Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3315948 times)

Robbo

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2950 on: October 21, 2016, 05:28:33 PM »
Hi all,

We are living the good life here in NorCal foothills ready to retire early next year. Love the frugality concept tendered here and look forward to learning and contributing!

Thanks - Robbo

Aoede

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2951 on: October 22, 2016, 09:09:06 AM »
Hi, I'm a recent SAHM of a one year old, who was breezily going through life without even a budget a month ago when my husband revealed the financial mess we were in. In the last month I've taken over our finances and have been building my money knowledge up from zero (a month ago I didn't know anything - not even how interest worked). I've rounded up all our financials, gotten them into ynab, and started making huge changes to how we live. I managed to pay off two credit cards this month with the money we saved by cooking at home this month (and making hubby return a big, unnecessary purchase on one of them). I found mmm by googling the best way to pay off ccs, which I sadly didn't do the the right order, but now there is only one left to focus on before we move to paying off student loans and and one car (other is free and clear).

We are about to be relocated (joys of being a military contractor) to a hcol area and I'm so glad I found you guys before we bought a ridiculous house. I've gotten husband hooked on fixer upper in the hopes that he won't balk when I want to buy a smaller, cheaper house in need of work instead of a huge McMansion we'd never afford that would require a huge commute. I just have to sell him on living in an up and coming neighborhood instead of on the water with the other debters. 

I'm introducing myself partly to keep myself honest and accountable as well as get ideas, as I teach myself how this money thing actually works and how to make our lives less miserable than they currently are. I'm hoping to get my husband on board the fi train, so that once the debt is going we can keeping rolling towards a better future for us and our kids.

optimisticone

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2952 on: October 23, 2016, 03:50:52 PM »
Hello I'm Optimisticone. I chose this name because I believe being a member of this family I have a chance to retire in the next 6 years. I am a real estate agent that recently moved back to Northern California and renewed my real estate license, in the process of selling my first house in years. I loss thousands of dollars when the market crashed in 2008 and lost al three homes I owned, which was my retirement plan so I'm starting from scratch. I can't totally depend on Social Security so I need to have a serious plan to try to retire by the time I'm 60 which is in 6 years. I would appreciate any advice anyone can give me to start this process. My goal is to try to put away $1,000 a month if possible but I dont know where to start my retirement investment. Please Help! I just started a new job that has a retirement plan with no matching so not sure if that's the best way to go. I would greatly appreciate any guidance and welcome all advice.

Thank you all,

Optimistic one : )

drp

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2953 on: October 23, 2016, 08:04:24 PM »
Hello all,
I'm a newbie who used to be frugal in a former life and has long been off the wagon. So, at present I am immersing myself in truly frugal blogs (ie - not ones that claim to help you be frugal but really just make you want to buy everything that's presently on sale...hello frugalwoods & goodbye moneysavingmom...), trying not to let anything die in my fridge, eating lots of beans and fine tuning the art of balancing my checkbook.

My name, by the way, is Des. I'm a mom of 2 - I stay at home - I teach my kids stuff. The husband is a blue-collar worker (went from quality supervisor to quality wood stacker...but I'm not complaining because he looks super hot in that hard hat) The pay is mediocre, but we're making it work and socking away what we can.

Looking forward to meeting/being inspired by people who are far more hardcore than us...and possibly inspiring someone else! In the future. Doubt it'd happen right now...

todthedog

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2954 on: October 25, 2016, 08:55:31 AM »
Hello all
Grumpy old Brit living in Sweden. My wife and I gave up the day job some 16 years back. We moved to Brittany France and had an organic small holding, own veggies, pigs chickens etc. We are into renewable energy PV, solar thermal, and a wind turbine. Great fun but decided it was time to move on. Sweden just looked good, so far no regrets. Looking forward to picking your brains.

julielaursen

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2955 on: October 26, 2016, 10:53:52 AM »
Hi, so I'm Julie and I live in Austin, TX and am looking for any way to alleviate my expenses and save money. I'm doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and following Mr Money and Mad Fientist and just trying to figure this stuff out. I guess I don't get how Mr Money just says you can save 50% of your expenses just like that, like it's that easy. I do have a car payment, but i only have about $1800 left on it for a ten year old car. I've never bought new cars, never had cable, and until I was 25, I never even had TV or a computer at home. I actually didn't even have a phone til I was 23, I used a payphone on the corner next to a Walgreens. I cook almost all my meals at home and I stock up on rice, beans, oats, apples, eggs, etc. I have a smartphone, but I get half off because I work for the company, and my internet through my own company is $5. I can't figure out how to live any cheaper.

In Austin, it's very difficult to find rent for less than 1k. After my roommate wanted to jack up my rent to $700 for a place that was rat and roach infested, I was managing to find studios for $800-900 that I was pretty comfortable with. I will admit this is where my mom kicked in and basically demanded I buy a condo, and paid for the down payment. I got a 1BR condo for $115k 3 miles from downtown Austin last year (also walking/biking distance to work but Austin's bike paths don't go over highways so the bike commute is a bit terrifying). Mortgage and HOA is $1100. Problem is, this is almost half of my income right there.

Now, in a perfect world maybe I could save a third of my income instead? But this is where things get complicated. I have COPD, Endometriosis, Adenomyosis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I've had three surgeries just this year, finally ending with a hysterectomy. My health insurance is very high deductible and I use up the max out of pocket almost yearly. Additionally, things just keep happening. The reason I got into debt in the first place was my Aunt went to the ICU for an emergency. When the people she was living with bothered to call me, her only living relative, she'd been in the ICU for 4 days and they were reading last rites. I jumped on a plane ($1200 to Cincinnati same day), rented a car ($700) and spent a week in a motel, because she had died while I was mid-flight and I had five days til the funeral ($1000... Ohio has some ridiculous $100 per night motel fee). I also miss a week of work because my company pays for almost any time out for a funeral but not if they're an aunt or uncle.. Right after that, my mom decides to put the down payment on a condo for me, and I find black mold that the inspector missed ($8000 for a new shower).. now as of last week, my mom was in the ICU for a subdural hematoma. Now I'm saying fuck savings and racking up my credit card in the idea I might need another expensive flight in case she needs surgery to relieve the pressure in her brain. I was the only living relative on my dad's sisters side before she died and I'm the only living relative on my mom's side as well. If she dies, I have zero family and I haven't been in a romantic relationship in ten years.

