Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3315941 times)

tenns9

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Age: 35
  • Location: Fresno, CA
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2450 on: November 08, 2015, 10:57:33 PM »
Hi all,

My wife and I are both 26 with a 1 yr old son. We are looking forward to FI, but have not really looked into how quickly we can get there. We just recently made our final payment on our $180k home and now have absolutely no debt and about 50k invested between Roth's, IRA's, and 401ks. My wife is a SAHM and I'm looking forward to the day I can join her.

We were making $2,000-$3,000 house payments/mo for quite some time and now can put that money towards ER savings now that we have ZERO debt. I'm much more interested in possibly investing into rental properties, but do not even know where to start with that so I'll be reading a lot in that portion of this forum.




taking fire

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 54
  • Age: 39
  • Location: AL
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2451 on: November 09, 2015, 10:36:12 AM »
Hello,

I am John.

I found this place by searching for financial advice forums online. Looks like a really good place to spend some time!

simplyTri

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Age: 36
  • Location: Washington, DC
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2452 on: November 11, 2015, 11:53:21 AM »
Hi!!

My name is Tri and I'm 27 years old.  I discovered personal finance, frugal living and minimalism about a year ago. Since then, I’ve paid off my remaining student loan of $12,000 and $5,000 credit card debt. I’m currently saving 40% of my income and living a very simple life in a very expensive city – Washington, DC. My rent is also about $850 and I bike to work everyday – my commute is only 10 minutes!!! I maintain a cash diet for my monthly expenses to help me stay on budget and to keep me from getting back into credit card debt.
I take out $300 in cash every paycheck (every 2 weeks):
$100 Groceries (I mostly shop at Trader Joe’s – low prices and lots of organic options!!)
$100 Eating Out/Going Out/Fun
$20 Hair Cuts
$10 Dog Food
$20 Laundry
$50 Dad – I send $100 to my Dad each month to help with some of his expenses
(I pay my reoccurring bills with my debit card – rent, cell, utilities, dog insurance and renter’s insurance)
With the cash diet, once I run out of cash, I would either take from the other categories or stop spending. I usually end up with $20-$40 left over every 2 weeks, and I deposit the extras into my savings account.

Looking forward to read and learn about investing, FI and early retirement.  I want to retire in 10 years (at age 38) and travel around in an Airstream!!


Bloodbuzz

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 59
  • Location: UK
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2453 on: November 11, 2015, 03:05:03 PM »
Hi im 31 year old guy in South of England - single income no kids, no debt, little bit in savings but planning to increase that massively from now and 'do' passive investing.

Been lurking here for about 6 months and fascinated by all the stories and advice and getting inspired to start my own plan to be financially independent around age 45 (or much earlier if possible!).

Im recently made a few life changes and am now saving around 50-60% of my salary.  Looking forward to being active on the forums :D

max924

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 41
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2454 on: November 11, 2015, 07:03:07 PM »
Hi All,

 Been a lurker for some time and decided to introduce myself to get the ball rolling.

 I'm 31, my wife is the same age, and we a have a 1.5 year old daughter. Currently I am on Parental Leave from my job (get 9 months as other parent in Canada!) which has been awesome, and has led me to strive for FIRE.

  I have read a few good books on the subject lately as well as the mmm material and have started a few things to reach my goals:

-finally invested my money into index funds chosen by me
-sold a whole bunch of crap that didnt line up with our values/goals ie. huge diesel truck etc. Selling these items alone freed up ~ $40,000 for investments
-tracking our spending down to the dollar
-in general trying to live our life more in line with our goals and values.

 We live in Ontario, Canada and I am hoping i can use this forum for the many questions I have in pregressing to our goals.

M

FarmStash

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2455 on: November 11, 2015, 07:19:55 PM »
Hi everyone.

I have been lurking on this forum for awhile and seen alot of great ideas.

Am not looking to retire from work as most here are but move more to being able to have a small farm of my own as a full time hobby.  Think that this can help me get their.

albireo13

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 517
  • Location: New England
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2456 on: November 12, 2015, 05:23:53 AM »
Hi there

I am turning 60 soon. I found MMM about a month ago and find it very motivating!
I am an engineer with a good salary. My wife is a nurse who works in Boston.
We have not saved aggressively over the years. To be honest, I didn't pay that much attention to retirement savings until recently.  Now I give myself the forehead slap. I could have FIREd years ago if I had been less of a consumer.

Love this website!

marcustachian

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2457 on: November 12, 2015, 01:07:13 PM »
'Lo Mustachians, I'm Marcus from New Zealand. My brother recommended MMM about 3 weeks ago and I got totally hooked on the philosophies and ideas.
I'm going to go hunting for some NZ specific investment advice on these forums.

skeeder

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 103
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2458 on: November 13, 2015, 08:33:40 AM »
Hello from Michigan.

