Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3316005 times)

dd564

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 54
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1450 on: July 06, 2014, 04:15:37 PM »
Been lurking.

I'm 42 (almost) and trying to get my way to early retirement or financial independence.
Have a net worth that increased from 500k to 600k in the last year.  About 40% of that net worth is housing and rental house related with what I feel are pretty conservative estimates.  (Doesn't matter much as we're not selling either for quite some time).

Glad to be here.

frizzywhiskers

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 143
  • Age: 52
  • Location: Canada
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1451 on: July 06, 2014, 05:09:36 PM »
Hi there!

Long time lurker here, coming out to say hi!  I am proud to be Canadian and am working hard at building my stache!

Focus number one - paying off a mega mortgage.  Homes in Alberta are not cheap! 

JCfire

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 144
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1452 on: July 07, 2014, 11:09:50 AM »
For those of you who have made it here to page 30 of the welcome thread, my name is JC and I'm starting to flex my FIRE muscles just a bit. 

I recently turned 30, and I spent much of my 20s working my way into a nice income in an interesting line of work.  Last year I stretched my budget to buy the house of my dreams, just one mile from work in my hometown, trying to outrace home price and mortgage rate increases in this economic recovery.  Now I live in a house I hope to keep for 20 years or longer with my wonderful wife and baby daughter, and I've shifted my financial focus to achieving financial independence.

Here's to making progress down that road together!

-- JC

hdatontodo

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 391
  • Location: Balto Co, MD
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1453 on: July 07, 2014, 12:03:33 PM »
Hi from Baltimore County, MD

I'm in my mid-50's and trying to get my mortage paid off in 5 years instead of 10 in case I get bumped from the computer industry and have a hard time re-entering due to age discrimination, skill set, etc.

I sold my $10K Honda Goldwing and bought a motorcycle that cost 1/2 that to increase my emergency savings. Since I work at home, I listed our 2nd car, a 2012 Mustang, for sale, although I have no takers thus far. It will take $25K to knock a chunk of the mortgage off (about a year's worth) and I'm trying to come up with that.

Thanks for the great website.

NinetyFour

  • CMTO 2023 Attendees
  • Walrus Stache
  • *
  • Posts: 6874
  • Age: 62
  • Location: Southwestern US
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1454 on: July 07, 2014, 08:14:08 PM »
For those of you who have made it here to page 30 of the welcome thread, my name is JC and I'm starting to flex my FIRE muscles just a bit. 

I recently turned 30, and I spent much of my 20s working my way into a nice income in an interesting line of work.  Last year I stretched my budget to buy the house of my dreams, just one mile from work in my hometown, trying to outrace home price and mortgage rate increases in this economic recovery.  Now I live in a house I hope to keep for 20 years or longer with my wonderful wife and baby daughter, and I've shifted my financial focus to achieving financial independence.

Here's to making progress down that road together!

-- JC

Welcome, JC!!  I just commented on one of your posts in a different thread.  You have been making some great progress already!

Juju

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Location: New Zealand
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1455 on: July 08, 2014, 05:17:03 AM »
Hi everyone,

Another long time lurker here finally getting around to signing up!  My partner introduced me to the site quite a while back and I had that typical epiphany moment that so many others describe.

 I was lucky to have grown up in a frugal household where debt was a bad word, but never really thought about money myself as long as it was available.  As a poor student I had a great group of friends who were all in the same boat, so we lived in a happy state of frugality.  After graduating and working for a few years lifestyle inflation started to kick in.  I'd never had so much money to play with, and more arrived every two weeks!  So slowly spending increased.  I clearly remember having thoughts along the lines of 'oh, all of my workmates spend X on Y, it must be the right thing to do when you reach this phase of life!'  After all, with a nice combined income that covered the mortgage easily, why not enjoy the leftover cash?  What else can you do with money?  We were already doing much better with our spending than many of our peers so life was sweet.

