Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3317890 times)

dpg35

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3800 on: November 20, 2018, 06:50:44 AM »
Hi, I'm Dylan; working as a nurse in San Fran, motorcycling, and shaving off debt.

Gail2000

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3801 on: November 24, 2018, 09:29:25 AM »
Hello all,

I am relatively late in the game for this but am happy to say I am debt free with a little in the bank. My goal is to have a positive net worth by this time next year. We bought a house you see so this might take some doing.

I have been following MMM for about a year but had not accessed my own badassity. I know it’s there!
 The discussions I have seen are welcoming and friendly. Looking forward to getting to know you all!

NinetyFour

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3802 on: November 24, 2018, 09:50:58 AM »
Welcome, Gail!  :)

WellBehavedWallet

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3803 on: November 26, 2018, 12:25:55 AM »
Wellbehavedwallet here.
Mid-30s, Single, never married.
A $15k student loan standing between me and debt freedom.
I’m currently roomies w my momma in the house I grew up in northeastern NJ. She’s aiming to sell sometime within the next year or so… and she's also anticipating some sort of change in job situation in that time frame, too.

My history:
From 2008 - 2010, I got rid of $15k in consumer debt and a car loan.
In 2010, my student loan was $30k.
At this rate, it would take about 8 more years to knock out.

Goals:
I’d love to be married (currently dating a fabulous fella!)
I’d love to buy a house (of my own…)
I’d love to potentially raise a few kiddos.

Long Term Goal:  to reach Financial Independence by 50s or so.

Tactics:
Raise my income.
Lower my expenses.
Save like crazy!


Found this forum via the financial Youtubers community.
Can’t wait to contribute!
SO appreciate the accountability, humor and intelligence found in these threads!!!

Thanks to all!

DappleDoxieStaff

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3804 on: November 30, 2018, 09:01:37 PM »
Evening ... I'm Anne
Always frugal ... and still bad with money.   Have horses.  And land.  And a Money Pit ... that has no mortgage :-)
Tumbled in here following a post on a spray boom for the pasture ... and stayed for the conversation!!

BackroadsBetty

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3805 on: November 30, 2018, 11:48:22 PM »
Hello, I’m Kris. Long time reader, first time posting.

Cheers to all of the friendliness, rationality, and curiosity here!

kp88

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3806 on: December 02, 2018, 05:50:24 AM »
Hi. New here. I was aware of the forum for about a year or so but had a devil of a time joining up (never got the activation email, had to try 3 email addys to get one that worked).

I am finally here. Life is long long ride, financially speaking. I come from a place of hardship, which has been replicated over generations of poor/working-class hamster-wheeling. I am trying to get a handle on things, including cards and crushing student loan woes as well as some residual medical stuff (I had a battle with the c. you know that one.)

Looking to lurk & read & learn first. Then hopefully onward and upward.

cheers,

-kevin--

Stephani1221

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3807 on: December 03, 2018, 07:52:22 AM »
Hello! I've been a MMM forum lurker for over two years now, but I've finally joined and I'm really ready to get this FIRE thing going. Married with one kid near Baltimore. Looking forward to diving deeper and getting even more knowledge from everyone here.

See you around!

Phineas

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3808 on: December 03, 2018, 04:24:07 PM »
Hi!

I'm in my 30s, an investor for over 10 years and naturally inclined towards frugality, financial independence and an enjoyable lifestyle!

Based in QLD, Australia

I'm looking forward to real-world meet-ups, learning from and encouraging others!

Best,

Phineas

leonblack

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3809 on: December 03, 2018, 09:12:52 PM »
28
High school mathematics teacher living frugally and balancing 3+ other sources of side job/hustle income.
Looking forward to see what else the fire has to offer.

KathrinS

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3810 on: December 05, 2018, 01:35:36 PM »
Hi, I'm Kathrin. I grew up in Switzerland but now live in London, freelancing as a Pilates instructor and language teacher.

I've always been pretty good with money, but ever since I started self-employment, my financial choices have become more my own. Currently I can save 35-50% of my income a month, depending on how busy I am. This puts me on track for FI by 40-45. Excited to read more and participate in the forum!