The skeeder callsign represents a (current) family of 5.  Wife and I are young (29) and have 3 amazing boys ranging from 6 to 1 years of age.  We got married very young and started our family when I finished college.  I studied finance and have a background in investments and retirement plan design.  My wife studied accounting. 

I am a "public servant" and my wife is a full-time stay at home mom, with a small jewelry business on the side.  Our life up to this point has been very financially dry. 

Our current net-worth is positive, but that is mostly thanks for appreciation of a foreclosure that we currently have on the market.  It's sale price will wipe out most of our debt lingering from college, short term CC debt to get a few items fixed on the house, and perhaps our one vehicle loan (which was unfortunately necessary since our other vehicle wouldn't fit 3 seats across the back). 

Once the house sells, our hope is relocate to a more desireable location to be closer to our church and work.  We hope to raise more food via ground and livestock.  That place (we hope) will require little work on our part (financially speaking) and we can save funds for other items: paying off the mortgage, kids college, and retiring.

If you see me posting you'll notice a few things:
I'm a minimalist.
I am frugal.
I drive a three pedal car.
I have a real winter at my location. 
I believe in eating local grown and organic foods.
I am a foodie.
I love dark beer.
I love good coffee.
I love two wheels (powered by man or machine)

« Last Edit: November 13, 2015, 08:40:39 AM by skeeder »

MisterTwoForty

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 83
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2459 on: November 14, 2015, 11:34:12 AM »
Hello All.  Just like many of you - I am a long time reader and first time I signed up was today.

I was recommended to read MMM by a friend a few years ago.  I finally started about a year back and got serious about ER.

I'm in a fairly LCOLA area and have a pretty simple lifestyle.  Two income earners and no kids (yet).  I plan to be done working in the next 10-12 years.  That will put me in my early 40's.

GoSounders

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2460 on: November 14, 2015, 09:47:37 PM »
Hello Mustachians,

Hmm.  Where to start.  Well, here is the deal - I randomly landed on this blog via the personal finance subreddit, specifically the commuting post.  I read the post, and moved on to the 'Start Here' post, and well the rest is history.  That was about 2 weeks ago, and since then I've:

1) Cut cable - reduced bill from $160 to $90, and will drop another $10 once our $40 purchased cable modem arrives.  I wish we could reduce this bill further, however Comcast has a monopoly here and alternatives are all horrible
2) Reduced my cell phone plan from $165/mo to $30/mo.  I get a free phone from work but was too dumb to cancel my personal phone and my wife moved her phone to Republic.  Both of our old phones are on eBay now, and should more than cover the remaining balance on our phones (purchased on credit (0%, but still...))
3) Am in the process of reducing my auto/home insurance - don't have a solid figure, but will probably save 60% or more
4) Finally decided that my 26-mile round trip commute was not worth living in Seattle, so we met (tonight) with our Realtor sister-in-law to put our house up for sale next spring and move within biking distance of my work
5) Once we move, getting rid of the Nissan Leaf that I'm leasing, and paying off our other car (less than $5k at 2.75% APR)
6) Buying a cargo bike with a kiddo-hauler for our two youngsters so my wife can bike the older kid to kindergarten

Never in my life did I think that randomly searching the internet would so profoundly change my view on life.  I mean, holy shit, what a punch in the face.  I've ALWAYS said that I want to be financially independent, but never have I seen a more clear path than prescribed by MMM.  Kool-aid has been fully ingested, shit, I've never even posted on a forum in my life before today, but felt the overwhelming need to say thank you for providing me the toolkit needed to do what I've so desperately wanted to have since I started my professional career.  I'm very fortunate that I'm in the target audience ($100k+ income, zero revolving debt) and have the means to 'Stache cash.  I fully get it now, and am STOKED for the next 10 years! 

jordanread

  • Guest
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2461 on: November 16, 2015, 03:26:11 PM »
Hello Mustachians,

Hmm.  Where to start.  Well, here is the deal - I randomly landed on this blog via the personal finance subreddit, specifically the commuting post.  I read the post, and moved on to the 'Start Here' post, and well the rest is history.  That was about 2 weeks ago, and since then I've:

1) Cut cable - reduced bill from $160 to $90, and will drop another $10 once our $40 purchased cable modem arrives.  I wish we could reduce this bill further, however Comcast has a monopoly here and alternatives are all horrible
2) Reduced my cell phone plan from $165/mo to $30/mo.  I get a free phone from work but was too dumb to cancel my personal phone and my wife moved her phone to Republic.  Both of our old phones are on eBay now, and should more than cover the remaining balance on our phones (purchased on credit (0%, but still...))
3) Am in the process of reducing my auto/home insurance - don't have a solid figure, but will probably save 60% or more
4) Finally decided that my 26-mile round trip commute was not worth living in Seattle, so we met (tonight) with our Realtor sister-in-law to put our house up for sale next spring and move within biking distance of my work
5) Once we move, getting rid of the Nissan Leaf that I'm leasing, and paying off our other car (less than $5k at 2.75% APR)
6) Buying a cargo bike with a kiddo-hauler for our two youngsters so my wife can bike the older kid to kindergarten

