Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3317633 times)

Stephanie

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #100 on: April 19, 2012, 12:19:29 AM »
Hello,

My name is Stephanie.  I am 35.  I live down the Front Range from the MMMs in Manitou Springs, CO.

I found MMM through an article on biking in the winter.  Which I thought was crazy!  But I kept coming back for more.  Now, I am offically hooked on this blog.

The ER lifestyle is a great continuation for me of the Live Simple / Zen lifestyle I have been practicing the last few years.  You might be amazed how much extra "stuff" even a minimalist can own.  All my friends laugh at me when I complain that I have too much stuff, still.  But my philosophy is unless I am activley using a 'thing', it needs to go.

Thanks to MMM, I got a much needed kick in the butt to actually BE, instead of coasting on my past minimalism victories.  Just sold two items on Craigslist.  Awesome.

Starting of with just about $0 - in part due to bad financial decisions.  The attitude of why save, when I could choke on a biscuit tomorrow.  :-)

My goal is FI in 10 years or less.

Love the MMM community.

HowMuchCanAKoalaBear

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #101 on: April 21, 2012, 02:53:33 AM »
Hi I'm an Aussie 50yrs old retiring this year, found the forum through Jacob's site...:)

jaspel

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #102 on: April 21, 2012, 03:37:30 AM »
Hi! I've been trolling for a while and thought I should join on in.

Sparky

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #103 on: April 23, 2012, 07:51:14 AM »
Hi, I've been wandering around and posting for awhile, but I should do this :)

I'm Sparky, I am addicted to travelling, my girlfriend and eating food from around the world. In my real life I'm a industrial electrician in Alberta Canada.

Also, I've made 2 pies in the last 3 days and consumed all of it.

spi

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #104 on: April 23, 2012, 05:55:39 PM »
Hi I am spi. I found MMM through ERE a few months back and finally read through all of the posts last week. I really like the writing style.

I am an almost 30 year old software engineer and am married to a teacher. We live in the Boston area. Our only debt is student loans which we are paying off as quickly as possible. I have been fairly good with money and haven't had any debt besides a car loan and student loans. Though I didn't really track my spending for the first 4 years out of college so I didn't know how I was actually doing. Doing a lot better now and attempting to live more of the non-consumer lifestyle.
« Last Edit: April 23, 2012, 06:06:54 PM by spi »

Happystache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #105 on: April 25, 2012, 08:32:32 PM »
Hello - brand new and happy to have found the financial equivalent to the honey badger - I plan on fully embracing the mustachian way of life - San Diego style.

Bank

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #106 on: April 27, 2012, 09:45:49 AM »
Hi, I'm David.  My stats are that I'm 36, live in the Boston area, married for a little over a year now, no kids, 1 dog, 1 cat.  No debt (although that will change, at least temporarily, as we are closing on a house soon), and a stash of about $300K.  I work as a corporate finance and corporate bankruptcy consultant -- hence the name I chose.  My wife is a teacher at a private school.  Together my wife and I make a great salary (over $200K) and we've been following MMM since the True Cost of Commuting article. 

If you think that our 'stash is small compared to our income, you would be right.  I could make complainypants excuses for why this is --- all of which would be true, but which would also be beside point, because MMM and early retirement are about the future, not the past!! 

In that vein, I'm here to support you all in your journey to FI, and to receive the well-deserved punch in the face when I need it.  As is the case for many savers, when I go out in the world, I can easily be misled into thinking that I am a super-frugal ace who has the world by the tail.  When I come here, I am inspired by all of you who have done so much more than I have, and done it on a lower income.  It makes me want to work out my frugality muscles harder, and makes me less likely to spend money just because I can afford to or because spending is easier than the alternative.

My wife and I are still discussing what early retirement will look like for us, but we are on pace to have all our "middle finger" money put away within 8-10 years at our current consumption levels.

Plainview

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #107 on: April 27, 2012, 10:03:18 AM »
Hey forum, I'm 27, from England originally, and I moved from Berlin to New York in January.  I've been developing a frugal side for about 7 months now (since coming across the Commuting article, just like the commenter above) and in two weeks will be starting my savings and investments in earnest.

I'm also dead keen on the wood work/welding/DIY side of things - I gouged, drilled and coated my first project this week and now have a kitchen chopping board to show for it.  Very much looking forward to learning from this community and hopefully contributing something back, too.

Baboo

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #108 on: April 27, 2012, 10:24:51 AM »
Hello, I'm Baboo.  I've been married 10 years, have 3 kiddos.  We both work full-time (he's a chef, I'm in HR).  I discovered MMM via his Mrs  on a "Mommy" forum and am loving it.  We're knee deep in debt, but I am completely inspired to make steps toward mediocre debt, then zero debt.  We live in Western Maryland, where the seasons bring beautiful, drastic changes.  Happy to be here!

