Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3316024 times)

Fortuna

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1150 on: March 12, 2014, 08:16:29 PM »
Hi Everyone - been a reader of the blog for probably about 6 months and have not really checked out the forums yet so thought it was about time.  I am married no kids and live in Toronto, Ontario Canada area.

Looking forward to chatting with you all and specifically the other Canadian readers so we can learn from each other what works well for the Northern Mustachians!

Fonzico

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1151 on: March 13, 2014, 09:33:56 AM »
Hello Everyone!

I'm Fonzico, a 28 yr old married Canadian. I'm pretty lucky in the fact that my parents raised me on the frugal side of things (nothing like MMM, but much better than the Standard Consumer Lifestyle) with a strong aversion to debt. My husband and I graduated from University with a mere $6,500 in student loans combined, which we are in the process of aggressively paying off, and should be done with by the end of summer 2014.

Our next goal will be saving up for a down payment on a house. Our dreams of FI involve one day owning a homestead and living a more-or-less off the grid lifestyle, so that is the ultimate motivation for us.

We're only at a 25% savings rate right now though - I just found MMM about a month ago, and am working on getting it together - the satellite TV will be cancelled as soon as the Stanley Cup is over (ahhh, compromises!), the phone bill has already been reduced a smidge, and we are looking for a second bike and have committed to using self-propulsion as much as possible this summer to get started on breaking the car addiction.

We also started our own company last fall, making vinyl signs, vehicle decals and vinyl decorated clothing, putting my husband's graphic design skills to good use. It's a good set up, in that it's a low-overhead business right now (out of the basement) and we've made back the initial investment already. It's not bringing in a ton right now, but every little bit helps, since we've kept our day-jobs so far.

I'm so grateful for everything Mr and Mrs MM have put out there for the benefit of us all, and that I was lucky enough to stumble across it when I did. Here's to FI!

THATlibartsgrad

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1152 on: March 13, 2014, 01:02:52 PM »
Hi!

I'm 23, recently got my first Actual Salaried Job (only a paycheck in!), want to hit my head slowly and repeatedly against a wall every day for choosing to pay for college by falling for the myth that private education will pay itself off monetarily, am continually an evolving minimalist, and am working on getting out of debt asap.

Consumer Debt: Juuuust (like 5$ or so...) under 6,000$ on one card. Yes I am an idiot. No it was not all shopping; in fact, a good chunk of it came from rent/utilities because emotionally living with the parents would've been damaging and I eventually felt very guilty mooching off kind friends when my pitiful temp paychecks/odd jobs didn't cut it. Believe half of my paychecks go to get rid of it ASAP because yes, my hair is on fire.

Student Loans: About 45,000$ for undergrad and a MA degree, 14,000$ or so of which is no-interest. I've only ever wanted to work in museums, so while this feels like a STUPID DEGREE TO GET right now, I'll eventually be working doing what I love. After I make money. Because anthropology does not equal money. However, I am still an idiot for having paid for it when I could've gone to the best school for the program for FREE-- How the hell can an 18 year old who grew up in suburbia be trusted to make that kind of investment with their and/or their parents money by choosing their area of interest as a know-nothing high-schooler??? I didn't know! I didn't knoooooow! *melts to floor wailing*

Pet Peeve: Those who say Millenials are lazy. There is no larger proportion of us who are lazy than any other generation. What we are is distrustful and disillusioned, no so much unlike anyone else. Stop picking on us and start pinpointing how you can put our skill sets to good-for-humanity work, world! /endrant

After lurking for months, I'm really excited to be here and actually have an income to implement all these great Mustachian philosophies on. Cheers!
« Last Edit: March 13, 2014, 01:05:12 PM by THATlibartsgrad »

highFIguy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1153 on: March 13, 2014, 01:39:03 PM »
It's time to stop lurking.

I found MMM via a post on Fark.com maybe six months ago or so.  I have no idea what the topic was or who posted the reply, but I clicked on an intriguing link in a thread there and was taken to the MMM site.  I read some of the highly ranked posts and was so taken with so many of the notions that I went and read every post from start to finish.  I was hooked.

I guess the timing was right for me.  My mother and grandmother had both died in the last year, leaving some money behind which really changed my thinking about my abilities to retire.  I used to believe that I'd work 'til I was 70 because I am fortunate enough to do something I mostly enjoy.  Now, the idea that I could reduce my workload, enjoy what work I do even more, and enjoy some additional freedom has taken hold, and I now view the world through a prism where instead of 70 I might "retire" at 50 or 55 (I'll be 44 this year).

My parents were thrifty, and I guess the older I get the more natural this comes to me, too.  I wish I had sacrificed a bit more to save a bit more when I was younger but alas.  Right now, I am saving about 40% of my income.  I was doing that without knowing what that meant for my work life or for FI.  Now that I am (more) aware of how that saving can translate into freedom, I am anxious to get there, and will be looking for ways to save more.

I still have a lot to learn, and this is a great place to do that.  I look forward to more time here.

G-dog

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1154 on: March 13, 2014, 08:24:48 PM »
Hi.  G-dog here, started reading the blog and forums a early in 2014, so still a newbie. Obviously, I don't read or follow the rules, otherwise I would have said 'hi' earlier.
Married, 2 dogs, 0 kids.  Looking forward to financial independence/ early retirement as soon as I can while maximizing the benefit options from my employer (retire officially vs. quit).
Hoping to become more savvy, more DIY, more frugal and more confident with the help of this community of 'staches.

ZeroGBuff

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1155 on: March 14, 2014, 06:17:33 PM »
Hi all!