Never in my life did I think that randomly searching the internet would so profoundly change my view on life.  I mean, holy shit, what a punch in the face.  I've ALWAYS said that I want to be financially independent, but never have I seen a more clear path than prescribed by MMM.  Kool-aid has been fully ingested, shit, I've never even posted on a forum in my life before today, but felt the overwhelming need to say thank you for providing me the toolkit needed to do what I've so desperately wanted to have since I started my professional career.  I'm very fortunate that I'm in the target audience ($100k+ income, zero revolving debt) and have the means to 'Stache cash.  I fully get it now, and am STOKED for the next 10 years!

Welcome! I don't know that specific post, but I do r/personalfinance on occasion. If you are into biking, feel free to join us in the challenge. See my signature for the latest months challenge.

FrenchStache

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 40
  • Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Planning to FIRE in 2030!
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2462 on: November 16, 2015, 08:31:53 PM »
Hey guys,

I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio. Looking forward to actively participate in this forum as I'm always reading, listening and learning about personal finance topics.  I have read through a lot of posts in the past and everyone seems genuine, constructive and helpful.

My personal situation is that I'm debt free except the house. We did that under two years following the Dave Ramsey principles like other people may have done here. I believe we are saving around 15% a month not including a 6% company match. So definitely looking forward to learning from the community to boost that. Otherwise our investments are in 401k, taxable accounts and trading accounts.

Thanks for having me.

Cheers!

HelinaHandbasket

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2463 on: November 17, 2015, 04:40:46 AM »
Hey all,

Myself and my husband are newly converted Mini-Mustashians. We're both in our mid-thirties, living in Ireland.

We were doing "really well" (by the standards we were told we should be aspiring to) up to 2010, when we both lost our jobs within the same month. Since jobs were more than thin on the ground, we made the decision to do some upskilling, and went back to college, on an absolute shoe string. Five years later, we both have honours degrees and are working steadily, albeit a little lower on the ladder than we'd like, but we're moving up :)

We have no debt at all, which makes me smile just typing it. We finally cleared the credit card earlier in the year, we have one old, but perfectly serviceable car that we own outright, and rent our home. We've bought bikes recently and I'm learning to cycle for the first time!

The plan is to buy our first place in the next year or so. We're hoping to have as small a mortgage as possible (especially given the insane house prices here) and pay it off as fast as possible.

Nice to meet you all :)

krimsonstaned

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Location: Oklahoma
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2464 on: November 20, 2015, 09:23:23 AM »
Hey everyone,

Been Trolling MMM since earlier this year.  I'm one of those who read every post since the dawn of time over about 4 months and it changed a lot about how I view my life now.

About me:

1. Engineer 31, 35-yo SAHM wife, 2 kids- 5 and 2, 2 dogs,  3rd kid is planned for 2016, then done.  Paid off 30k in student loans for the wife back in 2011-2012 and went through a part-time MBA program from 2012-2014 (loved the program, but really was a checkbox for a career promotion I got in 2013).

2. No debt except mortgage

3. 2 cars 2002 Saturn (150k miles) and 1998 Honda (200K miles). These will be kept till they implode.

4. Getting ready to move into LONG TERM home at a little over $200k on a 30 year mortage. Will be at 20% loan to value when our first house sells. It's a drive to work, but it's safe and out in the country like my wife wants.  We homeschool and live in Oklahoma City, OK so the country is not necessary but helpful.   Every place you need to go is almost assuredly driving distance, but all of our family is within 8 miles of this house so moving  to a new state is not an easy thing to bring up. This was a tough decision but it's within walking distance from our church and it's in a good community.  Looking for new jobs that could be bike distance from this new house.  Enough with the rationalization.

5.  Have a little under 1 years worth of salary in 401k and IRA, and a 3 month emergency fund (this needs to grow after the new house gets bought).

6.  Have a goal to be FI in 15-20 years, but I'm thinking this new house will allow us to live more frugally without feeling much burn so I think 10 might be possible.

7. Love woodworking, learning some remodeling skills(need more training) and love cars of all kinds but really dream about having a cheap beater Miata to trash on some windy roads.