$_gone_amok

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #109 on: April 27, 2012, 06:21:39 PM »
Hey everybody. My wife and I are in our early 30s with 2 kids. We live in a high cost of living area in Northern California, even though we make decent money, we still feel poor given how much money is spent on mortgage and day care. We would like to semi-retire in 15 years.

kdms

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #110 on: April 28, 2012, 02:58:32 AM »
Good morning....I'm Karen, and came across MMM yesterday afternoon and was so struck by the post 'your debt is an emergency' that I spent the next three hours figuring out how to shave $100 a month off our combined phone, wireless, and internet bill.  (Which tells you how just how ridiculously high it was to begin with, and we just hadn't given ourselves the kick in the pants we needed to fix it.)  We're from Ottawa, ON, and have one toddler, a very depressing mortgage, and a very tight income vs expenses ratio each week.

I came across mention of MMM while reading comments on a homeschooling blog....which was my number one reason (up until now) to live frugally.  (It still is the number one reason, but is no longer the only one.)  Come hell or high water, we are determined to find a way to homeschool our son when it comes time for him to be enrolled in school (in around 4.5 years).  Ideally, we'd both like to stay home, but would also be ok with figuring out how to live on one income, with a slightly later goal of FI.

Neither of us are so enamored with working that we couldn't live without our jobs....so we're beating at the debt every way we can, but have made some bad decisions (some of which we didn't learn from the first time and thus turned around and made them again...sigh) and it's taken us an atrociously long time to grow up and truly accept the folly of consumerism.  We've managed to squash 25K out of 30K consumer debt since last July, but that last 5k is dragging and I'm hoping to learn as much as I can from more experienced mustachers and boost the flagging morale around here.

darkelenchus

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #111 on: May 01, 2012, 03:13:32 PM »
Hello everyone! Mid-30s, married 8 years, living in Milwaukee, WI. My wife works at a title company and I'm currently an adjunct college professor, but looking to venture into online business. We both have a natural tendency towards frugality (haven't owned a car since 2007, simple vegetarian homecooked diet, etc., thrift-store shopping, etc.), hence no outstanding debt beyond our mortgage, which we'll be paying off at the end of the month. Then we'll immediately begin strategizing ways to grow the 'stache!

I've been following the blog for awhile (since the guest posting on Early Retirement Extreme last May) now. It's really been great! I'm much more actively aware of my frugal tendencies and the site has really helped me see how turning them into sustainable habits can be incorporated into the goal of financial independence. Just dipped my toes in to the forums. Lots of great discussion and as rich a resource as the blog! I'm looking forward to reading up and participating!
« Last Edit: May 01, 2012, 03:15:19 PM by darkelenchus »

BZB

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #112 on: May 01, 2012, 03:28:34 PM »
Hi, I'm in Houston, TX. Mr. BZB and I both work full-time, have a toddler. No debt, renting a house, both recently finished grad school. I found MMM thru ERE blog. Haven't progressed very far in my journey yet. I'm trying to combine Your Money or Your Life program with the inspiration and encouragement I find here and on ERE forums. Have not had The Talk yet with Mr. BZB about mustachianism or YMOYL - just filtering it thru my own head and trying to change my own behaviors first. Am currently on the first step of YMOYL.

Dicey

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #113 on: May 02, 2012, 01:25:26 AM »
Well, damn, I think I'm older than all of y'all and I don't even qualify for a senior discount yet! I admit, it was all the cussin' that attracted me to your site. I've been a long time reader of TSD, GRS, ERE, MvD, MMM (and others) in roughly that order. I think MMM commented on one of those blogs and I followed the profanity to this comfortable, yet provocative place.

I've always been frugal underneath my pretty dresses. I also live a relatively clean (read: boring) life. My momma was griping at my potty mouth the other day. I said to her, "Momma, I don't smoke nor drink to excess nor do drugs nor gamble nor ask you & daddy for money. Will you please just ignore the blue cloud around my head and love me anyway?" Her answer, I leave to your imaginations. I shall just say that the apple, it's a' sittin' right up under that there tree.

TSD's and GRS's voices have changed, Jacob has un-retired and largely stopped posting, MvD doesn't post regularly enough and is still in the debt dispensation stage which doesn't resonate as much with me, which leaves MMM as the king of non-sellout FI bloggers. And the world.

I've never been in piles of debt, other than mortgage. I live in a high COLA, so my mortgage is big and I do not aspire to pay it off. What I do want is FI. I had cancer when I was 20 and as a result have a deeply rooted need for financial security. Retiring early is a secondary goal.

I have a theory that it's far easier not to gain weight than it is to actually lose it. I think debt is the same. I've got the frugal gene (refer to tree overhead) and have always been good at saving. What I suck at is what to do with the money once I've saved some, and figuring out how to pay for my self-funded retirement. As James Taylor sings, "That's Why I'm Here". Thanks for lettin' this old gal hang around, tryin' to learn something. And for the cussin', too.

