Author Topic: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself  (Read 3317809 times)

Sweet Tart

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #400 on: February 09, 2013, 10:19:04 AM »
I've been reading MMM for the past few weeks and I'm finally ready to introduce myself.  I live with my DH and 16yo son in Seattle.  I also have a 21yo son who is a Junior in college in Boston.  DH and I have a goal of moving to Hawaii when our youngest graduates from HS and moves on to his next life adventure (college, work, travel?).  Alex808--I'd love to pick your brain about living mustachian on Oahu as we currently see that as our first stop on this adventure.

Sadly, we are far behind many of you in getting to FI (I am 50, DH is 45).  I got divorced 10 years ago after 11 years as a SAH mom.  I learned frugality along the way, but lost all of my savings in the divorce and just trying to get by.  I fully admit that I was not thinking things through at the time and just tried to survive without taking on debt.

I got remarried 5 years ago and also went back to school around the same time.  I spent two years getting the coursework I needed to take (and pass) the CPA exam and I have been working as an accountant for a private company for the past 2.5 years.  I just got my CPA license in October.

I freely admit that DH and I have not been living very frugally or mustachian at all.  We've come close along the way, but have let life's ups and downs get in the way of fully embracing this philosophy.  Well--no more!  2013 is the year that we buckle down and get our finances in order.

We've worked out a budget that gets us spending at about 50% of our income and February is our first month of implementation.  The rest is being funneled towards our debt--a 0% interest cc that we used to help our son with tuition payments and my DH's student loan.  We also have a mortgage on our home which is not underwater, but pretty darned close.  We hope to get out of the house without having to bring anything to the table when my DS graduates from HS.  I am actually really looking forward to living in a smaller place that requires less maintenance.  I bought my ex out of the house at the height of the market and have regretted it ever since.  But DH and I are leaving regrets behind us and moving forward!

We're also far behind in our retirement savings for our ages.  Right now we have ~$100,000 in various 401ks and we only contribute 4% each (up to our employers' match).  Once we blast our debt out of the water we plan to hit savings hard! 

I'm so glad that I found MMM and I'm excited to be implementing changes based on what I've read here.



Left

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #401 on: February 10, 2013, 04:12:07 PM »
Joined today after reading here for a few weeks. Some of the things haven't caught on for me, but I'm trying to live frugally but with a standard that I can enjoy. Well being a single 27 year old, I'm able to put away about 1k/month which I figure isn't bad. This is after making my 401k contribution. I'm still learning how to invest what I save so I'm a little wet behind the ears as the saying goes. Well hoping to stick around here for more tips and community.

daniel099

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #402 on: February 12, 2013, 02:04:07 AM »
Hi everyone i am new here i am Daniel live here at Philippines and i am 25 years old.

Theadyn

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #403 on: February 12, 2013, 07:51:34 AM »
Hello all, new here, have been reading for a few months.  Newly widowed 41 y/o with grown daughter.  Pretty much starting from scratch on the investing, although have been very avid frugalite for years.  Getting ducks in a row now to start working towards FI.  For now have been cutting everything lifestyle wise down (got expenses down to about 1k monthly, including mortgage).  Will need to concentrate on the earnings soon (getting over recent injury resulting in surgery and physical therapy, yay).  Besides the small mortgage (down to 70k), have a small debt from recent injury, less than 4k, to work on.

Still at a cross roads, I must admit.  Not sure I want to get back gung-ho into working tons of hours to build up a large amount or find a niche in life that I truly enjoy so it doesn't feel like 'work', let the creativity in that find the money for me...  if that makes sense.  My husbands recent passing and all the financial things that ensued has left me really craving security.  At the same time, I know life is wayyyy to short to be punching a clock for the man and not enjoying things that matter  Hence, here I am.  Love the thoughts and ideas floating around here.

Cheers.

.22guy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #404 on: February 12, 2013, 01:23:29 PM »
Hi there,
I'm new here, great site with lots of practical information.  I won't bore you with all the details, but I feel like I'm doing pretty well with my journey to FI.  But I'll probably be posting some threads asking for some advice in the near future. 


forward

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #405 on: February 12, 2013, 04:01:40 PM »

I have been on here a few months and have not taken the time to introduce myself and that's not right!  Finding this and related communities has honestly been a revelation for me.   I am 45 and have always said the words - I want to become FI but I never really actively did anything about it.  I have always been frugal and assumed it would happen or on the other hand it would not happen because it just isn't possible.  Now I understand it is and it is up to me!    I just was not very smart about things and I have been working since I was 14, wow I wish I had realized all of this sooner.

I have much to learn and much to do to make it happen but what an eye opener this has been!