I'm a mid-30s single female rocket scientist who has been reading MMM for a little over a year.  I can't begin to say what a difference this site has made in my life.  While I've always been frugal by nature (telling friends I'm a "compulsive saver"), this is the first time I've seen the whole picture in one place.  About a decade ago, while bored at work, I toyed with the idea of FI, and all I saw was the "conventional wisdom" of needing millions of dollars saved up.  Some quick math told me that it would require decades of saving 100% of my income to get there, so I gave up.  At the time, I thought Wall Street was equivalent to Vegas.  Boy, was that naive!

Over the past year, I've been working through the blog, treating it like a graduate course.  Inspired by this blog, I have done the following:

- started my own independent consulting business
- turned a hobby from costing me money into making a small profit
- moved my money to Vanguard (got my mom switched over too!)
- reduced the already-low miles on my hybrid car to the point where I only gas up a few times a year (+ road trips)
- started riding my bike nearly everywhere in town (still need to upgrade the cargo capacity so I can do even more)
- attempted to subtly turn a few likely friends onto the joys of Mustachianism
- shaved a bit off of the bills by upping deductibles and downgrading to less-premium plans
- joined REI and Costco
- learned many exciting new skills

These life changes have made me happier and healthier than anything else I can point to in my post-college life.  So, yeah, now that I'm on my way, I figured it was time to come out of the shadows, stop lurking, and join in the conversation.

Nerdly

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1156 on: March 15, 2014, 08:47:36 PM »
Hi All,

Long time reader, first post. I am just beginning my path to FI. It will be a long road, but the effort has already been paying off! I look forward to participating in the forums since I have already used so much information from them.


Retiree Wanna Be

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1157 on: March 16, 2014, 11:16:02 AM »
Hello!  Been devouring the blog articles from this website for a couple days now and just registered for the forums.

Love what I've been reading so far and look forward to discussing topics and getting feedback from all here in the forums.

Cuttlefish Clive

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1158 on: March 17, 2014, 10:16:28 AM »
Hello, all!

I found MMM via YNAB a month or so ago, & have read all the blog posts & now am getting started on the forums. I'm married, mid 30s software engineer, but currently staying home with our 2 kiddos, 6 & almost 2. I will likely start working part time in the next 6-12 months, and then up my hours when the younger kid starts preschool. I am really digging the MMM message, and feel like in a lot of ways I've always had much of the point of view, but just never thought of how it can apply specifically to money, or how far to take it. My DH is, shall we say, less inclined in that direction, but he independently found the blog a couple weeks ago & mentioned it, so there is hope! Although, I can't imagine him ever giving up his anti-Moustachian car. Or agreeing to just put on a damned sweater when it's cold out.

We do not have CC debt, but do have the aforementioned car (my car is paid off - a CRV, so I am keeping a lookout for a wagon/hatchback that has comparable mileage & has been well care for, but that gets better gas mileage - usual driving is around 25mpg. I *might* get DH to not freak out about me riding a bike to say, the grocery store, but I would never get him to agree to me taking the kids on the roads around here, so that's out for now) and two mortgages (one house is rented to people who are probably not going anywhere for a while, and have expressed interest in buying it when they can qualify), as well as DH's student loan - just under 10K at 8%. The student loan is the first thing on our list to get rid of, so extra money is going to that. Our oldest will be either moving to public school in the fall or I will be homeschooling, either way that will free up some money starting in June, so I'm looking forward to that!

In the mean time, I am working on the things I have the most control over -my own personal spending (was never much, but now it's almost zero), spending on the kids (have a harder time with this, but it, too, is way down over the last couple months!). I would really like to tackle the groceries next. I saw recent posts about tracking grocery categories & figuring out price per serving of favorite meals, and I think both of those will help. I already (mostly) meal plan, make most meals from scratch, & buy extra of basics that are on sale.

Anyway, some of this stuff is probably more appropriate in other forums, so I'll leave it at that!

BlueHouse

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1159 on: March 17, 2014, 04:55:03 PM »
Hi everyone,
I found the forums a few weeks ago and just today posted my Reader Case Study.  I’m hoping to ramp up my savings so I can stop living in fear of what will happen “if”, and instead be prepared in case the worst actually does happen.  I never thought FI was possible, and just followed the plan that we’re all programmed to follow.  Really glad I found MMM and really glad of all the advice I’ve already received on the forums.

B L I S S

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1160 on: March 17, 2014, 08:35:31 PM »
I'm obsessed with money and finances.
I never used to be like this, but now that I am, I might as well learn everything I can from those who share similar interests.
I'm a young gun - 23 - and I want to see $1 million before 3,652 days pass by.
I don't believe in everything MMM promotes, but in general he, and everyone here, has got the right idea.

Looking forward to learning from you all.

pards

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1161 on: March 19, 2014, 04:21:41 PM »
Hi everyone,

    I've been reading this blog (as well as other FI blogs) the past year or so. I'm 40 yrs old, married with a child - currently living in Sydney, Australia with my family but have worked in a couple of other countries.
   
   My wife and I are currently working our way towards financial independence, target is by the time I become 50 but hoping to do it earlier. We've recently paid off our house and are now mortgage free - but we've used up all our money in the process of paying off our house. The main purpose for me in reading this and other blogs is to gain inspiration as I really want my wife and I to both reach FI in 5 years time. This financial independence should be something my wife and I will be "mentally" comfortable with.
   
   We currently save around 65% of our combined net income but hoping to make it around 70%. We're currently saving for a deposit on a rental house - the idea being we buy a cheaper house/apartment - rent it out for now and later on retire in it while renting out the house we now own. On top of this, we plan on putting some cash in the bank and some in other investments - most likely Index funds or dividend stocks but I'll do some more research on it.

   I just want to say that it's nice to see a site of like-minded people. This is quite a change from people who say things like "C'mon, you won't be able to take your money with you when you die." (got a couple of college friends who use to say this).
   
