Say Hi and Introduce Yourself

[dok33]

Been lurking here for about a year after running across the forum/blog searching for info on MVNO cell plans, figured it was time for an intro/progress update!

My wife and I are 30 somethings raising 3 kids on a single engineer salary that hasn't grown much over the past few years.  We actually started working on getting our financial house in order a couple years ago after finding out she was pregnant with twins and realizing that we were spending about 110% of our dual income (you'd think for an engineer I'd be a little better with numbers) but have really turned up the heat over the past year thanks to the great info on this site.  In that time we've gone up 2 kids, down 1 salary and are significantly more financially stable thanks to a 28% reduction in living expenses.  We still have a rather large student loan and a couple of other smaller loans to pay off but should be debt free in the not too distant future thanks to our newfound badassity, a term I use loosely as compared to others on this forum!

A few of the many wins this year:
-Cell phone bill from $202 to $46 thanks to Ting
-$260/month average fuel savings from combo of trading our Toyota Sequoia for a Prius and me bike commuting ~80mi/week
-30lbs off my still overweight frame thanks to said bike commuting
-$500 (not an extra zero there) less per month spent on food compared to 2yrs ago despite buying more fresh produce and lean protein and having a 6' tall 14yr old in the house who eats everything he sees
-Opened a Mint account and stopped spending multiple hours a week entering things into my budget spreadsheet (continued frugality muscle workouts will take this even farther)
-Spent less time perusing the auto section of Craigslist (I'm a bit of a gearhead) and started posting on my blog for the first time in about a year and a half.  (Probably also saved $ not buying crap I don't need here too but I haven't been tracking that)

My wife thought I was a little crazy at first but taking MMM's approach of setting the example and practicing what I preach has really helped bring her around on (most) things, not spending hundreds per month on parts for my car projects and my death warmed over look after biking 11mi home from work at 5PM on a 105 degree day are probably key contributors. We'll have one loan paid off next month and the others (hopefully) by Jan'16 with the next target being killing the student loan which will leave us debt free aside from our mortgage which has ~$120k left on it and will be next on the list!

[MsWillow]

Hi,
I am excited to finally start commenting after reading voraciously all summer. I am married with 2 kids. We have started the MM lifestyle, the timing couldn't have been better. My SO has recently been given a lay off notice, so we will be budgeting out of necessity. I am looking forward to great advice as I continue to check in....daily.
MsW

[MustacheNorway]

Hi everybody...

I am Ronnie, I am 33 years old , live in Norway with my lovely girlfriend with no kids but with  4 cats and a dog , in a really nice part of our own (very expensive) peice of heaven.. :)

I have a HUGE amount of debt, for several unimportant reasons. Totally $387.000 , my part of the house is worth $315.000 (Yeah, Norwegian houseprices is redicolous) , so some of it are "covered" , but we have no plans of moving so the debt will remain.

I have a well paying job, with overtime and some travel it totals to $94.500 a year.

I am VERY glad i found MMM , and in the two month's I've been reading it from beginning to end I have already started to have a very significant change in attitude and how I handle money.

Before I found the MMM Blog I never had enough money each month, and always had to work overtime to get the ends to meet.
Now, after only two months, I can actually not work any overtime, and still be able to save about $150, but I always work a lot , so I save (or actually pay on my depts) substansially.

My next move is to sell the, "stupid" way too expensive car, that will make my debt go down about $25.000 and I can use the money I am paying down the car mortage with, against one of my other mortages. I will instead buy a cheaper car that I own myself , without any debt.

At the moment I do a lot of payments ($3800 regular payment + all overtime income) to get dept free as soon as possible.
My plan is to be debt free in 7 years and use another 5-6 to get FI.

This would never been been even close to realistic without getting the input I have gotten from MMM. So thank you in opening my eyes.
If I had been able to do one thing over,  it would be to kick my 25 year old self repeatadly in the face, and tell him to grow up.....  :)  But I am finally on the right track. :)

Otherwise I love to travel, reading books, build things (redecorating the house , doing add ons etc). So I generally enjoy life.
I would also like to take the opportunity to say that you can get FI even with a redicolous amount of debt if you just have the right attitude.