The Clean Shave

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #114 on: May 02, 2012, 04:12:12 AM »
Hey all,

I'm The Clean Shave (currently the entire face, my goal, figuratively speaking, is to grow a mo). I occasionally reply on the MMM website as The Dutch Clean Shave, but I've ditched the national indicator over here since I've no ambitions to stay put.

Recently graduated in international business (BA), with a focus on marketing. I have since learned from experience how immensely unentertaining and unethical it can be, so I'm looking elsewhere for the long term.

As a kicker, due to my studies I'm also pretty well versed in all things related to finance, trade, consumer psychology and what not. This leaves the path open to all kinds of other fields in business management, so I've recently enrolled at a university in Sweden for a Master's degree (did you know Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Fins let Europeans study for free if you cover cost of living?) to move the focus of my educational and professional background to another interest of mine: the IT industry. Also, I won't lie about the fact that I'm interested in learning a new language and getting to know the culture.

To cover above mentioned cost of living and start with the smallest of stashes, I work for consulting companies in branding and help run a couple of websites.

In my free time I climb, run, cycle and read, and I intend to add swimming to the mix if time permits.

Cheers,


TCS

QuietContrary

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #115 on: May 02, 2012, 08:06:19 AM »
Hi there,

Just registered today, though I've followed the blog since that time last year when Lifehacker posted MMM's article about the cost of commuting.
I live in a small country in the west of Europe where, as a nation, we're coming to terms with a dreadful spending spree that lasted the best part of a decade.
Now I'm lumbered with a mortgage on a one-bed apartment and facing the prospect of new property taxes and charges for basic services such as water. (Yes, I know such levies are common in other countries, but they're a novelty here.)
Over the past 18 months, I've paid off small-scale debts (credit card & car loan) and built up a small savings cushion (roughly, 1.5 x monthly salary) but I'm saving for a holiday in Australia (a good friend of mine is getting married and she's asked me to be bridesmaid) and I'd like to build my savings 'stache a little more.
Here in this little country which sounds a little like Iceland, there's a definite distaste for frugality: it's seen as running against our national character and something that only sappy English and German people indulge in. I have one good friend who is cash-conscious - but on the whole, it's very difficult to have a serious discussion about how to mind your money when (like me) you're single and all you want to do is spend all your money on nice frocks, fun holidays, and jugs of sangria.
Help me guys!

QC

clarkai

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #116 on: May 02, 2012, 12:09:26 PM »
Hi, my name is Anna, and I've been reading MMM for a year now. I'm 23, married, and have a house + mortgage that we inherited. I came from a penny-wise but pound foolish family (meaning we bought second hand clothes and appliances, but my dad had an hour long commute to work and no savings), and my husband came from a family where neither of the parents were very good at money management. So, I've got a pretty good handle on the "smaller" aspects of frugality (buying used, buying to last, no car loans etc) but not so much on the bigger aspects, like investing.

annaliese

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #117 on: May 03, 2012, 10:46:48 AM »
Hi there,

My name is Annaliese (if you can't tell from my username, ha). My husband and I have been reading MMM for a few months. I found it from a link someone put on a friend's Facebook page. It was crazy when I first started reading, because it felt like I was reading things my husband and I had written...so I have to say we definitely feel good to find people who feel the same way in our crazy society! A very brief background: we're 30 (me) and 32 (him), have two kids (8 and almost 10), we don't have a tv, we love our bikes, we're non-religious, popular culture makes us sick, etc etc etc...I could go on, but I won't. =) I also have a blog about our family/money/frugality which is fun for me because I like helping others. I am glad to be joining this group and hopefully I can get my husband on here, too!

Annaliese

frutopia

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #118 on: May 04, 2012, 08:18:14 PM »
Hi, I'm frutopia, and I've been an avid reader since the Cost of Commuting article I found via Lifehacker. I'm mid 20s and work in finance, where I got caught up in a lot of the status symbols that people love to brag about in my field. Bought a nice house and paid for an expensive wedding just as I found out about Mustachianism, so I'm starting from near zero but with a fierce desire to do things the right way from now on. I'm also learning how to lovingly bring my wife around to these ideas. I look forward to learning lots from you all.


debthater

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #119 on: May 04, 2012, 10:34:34 PM »
Hi!  I love MMM and MrsMMM and all of you that post in the forum!  I have learned so much and feel like this community makes me feel normal.  I feel very abnormal at work because of my MMM interests and values.  I love to cook and bake.  I also run and bike.   I LOVE coupons, thrifting, and garge sales.  I view shopping for something I need as a fun adventure. 

My husband and I are naturally very frugal.  We graduated with 6 figures of student loan debts.  When I came out of grad school the job market had tanked.  I was lucky enough to land a string of great jobs.  However, I knew that I could have not been so lucky.  Out of fear, I have always lived on less than half of what I made.  Now I enjoy my lifestyle but do worry that I should be spending even less (we save 50%+ of our after tax income plus max out 401ks but have a nice income so could be doing even better).  We are proud that the students loans are insignificant compared to what they were initially.  My husband loves his job and does not want to retire early.  He likes the idea that I could stay at home with our kids with our current spending.  I like the idea of tightening things up even further so we don't have to worry in the event that he looses his job. 