ReadingLearner

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #406 on: February 14, 2013, 04:15:18 AM »
Hello everyone :)

I would like to introduce myself: I am not a full "mustachian"  yet (only a wannabe for now :P), given that I have been very anti-mustachian until 2011 when i finally decided to start paying down by $23K debt! I have $10K remaining and am trying to pay it down this year.  I'm 29 years old and it would be nice to retire early. It is quite the challenge given that I have some expenses that I can't seem to get rid of (Canadian Cell phone bill, debt repayment schedule, live far away from everything,etc). I would like to be retired early (an official mustachian!) and right now, I am slowly developing the traits of frugality. I'll be moving closer to my work in a few months so that I can walk and save $100 from my monthly buspass. Also, my next step is to buy groceries by walking to the grocery store. Also, I don't know how to ride a bike just yet, but will learn in the near future :) This blog, however, has been quite the useful source! So glad to have found it! I look forward to learning and growing my badassity muscles with all you fellow mustachians :P


HelloHuey

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #407 on: February 14, 2013, 06:58:15 AM »
Hello!

My name is Huey and I'm a 22 year old living in Denton, TX.  I started reading MMM last April because my job allows me to surf the net, so I read the whole blog start to finish in a couple of months.  MMM really caused me to see each dollar as significant, and that has brought change to many aspects of my lifestyle.  I am lucky enough to be debt free, with my whole life ahead of me.  I occasionally go into debt for certain mustachian investment opportunities when they prevent themselves.   I'm currently working two jobs at 50-60 hours a week to get a head start on my nest egg, and I've put the majority of my savings into the stock market.

I'm excited to see where life takes me!

Rollin

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #408 on: February 14, 2013, 07:29:07 AM »
To all MMM forum users I'm new here and would like to say hello.  I've recently found the MMM website via a bicycling forum that is about living car free - there was a link to the post that MMM offered about getting ready for bicycling in winter (really cool by the way - no pun intended).  I love the direction MMM it is going.

I've been frugal (to some degree) for most of my life - at least more frugal than the "norm."  Was debt free from June 2001 through October of 2012.  I owned two homes during that time and autos etc., but now own a third home that I had to take a loan out on (20% in cash though).  My plan is to sell the other two (maybe rent one) and payoff the one with a loan - and get back to debt free.

I have a good retirement plan (actually a number of "funds") that I started on when I was 24 (three decades ago) and planned on retiring at 50.  However, in deciding to take on a new family I agreed (with myself) to go another 10 years full-time.

I really believe that "your money is your life" and understand how much I trade in time to have certain things that cost money.  I sometimes forget about that path though, but it's sites like these - and forums like this one - that get me excited about getting back to and staying on my track.

A little about me.  Healthy, happy life with a large family.  Working full-time to support all - including three teens that are extraordinary, but that are also being exposed to the standard American lifestyle in more ways than I like.  Not everyone in the family thinks like I do (imagine that!) about money and life, but I do live the way I think I should* and eventually at least they will understand that there are options and alternatives to the standard way of doing things.  Then, it's their choice.

* For example, I believe that riding a bicycle to work is an option to consider, as is riding the bus.  I do these two and drive a vehicle to work, but the mix is probably 30% bicycle, 10% bus, and 60% SOV (single occupancy vehicle - except when we van pool to meetings  - I take as many as 8 at a time).  This in an area (west-central Florida - USA) that normally doesn't see "executives" doing that.  Sometimes I feel like Superman (or would that be Clark Kent at that point in time?) jumping into the phone booth when I arrive at the office at 7:00 am, change into my "normal" work clothes costume, and resume the life that an executive lives.  But, I feel that for those that "find out" that I do things differently, they also can at least see that they have a choice, or alternative to the "norm." I dream that they think to themselves - "Hey, I've known him for many years, he's an upstanding citizen, spends much quality time with his family, he seems rational, kind, and not at all weird.  Maybe there is something to what he does that I might start doing to better my life."  At least I think it betters my life!

I look forward to joining in on your online conversations.

Lastly, to register you really need to jump through some hoops!  I tried a bunch of different responses that would comple the phrase that was supposed to end in "Badassity."  Never had it so tough!

EDIT:  I now see the "Badassity" phrase right on top!  Face in palm now.

Thanks all!
« Last Edit: February 14, 2013, 12:38:59 PM by Rollin »

EarlyRetirementMild

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #409 on: February 15, 2013, 01:20:32 AM »
Hello friends!

I'm James.  I found this website via a UK money saving website and have been somewhat hooked since January. Well done all!

Me and the family live a fairly frugal life in London and I shall be investing c45% of nett income this year.  FI date tbc but maybe another 9 years.  I have a strong 'don't tell me what to do' streak so FU money holds strong appeal.

I work as an occupational psychologist (I/O I think you'd call it) and am pretty interested in Behavioural Economics & the irrationality of our relationship with money.  Personally, I think that I work too hard for my money to waste it on shit.  However, I do like my cafes and taking my daughters for a 'babyccino' after swimming!

Anyway - thanks for the site and the good forum.

Hope to forumify with you soon.

James

PS - I'll be visiting Orlando on business this month - any insider tips for things to do and see?

psychomoustache

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #410 on: February 15, 2013, 02:34:05 PM »
I feel like with this site/forum - I'm going to have the support to make changes that I've wanted to my whole life - I just couldn't stick with it on my own.