I listen to these Dave Ramsey calls and it's literally all couples, all healthy, throwing two sets of incomes at one set of expenses and patting themselves on the back for it. I don't hear anyone like me, single, with elderly ailing family members, no money, and dealing with chronic medical conditions herself, with no one to help. I even stopped dating because it was costing me too much money to go out for beers twice a week and not having a partner is just plain hard. So I sign on here and I see a bunch of crap about 'oh just save half your money it's super easy' along with some tips on things I'm already doing that aren't going very far for me. The Dave Ramsey class is the same thing, I go in and talk about clipping coupons and taking market research studies and donating plasma and working second jobs and everyone else is just talking about selling things like F150s and jetskis and unplugging cable... changing lifestyle habits I was always too poor to develop in the first place. I'm out of ideas. Anyone?
« Last Edit: October 26, 2016, 11:12:07 AM by julielaursen »

LivlongnProsper

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2956 on: October 26, 2016, 11:14:07 AM »
Julie,

Welcome. I am sorry for your loss and the hard breaks that have been coming your way. You are right it is easier for many to save than it will be for you, MMM is primarily geared towards people that earn over $75k/yr. You have been living frugally from what you have shared so good job overall. Keeping your nose to the grindstone should start to pay off in little amounts at first followed by bigger and bigger amounts. With your car payments almost over with you should be able to chip away at the debt and start an emergency fund. Look into ways to increase your income to help grow the gap between spending and earning. If you are interested there is a mustachian and single section in the forum.

Hi, so I'm Julie and I live in Austin, TX and am looking for any way to alleviate my expenses and save money. I'm doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and following Mr Money and Mad Fientist and just trying to figure this stuff out. I guess I don't get how Mr Money just says you can save 50% of your expenses just like that, like it's that easy. I do have a car payment, but i only have about $1800 left on it for a ten year old car. I've never bought new cars, never had cable, and until I was 25, I never even had TV or a computer at home. I actually didn't even have a phone til I was 23, I used a payphone on the corner next to a Walgreens. I cook almost all my meals at home and I stock up on rice, beans, oats, apples, eggs, etc. I have a smartphone, but I get half off because I work for the company, and my internet through my own company is $5. I can't figure out how to live any cheaper.

In Austin, it's very difficult to find rent for less than 1k. After my roommate wanted to jack up my rent to $700 for a place that was rat and roach infested, I was managing to find studios for $800-900 that I was pretty comfortable with. I will admit this is where my mom kicked in and basically demanded I buy a condo, and paid for the down payment. I got a 1BR condo for $115k 3 miles from downtown Austin last year (also walking/biking distance to work but Austin's bike paths don't go over highways so the bike commute is a bit terrifying). Mortgage and HOA is $1100. Problem is, this is almost half of my income right there.

Now, in a perfect world maybe I could save a third of my income instead? But this is where things get complicated. I have COPD, Endometriosis, Adenomyosis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I've had three surgeries just this year, finally ending with a hysterectomy. My health insurance is very high deductible and I use up the max out of pocket almost yearly. Additionally, things just keep happening. The reason I got into debt in the first place was my Aunt went to the ICU for an emergency. When the people she was living with bothered to call me, her only living relative, she'd been in the ICU for 4 days and they were reading last rites. I jumped on a plane ($1200 to Cincinnati same day), rented a car ($700) and spent a week in a motel, because she had died while I was mid-flight and I had five days til the funeral ($1000... Ohio has some ridiculous $100 per night motel fee). I also miss a week of work because my company pays for almost any time out for a funeral but not if they're an aunt or uncle.. Right after that, my mom decides to put the down payment on a condo for me, and I find black mold that the inspector missed ($8000 for a new shower).. now as of last week, my mom was in the ICU for a subdural hematoma. Now I'm saying fuck savings and racking up my credit card in the idea I might need another expensive flight in case she needs surgery to relieve the pressure in her brain. I was the only living relative on my dad's sisters side before she died and I'm the only living relative on my mom's side as well. If she dies, I have zero family and I haven't been in a romantic relationship in ten years.

I listen to these Dave Ramsey calls and it's literally all couples, all healthy, throwing two sets of incomes at one set of expenses and patting themselves on the back for it. I don't hear anyone like me, single, with elderly ailing family members, no money, and dealing with chronic medical conditions herself, with no one to help. So I sign on here and I see a bunch of crap about 'oh just save half your money it's super easy' along with some tips on things I'm already doing that aren't going very far for me. The Dave Ramsey class is the same thing, I go in and talk about clipping coupons and taking market research studies and donating plasma and working second jobs and everyone else is just talking about selling things like F150s and jetskis and unplugging cable... changing lifestyle habits I was always too poor to develop in the first place. I'm out of ideas. Anyone?

watchitgrow

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2957 on: October 26, 2016, 03:18:07 PM »
Hi everyone!

My wife and I started our debt snowball at the beginning of this year by following Dave Ramsey's baby steps. We have paid off our student loans, a new car, and are currently working on paying off the mortgage. After reading MMM for about a month now I've become obsessed with the idea of early retirement.