Then my partner started reading up on finances a bit more and playing around with numbers and introduced me to the blog and the concepts of ER and FI. 
I felt like such an idiot.
Why had early retirement never even occured to me as a possiblity?!  I enjoy my job most of the time, but after seven solid years of it, the idea of not having to work was a dream I fuelled with the odd lottery ticket.  The dream of being able to visit family for extended holidays, to travel, to acually have time to sort out the garden and paint the house and spend time on my hobbies.  When I realised that all of this was a truly achievable goal I was filled with a strange feeling of relief.  Suddenly all of the habbits of being a poor student started to kick in again.

So we are now on our way :)


mfanma

  • Guest
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1456 on: July 09, 2014, 04:47:57 AM »
Hi,

I just discovered this site and the forums last week and am furiously trying to make my way through all the blog postings and recent forum posts. 

I've been dreaming about an early retirement for several years and started to dial back spending but don't have a concrete plan in place yet.  I'm looking forward to learning from everyone!


Bert The Turtle

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Location: Upstate NY
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1457 on: July 09, 2014, 08:13:42 AM »
Hello Everyone!

I've been reading MMM for about a year now but only recently started venturing into the forums as a lurker.  I figured I'd go ahead and post and introduction just in case I wanted to start replying to some of the various threads.  I'm 34, work as a chemical/manufacturing engineer, and live with my scientist fiance in rural/upstate NY (if I said the name of the town, you'd probably be able to guess the company we work for).  We're both pretty frugal and have started to really focus on saving/investing for FIRE in the past 6 months or so.  No debt aside from a mortgage (15yr fixed @ 3.5%) and I'd say we're both saving at around a 50% savings rate.  We've got a dog and a cat in a smallish house (~1500 ft2), no cable, no A/C, and two paid off cars which get decent MPG.  We carpool the 5 miles to work (DF can't bike due to knee problems) and typically make 95% of our meals at home from scratch, though we'll go out to dinner or drinks with friends every other week or so.  Also, we'll sometimes hit up Chipotle on a Friday evening if we're leaving for a road trip or pick up a Sunday evening pizza on the way back from backpacking/camping.

I can't say we've really got a concrete timeline for retirement yet, but I think we've got the M3 mindset down pretty well.  There's always room to improve our badassity of course (we're nowhere near ERE Jacob levels and I doubt we ever will be), but I'd guess we're better than 90-95% of most households in terms of reduced consumption, saving levels, and net worth for our age bracket.  I look forward to conversing with y'all!

Cheers!
--Joe

NoraLenderbee

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1254
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1458 on: July 09, 2014, 02:24:47 PM »
Hello! I'm introducing myself after already making a few posts.

I was introduced to the blog some months ago by a friend, but I just found the forums. I'm 51, married, with a house and no kids. I've been living below my means for a long time, so the mustachian idea is not new to me. However, I never thought in terms of early retirement. I make low six figures and have a stash larger than most of the posters here (larger than most of the posters who have disclosed their stash, at least). We have no debt except a mortgage. We have 3 vehicles, the newest of which is 17 years old. We grow a lot of our own vegetables and some fruit, make bread, rarely eat out, and so on, although we also have some places where we spend a lot. We bicycle a lot.

 We live in an expensive part of the US. Living below our means allows us to have a comfortable life on one income, which means we are both less stressed out than the typical two-earner family. My husband works part-time for low wages. He spends the balance of his time being the homemaker and doing his (non-remunerative) hobbies.We have FU money and we're on track for a comfortable retirement at the normal age.

ER is really not in the picture because of my age. However, reading here is helping me to rethink my assumptions about working until 65 or 67, and about how big the stash really has to be before we're FI. I'm also at a point in life where I want to live more consciously and make the most of the years ahead, since I'm old enough to know how fast they will pass. (I "knew" when I was younger, but after my mid-40s I began to really *feel* it differently.) I doubt my lifestyle will change much--but I am definitely getting a new perspective. 