Overspray

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3811 on: December 07, 2018, 07:15:43 AM »
Hey all, new guy here.  Married with two littles (3 and 1).  Currently I’m a blue collar kinda guy, punching the clock and getting my OT. I paint for a living and currently don’t enjoy my job at all. My wife is self employed, works at her own salon suite so we get some financial and scheduling benefits from that. She’s “full time” in reality, but works a few days per week. 

I found MMM through some podcasts and reading, looking to maximize my tax avoidance strategy as of late.  We’re both naturally thrifty people in some areas of our lives, but I definitely wouldn’t say we’re frugal. I drive a monstrosity of a carbon footprint (big powerstroke diesel truck), and recently purchased a brand new fifth wheel camper - don’t stone me to death.  That’s our happy place so it won’t be going anywhere.

Currently I’m investing  the max my employer will match for my 401k, as well as saving into accounts for my kids and ourselves.  We’re making strides in our lives to maintain our current level of life, reduce where we can to invest more, and whatever new comes in will be invested as well.

I look foreword to learning all I can about FI, and if my calculations are correct / life doesn’t drastically change. I should be able to reach FI around 40-45.



Sheepman

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3812 on: December 10, 2018, 05:03:39 PM »
Hi! I'm Andy. I actually signed up for the forum about 4 years ago, optimistically thinking that I'd at least lurk on other people, but I never really did.

I'm 31 now, and pretty set to retire by my early 40s at most. Really hoping for something around 35, but I have terrible impulse control, so I don't know if that's really feasible for me right now.

Our biggest money pit is eating out. I love to cook, but, between work, school for a Master's degree, and two young kids, I am always either too tired or don't have enough time. And my wife is similarly spent, and hates cooking. And, I assume based primarily on that, I'm not putting nearly as much away as I think I should be. Although I at least max out my 401k. I'm hoping that getting active here in the forum will help me find any other problem areas I'm blind to, and get my butt in gear on getting to early retirement.

Tiny

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3813 on: December 13, 2018, 11:29:29 AM »
Hi, I'm Bashir. Lost over 3 quarters of my savings recently, but still pretty upbeat. I'm 40, may get married next year and plan on moving to Canada.

Hopefully, I'll get to learn a lot from you guys.

brandon1827

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3814 on: December 13, 2018, 02:24:31 PM »
Hi everyone!

I'm Brandon...just found the site very recently. The information that I've found here is simple, but lots of it had never occurred to me before now. I'm married with one child (9), and just built a house on some land given to us by my mother-in-law a couple of years ago. I'm in debt up to my eyeballs with student loans, a mortgage, two vehicle loans, and a fairly sized mountain of credit card debt.

I've been talking to my wife for a few weeks now about how much better off we'd be if we could just stop spending and start tackling our debt. She's a school teacher and I've appealed to her with the idea that she can retire when our son graduates high school in 9 years...IF...we can pay off a large majority of our debts by then. We have a skeleton plan in place to begin paying down our debt with our tax refund in March and then using the savings from no longer paying those debts, to double or triple up paying off other debts. My hope is that by the end of 2019, we're not sitting here 12 days from Christmas wondering where the money will come from to cover gifts.

I can't wait to buy my freedom back. I'm so sick of the constant stress and worry carrying this much debt causes. I make a 6-figure salary in addition to what my wife makes teaching, but we're poor because most of what we bring home immediately goes back out to our creditors. We should not be living paycheck to paycheck at this stage of our lives. It stops now.

phildonnia

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3815 on: December 14, 2018, 12:25:10 PM »
I was surprised that I had not found this blog and forum earlier.  I've apparently had a mustache all my life and didn't know it.  It's so nice to hear someone say that I'm doing things right.  I appreciate the life philosophy here too, without which the all the financial advice is probably useless or ineffective.

scottnews

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3816 on: December 14, 2018, 10:16:52 PM »
I’ve been following MMM since about 2013, this article:
 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/meet-mr-money-mustache-the-man-who-retired-at-30/2013/04/26/71e3e6a8-acf3-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9707f48c681a  My son was 2, and what MMM was blogging about blew my mind.   I wanted to be a super dad! 