   That's all for now. Good luck to everyone going for FI.

daschtick

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1162 on: March 19, 2014, 06:41:33 PM »
I have been on this site quite a bit since stumbling upon it while researching Traditional versus Roth IRAs.  Sites like this and jhcollins are extremely refreshing to visit when compared to the established stuffy financial blogs.  I wholeheartedly agree with the general premise of this site, as I have longed believed in the "It's not getting what you want, but wanting what you've got" mantra.

Although my wife and I have paid off our home, and have always been diligent savers through our work 401k plans, we have typically adjusted our lifestyle upward to dispose of excess cash(!)  We figured that since we were both in excellent financial shape for (traditional) retirement, we might as well enjoy the rest.  The idea of FIRE never really occurred to either of us until reading deep into this site.  The funny thing is that we determined that we could actually retire today, as we already have a reasonable stash, however, we are not quite ready for the financial diet that we would need to make to live at this reduced level.  BUT, we have begun to make changes, and the idea of FIRE has really begun to set in with my wife.  We are generally much happier knowing that we could leave our jobs at any moment to take up more satisfying, but probably lower paying careers.  The idea of complete freedom is absolutely intoxicating, and like many others have said, is strongly addicting!

To start, my wife traded her $40 YMCA membership for a $10 Planet Fitness membership.  As a bonus, if she checks in at Planet Fitness so many times a month, her work picks up the $10 fee, for a total monthly fee of $0!  Next, I ditched our stupid expensive US Cellular Plan for 3 smartphones.  The base rate was $155/month, but the bill came to $180 after taxes!  This one always pissed me off, but I never felt like there was a suitable alternative.  Enter Republic Wireless with the Moto X.  Yes, I spent $900 to get 3 new phones, but I also sold my old Samsung Galaxy's on CL for $650, so I actually only spent $250 for 3 new Moto Xs.  Next, I decided that we would each get the $25 plan, but upon arrival, my awesome wife told me that since she had Wifi at home, work, and Planet Fitness :-), that she would be fine with the $10 plan!  My base rate went from $155 down to $60 for 3 smartphones!  But that is not all, as cellular taxes are just plain nasty - I went from paying $25/mo to $8/mo in taxes.  (I can't believe that I was paying $300/yr in cell phone taxes - WTF!)   So, in the end, my bill went from $180 down to $68, for a $112/mo savings - $1344/yr!  So within the period of a  month, we are now saving $152/mo, or $1824 year, and we aren't missing anything.  In fact, with Republic Wireless, we have experienced a few improvements, such as a strong cell phone signal in our house due to availability of Wifi calling, and free unlimited text, in which my $180 plan would charge a quarter for each message (we used heywire for free).

And now for some BIG changes....

I have been an avid boater most of my life.  I grew up around boats, and I owned an 18' Bayliner outboard for 14 years, and as part of the my ritual of disposing of a cash surplus, two years ago I decided that I was going to sell that boat, and move into a high end 20' boat.  The good news is that I did well with the sale, having only 'lost ' $2800 in depreciation for 14 years of boating.  In the world of boats, that is next to nothing.   On a similar note, I picked up a great deal on my dream boat - a 20' Cobalt, in which I paid cash for.  It was February, the boat was seven years old, and needed some TLC to bring it back to glory.  That said, since I enjoy working on cars and boats, I spent that spring disassembling and thoroughly cleaning and polishing away the neglect, and ended up with an absolute beauty.  But after less than ideal summer weather  last year, I began to think that maybe I was just done.  I still enjoy boating, but Wisconsin is not a good state for the hobby.  Also, I began to realize that I really wasn't enjoying boating anymore than previously, but my expenses had increased dramatically (storage, gas, insurance, maintenance), along with the worry factor.  That said, even before I found this site, I created a CL ad during the winter boat show season to see what sort of interest I could gather.  I had many hits, and several very interested parties.  Being that the boat is stored offsite,and I cannot get it back until the snow is gone, I explained the circumstances with each of the highly interested parties, and all have requested that I contact them once I have the boat back home.

If I do sell it, I will no doubt miss it, but I figured that I could rent a brand new version of my boat at a local lake several times a season, and still be significantly ahead, but with none of the hassle or worries.  In addition, I could also sell my tow vehicle (Nissan Titan), as I currently daily drive a Ford Focus.  This would save me registration, insurance, maintenance, and a huge amount of gas on 2 vehicles - seems worth it in exchange for 6 to 10 boat rides a year!

This is a huge change for us, but it would be great to cash out of these assets, and significantly reduce our monthly spending.  Heck, even if we only saved half of our new monthly savings, and blew the rest on vacations and such, it would be so worth it!

In closing, I probably won't be a large contributor to this forum, as I am much more of a lurker, but I just wanted to thank everyone for their great advice and positive attitudes, as this has made a significant impact on my outlook for the future.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2014, 06:51:33 PM by daschtick »

jubilantjill

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1163 on: March 19, 2014, 08:30:29 PM »
Hi everyone,

I'm 30, living in Ontario Canada, aiming for financial independence and just love climbing (bouldering).
Me too! Well, aiming for FI and love bouldering! I live in Bishop, CA so let me know if you're ever down this way!
Cheers,
Jill

Squirrel away

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1164 on: March 20, 2014, 09:12:05 AM »
Hi, I am a 38 year old living in London (UK) with my 43 year old hubbie and we are hoping he can retire at 55. I know this isn't that early but we only found the MMM site last year!

He is going to increase his pension contributions as he is a higher rate taxpayer and we have cut down our normal budget by negotiating a better rate on mobile phone, broadband etc... We were overpaying our mortgage but after some research decided that wasn't the best strategy for us.