I really enjoy reading everyone's different stories and journeys. I don't enjoy the MMM blog so much because a lot of it is old wine in new bottles to me, and I personally don't care for the "badass" tone. But it is great to see the different ways people apply it to their lives.

Cheers!

Aussie Brad

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1459 on: July 09, 2014, 06:34:30 PM »
Hello all!

I am a bona fide moustachian! Since pre-moustachian days. In Melbourne, Australia but from Sydney.

Anyone else here from Australia?

Um...I too have some debt! But they're all positively geared with the income from the assets exceeding the interest and the repayments!

I'm an avid share investor (stocks to yanks), I consider myself a 'value' investor (which I would define as "not a technical/chartist type trader"). I like the style of Peter Lynch, Michael Burry and Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger.

I am here look for some mustachians because just about everyone I know is an antimustachian!

TheHouseStache

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 17
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1460 on: July 10, 2014, 12:48:03 PM »
Hello everyone!  I wanted to introduce myself.  I'm a fairly long-time reader of both the forum and the blog, but finally decided to actually make an account.  I'm a real estate agent by trade, and am in the process of overhauling my finances.  I figured this would be a good place to start.

ignore-rant

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1461 on: July 10, 2014, 04:17:34 PM »
Yo.  I'm just a 28-year old dude based in Houston, TX with little to no financial savvy.  Somehow I'm debt-free because I'm blessed with being innately frugal with spurts of splurging.  Need an education in personal financing so I can enjoy my time on this planet without making money my sole objective and concern.
How do I accumulate this green and make it work for me?  I hope this place answers that question. 

Time to raid the forums for information.  I look forward to receiving and potentially sharing advice during my time here.

TheNorwegianGuy

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 84
  • Age: 36
  • Location: Bergen - Norway
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1462 on: July 11, 2014, 03:04:14 AM »
Hello everyone! :)

I am a 26 year old (single) man from the city of Bergen in Norway. I have always been frugal and quit minimalistic when it comes to materialistic things (I can not remember the last time I really "wanted" something I did not need). But I am surrounded by friends, collegues and family that do not exactly share my frugality (My parents have bought 2 new cars every 2 year and my mom has about 120 pairs of shoes!!!), so finally I am home with likeminded people! :)

ltt

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 761
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1463 on: July 11, 2014, 07:24:51 AM »
Hi all,

I recently joined this forum; am a stay-at-home mom and husband is in engineering; four children.  Have always been interested in saving since I was young, although am not exactly frugal.  Would like to be more frugal and would like for my husband to retire in the next five years.  We are kind of waiting to see what's going to happen with the health insurance situation here in the U.S.

FrugalFisherman10

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 390
    • Fly Fishing Photo Project
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1464 on: July 11, 2014, 10:15:41 AM »
Hey, I'm mike. I work in accounting/IT in the Southeast US and am still within my first year of work. Crazy time to be thinking about retirement right!? But really, I've just always found money and personal finance interesting, and it gets more interesting the more I learn.  I basically just want to plan well and learn alot.

The thing that sticks out to me most here in the MMMworld is the anti-materialistic "keep it simple" idea because I identify with it so much- so it's been great to see so many people writing and living with that mindset. And understanding that we're not depriving ourselves of anything, we're actually enabling more in your life by not tying your happiness/satisfaction to obtaining things. That's TRUTH Brother MMM!

The thing that has been most shocking to me I guess is that by spending very little, it can actually make a real difference from a financial aspect in the long term too. It's taking one of the biggest factors of achieving financial independence and putting it in your hands, as opposed to just hoping for above average returns and "good luck."

Those are some of my observations so far. I'm looking forward to reading, learning and sharing more.

Sir Salty

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1465 on: July 11, 2014, 08:13:45 PM »
Hi, I'm new to the forums.