The biggest road block to saving 65% of our income was our mortgage.  So, we eliminated it.   After several years of watching the local market, we downsized from > 2200 sqft to < 1100 sqft.   No more mortgage (yes I know the whole 3.5% mortgage rate vs 7% djia average growth).   It took 2 years of renovation before we could move in.

Fast forward today, and we are saving quite a bit.   October was a 60% savings rate and November was 65.    We canceled some unneeded life insurances, so that will blow the doors off December.  After that, a 65% rate should be doable, even with some continuing renovations.  

We are not high earners.  Hopefully 2028 – 2030 will be our RE date.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2018, 10:03:52 PM by scottnews »

MyNameIsFamous

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3817 on: December 16, 2018, 07:09:21 PM »
Currently 43, single, and loving it.

Raised completely the wrong way financially, and then lived in places I couldn't afford (DC and Hawaii--twice).

I'm making good money at a major university now, with a required pension that has about 5k in it and another 4k of matching that keeps building but doesn't get credited to me until the whole thing vests at the 5 year mark (just finished year 1). No 401k offered and 403b doesn't offer a match so I haven't  done it yet.

I've got 6k of credit card debt that was 10.2k when I started the job last year. Student loan debt is atrocious at 112k (down from 117), but I'm paying the 5100 each semester to finish my PhD without taking on any new debt there. The semester costs should drop to 1600 once my prospectus and proposal are finished (hopefully Auguest 2019). Full costs go away, plus a contract stated 10k raise at work, when the PhD is done which should be by May 2020.

I'm in the middle of nowhere in west Texas, so I went ahead and bought a house -- 1100 sq ft for 93k. Put 20k down and 5k to replace the roof on the DIY extension on the back that was done by someone who didn't know how to D.

Current savings rate is about 15% once you include the match. Credit cards should be paid off by the end of 2019, and once classes are done that will combine to give me an extra 1300 or so per month (before the raise) to split between rapidly paying down the student loan debt, making some minor upgrades to the house, and upping my saving/investing. I figure if I'm out of debt and have the house paid off in 10 years I'll still have plenty of time to retire comfortably by 60 unless I want to ride out the 2-3 more years I'll need for full retirement benefits from the state.

darknyght00

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3818 on: December 17, 2018, 05:37:14 PM »
A colleague introduced me to the MMM blog last year but it wasn't until my girlfriend left me (turned out to be a super good thing) that I actually got introspective about it.

I was eating out darn near every meal and taking frequent semi lavish vacations which, with the loss of a second person to help with the rent, became very non sustainable very fast.

I'm still stuck in my least til at least Spring (negotiating getting into a smaller unit when one becomes available) but my immediate project is murdering my grocery bill to death. (Currently soylent for breakfast with rice and beans for lunch. Need to work out a proper dinner plan)

On the good side of things: I haven't ever paid for cable TV, I'm still driving my 2001 Honda Accord I got in 2006 (no payments), and I take the train to and from work (from Minnesota so 4 season bike commuting is off the table for me but still want to try it in the Spring)

debtaholic

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3819 on: December 17, 2018, 08:34:00 PM »
James here!

Have been reading for the last 3 weeks and loving all the advice.

In debt up to my eyeballs and taking some firm action to get the ball rolling: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/i'm-a-debtaholic-starting-on-a-new-path-need-help!/

Looking forward to contributing in the future!

alwyswhitebelt

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3820 on: December 18, 2018, 09:52:11 AM »
Hello - I've been lurking for far too long and have decided I need to get more engaged so I don't lose motivation.


We've paid off an awful lot of debt over the last 3 years following MMM and Dave Ramsey - now we're moving into the save like crazy phase and looking to stay on the path. 


We live in Western NY (LCL) and have 3 kids, 1 in college (for a little bit more) and 2 in high school.  We discovered FI late and are trying to play catch up.

LawyerFIRE

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3821 on: December 18, 2018, 10:14:06 AM »
Hi everyone.

I found MMM on the day our daughter was born a few months ago.  Like everyone else, I've found it to be life-changing.  We've got our spreadsheets all setup and the goal is to reach ~FI in 10-15 years.