It's nice to be here, I have lurked for a while but actually decided to join up. There are definite differences between US and UK though, house prices here are ridiculously high but at least we have the NHS and don't have to worry about health insurance.

Looking to get some advice and be with like-minded people. My in-laws think we are weird as we are saving instead of spending. I hope to have the last laugh when we reach FI!

JustDave

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1165 on: March 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM »
Hi - I've been lurking for a while but I figured I'd make my first post .  36, married, 2 kids and 2 dogs. 

We've always lived below our means, and I've always considered myself a "frugal" person .... but it wasn't until recently that I discovered MMM and realized just how much better we could be doing.  It's kind of sad to realize just how much money you just toss away in a given month if you aren't keeping a watchful eye on it - $5 here, $10 there.  I've come to realize that frugality without purpose doesn't accomplish as much as you'd like if you have nothing to show for it.   Now I'm focusing on the larger goal ....  :)

fixer-upper

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1166 on: March 21, 2014, 02:12:36 AM »
Hi everyone!

I'm 44, but my inner child is 14 (he gets me in trouble sometimes).  I retired in 2008 just as the markets were falling apart, and have been enjoying life ever since.  It's really nice to see people with similar interests, since talking about money with most of my neighbors is out of the question.  When they're struggling to pay the rent, it's just easier to let them think I'm poor too.

My overall philosophy is to put my 'stache in things I can see and touch, then find a way to make them earn their keep.

« Last Edit: March 21, 2014, 02:28:18 AM by fixer-upper »

Jill

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1167 on: March 21, 2014, 05:54:23 AM »
Hey all!

It's been really interesting reading all the intro posts, and seeing all the different places people are starting from.

I just opened my first ever Stocks and Shares ISA (hello UK dwellers). It's very exciting.

You guys are probably among the few who understand my excitement.

I think I'm going to like it here. :)

effed

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1168 on: March 22, 2014, 08:54:42 AM »
Although I joined this forum with the name Effed I am not totally effed. I was raised by financially responsible family in a rural setting. My father was a farmer, my mother a SAHM. The perfect upbringing, really. At any point during the day you could look out a window and see where my dad was and what he was doing. In the winter my dad didn't have to farm. Pretty nice lifestyle. My father also came from a wealthy family and had investments, but these didn't really turn into real money until after I had grown and left home.
 
I have been making a living as a sculptor since the late 90's. I work at home as does my husband. I never commuted more than 10 miles to work. Funny, but I have two brothers and a sister and none of them have ever commuted much more than that. My commute is from one side of the house to the other :) I think it's pretty awesome.

I did marry someone who had made some not so great financial decisions in his past. I have posted about this in the Ask a Mustaschian section. I myself have no debt other than a $61k mortgage. All vehicles/toys purchased with cash. No credit cards. I love this part of myself. No cable TV for over two years now and LOVE it! Streaming Netflix only.

We have four horses, and we have them the cheapest way possible. First, when we met we lived in an area too expensive for us to have horses. When my husband left his job to work for me we drove around the state for two weeks picking our new spot. We were able to afford a place on the other side of the state for far less, with a few acres and a seasonal stream. After a few years of having a farrier come out to trim and shoe four horses we realized that costed as much as feeding them! My husband, with the help of a friend who was a farrier, learned how to do all the farrier work himself, and now is a quite confident hoof trimmer and shoe applier :) Saves a TON of money! My husband also built a barn and re-fenced the property. His father helped build the barn. The thing that has hurt us the most in recent years is the almost doubling of hay prices locally. this was in part due to the drought in Texas and Oklahoma and all our hay was being sold and trucked out there, leaving little hay for local people. Our hay cost went from $200 a month to $400 a month! Fortunately I saw a posting from another local horse person who was sick of the hay prices here and went through a hay broker to haul a semi truck load of hay here from Montana for almost half the price and he wanted to split it with other people. So, we just got a winter's worth of hay for way less! I like to support local business, but it was so much less doing it this way. Maybe other horse people out there could benefit from contacting a hay broker as well.

GrooveStomp

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1169 on: March 22, 2014, 09:52:40 PM »
Hi Everyone!

I've been reading for a couple of months now.  I decided to hop onto the forums here to seek help with regards to investments from Canada.
My wife is on board as we try to simplify our lives and reach financial independence.

sly

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1170 on: March 23, 2014, 07:13:32 AM »
Hi new guy here. I am 32 and live in NYC. I have had Mustachian thoughts for years but failed to implement. Now is the time to get serious, I am about to start a new job and I will follow strict Mustachian principles to try to be FI in 10 years or less. If all goes well over the next few years I will save enough to buy (or build) a small house in upstate NY. I will use the house to transition to low cost small town living for early retirement. I am still considering other locations: cheaper, sunnier places out west or down south seem attractive, but I am worried it will become a logistical nightmare. The ease and convinience of planning locally makes the project less daunting. But I welcome input from forum members, where would you escape to if you lived/worked in NYC???

Jazzpolice

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1171 on: March 23, 2014, 01:46:19 PM »
Hey everyone!
I'm so excited to have found this online community full of awesomeness!  I'm 41, married, no kids (by choice & will not have any) and haven't had any debt for many years (other than a mortgage) but even though I've thought of myself as "frugal" through the years, I've realized I had still been spending way too much and not saving nearly enough.  But that was the past so onward we go…I do value simplicity and have kicked it up a notch for 2014 (partly thanks for MMM inspiration).  Wish I had gone to college straight out of H.S & picked a marketable major back then but again…this is counterproductive thinking so I must remind myself there will always be others doing better than us and others doing worse than us.  My goal is to reach FI by the time I'm 50.