I have found some great tips here and advice that I think will help us to save even more.  Can you believe I had never been to Costco before reading the MMM shopping report? LOVE it now!  I can't wait to learn more from all of you!

XcaliburGirl

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #120 on: May 12, 2012, 06:57:44 AM »
Hi all!

I'm in my late-twenties, married, no kids, and plan to be functionally debt-free in the next couple of months. No real savings, though for the first time in a while we have two decent incomes. I've always had mustaschian tendencies, but through the influence of my more "live in the moment" husband and recent salary increases, I've been allowing lifestyle-creep and neglecting savings. When I got my first job at 18, I was disappointed that I had to be 21 to take advantage of my company's 401k. Then, somehow I made it to 27 without ever contributing to one. My excuse was that my company didn't offer matching until this year. Of course, that just meant I wasn't saving for retirement at all. I think I might need to punch myself in the face.

I started looking at personal finance blogs recently when we suddenly decided we wanted to buy a condo, but had no downpayment. I'm not sure if the fancy condo and my newly-remembered early retirement aspirations can mesh well, but for now, I just want to save a significant portion of our income.

illy5603

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #121 on: May 15, 2012, 02:39:54 PM »
Howdy,

My name is Chad. I am a recovering car guy and gadget collector. I don't like working and want to stop as soon as possible. I am doing well on the income column and am here to to work on the expenses column.

flygirl

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #122 on: May 19, 2012, 03:26:56 PM »
Hi! I'm M, I turn 26 in two weeks, I live in Boston with my...er..."clean shaven" boyfriend. I learned about MMM from the cost of commuting article - I was already biking to work, but I was thinking about the future and maybe someday living in a suburb and how I STILL WANTED TO BIKE TO WORK!

I was raised to always save half my income (starting with babysitting money, etc - for college) and sorta never got the message that not everybody does that. When I graduated from college, I paid off my loans (ahh! terrifying!) in like 18 months by living with my parents for a year (nice folks!) So I'm debt free, but I don't make much money, so my stache is growing slowly (but I'm starting school on the company dime in September!). Beyond my existing emergency fund, I'm saving 50% of take home, split 40/60 index investing and Roth 401k.

I'm not going for true ER, I mostly just want to have opportunity money around, maybe build a tiny house, maybe get a real house, and ideally move to a 4-day work week asap. I like my job right now though, so that's awesome!

hi!
« Last Edit: May 19, 2012, 05:47:26 PM by flygirl »

Zoot Allures

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #123 on: May 21, 2012, 04:57:58 PM »
Hi, all--new reader here from Portland, Oregon. I'm glad to have found this site, which is a lot more entertaining and interesting to read than most of the PF sites I've come across. I'm fairly new to frugality, let alone aspirations to FI, so I have plenty to learn. I can tell you that when my HELOC and car loan (older Honda Civic hatchback) are paid off by year end, those monthly payments will immediately start going to my 403(b) instead. Dare I say this is a rather mustachian move on my part?

I'm a new landlord, having recently decided to downsize to a small apartment while keeping my house as an investment property. I may move back into it someday. In the meantime, I seem to be clearing about $200/mo. above my mortgage. I'm using a property manager because I was a little nervous about landlording and wanted as few hassles as possible, but I imagine I'll get tired of giving away that $1200/year at some point. Anyway, now I'm daydreaming about downsizing even further or getting a group house with like-minded/similarly situated people. I'm 41 and have lived on my own for most of my adult life, so it would have to be the right situation for sure.

See you all around.


yomimono

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #124 on: May 23, 2012, 07:59:45 AM »
Hi. I'm a long-time MMM lurker.

I'm a 26-year-old woman living in Madison, WI.  I'm currently employed as a firewall programmer for a company in Texas (I telecommute). 

I discovered Mustachianism-lite via some other personal finance blogs in 2006 (before many of them became watered-down "10 tips to reduce your car insurance bill" tripe), when I was working a job I hated for the local power company.  I "retired" from that job on 15k savings, spent it all riding bikes around the country, went back to school and generated 20k in debt, graduated last May, and made my last student loan payment on May 1st of this month.  I am now $0 in debt and have a positive net worth for the first time in about 3 years.

Saving comes pretty easily to me, but I know very little about investing.  I'm hoping to learn about unorthodox investment vehicles from the folks here who are further along in their journey.  I'm very interested in making investments locally, which have some concrete benefit here for all - socially responsible investing with some teeth.

stashette

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #125 on: May 23, 2012, 04:45:22 PM »
Hi, I'm Stashette from Indiana!  I love biking, traveling, and dreaming of FI. 

I've been a huge MMM fan for several months now, but I'm still pretty new to the forums.  One reason I love this site it that it refuses to just be average.  I am so tired of personal finance sites that just recommend paying off debt and maybe putting 10% to retirement.  Heck no!  I like a challenge and MMM delivers.

