Greetings,
I'm Dan from Denver, originally from Boulder, and a life-long Colorado native. I've been sort-of frugal all my life, in a fairly undisciplined way, which is why I'm now 48 yrs old and trying to make up ground to leave mandatory work by 53. However, I've had a fun (and sometimes painful) journey that included 10 years of self-employment ;) I have two witty, intelligent, super-smart daughters who are both college students, and a witty, intelligent, super-smart wife who has shared almost 30 years of my journey. My parents, who are SWAMI's but don't know it or make a study of it, have been very supportive. However, they are very traditional, and don't understand why anyone would not have a traditional every-day job or self-employment. They are both 80 years old, and I've gently suggested that they might want to begin giving some thought to what they would like to do in retirement, if they ever decide to give it a try.
I've been a bicyclist as long as I can remember, and not the fancy lycra kind of leisure cyclist. Rather, the commute for school/work/errands/fitness/freedom, "down-with-cars" kind of biker. Unfamiliar with MMM, I strayed onto the Android app after I started binge listening to The Mad FIentist, and had drunk enough of the coolaid that the rest of the family is convinced I've joined a cult and is sick of hearing about FI. I about pop-ed a blood vessel in my head when I read MMM's post about making money from biking. I ran around the house shouting and hooting, and proclaimed "see - biking is just plain common-sense, and an even greater money savings than I'd ever figured! I'm not INSANE". Truth be told, I might be a little insane, because my commute for the last year, since I moved super "close" to work, is about 10mi each way, and I do this every day almost without fail, regardless of weather. For the prior 5 years, my commute was 36mi each way, which required me to buy an e-bike so I could ride every day, regardless of weather.
Glad to meet you,
-dan