I look forward to hanging on here and learning from everyone!

achanmala

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3822 on: December 19, 2018, 10:41:04 AM »
Hi! I am an outlier here, I think... my husband and I are already 49... hubby earns a shit-ton of money, yet we have managed to save zero.  We are terrified of retirement and our kid's college costs and recognize all the horrible mistakes we've made along the way (though a few good decisions were made, as well).  So now my goal is to get hubby to retirement by 55 or so in order to get him out of the unhealthy stress he has had to endure all these years as soon as possible.  Really need guidance, though, as there is no time to make mistakes at this point!  Is there a one-on-one or someone you can recommend?
Really enjoying the articles... started at number one and am in 2012 now... catching up.
Loving all the comments, as well!
Adriana

george_michael

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3823 on: December 19, 2018, 10:59:00 AM »
Hello there, michael here. You can call me mike. well, I do a lot of things, but I am not gonna reveal it all on my first exposure, ha ha. However, what I can share is that I love recent technologies. You can see this as a hobby of mine to keep up with the pace of recent inventions. Like - robots have senses of touch!! Actually this is news from the previous year, december. I got this a while back. I read something called stretchy artificial will be able to give robots a sense of touch, Since this is news from a year past, I can easily assume that they have done it already, right? just jokin' he he.

But I think it is exciting. I mean, robot sensing through its skin is good. It can sense whether my coffee has the perfect temperature, isn't it? if they can make a robot do this, I am definitely gonna buy one (if they are open for purchasing, lol)

and pssst, I also get frustrated sometimes with local financial situations. Local means the root level of society. Each human is a unit of a locale, so I am an active unit too. I worry about my current financial situations, thus the local financial situations, lol.

Anyway, pardon me for being such a talkative at the very initial. I am trying to be less talkative in my day to day life. I am gonna start that by being much talkative here I guess, ha ha.

That'd be all, welcome meee!!

Dixie_Amazon

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3824 on: December 26, 2018, 07:22:20 AM »
Hi, I discovered this forum today. I am married to a hoarder and I am trying climb out the financial hole he has dug for us.

Dennise

Must_Stash_NM

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3825 on: December 26, 2018, 11:07:46 AM »
Hi.
My wife and I are late 30s somethings with two young kids. 
I am an engineer and I like riding bikes and building things. 
I wandered into this blog a couple of years ago after reading an article about MMM in Bicycling Magazine and have been hooked ever since.

I'd like start off by saying "thanks" for everyone's inspiration; I hope I too can contribute in some small way!

d.rose

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3826 on: December 28, 2018, 08:59:48 AM »
Hi Everyone,
Newish here (not to the blog, but the forum) and wanted to obey all rules, so here I am to say hi!

I'm a 35yo woman, wife, mom. I have 2 kids and we're a low-income family trying to do the best we can with the means we have. I came here to hopefully get some wisdom from those who have been doing this longer than we have. We're from Oregon, new home "owners" we like gardening (or trying to garden, anyway), going on walks, board games...things like that.

We're pretty simple.

Nice to "meet" you all!

D.Rose

tigersforsale

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3827 on: December 29, 2018, 12:12:39 PM »
I wanted to say hi and thank this forum for being such a great resource. You guys have tons of good ideas around money, and even as a lurker, I have found incredible support in reading posts from many intelligent people who are doing the things I'm trying to do.

My husband and I are both in our early/mid thirties, no kids (and none planned), living in the United States. He is an attorney, I am just finishing up law school. Both of us have always had a mix of good and bad financial habits, with eating out consistently being the worst offender, and my love of rideshares a close second. I don't spend much money on clothes or other stuff, and we have always shopped around for great deals on rent; however, the bad habits + moving cities a lot have caused us to be consistently broke and to even have revolving credit card debt. It's clear that our lifestyle is not actually frugal, but faux-frugal: renting cheap places and denying ourselves fancy items that other people have makes us feel like we're living within our means, but our other choices cancel those out. For some time, I've been wondering, "Where does all our money go?" and I've been working on finding the answer and corresponding solution with this site and YNAB. Planning to start a journal too.