So far this year we have finally gotten rid of cable and only doing streaming (Hulu+/netflix), got rid of full coverage on our (fuel efficient) cars, cell service with Sprint is finally over in 2 weeks and I'm counting the days to get rid of that most despised bill of all and switch to Ting, cut back on eating out & buying groceries more mindfully.  Most exciting part is we'll be mortgage free this year.  So I guess that's still not too bad even though I feel behind the curve…

Mr. FI

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1172 on: March 23, 2014, 04:48:49 PM »
Hello,

I'm Mr. FI (or, going to be someday!) and I've been reading this blog like crazy. What a neat way to approach life. Deep down I've always wanted to simplify my life but have gotten caught up in going out all the time, buying the newest electronics, etc. nothing insane, but definitely not Mustachian!

My wife and I are now endeavoring on this journey to become FI by 2025 (catchy, right?) We're both 25 and don't make nearly what the Mustache clan did (even with the wages averaged out) but we feel we have only to go up career wise and investment wise. It's all very new to us but we're excited for what the future holds! Excited to get involved with this community!

keby724

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1173 on: March 24, 2014, 06:22:26 AM »
I'm Kate - longtime lurker, first time poster. I have a well-paying job that I love - but looking to be a still-working SWAMI. No debt, working on building up our savings. I have a husband who stays @ home with our 3 y/o daughter right now.

We'd like to live in Europe for a few years at least, and with vet's preference for both of us, we're hoping to look for jobs overseas sometime next year. Hoping to sell our (too big, too much work, too expensive) house this summer and rent for a year while I finish my doctorate in nursing. Then, we will have the flexibility to up and go when we find the right opportunity.

~Kate

Hank.Scorpio

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1174 on: March 24, 2014, 07:40:59 PM »
Hi All,

I'm Steve.  Happily married to the best life/financial parter I could hope for. We just had a beautiful baby girl 3 weeks ago and I got the urge to get serious about investing as soon as we brought her home.  Discovered MMM about 3 days ago and I'm now hooked.  I feel good about where we are financially and appreciate everyone's perspective as I begin the journey toward serious, adult budgeting and investing. 

Cheers!

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1175 on: March 24, 2014, 08:00:27 PM »
Hi Everyone!!I'm Cecilia  I am 45 and I don't know if I ever want to retire  or just be a SWAMI because I love my job as a  pediatric registered nurse.  When I was young, we were not well off.  My dad was an enlisted Navy and mom stayed at home.  They were  very frugal.  I however fell into the materialistic wheel in my younger days.  I even had a Mercedes emblem necklace when I was a teenager.  I was lucky enough  to meet a very frugal guy who was patient and put up with my ways.

I turned the corner in my 30's when I had kids and wanted to stay home with them.  We made financial mistakes along the road, but we were lucky the market was in our favor.  (We over-bought a house and then hubby lost his job.)  The saving grace was that I had my education and got a job right away.  Hubby works as a computer programmer so he also got a job right away.  We ended up selling the house for a profit and putting the money down on a more reasonable home.  Now hubby and I max out out 403b's and are saving extra in our Roths and taxable accounts.  I guess you can say my "Stash" has gotten bigger since we downsized and moved to a less expensive area, Fresno, CA.  I love this blog and forum..  I have saved even more since becoming a frequent reader. 

Paulie

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1176 on: March 25, 2014, 01:31:30 AM »
Hi Everyone!!I'm Cecilia  I am 45 and I don't know if I ever want to retire  or just be a SWAMI because I love my job as a  pediatric registered nurse. 

The second time I see it; what does SWAMI stand for?

grantmeaname

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1177 on: March 25, 2014, 06:25:27 AM »
Satisfied working advanced mustachian individual

scooterdog

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1178 on: March 25, 2014, 07:29:00 AM »
Hi, was aware of MMM for about a year now, but decided to join the forums now.

Years ago used to frequent the LBYM board at Motley Fool, and in the interim worked hard on increasing the income side of the ledger.

Now that I've slowed down (perhaps a function of age or thinking that chasing more brass rings is 'just not worth it'), wanted to get back into discussing / thinking about below-your-means lifestyle again.

Demographic: family man (3 offspring), telecommuter, transplanted Southern Californian to the DC area, one paid-off rental property, plan to retire in ~15y but will likely hit critical mass a bit sooner.

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1179 on: March 25, 2014, 08:17:26 PM »
Daisy here…I have been pretty frugal my entire life and learned some of these concepts from my family, reading, etc. I’ve been reading this blog recently and it has triggered several life-changing attitudes.

I am first generation American. My parents came here in their 30s. My father came here with basically no money but a good education and a persistence to succeed that rivals almost anyone. I always figured if they could do it after a late start like that, that it should be easy for anyone.

So we grew up in a stable middle class home with a stay at home mom. My mom is just an optimizing fanatic. She hated driving through traffic so would always devise shorter commute times by avoiding traffic congestion by learning the backroads…and would brag about it. She cooked everything from scratch and taught us how to cook. She had an envelope system for each budget category and would have us write down every expense on each envelope after buying gas, groceries, etc. All of my siblings inherited this skill as we always try to find the most efficient way to get things done (e.g. my brother takes his family to Disney World and they have figured out the best way to use the fast-pass privileges).

I’m a mid-40s engineer with a good salary. Once I reached a certain level of promotion, I knew I didn’t want to go much higher because it would intrude on my quality of life. I also read the books Your Money or Your Life, The Millionaire Next Door, and the 4-Hour Workweek and it just blew my mind. You’ll be happy to hear that I borrowed these books from my big-corporation’s own library – no less! I couldn’t believe they stocked these books that encouraged early retirement and minimal work! I had an ex-boyfriend that would complain about his long hours at work and gave the advice that he could work hard now to then take it easy later. So see…I was on to something already.