I've already had lots of life changes from this blog--I got a new job, I got a bike (um... two bikes, actually), and rarely drive my car anymore.  I'm sure there are more in store!

Will

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #126 on: May 23, 2012, 05:50:54 PM »
Hi, my name is Will, and I live in Vancouver, WA.   I just recently found out about MMM and I must say: I LOVE IT!  Great attitude in so many places, very entertaining and so informative.  I found out about MMM from some comments I saw on GRS.  My goals (for now) are to be credit card debt-free by next May (if not sooner!) and car loan debt-free 2 months later, then throwing a crap-ton of money into investments!  Maybe 10 years from now I can be retired too!

hazel

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #127 on: May 25, 2012, 03:08:18 AM »
Hi my name is Hazel Im from New Zealand and have been reading the MMM posts daily for around 2-3 months. Im a 26year old reformed anti-saver and love my new frugal lifestyle.

Im attempting to get rid of my student loan (which is interest free) and save for my first home and reading these blogs is a fun way to keep on track.

Thanks

Spartana

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #128 on: May 26, 2012, 01:17:25 PM »
Hi - I'm Spartana,  a female, spartan living, early retiree. I retired at 42 after years (mostly at sea)  in the U.S. Coast Guard and then a few more years as a government employee. Have a small combined military/government pension and healthcare benefits and live a very frugal lifestyle. Divorced and child-free, I have no debt (never really did except for a short term mortgage I paid off rapidly), I do alot of budget travel and adventure type sports (biking, kayaking, hiking, running, climbing, etc...). Sold the house awhile ago and am footloose and fancy-free to travel with my little rat-dog right now. Plan to travel for now and then "eventually" buy another place - a small, tiny, tiniest, dinkiest home I can - paying cash of course! Waving "Hi" to all the other's here from the Financial Integrity Simple lIving Forums where I first heard about this site.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2012, 02:54:04 PM by Spartana »

EarthSky

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #129 on: May 27, 2012, 10:10:09 AM »
Hi I'm EarthSky, and just recently discovered this site through the Simple Living Forums (hi Spartana, and others!)  I'm a single mom striving to live a simpler life through decluttering/downsizing, living frugally and deepening spiritually.  My greatest challenge is how to do this with children, as most of my 'stuff' is keepsakes (their school work, art, prized collectibles from nature, etc.)  I'm also working toward FI, but have a long way to go to retire debt from cross-country moves, cost of living with spouse with no money management skills, and divorce.  I'm at a new juncture in my life, so looking forward to sharing and learning from this group!
« Last Edit: May 27, 2012, 10:15:27 AM by EarthSky »

MooreBonds

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #130 on: May 27, 2012, 12:05:55 PM »
New to the forum - heard it recommended over at the Early Retirement forum (courtesy of Nords).

Am a 35 year old male, single (hopefully married down the road), having enjoyed nearly all of my life in St. Louis. Well on-track to be FI by my mid 40s. Only debt is a mortgage. Lived far below my means in my 20s and early 30s, which helped pad the 'stash and let me loosen the strings a little bit when I bought my house 3 ago (but still live more below my means than the majority of my peers outside of forums like this).

When I'm not enjoying my free time with managing my investments and some outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, a bit of cycling (when I finish remodeling my basement), I "enjoy" my day job as an engineer designing building systems for a consulting firm. Although I would definitely not work if I were FI, my job is fairly interesting and enjoyable enough to make me say that it isn't a drag like some people have to put up with at their careers. Of course, there's the usual BS that comes along with many work places, but overall, it's good (except for the 401k investment options!).

My user ID is a combination of ranking Roger Moore as my favorite James Bond character, as well as passing a certain financial goal a few years ago and transitioning my portfolio to add in a greater % of fixed income (roughly 20%-25%).
« Last Edit: May 27, 2012, 12:08:05 PM by MooreBonds »

Jake D

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #131 on: May 28, 2012, 12:32:13 AM »
Jake from Perth, Western Australia.

Just finished reading the blog from day 1 to current post, came to the forum to fill the time now that I have to wait in between posts.

29, married, with a 2.5yo girl and a 6mo boy.

Stopped driving my car  (our second vehicle) the 3 or so kms to the train station about 3 months ago. I've been either walking or cycling since (only to the train station, Perth's rail system lets me travel about 20 minutes on the train to a station basically under my desk. It would take about 90 minutes to cycle, then shower/dress otherwise). Loving the fact that I put about a quarter of a tank of fuel in my car every 3 weeks.

Picked up a bike trailer for free from facebook 2 weeks ago and my girl loves cruising to the shops with me when I need to grab milk or bread or whatever.

Wife is definitely on board with living a frugal lifestyle. Our biggest expense is our mortgage, but we both see it as an investment, as we won't have to pay a dollar of rent ever again sometime in the next 5-10 years. We pay an extra $150 per weekly pay into our mortgage.