Hopefully this will really work for us, and we won't end up being that stereotypical DINK white-collar couple that is always mysteriously a couple of paychecks away from needing to file for bankruptcy!

SerenaDarrin

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3828 on: December 29, 2018, 07:18:41 PM »
Hello!

So, I found this forum via hunting around some of the FI/Frugal communities, and I'm glad to be here.

I was lucky enough to be raised for the first part of my life with a 'make due and mend' mindset, which has really helped out.

I've also escaped at least some of the marketing/consumer hype, because as someone with a disability, I'm not often marketed to.  I look at a lot of things and go 'I can't use that' and a lot of places and go 'I can't go there,' and these two things have helped keep me off the consumer carousel. . . somewhat.   (Car advertising, as the person who can't get a driver's licence, is just confusing!) However, having a disability means that your cost of living is just plain higher, (health care, plus other disability expenses, plus, the accessible version of things tends to be the expensive version) plus a large helping of 'good luck getting any job, because disability is equated with incompetence.'  Mixed blessing, I figure. 

I do have some debt, some from student loans and some from. . . well, lets just call it "having to escape a very bad situation and not having any money."   This illustrates the necessity of a f*** off fund, which I did not have at the time.  But the Frugal/FI movement has made some improvements already on that front, including making me re-think how and when I do things, and definitely cutting way down on the 'oooh shiny' purchases.   

It's actually also what prompted me to delve into the scary world of self-employment. 

Story Time:  I was applying for jobs I didn't really want.  Sure, they'd pay the bills. But. . .  the responses I got from many (though not all -- I've had a couple awesome employers) HR and Hiring boards were often both illegal and horrific.  I've been sworn at, called a charity case, accused of fraud, and threatened with cops and corporate security when going to job interviews.   And that's -when- I can get in the door.   Because clearly the girl in the wheelchair wasn't the person who wrote the resume. /rolls eyes/  Yes.  This is a thing.  And, of course, at the end, I didn't get the job, so all that effort was for nothing.

So, it's thanks to the Frugal/FI movement that I put that crap behind me.  The idea that we're not supposed to be slaves to money, and money is just a tool for life really resonated with me in a weird way.   So, I decided, why bother applying for jobs where I was viewed so negatively, and jobs that, while they would pay the bills, I didn't want them anyway? Why was I putting my effort into this, when it was so highly unlikely I'd get the job?  Why not put my effort into something that was far more within my control? 

With self-employment, though I make far less money at the moment,  (sometimes terrifyingly less), my work directly impacts my capital.  The more effort I put into this, the more income I will earn.  Sure, the equation isn't directly that simple, obviously outside forces will play with it.   But, overall, the more effort I put in, the more I will make. And, as a bonus, most of it is passive income!    Now I have a job I love, that I don't want to retire from.    Plus, its a job where all my disability accommodations are built in!  Yes, I'd like to earn more money and throw it at my debt, but that will and should happen over time.

And, the Frugal/FI mindset has really helped me re-evaluate what I want, need and have, and, given me many tools to hack the things I do need to spend money on.  So while my income might be crap right now, I can exist on that crap income far better then I could have even last year, and, I can look and see that that income, and my net worth, are growing.   Maybe not quickly, but they are growing. :)

So yep, glad to be here! :)

« Last Edit: December 30, 2018, 10:04:09 PM by SerenaDarrin »

dreaktor

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3829 on: January 01, 2019, 02:43:15 AM »
I am really hardcore software engineer and workaholic (married;), who had to jumped out of office cubicle (head of r&d, lead, senior) straight to the self employment. Until 2016 I was fighting the world, the government, the corporation, and my boss, until realized that I need just let the world work for me via the financial assets. Learning US stock market and becoming a top rated freelancer were the first steps to make. (I was sooo excited to know that six figure salary is much easier to make for me being an independent freelancer, not part of any corporation, participating to cool IT startups from time to time.) Now my 5 year goal is becoming FIRE and aquiring rental properties outside of my country. Of coarse I am not going to stop working even after that, just decrease number oh workhours from 70hrs a week to 25hrs a week:)
I really enjoy a lot of things... beat making, playing keys, piano, arranging music, air and firearm range shooting, pc gaming.
By the way my annual cost of frugal living of my family is $25k ... life is expensive in large cities even here.
I am soo glad to find a FI community, and happy to become a part of it.
I wish everyone of you to reach your goals and live the life you dream of

Piglet

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3830 on: January 01, 2019, 03:01:08 AM »
Hi,

Long time lurker, first time posting. Hope I did this right, I'm one of the last of the tech resisting dinosaurs...