Glad to be part of such an inspiring community.  So many here are way more badass than I am.  But we've started turning things around, and are now saving a good bit of our income and headed to an early retirement one day!

33 now, and hope to be financially independent in several years.

otherbarry

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 53
  • Location: USA
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1466 on: July 11, 2014, 10:00:10 PM »
On the tail end of a pretty lucrative internship (since Spring 2013) and realized:

a) commuting absolutely sucks
b) I didn't have much money to show for it (thanks fast food and beer)

Anyway my research into an escape from that kind of lifestyle led me here. Already plan on opening and maxing out my Roth for this year.

Let's get busy!

DJP1

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1467 on: July 12, 2014, 01:53:01 PM »
Hi MMM Community.

My name is Doug and I've been following this site for approximately one year. It has helped my wife and I tremendously. We're both 26. I work as a mechanical engineer and she works as an assistant manager at a skincare company.

After reading through many of the articles I decided it was time to join the forums to ask and answer specific questions.

Here's to more Badassity through working together. Cheers!

jb_in_DC

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 11
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1468 on: July 13, 2014, 07:24:19 AM »
Hello,
I'm Jeremy, from Washington, D.C.  I first came to MMM after reading a profile about him in the Washington Post, and I've only just registered for the forums to participate in some of the conversations about real estate investing.  Nice to meet you all!

phasee

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1469 on: July 13, 2014, 08:31:59 AM »
Hello,

Just joined the forum, been reading the blog from the beginning  whenever I get the chance for a couple of weeks now (started the 2012 posts recently).

Wish I had found this blog 2 years ago!

Living in London, UK at the moment. Will be moving to Canada (ottawa) in September. Just reading up on investing and savings before I move.

Looking forward to becoming a fully fledged mustachian

winstonsmith

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • Location: Notown, NV
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1470 on: July 14, 2014, 12:34:55 PM »
Hi All,

I have been reading MMM for a few months now, and working towards being the most badass version of myself possible.

Just ditched my phone ($100/mo with AT&T) and rode my bike to work today! It's a scorcher out here in Northern Nevada today, but a fun/sweaty ride nonetheless.

I plan to grow a thick and luscious mustache in the days to come (may need some MMM advice along the way).

Best,

winston

Todd

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 18
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1471 on: July 14, 2014, 03:40:15 PM »
Hello,

My name is Todd and I've recently moved my family (wife, child & dogs) to Southeastern WA state.

We've only found MMM about 90 days ago, but I have been trying to absorb the posts & understand more of the Mustachian ways.

Thanks,

Todd

MsRichLife

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 539
  • Age: 46
    • Living My Rich Life
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1472 on: July 14, 2014, 08:55:06 PM »
Hi,

I discovered MMM last week and it's like an absolute breath of fresh air here.

I'm 37, with a husband and 2 year old son. I decided at 22 that I wanted to retire early and set the goal of being retired by 40. People laughed then, but despite a few ups and downs along the way, I'm happy to say that I'm on track to achieve this goal.

My husband has already 'retired' and is staying home to look after our son. He has a couple of hobbies which bring in a little bit of cash, but are mostly to keep his brain stimulated after spending long periods of time with a toddler. :)

I am currently completing a Masters by Research and am loving it. Unfortunately I have to go back to a real job in the new year, but it comes with a promotion and a significant pay rise. I'm going to stick it out for a couple more years and use that time to save an extra $100K-$150K. Perhaps the biggest benefit to staying that bit longer is that it adds significantly to my superannuation (Over $200K) so if (when) I eventually get access to that, it will be worth a few extra years of work now.

In the last year, my husband and I have really struggled with what our next steps might look like since we've achieved the goals we've set over the last 10 years. No one that we know is even close to retiring and even our parents are struggling to achieve this apparently elusive goal. I'm so happy to have come across this community and already feel inspired to set that concrete of goal of resigning before (or on!) my 40th Birthday.