At this point I'm trying to learn more about building our wealth so that we can develop a detailed game plan.

psychprof

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2958 on: October 27, 2016, 12:00:46 PM »
Hello, all! A quick introduction before posting a question that I just can't seem to find an answer to. I've been a reader of the site for some time now and occasional lurker on the forum. I'm a part-time community college psychology professor. Mom of 2. Wife of 1. I really enjoy the philosophy of the blog. I am looking for ways to incorporating some mustachian ideas into one of my classes (and therein lies my forthcoming question) and improving how I incorporate them into my life.

hoping2retire35

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2959 on: October 27, 2016, 12:14:59 PM »
Julie,

Welcome. I am sorry for your loss and the hard breaks that have been coming your way. You are right it is easier for many to save than it will be for you, MMM is primarily geared towards people that earn over $75k/yr. You have been living frugally from what you have shared so good job overall. Keeping your nose to the grindstone should start to pay off in little amounts at first followed by bigger and bigger amounts. With your car payments almost over with you should be able to chip away at the debt and start an emergency fund. Look into ways to increase your income to help grow the gap between spending and earning. If you are interested there is a mustachian and single section in the forum.

Hi, so I'm Julie and I live in Austin, TX and am looking for any way to alleviate my expenses and save money. I'm doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and following Mr Money and Mad Fientist and just trying to figure this stuff out. I guess I don't get how Mr Money just says you can save 50% of your expenses just like that, like it's that easy. I do have a car payment, but i only have about $1800 left on it for a ten year old car. I've never bought new cars, never had cable, and until I was 25, I never even had TV or a computer at home. I actually didn't even have a phone til I was 23, I used a payphone on the corner next to a Walgreens. I cook almost all my meals at home and I stock up on rice, beans, oats, apples, eggs, etc. I have a smartphone, but I get half off because I work for the company, and my internet through my own company is $5. I can't figure out how to live any cheaper.

In Austin, it's very difficult to find rent for less than 1k. After my roommate wanted to jack up my rent to $700 for a place that was rat and roach infested, I was managing to find studios for $800-900 that I was pretty comfortable with. I will admit this is where my mom kicked in and basically demanded I buy a condo, and paid for the down payment. I got a 1BR condo for $115k 3 miles from downtown Austin last year (also walking/biking distance to work but Austin's bike paths don't go over highways so the bike commute is a bit terrifying). Mortgage and HOA is $1100. Problem is, this is almost half of my income right there.

Now, in a perfect world maybe I could save a third of my income instead? But this is where things get complicated. I have COPD, Endometriosis, Adenomyosis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I've had three surgeries just this year, finally ending with a hysterectomy. My health insurance is very high deductible and I use up the max out of pocket almost yearly. Additionally, things just keep happening. The reason I got into debt in the first place was my Aunt went to the ICU for an emergency. When the people she was living with bothered to call me, her only living relative, she'd been in the ICU for 4 days and they were reading last rites. I jumped on a plane ($1200 to Cincinnati same day), rented a car ($700) and spent a week in a motel, because she had died while I was mid-flight and I had five days til the funeral ($1000... Ohio has some ridiculous $100 per night motel fee). I also miss a week of work because my company pays for almost any time out for a funeral but not if they're an aunt or uncle.. Right after that, my mom decides to put the down payment on a condo for me, and I find black mold that the inspector missed ($8000 for a new shower).. now as of last week, my mom was in the ICU for a subdural hematoma. Now I'm saying fuck savings and racking up my credit card in the idea I might need another expensive flight in case she needs surgery to relieve the pressure in her brain. I was the only living relative on my dad's sisters side before she died and I'm the only living relative on my mom's side as well. If she dies, I have zero family and I haven't been in a romantic relationship in ten years.

I listen to these Dave Ramsey calls and it's literally all couples, all healthy, throwing two sets of incomes at one set of expenses and patting themselves on the back for it. I don't hear anyone like me, single, with elderly ailing family members, no money, and dealing with chronic medical conditions herself, with no one to help. So I sign on here and I see a bunch of crap about 'oh just save half your money it's super easy' along with some tips on things I'm already doing that aren't going very far for me. The Dave Ramsey class is the same thing, I go in and talk about clipping coupons and taking market research studies and donating plasma and working second jobs and everyone else is just talking about selling things like F150s and jetskis and unplugging cable... changing lifestyle habits I was always too poor to develop in the first place. I'm out of ideas. Anyone?

I should pay more attention to this thread.

Julie,
Sounds like you are having  some troubles. There are a lot more of us low single income households on here than you would think. Post a case study and we can find some fat to trim. We ALWAYS find fat, the effort will be worthwhile.

lemanfan

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2960 on: October 27, 2016, 12:20:20 PM »
Hello all
Grumpy old Brit living in Sweden. My wife and I gave up the day job some 16 years back. We moved to Brittany France and had an organic small holding, own veggies, pigs chickens etc. We are into renewable energy PV, solar thermal, and a wind turbine. Great fun but decided it was time to move on. Sweden just looked good, so far no regrets. Looking forward to picking your brains.

Välkommen!  :)

Moonwaves

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2961 on: October 27, 2016, 01:07:57 PM »
I am looking for ways to incorporating some mustachian ideas into one of my classes (and therein lies my forthcoming question)
This sounds like a fantastic question to have its own thread. When you start one, could you come back and post a link here so that we can find it?

bestideaever

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2962 on: October 27, 2016, 02:20:30 PM »
Hey hey!

I'm a 31-year old female living in San Francisco with two dogs, and a boyfriend who lives one street over. Work a well-paid job that has allowed me to build almost 100,000$ in retirement savings so far, but I never managed my money well otherwise until this August. I was basically treading water, often spending more than I made. There had not been a net worth change since January for example, though I was paying into a 403b all year. My eyes have finally been opened to an entirely different, less spendy way to approach life...