An off topic question , are there any country based threads \ sections?  Would be cool to have a Norwegian Corner, where we could trade services, goods etc , the frugal way.

- Ronnie

[ViragoStache]

Hey, ViragoStache here.  Located in the Midwest (Milwaukee WI area) I'm in my 40s, married with two young boys.  Found MMM early this year and read it from first to last post.  Love the idea and trying to sell it to the hubby.

Really glad to have the forum as anyone you tell you are "retiring early" looks at you like you are crazy.  They are all scared and stuck (perhaps with debt, but at least with consumerism).  Or they laugh and think I'm joking.  Won't that retirement party be a surprise :)

It's great to have like minded people here and love the possibility of meeting up with local Mustachians!

Thanks!

[coin]

Hi!  I'm coin, I'm 24 and live in Perth, Western Australia.  I have a partner who is more 'mustachian' in some ways (e.g. he has a higher savings rate than me) but less so in others (he's not all that interested in early retirement/financial independence while I am all over this stuff).

I've been reading the blog for a while now, but only recently gotten into it.  I've mostly been focusing on substituting my more spendy habits with some more frugal ones.  The idea of bikes has really caught on with me, to the point where I packed a lunch and cycled from Morley to Fremantle (~33kms) yesterday.  I didn't think it was something I could do, because I'm unfit and asthmatic, but I did it!  Sure, maybe I'm not the fastest, but that packed lunch tasted like victory (take that, asthma!).

[MustacheNorway]

Hi!  I'm coin, I'm 24 and live in Perth, Western Australia.  I have a partner who is more 'mustachian' in some ways (e.g. he has a higher savings rate than me) but less so in others (he's not all that interested in early retirement/financial independence while I am all over this stuff).

I've been reading the blog for a while now, but only recently gotten into it.  I've mostly been focusing on substituting my more spendy habits with some more frugal ones.  The idea of bikes has really caught on with me, to the point where I packed a lunch and cycled from Morley to Fremantle (~33kms) yesterday.  I didn't think it was something I could do, because I'm unfit and asthmatic, but I did it!  Sure, maybe I'm not the fastest, but that packed lunch tasted like victory (take that, asthma!).

Kudos to you!!    Impressive!  :)

[Monkey Uncle]

Hi,

I'm 46, married with a son in college, and live in WV, USA.  My wife and I have always prided ourselves on being frugal, but somehow our passively expanding spending always seems to keep pace with my slowly expanding salary.  I've always maxed out the employer match on my 401k, but beyond that we've found long-term saving to be difficult.  Recently we've redoubled (quadrupled?) our efforts, with a goal of retiring by the time I hit 55 (or sooner, if possible).

I'm enjoying all the great tips on the blog and in the forum and looking forward to trading advice with you all.

[FreeWheel]

Hi everybody! My long time wife and I never had a budget, never really looked at or tracked the dollars going in or out. We just always spent less than we made as a matter of course.

We had an extremely low cost wedding, saved double the down payment necessary for a home before we married. Kept other loans to a minimum, would never allow ourselves to pay any interest on credit cards. We always thought paying anything monthly for TV was way too silly to ever sign up for.

I've had a passion for bicycles my entire life, always repairing/restoring and riding them. Many bikes that were trash finds, donations, or bought at low cost, have been sold for profit, or given to people in need. When I finish a bike it is 100% ready to go, and looks good too. I've been cycling to work for over 8 years.

We kept our cars for 10-15 years (spent way more years without a car loan than with) and paid off the home mortgage early. Started putting 12-14% into our 401k's early on, and ended up saving outside of that every month because we never spent it all. Today, at 54 and 52, we figure we are on track for a very comfortable retirement at the normal age.

After reading MMM for many months, I now see that we could have easily been retired a while ago!  Even so, we're in great financial shape, so I don't feel I need to punch myself (or my wife!) in the face too hard.

I've recently started dropping hints with my wife that with a few changes, one or even both of us could retire earlier than we planned. I'm taking it slow, but don't expect it to be too hard of a sell!