Glad to be here.

MRL

babesummy

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1473 on: July 15, 2014, 05:22:19 PM »
Hello,

I discovered mmm this year. I am 33 and I hope to retire at 40. I am from Nigeria but currently live in Norway.

Summybabe


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

EarlyQuit

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 61
  • Location: Florida
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1474 on: July 16, 2014, 06:13:01 PM »
Hi all!

I have been reading and re-reading the MMM blog for almost a year now (found it through Lifehacker.com), and finally decided it was time to join the forum as well.

Here is a little about myself. I have very recently become a U.S. immigrant through employment, but I have lived in the U.S. under various non-immigrant statuses for more than a decade. I am currently in my mid-30s. Not married, no kids, in a relationship. My goal is to reach FI by age 40, or sooner. I grew up with many Mustachian-like habits, but stupid mistakes were made along the way as well...

The most important thing the MMM blog gave me is courage. Courage to take my money out of savings accounts and invest in mutual funds for higher returns. Courage to substantially decrease my emergency cash cushion and put that money to work. Courage to set challenging goals and follow through.

I look forward to learning, sharing, and exponentially increasing my badassity quotient :)

Coop

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1475 on: July 16, 2014, 09:11:36 PM »
Hey everyone,

I discovered MMM a few weeks ago and have been reading and re-reading a number of posts. I've even got my better half in on it and we've already started to purge on some of the fluff. . . like ditching the iphones immediately and switching to $10 wireless republic plans. In fact, I already took advantage of the referral link thread.

Glad to be here. Looking forward to interacting with you all.

mr_mustash

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Age: 34
  • Location: Oakland, CA
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1476 on: July 17, 2014, 02:37:53 AM »
Greetings all!

I discovered MMM a few weeks ago and immediately realized that having a money mustache was exactly inline with my life's goals. I had always wanted to retire by the time that I was fifty, but now I'm aiming for returning at thirty seven. I'm still relatively young, twenty four, so this seems easily doable to me.

I was already an almost mustachian since I was saving around 40% of my income. I've already started to change my spending habits (mostly eating out and buying the latest tech gadget) so I hope that I'm off to a good start.

Cheers,
Mustash

PS: I've been using the name mr_mustash for the last 11 years (see my reddit profile) so hopefully it won't cause too much confusion!

philby85

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 42
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1477 on: July 17, 2014, 10:10:31 PM »
안녕하세요

I'm an aussie currently living in South Korea. In Australia I was an Engineer... but I met a pretty Korean girl, quit my job, and moved to Korea to teach English. We got married last year. All being well we will move back to Australia in 2015. I can't wait!

I am 30 years old at the moment. Provided we can both get a decent jobs in Australia, we are planning to retire at 40.

riverrat

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1478 on: July 18, 2014, 11:32:58 AM »
Hello,
    My name is Kevin.  I have been reading this forum for over a year...and just now decided to sign up and log in and say hello.   My wife and I live in Ohio.  No debt, other than our home, but no substantial amount of savings either.  Been putting money into a retirement account for ten years.  I am 37...and have a dream of leaving stressful work behind at 50.  Nice to meet you all.   Looking forward to learning more so I can get closer to achieving my goal.

RelaxedGal

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 359
  • Age: 46
  • Location: 495 corridor, Massachusetts, USA
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1479 on: July 18, 2014, 02:13:56 PM »
I live in along 495 in Massachusetts - the outer suburbs of Boston.  House, 2 cars, husband and 1 kid.  On a mustachian scale of 1 to 15, I'm about a 4.  We're working more toward FU money than FIRE.  Our initial goal was FIRE by 40 and move back home to Michigan, figuring there are no jobs there so we'd have to be independently wealthy.  Now we're 36, and realizing we like the cushy lifestyle, we like the work, and being near family doesn't have as much of a draw.

