I will avoid woorking another Monday.

[Trifle]

That's great @Linea_Norway!  Less than a month to go!  It must be feeling pretty real now.

[Linea_Norway]

That's great @Linea_Norway!  Less than a month to go!  It must be feeling pretty real now.

I am suddenly getting very scared financially. We still haven't sold the house, so 63% of our NW is still tied up in the house, 33% of NW is in index funds and a little bit is in cash, which is probably enough for a year's expenses. In addition we will receive a high December pay (only 50% income tax) and our tax free vacation money in January.

In theory we should be good to go for 2020 using up our stash and whatever we receive in last salary and vacation money. I just need DH to transfer some of his cash to my account, as I pay lots of our bills and I don't have a pile of cash laying around.

But what makes me nervous is that currently all kinds of expenses are just appearing, like that the main car needed a big repair and now shortly after had a broken headlight. And I know issues might pop up all the time.

We certainly hope to sell the house in the remainder of 2020. But when should we start selling our stocks? Currently they are very high and we don't know whether that will last until next year. I had hope to receive the house money somewhere in spring 2020 and then have several years of expenses in cash, and just investing a part of it in stock. This is no longer the case. So as long we are own the house, we are vulnerable for a bear market.

One good thing: the public TV license next year will be paid by letting everyone pay a little more income tax. Our income will be (close to) zero in 2020, so I think we don't need to pay that year. 300 euros saved.

My boss said that if I felt like working a month or 2 longer then 1rst of January, I could just say so. Then I could stay. I wasn't offered more money. And anyway, I am so glad moving my end date forward. If I got bored, I would rather do some other simpler job.

[Loren Ver]

@firebrand love it.  Keep on counting!!!
@Linea_Norway that is wonderful news.  Less Mondays are better!
@meatgrinder cold turkey is the best way to quit!
@Flavius Welcome!  It really is wonderful, and if it isn't for you, you have time to figure out what is.
@6-Saturdays so, will you be moving to Mexico while your wife is still working part time? If so, that is an awesome gig!!

I realized the other day that is has been over 8 months since we pulled the plug.  My brain keeps telling me it was a few weeks ago.  Ha.  This week was full of people complaining about going to work due to the very cold and icy weather.  I'm so glad I got to miss the driving.  I did have a very nice walk though.  I love walking in the snow.  So happy.

[Linea_Norway]

I realized the other day that is has been over 8 months since we pulled the plug.  My brain keeps telling me it was a few weeks ago.  Ha.  This week was full of people complaining about going to work due to the very cold and icy weather.  I'm so glad I got to miss the driving.  I did have a very nice walk though.  I love walking in the snow.  So happy.

I hear you about the driving. I was hoping for the snow this year to be late, but this week has been one with snowy/rainy circumstances and very slippery roads. No fun when I am out there on the small roads, but with a lot of other commuting traffic.

I am really looking forward to cross country skiing. Then we need good snow. I am so looking forward to doing that in daylight on weekdays.

[Linea_Norway]

DH didn't understand how I could be finished so early. There are lots of days to take off until the 31rd of Dec. I know I already ordered a few days off after Christmas, as those are short days and cost few hours. But I might still have 30 and 31rst of Dec, which I just don't recall. As I didn't bring my job pc home, I need to wait to Monday to double check the dates. Maybe I am very wrong and my last day will be around the 19th. I guess I will survive the extra week as well.

Today I printed a bunch of hiking maps on the color printer at work, as a last "goodie". I already have lots of maps, but I lack a few that I plan to visit some day.

[6-Saturdays]

@firebrand love it.  Keep on counting!!!
@Linea_Norway that is wonderful news.  Less Mondays are better!
@meatgrinder cold turkey is the best way to quit!
@Flavius Welcome!  It really is wonderful, and if it isn't for you, you have time to figure out what is.
@6-Saturdays so, will you be moving to Mexico while your wife is still working part time? If so, that is an awesome gig!!

Yes, her company really likes her and will take whatever time she is willing to give them. It is going to be a pretty good set-up. US dollars go really far in Mexico. I don't think we actually need the extra money, but it keeps her inner bag lady quiet, so I will be a "kept man" I've told her it's the ultimate accessory :) 

[PhilB]

@Linea_Norway I would be tempted to sell enough stocks while markets are high to cover your spending for at least the next year.  When you are negotiating the house sale you really don't want to be thinking 'I have to sell this quickly or I might run out of cash!' or you could feel pressured into accepting a low offer.  You may feel differently, but that's the way my mind would work.