We are starting late on the savings track - mostly because of our big trans-atlantic move 15 years ago when we sold everything we had in the States and just broke even after 9 years there, and started over here in France. I took a few years off to have babies, and am back to work now since only 7 years ago. DH is an engineer so he makes most of what comes in, and I am a psychotherapist/psychoanalyst in private practice making 800 euros a month net. (DH is French BTW)
So what woke me up (DH is not entirely on board with mustachian-ism, even if he is highly anxious and a bit obsessive about money)...we have been doing Dave Ramsey now for years, and made some progres (paid off all debt except the house for example) then just have stalled out. We still have very little in retirement and liquid. Part of that is we live in a socialist system and they save for us (NOT to make lousy excuses for our lousy behavior, but still) and part of it is - well we just kind of are lazy poops. Or whatever. Well me especially - DH is a pretty hard-core cyclist and NEVER takes the car. Me- I am scared of the constant Brittany rain which is of course ridiculous.

What shocked my system and got me here (after drifting through various money-savingy-type blogs this is the place that just punched me in the face where I needed it as the Man Says) is that I recently learned that the French government is raising my taxes on my private practice AND asking me to pay back taxes on the past 2 or 3 years. I don't have French diplomas, so they don't consider me to be providing health services here, so I don't get a tax break as if I were a healthcare professionnel. Bref, as we say here, it's not going to be worth it to fight the French administration.

I don't have much of anything myself in retirement, and DH has his French engineer pension coming (I know, pension-schmension) and we only have about 130K in an IRA sitting in the States. This is just not acceptable, and it's our own fault - and we have been Dave Ramsey-drifting along on our lazy butts too long. So I had an epiphany - we are now going to live on his (rather generous) salary, and completely save the little I make (and hopefully more) and also, (unfortunately) find room to pay the back taxes.
I am still very American and don't trust the French gov't to provide for us - besides - I just hate the dependency factor. I started my practice even though I was told there was no room for more therapists or psychoanalysts in our small town - and I am booked. So F that.

First the Bad news then - we are old (I'm 47 and DH is 53) and we have three kids, one is college age. The Good news, we have everything we want or need (health care is solid, college education here costs next to nothing, we live in a big old house with just one paid-for car). So I figure better late than never, and we can still do a lot with the time we have left to work (I would actually LIKE to work about 20 more years or so, though not necessarily as much).
Thank you so much for being here and I look forward to growing a freakin huge mustache. With little curls on the ends...for style.

icefr

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #411 on: February 15, 2013, 08:15:41 PM »
Hi! I've posted a bit, but I never got around to writing an intro post. I'm in my early twenties, a little over three years out of college. I moved to the States from Canada with a job offer after college and bought a condo last year, so I'm settling in. I'm not as frugal as many people around here, but compared to many of my coworkers, I'm pretty frugal. I love comparing my stash growth to MMM's! Now if only my spending compared to his better...

Tujin

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #412 on: February 15, 2013, 10:08:13 PM »
Just wanted to take the time to write a quick introduction.

Hi, my name is Terry, and I'm a (recovering) sukka consumer. I'm going to be starting a journal in that section, and I'll give more specifics there, but here are the basics: I'm 28, wife is 26, and we have an 8 month old son. We also have a rambunctious Chocolate Lab named Lucy, but we have curbed her furniture destroying habits, which is obviously an important thing. :) My wife and I are both Navy veterans going to school on the GI Bill. I had the good fortune of a 75k/year job pretty much dropping into my lap, (was previously attending school full time) so we moved out here to Phoenix, and now I'm enrolled at half time. Part of the GI Bill (for those who aren't familiar) is that you get a monthly housing allowance in addition to tuition and a book stipend. A pretty sweet gig, I've gotta say. Unfortunately my very consumer mindset (I had a thing for buying expensive parts for 'fast' cars) didn't feel like this was enough, so I also took out all the financial aid the schools would give me - which is a lot these days. Consequently, I have 30k in student loan debt. Being enrolled at half time keeps me from having to make payments, but I am going to pay them off sooner - but I'll discuss that in my journal.

What really opened my eyes was reading this blog (which a friend pointed me to after I asked his advice on how best to invest the 7k tax return I have coming (despite the fact that I have a lot of debt to retire) and really considering what he was saying. When we were living on 35k/year, our average daily happiness was pretty much identical to our average daily happiness here, despite the fact that we are making (and spending) SIGNIFICANTLY more money. I looked at what that difference in annual spending would add up to after 10 years, and lets just say it was enough to motivate me to start taking this seriously, and make big changes now.

So here I am! I was considering starting a blog, but right now I think that would quickly get pushed to the side as my life IS legitimately very busy. Look forward to learning and sharing my experiences with all of you.

Filibuster

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #413 on: February 16, 2013, 09:40:27 PM »
Hi, my name is Jay.

I make a reasonable living, and really got sick of not knowing where all of my money is going. I was browsing the personal finance section of Reddit, when someone mentioned this site. I thought to myself... "Hell, I've got a mustache, I should see what this fella has to say." So far, I like what I see!

bicycletraveler

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #414 on: February 17, 2013, 08:52:32 AM »
Hi everyone!