It's great to join up with a group of like minded people. I look forward to shooting the breeze with all of you.

[Unkempt Stash]

Hello Community :)

My name is Jake and I live in the Midwest. I'm in my early 30s and have a long way until FIRE.

I enjoy my career in software, but I would love to be able to either donate my skills to good causes or to start small businesses for myself.

Alternatively, being able to donate a large portion of my working income would be a good place to be...

I was raised poor and I love the idea of reaching FI and working because I *want* to, but with no fear.

[ImCheap]

Hello all,

After reading this site for over a year now I thought what the heck, might as well join up.

I'm mid 40's and have been mostly doing the MMM thing as far as I can remember, looking forward to some good conversations.

We LYBM and index our investments.

[Knapptyme]

Hi, I'm Steve. My wife, son (2.5), and I live in the Jacksonville, FL area, bike to work, and love life. While my wife may continue to teach even after we reach FI, I will be retired in about nine years' time at age 42.

We have a lot to learn, and love doing so, but financially we are in a great place ready to buy our first rental property.

[megaschnauzer]

Howdy. Carl from Pensacola, FL. I've been lurking for a while, trying to absorb some of this knowledge. I don't have much money knowledge but I'm good at not spending it. I make decent money for being relatively uneducated. My GF and I do all our retirement stuff through a financial planner and he says we're doing alright. I don't mind working but I'm not a career type person. I commute by bike, eat a lot of vegetables, say my prayers, all the good things.

[Moby32]

Hello all,

Lurking for a bit over a month now, first post.  I work for a team of financial advisors at a large brokerage firm, and am excited to start tracking my journey to FI.  I am not a full blooded mustachian (I actually fly to another state for work), but I am gaining quite a bit of perspective from reading this forum.  Unfortunately working in my chosen career has severely skewed my perspective of reality and needs vs. wants.  I am trying to rediscover what is truly important, and how much passive income I need to be happy.  I am married, with two awesome dogs.

I hope to add some value to the forum and look forward to sharing/learning from you all.  I am extremely VALUE focused, not in the investment sense, but in the consumer sense.

Best,

Moby32

[Olive Branch]

Hey folks, I'm Marcelo, currently living in Montreal, Canada. I'm a teacher by trade and in my mid-twenties. I've been reading the MMM blog for about a year and I've already spread the word of Mustachianism to my immediate family!

I decided to join the forum community because I'm sure that I can get great advice from other Mustachians as well as remind myself that early retirement is possible, and achievable to even a low earner like me! I've taken my first steps to early retirement by investing a bunch of my checking account money on Questrade and am prepared to retire Canadian Couch Potato style.

But even so, there's more I could do to get that freedom earlier, and I'll be scouring the forums and participating in discussions to discover those things I could be doing! :)

[manonfire1007]

Ok, here goes.
37, high income with high student loans and higher than wise spending, though improving. Now on an actual budget. Happily married to one less interested in mustachinism than I, though she has her frugal points. Achievements in moving more in that direction come via negotiation.
Stats: 37 yo making 250k/ year. The income is recent as school took a while and I've moved up in my position in the last 3 years. Started 401k (maxed) and matched deferred comp plan when money came in 3 years ago. Have 280k in student loans and 238k mortgage on 15 year fixed. Average percentage is 5%. Take home pay after taxes and 401k is 14600/ mo. Live on 6k plus 2k mortgage. Pay 2700 in debt and accelerate with an extra 2k per month as the debt snowball. It would be more but that was what was negotiated. It puts me on track to be debt free in 8 years. The plan is then to half the difference between what I earn (14.6k) and budget to spend (6k) and save half and play/help others with the other half. All told it puts me at 1.7 mil at age 55.
I eat out more than I should. I drive an sub, as does she. I could bike but can't arrive at work sweating like a pig, which is what would happen. My suv is the luxury I allow myself and am unashamed. I love it and will drive it until it dies in 20 years. It is also very safe and my income goes away if I get hurt. No bikes on roads, no motorcycles or minicars. The house is very efficient and energy costs are low. No drinking and kids are well cared for. Wife could produce 80k a year but elects to stay home as a full time mom which I am thrilled to support.
Am working on whittling down the budget and am picking the low hanging fruit. I am not full on mustachian, but have adopted some principles to my betterment.
 Thoughts?