[Loren Ver]

@firebrand love it.  Keep on counting!!!
@Linea_Norway that is wonderful news.  Less Mondays are better!
@meatgrinder cold turkey is the best way to quit!
@Flavius Welcome!  It really is wonderful, and if it isn't for you, you have time to figure out what is.
@6-Saturdays so, will you be moving to Mexico while your wife is still working part time? If so, that is an awesome gig!!

Yes, her company really likes her and will take whatever time she is willing to give them. It is going to be a pretty good set-up. US dollars go really far in Mexico. I don't think we actually need the extra money, but it keeps her inner bag lady quiet, so I will be a "kept man" I've told her it's the ultimate accessory :)

An excellent score, on both fronts!

[Linea_Norway]

@Linea_Norway I would be tempted to sell enough stocks while markets are high to cover your spending for at least the next year.  When you are negotiating the house sale you really don't want to be thinking 'I have to sell this quickly or I might run out of cash!' or you could feel pressured into accepting a low offer.  You may feel differently, but that's the way my mind would work.

@PhilB So far we got an offer that was below our minimum and we didn't accept it. Also because it had some conditions that were unacceptable. But we know that with our current stock savings, we can live here for another 7 years or so before we really need the money that is in the house.
But I don't want to wait endlessly long. If in the next round, people are not willing to pay the price that we want, then maybe the house isn't worth as much as we think. We will try again in early spring and see what happens then.

We have seen with a house below us on the hill, that they had it for sale for 2 years, slightly lowering the price. They ended up selling for a really low price. I don't want to sit here for two more years and then still get a low price. But we can definitely wait for half a year in the hope that we them get more poteltial buyers and a higher price.

[Linea_Norway]

DH didn't understand how I could be finished so early. There are lots of days to take off until the 31rd of Dec. I know I already ordered a few days off after Christmas, as those are short days and cost few hours. But I might still have 30 and 31rst of Dec, which I just don't recall. As I didn't bring my job pc home, I need to wait to Monday to double check the dates. Maybe I am very wrong and my last day will be around the 19th. I guess I will survive the extra week as well.

Today I printed a bunch of hiking maps on the color printer at work, as a last "goodie". I already have lots of maps, but I lack a few of areas that I plan to visit some day.

Back at work and looking at the hour registration system. It looks like I had already ordered all days off to the end of the year. Now I just need to build up another 2 hours of flexible time, to be able to take the whole 16th of Dec off as well. That should be no problem in the next 4 weeks.

After investigating the maps at home, I found another couple of maps that I want to print out. Need to wait for some quiet moment at work.

[Loren Ver]

That's good news Linea_Norway!   I am glad you are getting all those days off :).

As for me, I got a head cold.  The feeling of not needed to go to work, or call in, or anything Monday morning makes being sick not so bad.  Now I am sitting around sipping warm juice and having some quality time with my box of tissues.

[NotJen]

12 working days to go!  I've committed to carrying out a bag full of personal items each day that I need to take home.  It's surprising the number of things that have accumulated over 16 years.  I'm glad I'm starting the clean-up process early.

Today's "score" is a bunch of plastic grocery bags found in a desk drawer.  I use them to scoop cat litter, and have come close to running out recently, so this is very exciting!  Lol.

[Linea_Norway]

12 working days to go!  I've committed to carrying out a bag full of personal items each day that I need to take home.  It's surprising the number of things that have accumulated over 16 years.  I'm glad I'm starting the clean-up process early.

Today's "score" is a bunch of plastic grocery bags found in a desk drawer.  I use them to scoop cat litter, and have come close to running out recently, so this is very exciting!  Lol.

I also have only 12 working days to go! We moved offices last year, so I don't have much crap around. I think I can take all I own in two trips, one the dressing room downstairs and one my desk and drawer block. There are a few books of mine in a book shelf, but I don't think I want to litter my house with them.

[Trifle]

12 working days to go! 

Hooray @NotJen !  Do you have any plans for after FIRE? 

[Loren Ver]

You two are so close to single digits :D.  Woo Hoo!

[Linea_Norway]

12 working days to go!  I've committed to carrying out a bag full of personal items each day that I need to take home.  It's surprising the number of things that have accumulated over 16 years.  I'm glad I'm starting the clean-up process early.