I've been reading the MMM blog/forums for about 6 months now and decided it was time to say hello :) I'm 29, and I live near Boston. I've always been more of a saver than a spender (except when it comes to travel), so the Mustachian way of life isn't a huge adjustment for me. The three areas of my financial life that I do feel like I need to keep working on are food costs (too much take-out!), travel costs, and income. Finding a better-paying job has been a struggle, especially given that I like to take off for far-flung places (sometimes on my bike, sometimes not) for several months every year or two.

-BT

Marantha

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #415 on: February 18, 2013, 04:12:27 AM »
Hi I'm Maran Tha
hi to all here
« Last Edit: February 18, 2013, 04:15:12 AM by Marantha »

Goatee Joe

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #416 on: February 19, 2013, 08:14:36 PM »
Hi yall!  I'm Goatee, found this site thru a random Facebook "like" from one of my buddies.  I'm originally from the mountains of rural Southwest Virginia, and my wife's a city girl from Chicago.  She and I live in Arlington, VA and enjoy biking, hiking, cooking, travel, and hanging out with our families.  I am a Fed and she's a teacher.  We're both fairly frugal, though she says I'm borderline obsessed with saving money!  I can't help it... for some reason I just always enjoyed having a stash, all the way back to when someone got me one of those plastic quarter banks when I was a little kid.

Been enjoying reading MMM since we stumbled across it this past fall.  This site is the exact tonic America needed at the exact right time.... lots of people wandering lost in the wilderness of mindless debt, really needing some punch-in-the-face guidance.  Then there's the early retirement discussion that's got me thinkin.... hmmmm.  Definitely one of the most useful resources on the internet these days... keep up the good work, MMM!

startingover

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #417 on: February 19, 2013, 08:38:24 PM »
Hello!  I'm Startingover, because it's the best thing to do in my situation!  I am 43 and live with my boyfriend and his son.  We are all saving and working for early retirement.  (Lucky Boy, he's only  15)  We bake our own bread, pay extra on bills, bike and save, save, save!  I am learning so much from the others on this blog.  Thanks to MMM for bringing us all together!

azanon

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #418 on: February 21, 2013, 05:14:23 AM »
Hello guys,

I decided I'd like to participate on this forum because from what I've seen so far, this is hands-down the best blog on the strategies and mindset necessary to achieve financial independence (FI).  MMM blogs are nothing short of excellent, and are easily of better quality than most books I've purchased on the subject. 

Me?  I'm in my early 40s, have a wife and child, and have made substantial progress towards FI myself.  I'm ultimately going to need a bigger stash than MMM for two primary reasons: 1. My moustachian badassity is not nearly as fine-tuned as MMMs, and 2. I don't really have any sort of trade skills where I could earn additional income if the need were to arise.  Well, maybe that's too harsh, I probably could in a pinch, but it would just be easier to amass what I need now given my current income level.  In other words, when I pull the plug, I ideally like to be completely done with working for pay. 

Those differences aside, I share MMM's passion for FI, and also his desire to help others come to understand that time, family, and personal experience are so much more valuable than over-priced, space-hogging material possessions.   America, in particular, is severely stricken with an over-consumption disease of sorts, and this really saddens me because I believe that so many of us are missing out on a greater happiness.  Let's all work together and help individuals come to understand that there really is a better way.

Thank you,

Az

Ultimate Cheapskate

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #419 on: February 21, 2013, 03:45:05 PM »
Hi -

I'm Jeff Yeager, aka "The Ultimate Cheapskate." I'm an author, freelance writer, and general pontificator about enjoying life more by spending and consuming less.  It's good to be here.
« Last Edit: February 21, 2013, 06:35:21 PM by Ultimate Cheapskate »

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #420 on: February 21, 2013, 03:50:06 PM »
That was quick, someone was just talking about you.

Cid47

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #421 on: February 23, 2013, 04:57:02 AM »
Hi all!

I'm new to the world of mustachianism, having discovered it just a little over a week ago when I stumbled upon the blog while trying to figure out if I'm paying too much in electric bills (I am, of course). In the past 9 days I have read all of the blog entries and most of the comments afterwards and can say with all honesty that my mind has never been so completely blown. So now I'm on the track to full mustachianism. Look forward to sharing this road with you all!

Obgyn65

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #422 on: February 23, 2013, 08:57:43 AM »
Hello - I am obgyn65 and this is my first post. I am pleased to have found this website.

Take care everyone

Ob

1e7ksi

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #423 on: February 23, 2013, 03:18:34 PM »
Hello all!

I am a current college student studying engineering at my local in-state university trying to graduate with minimal debt and be Financially Independent by 30.


Live Long and Prosper,
1e7ksi

Last Best Place

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #424 on: February 23, 2013, 08:11:24 PM »
Hello, I'm Carrie.  Married, 2 boys, early 40s, and we live in the last best place, which you'll know about if you've been here.