[9ofPentacles]

Hey there Mustachians,

It's about time I introduced myself. I'm Denise, and I'm pretty obsessed with this site. I'm a 51-year-old widowed single mom of four kids--three grown and gone and a 12-year-old still at home. I've been working as a waitress since I was a teenager.

I wish I could say I've been a financial badass all this time, but it's only since my husband died four years ago that I was able to pay off our debt (except the mortgage) with the life insurance money. We were HORRIBLE with money together. Turns out that I'm pretty good with money on my own though. Pretty good, but not yet badass! I've got some challenges coming up in the next few years, so I'm heading off to "Ask a Mustachian" section to pick all your very smart brains.

[Bytowner]

Hey all,
I'm an almost 31 year old from Ottawa, Canada. I have a wife, a 2 year old daughter, and another on the way. I have a too-big mortgage and a horrendous commute, but otherwise I feel like things are okay. First goal: paying off that mortgage. Low interest rate, but peace of mind is important to me and my job isn't exactly a sure-thing long term.
Nice to be here!

[Ferrisbueller]

Hi all
Found mmm from another website forum and its been a revelation !

I'm 43 married with 3 small kids.  Every day I feel blessed with the family I have. I'm a financial consultant and earn around 150kpa wife is a 4 day working mom and earns around 80kpa

Background (lot of face punches here) I used (!) to love the finer things in life I suppose part of me still does so the spending part of my nature is not mustachian - I am NOT frugal by nature (sadly) and a am reforming luxury car addict. In my 30s drove a Porsche, expensive watch, lots of luxury holidays, great wine, Michelin star restaurants etc etc you get the picture. I lost around 50k on the Porsche and a bad financial investment which are probably the biggest non lifestyle fuckups I've made. Interestingly I was always into voluntary discomfort (marathon runner, gave up meat for periods of time) as a way of making life taste that bit sweeter and I've always been stoical in recognising how blessed I've been in my life. I also maxed my pension contributions in my 20s, never had credit card debt, and drove a crappy cheap car until my 30s, maybe there IS some mustachian in my DNA ??

Our house is worth around $1M and our equity is about 500k, my pension investments are around 280k and we have around 40k in savings. Wife has a government pension to look forward to. I inherited around 80k when my mother died last year and I paid off the two small car loans, dumped a chunk off the mortgage and had some work done on the house and kept the rest (did buy myself a pair of $300 cuff links) in the bank.

Then I found mmm around 6 months ago

Wife and I bought bikes, I'm selling my BMW (my family and friends are amazed/worried) in favour of bike/public transport, I've increased my pension and investment contributions to $3250pm ($800pm from employer on top), no big ticket luxury items bought, started reducing grocery spend, started a spending diary, took a cheap 3 week holiday with family (we all had our bikes too - brilliant time!). Wife a natural frugal/ mustachian. We still have iPads, iPhones, epic speed broadband and to be honest we're keeping them (I'm never gonna rotate bike tyres or buy a years supply of rolled oats to save $5 - it ain't me)

Still spend a lot each month
Mortgage 2.5k
Child care 2.1k (ouch)
Food 1.5k
Utilities 400
Cable 100
Insurance 250
Lots more I haven't yet a handle on

On balance I feel we're many years from FI because of the ages of our kids and the cost of childcare and education and my nature (love what I work at and enjoy working with the people i work with)but I'm working on my nature and enjoying this new way of living and thinking more than I ever thought I would. Wife buying in too (I think she secretly thought mmm was my latest fad until I put the BMW up for sale)

Thanks mmm for everything

[TooOld]

I just signed up  today, 62 and still working thats why my handle is TooOld. I own my home, car,truckand collector car. still owe on small travel trailer. Have loaned both kids money still awaiting pay back on one. would like to retire in 2-3 years, dont have enough in investments to retire yet. trying to decide if I should pay off trailer with investment money

[Mr Dorothy Dollar]

Hello, I am late 20's. Spouse is early 30's. So far we have: Paid off our modest student debt; bought a modest home less than 1 times our yearly salary; my workday commute is from the bedroom to the basement; Next stop is maxing Roth and then 401K/TSP.