Reading Mr Money Mustache is helping me challenge my assumptions, dream a little, play with the "What If"s. 

Greystache

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 590
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1480 on: July 19, 2014, 08:42:13 PM »
Hi, I'm Chris from SoCal. My FIRE date is Jan. 2nd 2015. The plan is coming together nicely. I qualify for a modest pension, pay off the mortgage, and my youngest graduates all in Dec. of this year.

sparrow13

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1481 on: July 20, 2014, 02:25:09 AM »
Hello! 

I am a 20 year old student who hopes to retire ASAP in order to focus more on writing what I want to write (instead of what my potential future bosses expect me to) as well as just have the freedom that comes from "retirement."  While the blogs themselves are certainly helping me figure out how to be frugal in the upcoming years in order to reach that goal, I am here to try and figure out how to apply that advice to someone with a significantly different lifestyle from Mr. MMM and his family.  Especially since math is not my strong suit and I may need to ask occasionally if I'm just calculating everything incorrectly XD 

sammybiker

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 511
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1482 on: July 20, 2014, 07:56:55 AM »
I'm Sam.  Been a lurker here for a good bit.  Looking to join in on the real estate discussions and add value.

mikepm711

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1483 on: July 21, 2014, 10:44:28 AM »
Hello All,

I'm Mike. I found MMM through an interview he did in the Washington Post. I have read all the posts from the beginning, and hope to implement enough of his advice to retire before I am 50. I am in my early 40's now, naturally frugal but not a good planner, and I like DIY projects. I haven't ridden a bike in over 20 years, but do take the bus to work.

coope01s

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 6
  • Age: 34
  • Location: Houston, TX
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1484 on: July 21, 2014, 12:31:51 PM »
Hello Everyone,

I'm Sam - currently working as a chemical engineer in Houston, TX.  I'm 24 now and plan on being retired by 35 with 'stash of $1MM. I look forward to your input in helping me achieve my financial goals.

Blany

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 28
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1485 on: July 22, 2014, 07:39:09 AM »
Long time lurker, made to leap to the forum.  I have learned alot and hope to contribute this community.

Blany

wannasave

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1486 on: July 22, 2014, 08:12:24 AM »
Hello mustachians of the world!!

Any Spanish mustachians out there?

I've discovered MMM a couple months ago after a rough financial time and I've been reading the archives non-stop starting from the first post.

A bit about me: I'm living in Barcelona, Spain, but I'm originally from Venezuela. While this is still comparatively one of the richest regions of the world (Western Europe), with a solid currency and a strong culture of saving (Catalonia has been home to most of Spanish industries and capital, and is now an important hub for IT companies), the challenges a mustachian faces here are different from the ultra-consumerism in the U.S. Namely: A not-so-free economy, lower salaries, larger tax retention, did I mention lower salaries?


My current net worth is: Zero. I've been saving for the past 3 months on an intern's salary and have managed to save 200€/month from my 900€/month salary (no tax deduction yet). My next financial goals are: 1) To have a 1.000€ "emergency fund" 2) to have 4.200 € to cover for 6 months expenses in a savings account, 3) To get the minimum 3.000€ to invest in an index fund and start growing my 'Stash.

For this, I can expect to make: 900€/month for the next 6 months and, after this, probably 1.300 €/month for the first year. It would take me 1 1/2 years to open my Index fund. Spain is just recently recovering from the economic crisis, so I'm still not sure what I can expect to make here after the next 1 1/2 years, or if I'd be better off moving to another European country. I'll be 28 years old pretty soon, which means I won't be starting to grow my stash until I'm 30.