We have enough in retirement accounts to be fine when we get old, our only debt is a mortgage that we expect to pay off within a few years, and we both work jobs that we'd still do if we were sitting on a Buffett-size stash.  What am I doing here?  My husband put me onto MMM as a kindred spirit.  Love the blog.  It's affirmation that we and our friends (and family) aren't crazy, just differently motivated.

MrMoneyMullet

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #425 on: February 24, 2013, 07:17:18 AM »
Hi, all, I'm Mr Money Mullet (which I hope won't cause people to confuse me with the REAL MMM).

28 years old, full-time student in a top-5 MBA program. Current goal is to minimize debt from this program while setting myself up to save 50%+ of income once I graduate. Married with a toddler. Compared to the average person, we've been smart with our money, but compared to most FI folks, we're not very badass... :(

Looking forward to learning a lot and contributing to the community!

diablopea

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #426 on: February 24, 2013, 05:31:19 PM »
Hi.  I'm 41, married with a couple of cats.  My only personal debt is my mortgage which we're currently starting to snowball.  I have some business debt with a partner (my brother) but we're rapidly getting that knocked out.  We own 1 hair salon and 2 cosmetology schools.

I'm no badass but any working to adopt some of the practices.  I just found this website this past week.

6birds

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #427 on: February 25, 2013, 11:52:14 AM »
Hi, I'm Patrick.  I'm a former boat driver turned financial analyst after pulling my head out of my ass, paying $126K in debt, and finally paying attention.  If I remain on track, I will attain Financial Independence (deep sigh) in 5 years.   

I'm 41 with a hot wife and two amazing girls.  My life is good and steadily improving over time.

My focus is my family, and I've committed to providing the type of education that I did not have nor care to explore on my own.  I was convinced that the world of money was evil until I actually understood what money is and what it does.  Thanks for having me.

mamaof4

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #428 on: February 25, 2013, 12:42:22 PM »
Hi!  I'm Torie.  A 37 year old mom of 4 girls age 13, 9, 7 and 3.  My husband and I live in Bakken Oil Country (google it, it's nuts) where consumerism is at and all-time high.  We are feeling the effects in an increase in grocery and fuel costs.  I turned to MMM to help me!  My hubs is a systems engineer and I am a server at an awesome locally owned restaurant. We live about 20 miles from the town where we work. Moving is not an option for us, the housing costs here are insane.  A 2 bedroom apartment is renting for over $3k a month.  We have paid off $35000 or so in debt in 2 years. We still have about $25000 in student loans and our $250000 mortgage to pay off.  I am looking for encouragement and inspiration to live a lifestyle not easily seen in western North Dakota.

layzbones

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #429 on: February 25, 2013, 05:47:57 PM »
A quick introduction - hopefully you'll be seeing me around here regularly, such a fun place to follow!

I'm Jordan, 27-years young and happily employed.  I'm a mechanical engineer and a proud bargain hunters so I'm hoping that those will provide a good foundation to my soon to be 'stash.  I'm already an avid cyclist and just started commuting to work after buying a home that I love a 15 minute bike ride to work on <35mph streets and greenways outside of Charlotte, NC.  I've spent my last few years adopting new, and relatively expensive hobbies that have left me in a bit of debt (as well as a few large purchases for the new home).  Main goal right now - pay off the debt.  I have about $1k to spare each month right now, and am working with $2300 @ 15% and $4500 @ 0% for two yrs and hoping to knock that out in the next 6 months or less.  Then its off to start towards my goal of 50% take home saved.

I'll probably be starting a journal on here to document my progress and interesting finds along the way.  It will also keep me motivated and give me a bit of accountability.  I'm a big DIYer so hope to share some of that as well.

Thanks in advance for the kind words, help and encouragement!

hzsfre

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #430 on: February 25, 2013, 06:26:43 PM »
I'm James. I'm a software engineer in the Seattle area. I'm in my mid-twenties, with a live-in girlfriend, a puppy, and (thankfully) no children yet. I'm also debt-free, if you ignore my mortgage :-) My girlfriend and I hope to be financially independent in 10ish years.

My girlfriend is currently in nursing school and working part time in the hospital's lab. She doesn't make much money, but our arrangement is that she pays for food, so she has the ability to optimize her costs by cooking, buying in bulk, coupons, etc while continuing to make meaningful contributions. She'll be done in just under two years.

I pay for everything else. I've started saving more recently; I'm now taking the bus to work (bus pass furnished by my employer! haven't bought gas in 2 months), refinancing my mortgage to cut out FHA PMI, and generally trying to become more frugal.

The biggest thing I worry about is my girlfriend's parents. They are immigrants have almost no savings to their name, since all their money has been drained by lawyers in the pursuit of green cards. They seem to be planning to work until they die, but in reality, their kids are their retirement plan. I'm hopeful that my girlfriend's siblings can contribute to that end, but part of me suspects they won't be able to, since neither of them really seem to be world-beaters. I'm trying to figure out how to balance FI goals with the prospect of supporting her parents through retirement.

Angie55

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #431 on: February 25, 2013, 07:17:05 PM »
Hi! Angie here. Married near 30's engineer living in CO.