I don't know if I would ever want to fully retire yet I would like the option. I like being busy.

Where are all my fellow young people.

[oinkette]

Hello,

I've been posting for a while so I guess I should officially introduce myself!

OINKette: One Income, No Kids...female. 36 years old.  Too old for ERE but hopefully ER.

I live in Houston, TX (this may change as I'm looking for a new job elsewhere, though I do love it here). Originally from Los Angeles. 

Income: ~$60,000
Expenses: ~$24,000
FIRE Goal: $600,000 with the house paid off (if I'm still in Houston).
Timeline: 10 years



 

[startsomewhere]

Hi, Im Nichole. im a single mom with a 9 year old trying to figure out how to stay afloat.

[jordanread]

Hello, I am late 20's. Spouse is early 30's. So far we have: Paid off our modest student debt; bought a modest home less than 1 times our yearly salary; my workday commute is from the bedroom to the basement; Next stop is maxing Roth and then 401K/TSP.

I don't know if I would ever want to fully retire yet I would like the option. I like being busy.

Where are all my fellow young people.

We're around. :-) Way to go with your accomplishments, and welcome!!

[Shortbus]

Hi all,

I'm 36 & married with a toddler. Just took a big leap and moved from our big house far away from work to a rented townhouse less than half the size on an island close to nowhere but work. Fortunately I love my career and really don't care much about retiring early. I'm here mainly for inspiration on saving, dropping out of the consumeristic lifestyle and simplifying my life so my wife and I can spend more time with the little one while she's still little. Been reading for a few months, figured it was time to say hello!

Cheers!

[gaiusbaltar]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are PhD students. We somehow stumbled onto MMM three years ago when we were starting our programs. I think maybe it was the True Cost of Commuting article that first brought us to the blog, but once we started reading we loved the philosophy and the goal of ER. At that time we had a student loan debt, but now it's long paid off and we're sitting on a hefty sum in vanguard investments.

[2Birds1Stone]

Hi there! Fairly new to the community, have been reading like a madman the past couple of days.

Have been working full time for about 4 years, always had a knack for saving and despite a mediocre income and living in one of the most expensive places in the US I have been lucky enough to maintain a 40-50% savings rate.

Looking forward to increasing that and learning as much as possible. Goal to full FIRE is 13 years.

[EvenKeeled]

Hi everyone.

I found MMM a few weeks ago, read through (almost) all the posts and some comments (too many to read!), and now I'm reading the forums for ideas, inspiration, and eventually support.

I'm a 55 year old single man with no kids. Currently self-employed but studying online for a new career to make more money. I started this before I found MMM.

I'm naturally pretty frugal...with certain occasional expensive exceptions. Between saving and investing over the years and a recent inheritance I have a pretty nice stash.

I just started tracking my expenses yesterday with YNAB. I'm very curious to see how much I spend in a month! Might be able to retire in about five years.

[PeanutUtd]

Have been reading both the forum and the MMM blog for a while. Am a 35 year old Australian living in Singapore. My wife is from the USA and is currently finishing her PhD.

My wife has been frugal the whole time I've known her. So I guess the biggest changes from reading MMM have been mine (taking lunch to work, switching to coffee at home, taking the train to work during the times it is free etc)

We've come to Singapore because of my job and are really enjoying our time here. Saving rate is up from about 5% to around 50%, looking forward to further improvements on that front.

[Lost In Space]

 Hi Guys,
 My name is Jeff From Northeast Ohio.
 Ready set GO!!!

[nyold]

Hello,

I'm Henry from Boston. I found your blog recently (a month ago or so) and have been reading the forums, but only started creating an account now because I had a question.

As for investing, I've been investing a little bit but I found the forums here to be a treasure trove of information that I'd have to digest slowly.

[Kimchi Bleu]

Hi, I'm Jacqueline from Indiana.  Married with 3 teens, looking to retire in 10 years.