8.  Hoping to learn from and contribute to this community.  Glad it's here.

Thanks.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2015, 09:25:48 AM by krimsonstaned »

ArtX

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 7
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2465 on: November 20, 2015, 04:44:26 PM »
Hi, I'm Artur
I work, invest, trade, loose and make money... recently I started making more than I loose, I can even say a lot more, although it took some costly mistakes to learn how to do it. Also I love photography and travelling and hope to learn snowboarding this winter. What else? Well, anyway, i just stopped by to say hello

JRB_NW

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 9
  • Location: SE Asia
  • Retired and traveling
Hello from overseas
« Reply #2466 on: November 20, 2015, 07:00:41 PM »
Hi,

I'm from the US Pacific Northwest, currently living in, and exploring SE Asia. Love this website and the values espoused.. although it took me some years to learn the lessons..

I retired a few years ago, at age 57. I already was debt free, owned a home in the suburbs, and had a 401K, but it had not occurred to me until then that I could actually retire. My mom had recently passed and a small inheritance gave me enough to make the numbers work. So I did. I had some personal things I had put off, and wanted to work on, so it was helpful to have more time and freedom.

I had spent most of my working career in IT, with the exception of a five year hiatus during which I developed some vacant land in the SF Bay Area a decade ago. IT always pays the bills but it can be boring and without a sense of purpose over time.  Once I retired, I made some other investments such as buying a second home in a mountain community, thinking I would retire there, but for health reasons it wasn't working out, so I rented it.

I started traveling and eventually rented my primary home as well, finding the income too good to pass up. I'm currently living in the Philippines and exploring the region. Since both homes are located in prime areas, the income is pretty good and allows me to live here in a less expensive country without drawing down my remaining investments. I enjoy travel, cycling, photography, and.. internet communities, lol.

Looking forward to participating in the forum.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2015, 07:04:06 PM by JRB_NW »

elyay

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2467 on: November 20, 2015, 08:52:47 PM »
Hi, I'm Jelena. Unfortunately, the responsibility of caring for the financial future of my family has fallen on me, and I'm freaking out. I may have to grow mustache and a few hairs on my chin just to get going.

MortlakeTheCat

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
  • Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2468 on: November 21, 2015, 09:40:17 AM »
Hello everyone,

And greetings from England, where it's starting to get cold now. 

Spent the last few weeks reading the MMM blog from the first entry.  I'm a latecomer to sensible living - I'm 45.

On the plus-side, I have a reasonably well-paid job (which I pretty much hate), some rental income, and about 75 per cent equity in my house, thanks to the crazy South East property market.  Monthly incomings are greater than outgoings, so I'm not sliding towards disaster.

On the down-side, the mortgage is £200k plus, and about £12k on credit cards (all at zero per cent).  This after an adult life of irresponsible spending (nothing wasted on drugs or gambling, just "stuff", and a few too many beers).

So MMM is giving me hope - to get rid of the debt, the mortgage, and teach my kids to live sustainably.  Thanks dude, and good luck to fellow believers!

S

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2469 on: November 21, 2015, 01:54:00 PM »
S reporting in. I hope to lower my taxes (they're currently about 10x my spending) since I'm pretty sure I can be more efficient with my money than the government.
For those interested, more details are in my case study (http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/case-study-where-to-downgrade/).

TheMillenialManager

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
    • The Millenial Manager
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2470 on: November 21, 2015, 09:25:08 PM »
Hey Everyone,

I'm just another millenial trying to change the reputation of my generation and live frugally. Glad to be a part of the community!

Diogenes

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 17
  • Age: 64
  • Location: Oklahoma
  • Of the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2471 on: November 21, 2015, 10:57:22 PM »
Hello to all,

About myself.

Wife and I have been married for 26 years.   My  wife runs the books for the family and has become a recent enthusiast for YNAB software.  It is working pretty well for us.  Now that we are tracking our expenses so much better than before we have come to the conclusion that within a short amount of time we will have some money to invest.   We currently both have IRA's via our employers and overall they are performing acceptably.  I have one investment that I may change as it seems to be generating management fees better than it generates growth.   

With all that said my wife encouraged me to visit this site and I like what I see.  Getting registered was a trick but I managed. 

Looking forward to learning how to better save and invest for our future.

Best wishes to all,

Diogenes

OHfire

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2472 on: November 22, 2015, 05:36:07 PM »
Hi Everyone,

I'm a 22 year old millennial living in the midwest and I really love the idea of FI and the freedom it allows.

Already learned a lot from lurking on these forums, looking forward to posting along my journey!

cicadasong

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2473 on: November 22, 2015, 11:21:25 PM »
Hi folks!
I'm a third culture kid recovering from student loan, cc, and car loan debt. Before finding MMM I paid off a good 17k in debt, not counting minimum payments to my student loans. I'm making some big changes in the next few months. Anyone in Vegas, please send me a message and maybe we can meet up!!

syednaeemul

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 116
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2474 on: November 23, 2015, 02:02:54 AM »
Hi I'm Syed,
27, Australia, and in project management consulting.