The positive aspects:

- I have no debt
- I have a University degree and a Master's degree
- I'm about to finish my 1st year of work experience
-  I'm an avid reader and a keen learner. I work in an exciting start-up with professional expansion possibilities and adding to my career value. I'm constantly learning new skills and making professional contacts, though this is still to start making actual money for me.
- My girlfriend has her own business which is construction-related so we have advantages if we wanted to enter the Real Estate market.
- My girlfriend is a good saver, though we still need to have "The talk" and start saving more aggressively,

The not-so-positive aspects:

- For the time being I'm forced to keep working as an intern due to visa procedures (it's like fighting a battle with one arm tied to your back).
- Very little savings.
- Had a few setbacks which made start working and saving a bit late.


Wow that was long! If you read this far I appreciate you taking the time.

I want to meet mustachians to share our goals and motivate each other, especially in Europe/Spain so we can share tips about Old-continent Mustachianism. Feel free to get in touch with me.

Best,

Luis

wannasave

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1487 on: July 22, 2014, 08:15:45 AM »
Hi Michael, Silvie,


Great to see you guys are in Barcelona. I've been living here for the past 5 years, though I'm also from abroad. Let me know if you'd like to meet up.


Best,

Wess

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 58
  • Age: 35
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1488 on: July 23, 2014, 08:56:29 AM »
Hi everyone!

I'm Wess, 26 years old and one week debt-free! I paid off the last chunk of my student debt after reading the first two months of the MMM blog, now working on making some goals. I want to stop working as soon as possible and start volunteering as much as I can. I make about 27k a year right now as a full-time nanny and part time coach--hoping to save as much as possible from now on.

LOVE the mustache blog and LOVE this forum! Keep it up, y'all!

castoriehandley93

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 9
    • The Uncluttered Life
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1489 on: July 23, 2014, 11:15:26 PM »
Hi. Im Castor. Newbie. Loves to eat and run and read and hike and swim and sleep and hibernate.

Frostee

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 7
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1490 on: July 24, 2014, 12:21:46 AM »
Hello All,

I've been reading MMM for a few months now.  I'm 30 years old and live in Seattle, WA (but hope to return to N. Utah where I am from originally in the next couple years).  I am a structural engineer at a large aerospace company.  I have no debt and a small, but quickly growing, stache.

billybaht

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Location: Thailand
Hi from Thailand
« Reply #1491 on: July 24, 2014, 03:07:26 AM »
Sawasdee krab! (Hello)

I ERd at 49 and moved to Thailand in 2002. I haven't owned a car since retiring but I have had a couple of motorbikes and really enjoyed touring around the country, especially the north :)

I lead a simple lifestyle but pretty much do what I want. The greatest thing about retirement is that your time is finally your own and you can engage in the activities that interest you :)

Catch you later,

Billy




snickers

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 12
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1492 on: July 24, 2014, 08:31:29 AM »
Hello everyone.   Another new dude.   50yrs old, and pretty disgusted with my money management skills, so here I am to fix that.   

Snickers

Kansas Beachbum

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 182
  • Location: Kansas City Metro
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1493 on: July 24, 2014, 10:27:11 AM »
Morning everyone.  Been reading for about 6 months.  Love it!  Mrs. KBB and I share a frugal streak, which is nice, and a vision of not working at a big company much longer.  We are early 50's with 3 kids (27, 22 & 16)...only the youngest one still at home full time.  I think we're in pretty good shape thanks to fairly nice incomes and a savings rate of ~40% currently.  We're at $1.2M in invested savings, another $150K equity in our home, no debt (except for mortgage), so...as our adivisor put it at our last meeting, we are "The Millionaires Next Door" :-)  I struggle with how to transition from the working, accumulation stage to the distribution stage...how to turn the nest egg in to an income stream.  A lot of it is in deferred accounts (401K's, IRA's) so we can't tap it for a few years, but plan to quit the corporate rat race when the youngest graduates from High School in 2 years, downsize & pay cash for a house somewhere that has better beaches than Kansas.  Cheers all!

Richie Poor

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 69
  • Age: 42
  • Location: Texas
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1494 on: July 24, 2014, 12:29:40 PM »
Hello.