[mlinquist]

Hey, my name is Mike,
I'm new to this forum but excited about all I can learn here.

[stachdownunder]

Hi my name is Ash,

Im a recent convert- my husband and I had a small personal loan and a mortgage but had been haemorrhaging money for the last 5 years or so- nothing major, just not really getting ahead and accumulating a house full of stuff we don't need.

Since reading MMM we have reassessed where we are at and have some goals in place, looking forward to learning more and creating a better future.

[thatbrowncat]

Hi! My name's Nurj, and I'm from the Philippines.

I've been inconsistently following MMM, and I thought how "nice"  articles were.
I really liked the philosophy---even if it seemed hardcore to me.
However, I thought his articles weren't applicable to my situation since I don't live in the United States.
Until I re-read his "Get rich with Bikes" numerous times.


It wasn't until I realized that I wanted to be in a community who were  committed to apply mustachianism in their lives,  did I have the guts to post here.

I wanted to talk with people who wouldn't ridicule me when I tell them "I want to bike to work"
I wanted to talk with people who cared for their financial independence.

...and so here I am :)

[Ze-french-architecte]

Hello moustachians,

I was happily along my plan to a better simpler life when !pow! I lost my job a week ago.

So now I NEED to get badass and frugal to a whole new level real quick 'cause I'm gonna have to rely on 1200 euros per month from now on.
This is why I joined the forum, to get very very concrete advice right from the best bunch.
I could just read and leech info, but it is more polite to say hi...  and I will share on subjects if I have anything useful to add ;)

So I'm not the Architect from the Matrix, nope, sorry to disappoint...
I'm 28, Canadian-American (but haven't spent more that 6 months combined in the USA since my birth, unfortunately) living in France since '06.
Mother of one, step-mother of one, so I have truly made my nest here in La Rochelle (France, west coast style!).

Sounds fun, eh? It is ! We are dirt poor in a very bad economy, but this is a nice place to be just that.

I am an architect, got the papers to proove it and all, got my B.Sc at ULaval, Québec, my Masters in Nantes, France. Have been working in architectural practices for 5 years.
My husband used to be an accountant/external auditor but now owns and works in a restaurant.
We love reading and commenting science magasines, reading in general, history, and politics. Politics are funny/depressing here in France, and is the topic of 50% of intelligent TV shows here (non-intelligent is reality TV, games and stale TV series from the States of course!) so we have endless entertainment right there.
I must say we are the sedentary type, more enclined to eat and drink with friends and take a short walk on the shore, than paddle on the beautiful ocean we have here. This should change because I would love to be a hardcore outdoors girl.

We love our almost 2-year old daugter, love-hate our 15 year old adolescent boy who wants nothing but money from us (it's a phase... he is a good boy somewhere inside that teenager's body of course), and we have a cat, who is just a cat, you know, completely indifferent to us and nowhere near Youtube standards for funny/cute cats.

Voilà! any French expats here ? or expats IN France? Someone who would like advice on travelling ?
anything goes to break the ice !

Cordialement, Emily ze french architecte

[iOWNthisBEARD]

Hey everyone ... Stumbled upon MMM via Reddit, and very thankful I did.  We've gotten a bit reckless over the past few years with our spending habits and finding this forum has really helped me refocus over the past few weeks of lurking.

About Me & My Fam:
I'm 30, my wife is 28.  I'm a high school drop out, started a business about 6 years ago with my wife & I's, life savings of $9,500.  We were "millionaire's" by 26.  We have 2 beautiful children, live in a beautiful part of the country, and are hoping to "retire" early.  We carry no debt outside of a 15 yr note on a rental of ours.  However ~ Spending close to 6 figures a year on "necessities" I would count as reckless.  Its time to button down the hatches!

Can't wait to dive deeper in to MMM! 

[Ze-french-architecte]

Hi Ze-french-architecte, I could write this post in French but it's more polite to do it in English for everyone else.

How low are how into Mustachianism? For me, It’s been 13 months and I can tell you, even if I was pretty much Mustachian by myself before I known that THING, we are now full throttle.