I have learned so much from this forum!

You guys are awesome.

Dweji

happyuk

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3831 on: January 01, 2019, 02:40:37 PM »
Hi Andy here.  I'm a software developer based in the UK.  I'm a keen gardener, almost reaching the stage where I am fully self-sufficient in potatoes, onions and legumes and a few other staples.  Steadily working my way out of the wage-slave treadmill to go and do something where I can feel like my actual livelihood is in my own hands. 

Very heavily influenced by the author John Seymour who was eminent in the back-to-the-land movement in the UK:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seymour_(author)

I heartily recommend his book "The fat of the land" for anyone interested in self-sufficiency.

george_michael

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3832 on: January 01, 2019, 06:45:10 PM »
I am really hardcore software engineer and workaholic (married;), who had to jumped out of office cubicle (head of r&d, lead, senior) straight to the self employment. Until 2016 I was fighting the world, the government, the corporation, and my boss, until realized that I need just let the world work for me via the financial assets. Learning US stock market and becoming a top rated freelancer were the first steps to make. (I was sooo excited to know that six figure salary is much easier to make for me being an independent freelancer, not part of any corporation, participating to cool IT startups from time to time.) Now my 5 year goal is becoming FIRE and aquiring rental properties outside of my country. Of coarse I am not going to stop working even after that, just decrease number oh workhours from 70hrs a week to 25hrs a week:)
I really enjoy a lot of things... beat making, playing keys, piano, arranging music, air and firearm range shooting, pc gaming.
By the way my annual cost of frugal living of my family is $25k ... life is expensive in large cities even here.
I am soo glad to find a FI community, and happy to become a part of it.
I wish everyone of you to reach your goals and live the life you dream of


Hey Dreaktor, I am obsessed with soft enggs. They keep making me amazed how they make everything, from nothing. Great to see you here buddy, and of course it gave me a lot pleasure hearing you are enlightening your own path, by doing work for yourself - not for an ostentatious boss. I love being self-employed.

Welcome :)

dreaktor

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3833 on: January 02, 2019, 05:51:02 AM »
I am really hardcore software engineer and workaholic (married;), who had to jumped out of office cubicle (head of r&d, lead, senior) straight to the self employment. Until 2016 I was fighting the world, the government, the corporation, and my boss, until realized that I need just let the world work for me via the financial assets. Learning US stock market and becoming a top rated freelancer were the first steps to make. (I was sooo excited to know that six figure salary is much easier to make for me being an independent freelancer, not part of any corporation, participating to cool IT startups from time to time.) Now my 5 year goal is becoming FIRE and aquiring rental properties outside of my country. Of coarse I am not going to stop working even after that, just decrease number oh workhours from 70hrs a week to 25hrs a week:)
I really enjoy a lot of things... beat making, playing keys, piano, arranging music, air and firearm range shooting, pc gaming.
By the way my annual cost of frugal living of my family is $25k ... life is expensive in large cities even here.
I am soo glad to find a FI community, and happy to become a part of it.
I wish everyone of you to reach your goals and live the life you dream of


Hey Dreaktor, I am obsessed with soft enggs. They keep making me amazed how they make everything, from nothing. Great to see you here buddy, and of course it gave me a lot pleasure hearing you are enlightening your own path, by doing work for yourself - not for an ostentatious boss. I love being self-employed.

Welcome :)

Hey Mike, thank you for warm welcome. Yeah, people of my profession can magically bring ideas to life straight from their heads (computer and the head itself still required though). However this path is not without downsides, you have to sacrifice the significant portion of your life to the world of computers, most probably from teen age. And by the way not my occupation has turned out the most important choice. The decision to become independent of boss and work for myself turned out a real life changer...