Now I am enjoying the challenge of becoming frugal! I do believe it is a muscle to be exercised, so I still spend way more than is needed for an MMM lifestyle. I am making great changes, though, seeing that for October, I will finally not have spent more than I earned. Success! Now to tackle my lifestyle to reduce my budget every month to be more mustachian even in a HCOL area.

My goals for the rest of the year are:
- Max out 403b
- Pay off credit card balance (currently $6820)
- Declutter and sell off items for extra cash to save/invest
- Reduce recurring expenses like internet and phone bill
- Plan next year's holiday by learning about travel hacking vs. paying in cash

And many more :).

Looking forward to reading many more opinions and expertise in this forum. So many great role models here.

scapee

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2963 on: October 27, 2016, 10:58:10 PM »
HI! Frugality comes naturally to me, since high school as far back as I recall. The philosophy of retiring early has always been in the back of my mind. I thought about it a lot more in university, and less each year since then.. My wife and I have been living a medium frugality life together since 2005 with only mortgage debt. Neither of us had/have ever taken on any other form of debt in our lives.

I didn't discover MMM or this forum until just a week or two ago after I'd purchased my new car and google pointed a Leaf search to MMM's purchase of his Nissan Leaf. Uncanny... After reading the Leaf post I curiously looked around this MMM community and was pretty amazed at the many similarities in my life to the MMM philosophy.

I live in vancouver, bc with my wife and daughter. We're fortunate enough to have bought RE in 2010 and worked our way up the real estate ladder by maxxing out extra lump sum mortgage payments to being able to buy a 'real house' in vancouver in 2015. (And we were only fortunate enough to have bought in 2010 at 28 because we were frugal, employed, and debt free in our 20's) Our stashe is about 1.4M now. I'd allocate that to about $300k salary income related savings and about $1-1.1M RE gains.

Since finding this site last week I've been reconsidering our finances to see if/when we can FU! It will take a renewed effort in frugality; I've noticed since both being back at work post-baby, our spending is way up to compensate for the complete exhaustion and lack of time for negotiating and shopping around. Heck we've even dabbled in maid services, have our groceries DELIVERED (!), and spend for frequent office lunches out since I run out of time to make it. But these are things that we would certainly do if we weren't at work all day and dying to spend time with our daughter for a few hours in the evenings and weekends.

We want to bail on this 9-5 work life and soon to spend time with our daughter and maybe have another. We're 35 this year so I hadn't been thinking seriously about retirement in the last few years, but I should be. And now I am..


delfin

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2964 on: October 28, 2016, 02:08:19 PM »
Hello! I have been following Mr. Money Mustache's blog for some time. I love that I can now open my fridge and have dinner on the table in one hour. I was incapable of doing this 5 years ago, following recipes exactly and then two or more hours later, it would have been better just to make sandwiches.

I love spending time with my family but when they want to spend time doing something else, I enjoy reading online and then turning ideas into reality.

Bmayzing

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2965 on: October 29, 2016, 11:13:48 PM »
Brandon here...I've been transitioning to the mustachian way for about a year now without posting.  I've got a beard??

LP-Roadster

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2966 on: October 30, 2016, 08:07:45 PM »
Hey all, newbie here who found the site through a friend!

I know this is a great community based on what I've read and will see how the usage of the KNAWLEDGE (Tai Lopez reference) will work for me! To begin I'm 21 years old, have worked in banking 2 years, and am being promoted first of the year, while also set to take some license tests to sell securities (investments)! Love this industry and have learned lots, as well as have seen sad situations from customers who can only wish they had guidance when they were my age. This in turn, and not to sound arrogant, has shown me what I want out of life and how I don't want to end up.

 School systems do not do a very good job of preparing the younger generation in financial literacy and it's something I am very passionate about as I am able to not only advise all sorts of age groups, but I am also able to provide alternatives that make life easier for many of them.

I have actually dropped (more like taking a semester off and maybe another due to exciting job changes!) temporarily out of college, and have worked and gone to school the past 3 years since graduating highschool full time! (still worked 25-30 hours/week after school in highschool... Anyways..

My financial picture isn't perfect, but I blame my younger pre-banking age/immaturity and income I had straight into the full time workforce! :P
I'll save some non-interesting details and get to it. I am definitely excited and working to get my debt paid off by May 2018. At that point, I believe I will be re-locating with my employer and possibly will buy a house, or at least rent while I save even more.

So current debts:

Car Loan
~$18,415

Student Loans
~$14,000

I know, why do I have student loans when I worked full time my first few semesters? Poor choice of buying a car when I was 18 and nobody advising me differently. I worked at a dealership at the time too..so..

But yeah, this is my picture and I'm 8 months ahead on my car payments, I continually pay about 50-150 more each month more than the minimum, and I have enough in savings to wipe out a couple of my student loans. However, since they are low interest (3-4.25%) and in a standard 10 year repayment period, I am saving them last. I would like to pay my car off (2% rate) since that would free up more monthly income. I know it would probably be wise to sell my car, but it's a car I've wanted since they came out a few years ago. It's a vice. I've spent some money on modifying it too, which wasn't smart.

My income is expected to increase $600-800/month based on my estimates with my promotion so it's possible if I get to it and penny-pinch, by the end of the year I can realistically be debt free. I'm also pursuing a part time job possibly, or will grow my side hustles to throw even more money at the debt till it's gone.  Hope this isn't too long but I am open to advice from everyone and look forward to growing a 'stache!


todthedog

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2967 on: October 31, 2016, 04:57:49 AM »
@lemanfan
Tack

A.freedom

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2968 on: November 01, 2016, 12:55:02 PM »
Hey folks!
I'm a 26 year old living in North Vancouver, BC in lovely Canada. Originally from Sweden, I moved here for good 4 years ago. Currently about 10% of my way to my retirement goal working a pretty low paying job and living super frugally.