Mairuiming

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 79
  • Age: 40
  • Location: India
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2475 on: November 23, 2015, 06:42:56 AM »
Hi,

I am Ravi. Living in Delhi (India).
I am 31 yr old, mechanical engineer.

Started reading MMM few weeks ago and has changed the way I looked at my financial life.

Worked for 5yrs (2006-2011) and decided to take an expensive full time MBA degree oversea (2012-2013) on student loan (14% interest rate). Good experience but kicking myself after reading about FIRE.

My personal targets:
Student loan: repay by end-2016
Home loan: repay by end-2020
FI: Try to achieve by age 45 (even if I am FI by 50 it will be at least 10 years earlier than most people). Great motivation.

brianw

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • Age: 53
  • Location: South Africa
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2476 on: November 25, 2015, 07:26:56 AM »
Hi my name is Brian from South Africa (Benoni specifically)
when i told my wife about this great blog she reminded me that we have been doing 'it' since 1995. so i am happy to find my fellow tribe members across the globe
 

brianw

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • Age: 53
  • Location: South Africa
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2477 on: November 26, 2015, 06:37:31 AM »
It is comforting to know that there are so many like minded people out there.

The ideas espoused here are a breath of fresh air.

came across this quote ... thought it cool
Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don't allow our enemies to have guns, why should we allow them to have ideas?
 Joseph Stalin

merry1

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2478 on: November 28, 2015, 06:41:29 AM »
Hi, I'm a fifty-something recovering from a bad divorce. A year ago I had nothing but debt and an alcoholic spouse on a certain road to financial disaster. Today I have saved about $20,000 in a 401k, almost paid off a small house in a retirement community in Mexico, a fixer-upper that I fixed up, and drive a long paid-off 2001 MBZ. I did this all before I found MMM.

I'm doing some goal-setting and want to reach financial independence within 5 years. I'm looking for like-minded folks, and this looks like a vibrant and active community.

Erica

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 472
  • Married
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2479 on: November 28, 2015, 07:43:46 PM »
Hello

Hopefully I am doing this right :). My name is Mary and I live in Northern California with my husband. He is a Contractor. I work outside the home and with him also sometimes. Our 24 year old son also lives with us. He is almost finished with his Degree in Exercise Science and works for one of the largest Tech companies from his bedroom.

We enjoy mostly things which are free- cycling, gardening, church, or anything outdoors. My husband fixes our cars and pretty much almost everything in our house. Where we live, we are very odd as most everyone is very wealthy and pay for most everything.
But we hope to move about 30 min away after we finish doing hospice for my FIL.

Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this community. I look forward to interacting with you all :)


Mary

Monique

kat911

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 16
  • Location: Nor Cal
  • No longer chained to work!
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2480 on: November 29, 2015, 08:29:43 PM »
Hello to some smart people:
I retired last month at age 50 and have no debt other than a mortgage that my husband and I plan to pay off as soon as we can. One son is in college and all the funds are saved, the other is in high school and we have saved for him too.
So far reading the blog, I have cancelled our pool guy and housekeeper that came twice a month; painted our interior house ourselves; and working on a spending reduction plan. The big goal now is to reduce our food bill significantly, however I have many food allergies and need to eat organic, non GMO food. We have property and we plan to intensify our gardening and possibly get some chickens. Any suggestions would be gladly appreciated.

Also, now i have time to sell off lots of "stuff" on Craigslist and see how much money I can bring in (all of which will go to payoff the mortgage). 

I am looking forward to being a part of this community. BTW, my college son is hooked and is well on his way, hoping to retire in his late 20's.

Kathy

cnash1303

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 46
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2481 on: November 30, 2015, 09:33:01 AM »
Hello,

/r/financialindependence sent me. I am 23 Years old and just graduated college along with my wife. FI has always been a dream of mine since I was very young. I read Dave Ramsey for the first time in high school and have dreamed of it ever since. My wife is becoming more and more on board since I have introduced her to the benefits of living frugally and whatnot. Right now we are paying off her 20k in student debt. We started last month and have already thrown $1100 at it so I'm not to worried, I just would love a support group for the two of us.

ponyespresso

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 108
  • Age: 46
  • Location: New Mexico
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2482 on: December 01, 2015, 03:16:44 PM »
Hi everyone,

I'm 38, have a kid (almost 5) and married. I own my own company and work about 25 hours/week but am very nicely compensated. My husband works full-time. He's about to start collecting a pension from previous employer and is interested in retiring in the next year or two (he's older than me). So I started reading things online to see if we could afford for him to retire.  I stumbled across MMM and have been reading through the blog posts and perusing this forum.

I also like the idea of being FI as a couple, so that we have financial security and options (like say travelling abroad during the summers! Or being able to take a smaller role in my company eventually ,etc. etc.).