My only goal in life is to pay off my husband and I's (awful grammar I know) student loans. We started in 2007 with 242k in debt for both car and student loans. Six years, a job loss, 2.5 years of unemployment, and a move cross country later we have widdled it down to 100k to start off 2013.

Currently my entire salary goes towards loan payments... Absolute best case scenario (primarily stopping myself from buying a house)  we will have everything paid off by YE2014. I'm trying to somehow scrounge up enough extra money along the way to finish a month earlier. Sounds easy but a month of payments is nearly $4,000.

Debt causes me so much stress on a daily basis. I spend hours every week just staring at loan repayment spreadsheet even though nothing really changes. I wonder what my life will even be like when its gone. Although then it will just be on to the next challenge of making up for lost time. I dream of the day I don't have to drag myself out of bed to sit in a cubicle all day and make Excel spreadsheets to pay off loans I signed for when I was 17.

Hopefully this forum will give me some momentum and keep me going. There are lots of days when the end seems so far away. I'll spend hours trying to find $10 in the budget only to realize its makes no real difference in the overall payoff. I feel like we are going to be playing catchup for the rest of our lives.

Sorry for the depressing post. But in all honesty momentum has been going pretty strong. February will be the first month we have stayed in budget! And we are down to 92500 in loans to start off March. I hope to one day either retire early (very unlikely due to how far behind we are) or open our own business together.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2013, 07:24:34 PM by Angie55 »

taintedbean

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #432 on: February 25, 2013, 07:56:39 PM »
Hi Mustachians!

Just joined the forums today after a couple weeks of furiously reading the blog and lurking the forums. Already owe my deepest thanks to this community.
I am a recent college grad (22) taking a Masters program in School Counseling in the Washington D.C. area. Living with parents currently, and I am fortunate enough to have no debt even once I complete grad school! (woo).

Looking forward to contributing to this forum in any way that I can.

EMP

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #433 on: February 25, 2013, 08:37:00 PM »
Hi all. I'm Erin. I've been following since ERE and finally decided to join. I'd be doing much better at this whole thing if I had anything resembling ambition, but I manage to have a good time regardless. :)

Dee18

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Re: Angie's say hi
« Reply #434 on: February 25, 2013, 09:14:14 PM »
Angie:
It sounds like you are doing great!  You've paid off 60% of your debt in three years!  I understand your obsession with those spreadsheets, but keep in mind the point of FI is so you can enjoy life.  Do you really want to be spending so much time thinking about debt?  When I became too obsessed with being frugal, a friend advised me to pick one time a week when I could look at my balance sheets.  You might consider doing that.  And use the rest of your time for something more enjoyable--go for a run, grow some herbs, meet a neighbor.  And  celebrate how far you've come.   Enjoy your health and youth and marriage!

spoonman

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #435 on: February 26, 2013, 07:19:20 PM »
Greetings!

I've been a lurker in this forum for almost a year and thought it was time to formally join the community.

DW and I save about 55% of our pay (after taxes, 401k contributions, and HSA contributions).  We are dividend growth investors and have been piling up a nice stream of passive income.  We plan to be FI (of the ERE variety) in about 2 years.

I would say that we are quite frugal.  Right now the only thing that is a significant challenge for us is the condo that we bought in late 2009.  It might be another 2 years (we hope) before we can sell and get all of our money back.  If it wasn't for the house, we would have moved back to a small apartment closer to work, which would have enabled us to save an even bigger fraction of our take-home income.

I want to let it be known that I am thankful for MMM's work and the support this community is providing via this website.  It's nice to see a community of people that share our frugal and monetary convictions.

Jazz

ScienceRules

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #436 on: February 27, 2013, 07:49:42 AM »
Hi All!

I've posted a couple times, but figured I should come back and introduce myself. My husband and I are third year PhD students in Seattle. We have an adorable puppy who just turned 1. We do have a car loan and a mortgage and as PhD students don't make that much (about $1800 a month each). But we have no student loans through full ride scholarships during undergrad and being research assistants now. Since reading this blog we've stopped eating out (we ate out a lot!), ditched a cell phone and decreased the other to $30/month, used pinterest to find DIY cleaning supplies, recipes, etc and just stopped wasting money. Instead of spending all our paycheck each month, we save between $1500-1800 a month. I am so glad we found this blog now when we are young (23 and 25). The next decade will be rough since my hubby is planning to go to med school once his PhD is done, but with the plans we are implementing now it should be manageable without student loans. Thanks MMM!

ScienceRules

KarlDebtSlaveNoMore

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #437 on: February 27, 2013, 09:11:05 AM »
Hello everyone!

My name is Karl.  I am in my early 30s, married, father of one, and live in NY.  I'm an IT guy by trade.

Due to a series of bad decisions, my wife and I accumulated a large pile of debt by the time we got married.  So over the last three and a half years, we have progressively paid off nearly 200K of debt through a combination of thrift and industry.  The incentive for doing so had little to do with FI and much more to do with protecting my family from an outright economic collapse.