I went to U.L. myself as an Agronomist and I just realized I can live with the same expenses from those student years but we bring home 2 average salaries. Nobody from neighbors or friends could even know about this.

Comment est le climat à La Rochelle comparativement à Québec ?

Avez-vous la possibilité d'offrir de l'hébergement pour les touristes, ça pourrait apporter un revenu d’appoint.

Just keep up reading a lot of the MMM blogpost, biking, training, cooking and investing are the keys.

An alumni !
I have had a friend in UL that was studying agronomy.
Yes indeed keeping the student simple life witha growup paycheck is the best way to never feel pain and loss of puchasing power !
Good for you !
Living in Europe means there is already less waste as in NOrth America so it is challenging to cut back. I have found a house closer to work (10 km less, so 3-4km now for 200 euros more on rent per month, higher taxes too but I think this will still balance to a good move) and I use my car only 4days a week and will reduce that some more if I find daucare closer to our new location.
I will absolutely rent a room, what a good idea ! We don't need the extra bedroom to be empty while we wait for the next addition to the family !
I've only been reading the blog and forum for a month now. I have lots to learn and change in my life.

[Future Lazy]

Hello!

My name is Kayla - I came across MMM from someone on the Bigger Pockets forums, and I'm super grateful that I did. There's a lot of information overload out there, but the MMM blog is a great crash course to get a little information and start into a lot of different things. I found this blog back in July, and I've read the entire thing (mostly while at work, hehe). I'm grateful it's here, since it keeps me from going bonkers day to day thinking I'm alone in the world. It also kept me from spending my emergency fund on a trip to Mexico based on "spend it while you've got it" philosophy. Yay!

About me: I'm 22 and married, I'm going on two years in my first paycheck earning job. I spent the first year paying down debts and acclimating to proper adulthood, but this year I've spent saving as much as I could and taking care of a lot of financial loose ends. I have no debt now, and I've saved up a 6 month emergency fund, and started my own blog to help keep myself on track. Definitely excited to get involved here in the forum and get some answers and more resources!

Thanks for reading, see you out there!

[The Architect]

So I'm not the Architect from the Matrix, nope, sorry to disappoint...
I'm 28, Canadian-American (but haven't spent more that 6 months combined in the USA since my birth, unfortunately) living in France since '06.
Mother of one, step-mother of one, so I have truly made my nest here in La Rochelle (France, west coast style!). ... Have been working in architectural practices for 5 years.

LOL! I'm a 28 year old  American (US) architect who lives near Canada and has 5 years of experience but do not have my license, and yet, I am The Architect!

Anyway, found this site on accident. Discovered it'd fit well with our current, already pretty frugal (but not by the standards here), lifestyle. Working on re-gearing my family's financial life to see if we can make it work.

[NatureKnight]

Hello,

I've been reading some MMM for a few months. Finally starting to get serious with saving for retirement and for a house. My husband and I are low- to mid-20s. First kid on the way. I'll stay home with him/her and whatever others we have. Not sure what I will do when they start school.

We're almost done paying off our debt, and almost done with our emergency fund. Then, we'll start trying to get our 20% down payment saved up for, because I hate sharing walls with people.

Still pretty confused on what all we should be doing to save for retirement. My husband likes what he does, so we aren't necessarily shooting for early retirement. That's about it.

[flamingo25]

Hello!

I am a late-twenties woman from the PNW. Been married to my husband for just over 5 years. No kids due to unfortunate fertility issues but considering possibly adopting one day.

We have always been pretty frugal and followed Dave Ramsey's plan since we were dating. We have a decent amount in savings/retirement and we have no debt except a reasonable mortgage.

Goals: Pay off our mortgage within the next 5 years, retire early (not sure of exact date for that yet, still new to this).

I'm a frugal person but still struggle with loving shopping and buying things. I'm realizing that although I tend to buy inexpensive things I still shop too much and buy loads of useless crap. My husband is much better about this. My new thing is going to library when I have the urge to shop. It soothes the craving for "stuff" and everything is free!