I think that he can retire as long as we can lower our monthly spending. We make good money and have succumbed to some lifestyle inflation plus we have a lot of home improvement/maintenance projects to do/have done that have been put off for many years. Our only debts are our mortgage and my student loans (very little left of those). 

My goals for 2016 are to save his entire take-home pay (pay down mortgage principal and save in taxable accounts) as a dry run for retirement, and to save 2-3x what we saved in 2015 (to achieve that will require substantial saving from my income as well). To help achieve these goals I've set up some budgets in Mint and have been analyzing our spending. I'm not going cold turkey but am trying to reduce our budgets but not so much that we will rebel against it.

warmastoast

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 128
  • Location: Austin Tx
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2483 on: December 02, 2015, 08:58:26 PM »
Hello,
I've been living in the US (Austin) for 2 years now.  I have expensive kids ( who knew that the old joke about a ferrari or a kid wasn't really a joke...) that I love dearly.   Trying very hard not to get sucked into the consumer society here - why is it so hard??  Oh yes,  I lived in France and I try to recreate this in my day to day life....fresh food,  exercise, emphasis on quality.

Anatidae V

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7626
  • Age: 34
  • Location: Fourecks
  • Nullus Anxietas
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2484 on: December 05, 2015, 02:44:12 AM »
Hello, is this forum active? :)
Alive and kicking :)

latin_canuck

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2485 on: December 06, 2015, 12:36:44 PM »
Hey everyone, just started reading the blog... going to read the whole thing in a few days at the rate I'm going. Anyone from Alberta, Canada?

jordanread

  • Guest
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2486 on: December 06, 2015, 04:26:29 PM »
Hey everyone, just started reading the blog... going to read the whole thing in a few days at the rate I'm going. Anyone from Alberta, Canada?

Check here: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetups-and-social-events/mustache-map!/

Frugal Face

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2487 on: December 06, 2015, 09:44:12 PM »
Hi there,

I'm 33 years old and I live in Utah. My co-worker introduced me to the MMM blog a few weeks back and I'm converted. I will be buying a commuter bike, selling one of my two cars, and doing many other mustachian things in the next few weeks and I'm excited about changing my life for the better. The greatest news is that my wife is already on board so no need to do any convincing.

Court
 

spotila

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2488 on: December 07, 2015, 07:15:34 PM »
Ladies, gents.

Long time reader and mustachian, decided to finally get signed up here.
Based in New Zealand.

:)

stealthystache

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 32
  • Location: Ohio
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2489 on: December 07, 2015, 08:27:32 PM »
Hi there!

been lurking around the site for months after chasing a link through ERE's site. Thought it would be fun to be member 23,677, so I signed up :)  always had a penchant for living richly without the cost, got sidetracked by some massive life shit storms, and am now getting back to my roots thanks in part to this site's encouragement.


igr

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2490 on: December 08, 2015, 02:15:41 PM »
Greetings everyone.

I discovered MMM a couple of years ago. Since then I've trained my friends to understand the adjective "mustachian".

Today again, I spent good four hours reading the forum. Thanks for the high quality content and for the way you folks support each other.

I thought I should say hi and make it official. My name is Igor. I've been working as a software engineer in SF Bay area for the last 3.5 years. I'm 25 years old. Somewhat against the mainstream round here, I'm into value investing.

I too believe that happiness has nothing to do with amounts spent.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2015, 02:19:30 PM by Igor »

Yaro

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2491 on: December 09, 2015, 02:57:40 AM »
Hey guys!
My name is Yaro and I am excited over here to share my story.
And the story is just beginning.

I am in late 20s software engineer currently living in Seattle area and have been working for past 5 years at biggest IT company here as contractor through about 7 different vendor companies.
After being lay off many times for stupid corp reasons I am tired working as employee and I am finally quitting my full-time job and moving to south.

My Story:
I came to USA right after I got my master degree from another country with little to no any English and with no work experience. And I wasn't able to find good job right away.
I started working for minimal wage at some hotel. Let's say max what I was getting was $1.6k per month. And I was able to rent a big house and find 7 roommates. And I was living with this money without problem.
Anyway I got bored fast and got second job as pizza delivery driver and basically was working 70hrs per week + I was studying English and coding as well. Oh and I have some business on eBay, basically buy/sell stuff.
As you can see I know how to save money and how to live on minimum.

After couple years I got first job in IT and was growing in career for 5 years.
Unfortunately I have been seeing so many layoffs, re-orgs, people losing their jobs, houses and so on. So I decided that I need to get everything in my hands and be my own boss.


Now:
I just got married last month and she is supporting me in everything!
My last day at my current full-time job will be a day before Christmas and I am so excited for entrepreneurial lifestyle.
Another reasons why I am quitting and moving is the weather. Can't stand rain and clouds anymore. Seattle summer is best for sure, but not winter time.