The Australian public health system makes it safe enough to not pay for private health insurance, so I pay the equivalent of  private health premiums into a high interest saving account, earing about 5%.

Interest payments on investment residential mortgages are tax deductible over here, so we moved out of the house we own, rent cheaper and pay the difference into our mortgage, receiving tax deductions at the same time.

My next big change is downgrading our primary vehicle. A ford falcon station wagon. Probably as small as our family needs dictate, and bought quite frugally about 6 years old and paying cash. We can bank about $5k or so by selling it and buying the same model a couple of years older (from 2004 to 1999/2000) with an LPG conversion already in place. (In Australia, our cars mostly run on what we call Petrol, and Americans call Gas, For about half the price per litre, and a small compromise on mileage, we can get them converted to run on LPG, which stands for (liquefied petroleum gas, i think) This was very common a few years back as the government provided incentives to do so, in some cases making the conversion free. It was massively popular on Ford Falcons.

I also have a shitty personal blog, but I wouldn't recommend you read it, it's mostly me whinging/venting about pointless shit.

BunnyBoi

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #132 on: May 28, 2012, 08:50:37 AM »
Hi

I am from the small South East Asian country of Brunei, a college student and is currently 17 years old.

I discovered MMM when I found NoMoreHarvardDebt (NMHD) through Yahoo.

My single mom has been frugal her whole life and has passed down such skills and thinking onto myself so when I discovered MMM, I learnt of how such techniques can be applied to a more 'extreme' form.

However sadly coming from a country that has a very different situation to that of which MMM is located in. I do find it very difficult to apply of which I had learnt from MMM specifically but I love the challenge this gives me.

I hope to one day to have my own family and hopefully pass this down to them.

I love how what I have already learnt from my mother has been shown on MMM, and more the fact that there are groups of people here who want to discuss how they use such thinking to apply in their lives.

But currently just hoping to finish my education first before I even go near the word retirement xD.

Donovan

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #133 on: May 30, 2012, 04:42:53 PM »
Hi

I'm an Indiana resident living out of 2 houses (my parents and my fiance's parents) depending on the day of the week.  I'm 22 years old, but due to a school transfer still have 1.5 years of school left...yay?  I'm studying Software Engineering and just got another nice scholarship to help out, but still...no fun to be here for more time.

I found MMM from a Lifehacker article not long ago, obsessively read most of the old posts within three days, and am now hooked.  This is such an amazing idea!

In addition to my studies/work, I rock climb (indoors at school and work), lift weights, teach Muay Thai at school, play classical guitar, and grow some mean strawberries and roses ^_^

I'll be around :)

judycoco

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #134 on: May 31, 2012, 04:51:05 AM »
hi -  i'm 53, have my son's PLUS 45K student loan to pay off (been just paying interest fro the past 10 yrs).  have defined benefit pension plan from govt job. can "early retire" from job at 55 losing about 30% of monthly payout but gaining 100% of freedom or collect 100% at age 60.  decisions to make...


simonsez

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #135 on: May 31, 2012, 05:10:16 AM »
Hello, I'm Dillon.  I am 26 and live in the DC area.  I am a federal worker with school background in economics and demography.  I grew up in the St. Louis area and am an avid sports fan.  My student loan debt has been a stressor at times due to the sheer amount and time I thought I would be paying it off for many years (delaying children, home ownership, FI) but this website does provide good perspective and being FI and happy are within easier reach than I originally thought.

I like to think of mustachianism as akin to the economic concept of maximizing an individual's utility based on a complex set of variables (the traits that make us all different) in any given situation (this is called life).  The reinforced financial and life perspectives on this website can show that often times individuals are irrational actors and are not optimizing their happiness or financial situation (often highly correlated).  In other words, sometimes humans aren't maxing out their utility and it can feel good to get punched in the face from time to time as long as you realize how to avoid getting punched in the face in the future (or get better at avoiding at least).

Money4Nothing

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #136 on: May 31, 2012, 08:45:26 AM »
Hi All.  I'm Chris and I stumbled on MMM earlier this year and have really enjoyed the material.

My "retirement" began about 3.5 years ago and it seems to agree with me (I'm in my mid-30's, so I guess I have time to change my mind).  After spending my professional career buying commercial real estate as an acquisitions officer for a large investment company, the financial markets were kind enough to give me some time off to reassess my priorities and to consider alternatives to the standard 9 to 5 narrative.

Recently, I've been spending my free time traveling, skiing, reading, biking, hiking, playing guitar, volunteering, and enjoying a simpler, more mustachian, lifestyle.

Cheers.

jbhernandez

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #137 on: May 31, 2012, 02:44:50 PM »
Joe here from Queens NY. That's one of the outer boroughs of New York City, just in case.

I read "Your Money or Your Life" way back when, as well as some of the Rich Dad books, but the information I've found here is first rate (cost per calorie, for example). Kudos to MMM.