Swiss Mustachian

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3834 on: January 06, 2019, 02:03:49 AM »
Hi, I'm a fellow Mustachian from Basel, Switzerland. I'm a long-time reader and have been practicing badassity on my own for quite some time ;) I have been a startup founder for the past 10 years and have since retired from that game. These days, I'm mostly a value investor and writer. I'm inspired by books, innovation and stoicism.

I have recently recovered from a weak moment where I almost bought a Tesla Model S but MMM wisdom saved me just in time :)

Any other Mustachians from Switzerland here?

SBee12

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3835 on: January 06, 2019, 08:57:19 AM »
New here-  found MMM through some family biking podcasts.  Binged the blog,  and love the ideas.  I'm in Alberta Canada, with a spouse, 3 kids and 2 big mutts.

We ran into some major financial issues a couple years ago when the economy tanked and both our businesses suffered,  so we picked up and moved,  found new jobs and are trying to dig our way out of the hole we dug with bad (aka no) planning.  We've always talked about retiring early,  but then spent everything we made.  Time to get serious now.  Thanks for reading this.

Annie101

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3836 on: January 07, 2019, 02:15:45 PM »
Hi, I just discovered this movement a few months ago by reading Your Money or Your Life.  I have learned many great ideas from reading the blogs and forum posts.

Just in the past couple months, I have made a few changes:
-I went from buying lunch every day at work to almost never.  To do so, I am cooking an extra meal on Mondays to use in my lunches
-I joined the coffee club at work.  Instead of $2.26 per day at starbucks it is $20 every 2-3 months
-We shaved off 4.5 miles of driving each work day by switching buses.  We don't drive to the park and ride anymore.
-I opened a 457 account and started contributing

Looking forward to finding more ways to save!


NinetyFour

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3837 on: January 08, 2019, 05:31:05 AM »
Hi, I just discovered this movement a few months ago by reading Your Money or Your Life.  I have learned many great ideas from reading the blogs and forum posts.

Just in the past couple months, I have made a few changes:
-I went from buying lunch every day at work to almost never.  To do so, I am cooking an extra meal on Mondays to use in my lunches
-I joined the coffee club at work.  Instead of $2.26 per day at starbucks it is $20 every 2-3 months
-We shaved off 4.5 miles of driving each work day by switching buses.  We don't drive to the park and ride anymore.
-I opened a 457 account and started contributing

Looking forward to finding more ways to save!

Those are some AWESOME changes!!  :)

joho

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3838 on: January 11, 2019, 08:58:45 AM »
Just saying hello.

I have a long way to go, but am so turned off by Dave Ramsey's politicking that I thought I'd start reading this site.
Though Dave has some good, basic ideas that are practical, there is a lot of built-in nonsense.

Mostly lurking, de-debting, saving, and trying to get on track.

I just turned 57 so "early" retirement isn't on the books, but in my situation "retirement" would be a nice idea.

Thanks!

Rob from Canada

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3839 on: January 13, 2019, 07:49:23 AM »
Hi everyone! Super excited to be part of this forum, I have been reading and watching MMM for three years now. My girlfriend is fully retired at 54, I am semi-retired and very close to pulling the trigger at 55.

MMM was my girlfriend's inspiration to quit a job that was so freaking stressful and MMM has given me the confidence work a lot less and to eventually make every day a Saturday for the rest of my life!!

Super excited!!!!!

Weri

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3840 on: January 15, 2019, 03:03:36 AM »
Hi comunnity, I'm from Clifton, NJ.
My name is Jack...i'm 34..
I am a single...but I have a dog)

_____________
usefull articles
« Last Edit: January 21, 2019, 01:33:29 AM by Weri »

triple7stash

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3841 on: January 15, 2019, 07:59:49 PM »
Hello All

My name is Steven and I'm a 27 year old out of Sacramento, CA, USA.  Recently heard about MMM after plowing through the entire Radical Personal Finance Podcast.  I've read from the MMM first post to about April 2013ish.  Been implementing some basic MMM tactics and thought it would be best to thrust myself into the community to hopefully get torn apart so I can rebuild in a more frugal manner :)