Where we are moving?
To San Diego, Ca.
It's not the best city where you can find high paying job and save money, but we love over there and so far the best city in USA for us.
And since we don't have kids we decided to move over there for 1 year and then let see.

What will we do?
Work:
I will diversify.
1. I have dozen different websites which already bringing passive income every month to me and it will be almost enough to cover some expenses. Time to cut expenses ;)
2. Create Brand of outdoor products and imports them from China (I wish I could find local suppliers). First 500 units shipped to amazon for sale already.
3. I have software app which is ready to go to the market. Possible earner.
4. Create online services for particular niches. This will take my time after I will quit my full-time job.
5. Later on I would like to create and open local business. My wife will work on it full time. She has good experience, but before we will do it, she will need gain more experience locally.
6. She will find full-time work and also will have photography service as part  time.

Enjoy:
1. I will enjoy the freedom from 9 to 5.
2. Sport sport and sport. I love surfing and do any outdoor sport.
3. Become more overall healthy.
4. Enjoy time with our Weimaraner outside.


Current Financial situation:
Currently we only will have my online income. let's say $4k-$5k per month. Possible bigger.
And my wife will find job after 1-2 months which will bring around $3k at least.
So our total income will be around $7k-$8k.


Expenses:
Rent: $2100. (After long research we found 2br apartment for this price. Not fancy or luxury, but not old and crappy. And it's still expensive as hell.)
Utilities: Water/Sewage/Trash/Electricity - Let's say total will be around $200
Cars:
Let me say first. My wife and I are car people. I love everything about them. Was driving on the track as well, but it's too expensive.
$320 for BMW z4 - I have my roadster which I still own about $8k and I won't sell it. Will keep it forever probably.
$540 for Infiniti fx50 - Bought rare SUV to drive to buy groceries, drive to parks with the dog, drive around with family and friends.
Gas: $200 - maybe even less since I will work from home now.
Car insurance for 2 cars and 2 people: $150 from Progressive. My wife got 1 ticket a year ago otherwise it was around $100 only.
Health Insurance: $500 - Minimum health insurance for 2 people + dental. This is too expensive.
Cell Phones: $80 - Currently paying only for 1 service. (AT&T)
Internet: $70
Pet Insurance + Food: $100
Food: $600 - We love to eat good food and yes, we cook almost everyday.
Restaurants: $300 - Once a week going out somewhere.
Total expenses: $5160 per month

Ok, this is a lot.


Let's cut this out and I need your help here:
1. Cars: There is possibility that I might sell SUV, but then when parents, friends are with us we don't have a car and it will be hard to get anywhere with our dog.
Instead I am thinking to get BWM i3. There are some deals going on right now for leasing.
Leasingis the worth thing. But deals like $160 per month is hard to pass + I will able to cut some amount as my business expenses.

2. Rent: After realllyy long reserach we decided to get 2br or 1br+den since I and she will need office. And our family and friends will visit us often.
Yes, we can find cheaper, but either in bad neighberhood, or 40-60 mins away from everything, or no washwer/dryer and of course pet friendly appartment is more expensive.
Can't cut expenses here.

3. Utilites: I bought Kill a Watt tool and figure out what is consuming electricity in the house.
Will have kill switch for all electronics in new place and also will replace all bulbs to LED.

4. Restaurants: We will cut this for couple months. Well, we actully only go together with friends for celberations only.

5. Car Insurance: If some of you knows tricks and tips how to get lower rate please share. Currently we have Progressive auto insurance.

6. Health Insurance: Around $500 for health insurance + dental I got quote for 2 people! Omg this is soo expensive I think. This quote based on my 2015 income.
Can I get quote based on our estimated income in january of 2016? Since it will be only aorund $4k per month? Then of course insurance will be cheaper. Any tips on this guys?

7. Cell Phones: My contract will end up in January and I will get pre-paid service.
My wife has iPhone and I have Android right now. Will switch either to AT&T pre-paid service or some other service.
Any recommendations? I am thinking about to switch to Google FI service, but they don't accept iPhones and this will be deal breaker. Also it should be on GSM network only.

8. Food: we love to eat good and we buy usually quality food. Will get Costco membership and start buying food over there in bulk.
Still Costco usually have exactly the same products which I dislike.


Our debt?
Just cars and some credit cards, but all credit cards where I need to pay % are paid off. Only keeping balance where promo APR is 0%.


Banks and Credit cards:
1. Saving currently at Capital One and it gives 0.75%, will switch either to Discover (0.95%)or American Express(0.95%).
2. Checkings: BoA and Chase. Any tips and tricks which is bank is better for checking account please advice?
3. Bank of America Rewards Cashback - My old credit card and I don't' use it anymore. Just have 10% APR with $0 balance.
4. Citi Double Cashback - 2% cashback on everything.
5. Discover it - rotating 5% cashback on categories.
6. Amex - 6% on groceries, 3% on gas, 1% on everything else.
7. Bank of America Business credit card - Will switch to Chase Business Rewards credit card.
Note, I am just using credit cards for cashbacks and all debt only where APR is currently 0%.