I love learning how to make things myself, especially food! This summer was spent pickling, fermenting and making jams and cordials from delicious produce picked up from the farmers market. I also enjoy foraging, hiking and getting in touch with nature.

I also run my own blog where I enjoy sharing my recipes and ideas!

alexb2746

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2969 on: November 02, 2016, 01:01:19 PM »
Hello everybody,

I've asked some questions already so I should probably post here finally.

I'm 25, married to an awesome nurse, live in northeast Ohio and I am an IT professional.

I discovered MMM a few months ago, thankfully was already decently frugal (compared to  the usual American). The biggest change I made is biking to work 16 miles a day, hoping to continue this through winter with a fat bike.

I know we can comfortably retire by 40, but I am hoping to getting there sooner with buying and holding rental SFR's.

SouthLand

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2970 on: November 03, 2016, 11:58:48 AM »
Howdy!

I'm a 27 year old from the south (of the US). I'm a manager with a low-to-middle salary (decent for my area) with designs to move up in my field. I've been reading and trying to practice Mustachian habits for about a year but decided it was time to join in as I start really working towards my own FIRE. I've got a long way to go, but I look forward to the trip. I'll probably lurk a bit longer before really making any contributions.

Kevin M

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2971 on: November 03, 2016, 09:58:50 PM »
Hey everyone, I'm a 24 year old from NE Ohio. I am a Supply Officer in the US Navy so I move around quite a bit; I' currently living in upstate NY. I graduated from college about 1.5 years ago which is about the same time I the MMM blog. After binge reading the entire blog I made some major changes to my spending habits and was just recently able to achieve a positive net worth for the first time in about 7 years because of it. I look forward to meeting more mustachians and continuing to learn more about personal finance and living a more fulfilling life.

arrintonpalmer

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2972 on: November 04, 2016, 09:27:25 AM »
Hi all, 32, Army Officer who discovered MMM about 2012 and have put about 300k in the bank since! My wife, new son and I would have FI'd around the end of 2019, but I'm leaving the Army now so our new date will be around 2022 depending on how civilian life goes.  While financially it makes sense to stick with the Army, the Infantry is not a place you stay for the money.

I decided to join the forum as we change our financial plan to fit the new reality.  We will be living off the GI Bill and a part time job for a couple years, and a farm income until we reach FI.  It's not as sure a bet as the military for sure, but it is time to start doing what I'm passionate about now!

fordman302

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2973 on: November 04, 2016, 11:01:15 AM »
Hello, I'm 39, wife is 38, we have two kids 6 and 3.  We have a decent nest egg put away, but also have a large mortgage as we have just built our 'Dream House' on our farm.   Fortunately, that's our only debt.   We have been saving money to build a barn and to replace our ten year old suv and truck.   I came to this forum to learn how to pay for ER.  Right now we looking at retiring around 2030.

moonsheep

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2974 on: November 04, 2016, 05:17:26 PM »
Hi all! I'm 31, single, living in an expensive part of the USA. First heard of MMM a couple years ago, and only recently decided to really put my nose to the wheel on building my own 'stash. Always been somewhat frugal, but have definitely succumbed to lifestyle inflation in the past couple of years; time to reverse that trend!

Littlebrotherlifecoach

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2975 on: November 04, 2016, 06:56:26 PM »
Hi, I'm Chad  29 from Ohio. I started a blog as my side hustle and aspire to be a blogger and life coach. I'm addicted to podcasts and I heard about the forum from arebelspy's interview on the mad fientist.  I'm almost 40k in debt, planning to pay it off and retire with a million+

TightFistedScot

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2976 on: November 05, 2016, 10:14:04 AM »
Hi MMM Community!

This is my first post, but I have been following MMM for nearly 2 years. I first learned of MMM listening to him interview on CBC radio (I'm in Toronto). It was a critical learning moment for me as I was just entering my first semester of a phd program. I was really beginning to feel the financial struggle of going from earning about 70k per year with very little expenses, down to 45k and managing my first home with a rental unit (more on that in a sec).  I voraciously read everything I could, nerded out with a couple of friends who were into living a frugal lifestyle, and subsequently had a "buy-nothing-year" from January 2015-February 2016. I allowed myself to buy life experiences (ie I did buy a flight to Mexico but all my other expenses were covered by my parents who were there for the winter), but no material items. I ate in a restaurant about 3 times between Jan '15-April '15. As part of this lifestyle I also sold my car over a year ago and I bike approximately 20 kms per day to and from my office. I will take public transit in the winter, though.

Some more specs:

-I'm 31, single, no kids, no debt except for mortgage.
-I don't follow a budget, but a frugal lifestyle/orientation toward finance and living a simple life.
-I purchased a small house in Toronto a couple months before starting my phd (2+ years ago), because I knew I would never qualify for a mortgage again for 5+ years (until I am back in full-time work force). I was incredibly fortunate to have my parents help me toward downpayment. Thank god I got in at that time, the Ontario government has recently made some policy changes which make purchasing real estate more difficult for those earning less than 100k.
-I live in the basement apartment and rent out the main floor, which covers the mortgage+property taxes. I pay all the bills for the house (approx $500/month). I also learned how to do some renovations myself this way! Cool life skills.
-I was lucky to get a merit-based federal scholarship and fellowships this year (all tax free), and a teaching assistantship (taxable) which pays about 4k per semester. This, along with rental income (taxable), brings my earnings to around 50-55k this year.
-I am considering to sell my place and buy a condo, because based on the strength of the Toronto market now I could sell and essentially buy a condo for cash and live nearly mortgage free. I also hate being a landlord with a burning passion. LOL
-I am just starting to learn about investing. I am a total newb and would love to pick someone's brain on the subject. I may put 5k into a wealthsimple account this winter and see how it goes.