Along the way, I discovered this blog and a few others.  And over time, I began to realize that becoming FI is not as difficult as it seems.  At this point, the focus is on achieving full financial independence for my family.  Our monthly savings rate is at around 65% and I'm looking for various ways to increase it further.

I want to take the time to thank MMM for showing me so many money saving tricks.

Charamei

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #438 on: February 28, 2013, 07:25:37 AM »
Hi everyone.

I've been lurking for a few months and it seems about time to say hello.

I'm 26, no consumer debt or car, employed in a low-end office job and bought my first house last year with 25% down... it turned out to be in a worse state than initially thought (structurally sound but, uhh, let's just say 'dirty' and leave it at that), so after some emergency fixing-up I am currently asset-rich but cash-poor. I've spent the last year doing two things: rebuilding my stash and taking a proofreading course.

I'm not looking to achieve FI (yet) so much as set up a freelance business that will eventually be able to supplant my day job, with the proofreading as a basis and a hefty dose of 'whatever else pays' thrown in for variety. Then I can sell the house and move outside London, which should bring my cost of living down quite dramatically.

An even shorter-term goal is to get the stash above £10k again. It's hovering at £7.3k after some expensive dental work flattened the curve for a few months. That's significantly higher than last year, but seeing four digits rather than five is mildly depressing even when I know it was for a good cause.

N.

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #439 on: February 28, 2013, 08:09:32 AM »
Whopsy. I should have started here.

My name is Nathalie. I'm 35, married with two teenage (full-time) step-kids, and live in the Toronto, Canada area. I'm self-employed and work from home and hubs works for 'the man' in a career that sees him traveling a minimum of 50% of the year. (I get a frequent raised eyebrow when I show up as the only 'parent' for parent-teacher meetings.)   :)

I'm not yet a Mustachian, though have been lurking around the personal finance blogosphere for several years. I'm fiesty but open, and I love the sense of community here.

tuyop

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #440 on: February 28, 2013, 09:12:08 AM »
I'm tuyop, 24, from Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). I'm living with my partner of three years in Ontario.

Through bad decisions, I accumulated nearly $60 000 in debt ($59 128 including a car loan, to be exact) shortly after graduating university. I realized that something was wrong and started a thread on the Something Awful Forums in May 2011 to track my progress out of the debt. Through that thread I found out about MMM when someone sent me his article on biking through winter. I didn't end up biking through winter (couldn't afford lights and the missus doesn't have a bike yet so we just commute together), but since, I have read every article and had a pretty dramatic awakening to frugality and financial independence.

In the past two years I've paid the debt down to $39 229.41, and an inheritance and medical payout (training accident at work in 2010) that I have coming up should clear up the debt this year, at that point I can't wait to start my own 'stach in earnest, as well as change careers out of my job that I hate.

My partner and I currently live on 50% of our income and are aiming to redesign our lifestyles towards a more environmentally friendly, self-sustaining goal. We're interested in DIY, gardening, and minimal living.

gazzamatic

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #441 on: March 01, 2013, 09:15:43 AM »
Hey Everyone,

My name is Gary.  I've been reading MMM for a little over a year and thought I should finally create an account on the forums.  I live in Minnesota with my wife and our 2 kids.  I am not a natural Mustachian, but luckily my wife is modorately frugal so the only debt we have is our mortgage.

Over the last year I've been building up the stash, mostly through mutual funds and dividend paying stocks.  Now I am working on finding my first rental property, which is very exciting!

-gazzamatic

Kenoryn

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #442 on: March 01, 2013, 11:32:45 AM »
Tuyop and Nathalie, fellow Ontarians, you should add yourself to the Mustache Map & help represent!

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetups-and-social-events/mustache-map!/

ace1224

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #443 on: March 01, 2013, 01:12:57 PM »
Hi!  I'm from coastal NC, and I just discovered MMM and read the list of all posts from the beginning of time in one weekend.  I am super pumped to grow some stubble and have already started slashing at my budget.  I haven't quite cut the cable cord, but I did turn in all but one box and then bundled that with the internet for some serious savings.  I'm really hoping to get on board with biking and my food budget needs serious help.  other than my mortgage and my car i am debt free after paying off all my credit cards and will never go into debt again for stuff. 

minnie1928

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #444 on: March 02, 2013, 11:39:34 AM »
Hi!  I've been lurking since around the New Year.  I found this site mentioned on savingadvice.com and I'm always interested in finding new personal finance sites/chatboards as I find that it helps keep me focussed in a positive direction.

We live very frugally in some ways, and not so frugally in other ways.  My goal is to get us moving in the more positive direction.  I currently work about 1.5 miles from work but still find myself driving to work ( I know!  this makes NO sense).  I'm still working on trying to find the best mode of transportation that's not a car.  But, I have many factors to consider in order to find the best fit.  But, I'm atleast thinking about a solution which is more than I was doing a few months ago.:)

crumbcatcher

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #445 on: March 05, 2013, 10:14:36 AM »
I'm a 42 year old working mom with a well-paying career and nowhere near enough of a 'stache to think about retiring early. I'm supporting my ex, who is a stay-at-home dad, until he finishes school and gets a job, or the end of this year at the latest. Since I'm currently living on half of my income, I'm optimistic about being able to save everything that is currently going to him after spousal support finally ends.  Another challenge? My son has Asperger's Syndrome and I'm paying for a number of different therapies, some partially covered by insurance, some out of pocket. Still, all of that is coming out of my half of my income so I'm not being a complainypants. :-)

After crunching the numbers I think I will be able to attain early retirement ten years from now if I continue my frugal ways and really start socking that money away next year. Finding MMM last month was an inspiration, and I look forward to becoming part of the community. It's exciting to have found like-minded folks and to realize that I can really do this!