Well, at one point I was working at another company and really did not like my job. So I started to actually write down my expenses and see how much I needed to live on and kept track of my investments in order to see when I could self-fund my expenses. I am not as foul-mouthed as some around here, but I did coin the term “screw you” money on my own. Eventually, I was laid off from that job and was pretty happy about it because I had money saved up. I took the summer off and had a great time walking, bicycling, taking care of elderly parents, and taking art classes.

Eventually my old employer (the one I had before the one that laid me off) called me to return and I accepted. All in all I took about 5 months off. It was a taste of early retirement and I want to get there again. I am in a pretty good position at my company right now, so I am just SWAMI-ing my way through it until it feels right to pull the plug…hopefully with some kind of severance.

So this blog came at just the right time as I have figured out even better ways to optimize and reduce my expenses. As soon as MMM posted about buying the new house, it triggered me to look around and find a place about a mile away where I could buy a place for cash and be mortgage-free by downsizing just a little bit.

I am looking forward to ER at some point in the next 5 years in order to focus on more meaningful pursuits - more athletic pursuits, volunteering, reading, and continuing with my occasional travel.

BTW, this was an awesome story which is how I visualize ER:

On another forum I frequent, I related in great detail an encounter I had with a pod of orcas while I was sea kayaking - let me just say that the impact that this moment had upon me was profound in that it made me question how many other moments we are all missing out on while we are slumped in our cubicles, or (in my case) slogging in the mud at the bottom of a hole trying to repair a damaged sanitary pipe. I may never experience as breathtaking an event as when I felt my kayak rise up a few feet because a 10000 pound bull orca had swum beneath my fragile boat - yes, the mass of the animal displaced enough water to lift my boat - but I want more TIME and FREEDOM to seek out similar wonders. The world is full of them.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2014, 08:21:45 PM by Daisy »

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1180 on: March 26, 2014, 08:52:25 AM »
Hi everyone - I started reading MMM about 6 months ago and have become sold on being frugal and eventually earning FI.  Love my job though and would still do it even if I didn't have to - I teach in Japan (crappy salary though - I can scrape together $40,000 yearly IF I put in a lot of overtime and a couple Sunday mornings sacrificed to teach more). 

Wife stays at home with 3 kids, two of whom are in Japanese kindergarten (about $450 each per month).  Biggest expenses is Kindergarten ($900) and Rent ($900), but my wife is good at spending the rest well.  I wasn't until reading MMM, and now we can put away significantly more towards savings/investing.  Secretly.  My wife isn't really sold yet and would kill me if she knew I was saving extra money on my own.

As a hobby I started 2 blogs under pseudonyms and haven't really monetized them.
A self improvement blog - http://www.betterlifepillars.com/
An ESL blog - http://eslinvestment.blogspot.jp/ 

I made 1 yen (about 0.98 cents) from adsense today!!!  I feel a huge sense of accomplishment, and that's what pushed me to introduce myself. 

MidWestLove

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1181 on: March 26, 2014, 07:11:47 PM »
Simon, from Chicago, IL. Engineer (actually IT manager now but still engineer at heart), bumped into MMM by accident and found it matching my philosophy. Russian decent , first generation immigrant with memories of transition from one economic system to another (really helps with perspective and encourages self sufficiency mindset). Married to DW for coming up 12 years, 2 year old we love. both of us work.

Derick

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1182 on: March 27, 2014, 10:27:26 AM »
Hi, I'm Derick. I enjoy playing the drums, hiking with my dog, kayaking, biking, and my nonmustachian vice - craft beer. I'm 28, am married, college grad, and am working as a Social Worker at a job I plan on leaving very soon. Despite what many think about Social Work, it is not particularly rewarding, and of course the pay is extremely low. My wife is a Finance grad, and is a teacher. She plans to move into finance eventually, but for the time being we have taken what we can get. We are debt-free, have an easily affordable mortgage, and own our cars outright (Her 2008 Honda CR-V, my 1996 Honda Accord sedan and the work/weekend truck, a 1999 Tacoma with 303k miles - both 4 cylinders w/ 5 spd manuals) She bought the Accord while we were dating in 2008 for $2,000, I got the truck from my uncle a couple years ago for $750, and we recently upgraded her into the CR-V for $10,500 cash. We have around $35,000 in savings, both have maxed our ROTH IRA's for the last 2 years. We're good at being frugal, but I believe we need to begin taking the "next steps" toward FI - and that's why I'm here.


candiceena

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1183 on: March 27, 2014, 06:06:53 PM »
Hi everyone,

I'm new to the MMM community - stumbled upon the blog via the YNAB forums.

Read a couple posts and thought "yeah right, dude. NOT for me, thanks but no thanks."

In fact, I actually posted something on the YNAB forums about how I'm doing things XYZ way because "it's not like I'm trying to retire early, or anything."

And then the STRANGEST thing happened. I couldn't stop thinking about the principles of MMM/FIRE.  So I slowly started reading more of the posts and started questioning things I had taken at face value. I was like "why do I need XYZ? because someone told me I deserved it? Because thats what other people are doing?"

So here I am. :) Full believer now. :)

NinetyFour

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1184 on: March 27, 2014, 10:45:40 PM »
Hi everyone,

I'm new to the MMM community - stumbled upon the blog via the YNAB forums.

Read a couple posts and thought "yeah right, dude. NOT for me, thanks but no thanks."

In fact, I actually posted something on the YNAB forums about how I'm doing things XYZ way because "it's not like I'm trying to retire early, or anything."