I'll tell you more about later , but for now just wanted to let you know that I ran some errands on my bike. Had to WD40 the rust off, but it rode just fine. 2.5 miles total. Now I just gotta get rid of at least 1 car. Two car family in NYC is totally unnecessary.

happy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #138 on: June 02, 2012, 03:47:52 AM »
Hi,

I've been reading ERE and MMM since the beginning of the year, and wish I'd figured this stuff out years ago. Actually at times I've been pretty frugal but then fallen victim to consumption creep over and over :(
I'm 53 year old single mum with two teenagers, NOW with a plan for FI just before 60. A month or two ago I committed to 50% saving. I've worked part-time for 17 years:  if I can't stand my job any longer I reckon I drop my hours  even more in 3.5 years.

Being new to moustachianism I'm due for hard punches in the face for housing, commuting and food.....ouch! If I can just improve in these areas maybe FI will be even sooner.

Anyone else here from Down Under?

happy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #139 on: June 02, 2012, 04:03:21 AM »
Gidday Jake D from Perth WA.  I missed your location when I posted a few minutes ago. Any other Aussies?

brianmeadows

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #140 on: June 03, 2012, 09:26:43 PM »
HEllo my name is Brian I have been reading this blog since the real cost of commuting which in a round about way help my wife and I buy a house a few months later. We are now on our way to mustachism and loving every minute of it. Live in Southern California which just goes to show you can get to financial freedom anywhere

c0ffee

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #141 on: June 04, 2012, 11:27:49 AM »
Hi. I'm Jeff, and you can count on me. Oh, wait, that's what one of the kid's toys keeps repeating.

We have the typical stuff -  two incomes (well once The Boss returns from mat-leave), 3 kids, mortgage, vehicle loan (oops!), and RRSP/RESP. Looking to figure out the best way to dump the debt and maximize the savings.

Jake D

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #142 on: June 04, 2012, 08:04:20 PM »
Gidday Jake D from Perth WA.  I missed your location when I posted a few minutes ago. Any other Aussies?

I was about to tell you Gooki was from Australia, but I just checked his his location tag and it says NZ. Either way, he's pretty active and a lot of his numbers are closer to Australian ones than the US/Canadian ones. (Interest rates etc)

Maddie

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #143 on: June 05, 2012, 02:57:21 AM »
Hi

I'm Maddie from New Zealand.  I started reading ERE a few years ago and came over here when J passed the torch to MMM.  I spend a lot of my free time obsessing thinking about and planning for FI. 

I have been saving properly for about 4 years (late bloomer - spent too long studying (pointless things), then had a volunteer job in a third world country for a few years, then took a year off to travel and bum around and burnt through my savings & even, for the first time in my life, racked up a small amount of CC debt.  Thankfully managed to pay it of in 4 months, the motivation was seeing them take large chucks of interest off me).  The awesome lesson I learnt from that was that I NEVER want to be in debt again.  I started to get really serious about being FI in March last year, saving over 50% of my take home pay every month since then and doubling my networth in that time.

My man and I (and non-mustachian cat) are in this together.  He's just made us a program to track our expenses and do all sorts of fancy things (can't use Mint here).  Before that I had many worksheets tracking my and then our networth and other things. 

We only just seriously started tracking expenses in May.  Our joint monthly saving goal is ideally 75% but more realistically between 65-70%.

We are 33 & 34.  I want us to retire by the time I am 40....  I think we will have a better idea as to whether this is achievable once we have a few months of tracked expenses...

Our goals now are to learn about and start investing (scary).  I wish we had Vanguard here!

Oh and surprise, surprise we are both INTJ and work in IT :D...

CG

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #144 on: June 06, 2012, 09:16:58 PM »
Well, I don't say "Hi" but "Hello" as although I've lived in Australia since 1975 I am still very English in my habits, having grown up with parents who lived through the Depression.

I don't drive and have never owned a car. I do my shopping by bike but mainly travel by tram at senior's concession rates (free at the weekend).

I have always rented. I have no television, I drink 'cask' wine (same as 'boxed'), heat water for a bath once a week, use the communal washing machine, and dry clothes on the line.

The older I get the more I feel the cold, even when wearing umpteen layers of wool indoors, plus ‘wrist-warmers’ and woolly hat. My trick is to use one of these very low wattage panel heaters http://www.thermofilm.com.au/products/bliss/bliss.htm under my desk, and top up with whole-room heating only in the early morning and after the sun sets.

Then I do my reading in bed with two hot water bottles, and a shawl around my shoulders.

I'm what's known in Australia as a 'self-funded retiree', with a sufficiently low income that I qualify for some extra benefits such as telephone and the new carbon tax allowance. I occupy myself doing the books for my son's small business and some (volunteer) editing and proofreading. My extravagance is travelling to the UK once a year to visit my sister, but I usually add on a holiday in European country that I haven't been to before, to make the long-distance travel worthwhile.