SeanTash

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3842 on: January 16, 2019, 04:39:09 AM »
Hi. I'm Sean. Yet Another Software Engineer!
I've been living in Australia for the last 10 years, but have spent significant time in the U.S. and Europe (working) and most places (travelling).
Today, I pulled the trigger and gave in my 4 weeks notice (yay!) after 7 years in this last gig.
Hitting send on that email felt soooooooo good!
Looking forward to some extended travel, a bit of volunteering, some teaching english (don't tell the IRP) and whatever else I feel like doing in the coming months and years :)

NinetyFour

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3843 on: January 16, 2019, 06:48:00 AM »
Congratulations!!!

50ShadesOfStache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3844 on: January 16, 2019, 09:52:41 AM »
Hi, another engineer here. Been lurking around the blog and forms for years. I discovered MMM in collage while researching how to live out of my car after having gone into sticker shock from apartment prices in the Bay Area, CA. Unfortunately my grand plans to be a wealthy homeless engineer were ultimately foiled when my then girlfriend, now wife, said she would not be willing to live in a converted box truck. I have since got her to agree to a tiny house, and we are currently in the middle of building, so there's that.

I've always been a natural saver (read: Cheep Bastard), and got a reasonable introduction to financial literacy through Dave Ramsey at age 13. I graduated college broke, but with no debt. DW has two more years left in college, and will also have no debt.

Between the tiny house and DWs college, my savings rate is currently slim to non existent, but I have a stache of about $40K, so not to bad of a start for a 25 year old. Looking to be bare bones FI in 2027, and comfortably FIRE in year 2029, give or take a year depending on how things go.

Anyways, thought I'd finally say hi to y'all.

MicrowavablePudding

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3845 on: January 17, 2019, 12:14:46 AM »
Hi,

I'm MicrowavablePudding. I, too am an auditor and I currently live in Nevada. I'm 26 and am just now stumbling upon the FI/RE and MMM community.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit behind and I aim to pay off the remaining $20K I have in debt. As a result, over 45% of my take home pay is going towards debt. However, by this time next year, I'll be ready to start the FI clock.

I was hoping to get started sooner, but other than reducing my living expenses, I'm not sure how to get started on this path.

Until next time (or until someone says hello), I will continue to lurk and learn as much as I can :)

MissMuffins

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3846 on: January 17, 2019, 07:13:17 PM »
Hi. I'm MissMuffins. I usually work as a food scientist specializing in bakery products. I also make a lot of baked goods at home. I have probably made more muffins than you will in your lifetime. One day I hope to make muffins just for fun instead of for work (and fun).

SuperNintendo Chalmers

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3847 on: January 21, 2019, 07:27:36 AM »
Hello!

Well, I said that I wouldn't start posting in the community pages until I finished every MMM blog post.  Took me well over a year, but I did it!

I have been lurking in the forum for awhile and really appreciate all the good info and all the time people take to help others out.  Great group and hope I can contribute.

I'm married, in my 40s and doing ok but still have some ways to go.  Live in beautiful CO.

Glad to have finally joined!


OtherJen

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3848 on: January 21, 2019, 07:32:53 AM »
Hello!

Well, I said that I wouldn't start posting in the community pages until I finished every MMM blog post.  Took me well over a year, but I did it!

I have been lurking in the forum for awhile and really appreciate all the good info and all the time people take to help others out.  Great group and hope I can contribute.

I'm married, in my 40s and doing ok but still have some ways to go.  Live in beautiful CO.

Glad to have finally joined!

Welcome! Your username is excellent.

SuperNintendo Chalmers

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #3849 on: January 21, 2019, 08:08:30 AM »
Hello!

Well, I said that I wouldn't start posting in the community pages until I finished every MMM blog post.  Took me well over a year, but I did it!

I have been lurking in the forum for awhile and really appreciate all the good info and all the time people take to help others out.  Great group and hope I can contribute.

I'm married, in my 40s and doing ok but still have some ways to go.  Live in beautiful CO.

Glad to have finally joined!

Welcome! Your username is excellent.

Thanks!  :)