And then the STRANGEST thing happened. I couldn't stop thinking about the principles of MMM/FIRE.  So I slowly started reading more of the posts and started questioning things I had taken at face value. I was like "why do I need XYZ? because someone told me I deserved it? Because thats what other people are doing?"

So here I am. :) Full believer now. :)

Wow--that's a very cool mustachian 180 you just did.  Hope you enjoy the MMM/FIRE lifestyle.  There's no turning back now...  ;-)

candiceena

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1185 on: March 28, 2014, 01:15:43 PM »
Hi everyone,

I'm new to the MMM community - stumbled upon the blog via the YNAB forums.

Read a couple posts and thought "yeah right, dude. NOT for me, thanks but no thanks."

In fact, I actually posted something on the YNAB forums about how I'm doing things XYZ way because "it's not like I'm trying to retire early, or anything."

And then the STRANGEST thing happened. I couldn't stop thinking about the principles of MMM/FIRE.  So I slowly started reading more of the posts and started questioning things I had taken at face value. I was like "why do I need XYZ? because someone told me I deserved it? Because thats what other people are doing?"

So here I am. :) Full believer now. :)

Wow--that's a very cool mustachian 180 you just did.  Hope you enjoy the MMM/FIRE lifestyle.  There's no turning back now...  ;-)

Why, thank you! :) I'm pretty stoked!

viper155

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1186 on: March 28, 2014, 06:48:02 PM »
Hey All! I'm Tony - Retired FDNY, part time Stagehand in NYC and surrounding area. Love the site. Peace!

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1187 on: March 29, 2014, 03:27:48 PM »
Hi all,

I'm from London, in my early 30s. I've led a fairly disastrous live thus far not saving a single penny despite working for over 10 years, but during the last two years have been slowly cutting back on the spending whilst getting sizeable pay rises. For the last two months I have fully committed to "Financial Freedom Through Badassity" and have been able to achieve a ~50% saving rate.

London is a bit pricey, but I'm always up for a challenge. Thanks for having me

BW

sbeamer

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1188 on: March 30, 2014, 09:51:50 AM »
Hi All!

I'm Sean, from Rhode Island and can't wait to gain financial freedom :)

zurich78

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1189 on: March 30, 2014, 09:58:16 AM »
Hey everyone! 

Just joined today.  I'm 35 and an online marketing manager living in sunny Southern California (Orange County).  For most of my adult life, I did not think about the future and had always thought about how to spend money I acquired rather than save it. 

That all changed this year when I made a New Year's resolution to myself to take better control of my finances, set some financial goals, and really work at building more wealth.

I don't have any personal financial advisors in my family, and I don't always feel comfortable discussing the details of my finances with my friends, and so I thought this would be a great way to talk to others about my financial situation, goals and whether I'm heading in the right direction.

Looking forward to learning and discussing with you all!

pthomasson88

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« Reply #1190 on: March 30, 2014, 04:49:27 PM »
Recently found MMM through a Google+ Community of Mustachians. Check it out. I have been contributing to my 401K for a long time and was just figuring I would work until 65 or 67 and retire. But, in recent years I have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of control over how I spend my time. I commute 50 mintues one way to work and have to travel about one week out of every month. The Mustachian explanation makes complete sense to me. I am wasting so much time and money and have locked myself in to a lifestyle I can't afford and in many ways do not like. Time for change!!!

I am 7 years and 3 months away from being eligible for a pension with my company at age 55, but I think my wife and I could put a plan together that could get us to financial independence in 5 years. She is still warming up to the idea. As part of the planning I will run the numbers and see if the pension ends up being worth another two years of work or not.

Ista

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1191 on: March 30, 2014, 06:20:14 PM »
hi all--
I've been lurking around MMM for over a year now, finally registering as I was offered a layoff towards the end of the year with a nice severance this last week and I've got lots of questions and thoughts as to how to best take advantage of this. I'm not quite able to retire at this point, but my spending has always been substantially below my income despite living in NYC, so I'm not too anxious that I'll have to dig into my savings before figuring out my next steps.

Glad to have finally joined the official ranks of the MMM forum!

LakewoodStache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1192 on: March 31, 2014, 06:41:37 PM »
Hi Mustachian Warriors,
Where to start?  36 year old male.  Single.  Software developer.  Lived at or above my means until the age of 33.  At that time I was making about 85k a year but was mired down in 25k of credit card debt and zero savings.  Luckily I started contributing to my 401k in my late 20s so at that time I did have some retirement funding.

I suppose I woke up one day and realized that if I didn't change my ways I was going to be penniless when I got old. 

I moved in with my girlfriend.  Yes, I paid half her mortgage ($600/month) but even with splitting utilities and other house hold expenses it was much cheaper than living by myself in a nearly $900/month apartment plus a full load of utility expenses.

Slowly but surely I paid off the credit card debt.  Every penny.  That last credit card debt was retire around September of last year.  During that time I learned how to pay cash for car repairs, vacations and all the stuff that normally would be charged to a credit card. 

Over those three years I've raised my salary from 85k a year to 115k+.  Also during that time I was slowly ramping up my 401k contributions from 7% to 11%. 

Today, I the only debt I've got left is some student loan debt (13k).  I've got 8k in cash savings and 55k in investment accounts.  My car is worth about 6500 dollars. 

My girl and I split.  I managed to find a little place (no room to accumulate useless stuff) at 300 sqft for $500 dollars a month in a fabulous neighborhood.  I love this little place.  With utilities it comes to about $550 a month.  My neighbors pay more in property taxes than I pay in rent.  It's completely detached and has a porch.  Like I said, I love the economy and privacy this little place provides. 

I've got my 401k on max contribution 17.5k for this year.  On top of that, every month I am socking away another $4,200 dollars away in savings.