Today's "score" is a bunch of plastic grocery bags found in a desk drawer.  I use them to scoop cat litter, and have come close to running out recently, so this is very exciting!  Lol.

I also have only 12 16 working days to go! We moved offices last year, so I don't have much crap around. I think I can take all I own in two trips, one the dressing room downstairs and one my desk and drawer block. There are a few books of mine in a book shelf, but I don't think I want to litter my house with them.

Edited. I had the number 12 in my head because of the 12th of the 12th, my last day. But 16 working days left according to my phone app.

[firebrand]

12 working days to go!  I've committed to carrying out a bag full of personal items each day that I need to take home.  It's surprising the number of things that have accumulated over 16 years.  I'm glad I'm starting the clean-up process early.

Today's "score" is a bunch of plastic grocery bags found in a desk drawer.  I use them to scoop cat litter, and have come close to running out recently, so this is very exciting!  Lol.

I also have only 12 16 working days to go! We moved offices last year, so I don't have much crap around. I think I can take all I own in two trips, one the dressing room downstairs and one my desk and drawer block. There are a few books of mine in a book shelf, but I don't think I want to litter my house with them.

Edited. I had the number 12 in my head because of the 12th of the 12th, my last day. But 16 working days left according to my phone app.

Damn. I got all excited for a second knowing we have the same RE date.

[NotJen]

There are a few books of mine in a book shelf, but I don't think I want to litter my house with them.

Yes, I have a shelf of old textbooks that are pretty much useless (in spite of the fact that I'm pretty sure physics hasn't changed in the last 20 years).  I'm not going to leave them for someone else to deal with - so I'll bring them home and try to sell or recycle them.  Bringing things home piecemeal makes it more likely I'll deal with them appropriately rather than let them sit in a pile for a while!

Hooray @NotJen !  Do you have any plans for after FIRE? 

Very loose plans.  2 weeks at home with no agenda, 2 weeks visiting my family for the holidays, then in January I'll start to look into volunteer opportunities, work on fixing up my house and selling more of my stuff, and decide what the heck I want to do in the future!  Or at least where I want to move.

[Linea_Norway]

Hooray @NotJen !  Do you have any plans for after FIRE? 

Very loose plans.  2 weeks at home with no agenda, 2 weeks visiting my family for the holidays, then in January I'll start to look into volunteer opportunities, work on fixing up my house and selling more of my stuff, and decide what the heck I want to do in the future!  Or at least where I want to move.

At least our plans are very similar, apart from the volunteering bit. (I already volunteer a bit, but I just call it a hobby)
And our house already looks presentable and is for sale.

[SeanTash]

A little update since FIREing in February,

Since then, I've got rid of all my stuff in Australia (except what I can carry) and I've been travelling in Asia - Bhutan, Thailand and mostly here in Nepal.
I've been trekking like crazy for the last 7 weeks. It feels good to be exercising my body again so much.
I've lost a bunch of weight, and feel as fit as at any time in my life.

In a surprising twist, I'm actually considering some kind of SWAMI  - I realise how toxic my last workplace was, but I think a new location (I'm thinking somewhere like Barcelona or Berlin) and a cool smallish company might actually be a genuinely fun challenge.
This is partly driven by my realisation that my budget is really lean - even in Nepal, one of the cheapest countries in the world, I've gone over it on the odd day - so it would be really difficult in Europe (I do want to spend some time there each year)
Part of the problem is that mentally I was using prices from my last extensive travel a few years ago, when the Aussie $ was about on par with the U.S. $. Now its closer to 2/3, and local prices seem to be based mainly off of the greenback's value.

But it's still a choice - I can live frugally if I need to. Or I can do other work for fun - english teaching, woofing for accomodation+food, etc. So not decided yet. I definitely won't be taking a boring job at a big corporation that sucks the life out of me each day!

Oh and for the record @Trifele, I'm 48 (for the list).

I think it's high time I updated!

So after all the travel I got back to Ireland with a half baked plan to do some work. I looked at Barcelona and London, but ended up taking a job very close to my family in Ireland (in software).
I enjoyed the novelty of working in rural Ireland, but the job was soooooo ... Soul destroying... That I quit after 6 weeks!

I spent another couple of months hanging out with family and doing an awesome Iceland trip, before an ex colleague offered me a part time (3 days a week) gig back in Oz.

Tbh, the thought of avoiding Irish winter was enough for me to give it a go.