I don't know if I want to retire early. I glean a lot of pleasure and life satisfaction from the work I do (my research/advocacy work is all around improving the health of LGBTQ people). But I do know I want to have the option to make that decision later in life. Also, I do wonder if I will perhaps want to have a kid in the next few years, so also saving for that. :P

Thanks for listening and really looking forward to participating in the community and learning lots from all of you!




BuffaloStache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2977 on: November 05, 2016, 12:03:28 PM »
Hi MMM community! Like many here, I've been following the MMM blog for a long time (~2 years), and finally decided to jump into the discussion. I've always been somewhat frugal, but I admit I had a serious bought of Wanderlust when I was in college and grad school. As such, my 'stache isn't nearly as large as it should be.

I'm a soon-to-be-30 engineer in Colorado, making a pretty good salary. I'm looking forward to becoming a community member and building my stache!
« Last Edit: November 09, 2016, 09:41:02 PM by BuffaloStache »

BaronB

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2978 on: November 07, 2016, 07:50:18 PM »
Howdy from Oregon. Mid-30's pharmacist shooting for FI around age 45. Just got a mortgage but tackling down consumer debt before really socking money into my Vanguard account. Going to go ahead and do the 401k with my employer since there's a match. Here's to not having to spending the rest of our lives punching a clock.

aceyou

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2979 on: November 08, 2016, 08:52:50 PM »
Hello from Michigan.
- I'm 33 and married with 4 year old and a 1 year old. 
- Im a teacher, my wife is in public education also as a consultant
- Found MMM 2 years ago
- Expect to be FI around 41
- Looking to FIRE at 48 (so we get pensions)

Before MMM: we were naturally saving about 20% of our income, but didn't do anything with it, it just piled up in the bank.
After MMM: we now have our savings rate over 50%.  Most goes to 403B/457/Roth IRA, some goes to principal on mortgage. 
How this has happened:
 - Cut food spending in half
 - Cut car spending a bit
 - Refinanced mortgage
 - less random spending
 - way fewer taxes from using 403/457
 - we continue to earn more each year

BuffaloStache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2980 on: November 09, 2016, 09:42:12 PM »
Before MMM: we were naturally saving about 20% of our income, but didn't do anything with it, it just piled up in the bank.
After MMM: we now have our savings rate over 50%.  Most goes to 403B/457/Roth IRA, some goes to principal on mortgage. 

Great progress! good luck!

BrokeNoMo

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2981 on: November 10, 2016, 07:45:04 AM »
Hello MM world!

I'm 47, married with 2 kids that have moved out; and now we have a 5 month old grandson! (He's the best :) )

We have recently found MM and started down the path of FI. Chronic health issues have long clouded our judgement in money matters. Our oldest daughter was saved from SIDS at 3 days old, but ended up with life long health issues until she passed away at age 12. My wife was born with transposition of the great arteries which meant surgery early on, then a pacemaker for most of her life, then a heart transplant at age 29. Needless to say these events made accumulating any capital almost laughable. It also skewed our vision in many other ways. Our plans were often way-layed by unexpected bills which after a number of years became a cycle of despair that allowed us to talk ourselves into splurging on things we couldn't afford. We never planned on EVER being able to retire.

For many years we lived as frugally as we thought possible. Doing all the little things just to make it payday to payday. It was through my interest in all things frugal that I ran across the MMM blog. I absorbed every page and began to question our choices and WHY we had made them. It hasn't been easy, as this is a very emotional issue when you live an entire lifetime believing that the casino of life was rigged against you and there was no way out.

The last few years have been one of minimalism and prioritization. We have dug ourselves out of a big hole and are nearing our first goal of being debt free except for the mortgage. For the first time in our lives we are going to save more than the company 401k matching. We have each opened Vanguard accounts and we are discussing how to best attack our mortgage and get the freedom we are so desperate for. To me it is more than just my hair on fire; every waking minute of what we have left in life is too precious to spend stressed out and working for uncaring, faceless corporations.

Hope this wasn't too much too fast. Glad to be a part of this forum. I have learned alot from you already!


Seattle Carter

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2982 on: November 10, 2016, 08:01:58 AM »
Hi all,

I am 39 and am married with 2 children (5 & 6). We live in Seattle and are both full-time employed in the tech industry. I have been aware of MMM for a few years, but have only started reading his posts and this message board in the past few months.

My interest in FE lies in my desire to spend more time with my children and more time doing things that I'm passionate about. I am currently in the process of researching a move out of Seattle and to a nearby but more rural setting. My wife and I have only just begun to get a handle on our monthly budget and spending, but we're naturally frugal people so I think it's more about visibility than making massive changes.

Anyway, happy to be here.

VoteCthulu

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2983 on: November 11, 2016, 12:29:08 PM »
Hi, I'm 36 and single from Minnesota. I've been reading MMM for a few years now, and recently started to get serious about not working (at least a 40+ hr week) ever again.

Fortunately I'm a natural saver, but unfortunately I've made a number of bad investment choices over the years. Buying too much house and investing in oil before the crash has delayed my retirement, but hopefully the lessons I've learned can prevent worse mistakes in the future.

JerBlue

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2984 on: November 11, 2016, 06:09:12 PM »
Hello from Utah!

I'm a 33 year old single guy from the greater Salt Lake City area. I have been reading the MMM blog regularly since July of this year, although I had previously read some of the articles here and there over the past couple of years. I have also been reading a number of the ERE blogs, as well as read the ERE book(rented from the Library). I often search the internet/library/YouTube/TEDTalks for all information on FI that I can find. I generally take most information I read/view with a grain of salt and a healthy dose of skepticism, however, overall I have really enjoyed the information I've learned on the blog thus far. I am just now joining the forum portion of MMM and I look forward to learning from many of you and perhaps I'll hopefully have some value to add and share with you all as well.