My goal is to build up my nest egg to $12,000 dollars in savings then knock out the student loan debt this summer.  By Fall I'll be completely debt free.  Once the $500 a month student loan payments (the minimum) are gone in a few months, I'll have $4,700 dollars a month for saving and investing. 

My savings goal for this year is to ring in 2015 with about 30k in savings. 

Believe it or not, before I started this journey, I sometimes thought maybe it was too late to turn the bus around.  I was scared of getting old without any real savings. 

I'm proud to be frugal.  I don't feel deprived.  The best part is being able to go to sleep at night knowing I'm on the right path. 

On the flip side I'm continuing to hammer away at work increasing my value, teaching myself new skills and generally making myself indispensable. 

Yep, throwing away $6000 dollars a year on rent sucks but I have a plan for that too.  I'm planning to save enough money so that during the next housing downturn (yes, there will be another, just a matter of time) I can scoop up something basic in the 75k range and pay cash.  It'll be ugly and needed a lot of work but I am very handy. 

I haven't really calculated the date of my FI independence because I am really at the start of the journey.  I just plan to keep on keepin' on with you good folks to inspire me.

Thats my story :)

I'm reading about investing and making plans.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2014, 06:43:33 PM by LakewoodStache »

NinetyFour

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1193 on: March 31, 2014, 06:52:36 PM »
Wow--I enjoyed reading your story.  Seems like you have indeed turned that bus around!

LakewoodStache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1194 on: March 31, 2014, 07:04:21 PM »
I lived like a complete idiot for over 10 years. 

Part of the realization that turned the bus around was some travel outside of the US to 2nd (or less) world countries.  I realized two important things:  1) Money and material possessions do not make happiness.  2)  I make a ton of money compared to most people in this world.

I just read that the median global salary is estimated to be something like $1,255 a year.  One would only need an income of about $34,000 a year to be in the global top 1% world wide. 

That blows my mind.

I had to "grow up".  Smarten up.  Buckle down.

How could I make so much money but have so little to show for it? 

I didn't even own a lot of the stuff I was in possession of.  A lot of it was owned by the credit card companies, technically.

I am so glad to be here :)

alphalemming

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1195 on: March 31, 2014, 09:38:18 PM »
Hello everyone,

Recently found this community, but have always been (more or less) a mustachian at heart.  Wife and I both work, 2 twin boys getting ready for middle school.  Carrying the mortgages but other than that, no debt.  Car is 14 years old and still running well.  We've been tracking our progress towards early retirement since we got married.  Anyone else up in the Marin County area?

Squirrel away

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1196 on: April 01, 2014, 04:14:17 AM »
Hi all,

I'm from London, in my early 30s. I've led a fairly disastrous live thus far not saving a single penny despite working for over 10 years, but during the last two years have been slowly cutting back on the spending whilst getting sizeable pay rises. For the last two months I have fully committed to "Financial Freedom Through Badassity" and have been able to achieve a ~50% saving rate.

London is a bit pricey, but I'm always up for a challenge. Thanks for having me

BW

Hi, I'm a Londoner too.:)



I just read that the median global salary is estimated to be something like $1,255 a year.  One would only need an income of about $34,000 a year to be in the global top 1% world wide. 

That blows my mind.

I had to "grow up".  Smarten up.  Buckle down.

How could I make so much money but have so little to show for it? 


So true!:)

RelaxationSpecialist

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1197 on: April 01, 2014, 10:05:09 AM »
Hi!! I'm Tracey. I'm a one year + follower of Dave Ramsey and a user of YNAB... My friends Nurse Frugal and her husband turned me on to MMM about a month ago and it was EXACTLY the face punch I needed to kick it into high gear. Our goal as a family (husband, The Chad and 14 yr old son, Blue) is to be debt free in three years... but, now, I'm thinking we may be able to do it even faster!!

In November of 2013 I got the huge wake up call when I checked in with one year of spending on clothing using YNAB, needless to say I was wearing an economically priced used car. It made me physically ill. I had entered all my categories correctly into YNAB. Did a zero based budget every month for a year, **graciously allotting myself a nice personal sum of $$ to spend as I wanted.... followed all the rules... um.... except the one that said YOU DO NOT NEED TO WEAR THE EQUIVALENT OF AN ECONOMICALLY PRICED USED CAR EVERY YEAR!! Some people eat their budgets away, I was wearing mine! Awkward, to say the least!

Now, we are thrift focused. Learning how to cook great meals at home. We cut out the last of anything that wasn't a basic need (of course, now on MMM we will be rethinking what 'need' is). My clothing budget has been slashed to 10% of last years bloat. And, my stress over never being able to retire is floating away with every dollar put towards becoming FREE!!!

aetherie

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1198 on: April 01, 2014, 10:36:27 AM »
Hi all,

I'm Rebecca. I'm about to graduate from college and start my career. I have a software engineering job lined up that pays way more than I need, and I had been wondering how to use the extra in the smartest way possible - enter MMM. My general approach to life is already pretty frugal, thanks to my parents, and I'm excited to find ways to do even better. The idea of gaining financial independence before I have kids is amazing.

My boyfriend and I are both amateur competitive ballroom dancers, so that will be a money-related challenge moving forward - can we cut back in other areas in order to keep paying for lessons and competitions once we're no longer eligible for student discounts? Luckily, he's just as intrigued by the idea of mustachianism as I am, so I'm sure we'll be able to make it work.

I can't wait to learn from all of you!


crc

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1199 on: April 01, 2014, 04:30:04 PM »
Hi All,

I'm a 29 year old newly converted Mustachian living in Yellowknife, NWT Canada. I had some friends from Victoria who pointed me in this direction and I'm super stoked on the community!

Woot!