Jeremy

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #446 on: March 05, 2013, 08:44:12 PM »
Hi everybody!

I started reading the Early Retirement Forum years ago, met up with Nords one time when we were in Hawaii (Hi Nords!), met up with Billy & Akaisha Khaderli in Thailand, read ERE from time to time, and now I catch up on MMM when I can. I really enjoy the MMM style, a lot of people could use a good punch in the face! :-D.

It's great to see so many people on the path to early retirement and generally being badass.  My wife and I retired a few months ago in our 30's and are now traveling around the world permanently.  We are now in Mexico, heading south... Our Spanish needs some work, but it gets better everyday

During the planning process I never found a travel blog that really shared how much it costs to permatravel, so I created one! We are blogging our journey with full financial information over at www.gocurrycracker.com.  My wife is a semipro photographer so that spices things up a bit

Hit me up if anybody has thoughts, questions, or advice!

All the best

Jeremy


« Last Edit: March 21, 2013, 03:02:44 AM by Jeremy »

nancylee

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #447 on: March 06, 2013, 11:43:24 AM »
Hi,
I am new here, been lurking a few weeks. Pretty funny forum!! Lots of humor here, along with great advice.

My husband and I are in our early 50s, and have made every stupid, ridiculous mistake with money, and then some, that you could imagine. I am a teacher, have always been employed, and would like to retire at 55. By retire, I mean an active retirement: I am also a freelance writer, potter and jewerly maker. My husband is disabled from a big city fire department, he has a triple tax free pension.

We are going to to work to get out of debt from some stupid things we bought in two years, and then working on our two mortgages, or selling one of the houses. Looking forward to learning all about how to save and live happily on less!
Nancy

Frank of Denmark

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #448 on: March 06, 2013, 02:26:51 PM »
Hi everybody,
My name is Frank, and i live in the southern part of Denmark about 2 kilometers from the danish/german border. I, like many others, have made a ton of bad financial decisions. Recently i finally managed to get rid of 2 large drains on my salary and then i found MMM through another blog by a guy named David. His blog is called Raptitude. I now realise i have wandered in darkness and ignorance, but thanks to MMM, i have seen the error of my evil ways.

P.s: English is (obviously) not my first language, so you might find some weird grammatical or linguistic hiccups in my post. If they make you
laugh, let me know why so i can join the laughter.

Frank

babysteps

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Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« Reply #449 on: March 06, 2013, 04:58:02 PM »
DH & I live in the Southern Tier of NY. 

Our journey - let's just say we were deserving of many face punches!  Probably still are...

We once owned 4 personal residences at the same time (I know!  ouch), 3 leased luxury cars, etc.  We did have multiple income streams and our own real estate business, but the real estate crash and a single really large luxury project that was 90% of our activity meant everything went down the tubes. 

Then the scales fell from our eyes and we started on a much saner path!

Now, still have 2 cars but own them outright and they are little Mazdas that should last a very long time (celebrate all progress!).  Do have a mortgage (one much smaller house in a much less expensive area) but are on track to pay off in hopefully less than 8 years (vs 12 years to maturity) and the payment is under $700/mo (our *electric* bill for one of our primary residences used to run that high). 

I know, still not completely MMM but we are moving in the right direction! 

Our cost of living is about 1/6 of what it was 3 years ago, probably 1/10th or less vs. 5 years ago.  Shopping is no longer a leisure activity.  We still love food & wine but eat out a *lot* less often (like 2x/month vs. 4x/week).  We make money on clothing (have been consigning parts of the legacy wardrobe, only current purchase activity is occasional socks & underwear).  Lots of DIY on our part and great local agriculture mean our enjoyment of living is up and the cost is waaay down.

By some standards we are retired now - no outside jobs, flexible schedule.  Like, "it's sunny today let's visit a winery" flexible :)  We are doing local, sustainable real estate investing.  We buy a scratch & dent house for cash ($7-12,000 usually) and resell but hold the mortgage.  So far we've done 15 houses (5 of those multi-unit) in about 2 years, all were vacant, all but 1 are now occupied.  Rents are high relative to house values around here, so for no more (sometimes less!) than rent a family can cover PITI & own their home outright in 12-15 yrs.  We assume most will pay us off early as they either switch to conventional financing or sell (2 have already re-sold after fixing up).  If rents were lower relative to house values this wouldn't work...a 2 bedroom apt rents for $600-900, 3br are $700-1,200 (depending on quality, location, etc).

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!