I'm just dusting off my bike and am going to try to bike/walk more as much as possible. I don't think I'm going to tackle bike commuting just yet, but my husband might in the semi-near future.

Nice to "meet" all of you!

[Cookie]

Hello everyone!

My husband and I are in our early 20s and while we were both decently frugal our whole lives, we are excited to start learning about how to be even more frugal and start investing our savings! We have no debt and are saving for a down payment on a house when we move back to the States in two years.

[Greenroller]

Hello,
Long time lurker coming out of the shadows. Love this site and the sense of community you all have going on around here. Although I feel pretty mustachian I have found myself not being on top of my frugal ways lately. This coupled with my husband hating his job has re-inspired me to try to get us to FIRE sooner. I am 36, DH is 33, and we have 2 kiddos. We live in the suburbs of Denver Colorado. We both have about $200K each saved in 401k, a Roth IRA, and some mutual funds totalling $50K, and  college fund for the kids totalling 200k.  Our focuse has been to get our $300,000.00 home paid down and I am happy to say we have less than $40,000 left on our mortage. No credit card debt and are about $6,000.00 away from having my car paid off. Our annual income is $120,000.00.  I really want to stay motivated but often feel I come down with 'frugal fatigue' and loose the drive to be so frugal. My husband doesnt get exhausted by it all like I do, then again- I am the one who manages all financial aspects of our lives. Anyhow~ I am officially joining in hopes to get more motivation and inspiration.  :P

[mancityfan]

Hi there, I have been reading for several months, but have just started to post. About me:

51 male. Born in the UK but moved over to the US around 26 years ago. I was a nurse at the time. I moved into teaching in the late 90s and now have 15 years in my local school system. I am teaching at a good school.

I am married with 3 children. Ages 15, 17, and 20. The oldest is in college.

Financial goals regarding retirement: I am hoping to retire around 60. My wife is 5 years older and I hope she can retire around 60 also. We make a combined $110-120k a year. We save around 15% of our net income - not very mustachian I know :-). We have had 2 recent windfalls that have significantly helped our NW as a result of inheritances - yes, we are certainly "lucky" as per another current thread. We used this money to pay off our mortgage and invest more. Current NW including house value is around 1.3M.

[noexcuses227]

Hi all,

Long time lurker on the "overheard at work" posts. 

37 married to a wonderful lady, we both have mini mustaches due to our frugal lives and Dave Ramsey. Have 3 little mustachians in training.  We thought we were hardcore with having NO Debt (including mortgage) until we found Mr. Money Mustache. 

We both dream of FIRE, I know I will always be doing something to stay active just not digging the work scene.  Have a good paying job now, not a huge fan of going into work for a variety of reasons.

Columbus Ohio

[arielcole]

Hello!

I'm 23, living at my parents house, attempting to pay off my 30k of student debt ASAP.

Love this blog, and this community. It's really inspiring, especially because I come from a family of consumer suckas and car clowns, trying to change that in them too.

-Portland Oregon

[AgileTurtle]

Hi
Been reading for a while and decided to jump in and become friends.

[Annie_B]

Hi!

I'm 29 and from the UK. FI was a foreign concept to me until a few months ago when I stumbled accross the MMM blog. The more I read the more I realised that I have already been applying many mustachian principles for years... with a bit more work could I just maybe achieve FI one day? Eureka moment!

I still have a lot to learn so my current focus is to gain knowledge about investing so that I can get my savings working harder.

Enjoying the wealth of infomation I'm finding on the blog and forum - thanks to all!

[One Day]

Hi!

Another LTL.

33, married with a preschooler and a baby. Been supporting my family for years, with a good job, while my husband finishes his doctorate and training.

MMM has been my nursing and late night reading for months. Thought I was frugal but pale in comparison to many here. I have learned a lot - thanks!

[cdnpink]

Hi all,

I am a recent grad in my mid 20's and I have just landed myself my first salaried job! I don't remember how I found MMM but as I start my working life I am very glad that I did! I have been in and out of credit card debt cycles twice in my credit owning history and have vowed that I will never go back there. I am hoping to figure out ways to be a Mustachian career woman, so I joined the forum and hope to learn a whole lot more!