Some random info about me:

-Not FI yet, not sure exactly when that will occur. I do enjoy my career that I have been with for 12 years, it does provide great benefits/pay, and it's fulfilling.
-I don't spend much aside from mortgage, utilities, insurance, and food.
-Estimate that I probably have a savings/investing rate of approximately 45-50% of my Gross income. Continually finding ways to become more efficient with spending.
-I feel quite a bit at home here, being a bit "extreme" with finances compared to most people in my life (Family, friends, coworkers, etc.) I am often referred to as cheap, which is untrue, I just don't buy things where I don't see value.
-Have also recently been intrigued by the minimalism movement as well, and I find a lot of value from it. Much of it correlates with FI.
-House wise, just refinanced from a 30 year 4.125% to a 12 year @ 2.99%. (Closing cost was ultra low -with a Credit Union). Planning on paying off early anyhow, although I've been debating on whether to invest what I would have used to pay off early in a low risk investment earning at least 2.99% so that the money isn't all tied up in the house. I see the pros and cons, so we'll see what happens there. I do live in my basement and rent out three extra rooms upstairs, so it basically pays for itself.
-One of the major cons of this lifestyle is dating...I am not sure about the rest of you singles here, but I have found dating to be rather challenging, at least in my area. I can't imagine it is much different elsewhere in the USA, however I'm curious to see how others find and meet other FI/Mustachian minded singles. Most people in the dating scene here seem completely turned off by frugality, efficient use of resources, and FI?! (I get that it's a paradigm thing, but rather frustrating nevertheless).
-No debt aside from the mortgage, and I currently drive a 1998 Honda Accord, although I have been wanting to upgrade to something a bit nicer and more functional like a used Pruis or Yaris Hatchback...although to be brutally honest, a large part of me really wants a 4Runner, for many reasons, most notably the functionality and extremely high reliability. (It's not particularly fun getting stuck in the snow/ice in the high altitude canyons of Utah). The gas mileage, environmental impact, and price tag make me ultra hesitant however. (I do still plan on buying a carrier to pull behind my bike as I do enjoy biking for fun, local travel to work, etc..).
-Love the outdoors; camping, hiking, backpacking, etc. Also love cooking healthy meals, fitness, training for Spartan races, and enjoying the simple things in life.
-I obviously have a lot to learn, so I am very glad to be here! I haven't read many of the threads yet, however it seems there are a lot of experienced Mustachians!!

Once again, I'm looking forward to learning from you all and perhaps making some new friends.

FrugalFox

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2985 on: November 12, 2016, 02:16:37 PM »
Hey everybody,
I'm 35 years old currently saving fairly hard to achieve financial independence. I've started a blog where I discuss Frugality, Investing, Saving and Travel. The site is hotelsandmoney.com
I'm interested to find out how many people have achieved FI but still have a partner that still chooses to go to work.
FrugalFox

Crillst

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2986 on: November 14, 2016, 04:41:26 AM »
Hi there!

Working towards FIRE in a Swedish economy. Got two months a year covered by dividends so far.
I've been reading Mr Money Mustache posts for around 3 - 4 years now and figured i would join the community.

rlcoronado

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2987 on: November 14, 2016, 09:36:12 PM »
Hi folks,

I'm Rocky, from Philippines, 24 years old. Saw MMM last year but only decided to join the forum and read through its contents this week. I've already setup my emergency fund, I have a mutual funds investment, and looking forward to learning more so I can achieve the Financial Independence I set for myself.

Cheers!

ferociousfinancials

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2988 on: November 15, 2016, 09:22:42 AM »
Hi, I'm John, I'm a millenial striving for FI and entrepreneurship.

Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk


travelawyer

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2989 on: November 15, 2016, 10:20:35 AM »
Hi!

I'm a 33 year old financial services lawyer in San Antonio (DH is 34), and I'm currently pregnant with our first child!  My FIRE goal is $2 million and a house, aiming for 2026 (age 43).  I want to slow travel the world, and with a family that won't be cheap. (DH would rather move to CA and stay put, so we have some negotiating to do...)

AlohaOrang11

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2990 on: November 16, 2016, 12:19:16 PM »
Heya!

In my 30s. From Toronto, Canada.
Was in Engineering but went into Branding - still have those Engineering OCD tendencies though...

Been following MMM for the last couple of years and have been systematically cutting down expenses.
At that point where the "cutting" is affecting social relationships (or maybe this is just in my head).

Eitherway, looking forward to learning/contributing in the community.

Cheers,
Steve

GrowingStache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2991 on: November 16, 2016, 02:25:23 PM »
Hi everyone,

I am 42 years old, married, no kids. I have been following MMM for a few years but we started making FI a priority back in 2005 and we have surpassed our initial FIRE goals. We currently live in an expensive location. The plan is now to move to a cheaper location next year and semi-retire. Hopefully we can still make enough money from work to pay the bills without touching the stash so that it can compound a few more years. But our portfolio should be able to pay the bills even without earned income if need be.

BussoV6

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2992 on: November 17, 2016, 03:55:03 AM »
Greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa.

I'm 55, a metallurgical engineer, working for a large global chemical company. Plan to cut back and just take on the technical part of my job and palm off all the shitty admin on someone else in the near future. My DW has been retired about 10 years but makes quite a bit in private equity mining projects. She wants me to retire now, but I really enjoy a good part of my current job.

Lots of useful info here for me. Thanks in advance!

EEBookDesign

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2993 on: November 19, 2016, 03:08:24 AM »
Hi everyone!

I've been a reader/lurker for about 2 years now and decided to finally come out of hiding and join the forum!

Im forever grateful to MMM not only for changing my focus in life from spending to living, but also for introducing me to marksdailyapple. Both websites have positively changed my life and that of my SO.

I'm a 35 year old Dutch woman living in France (my SO is French). We have 3 kids (6, almost 4, and 6 months), and I work 32 hours a week as a desktop publishing technician.