I'm from Dallas and working on FIRE. About 10% there.

laughingmanzero

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 11
  • Age: 34
  • Location: Newport Beach, CA
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1495 on: July 24, 2014, 02:37:56 PM »
Hi, new here, finished reading about a third of the blog, plan to continue learning all of the great things here. 25 years old, have horrible spending habits, can't wait to fix them for good and stop letting my money control me.

FrugalTravelGal

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 18
  • Location: Illinois
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1496 on: July 24, 2014, 08:50:36 PM »
Hello, fellow Mustachians!  I first read about MMM a few months ago on a DISNEY message board  (Budget  Board  thread about early retirement) - of all places! I am married, have 3  adult children, and I love to travel.

 I have been interested in "simple living" since my college days in the 70s, but it was a lot easier to live that way when I was  a poor student! We have lived on one income since my oldest child was born almost 30 years ago, and I homeschooled my children. However, "affluenza"  crept in over the years as  my husband's income grew, and now we have a fairly large  house full of "stuff"!  My husband plans to retire at the end of this year at age 55, and we want  to downsize to a smaller home in a less expensive state in a few years.

I love MMM's blogs, and I have been trying to read all of them. Although I  don't plan to start riding a bike around town, I have been trying to cut way back on unnecessary driving trips. One day I even walked to the nearest grocery store when all I needed to buy were hamburger buns! It took me 29 minutes each way, and in the back of my mind I wished I had a bike available for that trip!
« Last Edit: July 24, 2014, 08:56:11 PM by FrugalTravelGal »

Happy in CA

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 54
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1497 on: July 27, 2014, 12:27:17 AM »
I started reading the blog last month. 

I retired in 2010 at 54 with a pension.  DH retired a year later at 50.  We both have pensions and no kids.  We always lived within our means and saved a lot of money, but spent (wasted) a lot of money also.  Last year we bought a beach house. We are fixing it up a bit and plan to move there when it's done.  Then we may sell our current house or rent it out - we aren't decided yet.

I am very attracted to the philosophical aspects of mustachianism.  I love my life because it allows me to run and bike and spend a lot of time outdoors, but I would also like to stop wasting money, get rid of my crap, and find new adventures to pursue in retirement.  I also want to make sure that DH and I will be ok if the pensions were to disappear or lose significant value because of inflation, and to do that we really need to get back to saving a big chunk of our income.

The young people in the MMM community are very impressive, far more so than most of my baby boomer colleagues who seem to never, ever have enough stuff.  I am learning daily by reading the blog posts and forum.  Keep up the good work!

scrnplyr

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 21
  • Location: Hollywood, Calif
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1498 on: July 27, 2014, 01:43:24 AM »
Hello my name is scrnplyr and I'm a frugaholic...
I don't pay retail
I buy in bulk
I fix everything myself
I workout constantly
I bike up a lot of hills
And my garden kicks ass

I am a frugaholic

shitzmagee

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 48
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #1499 on: July 27, 2014, 05:43:03 PM »
Hi, my name is SM and I'm a mustachaholic...I've been following MMM since the article in the Post.

I'm 29 and married with a 2 y/o. I've been in the military for 7 years. I graduated college with no debt and then quickly buried myself under a mountain of it. I woke up one day and realized my debt was an emergency and spent the next few years destroying it. I've been debt free for about 3 years and it is glorious! But I continued to waste my money rather than save/invest it until about a year ago.

Now all I think about is growing and managing my stache and increasing my savings rate (currently about 40%). I've synced up my FI date with my military retirement in 2027 and will be able to live very comfortably there after.

I love to talk about how to lower expenses. I need motivation to be more active and spend less time in front of the TV and laptop. My current goals are to start riding my bike to work, downsize to one vehicle, and sell all the crap I've accumulated and don't need. Then I plan to use my next military change of station (in 2016) to completely engineer everyday life around growing my stache as fast as possible.

Thanks MMM!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!