Retirement accounts?
Nope, nothing.


If you have been reading till here then I just want to say thank you!
And If you can help with Cars and Health insurance then it will be great!
And how what are you doing with saving money? How do you invest? PS. I burned once all my money on stocks :/

Cheers guys!

hoping2retire35

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1398
  • Location: UPCOUNTRY CAROLINA
  • just want to see where this appears
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2492 on: December 09, 2015, 12:33:41 PM »
sup
lots of debt, little savings, not sure what i am doing

rugger

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2493 on: December 09, 2015, 03:15:25 PM »
Rugger here.  I'm 43, and I'm ready to take my life back.  I refuse to spend the best years of my life pissing it away at a desk.  I've been browsing the MMM website and reading other material as well.  A year ago I moved the family from Colorado to Mississippi.  We were able to sell our last two homes for a profit, and the move to Mississippi has allowed us to own a home without a mortgage.  In Colorado we had 1/4 acre, 1800 sqft home and a $172k mortgage.  In Mississippi we have 6 acres, 2800 sqft, a garage, a pond and no mortgage.  The pond is stocked with fish (food) and I'm figuring out the growing seasons.  This year should be a good year of production from my garden.  I'm still working as an engineer from home, but I've recently started a business.  The plan is for the business to run itself so that I can do what I want most of the time and spend much less time "working".  I miss travel.  I have a wanderlust, and I need to get around more.  I've been cycling the last six months.  The grocery store isn't safe to get to by bike.  I wish that it was.  The toughest part of this will be getting my wife onboard.  We've already addressed the "going to the store 6 times in one week" issue.  We had a $1600/mo grocery, Target, Walmart tab one month.  I lost it.  We have no cable.  We watch Netflix and read.  We have no debt.  I have a vehicle addiction.  I love building cars and racing.  That is going to stop unless it can provide me some low cost freedom/enjoyment.  I'm tired of things being more complicated than they have to.  I need to be lean and mean again.

ingodslove

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2494 on: December 09, 2015, 04:03:39 PM »
Hi gang!
Amy here, married mom of three with another one on the way.  I started checking out MMM a year or so ago and have been gently making similar lifestyle choices for the last 4 years.  Still have my minivan though ;)
I just started using YNAB software and yikes! I have a lot of lifestyle streamlining left to do!
I'm in coastal Oregon.
I'm looking forward to digging in here on MMM.

ZosiaW

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2495 on: December 10, 2015, 08:11:39 AM »
Greetings

I've lurked for too long so I'm forcing myself to join.  I'm married with kids and very proud of our now 54% savings rate.  I'm trying to learn how to have a long term outlook and get out of the day to day grind.

Cape Town Girl

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2496 on: December 12, 2015, 06:06:26 PM »
Hi Guys, Im still getting used to this forum stuff....
I am Cape Town Girl, from sunny South Africa. I started reading MMM articles when I accidentally stumbled upon the blog while looking at ways to be financially secure (brought on by our special president). Since then, I have wiped out all our debt except the home loan which is currently half way done and will probably be paid off by the end of next year.

The Viking

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 7
  • Age: 43
  • Location: Sweden
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2497 on: December 14, 2015, 01:21:38 PM »
Hi everyone! I´m Jörgen from Sweden. I turned 35 in august and i´m looking forward to retire well before I celebrate my 50th birthday.
I spend my days running and biking, baking and taking- care of my daughter part time and my cat the rest of the time. ;-)
I finally managed to register onto the forum after almost exactly two years of lurking. Yeah!

AMandM

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1673
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2498 on: December 14, 2015, 09:32:55 PM »
Hi, I'm A-M and M is my husband (but he won't post).

We're 50 years old with 7 kids (2 grown and independent, 2 in college, 3 at home).  I homeschool the three youngest and teach math on the side; my husband is a professor. When Mr. Money Mustache says his blog is really not a financial blog but a life improvement blog, that's us.  We're interested in DIY and bicycling and all the MMM ideas not because they will lead to retiring early (we won't) but because they contribute to a full and grounded life now.

My biggest obstacle to improving our lives is finding/making the time to learn new skills and finish projects. I hope that being able to post on the forum won't make that worse!

AirbusA389

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2499 on: December 15, 2015, 12:13:45 AM »
Hi all!

I am Ken from Singapore!. I realised that majority of the readers here are from the North American continent. Here's someone from the other side of the world! +P

Yes, i have been a silent Mustachian since i graduated in 2010. I have around 50 - 70% savings rate from holding 2 jobs. I just cleared all my student loans and other debts, and chumming along with 100k usd on target, hopefully in 2 years' time.