Do I qualify as Mustachian?

gooki

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #145 on: June 09, 2012, 08:38:10 PM »
Yes

JamesAt15

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #146 on: June 10, 2012, 11:54:10 PM »
Hi all,

 I am another James, and I live with my wife and two small kids in Tokyo, Japan. I've been here about 15 years now after moving from the States, and will probably be here for the long haul. I am in my early 40s so really early retirement is probably out for me, but it would be nice to be able to retire at 55 instead of 68, let's say.

 Living in Japan has its own financial idiosyncrasies. Interest rates are low - our 35-year home loan is now at 2.85%. It was at a variable rate of about 1.6% before, but we switched it to a fixed rate to lock it in. On the flip side, most savings accounts will earn you about .01% yearly interest on your balance. Buy a one year time deposit and they'll bump it up to .1%.

 I hope to improve my frugal skills and work on improving our savings and investments and get my little employees working for me a lot harder than .1%. Cuz I am pretty sure that is just not going to work. 

Lavender

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #147 on: June 12, 2012, 10:01:48 AM »
Hello Mustachians,

Just got caught up on reading all the blog posts from the last year and some. Love this community...it puts into perspective a lot of things that have so far been kinda vague and uncrystallized in my head and sorta gives me a kick in the butt (or a punch in the face) to stop being a wimp already and DO IT!

By way of introduction, I'm a 33 y/o female, married, two kids (4 and 3 years old) and a stepson in college. I would have loved to quit working when the kids were born but couldn't as I was on a work visa and it was either work full time or go back to my home country. I'm using the 'forced' work period to build up a small 'stash - a little difficult for the following reasons:

a) my husband and I both work in academia, so the pay kinda sucks, considering we are 'highly educated'
b) stepson in college + two kids in daycare = bleeding at both ends (college tuition and childcare expenses)
c) the husband, although environmentally conscious and not at all spendthrift, is not at Mustachian levels, and is much older (he's 50) so does not want to be told what to do; also, I really cannot and won't question or interfere with his spending decisions with regard to his son.

Despite these, here's where I am (I tend to think of my finances in the singular; although we do joint tax returns, we have separate bank accounts, split household expenses more or less equally, and for the present, he takes care of college and other expenses for his son while I take care of daycare and saving for college for our kids).

Retirement - ~100K (I tend not to take my husbands retirement savings into account when calculating mine, because of the age difference and the other circumstances - there may well be nothing there for me when I am 'retirement age'. If there is, then bonus!)
College savings - ~15K
No car loans, 10 years left on low-interest (3.2%) mortgage with current principal balance of $157K (husband makes these payments ~$1500 per month).
Grocery bills are probably ~$500-$600 per month, again, husband pays these
Daycare expenses ~$1000 per month
Utilities average $350 per month
I put away about $4000 in retirement/savings, and another $1000 into college savings per month.

My husband loves his work and plans to continue at least until our mortgage is paid off. I plan (now that I am off the visa hook) to quit working full time in a few months, and just do some freelance work (scientific editing) and pursue my passion (teaching dance) both of which should bring in enough money to pay the bills and continue saving while allowing me to spend more time at home with the kids. (I currently do both these side-hustles in addition to my full time job, and save more than 100% of my main income stream into retirement and college accounts, using just the side income for expenses).

What do you Mustachians think of my situation? Am I somewhat Mustachian, or still very clean-shaven? Trying my best to maintain marital harmony and live Mustachian-ly :)



Lavender

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #148 on: June 12, 2012, 10:10:22 AM »
PS: These amounts are what I have been able to save over the last 11 years (I first landed in the US in 2001 with $0) on an average annual salary of 35K. Been married for about half that time.

CuencaSolo

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #149 on: June 12, 2012, 08:19:04 PM »
My last intro post disappeared, but it was too long anyway.

I'm John, dba CuencaSolo on this and a few other sites.  I'm a single guy of 63, retired in Cuenca in the Andes of Ecuador for nearly two years now.  Before that, I maintained ancient mainframe programs at Dallas City Hall.  ("Cobol?  You mean I get to work on the new stuff?")  Only for 13 years, and Texas cities don't allow some of the scams you hear about in places like California or Illinois, but my civil service defined benefit pension would still embarrass a gangster.  That was more comfortable back when most big companies had traditional pension plans, so government employees did not stick out.  Now I have to blush as I say:  Thank you, Dallas property tax payers!

I'm good with crossing cultural boundaries, and pretty good at languages, so it was an easy decision to cut my basic living costs in half by moving to a relatively pleasant Third World country.  I won't be getting a car here (walkable small city, usable buses and taxis.)  Other than that, I would rate myself low in Badassity and high in WussyPantsitude.  I rent in a secured condo building, with weekly visits from a cleaning lady, and call for a repair person if I need anything much more complex than changing a light bulb.

I'd be glad to give details on living costs and ways of doing things if people are interested, but this is an extension of the basic MMM themes.  My lifestyle here is an instance of what you do after FI, rather than how to attain it.