It's turned out great. Part time work is sooo much better.
And it's a tiny company, no red tape, or bs. Just get stuff done.
It's just a short contract, but I'm happy to do it longer if they want me longer.

In real moustacian fashion, I've hardly paid anything in rent, just a weeks airbandb at the start. The rest of the time I've been petsitting,
with a few days here and there with friends.
So even though it's not the highest paid gig, and it's only part time, I'm still saving a bit. And the best part is it doesn't feel like work.

I go hiking for hours midweek, take naps on my days not in office and generally am loving life.
 

[Linea_Norway]

A little update since FIREing in February,

Since then, I've got rid of all my stuff in Australia (except what I can carry) and I've been travelling in Asia - Bhutan, Thailand and mostly here in Nepal.
I've been trekking like crazy for the last 7 weeks. It feels good to be exercising my body again so much.
I've lost a bunch of weight, and feel as fit as at any time in my life.

In a surprising twist, I'm actually considering some kind of SWAMI  - I realise how toxic my last workplace was, but I think a new location (I'm thinking somewhere like Barcelona or Berlin) and a cool smallish company might actually be a genuinely fun challenge.

I feel your pain about the valuta thing. The Norwegian crown is also hopelessly low, so that Europe and the US are now like 25% more expensive than they used to be. It is therefore cheapest to stay in our own country during vacations.
This is partly driven by my realisation that my budget is really lean - even in Nepal, one of the cheapest countries in the world, I've gone over it on the odd day - so it would be really difficult in Europe (I do want to spend some time there each year)
Part of the problem is that mentally I was using prices from my last extensive travel a few years ago, when the Aussie $ was about on par with the U.S. $. Now its closer to 2/3, and local prices seem to be based mainly off of the greenback's value.

But it's still a choice - I can live frugally if I need to. Or I can do other work for fun - english teaching, woofing for accomodation+food, etc. So not decided yet. I definitely won't be taking a boring job at a big corporation that sucks the life out of me each day!

Oh and for the record @Trifele, I'm 48 (for the list).

I think it's high time I updated!

So after all the travel I got back to Ireland with a half baked plan to do some work. I looked at Barcelona and London, but ended up taking a job very close to my family in Ireland (in software).
I enjoyed the novelty of working in rural Ireland, but the job was soooooo ... Soul destroying... That I quit after 6 weeks!

I spent another couple of months hanging out with family and doing an awesome Iceland trip, before an ex colleague offered me a part time (3 days a week) gig back in Oz.

Tbh, the thought of avoiding Irish winter was enough for me to give it a go.

It's turned out great. Part time work is sooo much better.
And it's a tiny company, no red tape, or bs. Just get stuff done.
It's just a short contract, but I'm happy to do it longer if they want me longer.

In real moustacian fashion, I've hardly paid anything in rent, just a weeks airbandb at the start. The rest of the time I've been petsitting,
with a few days here and there with friends.
So even though it's not the highest paid gig, and it's only part time, I'm still saving a bit. And the best part is it doesn't feel like work.

I go hiking for hours midweek, take naps on my days not in office and generally am loving life.

Sound like a good situation you are in now, with a part time job with no BS. Interesting to hear you are only pet sitting and don't have your own place. Not my personal thing, but very badass.

In Spain the unemployment among young people is very high. So thinking you could come in there as a foreigner and just take a job is not so realistic.

[SeanTash]

Sound like a good situation you are in now, with a part time job with no BS. Interesting to hear you are only pet sitting and don't have your own place. Not my personal thing, but very badass.

In Spain the unemployment among young people is very high. So thinking you could come in there as a foreigner and just take a job is not so realistic.

Haha, yeah I get a lot of *very* strange looks when I tell people I'm pet sitting. I kind of fell into it, I have no furniture and as I'm only here for a few months and furnished options aren't great, I was planning on airbandbing, but a friend put me onto petsitting.
It's definitely not for everyone, but I recommend it to anyone who is very flexible and looking for something different. I'm actually really enjoying the interactions with the pets, and getting to live in different parts of the city. But I guess it can be a bit hit and miss finding consistent sits.

Re:Spain, I'm a software developer, and Barcelona is a bit of a tech hub at the moment, so plenty of work in english speaking companies there. I had recruiters contacting me, and arranging remote video interviews. It's just it's not that well paid for a city that's not all that cheap. Plus, most of the jobs were full time permanent, which I don't really want.

p.s.   congratulations on your impending FIRE!

[Trifle]

Did you wrap up yesterday @meatgrinder?