Thanks to MMM i've got some savings and new life priorities that will allow me to quit my office job and start my own business somewhere in 2017.

Thanks for reading and see you around on the forum!
E


BetweenSips

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2994 on: November 26, 2016, 01:02:43 AM »
Hello MMM forum!

I've been digging through the backlog of posts, and the more MMM spoke about the forum the more I wanted to join.

Although not a reader, my Partner has always led a fairly mustachian lifestyle. When we first moved in together I remember his sheets were worn with holes (but they still work and they were comfy!). He's been an excellent influence but I came here to learn more for myself and keep me motivated and inspired.

I am 29 year old from Scottsdale, AZ with one 2 year old and one on the way (3 more weeks!). I recently left full time employment as a Project Manager for Franchise rollouts so I could stay home with my sweet little ladies full time.

We do not have any debt currently, but we are renting an apartment in Scottsdale to be close to work. My Partner rides his bike, and soon I'm going to be offloading my Charger in exchange for a more reasonable hatchback.

I am very interested in living a more sustainable/lower footprint lifestyle. In my relationship I tend to be the handy one and I love DIY! When I say DIY, I tend to mean plumbing and building not so much crafting.

I am excited to connect with others on the board!

bamfsaver

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2995 on: November 26, 2016, 06:16:35 PM »
Hey all!

Been lurking here for awhile and I guess it's time to finally come out of the shadows.

I'm 26 years old from Singapore - still single so I have a huge runway of savings and investing ahead of me. I've had an interest in finance and investments for quite a while so naturally my full time job is working as an analyst for a boutique fund.

I've been a natural saver since forever so it isn't that difficult for me to adopt the Mustachian way of life. Only thing that's holding me back is the fact that Singapore is currently one of the most expensive places to live in the world, and that in itself is anti-mustachian. The only light at the end of the tunnel would be Singapore's tax regime - 0% capital gains and dividend taxes.

Looking forward to contribute and learn from you guys!

rachellynn99

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2996 on: November 27, 2016, 11:46:03 AM »
First post, I've been stalking the MMM blog for a bit, and the forum more recently. I'm 34, husband is 36. We have three kids. I'm a faculty member at a public university and a Registered Dietitian. I probably could be making more in the corporate realm, but enjoy having the breaks with the kids and not working during the summer. My husband is in IT.

We make decent, especially for our tiny town in the South. We have a lot of debt. We like to spend too much money. We travel too much. We each contribute 10% to our 401k and have a match through our companies. We put a bit away into each kid's 504 each month. We pay our bills on time, but find we aren't making much progress on our debt, and need to be saving more money.  We haven't accumulated any additional debt in a while, but again, just need to be making better progress.

We do some frugal things; eat only deer meat we harvest ourselves, I can a lot each summer from our garden. But we also enjoying fancy foods and dining out.

We really just need to focus, and I think we are both finally to a point to do so. I'm ready to get some traction. I look forward to getting to know more of you and learning.

MommyCake

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2997 on: November 28, 2016, 03:57:56 AM »
Hi everyone!

I have been reading the articles and posts for several months and I thought I'd finally post... I'm 35 with an 8mo old, living with boyfriend.  I have no debt except for a mortgage on a rental property (formerly my residence) which I'm upside down on.  I found this site while home on maternity leave, which is when I realized I'd rather stay home with my baby than keep working. I have a few different (and conflicting) financial goals, and I know that clarifying what I want (and when) will be the first step.  This site has been tremendously helpful as I'm learning to live more simply and scale back on the expenses.  I look forward to talking to you all!

MissPiggy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2998 on: November 28, 2016, 04:46:54 AM »
Hi guys from Sydney, Australia!

So nice meeting you all!

Just discovered MMM blog and forum after listening to a Mad FIentist podcast interviewing MMM about a month ago. Since then I have listened to all his podcasts, started commenting and following numerous MMM forums, and reading many other FI bloggers and vloggers.

A bit about me:
- 26 yo, 3 years out of uni and in a full-time job
- save about 25% of my income, have the potential to save 40%
- always been money-conscious but since working full-time (3 years ago) I've regularly blow the budget and lived outside of my means, mostly due to entertainment expenses (dining out/drinks at bars) with friends
- never had a credit card, only debt is student loan (which is deducted from my pay through tax)

Since reading FI blogs, I'm:
-  monitoring all my expenses to the dollar!
- focusing on seeking value out of purchases instead of cheap-thrills
- challenging and questioning social expectations and pressures in my social circle which is focused around high-cost wining and dining
- aiming to be financially independent by 35
- even started a personal FI blog to catalogue my journey!

marty998

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #2999 on: November 28, 2016, 04:49:43 AM »
Hi guys from Sydney, Australia!

So nice meeting you all!

Just discovered MMM blog and forum after listening to a Mad FIentist podcast interviewing MMM about a month ago. Since then I have listened to all his podcasts, started commenting and following numerous MMM forums, and reading many other FI bloggers and vloggers.

A bit about me:
- 26 yo, 3 years out of uni and in a full-time job
- save about 25% of my income, have the potential to save 40%
- always been money-conscious but since working full-time (3 years ago) I've regularly blow the budget and lived outside of my means, mostly due to entertainment expenses (dining out/drinks at bars) with friends
- never had a credit card, only debt is student loan (which is deducted from my pay through tax)

Since reading FI blogs, I'm:
-  monitoring all my expenses to the dollar!
- focusing on seeking value out of purchases instead of cheap-thrills
- challenging and questioning social expectations and pressures in my social circle which is focused around high-cost wining and dining
- aiming to be financially independent by 35
- even started a personal FI blog to catalogue my journey!

Hey there, nice to see another local :)

35 is a challenge... I'm trying to do the same.